October favorites: Vegan beauty & lifestyle

October has always just been “the month before my favorite month” but this year things have changed. Since moving to Vosges, Autumn has taken a whole new aspect. It has always been my favorite season, but mostly because of childhood memories of life in the Prealps region. The past couple of years we’ve skipped Autumn altogether, moving from a warm to a deadly warm area. This time around, October has been a blessing, with leaves changing color everyday from green to red to yellow, cold nights, starry skies, a mix of melancholic and poignant beauty. We even had a couple of days with snow!
I don’t know what November will bring more, but as it stands now, I couldn’t be happier. Autumn, I’ve missed you so!

October favorites: Vegan beauty & lifestyle
An Autumnal walk along the banks of Lac de Pierre-Percée, Vosges… can you spot me? | Photos by Fabien Amann © feub.net

Now let’s dive into the happy little things that made it to my October favorites‘ list:

I’m loving….

the MiYASKIN sonic face brush, a little treasure I got from the lovely site Doux-Good. I love to use it especially at night, after removing my makeup (if I’m wearing any that day) as it helps to get rid of all makeup residues, while massaging your facial muscles with a high frequency pulsation of up to 6000 pulses per minute, using thousands of extra delicate silicone microfingers. The result: it boosts blood circulation and therefore stimulates collagen production for a healthy and glowing skin texture. Oh, one last thing: it recharges via USB, which makes it super practical even when traveling!

Miyaskin Sonic Brush
I love the fresh-face feeling I get from using this pretty pink Miyaskin brush.

I’m drinking…

Each afternoon when my husband comes back home from work, if we stay home and work at our laptops, we like to sip our new favorite drink, a spiced hot-cocoa milk.
To make it simply heat up:

  • 1 cup of soy or rice milk (per person)
  • add 2/3 tablespoons of cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • a dash of ginger powder.

Warm up between 1 and 3 minutes, stir and enjoy. So autumnal and warming! And did you see that adorable toast-shaped wooden coaster? It comes from the uber-cute Kawaii-box, a subscription box I had the chance to try back in August.

A simple treat for colder afternoons: hot spiced cocoa milk.
A simple treat for colder afternoons: hot spiced cocoa milk.

I’m reading…

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka – actually I’m reading the French translation entitled “Certaines n’avaient jamais vu la mer”. It’s a symphonic, empathic novel like I’ve never read before. There is not one single subject, the novel is told from the point(s) of view of a large group of immigrant women who leave their country, Japan, between the first and second world wars, hoping for a better life in the States. They do not speak English, they do not exactly know what awaits them on the other side of the ocean, they have vague ideas and dreams of a perfect life, perfect husbands waiting for them. Books about real stories, forgotten lives, lost voices always fascinate me.

Julie Otsuka's The Buddha in the Attic was the winner of the Pen Faulkner Award for Fiction 2012.
Julie Otsuka’s The Buddha in the Attic was the winner of the Pen Faulkner Award for Fiction 2012.

I’m watching…

We’re a bit late on The Walking Dead wagon, but now that we’ve started, we’ve been binge-watching all the series back-to-back… We’re quickly catching up with the actual season and I’m getting a bit worried: I already know I will suffer from withdrawal symptoms. I love zombies and I truly dig such “end of the world”, survival atmospheres! On a side note, it made the news 1 year ago that some members of the cast were so grossed out by the flesh-eating zombies that they were actually eating a vegetarian menu on set. Norman Reedus, who plays Daryl Dixon even went so far as telling the Daily Mail that he was one of the actors who actually changed their diet, saying: ‘I’ve become a vegetarian and I’m kind of bummed about it.’ I wonder if they kept such a commitment one year after… I hope so :) I mean, a TV show about zombies with a vegetarian cast, it doesn’t get any better than this – well yes it would be better if they were actually Vegan ;-)
One lesson to get out of this series: all the real monsters are always humans!

Love the zombies, the abandoned cities, and imagine what would I do in such a case?
Love the zombies, the abandoned cities, the vegetarian cast and I wonder: what would I do in such a case?

I’m wearing…

For months, no wait, for years, I’ve opted for big tote bags, but lately I’ve been having this desire to downsize my daily-use handbag. Tote bags are great for carrying a lot of stuff but now that I work from home, I don’t need to pack my whole world to bring along with me for 12+ hours a day. It took me some time to realize this, and last September I started looking for the perfect bag, just like I had in mind: it had to be black, with some cool fringes (hello 70s! my all-time fave decade of the past century), I wanted a Vegan material ça va sans dire, but I also wanted a reasonable price and a cross-body model… Too many requests? (my husband would say: Yes!) I don’t think so. Finally I found the perfect match to all my desires on the H&M website – but I must say the French e-commerce platform sucks and they also have very poor customer service. Its original price was €24,99 ($29.99 on the USA website) but I paid it only €18,74 thanks to a little discount code. All’s well that ends well, and here’s my favorite handbag for this fall:

My handbag for fall: lots of fringes, cool attitude, little price and it's not made of a dead animal's skin!
My handbag for fall: lots of fringes, tons of attitude, a little price tag and it’s not made of a dead animal’s skin!

So, that’s it for this month.
What about you? What are some of your favorite things this month? Let me know in the comments

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More about Francesca @ Seven Roses

☾ moon child + Autumn + Hufflepuff ↟ cabin life, books, coffee, crystals & watercolors ✧ Vegan blogger/designer ➵ helping you live a more magical & conscious life Stay a while, and let's be friends! ♥

Comments

  1. Reply

    Very nice article and idea!
    “the real monsters are always humans” says it all….

    1. Reply

      thank you :) and thank you for the pictures. When are you making your month’s favorites’?

  2. Reply

    Loved this post, I’m hoping to see more tips on how to go the natural route. Thank you for an amazing Vegan-friendly blog!
    ps: I found your blog via your society6 store, great designs ♥

    1. Reply

      Thank you LonnieMay! Stay tuned for many more beauty natural tips, recipes etc.

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