Christmas time! Mistletoe & wine! 

The most wonderful time of the year.

And also - quite frankly - one of the most wasteful times of the year...

To help you navigate the wave of gimmicky presents & useless tat that's on sale around Christmas, I've mustered up two handy gift guides featuring ethical options. 

For bigger - but still sustainable - gifts, check out my GIFT GUIDE video.

For smaller ethical gifts, check out my STOCKING FILLER GUIDE video.

For more info on the brands mentioned, just read on! 

Vegan Bunny 

Candles. Vegan, cruelty free, plastic free, natural soy wax, beautiful blends, comes in a canvas bag, such a lovely small business. veganbunny.co.uk

Bybi

Skincare. Cruelty free, vegan, recycling scheme, bioplastic from sugarcane instead of virgin plastic for pumps/caps, female-founded, all round great simple skincare. bybi.com

Pixi

Makeup. Cruelty free (Logical Harmony approved) with vegan options. Can purchase online or in M&S in the UK. pixibeauty.co.uk

Raw Halo

BEAUTIFUL vegan chocolate. Their Mylk & Vanilla is their best, the rest are nice but quite bitter. Slightly coconut milk-y but only very fainty. The texture is on point. Cadbury who? rawhalo.com

Divine Chocolate

Fair trade dark choc, palm oil free, available in Oxfam charity shops. divinechocolate.com

NOMO Chocolate

Vegan & gluten free choc that is getting a lot of hype on Insta at the moment. nomochoc.com

Smashbox

Makeup. Cruelty free (Logical Harmony approved) with a parent company, vegan options. Plastic packaging. Boooo. 

Faith In Nature

Shampoos & soaps. Available in Oxfam - do refills of cruelty free shampoos as well as solid shampoo/soaps. Love their lavender solid shampoo! Very hydrating and lathers so well. faithinnature.co.uk

Ethique

Solid beauty bars. Vegan shampoo/deodorant/body wash/body butter/cleanser/serum. Palm oil free, plastic free, packaging free. Really good! Pick up one of their tester packs - great to allow the recipient to try four  tester-sized products to see if their work for them first. Available in Holland & Barrett or online at ethique.com

The Bam & Boo

Bamboo straws & toothbrushes. Better for the planet than plastic. thebamandboo.com

Georganics

Dental care. Cruelty free electric toothbrush, solid toothpaste & solid mouthwash. May sound like a weird gift but I use & love their solid mouthwash - takes a while to get used to but works great & saves sooo much plastic waste. georganics.com

Superdrug

Own-brand products are cruelty free & labelled vegan where appropriate. superdrug.com

The Fine Match Box Company

Beautifully packaged luxury long matches. Look great on display and I get mine at thebotanicalcandleco.co.uk

Ahmisa 

Soy Candles. The brand name literally means 'Respect for all living things & avoidance of violence towards others'. Heck yeah. These candles are beautiful and smell amazing. Available at carmaldn.com.

MUA 

Makeup. Cruelty free, extremely affordable, recently become 100% vegan! muastore.co.uk

Tropic

Beauty & skincare. Vegan, cruelty free, natural & nourishing, this is one of my fav brands. I recommend their So Sleepy range, their body butters & lip products but pretty much everything is gorgeous. tropicskincare.com

Copalli

Organic rum. Tastes great, really fresh & slightly botanical. Made in an organic distillery. copallirum.com

Coorie Curls

Vegan silk scrunchies. Really good quality & love the colour selection - I like the smaller sized scrunchies best. cooriecurls.com

Poo-Pourri

Blends of essential oils. I use as room spray but designed as loo spray. My fav is the Lavender Vanilla one. poopourri.co.uk

Sisterhood

Sustainable fashion brand based in Manchester. Blouses, knits, skirts, dresses, scrunchies & more. Lovely customer service & Reformation-esque pieces for a fifth of the price. I recommend. join-the-sisterhood.com

Ren

Never have I ever been complimented on a necklace so much. Honestly! People have been so kind about this lovely gifted necklace every time I wear it (which has been pretty frequently, I must admit). The chain is really well made and doesn't irritate my sensitive skin at all - plus the design pays homage to vintage / art deco style in such a unique way. I very much adore it.

But let's back up a little shall we...

I'm pretty vocal on my channel and socials about the ethics of fast fashion. The materials, energy & labour that goes into creating pieces that lack quality & therefore are disposed of pretty rapidly. But what about jewellery?

Until relatively recently, I had not properly considered the disposable nature of a lot of the jewellery I've purchased. When I was younger I would go through oodles of Primark plastic pearls, lots of tacky Topshop sale-rail rings and nickel necklaces. They wore really badly and (retrospectively) were just a waste of money and resources.

Nowadays, I'm much more picky when it comes to jewellery because my skin is very sensitive. This a very annoying and majorly pretentious sensitivity to have - I struggle with wearing various metals and low-carat gold even. Like I say, this didn't used to stop me wearing cheap rings and necklaces. My neck would itch and my fingers would turn a mouldy green shade - but style over comfort eh? I had no funds to invest in proper jewellery back then. No drive to purchase the classy stuff that didn't make my neck red-raw with itching & ears bleed from the cheap metal. Am I painting a pretty picture for you here?

But another aspect of jewellery that hadn't dawned on me was the story behind the people who make the jewellery. I don't know how I thought these things were produced to be honest - I guess I just assumed they were made by machines? How mad to think that was my assumption and that I wasn't interested in asking any further questions as long as I could have the end product... In reality, the jewellery industry remains pretty hidden and massively sketchy. I'm talking about brands that are a bit more up-market than Primark now, the pricey and more 'prestigious' brands. I'm all for investing in pieces and making them last, but still there are very few jewellery companies that have credentials on their ethics and sustainability. It remains an unknown part of the jewellery business for many consumers.

Lucky for us, there is one particular brand that is wonderfully transparent about their practices. The above necklace is by the brand Sacet (pronouced sah-set). I've previously mentioned this brand in a favourites video when I featured a pair of thier Lujia North East earrings (though I mistakenly pronounced the brand sa-ket because I'm an uncultured swine..). 

Sacet create amazing jewellery that is both ethically and sustainably made. They use 100% recycled metals, ethically polished diamonds & gemstones. They even grow their own diamonds to ensure they are conflict-free! The necklace and bracelet above both feature the Ornate Geometric Pendant in 18K Gold Vermeil on Sterling Silver. The colourful stones in this piece are Malachite, Citrine & Rhodolite.

Every product I've tried from Sacet has come beautifully (but sustainably) packaged in cardboard boxes with individual cloth bags. They work with various designers with different artistic tastes so they can provide a wide variety of styles on their site - from vintage-looking pieces like the one in this blogpost to more simple and edgier jewellery as well. 

What I find really interesting and unique about Sacet is how they break down the journey of the piece of jewellery you receive. Their business purposely links the final product you receive to the maker of that piece (Anyone in the audience tonight familiar with Marx's theory of alientation?! No? Just me? Alrighty. As you were.) If you're new around here, I studied business at uni with a particular interest in sustainability and corporate social responsibility [which is often referred to as CSR]. For this reason, I am a huge fan of Sacet's ethos when say they prioritise people, planet and profit in a balanced way. These three P's are the three pillars of CSR and by considering the stakeholders who fall into these three categories, brands can improve their ethics and give back to the world in both a socially and economically sustainable way. Sacet make an effort to give names, faces and credit to their designers and craftspeople both in the leaflet that comes with each purpose and online here https://www.sacet.com/craftsmen. They provide fair pay and collaborative and safe working conditions which connect people who have a passion for craftsmanship. It's very heartwarming and something every brand should strive to achieve too.

This set really is a work of art and I'm sure would make such an amazing present for any jewellery lover in your life. What with Christmas around the corner, if you're thinking of getting a special someone some jewellery this year, I couldn't recommend Sacet enough!

To educate yourself more on the ethics of the jewellery industry, please check out Sacet's website here: https://www.sacet.com/jewellery-with-a-purpose. It's really informative and well worth a read. Thanks again to Sacet for the kind gift in exchange for a review. I'm a big fan. 

Lisbon, in my experience, is a city of lovely weather, people & food. I would head back in an instant. Something about the warmth of the Portuguese, the city's winding streets & the persistent sunshine made for a really magical trip.

I was also very pleasantly surprised by all of the amazing vegan food options on offer. Though I did research pre-holiday & also got lots of recommendations [thank you to anyone who sent me suggestions!], I had seen mixed opinions as to whether I'd be catered for - considering I was travelling with a non-vegan [who was happy to eat vegan but not exclusively]. But to my surprise, I found that not only were there loads of vegan options, I also ate some of the best vegan food I've ever had the pleasure to put in my mouth ! So here I am to share the good, the bad & the ugly of the eateries we tried out.


My top recommendations are sorted under the absolute ~must-go~ locations, whereas further down this blogpost are some places that served vegan options but were pretty average & weren't anything to write home about.

  

GELADOS FRAGOLETO 
Rua da Prata 61, 1100-41, Lisboa

This ice cream was mega. For real. I'm always wary of heading to ice cream parlours which have 'vegan options' according to Google / TripAdvisor because, 9 times out of 10, those vegan options are lemon sorbet. Which is fine. I like lemon sorbet! But it's not ice cream, y'know? Sorbet is great & all but when you're expecting ice cream and instead get sorbet, it's a bit disappointing.

This place is right near the beach and is on a main stretch with lots of other shops. It doesn't look too fancy inside but it has a small eating area where you can sit out of the sun & cool off. With probably around 35 flavours overall, maybe 10 of them were vegan? Plus, each day they have different extra vegan options up on the board.

My recommendation? Try the cashew flavour !! I was expecting something quite bland and icy - but oh my GOODNESS, it was glorious. Even the most ~simple~ of flavours had so much depth it's unbelievable. Other flavours they had when we visited were vegan pistachio, caramel, cinnamon, strawberry, lemon - lots more but I'm struggling to remember. I definitely had a chocolately one that was honestly sublime. I would travel back to Portugal just for this one gelato shop. The staff were really lovely too - in fact all of the service we had in Lisbon was incredibly nice, which makes all the difference!

M'ARRACREO PIZZERIA
Tv. Inglesinhos 36, 1200-223 Lisboa, Portugal.

Who would've thought I'd have the best Italian pizza in Portugal? Not me. But I did! Well, it was the best vegan pizza I've ever tried as the last time I was in Italy I was only vegetarian - but still a great contender! So much better than any vegan pizzas I've had over here - Franco Manca, Zizzi's etc.

This restaurant is on quite a small street & has indoor seating only - but with nice airy open doors. The staff were so lovely & the bar serves bangin' blackcurrant mojitos which went down a treat [their different flavoured cocktails seem to change daily]. It was pretty busy for a Monday day so maybe book ahead if you're keen to go.

We had bruschetta to start which I could have easily eaten 12 slices of... so incredibly fresh. I mean I know that you can't really go too wrong with bruschetta, but it was seasoned to perfection. Then for main I had a pizza Margherita because I'm a vanilla gal. Everything about it was perfect - the sauce, the dough, the vegan cheese was the best I've ever tried! I think it's soya-based cheese as opposed to the coconut-based alternative that most pizza restaurants use in the UK. Also had strawberry sorbet for dessert! Which wasn't anything to rave about but was pleasant.

Overall, a 10/10 meal and decently priced too. The people dining next to us were visiting the city too and they had eaten there the night as well only to return again, because it was that good!

HEIM CAFE
R. Santos-O-Velho 2 e 4, 1200-109 Lisboa, Portugal.

Our flat was literally around the corner to Heim cafe - a really quaint and beautifully decorated cafe with lovely staff and lovely food. It was the first eatery we went to when we landed & the last place we ate at before heading back to the airport on the way back.

They have vegan options on the menu - avo on toast, granola etc. and are super accommodating to vegans too. Defo try the ginger lemonade!! 

The coffee is nice - I would avoid the oat milk because I tried it in Iced Lattes in a couple of places & it tasted of dish soap. The soya / almond are better options in my opinion. Beware - there is likely to be a waiting list if you get there 10.30ish onwards (peak brunch time) but it is well worth the wait.

AO VEGAN FOOD PROJECT
R. Vitor Cordon 26, 1200-484 Lisboa, Portugal.

AO Vegan Food Project serve some amazing, wholesome meals which are really good value for money. The menu has lots of interesting burgers, sandwiches, salads & daily specials. I went for the mung bean lasagne which was absolutely SUBLIME! 10000/10, would recommend to a friend. Would even travel back to Lisboa just to eat here. Plus my meal only cost me €8!

TOPPO

Centro Comerical Martim Moniz 6 Esq, Praca Martim Moniz, 1100-341 Lisboa.

This rooftop bar is on top of hotel Martim Moniz. Definitely one of the best mojitos I've ever tried with one of the nicest views I've ever seen. So fresh & perfectly mixed. They serve food too - I tried the risotto & nachos, which were okay but nothing amazing. I would recommend only getting a drink here as the food was expensive and the service was quite slow (the staff were lovely just really busy/over stretched). So yeah, I wouldn't necessarily recommend eating here, but it's such a nice spot for drinks at sunset.

PARK BAR

OK this is a total cheat mention because we actually didn't make it to this bar - it's a hidden bar on the rooftop of a carpark (I imagine similar to Franks in London). Alas, I left it to my boyf to navigate us to Park one evening & he lead us to......... a park....... and then to a random university car park.... and it took so much hill walking that we just threw in the towel & ambled home. Good times.

PISTOLA Y CORAZON
Rua da Boavista 16, 1200-275, Lisboa.

The service in this restaurant was lovely - our waiter was so sweet & recommended a load of rooftop bars to check out. He adapted the menu well for vegan eating - but the food was really average. We had the tacos - which were soft shell not crunchy, which was odd. The waiter also let me mix dishes and try one of each of the vegan options - refried beans, peppers & mushrooms. It was all pretty bland to be honest.. either the cheese that I asked to be removed really made the dish, or it was just a dud meal. Kind of disappointing. Also the frozen margarita machine was broken - which are apparently to die for.

HAMBURGUERIA GOURMET
Rua da Alfandega 114, 1100-016 Lisboa.

This place is a cool concept - it serves burgers without any bread. Kind of like the filling of the burger is the bun, if that makes sense. They have a few vegan options & I went for the lentil burger. Each burger comes with two from a salad (AMAZING dressing!), chips or rice.

They also serve homemade ketchup, which was music to my ears, until I realised that it wasn't ketchup at all, it was a sweet salsa. I love salsa, but it's not ketchup. My burger was pretty bland (definitely in need of Mr Organic Tomato Ketchup!) but again, service was lovely. Wouldn't eat here again though.

At the end of January, I went to one of the dreamiest countries I've ever had the pleasure to visit - Iceland. We were centred in Reykjavik + went to all of the thrift stores/charity shops/flea markets the capital had to offer. Here I am sharing what I picked up secondhand and styling each piece!

It’s a new year. A new you. A new dawn. New day. New life. And it feels good!

Everyone’s dusting off their gym membership card, doing squats and upping their veggie intake. Making yearly goals and promises to yourself. Some may roll their eyes at this time of year and its accompanying lifestyle resolutions, but I actually really like the idea of new beginnings, fresh starts and self-improvement. And I love the George Elliot quote:

It’s never too late to be what you might have been.

After switching out your makeup and toiletries to cruelty free brands, one of the next logical steps to becoming a more conscious consumer is to start switching over your household products as well. I'm here to talk you through my favourites. Watch my video on my favs here.