Sustainably Erin: January 2018

Tuesday 30 January 2018

Booja Booja Caramel Pecan Praline Ice Cream

As a vegan, I have been desperately trying to find a dairy free ice cream, which has a truly indulgent flavour. An ice cream which is comparable to the creamiest of creams, with the most incredible melt, no iciness and packed full of flavour.
And friends, I have found the ice cream.

Booja Booja. This is the name you should have etched within your brain. I feel as though all other ice creams shall now pale in comparison to this, and believe me, as much as I love hyperbole, this is not one of them. I think that I need to provide a bit of background on the brand, a brief summary if you will to let you know what kind of company we are dealing with.

This truly is a company with a conscience, so you know that when you are buying their products, you are making a difference to somebodies life. They nominate two charities a year which they donate 5% of their profits to. In addition to this, they also support employees who seek sponsorship for charities. Click the link here to find out more information!

Now, I shall stop prattling and get onto the review! Can we all just take a minute to appreciate this packaging here guys? Honestly, this has to be some of the most stunning packaging I have seen in a while. The jazzy swirls are simply stunning, creating a unique and quite luxurious feel to it without feeling pretentious or off putting. It is just beautiful. I think that the colours work really well for this flavour, and immediately conjure up the idea of caramel within the mind of the consumer.
With such snazzy packaging, I was very excited to whip the lid off and dive right in!

Upon taking the lid off I was greeted with a creamy ice cream, with a small streak of caramel poking through the top. It looked smooth and rather inviting, so I whipped my spoon out and dug right in! The base flavour of the ice cream itself is simply mouth watering. The vanilla is beautiful, perfectly balanced with sweetness, creaminess, and texture, to create what can only be described as heaven in a tub. This is made perfect with the salt from the caramel and the earthy flavour of the pecan nuts. All of these helping to make this feel like a true luxury, with the thought of vegan or dairy free even crossing your mind.

The caramel tastes very rich, and is swirled throughout the ice cream. It was particularly delightful when you would hit a pocket of caramel. The only thing I can compare it to is when you find a £20 note in your pocket when you thought you were skint.

This is my absolute favourite treat at the moment. I love knowing that what I'm eating has meaning and purpose behind it, along with the fact that it is vegan, organic, gluten free and even soya free too! It is simply magical that Booja Booja have managed to craft such a blooming brilliant product, which can be enjoyed by almost everyone!

I have a feeling that the rating for this will be pretty darn obvious, but for the sake of conventions, I should probably go through with it!

Rating - 9.75/10

Calories - 189 per 100ml

Buy Again? - The Ocado order is already on its way!

Monday 22 January 2018

Nak'd Blueberry Muffin Bar

I always get so excited whenever Nak’d have a new flavour release, and do everything within my power to get my paws on it. I heard about the Nak’d Blueberry muffin bar around the Christmas time and have been desperately searching for it since, but to no avail... that was, until today!

Whilst perusing the Tesco Free From section, as I almost religiously do, I spotted the elusive bars. As you can guess, I grabbed a pack and went almost straight to the tills, forgetting everything else which I had intended to buy... but that’s okay, it just means another trip to Tesco (and possibly some more vegan finds!)

When I got home I simply couldn’t wait to try them and quickly snapped a pick of the box and tore my way through the packaging until I was greeted with this pretty little purple bar.

Now, I presume we all know the texture of the standard Nak’d bar, deliciously squishy, and fabulously moreish. This bar, did not disappoint. The smell hit me as soon as I opened the wrapper: fresh blueberry muffins. (Did I use the colon right? Let’s hope so...)

I was a little shook by just how incredible this bar smelt. I wasn’t expecting such a flavour sensation to hit me like that, but I’m certainly not complaining. Now, shall I get on to the review? The bar tastes amazing. It is just like a real blueberry muffin, but better if that is even possible. It tasted so fresh, with the blueberries having an authentic and delicious flavour about them, far from the artificial rubbish which some companies definitely seem to opt for. But not these.

They are blooming marvellous!

They capture not only the blueberry perfectly, but also the muffin aspect. The sweetness of the baked dough having an authenticity about it. I loved this bar so much and I have been craving it since munching my first bar!

So, as you have probably guessed, I am a massive fan of these bars, and would urge anyone, vegan or non vegan, to get a hold of one!

Rating - 9.5/10

Calories - 130

Buy Again - Yaaaaaaas!

Tuesday 16 January 2018

Vegan Dr Marten 1461 Review

Seeing as it is Veganuary, and I have owned these shoes for around a year now, I feel as though I can give an honest and just review (something which I would have appreciated myself!)

So my boyfriend bought me these last year for Christmas, after I had been obsessed with them for around six months, but could never manage to bring myself to buy them! So this review is kind of brought to you courtesy of him, thanks Adam!

Anyway, I had searched online for a review but what I found was either ridiculously basic or generally unhelpful. Describing them as, ‘Nice shoes’. This isn’t quite enough to convince me to part with my money and having never owned a pair of standard DM’s before, and hearing many a horror story about breaking them in, I had apprehensions. Eventually, when I took the plunge I tried them on in a size 4, and I found that they fit perfectly true to size. My feet didn’t feel squashed, nor did they feel like they were moving about. So I would strongly suggest you buy them in your actual size.

I think we should start on the overall aesthetics of the shoes, because that is what you see straight away. The shoes look like the standard 1461’s, they appear like high shine black leather (obvious they are synthetic and not actual leather!), with the thick air cushioned sole, with the iconic and easily my favourite part of them, yellow stitching. Honestly, they really do look just like the typical Dr Marten shoes! There is nothing to distinguish these from the leather pairs. I think that the only way that it becomes obvious that these are indeed free from leather, is the feel. They don’t feel like leather, but they don’t feel cheap, it feels expensive, study, and exceptionally well made.

So, I put them to the test. They felt comfy from the initial wear, I plastered my feet as I do with any new shoes, and went to work (literally). After the end of an 8 hour shift my feet were feeling a little worse for wear, with the heels a bit sore and rubbed. But, immediately after this initial wear, they became the comfiest shoes I have ever owned. Never did I have a blister from them after that, which for Doc Martens, is quite unusual. The shoes were comfy, and from that wear, they have become even more comfortable as they have moulded to my foot and now provide me with a ridiculous amount of support and comfort, making them my go to shoe for long days filled with much toddling.

Dr Martens are just so fun to style, they can add such a cool masculine edge to an otherwise feminine outfit

. I love to wear mine with dresses or skirts. Balancing the outfit and providing me with something which feels authentically me, authentically worn different. I love the alternative feel of the shoes and the heritage and history behind them, they have a strong ethos of individuality behind them, and that doesn’t stop just because you don’t wear leather. Dr Martens are such a fantastic company, and they never fail to impress me with their re imaginings of classic designs and shapes.

Their shoes really are designed to last and after having them for a year, and wearing them pretty frequently, I can say that they still look fantastic. They look brand new, still shiny and clean, with minimal wear and tear, only a slight creasing at the toe where I walk. This really isn’t an issue though because this just makes them look a bit loved.

I love these shoes and would strongly recommend getting the vegan ones whether you are vegan or not. They are incredibly comfortable, really well made, and just overall brilliant! The only problem I have is that they do make a slight squeaking sound when I walk. But this is only on shiny floors, so not a real issue.

See the rest of the range here!