Lately, it kind of feels like every vegesaurus I know has stepped things up a notch to become a vegan (‘what do you mean we can’t abuse Spur’s 2 for 1 special anymore?!’) so I’ve got friends asking things like ‘can you recommend any good vegan-friendly cosmetics lines?’ In this case, I usually just direct them over here as it’s the biggest list I’ve found online. Just bear in mind that it’s not definitive; only a handful of the listed brands are available in South Africa and it doesn’t list brands that offer vegan items (for example, Lush isn’t a vegan brand, but 80% of its products are).

Anyway, another vegan brand that’s not on the list (told you! It’s not definitive!) is Organique Cosmetics, a natural cosmetics line that hails from Poland and is now stocked locally at EcoStore Online. I was given a bunch of samples to try and rather liked this the Pumpkin Ultra Hydrating cream (R365).

As I’m an oily-combo girl I had to trial this at night but if you’ve got a drier skin type it would make a nice daily moisturiser provided you invest in a good sunscreen to layer on top of it. I liked that its packaged in a pump-bottle to protect it’s ingredients’ integrity and that it doesn’t make any crazy claims. It literally exists to hydrate dry skin and does a nice job of exactly that thanks to a moisturising mix of glycerin, essential fatty acid-rich avocado oil and the water-binding super star that is hyaluronic acid.

As far as the pumpkin bit goes, Organique reckons pumpkin extract is a good source of vitamins, minerals and amino acids and serves up a gentle enzymatic exfoliating action, but I wouldn’t rely on this for the latter.

The other Organique item I’ve enjoyed using is this boy.

I kind of expected this to be a body butter but it’s not – it’s a regte balm that makes me think of potted lip balms like Nuxe’s Reve de Miel or Arden’s Eight Hour Cream – but with a much more ‘melty’ texture that’s almost like Vaseline but it’s one hundred-percent Vaseline-free.

If you’ve got super dry skin you could rub it all over your body but I like to use it on bits like cuticles, lips, elbows, knees and heels. Thanks to the beeswax, it does a great job of sealing in any newfound hydration.

While it’s supposed to smell like Grapefruit & Linen, I couldn’t pick up either of these notes which was slightly disappointing as I love citrusy, clean scents, but it does have a soft, floral fragrance that reminds me of something from my childhood, but I can’t put my finger on it.

Still, I’m sure I’ll eventually figure it out – a little goes a long way to the point that I’m sure this tub will see me through until 2017, making it very good value as well as a great gift for any tricky-to-buy-for vegan besties.

Love, love

Leigh