Animal Friendly

It seems insane that in a time when scientists can create artificial skin that cosmetics companies still test on animals. Animal testing seems prehistoric in this day and age. However still hundreds of our daily products are tested on animals, from your mascara to shampoo. Also springily many big name brands still test on our little furry friends, from Mayballine to Dove. 


Sadly its really hard to know if a product is actually animal friendly or not, although the specific brand may say they dont test on animals the large company that owns that brand may conduct animal testing. Therefore by buying the products of the large company you are still, although indirectly, supporting animal testing. 


As a vegetarian and animal lover I do my best to look after man's best friend by using brands that dont test on animals, however when I found out that Aussie test their hair products on animals I was really torn. I adore Aussie products, from their shampoo to heat protectant everything smells beautiful and leaves my hair so soft, so when faced with the decision to give up my favorite hair care or support the animal testing industry it was a hard call. However ethics have to come before luscious hair and i set out to find a replacement product. 


Low and behold i came across Naked cosmetics; they dont test on animals, use 97% natural ingredients and dont include parabens. WOO HOOO. And the best part? They beat Aussie hands down. They have an extensive range of products that can be found in Boots shop or on their website and they come with a big fat recommendation. Alongside naked Body Shop is a good place to look for animal friendly makeup and products as their ethos is pretty great. 


I know that animal testing isnt always the first thing to consider when choosing a new mascara, and sometimes budget means one doesn't have the luxury of choosing a more environmentally friendly product, but if and when you have the opportunity to choose the fairer more sustainable method just consider Peter Rabbit, Bambi, Lassie, Tom and Jerry. 

May Glossybox

I have decided to do my Glossybox posts the month after I recieve the box, this means that instead of just listing the products I can give my opinion and talk about whether I used them, what I thought and if I will buy them. 


That being said here we go. May was Glossybox's first birthday and the box came with a birthday balloon and super cute birthday paper. 

When I first got my box I was pretty happy with the contents, however this changed when I saw what other people had and I felt so cheated! I totally drew the short straw this month. 

These were my four larger subjects, I loved the Nobel Isle bubble bath. At first the smell seems quite masculine however once I put it in my bath i thought it smelt lovely. My skin is usually really picky about bath products however this gave me no irritation what-so-ever (phew). 


I already had a sample of the Neal's Yard Moisturiser from Elle and was therefore a bit disappointed to see one here. However this moisturiser is quite nice, the consistency is good; not to thick and greasy nor is it thin and runny. It is scented however the smell isnt overpowering. 


The third product was the Eldora false eyelashes. These look really nice, they are full and long without being too over the top. However I found that the band is really thick and stiff which makes the lashes really hard to apply. The inner corners were all spiky and pokey and I really didn't like these when they were on. 


And the fourth product was the Collection 2000 Gel Eyeliner. I have quite a few gel eyeliners and they are definitely my favourite out of gel, pencil and liquid. However this was a piece of poo. It came with a little brush that went straight in the bin. It went on quite nicely with a solid colour, although after half an hour it was smudged all under my eyes and on my eyelids. I dont have oily eyelids at all and never have problems with my other gel eyeliners but this was just wrong. 

I also got two perfume samples. Im quite fussy when it comes to perfume but these were quite nice. They were both very fresh feminine scents however personally I dont think they are anything special. 

So there you have it, my May Glossybox. Personally I thought it was pretty crap, I wish I had gotten the HD brows products. I wont be buying any of these products, because even though I like the Nobel Isle bubble bath its really expensive for a bath product. 


Fingers crossed June's box will be better!

Summer feet

I felt it was about time to get my toesies up to standard. Im a serial bare foot walker so my feet do get in quite bad condition (ew I know), and with flip flop season coming up last night I decided to get sandal ready feet. 


I bought a Peppermint Soothing Pumice Scrub from The Body Shop and used this on my feet in the bath. It smells so strong, but I love the smell of peppermint so no complaints here. Its got a very strange consistency as its quite gelatinous and wobbly, it has small rough grains of volcanic rock that act as exfoliating beads, and although they were fine on my feet my hands got a bit sore rubbing it in so maybe doing this with exfoliating gloves on would be best. However It really softened the skin of my feet and there was a huge improvement on my heels where I have the most dry skin. 


I then used a foot file, also from The Body Shop, to file away any left over dead skin. It has a rough side which I used first, and then a finer side which is good for smoothing the area. 


Im not the type to buy a mouisturiser especially for my feet so I used my Clinique Deep Comfort Body Butter. This is the richest, most luxurious body butter of all time. It has no scent, like all clinique products, and soaks into the skin quickly. 


I then buffed my toe nails to smooth them and painted them with a bright pink from Barry M. And after all of this I have to say that my feet are looking rather pretty, and are very very soft. 

Summer Wish-list

Recently I have been doing my anual summer shopping, picking up new bits and pieces of summer clothing to revamp last year's summer wardrobe. Im all sorted on the swimwear front with fun prints, block colours, stripes and spots, however I am still lusting after a few items. 

The perfect black maxi dress? This one is from warehouse, the material is lightweight
and breezy and the slits on each side add a little something extra to the otherwise very simple design. 

The shorts are such a nice colour, I've been looking for a good pair of bleached denim shorts
and I think that these from River Island are super cute. 

What can I say? I live in my Disco Pants so naturally am now lusting after these
American Apparel Riding Pants. Although they aren't ideal for hot weather,
in an English summer (aka rain) they will be perfect.  

On the other hand these lightweight Zara palazzo pants are perfect for  evening walks
along the sand and for protecting pale skin from the sun. 

My studded slippers aren't exactly holiday material, however now I can carry on the trend
with these studded sandals from Zara. 

I can imagine these shorts to be my new pool-side must have. They are a soft jersey material
and are therefore great for pulling on over a bikini. I love this bright red shade,
maybe its time to inject some colour in to my otherwise neutral summer wardrobe.

Absences

So I haven't blogged in weeks, which is rubbish as I was aiming for three posts a week (will it EVER happen?), however my life has been quite a roller-coaster of late.

A week before christmas my beloved grandmother was diagnosed with acute leukemia and given a prognosis of only three months to live. As you could imagine the fantastic timing lead to the worst christmas on records with tears and awkward silences at record highs. It was so hard knowing that it would be our last christmas with her, and it made celebrations feel false and pointless. 

Me and my mum tried to do something every weekend with my nan, and mum had cut back her working hours so she could spend two days in the week with her mum. Me and my mum have a very similar relationship to my mum and nan, we are exceptionally close, loving and honest with each other. We are both exceptionally affectionate and have both a physically and psychologically intimate relationship; with lots of cuddles and very few secrets. This closeness meant that we supported each other through the whole ordeal, and in ways it has brought us closer together. 

As time progressed I began experiencing a growing sense of doom, it felt that in a matter of time life was going to implode, everything was hanging in the balance; my family, my mental stability and my education. Fast-forwarding four months, my grandmother had already outlived her three months so we were now playing with what felt like borrowed time. 

Although for four months everything was going well, my nan was getting transfusions every few weeks and although she was tired she was still able to live a normal life. However all of this changed three weeks ago. Transfusions stopped working and all of a sudden the plateau that my nan had been on suddenly began to fall away and her blood levels plummeted. 

Death is hard, but seeing someone you love suffering is worse. Death almost came as a relief, it gave her back her dignity and ended her pain and tourment. 

Currently Im in shock. For the last weeks my concentration has been on my Nan and worrying about how she has been feeling however it seems that the transaction between feeling sorry for her and feeling sorry for myself is not complete and Im stuck in a limbo. 

Losing a loved one is hard and it hi-lights the fragility of human life. Its so easy to say 'I'll do it tomorrow' and life life in the future not the present. However one day 'tomorrow' wont come, so if there is something you want to do, or want to say do it as soon as you can, because wants the point in waiting?