Real Techniques Bold Metals 300 Tapered Blush // Beauty

I had been lusting over the beautiful Bold Metals brushes since they were released by Real Techniques a few years ago.  I finally got my hands on 3 of them last year when my boyfriend treated me for our anniversary (after some major hinting...).

One of the 3 he bought for me was the 300 Tapered Blush which has since become a firm favourite.

KIKO Kiss Balm in Tutti Frutti // Beauty

"Tinted lip balm with repairing action and SPF 15 protection"

Kiss Balm lip balm in the colour Tutti Frutti was one of my Black Friday weekend bargains from Kiko when they had on an extremely tempting offer of buy 3 get 3 free!  I also got another colour  called Blackberry which I have currently misplaced...  I picked these up as my lips have been too dry recently for lipstick but I still wanted to have some colour on them.

Pixi Glow Tonic // Skincare

"Oxygenating. Exfoliating facial glow tonic. It helps tone, firm and tighten the skin. It removes dead skin cells for healthier looking skin."

I had heard great things about the Pixi Glow Tonic but as it used to be more difficult to find in the UK I started my acid toner exploration with the Ren Clarifying Toning Lotion.  When I finished this I managed to track down a nearly full Glow Tonic on Depop for £10 which was perfect for a trial!

KIKO Natural Concealer // Beauty

"Liquid Concealer with a natural and radiant effect"

When the Kiko store opened in the Trafford Centre I was really excited but I didn't get round to trying it until Black Friday Weekend where they had an amazing offer of buy 3 get 3 free!  I spent just over £20 and left with 6 products which definitely isn't too bad!

Bunny Friendly Beauty Tag

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I was tagged by Morag from mo'adore and you can read her post here; the tag was first created by Victoria - you can read hers here.

How long have you been on your cruelty free journey?

I think it was around 2010, so nearly 6 years!

What made you decide to go cruelty free?

I'm not sure of the pivotal moment however I think I just thought about it one day and realised I didn't know enough about it, then after looking into it I discovered how common it still was.  This led me to do my own research on brands and find out which ones were cruelty free and which to avoid.

What has been the hardest product to find a cruelty free dupe for?

A good anti-perspirant/deodorant! I have found ones which are okay, but nothing as good as the ones I used pre-cruelty free unfortunately.

What's the best cruelty free dupe you've found?

I have been cruelty free for so long that this is a hard question for me!  I don't really go for dupes intentionally, I tend to just buy things because I like them anyway.

What product or brand do you wish was cruelty free?

Not one in particular but it would be great if high street brands such as the likes of Maybelline or L'Oreal were cruelty free as they are such huge, powerful companies it would make a big difference, as well as the fact they are so affordable and attainable!

What's your holy grail cruelty free brand?

Probably Superdrug as it's great for getting the essentials like toothpaste then things like suncream.  However I do my food shop shop in Morrisons which is also cruelty free for beauty products, I am hoping their cleaning/household items will soon be BUAV approved soon as well.

Name one cruelty free brand we might not have heard of?

White Rabbit Skincare - an independent Scottish skincare brand which are lovely, also vegan!

Are you a vegan? If so, for how long and have you had any struggles? If not, why not?

Not currently vegan but I have been pescatarian since 2012 and vegetarian since moving out in 2014 and there is no way I would go back to meat, I don't miss it at all!

I am slowly making vegan swaps to things in my own cooking - butter, for example.  I think realistically I will end up being vegan at home and be vegetarian when eating out but I'll see, it might all just fall into place the way it did going veggy! 

What's your favourite local vegan friendly venue?

I live just outside Manchester which is a brilliant city for veggy/vegan places.  A particularly good one is VRevolution which is a totally unhealthy vegan junk/fast food selling the most amazing burger and hot dog concoctions!  They also have a little mini shop selling lots of vegan goodies such as chocolates, and meat and cheese substitutes.

You have 30 seconds to convert someone to a cruelty free lifestyle - what would you say to them?

I would say that although one person doesn't seem like they are making a difference, it is amazing to know yourself that you are not causing harm to animals by your lifestyle and that just by mentioning your views to others can make them rethink their choices.

<3

Empties #20

Hello!  I am back with 5 new mini reviews to share with you from my empties bucket:

Lush Figs and Leaves Soap

I was absolutely gutted to find out that my favourite bubble bar, Dorothy, has been discontinued when Lush had a product revamp recently!  However I knew that their soap Figs and Leaves was supposed to be of the same fragrance so all is not lost!

Charlotte Tilbury Bronzed Garnet Colour Chameleon

I have been really intrigued by the Charlotte Tilbury make up for a while now -  it's refreshing having a new cruelty free high end brand to try!  My work buds from my previous job were kind enough to get me a Selfridges voucher (they said I am hard to buy for, hrmmph, haha!) which I decided to use on something from Charlotte Tilbury.  It took me a good few months to decide what to get an finally after numerous Selfridges trips and make up swatches I went for one of the colour chameleon eye pencils.

Marks & Spencer Nature's Extract Anti-Perspirant Roll-On

It's no secret that the bane of my cruelty free life has been finding a decent anti-perspirant deodorant!  A lot of the cruelty free options tend to be 'green' which in itself is great, but this means that they are usually only deodorants and not anti-perspirants.  I'm not a particularly sweaty person (mmm!) but I'd rather just avoid it if I'm honest rather than stopping it from smelling which is what plain deos are made to do.

Illamasqua Precision Brow Gel Review + Brow Tutorial

I have been through numerous of Liz Earle's Eyebrow Pencils (review here) now so I decided to try something a bit different.  The Illamasqua Precision Brow Gel has been around for a while but only recently have they added a wider colour range.  Strike was the original which is for brunettes; they have now added Glimpse for redheads; Awe for blondes and Stare for dark brown/black hair.  I went for Strike as although my hair is light brown with blonde through it I prefer my brows to be darker.

An Interview with: White Rabbit Skincare

I've mentioned White Rabbit Skincare quite a few times recently and now I am going to share with you an interview that the founder, Melanie, has very kindly done with me.

This isn't a normal post for me but I thought it would be an interesting change - click the link to read more about this Scottish entrepreneur!

Empties #19

Louise Loves #10

Back in 2012 (oh my god *faints*) I did a weekly series called Louise Loves where I just shared a few items that I was enjoying at the time.  I thought I would resurrect this series again - 3 years later... - as it's fun to do and I love reading similar posts.  I'm not sure whether this will be weekly, fortnightly, or what yet, I'll just go with the flow and see what happens!

Once Upon A Time

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Recently Netflix added Once Upon A Time which was a series I started watching years ago on LoveFilm until they took it off so I was really excited to see it!  I've started watching it a few episodes in a sitting, which is the normal way to watch Netflix, right?!  I'm currently on episode 21 and really enjoying it so far.  It sounds quite childish when explaining the storyline to people but it is far from it, it's really quite dark and sinister at times!  I've got 5 series to get through and it's still going so it should keep me busy for a while!

Nando's Creamy Mash

Normally when I go to Nando's I get chips or spicy rice - or both.  However I recently tried the creamy mash for the first time after hearing someone saying it was really good, and oh boy, it's really good!  It's probably majorly unhealthy and full of cream and butter but it's definitely worth it!  I could just eat a whole bowl of it, mmm!!

White Rabbit Lime & Coconut Cleansing Water

I blogged about White Rabbit Lime & Coconut Cleansing Water recently and you can read my full review here.  It smells amazing and feels so fresh and cleansing on the skin.  I will definitely repurchase and look forward to trying other products.  You can get this from the Etsy shop here.

Have you got anything you are loving recently?  Share your links in the comments!

<3

Soap Stash & Storage

I recently did a 'bath products stash & storage' post so I thought I'd do a similar one and show you how I am currently storing my growing soap collection!

White Rabbit Lime & Coconut Cleansing Water

White Rabbit is a cruelty free and vegan skincare company, all handmade in Scotland.  I've known the founder for ages through Twitter and it's been great seeing her business grow!  I wanted to try some bits for a while but I had to wait until I'd finished up another skincare items otherwise they end up not getting used and going to waste...

Click read more to see my thoughts on one product in particular.

Empties #18

Hello!  I've really been struggling to fit in blogging round my job and other activities recently, especially with the dark nights making taking photos near impossible!  As I've moved away from home for work, a lot of my weekends are taken up with either going back up or having people down visiting.  However I managed to do some bulk photography which should keep me going for a while. Does anyone know of any decent daylight bulbs or lights?  This would make life a lot easier, can't wait for light nights again!

Bath Products Stash & Storage

Over Christmas I accumulated quite a lot of bath and body products so now that I am back down in my flat I thought I would sort them all out nicely!  To start with I have organised my bath bombs/melts by taking all the Lush items out of their paper bags and wrapped them in cling film so that I can see what everything is quickly.  If you have quite a few and want to keep track of what they are, you could write their names on the sling film using a Sharpie or permanent marker.

Household Empties

I'm not sure whether to make a series out of this style post but just wanted to test the water with it!  I thought it would be quite interesting to do some mini reviews of household items.  Now that I have moved out I can make sure all the products I buy are cruelty free and I'm enjoying trying out lots of brands that are available!  Let me know you found it helpful and would like to see more of this post!

Beefayre Rhubarb & Raspberry Candle

When I was offered the chance to try something from Beefayre I was thrilled as although I hadn't heard of the company, after some quite googling I knew it was right up my street.  Beefayre was developed by artist Sharon Jervis and her son after visiting beekeepers in Romania.  The products are handmade in England using high quality ingredients, avoiding any petroleum by-products.  They also donate 3% of their profits to bee conservation and research which I think is brilliant! 

Nars Blush Collection - with swatches

I'm a big fan of Nars blushers, they're all so pretty!  I used to work for House of Fraser so was lucky enough to get 10% off beauty items which I took full advantage of and have built up and small collection whilst I was there.

Click read more to see my collection and swatches of everything.