NATURE COMPLETE'S CHLORELLA & SPIRULINA

Feel in need of a health boost? Nature Complete is a UK company that produce certified organic Spirulina and Chlorella. Spirulina and Chlorella are two superfoods that boast an abundance of vitamins and minerals. Nature Complex sell the duo both together as a combined item, and individually. There are many supposed health benefits of Chlorella & Spirulina. The former is said to boost the immune system and detoxify the body. I actually first tried the Chlorella & Spirulina powder while having a cold and my cold did seem a lot less intense and vicious than usual, going a lot quicker and making me feel a lot better faster. Spirulina is said to give more energy. Both Spirulina and Chlorella include iron, potassium, magnesium and zinc (and other
beneficial minerals) which help the body stay in good working order. These minerals can help produce new cells, keep muscle healthy, prevent osteoporosis and lower blood pressure amongst other things. Chlorella & Spirulina also include various vitamins including B12 and Vitamin E which we can all do with and help maintain healthy skin and keep the nervous system healthy. If you're one of those people that tends not to eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, don't have a balanced diet and may be missing out on certain vitamins and minerals then Chlorella and/or Spirulina could be worth picking up. In fact there are even books you can buy that state how Chlorella &
Spirulina can help improve your health. Sounds good, huh? Nature Complete's Chlorella & Spirulina are certified organic and suitable for vegans, approved by The Vegan Society and available in powder, tablet or capsule form. Visit www.naturecomplete.com for more info.

BAREFACED BEAUTY BRUSHES

BareFaced Beauty have some new make-up brushes available. Some brushes on the market are made using horse hair, although of course BareFaced Beauty do not use animal products in their brushes, they are made with 100% synthetic bristles. We particularly like their pump-actioned dispensing brush (picture above left). Priced at £15, you put in your loose mineral face powder and can brush it over your face straight from the brush, using the pump at the end. BareFaced Beauty also has a cheaper non-pump actioned dispensing brush for £10. If you'd prefer you can buy Kabuki brushes which hold mineral powder well and help provide perfect, flawless coverage. BareFaced Beauty also sell a lip brush, concealer brush and angled shadow and liner brush. These brushes all look very professional and do a great job. Visit BareFaced Beauty's website at www.barefacedbeauty.co.uk

BEAR

Bears aren’t just cute animals, they’re also the name of some healthy treats made by a UK company. They come in three types – Granola Nibbles, Fruit Nibbles and Yo Yos. The Yo Yos are made from 100% fruit, squished into flat strips and rolled around making them look like yo yos. The only thing is, they probably won’t bounce back if you try and make them actually yo yo! They are super-cute though, and these fruity treats will be ones kids love as well as their parents. All ages will be enraptured by Bear’s Yo Yos. In fact maybe instead you’ll be yo yoing back and forth to the shops to buy more! Bear’s Granola Nibbles are as their name suggests granola pieces in a packet with added fruity bits while the Fruit Nibbles are tasty slow baked fruit pieces. Each packet is under 100 calories. The people behind Bear care about the environment and use papery packaging that can be recycled. They also never freight their fruit by air. For more info check out www.bearnibbles.co.uk. You can find Bear in health food stores as well as Asda, Boots, Waitrose and more.  

MANIC PANIC

Manic Panic have been making Goths happy for years. Created by Tish and Snooky, Manic Panic is a cosmetics and hair colour brand based in the US, New York to be exact… but that is sweeping the globe. Beginning in the 70s, the brand is still going strong as goths, punks, rockers and others buy their products online and in stores. Constantly updating, Manic Panic now have unleashed a new collection entitled ‘Creature Of The Night’. You can choose to buy items individually or as a kit. The above pic is of their ‘Final Curtain’ kit, a purple and black based kit which includes everything you need to get ready for a night out. There are eye colours, lip colours, brushes, face powder, sponge applicator, a mirror, and even a pair of fake eyelashes. Plus 3 cards giving application tips. All for only $20 (that’s around £12 in UK pounds). What is the best thing of all is that Manic Panic do not test on animals and their products are suitable for vegans. For vampire lovers, you can opt for the ‘Knock ‘Em Dead’ kit which has the same products but with red and black lipstick instead of purple and black. You can also buy ‘eye kits’ or ‘lip kits’ for $12. And they do some fangtastic purple, black, black glitter and red and black glitter nail varnish for only $4. If you’re unsure what to buy a rocker friend for Christmas, a Creature Of The Night kit would be absolutely purr-fect! Check www.manicpaniccollection.com for more info.

NAKD / TREK

Natural Balance Foods is the UK based company that makes Nakd and TREK bars, healthy snacks that are good for you at the same time as tasting good. Their TREK bars are packed with protein. Their flapjacks are a must-try with 10g of protein in every bar. They come in two tasty flavours - Oat Crunch and Cherry Crunch. TREK’s energy bars go 1g more with 11g of protein in every bar and help you up when your body is a little bit down. The energy bars are low on fat too, so you don’t need to watch your waist. Natural Balance Foods’ Nakd bars in comparison are lighter in protein but equally full of goodness, as they’re a mixture of just raw fruit and nuts smooshed together. They come in a range of flavours such as Cocoa Orange which tastes similar to chocolate orange, Ginger Bread (nice and gingery), Pecan Pie, Berry Delight and Cashew Cookie. These bars are sweet and succulent but have no added sugar or syrup. They’re also gluten, wheat and dairy free. We love the fact that they have 100% natural ingredients, are filling yet taste great. There’s also a range of Nakd raisins which are fruit flavour-infused raisins. You can get cherry, lemon, pineapple or orange flavour. The flavours make raisins that much more exciting and edible. Our favourite is the cherry flavour although you may prefer one of the others. Visit www.naturalbalancefoods.co.uk for more information. They also have an online store so you can order from them directly and support organisations such as Animal Aid, even picturing Animal Aid’s logo on the back and giving a percentage of their sales to them.

STEAMCREAM

SteamCream is a super-hydrating cream made for your face or body. In a snow white colour and a jazzy tin, SteamCream cost £12.95 in the UK. The production process of this cream uses steam (hence its name), which allows the cream to be absorbed into your skin. It’s not too thick and sticky like some cream – you can almost feel your skin drinking it! SteamCream is fresh and handmade using ingredients such as oatmeal infusion, almond oil and orange blossom water and has a lavendar-ish fragrance. SteamCream are constantly changing the art on their tins to make limited edition items. Although the cream itself only comes in one standard version, there’s a myriad of different tins – from leopard patterned to the UK jack tin to flowers and animal inspired tins. They are very cute and you just may want to collect them and re-use them when you've used up all of the cream. The tins are 75ml sized so they're not too big and not too small. Check www.steamcream.co.uk for more info and to order. SteamCream is vegan and has the vegan symbol on each tin.

THE CHOCOLATE WENDY HOUSE

Chocolate Wendy House is an independent chocolate producer courtesy of Wendy, based in Birmingham. Wendy is the maker of some excellent vegan chocolate products. The most notable is her cream eggs which we reckon are 10 times better than Cadbury’s. They are simply delectable and have no animal products in them. They look very similar to Cadbury’s Crème Eggs, wrapped in foil and even have a vegan yolkiness inside. They come in an original flavour and a peppermint flavour. These cost £1.20 each and can be bought from the Chocolate Wendy House website or local stockists such as the One Earth Shop in Digbeth. Aside from the cream eggs, which need to be first on your list to try, Wendy also sells chocolate rabbits, truffles, Santas, hearts and Easter eggs. Wendy has been vegan since 1995 for ethical reasons and decided to make vegan chocolate products for folk that didn’t want to (or couldn’t) eat milk chocolate. She proves that vegans do not have to miss out on any delicious treats and that we can eat the same things as non-vegans, except with no animal cruelty in sight. Visit www.chocolatewendyhouse.co.uk for more info and to order.

LEGACY GUITAR STRAPS

Play guitar? You may be interested in Legacy’s vegan guitar straps. Legacy is a US based company that has been producing quality guitar straps since 1972. Their guitar straps are made from synthetic poly and natural cotton webbings – so those of you that want a nice cruelty-free guitar strap can feel safe in the knowledge that you don’t have part of an animal draped over your shoulder. The company makes an abundance of designs from tie-dye straps to Christian design straps. There are plain coloured straps to straps with checkered or skull designs. The ends of the straps feature synthetic leather ends, so they’re sturdy but not cruel. Legacy also make saxophone straps and trumpet valve guards. Although based in the USA, they ship anywhere and are very economical. Check www.legacystraps.com for more info.  

BLACK VELVET MAGAZINE - ISSUE 62

The latest issue of Black Velvet - issue 62 - is probably the best issue for vegans. There's a 2 page interview with vegan band Propagandhi. They're asked about some of their animal rights related songs, being vegan and all sorts of inspiring things. Elsewhere there's an interview with Brody Dalle of Spinnerette (ex-The Distillers), who is also vegan. Although a bulk of the interview focuses on her new band Spinnerette she's also asked about being vegan and what she thinks of various animal cruelty practices such as factory farms, dog fighting, fur, bullfighting and fishing. She is definitely against all of them - as you can read in the issue. Then there's an interview with Phil Collen of Def Leppard who is also working on his side project Man Raze. Black Velvet talks to him about Man Raze, music and meat! Phil calls meat a 'bloody, bleeding rack of ribs' and questions people who work in slaughterhouses. Black Velvet is only £2.10 plus delivery. You can order copies online from http://www.ethicalwares.com and http://www.fourdogsmusic.co.uk and have it delivered to your house. Or check www.blackvelvetmagazine.com for more info. Subscriptions are only £8 for 4 issues including delivery.

ECO LIPS

Now that the nights are drawing in and winter is upon us, we know you'll soon be in need of a lip balm to keep those lips nice and soft. Well, look no further than Eco Lips 'Bee Free'. This particular lip balm is cruelty free, with no beeswax in, and is made with rich organic ingredients. It's a lemon-lime 'flavour' although is not too strong. The Eco Lips team are also working on a second 'Bee Free' flavour - pomegranate - which we also tested and gets the thumbs up as well. The best thing about Eco Lips 'Bee Free' lip balm is that it is very smooth and glides on wonderfully. It really makes your lips feel great. You can buy the lip balm with or without an eco clip which enables you to then clip your lip balm to a bag, belt or anywhere else for easy carrying. Although Eco Lips do other flavour lip balms the 'Bee Free' is the only 100% vegan one. We think this is the only one you really need though! For more info visit www.ecolips.com

BUTE ISLAND SHEESE

Say sheese! Sheese is a brand of soya cheese made by Bute Island Foods up in the Isle Of Bute in Scotland. One thing that a lot of non-vegans don't realise is how much vegan cheese is available. Bute Island's Sheese is one of our favourites and one you ought to try yourself if you haven't already. The range features both hard blocks of cheese and soft cream cheese. The range is growing with flavours such as medium cheddar, mozzarella style, cheshire style for the blocks and garlic and herb, original creamy and cheddar style cream cheese.We especially like Sheese in our cold sandwiches although you can use Sheese when making cheese on toast, pizza or other items incorporating cheese. Bute Island recently won Viva!'s prestigious 'Best Vegan Cheese' and 'Best Vegan Products' awards in 2009 as well as being crowned 'Best Vegan Manufacturer' in Yaoh's 2009 Environmental Awards. Not only that but this soya cheese has actually been eaten in the Big Brother House! When Jermaine Jackson and Dirk Benedict appeared on Celebrity Big Brother, Sheese was requested for them to eat. You can find Sheese in independent health stores in the UK and online stores such as www.goodnessdirect.co.uk, and some branches of Wholefoods in the US are now also stocking this range of non-dairy cheese. There is really no need to eat cheese made from animal products when you can get the likes of Sheese. Sheese is definitely the bee's knees! Visit www.buteisland.com for more info.

TECHNIC & BODY COLLECTION

Technic and Body Collection cosmetics have been around for years. You can find them in high street stores at cheap prices. But did you know they are not tested on animals, and also, a large number of their items are vegan? Dr Hadwen Trust (who fund humane research) used to even sell some Technic and Body Collection items in their cruelty-free catalogue, when the catalogue was around. Now there is a special website - www.lovethymakeup.com - made by Badqequo, the company that produce Technic and Body Collection - where you can buy all your Technic and Body Collection items online and have them delivered to your house. The best thing is, the prices are still super-cheap and even the postage rates are low. These are two of the cheapest ranges of make-up that you'll find anywhere in the UK. The website even has an 'Animal Friendly' page (click here) so you can read confirmation of the company's animal-friendly stature. The page even tells you which aren't AREN'T vegan - so vegans know which to avoid. Technic and Body Collection's products look great both in their packaging and on your body! Whether you want black or blood red nail varnish, pastel pink lipstick, black liquid eyeliner, some plumping lip gloss or any of their other items, you will be pleased with the end result. There aren't many cruelty free/vegan lipsticks for less than £2, or 4 colour eye palettes for less than £1.50. Hmmm, maybe I should buy ten!

Both Technic and Body Collection even sell vegan-friendly false eyelashes. Body Collection's eyelashes come in three different styles while Technic's flashy eyelashes come in three colours. When I tried the Technic flashy eyelashes I almost felt like Jordan! They are definitely eye-catching and will give you an added glamour. They are priced at £2.99 and come with their own small tube of glue. You can find them at https://www.techniccosmetics.com/ or in a Bodycare store near you. Remember, you can be glamorous AND cruelty free with products such as Technic and Body Collection.

TINTS OF NATURE

Many hair colourants that you'll find in high street stores are tested on animals. Tints of Nature however, is a range of hair colour and lightener that isn't. Made by Herb UK, Tints Of Nature is the natural way to colour hair. Tints of Nature's permanent hair colour range includes black, shades of brown, blonde, red and copper. You can also buy Tints of Nature highlighting or lightening kits, which are ammonia, resorcinol and paraben free. The lightening kits include lightening powder, cream activator, plus protective oil, as well as 10ml of shampoo and 10ml of condition for your post lightening needs. The lightening kit did a great job and bleached the hair as well as any other lightening kit you'll find around. And I'm now sporting a streak of permanent black, which looks awesome, if I may say so myself! You can find out more about Tints of Nature by going to http://www.tintsofnature.com

ECOTRONIC PENGUIN TORCH

ECO-STAPLER

While we're in funky gadget mode, let's check out the eco-stapler. If you work in an office, or even if you don't but sometimes need to staple a few pieces of paper together, then the Eco-Stapler is a pretty good item. You don't need to buy staplers so it's kinder to the environment. Instead it has a mechanism inside of itself that makes a small hole in the paper and makes a sort of origami fold to keep the paper together. The only slight downfall is that it does make a little hole in your paper, but the hole isn't very big - it's about the length that a regular staple would be (see the small pic on the packaging in the photo above). It can also only attach about 3 sheets together maximum, so isn't good for bigger piles of paper. That said, it's only £5 and it does save you buying staples, especially if you want to staple the odd piece of paper to another. You can order online from www.alternativestores.com. Apparently, if everyone in UK offices saved one staple per day that would be 72 tonnes of metal saved a year. So why not do your bit and get one?

ANIMAL FREE SHOPPER

If you're thinking about becoming vegan or are a new vegan (or even if you've been vegan for ages already) then the Animal Free Shopper is just for you. It is one of the most helpful books ever. It is a pocket-sized 426 page (ie. very thick!) book that lists many of the food, drink, toiletries, health care and other items that are vegan in the UK. Each section has various sub-sections. For example, you may want to check which vegan cheese is available in the UK - so you head to the Cheese section and there you will find a list of the companies that make vegan cheese - with the individual types listed underneath each name. If you want to know which soaps are suitable for vegans, head to the Soap category in the Toiletries section and there you'll find another big list. Towards the back the book also lists supermarkets' own products. For example, there are nine different types of biscuits at Somerfields listed as suitable for vegans, while Asda sells 14 different types of their own brand of savoury snacks suitable for vegans. At the front of the book you'll find information on various animal by-products, E numbers that are possibly animal derived and information on healthy eating for vegans. There's also a list of vegan-friendly websites and books recommended for reading. The Animal Free Shopper is produced by The Vegan Society and the latest edition is the 8th edition, featuring many new and updated listings following on from past editions. With the help of a book like this it is a doddle to be vegan. In fact everyone who's not vegan ought to get one of these books just to be astounded at how many products vegans can eat! What's more, the book is only £4.99 - which is a real bargain. Visit www.vegansociety.com and order one!

VEG 1 - MULTIVITAMINS

Worried you're not getting enough vitamins? Feeling a bit run down? Does your body crave more nutrients? Think you might have a deficiency and want to boost your body's wellbeing? Then order a tub of VEG 1. These are multivitamins with no animal ingredients included. Each tablet contains vitamin B2, B6, B12, vitamin D, folic acid and iodine. The best thing about these multivitamins is that they actually taste good - unlike some other multivitamins we've tasted! These you can pop in your mouth and chew and they don't make you heave! They're sold by The Vegan Society and you can order them online at www.vegansociety.com. Priced at only £4.99 plus postage for 90 tablets, these are cheaper than many other multivitamins too. If you take one every day, that means each tub contains three months supply for an adult and six months supply for children under 12.

BAREFACED BEAUTY

METHOD - ALL PURPOSE NON-TOXIC CLEANER

We love companies that state 'We're Against Animal Testing' on the very front of their products. This makes life so much easier! Method is the company that produce a range of household products from cleaners to cloths. Of course they are vegan and cruelty free unlike some household items (products like Dettol and Flash for example are made by companies that test on animals - so we recommend you avoid those and buy Method instead). Top of our list is the All Purpose Cleaner (pictured above) which not only does a good job but it looks great too (its lilac colour actually matches the inside of my house!) You can use this to clean pretty much anything. Ingredients include natural items such as coconut and corn and lavender oil is added to give the cleaner a refreshing nice aroma. The cleaner labelling states 'We are against chemical dependency. Harsh chemicals aren't just bad for your home, but for you and your family as well'. Originating in the USA, Method has now found its way over to the UK and products can be found in Tesco, John Lewis, B&Q, Waitrose and other retail stores as well as the company's own website, www.methodproducts.co.uk.

ORGANICA

Vegan Organica's Hazelnut Nougat & Dark Chocolate and Golden Coconut & Dark Chocolate bars are deeeeee-licious! We actually discovered Organica years ago upon first becoming vegan, although not being a fan of nuts always avoided the Hazelnut Nougat & Dark Chocolate bar. Every time we bought some we'd just buy the Golden Coconut & Dark Chocolate ones. Ever wanted to kick yourself profusely? Finally, at long last, we gave a Hazelnut Nougat bar a try - and damn, they taste sooooo good! All these years and we've been missing out on such goodness! The hazelnut taste is not too strong so if you're not a fan of nuts don't let that put you off - the bars are chewy and tasty! Now we can't get enough of them. If you've never tried them we totally recommend you do ASAP. You can find more info on Organica's chocolate bars (they do a luxury variety too) and other products made by the awesome Venture Foods at www.seriouslyvegan.co.uk. You can also find them in many independent health food stores and vegan stores.

HERBIVORE RESTAURANT

While I was in San Francisco for Warped Tour I ended up having a wander around near my hotel. I had a printed out list of vegan/vegetarian restaurants and the nearest one appeared to be Herbivore. It turned out to be about a 5 minute walk from my hotel. It's a shame I was only in San Francisco for two days (the second of which was the day-long warped Tour) as I would definitely had gone back again. When I went in they were very busy. The waitress was very friendly and they brought my order pretty quickly (I was expecting it to take longer than it did). Being that I'm a boring but picky eater I just had the homemade veggie burger with fries, a soy cocoa (which was soooooo good) and I took a donut, chocolate cake and vanilla shake back to my hotel with me (you can take out any of the food). The prices were good too. As I said, I would definitely go back again. They have more than one location - the one I went to was the Valencia branch. If you're in the area definitely make Herbivore a stop in your itinerary.