Vegan Glutenfree, Sugarfree Christmas Cookies

I really wanted to bake with Faye this year for the fun and also start the tradition of Christmas baking with a rolling pin and cookie cutters.
I know so many great, healthy recipes but they don’t have the right consistency for cookie cutting.

It took a little trial and error and searching the internet until I found a realtively healthy-ish version that worked. I used Banana Flour and Date Syrup and also added some spice :)

Here it is:
(inspired by this recipe at Unconventional Baker)

INGREDIENTS

½ cup coconut oil, softened

½ cup date syrup

½ tsp pure vanilla extract

½ a vanilla bean pod scraped out

a dash of salt

1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon allspice  

2¼ cups gluten-free flour blend you can buy a ready made blend or make your own.
I used: 1 cup Organic Rice Flour, 1 Cup Banana Flour, 1/4 cup corn flour

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. 
Prepare a rolling area with two additional sheets of parchment paper
cookie cutter(s) .

1. Place coconut oil in a large mixing bowl and whip it with a mixer until it’s creamy.
   Add sweetener, vanilla extract and bean, and salt and mix  once again to combine. Add in flour and use a wooden spoon to mix. Then get in there with your hands and mix everything together by working the  dough until you can shape it into a ball {note: the consistency of the dough should not be sticky but should press together  when pinched — be sure to knead it really well first for some time — if it’s a little sticky, add a little more flour (try 1-2 tbsp); if it’s a little dry add a little more sweetener (try 1 tbsp)
   Shape the dough into 2 balls and then flatten each into a disk.

2. Roll out one of the dough balls between two sheets of parchment  paper to ¼” thickness {or thinner or thicker depending on how you want  your cookies to turn out}. Use a cookie cutter to cut out the cookies.  Carefully transfer to a prepared cookie sheets, spacing them ½” apart  {they won’t spread as they bake}. Gather up any dough scraps and repeat  until all dough is used up. Repeat the process with the second dough  ball.

3. Bake in a pre-heated oven for approximately 11-13 minutes, until the edges just begin to become golden. Remove from oven and place on a  cooling rack. {Note: cookies will harden a little within minutes of cooling, so don’t overbake}.
   Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes  and enjoy!

My favourite Vegan Lipsticks

Happy international lipstick day!!!

Out of all my personal makeup, lipstick is possibly my favorite. It's just such a fun product to me. It's less about "faking" or changing the way you look but more about self-expression, color and fun.
A natural lipstick can also be a nice way to hydrate lips and look more polished.
And while I found it fairly easy to find an abundance of cruelty-free & toxin-free lipsticks finding vegan ones is a whole new challenge, as most natural brands add beeswax.
Not that there is anything toxic in beeswax, but as a vegan, I try to avoid all animal ingredients when possible. So while I do allow some sustainable cruelty-free products with beeswax in my kit I like to give an extra shout out to the brands that manage without!

Here are my fave vegan lipsticks which are also non-toxic!
They are all my fave for different reasons, the list in no particular order.
 

Ere Perez just relaunched their line of Olive Oil Lipsticks and the colours, textures and pigments are spot-on! Highly recommended!
(In fact ALL their lip products are amazing so don't hesitate to try the Carrot Colour Pots or tints! All of which are vegan)

Ere Perez also has a wonderful selection of sheer lip colours, perfect for every day.
The Cacao Lip Colour! I always carry "Dash" in my handbag for a quick pop of colour.
For a sheer colour they still deliver lots of pigment and some lasting power.

The Beauty Archive! A selection of fabulous Scandinavian boutique lipsticks.
Read all about them here.

Jane Iredale Lipgloss if you are looking for a classic luxury lipgloss that is vegan and toxin free look no further than Jane Iredale.

Fra Lippo Lippie  this is the hippest, brightest, funnest (I know this doesn't exist, but it fits the product!) lipstick. Super indie and SO pigmented. Read all about it here.

Quinoa Water Foundation - Revolution in Natural Makeup

Ere Perez just keeps launching new great products.

I am a fan of Quinoa as food, you know those delicious little grains packed with nutrients?
Faye loves them too and they are a staple in our kitchen. Until now I haven't thought about it as a skincare or beauty ingredient, but this new foundation has changed that.

As the name suggests, the Quinoa Water Foundation is as light as water.
It comes in a glass bottle with a dropper, which reminds me of serum foundations.
It's great for all skin-types and I find it very suitable even for warm and humid weather given its featherlight texture. I am trialling & testing it in the windy, cold Winter weather here right now and am still very impressed.  It certainly helps to lock in moisture and it's perfect for everyone that doesn't like the feel of makeup on their skin. You can not feel this product, it's so light and really blends into the skin

The finish is smooth and natural. It's not dewy or glossy nor mat. Just like healthy skin.
The coverage is light and buildable. You can layer it for more coverage. I would describe it as light coverage though. Perfect for your everyday wear. Really good for sensitive skin or skin prone to breakouts.

The application is easy peasy.
It's recommended to use the multipurpose brush, but fingers do also work well. Yay!

Thank you Ere, for bringing out another vegan, cruelty-free, toxin-free product that works!

Gentle Toxin-Free Baby Products

You already know how much I loved the Edible Bubba Range.

Sadly it has been discontinued for the moment. The kept the best selling Bottom Creme, through which you can now get under the Edible Beauty range here.
(Use Code Liv20 at checkout for 20% off)

I am really happy to have found other great, gentle and toxin-free products for Faye.
She loves playing in the mud these days and just water doesn't cut it anymore at bathtime.
Oh, you should see her little feet and toenails...
Generally, though, I am a firm believer in less is more and it's best to not use too many cosmetics on little ones. So: Always try water first and with young babies water & a natural oil like Coconut is enough in the bath. Read Faye's first bath and newborn bath setup here.

The Weleda Calendula Range is ace, especially the cream bath ist extra gentle and hydrating, so soap bubbles here, which means no drying, yay! This is our daily (or twice daily) bath go-to product. I also adore the smell. It's very aromatic but mild. Faye seems to really like it for her night time bath and the Calendula helps to heal all her little scratches from exploring.
It's hydrating enough, so I don't use a lotion afterwards.

Ever so often I give her head and feet a wash with the Shampoo & Wash, but she does not need this often. She is a toddler now though and walking and eating has allowed for a whole new level of messiness. Some days her breakfast ends up in her ears and hair and requires a bit of shampoo...but that's another story.

Faye does take 2 showers and 1 bath every day. There is no way around it.
They are rather short and we only use a small tub, so it's not a huge affair or use of water.
I am so grateful that it's warm here in Sydney and that she loves water, so I am not worried about keeping her warm afterwards. (Update: Now that it's Winter time and Faye has turned 1, she only takes daily night time baths. The occasional morning shower and only sponge baths/wipes in between. Her eating skills have advanced)

We also tested the Envirocare Bubble Bath Products. They are great fun, as they do make a few bubbles, but they are still don't have any harsh detergents. Perfect for bath time fun and also when Faye really needs a scrub down. We tried the regular and sensitive one. They are pretty much the same with the small difference of having essential Chamomile Oil in the regular one for a little calming aromatherapy benefit. Both don't have a strong smell and are perfect for the most sensitive noses. If you don't want your products to smell of anything, these are for you. The packaging is very practical and super cute with the kangaroos. The 500ml are also very generous and will last a long time. No drying, no sensitivities. A really great, clean and Australian brand!

 

New Contouring Pallettes & Vegan Brushes

Yay, yay, hooray! Jane Iredale just released some sparkling, beautiful new vegan brushes.

They have the usual beautiful wooden handles and a touch of rose gold!
Pro-quality, extra soft & vegan! Love love love these.

They also just released some new contouring kits. And they are the bomb. I am thrilled that they are actually usable and also contain a blush colour.
If you know me and my work at all that you know that I have a "natural" style and nothing makes me cringe more than OTT contour looks.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the skill that goes into Drag Queen Makeup a la Kardashian...it's just not my style.
These contour kids can actually be used and can create subtle wearable contouring.
As a pro-makeup artist, I also need tools like this for editorial & creative looks.

The kit consists of 3 pressed colours: Highlight, Contour and Blush. All are matte and have a very blendable! The contour brush that has been developed to be used with this is awesome!
It makes placement and blending very easy. I actually highly recommend getting one of these.
While I think that you can live without foundation brush and many others, this one is quite essential.
I used it for all 3 colours, starting with the highlight, then blush and then contour before cleaning it and it worked a treat.

The contour kit comes in colours "warm" and "cool" .
I used the "cool" set which is vegan. (yay!)
The cool has a more pinky blush in it, as opposed to the slightly more peachey one in the warm selection. The contour colour in the "cool" set is my favourite. I prefer a contour not to be too warm. The highlights are both subtle, so the cool tone is still pretty and not too frosty or icey at all.

(The "warm" set contains carmine pigment, which is insect-derived and not vegan.
The colour differences are very subtle, so I feel that most people can get away with using the cool kit.)

All up: I am beyond impressed with this palette! It's very usable, great quality and a dream to blend. The new contour brush is a must-have in any brush collection. All new vegan brushes are great quality and very pretty!