Fairtrade Fortnight: The Big Swap is on.....

Fairtrade Fortnight starts today. This year, the focus is on swapping your ‘usual stuff’ for the fairtrade equivalent. A number of individuals, organisations and businesses have already registered their swaps at www.fairtrade.org.uk/thebigswap. The website also has more information on what you can swap, Big Swap Events and other ways you can get involved in Fairtrade Fortnight.

The great thing about this campaign, in my humble opinion, is that it is really easy for individuals to get involved. You can embrace Fairtrade Fortnight as much as you’d like, whether all you do is register to swap your regular teabags for fairtrade ones for a few weeks or possibly take it a bit further swapping a wider range of items such as other groceries, clothing or even cleaning products.

3 of the best.....ethical fashion sale items

Harriet Tunic now £30 (Frank & Faith)

Stweart + Brown Organic Tee now £24 (Fashion-Conscience)

Short Sleeved Cardi now £25 (Ascension)

Beauty Review: Liz Earle Cleanse, Tone and Moisturise

I had heard about Liz Earle products a number of times in the run-up to me actually purchasing them, and pretty much all the things I heard were good. The products are a favourite of the ‘The Green Beauty Bible’ and have won a raft of awards.

Liz Earle have a broadly ‘natural’ philosophy, although some of our stricter green friends may be critical of the fact that the range does use some synthetic preservatives. Liz Earle do no animal testing and use no animal ingredients, no mineral oils and no genetically engineered ingredients.

I purchased the ‘3 daily essentials’ from the website which are the famous Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, the Instant Boost Skin Tonic and the Skin Repair Moisturiser (I bought the Normal/combination version).

I have been using all three for about 4 months now and I am incredibly impressed. I am notoriously lazy when it comes to maintaining any sort of routine, especially a ‘skincare’ one. But I noticed the effects of these products from day one (seriously) and that just made me want to keep things up. The Cleanser smells gorgeous and for my occasionally sensitive, dry and flakey cheeks it has been amazing this Winter. I feel it wouldn’t be accurate to review each of these products separately as I have been using all three and would be hard pressed to say whether the improvement in my skin has come from one in particular or a combination of all of them. I went to a beautician I have been to regularly over the years for a facial a few weeks ago and she said my skin had never been so hydrated. I’m sure this is partially down to the fact that I have never before been so disciplined with actually cleansing, toning and moisturising on a regular basis but that is mainly because the products make my skin feel great. So a big thumbs up for Liz Earle and I am definitely going to try some of the other products in the range in the future.

Visit http://www.lizearle.com/ for more information on the range, to read their Environmental Policy Statement and to find out more about Liz Earle’s philosophy on natural and organic ingredients. Ordering products from the website is quick and efficient. The products were packaged beautifully when they arrived and although most of the packaging was bio-degradable there did some to be rather a lot of it, unnecessarily. I also received a free sample with my order, which is always nice.

A new beginning....sort of...

Well it’s been a while….a long while. I have a number of excuses prepared for my long blogging absence (holiday to South Africa, hectic schedule at work etc.) but they are kind of pointless because the point is…I’m just not sure of how I am feeling about this blog at the moment and that is the real reason why I haven't been very inspired. I think I kind of went off in an unintended direction of only wanting to blog about something that ‘fitted in’ with some preconceived idea of what this blog was about….not even my own preconceived idea, just one that somehow arrived and then roosted.

I just want this blog to be about stuff…all sorts of stuff, stuff I like doing and eating and buying and wearing, mainly in London as that is where I live after all. And I want the things I blog about to be stuff I’d like to share, rather than something I have had to think about and then written about for the sake of having something to write about! So I am semi-kind-of starting things over with a slightly wider remit and we’ll just see how things go…that is the beauty of it all, nothing has to be set in stone.