UK

Vegan hairdresser

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We all like to buy dairy-free custard and long ago we gave up meat, but how far can we go to remove animal exploitation from our lives?

Well, the next step for a lot of us will be only choosing vegan hairdressers to style us. If you go to a hair salon and can afford it, why not choose vegan?

Maddy reached out to me this week to let me know about her fabulous vegan hair styling service in Oswestry, Shropshire.

This is what she had to say:

I’m Maddy, a vegan hairdresser passionate about trying to do as much as I can to ensure my work impacts as little as possible on the environment.

The plant-based revolution is picking up huge momentum over recent years and I want to join in and help be the change.

I’m lucky enough to have the most amazing bunch of clients and although a lot aren’t vegan, they totally embrace my choices and the vegan element to my work. I’ve noticed they’ll tell me about their personal changes towards a cruelty free lifestyle too.

I have looked at all aspects of my work to see what I can do from products to printing, refreshments to washing powder. For me it has been a process of breaking everything down and building it all back together to make sure every part is cruelty free.

If you’re looking for a forward thinking stylist, look for a salon that stocks and uses Organic Colour Systems; British made, organic, cruelty free products.

You can visit Maddy’s Facebook page here.

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Vegan event in Bristol

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Are you anywhere near Bristol on Sunday September 11, 2016? You need to get along to this rad event.

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Firstly, how can you go past an event called Absolutely Fabulous Vegan Festival? You would have to be a monster of a person to pass this by.

Secondly, what an awesome line up of food vendors!

There is set to be pizza, raw cheesecakes, donuts, corn dogs, burgers and so much more. I would be all over this event if I was in Bristol.

Get along and RSVP to the Facebook event page.

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Seaside vegan food

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How about vegan food from a waterside business?

Potato Tomato are offering just that as a completely plant-based caterer based in Whitstable Bay, Kent.

I asked owner Niki for a bit of insight into what she does and why:

I started the business in May this year when I needed a new challenge. My first event was the Kent Vegan festival where I shared a stall with Compassion Cakes.

We advertised a vegan pop up for the end of May which was a big success. We did an afternoon tea and then a three course meal in the evening.

Potato Tomato now has a permanent base in the Harbour Market Whitstable. We’ve had a really successful summer selling salads alongside hot foods such as our double stack cheeseburger, pulled jackfruit and seitan skewers. We also stock brownies, blondies and lemon drizzle from Compassion Cakes.

I love chatting to the people who come to the hut. Having been vegan since I was a baby I’ve grown up feeling like the only vegan in the village (except for my sister) so it’s really great seeing how many people are now vegan. I definitely feel positive for the future of the business as the vegan movement is growing all the time. We now have seating at the Hut so I am excited about the events I can put on over the coming months and I am looking forward to expanding and developing the menu.

Sounds fab. You should follow Potato Tomato on Facebook.

Now for some photos!

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Rawligion in central London

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If you are like me and haven’t found/made time to try Rawligion in central London, this post will give you a small visual insight into what the café serves.

It looks good!

The restaurant sent me photos of (from top) raw chocolate Rochers, Thai slaw, raw dehydrated falafels, lemon tahini dip & hemp tabbouleh and finally the raw pancakes.

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Rawligion is only a 40-second walk from Goodge Street Underground station or a 6-minute walk from Tottenham Court Road.

You can visit the website, follow on Twitter, follow on Instagram or like on Facebook.

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Vegan café in Surrey

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News has just arrived at my doorstep of a brand new vegan café opening in Bookham, Surrey this month.

I reached out to the owners to find out a little bit of information surrounding Crazy Bean and here is what they told me:

We are opening a vegan cafe in Great Bookham, Surrey. Located at 23 the High Street, our launch events are over the weekend of the 16th and 17th of September and will include complimentary drinks and tastings on both evenings and throughout the day on the 17th.
We chose to go vegan about 3 years ago and knew we needed to leave the rat race to do more. Our cafe is only part of plans to launch community growing projects and hopefully launch a range of products into the majors when we are ready. We are on a huge learning curve but we are passionate about the cause.
We have had an amazing amount of support already in the area and hope to advertise further afield. While this will be a business, we feel our responsibility with this cafe and all we do is much bigger than our own livelihoods. There is more about this in my first two blogs on our site www.crazy-bean.com so please do check them out.
Of course, we want to provide delicious food and are working really hard to build a menu that everybody will love.

How fab does that sound?

Follow Crazy Bean on Twitter and like them on Facebook.

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Vegan hot dogs at Pride

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This news makes me smile… and it makes me hungry.

If you go to Southampton Pride this weekend (Sunday August 28, 2016) you can buy and eat vegan hot dogs.

Even better? The vegan hot dog stand is being run by volunteers who are all vegan and all the proceeds from the stall are being donated to Southampton Pride. 

I’m a bit teary knowing that kindhearted people do things like this. I adore that they are supporting the LGBTQ community without contributing to animal harm.

This is resisting oppression without resorting to another form of oppression!

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I asked Hannah of Hannah Banana Bakery (who is one of the volunteers) what is on the menu and she told me:

We have homemade salsa, mayo, mustard, homemade coleslaw, fried onions, and ketchup. 100% of the money goes to the Pride event as we are all unpaid vegan volunteers on our stall. General event info is on the Pride website. We are on the stall outside “The Stage Door” bar on West Marlands Road all day until we sell out!

People, get along to support this wonderful initiative and eat up!

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Vegan relish

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Here’s a super quick blog post to let you know about a supermarket find that has me grinning.

All of these are #vegan and all are on offer in Waitrose right now.

A photo posted by Fat Gay Vegan (@fatgayvegan) on


How terrific do these look?!

All three bottles were spotted in my local Waitrose and all were on special offer.

Which one would you start with?

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Garlic bread and dough balls

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Here’s a super quick blog post that might just have you making a rapid dash to your nearest Tesco.

You can now buy not only frozen vegan garlic bread from the UK supermarket chain, but also frozen vegan garlic dough balls.

I picked up a pack of each last night in a London Tesco Extra.

Tesco have #vegan garlic dough balls and garlic baguette in the frozen section!

A photo posted by Fat Gay Vegan (@fatgayvegan) on


Looking forward to trying them!

Have you tried these vegan and gluten free products yet? Feedback below!

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Vegan macaron frenzy

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Do you feel that you are in a bit of a dreary rut? Is your life in need of a push? What would you say to an exciting development that will leave you grinning ear to ear?

Floral Frosting and their vegan macarons are making lives better. Simple.

Selling only online, the mastermind behind Floral Frosting is turning lives upside down with her colourful creations. Charis uses some unknown brand of magic to handcraft the most exquisite fine pastries and then ships them to people everywhere.

Customers need to reach out to Charis via email ( floralfrosting@hotmail.com ), Facebook or Instagram to find out prices and place an order. The macarons are made in the UK but can be shipped anywhere in the world!

Wanna see what I recently ate from Floral Frosting?

Nothing on the planet is as pretty as a delivery of @floralfrostingbakery #vegan macarons. I’m shaking with joy.

A photo posted by Fat Gay Vegan (@fatgayvegan) on

There is no messing around here. Floral Frosting is getting the job done. No question.

My delivery included:

  • Lemon curd
  • Salted caramel popcorn
  • S’mores
  • Vanilla chai
  • Strawberry & cream
  • Cookie Monster

Why are you still here? Follow the Instagram account! Get ordering!

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Vegan groceries in Kent

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What do you do for vegan groceries when you live in Kent, England?

However you answered that question in your head, you can now add Wheat’s The Problem to your list of solutions.

1 - Shop Front

This grocery store is tucked away on an industrial estate in Sittingbourne, Kent and looks to be a vegan grocery oasis.

While not everything in the store is plant-based a huge chunk of what’s on offer is, with the shelves lined with Fry’s Family Foods, Follow Your Heart, Tofurky, Plamil and many, many more vegan brands. I would be here all day if I started listing them and you all know how lazy I am.

As you can tell from the store name, Wheat’s The Problem is also a specialty shopping destination for consumers looking for wheat free groceries with many items being suitable for coeliacs.

Get along to Wheat’s The Problem for vegan groceries and support independent business.

Click here to join the Facebook group for the shop. This is where you can keep track of all the fantastic new products being added each week. You can also click here to see where the shop is located.

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