Bubbasdoll Lip Scrub

Over the last few weeks I've been trying a lot of matte lipstick. But with great matte coloured lip powers comes great responsibility. And by responsibility I mean you have to deal with the fact that matte lipsticks will absorb any moisture in your lips and leave them resembling a desert. That's why this lip scrub came into my life at the exact right time and I'm so glad I was able to try it out.

Bubbasdoll is a skin care company which was founded by the amazing 18 year old Kiera Mcrhule. She is a fellow youtuber and blogger of mine and I've been admiring her work for quite some time, so I was absolutely chuffed when I found out she was launching her own company. You can find her on her youtube channel Le Cameleon or her blog Bubbasdoll.

Bubbasdoll is an online company which prides themselves in "offering good quality, homemade natural products at an affordable price". They currently sell lip scrubs for a very affordable price of £4 a pot and come in 5 different flavours: Coffee, toffee, bubblegum, peppermint and tropical. I personally think there is something to suit everyone. They are also cruelty free and suitable for vegetarians.

The flavour I tried was bubblegum, one of my personal favourite flavours in the world. Something I was quite surprised about was how much product comes in one pot, I definitely think you get your money's worth. The colour of my product was pink and the scent was really really strong and it really did taste of bubblegum. Needless to say it was absolutely delicious to try.

Something else I completely adored about this product was the fact that it's packaging was so cute. Because it arrived in the post, it was packaged with care in bubble wrap to make sure no damage was done whilst sending it. And it came wrapped in purple tissue paper, with handwritten instructions of use. Included were also 4 toothpicks to be able to stir the mixture for easy use. The packaging of the actual pot was also adorable, you guys know I love my pastel colours, and I think the fact it came with a little bow around it was another adorable touch. If you want to feel like a loved customer, I definitely recommend buying something from Bubbasdoll, a lot of effort clearly went into the packaging.

And now onto the actual product and how well it actually works: I personally found that it was really effective as a scrub. I can honestly, hand on my heart say that ever since using this product it has got rid of any dry skin I've had on my lips. I've used products before to stop my dry lips, but nothing seemed to have worked as well and as long as this product.

So there was my review of my new favourite lip scrub, Bubbasdoll lip scrubs. I would definitely recommend them to a friend and I know I'm interested to try their other flavours so I will most likely be purchasing more from this brand,

Izzy K xxx

Barry M Flawless Matte Finish Oil Free Foundation

Recently I've been making a fairly big deal about going cruelty free with all my makeup, which means I actually had to switch up a lot of the brands I use on a daily basis. Because of this I was left without an "everyday" foundation since none of the drugstore foundations I owned were cruelty free. I read up online and found out that a brand I had used before, Barry M, was cruelty free and decided to try out their Flawless Matte Finish Oil Free Foundation in the shade Ivory (which is actually too light for me but I can always pick up another shade later on). It cost £5.99 and here are my thoughts on it:

 

Please ignore the carpet background (my blog is so professional!)

But this is the packaging and I think it's so cute

The formula itself is a pretty light one and I found it very easy to blend out evenly. The coverage is, I would say, between light and medium. It feels very lightweight on your skin and looks very natural and not cakey at all. The coverage is enough to blur out any imperfections, however not enough to fully cover any of those major red spots that might sneakily creep up on your face (let's face it, they appear on all of us at some point).

The scent of this foundation is much stronger than any other foundation I have used. At first I thought that it might irritate my sensitive skin because it is clearly heavily fragranced, however it didn't appear to do that. The smell really reminded me of something and it was really bugging me because I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I then asked my sister if she knew what it smelt like and she was like "it smells of Always pads" which really did make me laugh because now I always feel like I'm rubbing a sanitary towel on my face lmao! It could still smell worse I guess...

The finishing touch was something I was really impressed with. It dried fairly quick and I have never seen another foundation dry as matte as this one. And it wasn't drying at all which really impressed me. The lasting power was fairly impressive too; without a primer it started to get a bit thinner around my nose and T-zone throughout the day, but with a primer it lasted all day.

So those were my thoughts on my first cruelty free drugstore foundation. Overall I would rate this foundation a 7/10. I personally look for slightly more coverage in a foundation, but for the price you definitely can't go wrong with it and I'll be repurchasing this product (maybe in a slightly darker shade) in no time! If you're looking for a cheaper drugstore foundation I definitely recommend adding this one to your makeup collection. Have you ever tried this foundation before, if so what did you think of it?

Izzy K xxx

Beauty Brands I'm Boycotting

In a few days time (spoiler alert) I'll be posting my video about my decision to go cruelty free with my makeup and beauty products. In that video I talk mainly about why I decided to stop buying anything that is tested on animals, so in this post I decided to talk about the specific brands I'll no longer be using since I ran out of time in the video.

Long story short, I've decided to stop using any products who's ingredients or final product have been tested on animals. Therefore I am completely boycotting any products that test on animals in the meantime and I will not be purchasing anything from their brands until they stop.There are so many different ways that companies can test their products which don't involve the lives of innocent creatures, yet some brands choose to ignore that and only look at the profit side of things. 

Upon research I've discovered that a lot of the brands I use on a daily basis are not cruelty free; something that surprised me since to be honest I thought we were past all that in this day and age. When I found out how many of the brands that were my "top favourite brands" actually do permit animal testing I was instantly disgusted and now, whenever I see those brands, I just get an image in my head of a little bunny or mouse being subjected to cruel treatment. I know for sure I wont be going back to those brands because for me no lipstick could possibly be worth an animals life. 

There are many different ways that companies say that they are cruelty free, but they are not in fact. Some of their "little tricks" to get away with testing on animals is saying things like "we don't test any of the ingredients on animals ourselves" when in fact they hire another company to do their dirty work just so they wont ruin their image. Another thing they do is say "we don't test on animals unless it is required to do so by law". It is required by law in China that any cosmetic product sold in that country must be tested on animals before hand, so naturally, any company that sells in China 100% definitely contributes to animal testing. Although I get where they're coming from that makeup products are high in demand in China where being cruelty free isn't even a possibility (my condolences for any Chinese people trying to live a cruelty free life), I still find it shocking that so many companies rather choose to give up their morals than lose profit. And I'm disappointed by the increasing number of brands that are slowly starting to sell more and more of their products in China. 

So after doing my research and sorting through my makeup bag I have realised that a lot of the products I own have been essentially tested on animals (I will not be throwing away any of the products I already have because I don't believe in waste and in my eyes the damage is already done but there is NO WAY I will be repurchasing them) The following brands will be leaving my makeup collection:

• L'oreal (these are big offenders since they are the parent company of many other brands)
• Maybelline
• Bobbi Brown
• MAC (goodbye dreams of owning a MAC lipstick collection)
• Rimmel (You know I'm serious about something when I'm giving up my beloved Kate Moss lipstick)
• Urban Decay (a little part of me died typing that but it's so worth it for the animals)

There are many more brands that unfortuantely are not cruelty free but these are the main offenders in my own personal collection. 

If you too are interested in going cruelty free I have found a wonderful blog that provides information on which brands do not test on animals called Cruelty-Free Kitty. When I first decided to change to this lifestyle I honestly though I would have to give up makeup completely so I was pleasantly surprised to find out that there are in fact LOADS of cruelty free brands, and I will be able to replace all my current beauty faves with an ethical alternative. 

From now on everything in my videos and blog will be cruelty free since I am no longer supporting the use of animal testing. I really hope that these laws will be changed in the near future and that animal testing will no longer be a thing but in the meantime it looks like more and more companies are going down the wrong path which is why I decided to make a stand. I understand that going cruelty free can be a drastic change and it can be hard to give up the things you love. But (without sounding preachy) I strongly ask you to at least think about the products you are using and what you are contributing towards by buying them. If any of you are thinking about going cruelty free I'd love to know in the comments, after all, many voices standing together and saying "this is wrong" is much stronger than one person taking a stand on their own. And then who knows, maybe one day we will live in a world where every beauty product is cruelty free!

Thanks for reading and please let me know your thoughts on this issue,

Izzy K xxx