Pangea The Vegan Store Haul

My first purchase from Pangea, the Vegan Store online was a success!

Last week, I decided to buy some vegan foods and household products online. I have been meaning to try some of these products for a long time, but was unable to find them at stores in my area, so I decided to just get on with it and order some. As you can see, I got a lot of things for a pretty great price!

Starting off with this great license plate cover! The reason I went online in the first place was for this. I needed a new one since I switched my car registration from North Carolina to Louisiana and I didn't want to use my five year old, nasty, plastic cover that came from the dealership. All the writing had worn off and it looked pretty bad. I found this one and knew that it was perfect. I don't like spreading negative thoughts or feelings if I can help it, and so many vegan bumper stickers and decals are mean or sarcastic. I thought "Practice Compassion, Go Vegan!" sounded kind and loving, which is what I want to be. It's made out of recycled plastic and only cost $4.95, so this was a steal!

Another product I was really glad to find was this Bee Free Honee. I used to use honey everyday, and while I like agave nectar, it doesn't feel like honey. I haven't tried this yet, but I really hope it lives up to the hype I've read online!

This next one is soap. I know, I'm not supposed to be buying beauty products on my Project Ten Pan, but I bought it anyway. I am a soap collector and lover, so this will  be put to good use! I have never tried this brand before, so I'm pretty excited about it. I got it in peppermint because I'm trying to make it seem like Christmas when we get cool weather (it's been hot in Louisiana, not unbearable, but hot).

This is such a cool product! Re-useable toothbrush handle and less waste in the landfill? count me in. I like the color of the handle (it was random) with the sparkles inside the plastic. It looks pretty cool.

This is another product that I've been dying to try! As you have seen in my product empties posts, I use a lot of contact solution and none of the brands at the stores are cruelty free. I bought the travel size to try it out before I commit to a huge bottle. It cost $5.99, which is about $.50 more than my regular solution. I really hope this works well with my contacts and my eyes. If so, I will be ordering a few of these beauties to store under my counter!

Next we have four chocolates from Sjaak's. I have never heard of this brand before so I just got a few to try out. I got two mint chocolate bits, one larger mint chocolate, and an almond butter bite. It was $2.36 all together.

Mac and Cheese, people! Can we get a round of applause?! I am stoked to try this! Mac and cheese is a major comfort food and I have missed it. I will definitely tell you how this one goes!

Teese Nacho Cheese sauce is next. I haven't heard much about this product, but it looked interesting, and I have been wanting to make nachos.

I got six of the $.99 Primal Strips Vegan Jerky: Mesquite Lime, Thai Peanut, Hot & Spicy, Teriyaki, Texas BBQ, and Hickory Smoked. I made my dad promise he would try these with me. If he can try all the weird jerkies my brother made in the past (even the fish jerky that made the house smell for weeks), he can try this. I got the small sizes so I can find my favorite flavors before I buy the bigger ones. These would be really great for hiking trips.

The Viana Mild Jumbo Veggie Snack Sausage to go is basically the vegan version of those truck stop sausages I always loved as a kid. I got the traditional German smokehouse flavor.

Next is Stonewall's Jerquee in Original Mild. (You can see the theme here, can't you?) Another jerky to try.

And a fruit leather in strawberry flavor. I haven't had one of these in ages. I think they sell a different brand of fruit leathers at the health food store, but I don't think I've seen strawberry flavor.

And last, but not least, is the Ellanni Veggie Roll in the tomato flavor. I have no idea what this will taste like, but it sounded like an adventure, so I got it!

The shipping for all these wonderful products was only $7.95, which isn't bad at all. It was ordered on the third and made it to my door by the sixth, so I applaud the fast shipping. I will definitely be ordering from this site again because it was so fast!

That's it folks! I will do follow up reviews of these products in the future, so be on the lookout.

Beauty Haul Summer 2014

My collective haul

My project ten pan/ project ? pan is going quite well. I've used up almost 100 products this year so far! Part of this challenge is for me to stop buying beauty products unless I really need them (aka I run out of something). Well, when we got to North Carolina I had to buy some products because I either didn't have any to begin with, or I ran out. Some of these products are not cruelty free and vegan. This is either a result of my mom being the one to buy them and not knowing that I don't use certain brands or the fact that there were no cruelty free options at some of the stores where we shopped. So, here is my collective haul for the summer in random order (so far, as summer isn't over yet and I might need more conditioner before we go home).

* denotes cruelty free
** denotes cruelty free with a parent company that is not
v denotes vegan PRODUCT not company

1. Cutex Non- Acetone nail polish remover in a no-spill pump.
This was literally the smallest nail polish remover (and only brand) they had at Ingles and I'm planning to take it home with me. The pump is amazing. I haven't spilled any of it so far (I spill things a lot because I knock them over when I'm not paying attention). While the Cutex website states that it doesn't test on animals, it is on every single animal testing list I have found. I believe their parent company tests as well.

2. Ogx (formerly Organix) Sunkissed Blonde Lemon Highlights Conditioner * v
I've used the Organix brand for several years and tried many of the different shampoos and conditioners in their product lines. They are a cruelty free brand, but they do use animal products in their line. This product, however, is the first one I have seen that doesn't list silk proteins in the ingredients so I'm hesitantly labeling this as a vegan product. I believe this product is new and I haven't seen much about it online. I will be doing more research on this product as I use it, but at the time (in the Walgreens store) it was the only product I could find that I couldn't find animal products in.

3. EcoTools Loofa * v
I got this at Ingles when I first got to NC because I didn't have any sort of sponge or scrubby brush and the water pressure in my shower isn't strong enough to really get all of the grime off after a strenuous hike in the woods. EcoTools is a cruelty and vegan brand. For under $3, this is a bargain buy!

4. Laura Lynn Cotton Swabs 300 Count
The important thing about these store brand Q-tips is that they are made on paper sticks, not plastic. I really don't like the plastic ones since I literally throw these away after one use. Why would I use something that is just going to sit in a landfill forever instead of paper that will eventually break down. Laura Lynn is the Ingles brand and there is no information anywhere about whether or not they are cruelty free.

5. Laura Lynn Cleansing Pads 50 Count
I ran out of cotton rounds, so I go these. I only need to use one of these for my whole face or to remove both my hands worth of fingernail polish. They are 100% cotton and some of that is organic (it doesn't give a percentage) and made in the USA from US products. Like the product above, I can't find any information about Ingles' Animal Testing policy.

6. Avalon Organics Vitamin C Renewal Refreshing Cleansing Gel * v
This product I haven't used yet because I'm still using up my tiny samples of facial cleansers, but it was a great find at Ingles. I really love that there are so many cruelty free and vegan friendly brands being carried by this store now. This product is a vegan product, though this company does use milk, honey, beeswax, and lanolin in some of it's baby products and lip products. See what PETA says about it here.

7. Sally Hansen Diamond Strength No Chip Nail Color in 110 Flawless
Sally Hansen products are made by Coty Inc. which (despite it's animal testing policy of not testing on animals) sells to China and other countries that require animal testing. Therefore theya re not a cruelty free brand in my opinion. I bought these because they were literally the only clear polishes in Walmart. all the other ones were gone! I thought that Sally Hansen was cruelty free (and some people will argue that they are because of Coty's animal testing policy) so I picked these up. As they are not, I recommend Wet n Wild as an alternative. I've been using this nail polish to create my own nail colors using eyeshadows (tutorial coming soon!).

8. Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails Strengthening Top Coat
Like the nail polish above, this is not a cruelty free brand. I picked it up because I thought it was, but was proven wrong when I did more research into the brand after I brought it home. This is why I need to carry a little Do Not Buy and Buy This list when I go shopping to keep this from happening.

9. Scunci Girl Hair Elastics 500 pieces *
This was literally the smallest box available at Ingles for these small hair elastics. I like using these in my hair when I do braids that I don't need gigantic hair ties for, like accent braids or braided buns. The larger, cloth coated elastic bands can get in the way sometimes, so these are better. I will probably be using this box until the end of time. Scunci is owned by Conair, a cruelty free brand (yay!) and there are many products I enjoy that are made by them, so I hope this remains the case.