How to have a Very Vegan Day Out in London

London is becoming more and more vegan-friendly. With vegan food options becoming more readily available, brands focusing on vegan and cruelty-free beauty and vegan pop-ups popping up all over the place, you don’t have to go far to find animal-free treats!

On Saturday, a (omnivorous) friend and I decided to have a Vegan Day Out in central London.

(Not sure I’ve said the word “vegan” enough yet…)

This day came about due to the fact that Crosstown Doughnuts opened a vegan branch just off Oxford Street and I had to try it. Instead of heading into central just for doughnuts (though that would also be totally legit), we decided to make a day of it, starting with brunch.

BRUNCH AT KIN CAFE

Vegetarian cafe Kin in Fitzrovia has plenty of vegan options and it was a serious struggle to choose between pancakes and the full English.

In the end, I went savoury with the full English – tofu scramble, vegan chorizo (mind. blown.), home-made baked beans, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, sourdough, and some sort of delicious home-made tomato sauce. It was so good. Deliciously filling and perfect with my oat milk latte.

(NB: The Virgin Mary in the pic was my friend’s – in the shot purely for photographic purposes. I can’t get on board with tomato juice.)

NEW SHOES

To walk off the massive brunch, we did a few solid hours of shopping, starting at Oxford Street’s Dr Martens store. My purple vegan Docs have finally had their day (after a solid five years or so), so I picked up a shiny new pair in Cherry Red. Aren’t they just beautiful?! Swoon.

THE VEGAN TREND

As we wandered London’s streets, we spotted more and more signs and window displays advertising vegan food and beauty. It seems that veganism is currently very “on-trend”.

A couple of random cafes proudly advertised their vegan options and Debenhams had massive Kat Von D make-up billboards along their walls.

We also left our own little vegan messages where we could… Such dorks.

I know some people dislike that veganism has become a trend but to me, even if the motives for brands and stores jumping on the bandwagon are less than pure, I’m not going to complain; it makes it a hell of a lot easier for me to eat and shop in London – two of my absolute favourite past-times.

THE BODY SHOP

Joining the hype was The Body Shop, who had a massive vegan product display in their window. Not gonna lie, this 100% drew us inside. Well done, Visual Merchandising team!

I ended up buying one of their new vegan body yogurts in mango, which smells just like mango sorbet and makes my skin super-smooth.

With my friend’s purchases of body scrub and lipstick, we spent enough for a free gift bag. Score! The bag came with mini body wash, hand cream (unfortunately non-vegan), and conditioner, which we shared between us. I snagged the super-cute toiletries bag (pic below) and I’m obsessed.

LITTLE VEGAN POP-UP SHOP

Besides doughnuts, our other major inspiration for the day was Superdrug’s Little Vegan Popup Shop in Boxpark. I’d been meaning to visit for ages but hadn’t found the time until now.

Although pretty tiny, the popup stocked a huge range of skin, body, and hair care from Superdrug’s own range as well as all the products from their B. makeup and beauty range.

Though you can get most of what they sell there in any regular Superdrug store, it’s so nice not to have to hunt for cruelty-free and vegan products amongst all the other stock. No label reading, no frantic googling, and no panic buys. Woohoo!

Plus, the popup had some amazing discounts and deals – I ended up with over £60 worth of goodies for around £30. And a cute new tote!

THE ORDINARY

As if I needed to spend even more money on beauty, The Ordinary also had a little store in Boxpark. The Ordinary is a brand I see talked about all over social media and the Blogosphere but one I’ve never managed to get my hands on.

I was pleasantly surprised at just how reasonably-priced their products were. I’ve always assumed they were pricey as I think they look expensive.

I grabbed a new foundation and a bottle of salicylic acid for my problem skin, both only around £6 each.

After poking around a few other cute stores in Boxpark, we headed back to the Oxford Street area.

VEGAN DOUGHNUTS

Given that we based our entire day out around doughnuts, Crosstown had a lot to live up to.

Thankfully they did not disappoint.

Being piggies, we got two doughnuts each. But when they look so incredible, how can you choose just the one?

Between us we had Apple Pie, Coconut & Lime, Tropical Jam, and Cinnamon Swirl. All were ah-mae-zing!

THE HAUL

After a successful day of eating and shopping, I came home with a pretty decent haul.

What are your favourite vegan spots in London? Let me know in the comments!

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