FREEDOM MALLOWS

The newest, hottest marshmallows on the block are Vegetarian Freedom Mallows. The bag may say Vegetarian but they are definitely vegan. We love the packaging as it's cute and enticing for kids with little cartoon bunnies on the front, plus all the info you need - such as 'dairy free', 'gelatin free', 'fat free', 'all natural flavors' and 'all natural colors' (American spelling there, despite Freedom Mallows being made in Manchester!). These vegan-friendly marshmallows are the cheapest we've seen - they're available to buy from a variety of stores plus their own website, www.freedommallows.com. The vanilla marshmallows are super-delicious and melt in your mouth and we'd eaten a whole packet in about 1 minute! They taste exactly like 'real marshmallows', or flumps - remember them? Give them a non-vegan/veggie friend and they'll think they're eating a normal marshmallow. The 75kg packet is not too big and not too small. If you have a kid that's always badgering you for some sweets, this size bag is just right, as they won't eat too much in one go yet it will keep them happy and satisfied. It's easy to put a packet in a handbag or school bag to take out and about - a bit like a big packet of crisps, but way more exciting! The packaging of the bag makes the marshmallows last longer than some vegan marshmallows that you have to put in the fridge and eat quickly - not that you'll want to leave these alone for very long.

All in all, we love these and if you haven't tried them, you should. We hope to see Freedom Mallows in more and more stores, and we're definitely going to keep buying them. Follow them on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Freedommallows or add them on Facebook HERE.

LUCY'S COOKIES

Since we're currently celebrating the animal testing ban for cosmetics coming into operation in the EU (finally!), we figured we'd celebrate in style – with Lucy’s Cookies.
WARNING! If you have not tasted Lucy’s Cookies, be prepared – they are supremely addictive! Lucy’s Cookies are the tastiest things you’ll have tried in ages. They are simply sumptuous.
Lucy's Cookies are made in the US. Dr. Lucy Gibney is the brain behind the cookies, who when discovering her child had allergies, set out to make some 'free from' cookies that her child could eat. Lucy's Cookies are gluten free and vegan. They also contain no peanuts or tree nuts. They come in a variety of flavours:

- The Sugar Cookies are basking in sugar. If you have a sweet tooth, these will suffice.  
- Ginger cookies are nicely ginger - although not has hard and tough to bite into as some ginger biscuits. They're very crunchy.
- Cinnamon Thins are our fave flavour. Words can't describe how delish they. One bite and we were hooked.
- Choc chip have nice chips of vegan choc in. If you miss good chocolate chip cookies, these are the ones for you. 
- The Chocolate cookies are brown and flavoured with chocolate but have no actual whole chips in them. Scrummy!
- Maple tastes of maple. Not too overpowering, probably not our favourite flavour if we had to choose (yep, Cinnamon Thins won), but these are still good and make a great addition to one's stomach.
- Oatmeal are oaty... obviously! And also get the thumbs up. We're out of superlatives. They're all amazing.

The cookies come in two sizes - handy small packets which contain 4 cookies and are good for on the go as a snack (a bit like a packet of crisps, but with crunchy biscuits in!) and boxes which contain 10. They proudly state 'gluten free & vegan' on the front and have a nice 'certified vegan' stamp also showing. They're also all natural, kosher, non GMO and have no cholesterol and no trans fat in them. Basically, a dream cookie. We also love the fact that they also state on the back that they are made in their own carefully controlled bakery and 'as an added precaution we test for trace amounts of milk, egg, gluten, peanut and almond' - so you know you won't even find a speck of one of those in these cookies. If you've never tried them, you must. You won't believe your tongue when you taste how good they are. Lucy's Cookies US website is at www.drlucys.com for anyone on that side of the pond, or that wants even more info.

PEPPERSMITH MINTS

It's always good to have a packet of mints on you. You never know when one of your meat-eating friends may stand too close and breathe horse breath on you. It's times like this when having a little packet of Peppersmith in your pocket will do a good deed on all accounts - they'll love a free sweet, and you won't have to grimace at the pong. Actually, I like to carry a packet of mints to freshen my own breath when need be too. You've got to be prepared at all times in case the love of your life comes along, right?! And Peppersmith come in nice, cute little eco-friendly boxes. There are mints out there in bigger packets that may cost a little less, but these fit nicely into your pocket or mini handbag and don't take up too much space. The packaging keeps them secure too. They're almost like a vegan Tic-Tac... but different! We like the fact they're sugar free but without aspartame, artificial flavours or preservatives. They're very natural and also, according to the packet, help reduce plaque and the risk of tooth decay. They come in two flavours - Fine English Peppermint and Sicilian Lemon and Fine English Peppermint. Both taste great and have less than two calories per mint. We noticed that Holland & Barrett are selling these for £1.99 a packet, but you can order them from Lakeside Ethical Treats for £1.49. Goodness Direct now also sell Peppersmith too.

BRAW

Similar to Nakd, Braw are healthy bars that are fruity and tasty. Braw combine fruit with gluten-free oats and currently come in cocoa & orange, apple & pear, blackcurrant and strawberry flavours. The cocoa & orange ones remind us of Nakd's cocoa & orange bar although our faves are the Strawberry and Apple & Pear flavours. They're chewy and tasty and make a great snack as they are fairly low in fat, ranging from 1.83g to 2.12g per bar. We like the bright coloured packaging, which will appeal to kids and make a nice addition to everyone's lunchbox. Braw bars are 100% natural and made in Scotland. Reading the ingredients, besides the smooshed fruit and oats, they also contain vegetable fibre and flax seed - so if you're in need of a bit of extra fibre these help with that too. Braw are a new company but we think they will have a healthy future - and their products will help others have a healthy future too. You can order directly from their website over at www.brawfood.co.uk or find them in selective stores such as Goodness Direct where they are 89p each. We hope to see them in more and more stores over the coming months. Add them on Facebook over at https://www.facebook.com/Brawfood.

LIVING NATURALLY SOAPNUTS

Have you tried Soapnuts yet? Soapnuts are nuts that clean your clothes. No, it's not a nickname for your mom, these are actual nuts that you put in a bag that then goes on top of your laundry in the washing machine and spin around with your clothes cleaning them. They're almost like magic fairies that come to life when you're not looking... they really DO clean your clothes. We have been trying these Soapnut Shells for the past couple of weeks and have been amazed. You now no longer need washing powder with chemicals and weird things in. All you need is 4 or 5 soapnuts and they'll do the job for you. Living Naturally produce dried nut shells that are full of soap. You can buy them in cardboard tubs, big muslin bags or even as soapnut powder (if you do prefer powder) in small brown bags. One tub of soapnuts as in the pic above can last 55 washes. You may wonder how nuts can clean your clothes but they really do. Your clothes will come out of the washing machine completely stain free and clean and smelling fresh - as clean and fresh as any chemical-laden detergent. Living Naturally do also sell bicarbonate of soda which can also help with stains if you have anything particularly dirty, and if you've spilt any wine, blood (oops!), grease or other stubborn stains and liquids, you may be interested in the solid stain remover which also does a grand job! Soapnuts are 100% natural, vegan, cruelty-free, paraben-free, biodegradable and hypoallergenic. Using these instead of washing powder with chemicals and all sorts in can help calm eczema and other skin problems as they're completely natural. They're also more cost-effective than a lot of washing detergent. Some brands of washing powder can give you 50 washes for £12, but Soapnuts can give you 55 washes for £5.99 plus delivery - or a huge 1kg bag for £11 that will last a whopping 260 washes!

Living Naturally also sell soap and solid shampoo made from nuts! And if you want your laundry to have a fragrance, you can buy essential oils as well. Check www.soapnuts.co.uk for more info. You'd be a nut not to try them!

MOZZARISELLA

It's quite exciting to be vegan at the moment. More and more vegan products are being invented and produced. When any non-vegans ask, "What do you eat?" it's hard to know where to start. We eat so many things that they don't even know exist! In some ways it's sad, because they're missing out on such awesomeness. Take MozzaRisella for instance. This is a new alternative to cheese made by rice! Who knew that you could even buy a cheese made from rice? MozzaRisella is made in Italy. At the moment it's only on sale in a small number of UK vegan stores (mostly in London at the moment), but the company are hoping to increase that in the new future. To be honest, it doesn't taste tooooo much like cheese - or at least, the cheese that you're used to, but it's great that there is another new alternative, something new to try. It comes in blocks as MozzaRisella - small or large, and also as a creamier 'CreamyRisella', as a cream cheese replacement. It does have a rice flavouring, it's a little whiter in colouring than a lot of cheese and it has a soft stickier texture. It is probably the healthiest 'cheese' available, having 0% cholesterol, preservatives, gluten or food colourings. It has no soya or GMO either. Worth trying - especially if you like anything ricey! It personally isn't my fave cheese - I think I prefer a cheddary soya taste and a harder texture, but rice fans will no doubt love it. You can find out more by checking their website - www.mozzarisella.co.uk or liking them on Facebook over at https://www.facebook.com/pages/MozzaRisella-Rice-Cheese/178583275527588

REDWOOD CHEEZLY & TOMATO PIZZA

My most favourite food in the whole world has always been cheese & tomato pizza. Well, alongside with crisps. It's tough to decide which is better than the other. I can't do without either. When I became vegan nearly 10 years ago the one thing I knew I'd miss was cheese & tomato pizza. I lived on them. For a while it was hard... well, it wasn't that hard, but you had to eat other food and forget pizzas ever existed... Then came Redwood's super-melting Cheezly which made it easier to make your own soya cheese pizza. I regularly make my own cheese & tomato pizza using a supermarket's own pizza base mix, some tomato puree and then Redwood Cheezly on top. Finally, 2012 has just seen our dreams come true - The Redwood Wholefood Company has made the first ever UK frozen vegan cheese and tomato pizza available in stores. It is now slowly but surely being added to more stores. Holland & Barrett had the pizza in a few stores - but not all. Goodness Direct will be selling them from the beginning of July - and you can now also buy them online from Redwood's own online store.

The pizza itself... upon first bite, the base is quite crispy and crunchy. It's not a thin base, but it's not too thick either. The cheese seems to override the tomato... the tomato dries out a bit, so it doesn't come across as very tomatoey. I'm not sure whether I prefer my own cheese & tomato pizzas to this one... Through trial and error I'd kind of reached a veritable standard of vegan cheese & tomato pizza and found a mix of two different tomato purees did the best job. Plus recently I'd discovered a vegan-friendly deep-pan pizza base that also tastes awesome... So... Redwood's Cheezly and tomato pizzas are most definitely edible - and they finally fill the gap that was vegan cheese pizzas in a store, although as a cheese pizza connoisseur, I would personally add maybe more tomato to the pizza, if I was producing the pizzas myself. That said, it is AMAZING to be able to buy these pizzas (there are two other varieties which I haven't reviewed) and monster thanks to Redwood for realising how many people actually want a ready-made vegan cheese pizza that we can buy in a store. This is another reason to go vegan and proof that vegans can buy virtually the same products that non-vegans can, but without the cruelty. If you're not vegan, try the pizzas and let us know what you think.

Holland and Barrett's price was £2.49 for these Cheezly & tomato pizzas. If you can't find them in a store near you, you can order them online from Redwood directly at £2.78 each. Click THIS LINK to go to Redwood's website.

PHB (ETHICAL BEAUTY)

Whether you want moisturisers, face masks, shampoo, body scrubs, eyeshadow or lipstick, PHB’s range has it all. We decided to try out some of their Anti-Aging items first – also known as Elixir Of Youth. We chose the PHB Elixir Of Youth Hyaluronic Acid Serum, the PHB Elixir Of Youth Wrinkle Reducing Eye Conditioning Treatment and the PHB Elixir Of Youth Anti-Aging Moisturiser pictured above (they also sell an Anti-Aging Face Wash, Cleanser, Toner and Face Mask) – all very tempting due to their names (we need to reduce those wrinkles!). Prices for these are between £10 and £15, depending on the item. Our favourite is probably the Hyaluronic Acid Serum which does seem to reduce wrinkles (we tried it on our forehead). I’ve never really been a fan of serum but this one sinks into your skin nicely without leaving a stickiness and does a good job smoothing out the skin. It includes green tea and vitamins which protects collagen in the skin and fights skin aging free-radicals.

The Anti-Aging Moisturiser (the jar says Skin Nourishment) is a fairly thick cream – although not TOO thick. The cream is packed into the jar right up to the very top. It moisturises the skin well, while the Conditioning Eye Treatment comes in a tin as a transparent serum/gel (I was expecting it to be a cream and then surprised to find a gel inside!). You can feel the serum tightening your eye area although it leaves the skin soft and hydrated. As far as beauty items that say they can reduce wrinkles, these items seem pretty good. Although it's too early for me to comment on the long-lasting results, they appear to do as good a job temporarily and are as good if not better than most of the anti-aging items you’ll find in the high street or anywhere else, and are not too expensive.

Visit www.phbethicalbeauty.co.uk for more info.

TESCO FREE FROM ALMOND & HAZELNUT MILK

Tesco has recently introduced a new chilled Free From range in a number of branches. We're particularly excited about this as it means that cruelty-free products will be more available to the general public. A lot of people shop in supermarkets and although supermarkets are starting to stock more vegan products, it can still be hard to find them. By having their own brand of chilled Free From food and drink, Tesco is offering its customers a greater choice and one that is beneficial to all. The chilled Free From range is free of dairy, gluten and wheat so anyone with allergies can happily consume these products. Of course they're not JUST for people with allergies. Free From food can show you how tasty food can be even when they don't have certain ingredients in. We tried the Almond milk and Hazelnut milk and it's amazing how tasty these milks are to drink. They show you that you do not need to drink cow's milk... milk made from other sources are equally as tasty and healthy. These days you can buy soya milk, rice milk, coconut milk - and now even almond milk and hazelnut milk! The new Tesco chilled Free From range actually includes all five of these! These milks taste great on their own, whether straight from the carton or in a glass, in coffee, tea or as hot chocolate - and even added to cereal in the morning (I just had some almond milk with my Doves Farm Chocolate Stars and it was perfect!). The almond milk has a nutty/almond taste but not too much, while the Hazelnut milk has an interesting hazelnut taste. One thing vegans may be happy to hear is that it seems this Tesco Free From milk is being made by Alpro for Tesco. Alpro are well known for providing great tasting vegan-friendly milk. This should mean that even though Tesco now has a new range of alternatives to cow's milk, it's not taking all the sales away from Alpro - so even if you choose to buy the Tesco Free From milk, you'll still be keeping the wonderful Alpro is business.

The only sad thing is that the new chilled Free From section is only in a select number of stores at present, as a trial. To see where the nearest store to you selling them is, click HERE. We're hoping that this trial will do well and we can then see the range head to more stores, so even more people can try them out. If they are in a store near you, go and try them out as soon as possible and urge your friends to, too! The chilled Free From range includes soya cheese, yoghurts and more.

MONTEZUMA’S ORGANIC DARK CHOC & COCOA NIBS EASTER ECO-EGG

Since Easter is fast approaching it’s only fair we recommend an Easter Egg. With lots of dairy-free Easter Eggs on the market you’re no doubt spoilt for choice, but one that stood out to us was Montezuma’s Eco-Egg. Montezuma’s are a UK family business based company that sell a wide range of chocolate products. Not all are vegan but they do have a large number of vegan products and these can be found in health stores, online stores and John Lewis stores. They also have five of their own stores (in Winchester, Brighton, Kingston, Chichester and London) and an online shop on their own website. Their Eco-Egg range includes this organic Dark Chocolate with Cocoa Nibs egg, pictured above. Not only is it suitable for vegans but it is super eco-friendly, coming in shell packaging made from 70% post industrial recycled corrugate, 30% of which is made from ordinary newsprint. I should have measured the egg but I ate it too quickly (although the packaging measures approximately 11.25cm (width) x 18.25cm (height) x 10cm depth). The chocolate egg itself has a luxurious taste.. Although there’s nothing inside the egg, the outer chocolate layer is more than enough to satisfy. At £8.99 what you get is quality and taste. Montezuma’s logo includes a star behind the ‘M’ and we think this company are stars for producing this eggsalent vegan and earth-friendly egg. Visit www.montezumas.co.uk for more info and to order.

DOVES FARM CHOCOLATE STARS

Stars shouldn't just be the last thing you see at night... they should be the first thing you wake up to in the morning! Breakfast cereal can often seem a bit boring and bland. Some of them aren’t even vegan. But Doves Farm are the manufacturers of some cute and tasty star shaped cereal – Doves Farm Chocolate Stars. They make breakfast a bit more fun while healthy at the same time, and are perfect for kids and adults alike.  These are crispy, sweet stars with a chocolatey flavour. They taste great both on their own or with milk added (non-dairy obviously!). They are organic and gluten free. They’ve been around a while so aren’t new, although as we’ve never been big cereal eaters we’ve never tried them before now. We can happily confirm that from now on we WILL be eating cereal - well, just these Chocolate Stars - a lot more. You can find Doves Farm Chocolate Stars in supermarkets such as Asda and Sainsburys as well as independent health stores. Doves Farm also make some fantastic biscuits, flapjacks and a variety of flour and yeast. More info can be found at www.dovesfarm.co.uk

THE VEGG

The Vegg is billed as the world's first vegan fried egg. At present, The Vegg is packaged as a mix rather than looking remotely egg-shaped. You add water to the mix to make egg yolk (it's best when blended). You can then pour it over toast or any other food you’d like some egg yolk on. The packet weighs 44.2g and the mix makes a lot of yolk. Just one teaspoon of the mix with added water is enough to cover a number of slices of bread. The mix itself looks like yeast flakes and smells yeasty – which is not surprising considering the fact that fortified nutritional yeast is one of the main ingredients. The Vegg does taste a little eggy, and definitely looks like yellow yolk and when you first mix it with water, the aroma of egg starts to filtrate! If you put it in a blender to mix it into a nice yolk, then put your head in the blender you can definitely smell egg! Just don't put your head in the blender when it's on... that could be a bit dangerous! 10% of the sales are donated to Compassion Over Killing (COK.net) which means that not only do you get something nice to eat, but you’re also helping an animal protection charity. The Vegg can also be used as an egg replacer in cakes, custard and other food. Made over in the States, its first UK stockist is Veggiestuff.com where you can find it priced at £5.50, while those in the US can find it at www.veggiestore.com and www.foodfightgrocery.com while more info can be found at www.thevegg.com or on The Vegg’s facebook page. The Vegg is another step forward for veganism and this product is another alternative that proves that being vegan is not hard at all. Whether you eat eggs and think you could never give them up, or haven’t had one for years and might like to taste something new, it’s worth giving The Vegg a try. It definitely makes a change to have Vegg on toast rather than soya cheese, baked beans or marg! The folk behind The Vegg are now working on making a vegan egg patty for breakfast sandwiches and then will work on a proper fried egg! For now, get yourself The Vegg as it's the closest thing to eating egg that you'll find.

CALICO DRAGON BAGS - *NEW* 'LIVES ARE LOST' DESIGN

Although we've already recommended Calico Dragon Bags, we need to recommend them again. Why? Because they've got some great new designs. We are particularly ecstatic that they're now selling a 'Boycott Animal Testing' bag. This bag is literally amazing. With 'Lives are lost in labs. Boycott Animal Testing' on one side and 'The question is not, "Can they reason?" Nor, "Can they talk?" But rather, "Can they suffer?" - the well known animal rights quote from Jeremy Bentham on the other, we think this is a bag you need to order immediately. With a rabbit and cat pictured on one side and monkey on the other, this will get the message across if you're carrying it while out and about. We will most definitely be carrying this on the World Day for Animals in Laboratories march in April! Calico Dragon Bags' designs are all inspiring - so much work goes into every one of these bags and then money from the sales goes to charity. Plus the new large bags now have a zip inside/along the top - to keep your items safer! They're a good size so can fit a lot in and as we've mentioned before are very sturdy, so you needn't worry how heavy the items you need to carry are - this bag will cope with anything! These large bags also have four smaller pockets as part of the lining inside, one with a zip - to keep hold of smaller items that you may want to put in a specific place. Visit www.calicodragonbags.com for more info and to order! Let's see more of these on the streets spreading the message around more often! PS. Head over to www.saveascream.com/calicodragonbags.htm to read our interview with Calico Dragon Bags founder Candy Brown. Also, add Calico Dragon Bags on Facebook as they sometimes have special offers - www.facebook.com/CalicoDragonBag

LUSH ANGELS ON BARE SKIN

Lush have all sorts of products for your face. There's something for every skin type and a range of tasks that each do. Lush have 11 different cleansers, seven of which are vegan. For years we never used cleansers at all - they always seemed like one of those extra items that you don't really need. However, since trying Lush's Angels On Bare Skin we've discovered the benefit of using a cleanser. For starters, we've noticed that this cleanser not only freshens the skin, but its appearance is renewed. If you have fine lines or wrinkles, it can zap them into oblivion (at least for a short while - unfortunately not permanently) at the same time as softening the skin. Angels On Bare Skin also calms rosacea, giving the skin a toned, more balanced look. Angels On Bare Skin uses ingredients such as ground almonds and lavendar flowers. You only need a small bit which you add water to to create a milk. We actually prefer not to make it too milky as it also exfoliates more when it is less of a liquid and a bit more of a paste. You get a lot in a 100g tub for the price of £5.95 and it last for ages as you only need a little bit each time. Angels On Bare Skin is also good for reducing spots. Get Angels On Bare Skin if you have dry or normal skin while those with greasier skin should try Dark Angels instead. Check https://www.lush.co.uk for more info.

LUSH BUFFY BODY BUTTER

Lush have lots of products to make your skin feel soft but one of the quickest to work is their body butter. Buffy, pictured above, is a moisturising and exfoliating butter that when rubbed over your skin with water makes it silky smooth and soft. This is perfect if you have a boyfriend or husband/partner that you want to impress as he will love the feel of your skin! If you have any bumpy cellulite it can help with that and make your legs, arms and everywhere else look and feel sexy and smooth. Priced at £5.50 per 90g it lasts quite a few baths/washes, and you don't need to use a lot in one go (in fact, if you use too much you may end up feeling too sticky - less is definitely more!). If you don't want a cream moisturiser or lotion, Buffy body butter is a good alternative that gives a long-lasting effect and that your body will relish. Find more info at www.lush.co.uk

MORE ON THE NEXT PAGE

This is the page where we recommend cruelty free items, products and places that you ought to check out and try. There is so much great vegan, cruelty free stuff out there. Below are some of our discoveries and things we give the thumbs up to. If you know of something that we should check out that we haven't so far, email editor@saveascream.com.