Archive for category: Eco/sustainable/plastic free

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Eco villas at Jungle Bay Dominica

The eco villas at Jungle Bay, Dominica

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So last time, I told you all about my life-changing visit to the Caribbean’s heavenly nature island of Dominica. After a long haul flight from Gatwick to Antigua, and a wildly exciting 45 minute prop plane flight, where we flew into a fiery peach sunset and skimmed over the top of beautiful Guadeloupe, we finally landed in Dominica. Our lovely guide, Trevo, picked us up from the airport, and as the sun set, we drove southwest - the warm air heavy with the grassy scent of the rainforest rushing through the windows making us deliciously drowsy, to the coast just above Soufriere to our first hotel, the brand new eco villas at Jungle Bay Dominica.

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The big Christmas beauty gift guide

The great big Christmas beauty gift guide

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Following on from my great big Christmas gift guide, I just had to make a separate gift guide for all the gorgeous beauty stuff I’ve loved this year (and longer). I think beauty just makes the best present, whether you’re buying for teenagers, friends, Mums (or husbands - Mr E loves a bit of skincare), or even for a bit of self gifting (we’re worth it too). You can give eco/sustainable, practical, or luxe that people wouldn’t necessarily buy themselves, and, as I said in my last gift guide, it doesn’t get better than giving someone a gift that is both beautiful and useful (paraphrasing Mr Morris there). So here’s my great big Christmas beauty gift guide/great big roundup of all the beauty bits I’ve adored this year.

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The big Christmas gift guide

The great big Christmas gift guide

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It’s that time again! I absolutely love creating this gift guide (this is my tenth year!) and every year I try and find something for everyone, although as my own kids get older, I naturally seem to do less kid stuff, sorry about that. I’ve tried hard to find gifts for every type of person that you might possibly have to buy for, or, y’know, to add to your own Christmas wishlist. You’ll notice from that I’ve applied my usual philosophy, which is that useful presents that can be used/eaten/drunk are so much better than ornaments or things that might not be to the recipient’s taste. I’ve also tried to include lots of sustainable pressies. So here <insert fanfare> is the great big Christmas gift guide. Enjoy!

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What do recycling symbols actually mean

What can I recycle? What do recycling symbols actually mean?

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These days, I feel that most of us are trying to do our bit for the environment by using fewer plastic items (especially single use), and recycling what we can. However, unless you’re seriously hard core, buying plastic is more or less unavoidable, and if your household is anything like ours, recycling causes major headaches. Some members of our family (who shall remain anonymous for fear of shaming them in public) just can’t get their head around what’s recyclable, and I seem to spend my life fishing various items out of bins and transferring them to different places. I thought it might be helpful to have a look at the most common recycling symbols that you’ll find on household packaging, but obviously the biggest thing is to check with your local authority to find out exactly what items go in which bin and what’s allowed (for example, our council allows TetraPaks to be placed in recycling bin, but others don’t), and what other items can be recycled at your local recycling centre. So what do recycling symbols actually mean?

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Gorgeous green beauty brands

Gorgeous green beauty brands for you to try

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You know me, I love a luxurious beauty product. But more and more, I’m finding myself drawn to skincare ranges that promise natural ingredients and those that are vegan, cruelty free and organic. I’ve been trying out a whole range of different products and I’ve found some absolutely gorgeous green beauty brands for you to try.

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Oxfam's #secondhandseptember challenge

My top tips for nailing Oxfam’s #secondhandseptember challenge

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Did you know that the UK sends 11 million items of clothing to landfill every week? There are loads of reasons why this is happening, the biggest of these being our disposable, fast fashion culture. Fast fashion means production needs to be fast and cheap and that often means corners are cut, resulting in excess waste, the use of toxic chemicals and - inevitably - water pollution. And when we buy fast fashion, we perpetuate the cycle: it’s cheap, but not well made, so it doesn’t last, so we throw it out and buy even more. Wait though, I hear you ask, isn’t clothing recyclable? Yep, but studies show that we throw things in the bin because we don’t think clothes that are worn out or dirty can be recycled (our local tip has a textiles recycling bin), or even just because we couldn’t be bothered to sort our clothes and/or take them to a charity shop. Oxfam are asking us all to take a pledge to say no to new clothes for 30 days, so I thought I’d give you some top tips for nailing Oxfam’s #secondhandseptember challenge.

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Ten products to give your skin a gorgeous glow

Weekend wishlist: 10 products to give your skin a gorgeous glow

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Recently, I’ve been researching products that are (paraphrasing William Morris), both beautiful and useful. As a consumer, I want to feel pampered and uplifted when I spend my hard-earned cash, so I tend to look for skincare products that feel like a treat - ideally I’d like them to be effective, smell delicious, and have beautiful packaging (or at least two out of three - if it’s a cracking product, I can forgive a plain bottle). I want a skin product to really earn its money: do wonderful things for my skin, make it feel plump and soft and revived and, yes, glowy. I’m incredibly lucky, because generous brands often send me their products (although some of these were purchases), and I thought I’d collate a little top ten of the very best, so especially for you, here are 10 of my favourite products to give your skin a gorgeous glow.

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SPFs with a USP

SPFs with a USP - my top sun protection picks

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FINALLY it’s warm enough that we’re not just talking about SPF because we’re off on holiday. I’m a bit of a sun protection addict - I wear SPF50 every day (hello Ultrasun - tinted, moisturising but not sticky or greasy, full of brilliant technology, reef friendly, anti-pigmentation… you name it - read my full review here) and I recently took a few new ones I’d discovered out to Orlando with me to give them a proper test. I like my sun protection to multi-task, so all the SPFs listed here have something clever or different about them that makes them really stand out. Here we go, then, with my top sun protection picks: SPFs with a USP.

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Weekend wishlist: Tony's Chocolonely scrummy treats with scruples

Weekend wishlist: Tony’s Chocolonely - scrummy treats with scruples

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I mentioned this lovely brand recently in my Father’s Day gift guide, and promised to tell you more about it. It all started when I began to see these colourful chocolate bars appearing on various Instagram feeds, and then my friend Dave told me that he’d been to the launch and that it was seriously delicious stuff. It turns out that Tony’s Chocolonely is actually the biggest chocolate brand in the Netherlands, and they’re now in the UK and want everyone to know about their delicious, chunky chocolate with a very special mission.

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Baby beauty for grown ups

Baby beauty for grown ups

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Now, before I start, I do appreciate that there are absolutely no babies in this household, and therefore talking about baby products might seem a little odd, but both Charlie and his girlfriend use baby lotion every day (one, because he sometimes gets dry skin but hates greasy moisturisers, the other to take her make up off), and I often use a few bits for travel (see below for all my travel tips using baby beauty for grown ups). The lovely people at Johnson’s very kindly sent me their beautiful new Cottontouch range, which is blended with real cotton and has been specially designed for newborn skin, so it seemed the perfect time to talk about using baby beauty for grown ups. We absolutely loved all the products in the range, and if you’ve got a newborn (and frankly even if you haven’t) I’d really recommend them: they’re beautifully light and gentle and smell gorgeous too.

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REN Clean Skincare Glow Daily Vitamin C Gel Cream

REN Clean Skincare Glow Daily Vitamin C Gel Cream and an incredible zero waste initiative

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Phew, big title for a Saturday, right? But honestly, there’s so much I’m excited about with REN Clean Skincare at the moment that I can’t leave any of it out. If you’re a regular reader, you’ll already know I’m a big fan of REN, not just for their effective products that are cruelty free, kind to skin and don’t contain harsh chemicals, but also because of their commitment to the environment (I wrote recently about their brilliant new bottle made with ocean plastics). Now, not only have they announced another fab new product, REN Clean Skincare Glow Daily Vitamin C Gel Cream, but also a clever new initiative that’s going to bring them a step forward to achieving their goal of being zero waste.

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Plastic free herbs and spices (and an upcycled spice rack)

Plastic free herbs and spices (and an upcycled spice rack)

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I use spices and seasonings all the time - not just for chicken and red lentil curry and dahls, but for fajitas and chillis, seasoning chips and chicken breasts, and I like to keep my yeast handy for when I’m making bread too. This spice rack was one of Jim’s bargain finds - bought locally on Gumtree - it’s actually the top of an old dresser that he upcycled by literally turning it upside down and painting it, and it’s the perfect size for small jars. I’ve recently given it a fresh coat of paint - a B&Q match to Farrow & Ball ‘railings’, which actually came out a tiny bit lighter, but I don’t mind if things aren’t too matchy matchy. The jars are a random collection of reused ones and others picked up cheaply from HomeSense (they’re brilliant for kitchen stuff), and I just love that they’re always within reach of the cooker. One thing I find really frustrating are the plastic lids on supermarket spice jars, though, so I’ve been looking into sourcing plastic free herbs and spices and thought you might be interested in some of my finds.

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Shopping the sales with a capsule wardrobe in mind

Shopping the sales with a capsule wardrobe in mind

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What is it about the sales that send us all a bit bonkers? I’m usually perfectly happy with my wardrobe, then a sale email drops into my inbox with those Grenson boots that Holly wore on I’m a Celeb, and I suddenly really want them. What’s up with that? I have trainers, and my leopard boots, and wellies for walking the dog - I really don’t need them. A while ago I wrote about the questions I’ll be asking myself before my next purchase, and I feel like I really need to revisit these before I even think about shopping: do I need it? Do I love it, or am I buying it because I liked it on someone else? Does it go with the other things in my wardrobe? Will it last? Is it a brand I trust? Of course, if you’ve got something that needs replacing, or a gap that needs filling, shopping the sales with a capsule wardrobe in mind should be 100% possible. So what will I be looking for?

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Festive Fixes by Gumtree. Pic: John Nguyen/PA Wire

Festive fixes by Gumtree

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You know me, I love a festive tip, and easy fixes - especially when it comes to Christmas dinner - are definitely my thing. You can imagine how delighted I was, then, when the lovely people at Gumtree asked me to come and host a special Festive Fixes by Gumtree pop up yesterday in London along with TV presenter Lucy Alexander, and finance expert Naomi from the award-winning Skint Dad website. We invited people in to our very own Christmassy space, furnished entirely with items bought from Gumtree. There were mince pies and glasses of fizz, and the chance for people to pop in from the cold and pick up loads of tips and tricks for hosting Christmas without spending a ton of money (Gumtree’s research found that the British public spend an extra £3.87 billion on everyday items forgotten over the Christmas period, which is quite shocking), and in a much more sustainable way than buying loads of stuff they’re not going to use throughout the year too.

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Send a Prosecco subscription box this Christmas!

Send a Prosecco subscription box this Christmas!

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I’ve been talking quite a bit recently about why I believe that the best gifts are useable/consumable. We’ve all got enough ‘stuff’ in our lives, and I think a beautiful, useable, indulgent gift that we might not actually buy for ourselves is the way to go. Step forward, then, the gorgeous Princess Prosecco, a gorgeous gifting company with a conscience - so it pretty much ticks all my boxes. Here’s why I think you should forget the socks and the bad Chrimbo jumpers and send a Prosecco subscription box this Christmas instead!

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