TheZenFashionista's 4 Fave Vegan Beauty Products

Happy Monday! I was asked to write an article on my favorite vegan beauty products for an up and coming magazine, so I thought I would also share it here! It was hard to choose just 4!



1. Devita Moroccan Rose Facial Toner

I first discovered this product, four years ago. It's my favorite toner that I've tried. I love the smell and the feel on my skin. I also sometimes will use it to set my makeup or throughout the day. It is made with rose oil, aloe vera, green tea extract, rosemary, sage, and witch hazel.


2. Milk Makeup

About a week ago, Milk Makeup announced that going forward, all of their products would be 100% vegan. If you are not familiar with Milk, they developed a following quite quickly and have some of the coolest holographic and cruelty free (and now all vegan) products.

During the holidays, I received their holographic stick in Supernova Lavender. What I love about this highlighter, is it not only looks great on my skin, but it is made with ingredients that moisturize, such as coconut oil and mango butter.

And because I think this brand is super rad, I have to also recommend their tattoo stamps! I have the star stamp and it is really fun to incorporate into my beauty looks.




3. Unicorn Snot 

Ok, so I am obsessed with this stuff! It's vegan, cruelty free, and magical. Who doesn't love shimmer? My favorite is the purple glitter gel. You can put it on your face, which I have used above my cheekbones...You can place it all over your body (arms and legs), and I have even put it in my hair. They also sell lip gloss and recently came out with loose holographic lip glitter.

4. Frank Body Everyday Face Moisturiser

A few years ago, I found this brand on Instagram. Trying their original coffee body scrub was all the rage. Since then, more products have been created. My personal fave is their face moisturizer. It's lightweight and isn't greasy. This is super important when I am looking for a face cream. Otherwise, it gets flaky or makes me look oily. It's full of amazing ingredients such as vitamin e, coffee seed oil, shea butter and more. So much love for Frank Body!

What is your absolute favorite beauty product right now?

XOXOTheZenFashionista

My First Ipsy Glam Bag (April 2016 Review)

Happy Monday! This week is a review on Ipsy's Glam Bag!

I've been wanting to try a beauty subscription box for a long time...and I finally decided that time was now. I signed up for Ipsy (one of the more well known subscription choices). I also signed up for Petit Vour, which is a cruelty free and vegan box. I'll make a post about that box, when I receive it. 

For only ten dollars (free shipping), I figured I had very little to lose. Once my payment was confirmed, I took a quiz that helped determine what products would be sent to me. 

I was put on a waiting list - One thing that I didn't love about Ipsy, is that all over their website and in emails, they tell you that you can skip the wait list or receive early access to see what's in your bag....But - the catch is that you must promote Ipsy on all of your social media accounts... 

They ask you to send their link to Facebook friends, follow all their official accounts, etc. Thankfully, unlike many stories I have heard, I only had to wait a month. 🏻

I went to the mailbox a few days ago and was happy to discover a shiny pink package with my name on it. When I opened it, I found a cute, little cosmetic bag with all my surprise goodies inside.  

There are two opportunities ahead of time to figure out what you will be receiving. The first is before the packages are shipped. You can find out all the products for the month...(They send out different variations of their bag each month). They'll want you to promote them on social media to get "early access."  The second, is a couple days before your Glam Bag arrives, you can log in to your account and see what items you specifically will be receiving. I personally like the element of surprise. 

Here are the products I was given in my Glam Bag this month:

1. Tarte Cosmetics - 

LipSurgence™ lip crème in wonder

Retails for $24 

I've liked the brand for a while because they're known for having cruelty free and vegan products. I wasn't sure if I would love the color, but I ended up liking it. If I were buying it myself, I'd probably choose a different shade, but I will definitely use this lip color. It went on easily and has a very moisturizing feeling. Nice and creamy. It didn't require much touch up. I also have been sick the past week and my lips were chapped...Usually that's a recipe for disaster, but after the application, it looked smooth and you couldn't even tell my lips were chapped. No flaking! 

2. Starlooks -

Creme Eye Shadow in Rose Gold 

I love metallic colors and was super excited to try this eyeshadow. It was easy to apply using just the wand it came with and dried fairly fast. This was my favorite item in my Ipsy Glam Bag!

3. Crown Brush-

C427 Duo Fiber Blush Brush

Retails for $23.73...on sale for $9.49

I was happy to find that I received a makeup brush. I love trying new brushes. This particular brush is used for blush and highlighter. 

The bristles are very soft and the handle has a great grip. I would love to receive brushes quite often from Ipsy!

4. Moroccanoil 

(This was a sample size)

I love using argan oil. I'm familiar with this brand, but hadn't tried it before. 

It has a really wonderful smell and helps to make hair softer and tame frizz. 

5. Jor'el Parker -

Fango Face Mask

(This also was a sample size)

I haven't tried this product yet...but I'm looking forward to it. The company is cruelty free and vegan. This face mask is made with almond oil, avocado oil, green tea and volcanic ash minerals. It can also be used on your body. 

In conclusion, I would definitely recommend Ipsy. You get far more than $10.00 in value and who doesn't want to try new products? 

Sign Up For Ipsy's Glam Bag

Have you tried a beauty subscription box before?

As always, if you have any questions, leave a comment below or feel free to email me at TheZenFashionista@Gmail.Com :)

If you would like to subscribe to my blog, I would really appreciate it! You can comment your email below or give it to me personally. If for some reason, you are already subscribed and are not receiving an email in your inbox, check your spam folder.

Until next time,
XOXOTheZenFashionista

Lauren Brooke Cosmetiques Makeup Review

I'm always looking for natural beauty products to add to my daily regimen. Most of the products I use are vegan/cruelty free, but even those products can still contain chemicals and unnecessary ingredients. I recently came across Lauren Brooke Cosmetiques and was pleased to see they sold sample sizes of all of their makeup so that you could try them and see what works best for you. I was able to buy foundation in more than one color, a couple of eye shadows, all of their highlighters, and a lip glaze. 

Foundation:

We'll start with foundation. They sell creme, powder and pressed. I went with a creme and two pressed foundations.  Personally, I wasn't too impressed with the pressed foundation, though it did say it was light to medium coverage, but their creme foundation is my new favorite. 

I chose "Natural No. 00"  

Pros: 

Doesn't look caked on

Doesn't feel heavy 

Made with natural ingredients such as Organic Argan Oil, Green Tea Extract, and Zinc Oxide

Comes in over 20 shades

28 SPF

I also found that it had a fresh, dewy look and for being so lightweight, had nice coverage. A little goes a long way! :)

The only "con" I could come up with is that once you blend it, it takes a couple of minutes to in a sense "set."

It lasted me the whole day. I did have to blot once near the end of my day but only in a couple of places. 

The sample size is available for $1.50, and the full size for $27.00. 

I'm planning on trying their powder foundation. They were out of my shade in the sample size, when I purchased the others. 

It's recommended to put the foundation on with a blending sponge, but I used my Urban Decay foundation brush and it worked great. 

Eyeshadow:

Like the foundation, their eyeshadow comes in multiple types. They have pressed, powder, and creme eyeshadow. I had been hesitant to try the creme, because in the past I hadn't been impressed with the creme eyeshadows I tried. I ended up getting sample sizes of two of their creme eyeshadows.

I chose these colors:

Plum Fairy (Matte Finish)

Wisteria (Shimmer)

Pros:

Comes in a variety of colors in a matte or shimmer finish

Easy to apply

With primer, was long lasting 

Made with natural ingredients such as Shea Butter, Jojoba Oil, and Coconut Oil extract

It's suggested on their website to use the matte shades alone as a contour shade or underneath a loose powder. 

I personally used both of these alone, for a more subtle,  natural look and I really loved them. 

The sample size is available for $1.50, and the full size for $9.00. 

Highlighter:

They have three different highlighters (in warm, neutral and cool shades), I decided to try all three. I've really liked all of them, but my favorite is Brilliance. 

I usually use a powder highlighter from NYX or It Cosmetics. I also recently tried the L'Oréal Magic Lumi Highlighter Pen. 

Pros:

Nice moisturizing feel

Blends well

Great glow

Made with natural ingredients such as Rosehip Oil, Argan Oil, Beeswax and Organic Neem

I can't wait until the full size highlighter gets here, because I absolutely love it and it now will definitely be a part of my every day makeup routine. 

The sample size is available for $1.50, and the full size for $9.50. 

ColourFusion Lip Glaze:

They ended up sending me a free sample of one of their ColourFusion Lip Glazes. It was the Strawberries and Cream one. It gave me a hint of color and left my lips feeling extremely moisturized and soft.

Overall, I'm really happy with my makeup from Lauren Brooke Cosmetiques. More companies should take notice and offer sample sizes of their products. Besides the samples I tried, they also sell skincare products (facial serum, eye makeup remover), blush, lip colors, and makeup applicators. You should definitely check out their products. Especially if you're into natural cosmetics. 

And if you click this link to their website, you can get 10% off your order! At checkout enter the code, "THEZENFASHIONISTA" 

http://www.laurenbrookecosmetiques.com/#_a_THEZENFASHIONISTA

I also plan to purchase their Coffee Scrub and compare it to the one I currently use (Frank Body). 

Let me know if you buy anything from Lauren Brooke Cosmetiques. I'd love to hear your feedback on what you think of the products. 

If you would like to follow my blog, all you have to do is go the top right hand corner of the page and type in your email. If you're on a mobile device, change to the desktop/web version. 

You can also just give me your email, and I'll sign you up myself. :)  

I would really appreciate it!

If you have any questions, leave me a comment below, or email me at TheZenFashionista@Gmail.com 

Until Next Time,

XOXOTheZenFashionista

P.S. Make sure to use the code "THEZENFASHIONISTA" at checkout to get 10% off your order and to click the link above. :)