Becoming Vegetarian and Cruelty Free Makeup

I decided to cut down on the amount of meat I was eating few months ago, and I would say it's one of the best decisions I've made. I was never a massive meat eater, but you'd be surprised at how easy it is to leave it off your plate.

 On today's factory farms we are being permitted to keep animals in cramped, cruel and oppressive conditions, disallowing them to raise families, build nests or do anything else natural and important to them. Others won't even see the sun or breath fresh air until they're loaded onto lorries and headed to slaughter houses.

We have taken it too far. Before I get the whole 'we are supposed to eat meat, animals eat other animals' statement laid on me, picture this: a world without meat. It's like a world without cars, pretty hard to imagine, right? In actual fact, we would be just fine, in fact, we would have more food to go round. Why are we growing crops to feed animals raised for meat rather than growing food for people?When you consider that it takes 4.5 pounds of grain just for 1 pound of chicken meat, this is inefficiency at its worst.

Obviously there are also loads of health benefits too. Cutting down on red meats in particular would reduce your likelihood for heart disease, the number-one killer of women. Fatty red meats and many processed meats are high in saturated fat, which raises LDL (bad) cholesterol and increases risk of coronary heart disease. Scarily, it has been proven that meat-cancer connection exists. There was a study in the British Journal of Cancer, those who ate the most red and processed meat were found to have the highest risk of breast cancer.

Vegetarian food doesn't have to be boring. Here is a great website I use to find new,exciting vegetarian meals. I particularly love using Jamie's pasta and pancake recipes. 

Did you know that loads of makeup is still being tested on animals? In fact, in China it is required. Since 2013, animal-tested cosmetics have been banned in the EU, but a loophole means some ingredients can still be tested.

Here is a list of brands that test on animals, and ones that don't. The results I found actually surprised me.

Makeup tested on animals           

                    Makeup tested on animals

L'Oreal

Mac

Bobbi Brown

Benefit

Avon

Rimmel

Revlon -Revlon did 3rd party testing on animals (selling in China) but have since pulled out which make them cruelty free!

Maybelline

Clinique

Makeup not tested on animals

Burt’s Bee’s

Boots Natural Collection

Boots No.7

The Body Shop

Lush

Bourjois

Revlon

Bare Minerals

Clarins

So, I am not expecting everyone who reads this to agree with me, and that is absolutely fine. I just want to make people aware of what is going on in the world, and you're a meat eater you need to know the truth about how the animal gets to your plate. If you would like some more information on vegetarian recipes and making the switch please get in contact with me or leave a comment below.  

July Favourites | Collab

So, for the last couple of months I have seen and enjoyed reading monthly favourite posts. Whether it be music, YouTube, makeup or even flavoured shower gels (Hannah) I just really enjoy seeing what other people are loving. Maybe I'm just nosey.  Seeing as I have never written a post of this kind before, and have been loving some great things this month, I thought I'd share them with you.

The first favourite of mine is actually a Youtube channel. Her name is Estée and she also has a blog which is just as beautiful which I will link here. She is a Canadian (she moved to England five years ago) beauty blogger. I'm a little obsessed with her channel and blog, and I think you will love her too!

My next favourite is semi permanent hair dye. I've wanted to dye my hair for ages and my first choice of colour would be either bleach blonde or lilac. We (being my mum and I) compromised on dying my hair with a semi permanent dye during the holidays. So finally the summer holidays have rolled round and last night Jay helped me dye it.

It made a bit of mess in the bathroom but most of it cleared up and because I have a lot of hair, we used most of the bottle. I left it in for twenty five minutes rather than fifteenth which was the recommended. The colour isn't great and I now have varying shades of blue, green and pink in my hair, but I think it looks cool.  I was totally going for the Avril Lavigne look.

My last favourite is Taylor Swift's album, 1989. I am a huge Swifty fan and I just love this album so much. My favourite song from the album at the moment is Style.

This was a collab with Sam,  Floral Bee and Pastel Blasts. Be sure to check their blogs if you would like to see what are their favourites are this month.

Happiness, Keeping Positive and Being the Best Version of You

Okay, so what's the difference to you on a good day, and you on a bad day? In my case, this is an easy one. I hate myself on bad days, I feel negative, lonely and grumpy and I bet I'm not fun to be around. Whereas on a good day, I feel confident, positive and like nothings going to bring me down. Which days do you find the most fun? Obviously, good days are the most fun for the vast majority of people. I mean, who wants to be around someone who is grumpy and misriable?
We all have those kind of days though, and it's important to know how to deal with them. Here are my top pick me ups for when I'm feeling blue. Or red, or purple, I'll let you choose on that.

1. Do something you love.                                                                                                                          This could be anything. What are your hobbies? Doodling, taking pictures, playing your guitar, singing, dancing? It could even be as simple as petting your cat, or writing another blog post.                                                                                                                 
2. Have a long conversation or phone call with your best friend.                                                  This helps. A lot. Sometimes you just need someone to tell you it's going to be okay, and a shoulder to cry on. Other times, they can just be there to make you laugh and cheer you up. I try to have at least one back to back text conversation everyday with my best friends. This way, we get to keep up to with one another and if we have any issues they don't go unheard. My friends are one of the most important things to me in life, right after family, so being there for them as well as them being there for me is something I feel strongly on.                                                                                                                    
3. Go for a walk, run, jog or anything that clears your mind.                                               My friend is a dancer and she says that when she's dancing, she gets lost in the music and her mind is blank. I feel that way when I'm running and it can be a great way to relieve stress without getting anyone else involved.
4. 1.                                                     
5. Read.                                                                                                                                                    I understand that for a lot of people, reading isn't fun, but honestly give it a go. There are loads of books out there so you're bound to find one you like and and getting lostin a good book is bound to put a smile on your face. If this really isn't for you (sad face) then watch a movie you love. Remember magazines count too.                                                                                                                                                                                             
6. Avoid drama                                                                                                                                    Lastly, just avoid any school gossip. Honestly it's not worth it and you won't feel any better for getting involved.

                                                                 What are your top 'pick me ups'?

You are beautiful

Okay, this is going to be a long one, so sit down and get yourself a hot chocolate.

We live in a society where we are constantly under surveillance about our appearance. Woman and girls are told that they're not good enough by magazines, television and even the schooling system. Beauty is defined as; a combination of qualities, such as shape, colour, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight. This can be taken in many different ways. Such as; we as a society (stereo-typically women but guys too) are told they have to fit into a certain 'group of people'. For example; we have to go to university to be smart, we have to wear makeup to be beautiful and if we are gay then we should we looked down on. 

Like truly beautiful woman once said: 

"The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mode but the true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives the passion that she shows. The beauty of a woman grows with the passing years".

Audrey Hepburn

It seems like these days beauty can be split into two segments. Inner beauty and external beauty could not be anymore different. Inner beauty describes how someone is on the inside. For example, if someone's personality is very loving, genuine and kind that would make them beautiful. If they were spiteful, judgmental and nasty that would make them ugly. Yet how come the most inner ugliness came come from the most externally beautiful people?

When looking at girls in society today, it seems like the need to be beautiful is their top priority. It is clear that he majority of females feel that to be beautiful, they need makeup.This is far from the truth. Don't get me wrong, I love makeup and I actually aspire to be a makeup artist when I'm older as I love the way it can transform a person but the idea of people feeling ugly without it makes me feel sick. I blame the media. 

Some people would argue that the reason we aren't satisfied with the way we look is all in the minds of women. However, society can influence a woman's body image through media representations. For example, all these celebrities in magazines with a 'flawless' complexion and unnaturally proportioned bodies (not naming names) are making young girls and females feel worthless and not good enough.

As the economy grows, as social media and technology. With the world literally at our finger tips, it's hard not to envy that girl you just followed on Instagram and her perfect skin. Or that other girl who just posted a picture of her in a little black dress (thigh gap included) on Tumblr.

Just remember that everyone is different and beautiful in their own way. The harsh reality is that you are probably always going to feel like some one else is better than you, when really they could be thinking the same about you. We are individuals and are designed to be just that 'individual'.

This was a collab with Floral Bee so make sure you check out her post and read her views.

Small Boots Haul and Oliver's Pantry

Hey!

On Saturday two friends and I went into town shopping. This is something I enjoy doing (I mean hello, do you even know me?) and I thought as I've never done a post like this before, I'd show you what I got up to! We went round most of the shops, but Boots and Superdrug were the only places I bought something.

The first item I bought was a palette by Mua. I don't usually buy from this counter as the last product I purchased here was a foundation I really didn't enjoy but as I've been looking for a cheaper alternative to the original Naked palette by Urban Decay, I thought I'd give it a chance. 

The palette is called 'Undressed' and features 12 shades which are a mix of nudes and metallics. I've seen a lot of bloggers love this brand for eye shadows and as far as I can tell, the shades are exactly the same as Naked.  I'll let you know how I get on with it.   

The next product is one I have been wanting to try for a while. It's the Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream. For those of you unfamiliar with the term BB cream, it's basically a cross between a tinted moisurizer and foundation and I think BB stands for blemish base. The reason I wanted to try this was because as Summer is here, I don't want to wear a heavy foundation as it is just too sticky yet I still want medium coverage. I found this ideal as it is only light but has a build able coverage and has SPF 30. 

Finally, we went to Oliver's which you guys have probably never heard of but trust me, their brownies are the best brownies in the universe. I also had an oreo milkshake which is not pictured here but was amazing.