Friday 16 January 2015

Clearing the Stash

I'm slightly of the opinion that the people who tell you when you should throw your make-up out are often the ones who are telling you to buy their new product. The only rule I 100% agree with is mascara. That should be chucked every 6 months or you risk spreading bacteria around. However, I looked at my collection and realised there were products that I simply didn't use anymore. Hopefully now I'll get more use out of the pieces that are left.


Friday 9 January 2015

Cruelty Free Wishlist

I posted at the start of the week about my intentions to be cruelty free only in my new purchases of beauty products and I thought I'd show you some of the things I have my eye on. If some of these aren't cruelty free please tell me and I'll take them off (and not buy them).

As I won't be able to replace a majority of my lip products when they run out the search is on for alternatives. First up OCC Lip Tars, number one for me is NSFW which is matte. I mean just look, it's a stunning colour and I need it pronto. Followed by Anime (a bright pink).
Picture from occmakeup.com
Sticking with lipsticks, I've wanted an Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick for a while and I've read that they're cruelty free so it's one thing that can stay on the list. With OCC covering the brights, I quite fancy Muse which looks to be a dusky pink.
Picture from Space.NK
Onto eyes and my brand of the moment Neal's Yard Remedies has some great colours, but I have my eye on Bluebell, a fabulous navy and my favourite flower. I've played around some testers and they look to be great quality.
Picture from Neal's Yard Remedies
Palette wise I so want TheBalm's Meet Matt(e) Nude, although I am unsure about the yellow. I'm about 90% sure they're cruelty free but information is hard to find. I've been seeking a matte eyeshadow palette since last year. This one has great colours for liners and shadows.
Picture from feelunique.com
One of the things I was most worried about was base products. I'm very pale and struggle to find foundations that match up when looking at the whole market, let alone a small portion. However, it looks like Lush have come to my rescue with their Jackie Oates foundation. I'm excited to run out of my current stuff now so I can try it.
Picture from Lush
In terms of concealer, I struggled in my first look but Green People do a pencil concealer that, if it's a skin tone match, looks like it would be good to cover everything foundation doesn't.
Picture from Green People

What other products should I add to my wishlist?

Wednesday 7 January 2015

So it's 2015, what now?

Time's a funny thing. You think you have all the time in the world to achieve your goals and suddenly another year has gone past without realising. It's important to look back and reflect on times gone past. Last year I wrote a 10,000 word dissertation and didn't send a rude email to my lecturer when I didn't get the mark I wanted (it's the little things). I also graduated surrounded by great friends and family with a grade I was so proud of. I flew by myself and began the long journey of healing and recovery from mental illness. I moved in with my boyfriend and spent two weeks working at the local paper. Opportunities and experiences I couldn't have guessed at this time last year. Particularly, as my Mum reminded me the other day, I hadn't started my dissertation this time last year.

2015 will be a continuation of many of those things. Especially the recovery one. Beating a problem that has consumed your life since you were 15 takes time. I'm also training to be a journalist and that will continue this year too with exams somewhere on the horizon.

I want to be so much more organised this year and have invested into two planners to achieve this. Every day possible will be productive, and I'm even going to try and cut down on the number of naps I have (ha!).

I've spoken about one of my beauty plans here but as well as that I'm going to be taking better care of my skin, and using face masks regularly. (Sense of deja-vu here). More fresh air and water should also help here.

Even the weather's rubbish sometimes!
I also have plans of spending less and saving more (double ha!) with the aim of improving my technology and getting a mortgage in the next 40 years. I'm going to have some no buy months to help that. This does mean that things might take a deviation away from beauty while I have no money to buy new products but I'll be updating with content weekly and hopefully daily by the end of the year.

What are your plans for 2015?

Monday 5 January 2015

Going Cruelty Free

This is something that has been on my mind for a while and the start of the New Year seems like as good a time as any to put it into practice.

So I would like to announce that from today any beauty product I buy will be cruelty free and not have been tested on animals, or be from a company whose parent company tests on animals.

Animal testing in the beauty world is so unnecessary. You don't need to be putting eyeliner on rabbits. It's something that has begun to sit uncomfortably with me and something that needs greater exposure in the wider beauty community. I know there are some great cruelty free bloggers out there (let me know your recommendations) but a vast majority of the "large" beauty bloggers and vloggers don't mention it.

The way that this will work is simple, anything I buy from now on will be cruelty free to the very very best of knowledge. I'm going to do a lot more research but I can't promise to always be 100% right, it's a murky area and lots of places say they are but aren't always. It's easy to be duped. But there's some great lists out there that I will be making good use of, as well as a wealth of experienced people. I won't be getting rid of things already in my collection, that would be a waste of money and I can't afford to replace it all right now. But I won't be linking to them when I've used it and will try and find cruelty free alternatives. For now, I won't be focusing on vegan or vegetarian products. It seems a little hypocritical when I'm still eating meat but I will be making careful choices. I'm also going to be spreading the change within the home too. That means no cleaning products that have been tested on animals. Does anyone know any great bleach mould sprays we can use?

What are some of your favourite cruelty brands and where's the best place to go to find them?

Here is a picture of my cat to finish. He doesn't need make-up, no animal does.