Your old coat could help the homeless this winter

Do you have any old or unwanted coats that you no longer need or wear? Instead of throwing them out, you could donate them to someone who could really use a coat to keep warm, especially during the coldest time of the year. I have been through my winter clothes and have already donated jumpers and other such clothes to a few local homeless shelters, but coats are just as important and I am sure everyone reading this will have at least one coat hanging on the back of their door/wardrobe or coat hook that you no longer wear.

CollectPlus is proud to support the Wrap Up 2019 campaign for the fifth year running, in the following locations: London, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, and Bath. This gives everyone a chance to donate to those in need, no matter where you are. You can read more about the charity's important work here.

How it works

Donating a coat with CollectPlus is easy, simply package up your coat securely, download and attach a label from the CollectPlus site, and drop it off to your nearest CollectPlus Point and there is over 7,000 to choose from. To download a label for the Wrap Up location you would like to support and send your coat too, using the links above for London, Manchester, Bath, Cardiff and Birmingham.

London Tube Drops

If you want to take your coat(s) to somewhere a little closer to your route to work, then there are six London tube stations to do that from Monday 11th – Wednesday 13th November 2019 (7am – 11am). Look for signs throughout the six stations and keep checking @WrapUpLondon to find out more information on the day.

• Canary Wharf - Find us at the bottom of the main escalators into the station (opposite Reuters). Our spot is in front of a pillar.
• Kings Cross - Find us at the north entrance to the tube station off Pancras Road, in the Northern Ticket Hall.
• Liverpool Street - Find us inside the London Underground entrance next to Costa Coffee and behind the NatWest ATMs. (Closest entrance on Liverpool Street)
• London Bridge - Find us by the main pillar in the middle of the tube station foyer. We are opposite the Jubilee Line gates.
• Victoria - Find us at the bottom of the stairs by the underground entrance (use one of the “original” entrances just outside the main station)
• Waterloo - Find us at the entrance to the Jubilee line off Waterloo Road or down the escalator opposite platform 5 in the main station. Take a left and you'll find us by Lola's Cupcakes.

As this is a charity there is a whole host of other ways that you can help too and the information is all online.

Having decided to donate your coat or coats, I am sure you are wondering where they go and what Wrap Up does with them?

Where do the coats go? 

Coats donated to Wrap Up London and other cities such as Cardiff and Birmingham go directly to people who struggle to keep warm during the winter months. Coats are distributed via homeless shelters, refugee centres, organisations supporting the elderly, women’s refuges, children’s centres and other charities helping people in crisis. The number of coats our beneficiaries receive is based on the number they request and the amount the campaign manages to collect.

I hope you can find a coat or two to help Wrap Up with their campaign across the UK, it is such a wonderful charity and I am glad to have been able to donate two of mine.

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.

Fresh Soy Face Cleanser and Lotus Youth Preserve Rescue Mask Review

If ever there has been a brand that I really wanted to try it has been Fresh, mainly because of all the hype surrounding the Soy Face Cleanser which everyone I know who has tried it, has raved about. So, off I went to visit the Fresh store here in London on Seven Dials and it was quite the experience because not only did I have the entire store to myself, but the sales girls were an absolute delight to deal with and I got to swatch, sniff and try absolutely anything and without being rushed and I came away with two amazing products to try as well as an abundance of samples. 

If you didn't know, Fresh launched back in 1991 as an apothecary store curating upscale, natural beauty products from around the world, fresh has transformed the skincare industry with its pioneering use of natural ingredients from soy and sake to sugar. fresh marries world-leading, good-to-skin ingredients and centuries-old cultural beauty rituals to deliver sublime products with mind-healing and skin-transforming results.

The first product that I was definitely not leaving the store without was the Soy Face Cleanser (£11.50) and it is described as being a beautiful formula that gently and effectively lifts away makeup and impurities while balancing and nourishing your skin.  

This cleanser is pH-balanced gel which is infused with what Fresh called soy proteins which are rich in amino acids to help maintain healthy-looking skin. Added that there is cucumber extract which is calming, borage seed oil for its nourishing benefits, rosewater for its balancing properties, mallow flower extract which hosts anti-inflammatory benefits and sunflower seed oil which helps to retain moisture.

I am a huge fan of cleansers and tend to double cleanse every evening. What I like about this particular cleanser is how clean it makes my face feel after using, perhaps an odd feeling to try and describe, but when you live and work in London, your skin can feel really dirty and there is nothing that beats that feeling of a double cleanse to essentially take the day off and by that I mean makeup, skincare and all that dirt and grime which seems to cling to the skin, so much so your cotton pads turn from white to a deep grey in one swipe. This is a cleanser which doesn't strip the skin or leave it feeling dry and taut, in fact, it is the opposite and for me, it is like using a cleanser and moisturising cream in one.

The second product I picked up is the Lotus Youth Preserve Rescue Mask (£21) and as soon as I read the description of it being a five minute facial in a jar, I was sold.  I am a huge fan of face masks and try to use one a week during my weekly pampering session.

Fresh describe this Lotus Youth Preserve Rescue Mask as being one that is designed to combat signs of tired and overstressed skin, perfect for my needs right now!   

This mask combines a potent blend of kombu seaweed flakes, red algae particles, and lotus seeds that work to refine and smooth skin texture.  Then there is the inclusion of sea fennel extract and its job is to help to smooth and enhance suppleness, this SOS treatment resets the complexion, granting a gorgeous glow thanks to fresh's Super 7 Complex, which Fresh states is a blend of 7 super-charged ingredients (lemon, cucumber, fig, starfruit, sea fennel, lotus, okra) that helps to hydrate, improve radiance, and promotes a youthful-looking complexion.

To use this mask, the advice was to ensure you have cleansed your skin first and then apply a generous layer to damp skin using circular motions and then leave it to work its magic for up to five minutes, once that time is up, apply some warm water to the mask and massage the skin before rinsing. I have combination/oily skin and it often leaves me with dry patches of skin on both cheeks, so a mask which can calm the redness and help deal with dry skin is ticking the boxes for me. Thanks to the inclusion of coconut shell powder, this mask provides a real gentle exfoliation that buffs away dead skin cells without scratching the skins surface to leave behind soft, smooth skin. It does have a light scent of cucumber which I really like the scent of and this is the perfect mask for using a few times a week. 

I think it is obvious that my first delve into the world of Fresh has been a successful one and I cannot recommend these products highly enough, it is obvious why the Soy Face Cleanser gets so much love and the mask is just divine to use.  I now have a whole list of products I really want to try from the brand and there is so many to work through it could take some time.

Availability and Price

Fresh products are available in most John Lewis stores and stand-alone Fresh stores, but you can also find them online via Cult Beauty and SpaceNK too.

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.