How YOU can fight climate change without leaving your bed!

This has to be the best, innovative and easy way to help fight climate change! And I would ask you all to really consider doing this as you don't even really have to move, or even leave your bed. I recently heard about a search engine called Ecosia; the search engine who uses their ad revenue from your internet searches to plant trees.

For those people who don't understand how it works, you search for things on the internet using Ecosia instead of Bing etc.... when you search for things this generates money for Ecosia, they then use their profit from this business to plant trees and help kick climate changes ass. Most of their profit goes towards this cause and they are also extremely transparent.
Me fighting climate change all snug.

This is a statement from their website:

"We know that trust has to be earned. That is why we publish our monthly financial reports and tree planting receipts. This way you can keep us accountable as we follow our journey to a reforested world"

"When you search the web with Ecosia, 80% of the profits from the search ad revenue goes to support tree planting programs. Get the free browser extension and help plant trees every time you search"

I gave it a go installing it on my laptop and phone and it is so so simple and takes about 40 seconds!

Install

This is such a brilliant idea, just showing how fighting climate change and building a better world is just at our fingertips; with just a few small changes we can all easily make a huge difference for animals, people and the environment all over the world.


Natural make up look - Cruelty free beauty

I always scroll down Instagram in awe, make-up these days is incredible and it seems all girls from the age of 13 know how to contour their faces to perfection and apply false lashes in one minute flat. Unfortunately, I seem to have missed that boat and between working two jobs, going to the gym, blogging and studying if it can't be done in under 5 minutes, there isn't time.
If like me you have a busy lifestyle and don't have much time, I hope you enjoy this natural make-up look which is my go-to look for every day. I think it's pretty natural and simple and I can usually do it in about 3-4 minutes as the products are very simple colours and easy to apply. I like this look as I feel like it freshens my face up for the day without looking too done up. I think that this look also works really well if you work in an office and want to wear very natural makeup.

One thing I always do before I apply any make-up is applied a nice moisturizer. I have never really seen the need for primer, I think this works just the same and primer is a little unessisary... I've been enjoying using the Soap and Glory plumping moisturiser. I then always do my mascara and eyeshadow first as I think it's easier to correct any mistakes this way; for this look I like to use the Soap and Glory Thick and fast mascara and the Sleek pallet Storm 578, with one of the matt light brown shades; I like this as it is really subtle but if you are quite pale like me, it adds some warmth to the look and a bit of shade around the eyes.

After this, I always apply a light foundation, Barry M flawless matte finish is the one I have used, I think its really important to use a moisturizer under this as it is quite drying and I wouldn't really recommend.  A cruelty-free foundation is something I have really struggled finding If anyone has a good recommendation let me know in the comments! So far all the ones I have tried have been oddly pigmented or very drying! The only one I would recommend is probably No7, as I've recently fallen out of love with all of the Illamasqua and Smashbox ones. Smashbox I would also like to mention is not strictly cruelty-free as it is owned by a parent company that tests.

Next I like to use the Illamasqua Brow Build in Thrive for my eyebrows I really love this product It makes such a subtle difference to your brows if you aren't a fan of drawing them on like me or you don't have time this is a really good way of taming your eyebrow hairs and adding some shape and fullness to your brows.

Finally, a lick of the Rosie Huntingdon Whitley Lipshine in sweetie darling and a dab of KIKO bronzer and that's my look finished! This look only takes 5 products and the moisturizer and it so quick to do; if I'm going out after work it's also really easy to update the look slightly just using the sleek pallet. If I need a quick update dabbing the light pink shade on my browbone and then using it as a highlight on my nose and corner of my eyes and cheekbones are quite effective.

The best places to shop second hand on the internet

Thrifting and shopping second-hand doesn't have to be limited to charity shops, there are plenty of places to pick up amazing bargains online too. Shopping second hand is the most environmentally friendly and ethical way to shop, as it is just reusing items that are already made. It is also a great way to pick up bargains, develop your own style and find one-of-a-kind pieces that make your wardrobe really special.
It's important as well to remember that there is nothing wrong with shopping second hand. People often are put off by the thought of smelly, worn items cast aside by somebodies great Aunt Tess. But that really isn't the case, everything is clean and often you can find things still with labels on.

Shopping in this way also doesn't limit you to a certain style, there are so many different options and as long as you are focused on building a certain wardrobe there are soooo many good bargains you can pick up.


Here are my favourite places to shop online second hand, I hope you all enjoy my list and it gives you some great inspiration for updating your own wardrobes ethically:

1. ASOS Marketplace

2.Depop

3.Ebay

4. Vestier collective

5. Oxfam online

6. Vinted

7.  Preloved

8.  Shpock

I've had some good experiences on these sites and found some really good bargains that are really good quality. The best thing about these are that you can really develop your own style and build a really stylish wardrobe on a budget. It also helps the environment, minimising our consumption and not supporting the exploitation of workers and the destruction of the world's biodiversity.





September favourites cruelty-free, organic and ethical

Never will you find a stranger list of favourites than these! Unfortunately, I've not had a very beauty-full month so this time most of my favourites will be food. My first favourite this month is this amazing organic coffee by Clipper. I searched high and low for an organic Fair-trade coffee this month, but the closest I could get is the Organic Morrisons own brand filer coffee. I had a look in Tesco, Morrisons, Lidl and Aldi and this was the only one I found. I then had a look in Sainsbury's when I went in to grab some lentil pasta and I found this one by Clipper. I think its really sad that Sainsbury's are moving away from their partnership with Fair-trade, and from a marketing point of view I think the decision is poor. it will really affect my decision to shop there, I only go in for the Fair-trade and organic items!
This coffee had to be on my favourites list as not only is it organic and fair-trade, but it has a really good deep flavour as well. if you don't like strong coffee this one is not for you, it is quite bitter and strong which I like. It is also Soil Association certified which is a really important symbol to look for in your shopping basket. Soil erosion is one of the biggest and most overlooked environmental problems on earth.. but I'll save that for another post... This coffee is on the pricey side but I'm happy to pay for a quality instant coffee, and I would rather pay an extra pound to know that the coffee is organic, free from pesticides, herbicides and slave/child labour.
I really don't like the way that people ignore the importance of fair-trade, and are happy for big companies to use slaves and child labour as long as they don't have to hear about it. Slave labour and child labour are huge issues still in the world today with an estimated 46 million people still living as slaves worldwide.

The recent controversy between Munroe Bergdorf and L'Oréal really highlighted this issue for me. In the controversial statement she made, she spoke about how Britain and white society generally is built on and has profited from, the use of slaves. These comments highlighted to me how disillusioned many people can be about the status of slavery, and how countries and people have benefited and continue to benefit. L'Oréal who signed a contract with Munroe, is part-owned by Nestle who use slave labour on there cocoa and coffee plantations and have admitted this on their website. People need to recognise that if you work with people who still use slave labour, if you take their money or if you use their products you are still funding slavery. I personally feel that when Munroe made this statement, someone should have pointed out the hypocrisy in making this statement and forming a partnership with L'Oréal. I think there is an issue with people not seeing the link between how the products that we buy fund most of the social, economic, political and environmental problems in the world. Just changing our choices when we are shopping can actually change the world. Who knew it was that simple!

My next favourite is Sleepy by Lush which I know quite a few people have been loving recently. It is definitely not overhyped and it is as good as people say. I have been loving this product all month and I don't want to admit it but it is a little nicer than the Charity Pot. If you have trouble sleeping this is for you!
My last favourite is this Pip & Nut peanut butter, which I have been loving adding to rice cakes and porridge. It has no palm oil and has been sweetened with maples syrup and coconut oil, which adds a little bit of a sweet, malty flavour to it. I love peanut butter and with 26g of protein per 100g, it adds a little protein kick to my snacks. If you are trying to build muscles or get fit on a plant-based or vegetarian diet this can be a good form of protein and good fats.

Hope everyone enjoyed my ranty, political September favourites ;)





Soap and Glory make up - cruelty-free make up haul

Soap and Glory is one of my favourite high street beauty brands and I was so happy to find out when I went cruelty free that they don't test on animals. I love their products and the style of their packaging as its super fun and girly with a vintage 60's vibe which I think works really well.

My favourite item that Soap and Glory do has to be their famous Sexy mother pucker lip gloss, I have these in three shades, clear, rise and shine and charm offensive. I love all three of this lip glosses as they are a really high shine finish that really does plump up your lips. They are quite sticky though and if you buy one of the more pigmented shades I would recommend blotting so that it doesn't end up on your teeth.

The clear is my personal favourite as it is the best for plumping the lips, giving you a tingling sensation!

Next I really like the soap and glory mascaras, and if you are looking for a cruelty free high-street mascara I would defiantly recommend. I have both the old Thick and Fast and the new Thick and Fast High definition mascaras. I defiantly prefer the brush on the old one, it's probably my favourite brush of all time. The newer one is pretty good and I would recommend; the effect it gives reminds me of the hypnose mascara by Lancôme.

Once I've run out of this I will probably look for a more natural mascara one with nicer ingredients, like one made out of coffee as all mascaras make my eyes sting a little.

The supercat fat jumbo carbon ink eyeliner is probably my second favourite product that they do and it's my favourite eyeliner. The nib is like a pen which makes it so much easier to apply, and it goes on smoothly with a strong pigment.

The last product I have is the Perfect Ten shadow palette which is a mix of purple and pink shades. I do like this palette but I wouldn't recommend, I think the colours are quite limited and the formulation of the power isn't great. The powder is too set and the pigment is too weak so it's hard to get a good effect with this eyeshadow. My favourite colours in the pallet is the nude ones which I have been using for a base and the iced coffee shade.

This is the cruelty free statement from their website:

We understand that animal testing is a key concern for a growing number of consumers and at Soap & Glory, we can confidently state that all of our formulations are safety and efficacy tested on people. (Although you might argue about that if you’d seen the condition of some of their feet. YEEEESH. )

At Soap & Glory, we uphold very strict guidelines through our regularly audited manufacturing partners that uphold the ‘no animal testing’ policy. As well, we are fortunate that our biggest retail partner – Boots The Chemists- upholds the very same standards by funding through an organisation called FRAME, which is the FUND for the REPLACEMENT of ANIMALS in MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS) in an effort to eliminate reliance in the industry on animal testing That said – and because we feel it necessary to be transparent and to educate EVERYBODY- it’s important for you to know that no retailer or manufacturer can categorically state that ‘none’ of their raw materials or ingredients have –at some time in the past- been tested on animals. The majority of individual raw materials used in cosmetics today have been through some kind of animal testing process.
At Soap & Glory, we absolutely do not test our formulations on animals, however we can’t say that each and every ingredient that goes into them has not, at some point historically, been cleared for human use, by animal testing. We hope this answers your question. If you need any more information about animal testing, we’d suggest you contact Colipa, the European Cosmetics Directive association, via www.colipa.eu.

I would love to see soap and glory incorporating more natural ingredients into their make up, and maybe a scheme to encourage the reuse of their packaging. Let me know what your favourite products are, and what you have enjoyed trying/ or not from soap and glory :)