Hello lovelies! Sorry for the lack of recipes recently - things have been a bit tough lately and it's been hard getting the motivation to even get out of bed most days, let alone create recipes and write blog posts. Today I'd like to share with you a review of some fab workout gear from Pink Soda that I've been trying out over the past few weeks; even though I'm struggling a little bit right now, I find that doing at least 15 minutes of yoga most mornings definitely helps lift my mood a small amount. And what better way to convince myself to get moving than with pretty clothes?

Fashion has always been something that's excited me, and especially so over the last few years. I tend to opt for clothing and accessories that are slightly 'quirky' and my colour palette ranges from pitch black to baby pink (recently I've also been obsessed with mustard and burgundy which aren't the easiest colours to find in the middle of summer, unfortunately!). However, when I went vegan, my once-loved pieces suddenly made me feel extremely uncomfortable. My trusty Dr Martens now had a sinister sentiment behind them and all I could see when I looked at my favourite lilac leather satchel was the life of a beautiful animal, cruelly snatched away just so I could have a pretty bag. I felt sick and selfish every time I looked at all my leather, wool and suede clothes and shoes (although I wasn't purchasing any more animal-derived products, which was a start), so one day I decided to just get rid of them and start looking for conscious and cruelty-free alternatives. Going vegan meant it became a bit harder to find good quality, fashionable clothing, shoes and accessories, but I'd never in a million years change my lifestyle; why should an intelligent, sentient and caring animal be murdered simply for my (and everyone else's) enjoyment? Luckily, vegan fashion brands are becoming more and more mainstream, and eco-friendly clothing isn't the same as it was 30 years ago. It's not all hemp fabric and hippy sandals anymore (although those are totally cool and I'd definitely wear them myself!); you can now buy gorgeous and affordable cruelty-free fashion pieces which - get this - are actually up to date with current trends! Getting the hang of checking labels is difficult if you've just switched to a vegan lifestyle and aren't used to it, so to help you along your way I thought I'd share three of my favourite conscious fashion companies with you all. They're all 100% vegan so you can purchase whatever you like from them without having to double check the details!

Today I want to share my skincare routine with you all - I don't talk about my skin that often on my blog or any of my social media accounts but I used to struggle pretty badly with eczema when I was a toddler and then again from the age of 13 - 20. It's only in the last year or so that my skin is actually behaving again and now, at age 21, I'm finally happy with it! Suffering from eczema was incredibly debilitating and I couldn't stand people seeing me when I was experiencing a flare up. Luckily it's all gone now and, even though that may be due to me getting older and my skin sorting itself out on its own, I do contribute a lot of my success to my diet (lots of plants and no dairy!), the amount of water I drink (at least 2 litres a day) and my skincare routine. I use products free from harsh ingredients, and facial oils which are amazing for hydrating your skin and giving it a natural glow.

Note: I was sent this product to review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Buying pre-packaged granola is usually a mistake if you want to eat a plant-based diet filled with wholesome foods because they tend to be filled with unhealthy ingredients such as refined sugar and hydrogenated vegetable oil and unethical ingredients like palm oil (for more information about why I avoid palm oil visit  and read this article). Even granola which is advertised as being 'healthy' is usually made with honey which, as a vegan, isn't an option for me. In fact, most of the time I'd encourage someone to just make their own granola at home because it's healthier and cheaper than buying it from a shop, you can choose exactly what ingredients to put in it and it's super simple! However, when Spoon Cereals asked if I'd like to try some of their Cinnamon Granola and use it in one of my recipes I was more than happy to oblige because their products are vegan-friendly and aren't full of junk. For example, the granola I was sent contains jumbo oats, coconut flakes, hazelnuts, maple syrup, rapeseed oil, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt; I love the taste of maple syrup and definitely prefer it to refined sugar, agave and honey, and even though rapeseed oil wouldn't usually be my first choice (I'm a coconut oil kind of girl) I see no issue in consuming it occasionally. I managed to control myself and refrain from eating the whole bag of granola in one go (seriously, it's absolutely delicious!) and decided to use it to make some delicious and nutritious no-bake granola bars which are full of healthy fats, carbohydrates and protein - a perfectly balanced snack! I thoroughly recommend having a look at Spoon Cereals' website and products because they're a wonderful British company who make incredible breakfast food.




Ingredients

I'm a huge advocate of freshly made juice so when I was contacted by Philips and asked to take part in their Real Juice campaign, which encourages people to swap pre-packaged juice for fresh juicing, I jumped at the chance; I was very kindly sent a Philips Viva Collection Compact Juicer, a set of recipe cards and all the ingredients I'd need to follow the 'One-a-Day' juicing plan devised by the lovely Madeleine Shaw, a nutritional health coach who states that juicing is a way of life for her. Fresh juice is incredibly nutritious, especially when it contains plenty of vegetables, and is a much healthier alternative to the shop-bought kind; this is mainly due to the fact that juice loses a lot of its nutrients over time and is best drunk straight after it's been made, so the long shelf-life of shop-bought juice poses a problem in this regard. Shop-bought juice also tends to only contain fruit which means the sugar content is higher and many of the vital nutrients that are derived from vegetables simply aren't present.

'Glowing Greens' Juice

The 'Watermelon Cooler' juice

However, the juicer does have a couple of downsides which aren't devastating but do make juicing a bit more of a hassle. For example, due to its compact size the feeding tube isn't very large which means that when you're juicing food like apples or beetroots you do have to chop them up first as opposed to juicing them whole. If this were my very first juicer it wouldn't have bothered me at all but since my other juicer has a larger chute and is able to fit two or three whole apples in at a time it is a bit of a downgrade. Honestly though, the size of the Philips juicer is so convenient that this isn't really an issue at all, simply a minor annoyance! Another slight inconvenience is the fact that you have to peel fruit and vegetables such as lemons before juicing them, something which I don't have to do when using my other juicer. Again, this isn't a serious issue and it doesn't take much time at all to quickly remove the peel yourself! Overall I was pleased with the appliance and will continue to use it on a regular basis - for £70 it really is a steal and is ideal for people who have a limited amount of space in their kitchen.

In terms of the 'One-a-Day' juicing plan, I absolutely loved it! I've tried doing a juice cleanse before and managed to last a day before feeling sick of the sight and taste of juice and having insatiable food cravings. This plan was perfectly manageable though because it simply required me to just drink one juice each day alongside my regular diet. The seven recipes included a delicious 'Glowing Greens' juice (this was my favourite!), a 'Watermelon Cooler' juice (which was super refreshing) and a 'Stir and Purr Sleep Tonic' Juice. The juices contained a wide variety of fruit and vegetables and were a delicious addition to my diet. There were also several other recipes included which weren't part of the plan and I'm really looking forward to trying them out in the near future!

I'm incredibly pleased that large companies such as Philips are starting to become more aware of the health food world - the Real Juice Campaign is a huge step in the right direction in terms of this country's knowledge of nutrition. People should be encouraged to make healthier choices for their bodies, which includes eating an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables; this is something which juicing can help a great deal with, although it shouldn't completely replace eating the whole foods which contain much-needed fibre!

I feel as though my experience with the juicing plan was a huge success and I thoroughly enjoyed testing out the juicer and Madeleine's recipes!




Note: I was sent this product and plan to review and all opinions expressed are my own.