New Year's Blog Resolutions

I honestly can't believe that we're half way through the last day of 2014, where has this year gone? It seems like only last week I wrote my first blog post, but that was almost 9 months ago! Over the last few weeks I've had a chance to think about this blog and the direction I want to take it in 2015, so in order to help me achieve my goals I've come up with a list of resolutions. I'm not normally one for making New Year's resolutions, partly because I rarely stick to them for more than a few weeks and partly because I like to change when the mood strikes rather than when I feel like I should, but with a new year I feel like now is a good time to let some of my blog goals be known, hopefully that way you'll all hold me accountable if I don't stick to them.

Manicure Monday | Barry M - Jingle Bells

As you'll have guessed by now if you read my Manicure Monday posts on a regular basis, I do love a good glitter nail polish, especially when it's made by one of my favourite brands. So when I saw that Barry M were releasing some limited edition glitter toppers I knew I had to get my hands on at least one of them. Thankfully Santa decided I'd been a good girl this year and brought me two of them, the one I have on my nails at the moment is Jingle Bells, a Superdrug exclusive.

Weekly Round-up #21

Baked:  Lots of Christmas treats

As a vegan it can be quite expensive to stock up on treats for Christmas, it often feels that the more ingredients companies remove from food, the more they cost, so this year I decided to make a lot of my own baked goods. I spent a few days in the kitchen and made lots of yummy vegan beige food, including: Welsh cakes (recipe here), sausage rolls, cinnamon rolls, gingerbread people, pain au chocolat (not in the photo) and mince pies with citrus and apple. It was all delicious and, unsurprisingly, was gone in no time even though I made loads of everything. It's definitely given me the baking bug again and I can't wait to go shopping so I can buy more ingredients.

My Top Entertainment of 2014 | With Trailers

2014 has been an incredible year for entertainment, there have been some amazing cinema and DVD releases and one of my favourite albums of all time was released. So I thought I'd round-up the year with some of my top picks from this year and hopefully give you a couple of recommendations.

Autograph Matte Velvet Twist Up Lipstick in Wine | Review

Yep, I have another Autograph lip product to review. Marks and Spencer have really been impressing me over the last few months with their rather extensive make-up range. The Matte Velvet Twist Up Lipstick has the pigmentation of a lipstick, but in the packaging of a lip crayon. Being a lover of both highly pigmented lipsticks and lip crayons, I knew I had to try at least one.

Autograph Smooth Matte Mousse Foundation | Review

As I told you a while ago, I've been on the look out for a an autumn/winter foundation that would suit all of my skin's needs while the weather was cold. My skin can sometimes react quite badly to changes in temperature so I was ideally looking for a foundation that wasn't too drying, has decent coverage, lasts all day and didn't affect the condition of my skin. While perusing the Marks and Spencer website I came across the Smooth Matte Mousse foundation and decided to give it a go.

Manicure Monday | Models Own - Velvet Goth in Sardonyx

As I told you in last week's Manicure Monday, I've had my Christmas nails planned for a while now, unfortunately though this week's didn't work out. I bought some Santa nail gems but they're huge. I've grown my nails for the last three weeks so they'd fit, but even though they fit on my nails now, they just looked odd so I had to take them off and go with plan B. Nothing says Christmas more than glitter and red, so I decided to go with Sardonyx from Models Own Velvet Goth collection.

Weekly Round-up #20

Beauty product of the week:  Crazy Rumors lip balm in Black Cherry

It's official, I'm hooked on Crazy Rumors! I have a few different flavours now and my favourite this week has been Black Cherry. To me it doesn't smell too much of fresh cherries, but smells a heck of a lot like cherry bakewell's, which is a scent I adore. It tastes amazing and lasts brilliantly, just as all of them do.

My Favourite Christmas Films | With Trailers

Warning: this post may contain spoilers

I have to be honest, over the last few years I haven't been into the whole 'it's the most wonderful time of the year' thing. I'd have been much happier if Christmas would skip right past me and leave me alone completely. Last year things changed, I changed. I stopped being such a Grinch and got into the whole Christmas spirit and I was much happier for it, I would even go as far as to say that I enjoyed it. In an effort to try and enjoy the season a bit more there are a number of movies that I watch every year in the run-up to the big day, and this year will be no different.

Autograph Ultimate Shine Twist Up Lip Colour in Damson | Review

As I'm sure you already know, I really rate the lip products from Autograph very highly, I'm yet to find a lip product of their's that I don't love. So, when I was kindly offered a 'friends and family' discount code a few weeks back, that could also be used in conjunction with their 'buy one get one half price' deal, I couldn't resist.

The Christmas Tag

It's been months since I done my last tag, so feeling all festive (and a little bit bored), I thought I'd give this one a go.

Manicure Monday | Christmas Trees with Models Own - Absinthe

I knew months ago what nails I wanted to wear for the 2 weeks leading up to Christmas, which is why I haven't featured this nail polish before now, I wanted to save it. I'm absolutely useless at nail art, especially on my right hand, so I went for the cheat's option and bought some Christmas tree nail gems from eBay.

Weekly Round-up #19

Bought:  Lush - Lord of Misrule Perfume

There has been so much drama over the release of this perfume, partly because it's so bloody difficult to get your hands on, and partly because the bottles aren't completely full. I took this photo the morning it was delivered, before I'd even sprayed it once, and look how full it is. I can't speak for other people, but I bought this knowing that it would be that way, so I can't really complain too much, but those not knowing it would look that way must have been furious. I know a couple of people who have bought it to give as a gift, and they feel too embarrassed to now, it looks as if they've been wearing it themselves so I totally understand. Anyway, on to the positive, it smells glorious! Seriously my favourite perfume in the whole world ever. Better than Chanel, better than Stella McCartney and any other high end brand I bought in the past, which is a good thing because none of them are vegan so I can't buy them any longer. Jen over at All Things Lush has written a great review of it, and will do a much better scent description than I ever could.

How To Leave A Clickable Blog Comment

If you read a lot of blogs and also blog yourself, you'll know the importance of leaving good quality comments on other people's blogs. They can be a great source of traffic for your site and introduce you to potential new readers, however, without a clickable link you're vastly reducing the number of people that will ever get to see your content. Below is a very simple tutorial on how you can make your link clickable.

Veet Animal Testing Policy

I've recently been in contact with Reckitt Benckiser, who own Veet, regarding their animal testing policy, and the possibility of a 'suitable for vegans' list. The reply was very long and detailed, and I feel that it would confuse a lot of people, so I will only show you the points that I feel are relevant to gather the information desired.

Organic Surge Million Dollar Anywhere Balm | Review

If you read my Cuticle Care Routine a few months back, you'll be well aware of the attention I already give to make sure they're in good condition at all times, so when I opened my The Vegan Kind Beauty Box and saw a multi purpose balm I was really happy.

Manicure Monday | ELF - Plum

As someone pointed out on my Instagram account last week, I've been all about the traditional autumn/winter shades recently, and this week is no different. Plum from ELF is a deep purple based burgundy creme that almost looks black in the shade, but in the light is the colour you see below.

Weekly Round-up #18

Bought:  OCC Lip Tar's and nail polishes

I'm not usually one for having matching nails and lips, but ever since I bought Black Metal Dahlia Lip Tar last year I've been on the hunt for the perfect nail polish to go with it. I know OCC make a nail polish of the same name, but it's almost impossible to get hold of in the UK, and if I do find it it's so ridiculously expensive that I just can't justify it. Well, my brother recently went to the USA for a few months, so while he was there I ordered some to be delivered to him and he brought it home with him this week, along with a set of Lip Tar's and the Lip Tar Primer. I can't wait to use them, expect to see more about them soon. The only thing I'm not crazy about is how grubby the packaging is, you can see how dirty it is in the photo.

Vegan Christmas Gift Guide for Her | Under £30

I know there are a million and one gift guides floating around the internet at the moment, but whilst searching for vegan versions I didn't find any. So, in an effort to help myself (and hopefully some of you) a bit, I've put together this gift guide. The title may say 'for her', but anyone with an interest in beauty would like all of these products I'm sure, and there are a couple of things that you don't even have to be a beauty lover to appreciate.

Monthly Favourites | November 2014

This month hasn't really been the best, I had lots of good things planned for it but only a few of them really came to anything, so I'm kind of glad to see the back of it to be honest. I've tried a few new products over the last few weeks that I haven't had the chance to write reviews of yet, so I won't go into too much detail here, but will be sure to post full reviews soon.

Manicure Monday | Tender Loving Canines - Schipperke

It feels good to be writing a Manicure Monday post again after missing last week's. Today I have a brand that you probably won't have heard of; Tender Loving Canines*. They're only available on Etsy, and everything is 100% cruelty-free and vegan. The lovely Sally who owns TLC also makes jewellery, so be sure to go and check out her shop if you like affordable, hand-made items.

Weekly Round-up #16 & 17

As you may have noticed, I've been away from here for the last couple of weeks. I told you in my last Weekly Round-up that I felt like I needed a week off from blogging and little did I know that I needed longer than that, to be honest I don't really feel 100% right now, but I'm scared that if I don't get back into it I'll let it get away from me and I really don't want that to happen. I've had a good long think over the last couple of weeks and have come to the conclusion that I'm not going to give up, I still love to blog and I think about it constantly, I just need to organise my time better and come up with some kind of routine so I don't get too overwhelmed. I have a few things planned for the new year, things that will hopefully improve the look and functionality of the blog, so I hope you stick around to see what you think of those. Thank you all for allowing the time off to get my thoughts in order and start to feel a little more myself, it's appreciated. So, without further ado, here is a little of what I've been doing over the last 2 weeks. There aren't any photos I'm afraid, I hope you don't mind too much, but there are plenty of You Tube clips and stock pictures.

Instagram:  Picture of the fortnight

Manicure Monday | Barry M - Red Black

As you may have noticed, I've recently been all about the dark vampy autumn shades on my nails, and it doesn't get much more dark and vampy than Red Black from Barry M. This is a great dupe for the cult classic Rouge Noir from Chanel, but without the animal testing and hefty price tag.

Weekly Round-up #15

Post Box:  German make-up

Thanks to the fabulous Kat from Vegan Beauty Studio I was able to try out a new brand to me, P2. Apparently they're a cheap cruelty-free brand that's quite popular in Germany and they have a good selection of vegan products. I have reviews and more details coming up very soon, so look out for those.

KAYA Pure Foot Scrub | Review

As I mentioned in Wednesday's post, I've been trying to get my feet back in good condition. Wearing sandals all summer long has left them a little worse for wear, so I've been looking for products that will help to buff away the dry skin and leave them feeling softer and looking a little more presentable, even if they are just going to be hidden away in boots for the next few months. I was kindly sent the 'KAYA, Soften Those Toes!'* scrub from KAYA Pure, and have to say that it's helped tremendously!

The Vegan Kind Beauty Box #1 | First Impressions

I've never had a vegan subscription box before, so when I saw on Facebook that The Vegan Kind, who usually do food subscription boxes, were doing a beauty version I signed up as soon as I could. I wasn't sure what to expect, and tried my best not to look at previews or sneak peaks, I wanted to be surprised. Well, on Saturday it finally arrived and here's what The Vegan Kind Beauty Box contained.

Manicure Monday | Orly - In The Navy

I never used to be a lover of the colour navy, it just seemed like a washed out version of black to me, but lately I've been  loving it. In The Navy from Orly is possibly my favourite navy nail polish, not that I have that many of them, but I prefer it to most swatches I've seen online of other brands too.

Weekly Round-up #14

Loved:  Going the ballet

On Friday night I surprised my Mum with a night at the theatre. I've seen a few ballets over the years, but she never has, so was thrilled and, thankfully, totally shocked. Ballet Cymru performed Beauty and the Beast at the Riverfront in Newport, South Wales, and it was incredible. I was lucky enough to get seats in the middle of the second row, so we could see everything. It was a brilliant night.

ELF Waterproof Eyeliner Crayons - Review

Like most avid make-up wearers, I'm always on the hunt for the perfect eye liner. In an ideal world they would all be creamy, easy to apply, highly pigmented, smudge proof, budge proof, water proof and easy to remove. However, I am yet to find a single one that meets more than a couple of those criteria. A few months back I was going through the ELF website and came across these Waterproof Eyeliner Crayons, and at only £3.95 I figured they were worth a try.

B. Prepared Makeup Primer | Review

Over the last few months I've tried a number of primers, mainly because I have occasional dry patches and foundation can hang around them, but also because I get oily in my t-zone. So with both of these problems I'm on the hunt for the perfect primer that does it all; mattifies, hydrates and helps my make-up last longer.

Manicure Monday | ELF - Cranberry

I've had this polish for months now but haven't touched it. To be honest, when it came (I think it was in the spring) I decided I was going to wait until autumn to wear it, so I put it away in a drawer and completely forgot about it. Whilst having a tidy up last week I found it, and I think it's just perfect for autumn/winter.

Weekly Round-up #13

Loved:  Finding chickens in my garden

I live in the middle of a really built up area, the only animals you see around here are cats and dogs, and that's not very often. So when I went into the back garden to see what Cherry (my dog) was barking at, to be faced with 2 chickens just wandering around was the strangest thing. We had a nice little chat and they disappeared again. I don't really want to say too much about them as at the time of writing this I'm still unsure what I'm going to do, but if things are as bad for them as I think, they might just find themselves in a new home.

Monthly Favourites | October 2014

Besides being ill for a couple of weeks at the beginning of the month, October has been really good, so I'm kind of sad to say goodbye to it. I have a few things planned for November though, and hopefully the temperature will continue to drop (I can't believe how mild it still is in Wales) so it should be a great month too. Make-up wise has been pretty boring this month, I've tried few new products, so my favourites is very lip product heavy, as that's what I've been focusing on for most of the month.

Lush Lipstick in Drive | Review

If you've looked at the background of a lot of my photos over the last few months I'm sure you'll have noticed the Lush lipstick, it's been sitting there practically untouched since I bought it in June. To be honest, when it first arrived I tried it out and wasn't blown away with it so haven't chosen to wear it since. However, these last couple of weeks I've given it another shot, and my opinions have certainly changed.

Hard Candy Animal Testing Policy and Vegan List

I recently contacted Hard Candy regarding their animal testing policy and to see if they had a list of vegan friendly products, here is their reply:

Manicure Monday | Barry M - Berry Cosmo

If you 'like' my Facebook page, you'll have seen last weekend that Barry M were having a 'buy one get one half price' offer on their £2.99 Nail Paints from Superdrug. Even though I swore that I wasn't going to buy any more nail polish until the new year I just couldn't resist. Berry Cosmo has been at the top of my wish list for a couple of months, so as soon as I saw them announce the sale I went straight to the Superdrug website and snapped it up, along with a few others.

Weekly Round-up #12

Loved:  Going out with Jade

I haven't been out much lately, with the cold I picked up and a few other problems I've just wanted to stay at home in the warm, so a short trip out with my friend Jade was just what I needed on Friday. We went to the local shopping centre for a hot chocolate (which was lovely, but small as they'd run out of soya milk by 12.30pm) and a mosey around the shops. I picked up some make-up from Marks and Spencer since they had a special offer on, so expect reviews soon.

Ciaté Speed Coat Pro Fast Dry Top Coat | Review

Until last year I was never really sold on the idea of top coats, honestly, I just couldn't be bothered with the extra step. I'd happily paint my nails every night if I had the time but would rarely use top or base coats, but after getting into reading blogs quite heavily I decided that it was time I gave it a proper go. After all, I trusted so many bloggers with other product reviews, why not nail polish? And so began my quest for the perfect top coat.

Soap and Glory Orangeasm | The Collection

I've made no secret of the fact that I adore Soap and Glory products, in fact I don't think I've posted a 'Monthly Favourites' without at least 1 item from the brand making an appearance. I am yet to try something from them that I don't love; the scents are always glorious and the skin care items are perfect for my sensitive skin. After hearing so many great things about the Orangeasm Body Wash I knew I had to pick it up, and that is where my obsession began.

Manicure Monday | Models Own - Misty Grey

As I told you in this post, I've been on the hunt for the perfect grey nail polish for months now. Most I've found were either too light, too dark or just not smoky enough for my liking, so when Models Own had another of their 6 for £20 deals on I jumped at the chance to try out Misty Grey, and I'm glad I did, it's just the shade I've been looking for.

Weekly Round-up #11

Made:  Double choc chip pancakes

After being ill for a week and not feeling like cooking, I had a hankering for something hot and naughty. I raided the cupboards and found just enough ingredients to make some delicious chocolate pancakes. If anyone wants it I'll post the recipe, though I made it up on the spot so I'd have to make them again and write it down this time. It was super quick and easy (as most of my cooking tends to be) and they were so good!

Lush Haul

Like almost every woman in the UK, possibly the world, I am a huge Lush fan, so when I saw that their Halloween and Christmas range had been released I hopped on over the the website to see what was new. I have loads of things on my wish list, but I'm trying to save money at the moment, so I only treated myself to a couple of new products and replaced things I am running low on.

B. Clean Melting Gel Cleanser | Review

I meant to review this months ago, but I honestly forgot. I don't know how considering I use it almost every day and have bought it 3 times, but there you go, at least I'm writing it now. I've never tried a 'melting gel cleanser' before, so didn't really know what to expect, but now I have tried it there's no going back, I'm in love!

Manicure Monday | China Glaze - Crimson

This is another polish that I featured in my 'Top 10 Vegan Nail Polish Picks for Autumn' a couple of weeks ago. It's the darkest of the lot, so dark in fact that you have to be in very good light to see a slight hint of red. Even up close it looks black, and that's what makes me love it.

Weekly Round-up #10

Bought:  New phone case

I seem to have bought so many phone cases over the last couple of years, and the one thing they all have in common is the price; they were all cheap. Needless to say none of them lasted, so I thought it was about time I invested in a good quality one. The case I chose is made of solid cherry wood, and has a Dalek from Doctor Who engraved on the back. It comes in two sections, you slide your phone into the top section and then push the bottom on. They're both made from the same piece of wood so the design is continuous and you can barely see the join once it's on. I absolutely love it, and although at just over £20 (inc p+p) it's on the pricey side, you can tell it's great quality and I think it's totally worth it. It's one of my favourite buys this year. You can find this case and lots more from 'Not A Scratch' on Etsy.

How To Make a Custom 'About Me' Widget in Blogger

For the last couple of months I've been looking for a way to make a custom 'about me', but all of the tutorials I found had me using HTML code. I have zero knowledge of this and it makes me really nervous to even think about changing any of the code myself. Little did I know that it was so ridiculously easy, so easy that I managed to do it in about 2 minutes once I had my image ready. Here's what you need to do:

• Have your image ready. 

To create a round photo I edited my existing one in Canva. I searched for 'circle' and found this one.

ELF Baked Blushes | Review

Even though I have a couple of baked eye shadow palettes and a few other baked products, I have to admit that it's taken me quite a while to get on board with the whole baked thing. I never quite understood the fascination with them; they're glittery, not easy to transfer onto a brush and don't have brilliant colour pay-off, at least that's what I initially thought. Having used the ELF Baked Blushes for a while now, I've changed my mind.

Manicure Monday | Barry M - Red Wine

I love a good red nail polish, I have a different favourite for each season, and Red Wine from Barry M is definitely my favourite for autumn. This is one of my picks that I featured in my 'top 10 vegan nail polish picks for autumn'.

Weekly Round-up #9

Bought: Business Cards

Until recently it never occurred to me that I might need business cards for the blog, but over the last 4 or 5 weeks a few people have asked if I have one to give them. I've been playing around with designs for a couple of weeks and finally decided on the ones in the picture. I knew I wanted them to reflect the style and theme of my blog; simple and clean with the same fonts and header. I'm really happy with how they turned out. I bought them from instantprint.co.uk, and got 100 for just over £12 including delivery. The quality is fantastic (450 gsm) and they were delivered in 2 days. If you're wondering where to get yours from, I'd really recommend them.

My Top 10 Vegan Lip Picks For Autumn

Following on from my Top 10 Vegan Nail Polish Picks For Autumn, I thought today I would share my lip picks with you. I've always been a lover of a bold lip, as you can see in my profile pic, and once autumn is even slightly hinted at I'm grabbing for my berry shades. This year is no different, but I have got a few new ones to play with too.