vegan rainbow soaps

I never got around to writing more about the gorgeous vegan, plastic-free soaps I ordered from Dragon's Egg soaps I bought in December. So here goes a little praise of them.

I stumbled over the maker on Twitter - which granted isn't a place I spend much time on these days. After being rated on the top 100 list of the Most influential opinion-makers in Sweden within sustainability with the highest engagement and credibility in social media in 2015, I haven't really prioritized the channel. And then 2016 happened. Which definitely led me to prioritize life and its musts in a very different way overall... - and adored her little Scottish business.



Ordered some soaps of her before Christmas. Turned out I was her very first overseas customer, and got an extra treat for that. The scent when I opened the (recycled of course) box was incredibly. Have given away three soaps, have used up one, am now using another and have one left. I hope the receivers of the vegan soaps love them just as much as I do.



Currently using the sweet pea soap, and every time I use it the bathroom is filled with a faint scent of that gorgeous flower.

The best seller is obviously the bright rainbow soap (tutti-frutti scent), but I think all the soaps are lovely. And palmoil-free and long lasting (though handmade in small batches and with a shelf life of six months, so it's not something you should stock up lots of I guess). Very much looking forward to place a new order, together with little mum. Because, as you know, the soap usage is high these days... And I have my eyes set on the banana-apple and freesia petal soap...

Want to order from Dragon's Egg Soaps in Scotland? Here's the link to shop!



From left to right; Sea Breeze, Aloe, Honeysuckle, Tutti Frutti (rainbow) and Sweet Pea

vegan hand creams

Anyone else who has issues with very dry hands, due to this constant handwashing these past five months?

Here are a bunch of vegan hand creams I've enjoyed using. They're all very light, so I suspect they're not perfect for winter use. Stronger stuff is needed then.

I love Molton Brown's, but they're a bit pricey. Adore the rhubarb rose scent, smells like summer and childhood to me. Lily of the Valley and star anise is nice, but turned out Fiery pink pepper smells like spicy, cheap after shave alas.

Body Shop's hand creams are always nice, but I prefer mango and the Christmas scents.

EOS hand lotion with cucumber scent is lovely. Smells a lot like my old body cream favourite cucumber-melon from Bath & Body Works.

Treacle Moon Wild Cherry Magic is a delicious scent. Haven't used it much yet, so I just hope it's as good as it smells.

When you're basically have to shop everything online, it's a bit of a guessing game whether you'll like it or not. I try to keep my shopping down to the very bare essentials these days obviously. (Books are considered essentials, right? Right.)

I remember when all this stay-at-home began, how I would perk myself up with wearing a bright lipstick every time I went out. That only lasted a month. Then it turned out to be so impractical with take away food or nicecream eating out. And you get so used to not wearing it that when and if you do there's a tendency to smear it around the face since you forgot you wore it.

The only makeup I wear now is my must; bare minerals original foundation powder (because of my now dermatologist confirmed, rosacea) for cover. After my twenties I've never been big on makeup (funny how you like to cover up that beautiful youthful skin, but the older you get, the least interesting it gets.), but I enjoy the simplicity of lipsticks and eye pencils. Or at least I used to, it seems kind of pointless now. Life in itself is truly down to the bare essentials I suppose. And that includes good hand creams in the times we are living.

What's your favourite vegan hand cream/s? 

happy new 2020, happy new decade

I have so many wishes and hoped for this shiny, brand new year. But most of all, may it be infinitely kinder, more compassionate, loving, caring, colourful and joyous than this past year (and decades before that). That is, until the human-induced climate emergency devours us all naturally. But before that, let's be kind. Go vegan. Spread love.

I mentioned a recap of 2019 last week. Well that ain't happening today. But I enjoy recaps of another year of growth, so someday soon it will.

My plans for New Year's Eve - binge watching my new favourite TV-series "a million little things" until I'm going to bed with a good book well before midnight. Bliss.

And for my personal hopes-and-wish-top-list for 2020 (apart from good health and happiness for myself and the people and furries I love as always) are still

1. Finding my true purpose.
2. (Which also holds) finding my meaningful new dream job (clock is ticking, time is too short to settle for less).



3. Finding my tribe, my kind of people.
4. Have more faith, worry less.
5. Have more energy, get more meaningful things done.
6. Feel more joy, less sadness.



Also, let 2020 be a year of more vegans rainbow-soaps for all! (More of these amazing handmade soaps in another post.)

May your new year treat you with kindness and joy, and may you treat the world with more of that too. Welcome 2020, let's be so very kind together!

welcome 2019

For the first post of 2019 I planned-ish to be a new, focused I - write about a specific topic only. And it was going to be worklife, since it's the area I will focus on this year. But then a lot of other things nestled themselves in as write-worthy. And as I am I, and proud of it, here goes.

The first thing I did when 2018 turned 2019 was to light the wonderful vegan candle (from thehappywhale.se, she has a sale on them until Sunday btw), which I'd saved for the occasion, with hopes its amazing sentiment and scent would send its whiffs of sweet kindness and compassion over the whole year (and years to come naturally).



The first thing I did for the cats was to give them this plush bed. I would never buy anything this fancy for them myself, but someone gave it away so yes, please. It's so soft, fluffy and pretty I wouldn't say no to getting one for myself to hide and hibernate in actually.

As it would be very nice that they didn't destroy it quickly in their usual manner, I've tucked it away high up in a book shelf. (I'm sneaky like that.) I knew Pelle would love it, and indeed, it took him about 5 seconds before he realised what I was doing. I swear he didn't leave the bed for at least 24 hours. Snoring, purring, cleaning himself, being your average king of the household from high above the rest. He makes his usual inspection tours now, but he always return up there, to his cosy nook.



On New Year's Eve I got a proposition for a possibly new, interesting gig. Yesterday I got my first job interview booked for next week. Even if neither of these potential jobs pan out, that we're not a great match, it's still a good feeling that things are moving in the forward direction. The momentum is on, bring it 2019!

The last job meeting I had in 2018 interesting enough neatly tied in with the very first back in January then. To be honest it was kind of a dream gig, with so much potential and amazing visions. But it all went... well, internally turbulent and nothing I could do but watch and wait. Did I say 2018 was a mad mad year... I'm very very cautiously optimistic about this project now. Which obviously is the huge lesson from last year - I've lowered my expectations on the world and people considerably.

Maybe that will bring more burst of happy surprises than last year's string of misery?



The day my cast was removed, November 1, I stumbled over the fact that one of my favourite writer, Marie Hermanson, had a new book out in pocket. It will forever be the day I removed the plaster/World Vegan Day-book. I'm half way through it, but I obviously consider it the last book of 2018.

The book heap above is what I will start my new year with. And among them are the two latest in the beloved Sunday Philosophy Club-series, by Alexander McCall Smith. Aptly named "The Novel Habits of Happiness" - obviously the book I chose to start the year with!

The first thing I cooked in the new year was this brilliant plantbased tarte flambee (basically a fancy pizza), adapted from the Årstiderna organic vegan food-box recipe. That something as simple as nutritional yeast mixed with oat cream or unsweetened soy cream, add garlic, salt and peppar, can create such a delicious cheesy base spread for dairy-free pizza is nothing short than magic I'd say.

One of my best food discoveries of 2018.

The last thing I bought in 2018 was a practical coat suitable for future dog walks, since my 10 year old anorak is pretty shabby and full of holes. When it arrived it turned out to be a *bit* more fancy than intended for dog walks. Somehow it's difficult to imagine it full of potential muddy dog paws. Still, pretty, practical and durable. The old anorak has to be creatively mended.

The first thing I've bought in 2019 is this lighweight, fluffy vegan handbag. Because with the ex-broken arm it's sadly really difficult and painful to use the Re-Kånken backpack as it's intended. And as I've been forced to use and burden my right arm more than usually since the left arm isn't fully functional (yet, hopefully) I've developed a painful right elbow and muscles. Thus I wanted a lighter handbag to carry things in than my usual messenger bags that are pretty heavy for the shoulders too.

Hopefully this will do the trick. And no it really isn't another perfect catbed, little mister.

The average Swede buy 50 pieces of new clothes every year. And most of it obviously isn't organic or sustainably produced. We desperately need to do better. Me included. Last year I got 25 new pieces for the wardrobe, including two pair of shoes. This year I will be much better at walking away. 

First thing I ate out this year was a lovely vegan breakfast at favourite place Mahalo Sthlm, oat latte, the perfect avocado sandwich with pesto and sundried tomato, plus an overnight oats with mango, passionfruit and raspberries that was saved with the Swedish no food waste app Karma.

That was also a new first for the year, the first time I used the app, since I don't live in the inner city and since the vegan options are few and far apart it's basically zero opportunities for me to use it. But still, a brilliant way to fight food waste if you're able to.



The first thing that arrived in the mail, but ordered a month ago (thank you, Swedish postal *service*), were these wonderful Pitbull FlowerPower calendars by Sophie Gamand. Too cute, and for a good cause of course. I do believe they're so sweet that Zigne approves of them, despite depicting the inferior species called dogs. Read about her work and get yours here.



I've been contemplating a new haircut. Haven't been to the hairdresser for two years now. It's easier than you might think to do a reasonable straight cut yourself, however it's nice to get it professionally done.

Should I get a shoulder length straight cut or not. But I know I always end up feeling a bit lost and not I when I get shorter haircuts. On the other hand, the days of looking like a steel wool hair-ball are slightly more than I'm comfortable with.

No matter good intentions and fabric qualities I always end up looking wrinkly and dishevelled after a day out and about, the same goes for my hair, it has a life of its very own, no matter intentions and great products it always end up looking wild and unruly, never sleek and professional. And I have no patience for products and hair tools that involve a lot of work and time on a regular basis.

I'm grateful that I do have decent hair on my head, and this is obviously a luxuary problem in the big scheme of things. But even those can take up a lot of contemplating time. And a symbolic cut of out with the old, in with the new might be well-needed. The thinking continues I guess...



First photo I captured of Stockholm 2019 was a morning with a rather magical light, a golden light full of promise of new beginnings and amazing things to come.

Hope your new year has gotten off on a promising, golden, joyous start too. Let's make this a happy year, we can do it!

it's beginning to look a lot like sustainable christmas

Despite never having been a fan of Christmas - which basically has become a holiday that celebrates consumerism and gluttony in dead animals and alcohol. - I do enjoy the lights, indoor snuggles, endless cups of tea, time for quiet reflection, doing kind deeds and giving thoughtful gifts. So in this post I'll give some tips on that. I know, it's to late to order something to get in time for Christmas, but a gift is a gift and giving/getting it as a New Year's is just as fun in my book.



Talking about books, that's always a great gift. I quite enjoyed "The woman in the window" by AJ Finn. Similar to "The girl on the train". A well written suspense story, partly predictable, partly not. Don't forget, there are plenty of great (many newly published) books to be find in thrift stores too!



By the way, The Christmas Gift of the Year 2018 in Sweden is the recycled garment. Which is heartwarming of course, but more a trendy sign of the times naming than something that will have a real impact unfortunately.

And no, I'm not giving away the perfect blingy Christmas sweater for the ultimate not so crazy cat lady. We have spent a lot of time together one month per year, for four years now, and hopefully will for many more.



Of course you can adopt an orangutang, plant a tree or many, give to a good cause, volunteer at the local shelter, adopt a cat or dog or someone else in need of a loving home or give something handmade or homebaked. But that doesn't have to exclude giving a kind, bought gift to someone you care for.



Vegan, palmoil free handcreams Xmas edition from Body Shop. Even if one says Candy Cane, the smell is nothing like the amazing seasonal candy cane scent from Bath & Body Works though (lucky you who has it available in your country...). I'm sure they'll go on sale after Xmas. Good stuff and great for the handbag. Might stock up on them myself...



Cute christmassy earrings from Clay My Day (I got mine at the vegan Christmas fair, but she does other things too). But hey, lussebulle earrings, a must!



I've finally landed in some sort of skincare regime that suits my dry and sensitive skin, mostly Dermalogica products, which are pricey but great, cruelty free and long-lasting. Got the Dr Botanical Moroccan rose superfood facial oil from a friend last year and I was sceptical (as sceptical as I am about serums in general). But it does not only smells absolutely amazing, it does something great with the skin. On the very pricey side but also very long lasting.



I've now tried a couple of cruelty free products from The Inkey List, as a comparison, that people seem to rave about. Good quality budget brand. But I'm not impressed at all with the acclaimed Rosehip facial oil, a cheap bottle with no pimpette thus really difficult to dose a tiny amount of. Plus it leaves the skin surface oily.

The Turmeric facial cream on the other hand is quite lovely. Smells a lot of turmeric - which a real superfood plant - and leaves skin supple and rehydrated. As the bottle is 66,66% smaller than the Dermalogica I use, the price is pretty similar to it.



The wonderful, handmade vegan candles and scented candles with a message are from thehappywhale.se, them I bought at the fair too. They burn bright, steady, slowly and don't drip at all. And the pink grapefruit sent is wonderful. The future is vegan.



The delightful vegan pralines in many flavours, from vegandelights.se, which I wrote about in the previous post.



These El Naturalista red boots aren't vegan, thus I wouldn't buy them today but some other from their vegan range - so far less colourful alas, but they do have the Iggdrasil model too and I'm very happy with my new vegan oxfords - but this is their 9th winter season and they are still going strong. How amazing is that? The soles are from recycled rubber and the leather vegetably tanned. This is simply great quality to last. And if I didn't say no to new animal leather products and were in need of great, comfortable, durable boots I'd get a pair or two asap. (Yes you can gift things to yourself too.)

Their made to last for many years, and that's reflected in the price, but nothing good will come from buying cheap, That will only be costly for your wallet, comfort and the environment in the long run. Buy less but buy better. Buy more good quality.



These fluffy socks are from Thought Clothing. A sustainable brand which has some lovely bamboo socks I adore. Browsing their website for those these came up when I searched bamboo socks, so I ordered a couple for those cold cold winter nights, without looking carefully at the description. (Stupid me.)



Unfortunately it turned out they were not made from bamboo, but from a plastic bottle turned into yarn. Ie fleece. And fleece isn't a sustainable material since it when washed the microfibers sheds and enters the waste water and thus seriously pollutes the environment.

The socks are really fluffy, cosy and warming on cold winter nights, but truly sustainable they are far from. It surprises me that a company such as Thought make them. Buy their fantastic bamboo socks instead!

Or if you like the idea of recycled plastic bottles, a Fjällräven Re-Kånken backpack which you don't have to wash.



Last (and least) on my list of kind gifts is this bottle of organic vegan nail oil from meanima.se. I met her at the Christmas fair and she has oils for face, hair, body, baby and tattoo care too. Handmade and aromatherapeutic.

The wonderful ceramic Christmas ornaments with vegan quotes are from Kinga Kremer, the fantastic ceramic artist who made my silver Vegan ring.



A subscription on tea or coffee, gift card for the movies, massage, pedicure, season tickets to a concert hall or museums, plantbased cooking classes (or why not an organic vegan food box?) are other great gifts.

Happy Giving 2018!

vegan haircare products

I don't know about you, but I'm a tad bit tired of thinking, writing, talking about the sadness and hurt over the project and team situation that went amuck. So from inside my head to literally outside we go - this will simply be a post about vegan haircare products, the good, the bad but never the ugly inside.



I used to use a lot of Paul Mitchell products, not really sure why I stopped. Because they were darlin', the Awapuhi shampoo, the carrot Detangler and the apple scented Super Sculpt gel were my favourites. As they've changed the design and the content isn't really obvious anymore it was a bit tricky to find the right gel - less than clever people at hair salons had no idea what I was talking about and instead tried to sell other brands... But Google was my friend in this case and I found it. Hooray.

And once I opened the bottles in the shower and used the products it was like coming home. It's so obvious high quality products, the Awapuhi shampoo has a delicious scent and the Detangler is still one of few conditioners that works well on my hair. I always end up looking like Ronia Robbersdaughter anyway, but for a while there's sleek softness and less bristle. The apple gel helps to tame too. Classic animal friendly products still going strong.



Had the chance to try this vegan hair care range from Swedish brand disp. last year. First of all, the design of the bottles looks very cheap and outdated to me. The prices however is nothing but cheap. Hydrating shampoo and Conditioner plus a Healing mist. The scent of them all is very strong, luckily it's amazing, think fruit salad and exotic flowers with a dash of sweets shop. The shampoo is alright, but I wouldn't buy it again, for that price it needs to be great. The conditioner is rubbish, turned my hair into dry steel wool.



I was really sceptical about the Healing mist, seems like a pretty superfluous product (but I guess you might need it after that conditioner experience...) to me. But guess what, it's lovely. Smells great, obviously, tames the wisps and makes them soft. I will definitely buy this product again, as I know the interior is something quite different from the ugly exterior.

Last but definitely not least there's the Swedish vegan brand Maria Nila - "Animals fill our lives with joy and laughter, and should therefore never be a part of a beautyproduct." They also climate compensate their packaging and plant a tree in Africa for every bottle sold. I'm happy to say that care for animals and the environment is matched by the content in the pretty bottles. Just with the Paul Mitchell products you can tell it's high quality from the first lovely scented dollop.

I thought the True Soft-series would be good for my hair and it really has been. The Head & Hair Heal masque I got only because the True Soft one wasn't available, and it's great. Even though the scent is a bit too after shave-ish for me. Next time I'll go all True Soft.

Funny thing is that it actually does make wonder for the softness of hair. Was talking with a friend about patronizing behaviour and she illustrated it with patting me on my head - and going a surprised "Gosh, how soft your hair is!" Where upon my reply naturally was "Yes, of course, True soft it is."

I'm pretty certain I can thank the fabulous soft haircare products for the recent few great job meetings I've had - I and my super soft hair, irresistable we are.

What are your favourite animal friendly hair care products?

the christmas soaps are back

Just like last year Swedish soap company Gunry has released liquid soaps with Christmassy scents. This time with two new scents Hollyoak Cranberry plus Apple Cinnamon, the Hollyoak Cranberry smells like cheap aftershave unfortunately, but the Apple Cinnaon is really lovely.

So far I haven't seen the wonderful Candycane one from last year, but I've heard it's still around.

the maypole soap from lush

A beautiful soap in my favourite colour combo pink and green, obviously screamed my name. It smells wonderful in a bubblegum way too. A happy soap named Maypole from Lush.

diy foot or bath salt

Seven years ago (!) I attended a December event at Rosendal's Garden to learn about how to make your own natural skincare products. It was lovely, but admittedly I have not practised a lot of the things we learnt. Apart from a few foot and bath salts I've given as gifts.

It had been a long long time since I last made one when I suddenly realised I had every ingredient home already to make a jar of it - it's basically, as I remembered it, the same ingredients in both foot and bath salt depending on what you want them to achieve and which herbs and essential oils you use.

I gave this jar as a little homemade, sweet-scented birthday gift to my friend over our brunch and this is what ingredients I used:

:: sea salt
:: dried mint
:: dried rose petals
:: drops of organic essential oils - orange, ginger, cardamom

Mix in a pleasing to the eye way in a clear jar (glass or plastic) with a secure lid. It smells wonderful, and with these essential oils very Christmassy. 

Happy pottering!

hurraw! lip balm again

Yes I know, I've written about hurraw! lip balm twice, but still it's a great product and it's that time of the year when the lips (and pretty much everything else) need extra care and kindness. Vegan product and of excellent quality. Not to mention lovely scents - my favourite is still the first one I got, chocolate.

But if you're a liquorice lover you certainly won't be disappointed by that one.

The tinted black cherry is fine, but to be honest I then prefer lipstick over a tinted balm. Lemon is my latest stick, nice but perhaps a bit too cleaning product-y scent for me.

What's your favourite lip balm?

PS If you are a cat, the sticks are great for scratching against too. At least when hold by human. DS

the cat approach to the summer season

Yes, cats ARE marvellous sources of inspiration and enjoyers of the simple and magic things in life. 

But sometimes you do need to question their priorities, when there is such beauty and gorgeous scents around they end up doing the silliest things. Like only cats do.

it is the time of lilies of the valley 2015

Enjoy the gorgeous time of the year, don't forget to smell the flowers ~

lemon bread and grapefruit butter

A sourdough thyme bread with a hint of lemon that looks like a tiny sun. A little work of bread art. From a new (to me) bakery (Du bon pain = Gott bröd = Good bread) and oh my was it tasty! Made for the perfect Long Friday breakfast sandwiches. And enjoyed by paw inspectors too.

As for the grapefruit butter, well I wouldn't recommend anyone to spread this kind of butter on bread. Since body butter it is. Kiehl's fantastic creme de corps now apparently comes in the shape of body butter too. And scented versions. Since I'm a great fan of the grapefruit scent - or let's stick to one of my favourite words pamplemousse, shall we? - I knew I had to get a jar when I sniffed it. Will be perfect for my still dry winter skin I'm sure. And who doesn't enjoy the scent of pamplemousse?

 

Correct answer to that question would most likely be: the cats.