Cruelty Free/ Vegan Make Up Brands That I Love!

I've decided to list a few of my favourite make up and skin care brands that are vegan/ cruelty free as I have been trying so hard to get my collection 100% cruelty free!

High End
Urban Decay: This brand is 100% vegan friendly! I have quite a few bit from Urban Decay such as the Electric Palette, Eye Primer in Eden, Perversion Mascara and the All-Nighter setting spray. Also for christmas I have asked for the Full Spectrum Palette, the Glitter Liner in Midnight Cowboy and a few lipsticks! The quality of the products are actually insane! The eyeshadows are so pigmented and I would highly recommend this to anyone!

TooFaced: This brand is also 100% vegan friendly! A lot of their products are made using cocoa powder and actually taste of chocolate! I have heaps of stuff from TooFaced as I went a bit crazy on my birthday and got everything I could find, however the products that have I reach for on the daily are my Born This Way Foundation and Concealer. Together these are the perfect base for a flawless complexion as they're so full coverage! I have actually repurchased the concealer as I love it so much. Another product which I cannot live without is the Chocolate Soleil Bronzer. This is the most beautiful bronzer ever and it's absolutely perfect for my skin colour (I have tanned/olive skin as I fake tan).

Anastasia Beverly Hills: This brand is 100% cruelty free! I have to say this is my all time favourite brand! I haven't got too much from here though due to the fact it's not readily available in the UK to test out and try which is what I like to do before I buy. However The products I do have, Dipbrow Pomade and the limited edition Glow Kit are completely and utterly insane! I have repurchased Dipbrow twice now and I really can't imagine using anything else anymore! For christmas I've asked for the Powder Contour Kit and the Modern Renaissance Palette so fingers crossed it's worth the hype!

Nars: This brand is also 100% cruelty free, however I know some of the make up brushes are made of animal fur! I have quite a few products from Nars, my favourite being my lipstick in shade Raquel or my blush in Super Orgasm. Raquel was part of my daily make up routine for quite some time! I also have a liquid lipstick from them too in the shade Unspeakable which is a very deep red with purple undertones, perfect for christmas!

Jeffree Star: This brand is 100% vegan! I only have on lipstick in the shade Virginity from here but I have heard so many amazing review and all of his products are so different and unique, like who'd think of a black highlighter?? I'm definitely looking into purchasing some more of his things!

Drug Store
NYX: This brand is 100% cruelty free and is my absolute favourite drug store brand. Every single item I have had from this brand has been of amazing quality. My favourite thing I have from here is my Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick in Sway. This is a gorgeous lilac shade which I absolutely love. Also the vivid brights eyeliners are up there as my favourites too! If you can't afford a lot of the high end brands but still want the quality NYX is the way to go!!

Milani: This brand is 100% cruelty free! I know you can't find this brand in the UK drug store but it's easily accessible as it's on beauty bay.com and I'm sure it's available on lots of other websites as well! I only have 2 liquid lipsticks from here and I have to say they are amazing. I swatched my Metallic Matte one in shade Cinematic Kiss and it stayed on the back of my hand for 3 days, in these days I showered, scrubs and used industrial soap and it only slightly faded. They do the same on your lips (if you apply them to a dry lip). My liquid lipstick in shade Adorable lasted me a 9 hour shift without reapplying!

Make Up Geek: this brand is also 100% cruelty free! Once again not available in the UK yet but at £6 an eyeshadow pan you can't go wrong. I have 18 of their eyeshadows now and I am obsessed! They are so pigmented and so smooth and easy to blend out. I have one foiled eyeshadow and the colour payoff from it is beyond amazing. My favourite shades are Morocco, Cherry Cola, Poppy and Flame Thrower. I would highly recommend these to anyone who's wanting to start make up but not 100% sure what they want to do as they're so cheap yet so good!

Skin Care
Superdrug: The Superdrug own brand is 100% vegan! I have only used the make up wipes which where very good but I watched BeauticianJess's youtube video (she's vegan) about a Superdrug haul and there were so many vegan things that she bought! Next time I go in I'm going to have a look and see what I can find.

Nudi Life: This brand is 100% vegan! It's on Instagram as @nudilife and a few months ago I was lucky enough to receive free samples of their face mask! This face mask has changed my skin it is absolutely amazing and I'm definitely going to purchase the full sized one when I run out! It contains coconut and bentonite clay which smells amazing and will do your skin wonders!

Frank Body: This brand is also 100% vegan! Once again on Instagram, I've been sent a scrub before which I loved so much I actually purchased the second one. I've only tried the scrubs but they leave your body feeling so soft. Anyone who knows me know I fake tan all the time and one scrubs with this gets all the fake tan off my skin. I would highly recommend this to anyone!

You Have the Perfect Life... Reality

I believe there's a huge misconception with me and my life. For those who don't know me personally and only view my social media, you probably know me in a different light to those who know me personally. It's not like I try and be someone else on social media that's not what I'm trying to say. What I'm trying to say is that everything is different behind closed doors, social media platforms are merely a small window into all the positivity that is in my life. Especially my Instagram. I don't like the idea of posting negative things onto my Instagram, of course a lot of them do happen to me, as I feel it will ruin the theme of it and my persona. The theme on my Instagram is basically me, vegan and travel. I choose not to include the negative things that happen in my life, it's not that they don't happen. My Twitter is a bigger window into my life, it does include some negativity but, I've tried to make it seem funny or make a light hearted joke out of it.

And for those who know me in real life should also know that my life isn't really as great as I make it seem. Obviously I know I'm very lucky, the opportunities I've been able to have, travelling, all the friends I have. However, it doesn't take money to be happy, it doesn't take all the amazing things I've done to be happy. In no way am I being ungrateful, I am very grateful. I'm just very detached from life and reality.

I feel bad for all of the people who've commented on my photos and come up to me in person telling me "your life is goals" "I wish I could be you" "I'd do anything to have the chance to do what you do" "I wish I had your life". It makes me feel awful as I don't understand why. For me travelling is the norm, expensive holidays to exotic places are just the norm. I've been going abroad multiple times a year since before I was even one year old. What a lot of people don't know is that I get to do all of this due to my parents company, we get to go away because they work hard enough, in my mums case none stop, to ensure me and my brother have the best life possible. I also feel bad for the people that think I'm bragging about my life, that's not my intention. I just like to share with people what I'm doing, what I've bought etc. In no way is it malicious.

My views, opinions and beliefs, which I know are very controversial and not everyone agrees which me, have never once meant to hurt anyone else and force them into being vegan. My 100% honest intention was to inform and educate people on my lifestyle and hopefully inspire some people to make the transition. All the back lash I got from that really hurt me as I felt like I have upset so many people. Which is something I'd never intend ever in my life to do. I just dealt with it by ignoring and blocking everyone that was being nasty. A few people after that came up to me telling me I did so well doing what I did and the way I dealt with it was so mature and sensible. Little do they know how small it made me feel, how much it actually got to me. I've never told anyone that before either. Again I'm not trying to be someone I'm not, I just wanted to keep up the idea that people have of me, that I'm strong and nothing can get me down.

In all honestly I'm not as happy as I make out to be, I have a lot of issues with myself and my life, I've suffered from mental health and low self esteem issues for the last 6 years of my life, but in general I'm just an average person like everyone else. I'm nothing special and my life is really nothing to aspire to. It really upsets me, the way people wish and hope to have my life and have the experiences and things I've done. I've just been very lucky. Everyones time to shine will come eventually, it honestly hurts to see people depressed and miserable because of how someone portrays themselves on social media. You've gotta keep your head held high and just be yourself, don't try and be like anyone else you see online as it really is a small window into their life. Remember, if someone doesn't like you it's not you at all, your purpose isn't to make everyone like you - that would be impossible. Your purpose is to enjoy life, enjoy the body you have, enjoy your opportunities, learn form your mistakes and appreciate all the positivity in your life. Remember if you never learn to love yourself, if you ever end up alone with no one all you'll have is yourself. Self love is the first step.

Where have I been?

So, a lot of people have been asking me why I've not been posting on my blog and Youtube. The truth is I sat on my laptop and smashed the screen so badly that the whole thing stopped working and I had to get it fixed. 3 months later, my laptop is up and running perfectly fine and I'm back on here and will be back on Youtube ASAP Rocky.

Another question I've been getting is 'What are you doing with your life now?'. My answer to that is I don't have a clue. I decided to change my A level options to Media, Financial Studies and BTEC Science as 2 of my previous choices (Psychology and Economics proved to be too difficult, however I did pass my law but chose not to carry it on). I'm 100% hoping to go into a law career when I'm older, but how I do that I am unsure. It will either be uni or an apprenticeship depending on my grades next year. I'm still a vegan, it's been nearly 10 months now and still going strong. I have also recently moved house which was very sad, but like I always say everything happens for a reason so fingers crossed this will bring good things along with it.

What's happened whilst I've been inactive?
Well, the day I broke my laptop was the day I travelled to Menorca with my friend Katie, and I had planned to do some posts and things while I was out there but obviously due to my broken laptop that was a struggle. It also didn't help that I forgot my camera. A couple of weeks after that I then went to France for 2 weeks to stay with my grandparents, which was also fun (I'm thinking of doing a how to travel vegan post when I go to New York next week as I now feel I have enough experience to share it with you). After I got back from France I started sixth form again (the joys). Then this weekend I'm going to London with the girls then New York a few days after we get back with the fam. I'm still working on my ebook, it's a long process and it's proving difficult to decide what I actually want to put in it and how I'm going to combine everything together. I'm hoping to get another youtube video up within the next week or so as my new house doesn't have wifi yet so I'll have to find somewhere to go to upload it.

I hope this answers the questions etc, I will try and get another more factual blog post up next week when I get sometime! Thanks for reading.

The Meaning of Life!

First things first, the reason I've been so inactive on social media is because I've been too busy in real life. I've been spending a lot more time outside with my friends than I have in my house with my laptop and phone so I really just haven't had the time. However, whileI have been inactive a lot in my life has changed, and I've realised the meaning of life. How I have done this I don't know. It wasn't an instant realisation, more gradual, with a lot of learning, but I've finally realised and I'm so thankful that I have.

Well, the meaning of life is that there's no meaning. Life is life and you've got to take it how it comes. When it knocks you down, just get back up. When it lifts you up, be thankful because it's not always going to be like this. I'm a strong believer that everything in your life happens for a reason, every decision you made (stupid or wonderful) you did for a reason. This is why I don't believe in regrets, as at the time you wanted to do the thing you did, again backing myself up that everything happens for a reason. Put it this way, if you didn't talk to that person, would you be friends with the people you are now? If you didn't do what happened last Saturday night would this week be the same?

Being a busy bee has also helped me realise, who cares about social media? The majority of it is fake and it's so much more fun living, laughing and enjoying yourself in the real world than it is sat in bed, on the sofa scrolling through Instagram and Snapchat hating your life, being jealous and wishing you were something you're not, wanting more likes and followers. Be true to yourself and don't try and be something you're not. The moment you start being who you really are the more you will realise who you're real friends are. In the past few months I've really figured who my true friends are and who are my fake friends. However, don't transfer your negative energy towards your fake friends, just gradually try to phase them out. Making and losing friends is all part of life, the past - your past, is a huge part of who you are today. Your behaviour in certain situations is determined by experiences you've had in the past.

"The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away" - Pablo Picasso.

On days where I've not been as busy, I came up with the idea to write an ebook. I want to help, motivate and inspire people to do the best with their life and reach their full potential. My ebook is going to be about positivity, self-help, boosting your self esteem, reaching goals, veganism and much more. It's going to be a book which is very personal to me with all the knowledge and information I wish I had over the past 5 years. It's based around the concept by Maslow, with his 'Hierarchy of Needs' (Physiological, safety, love, esteem, self actualisation). To me, this concept has helped to explain to me why I was feeling the way I did, as I hadn't reached the next stage. However this concept can't be applied to all situation.

I hope this post has helped someone, thank you for reading.

Starting a Youtube!

About a week ago I uploaded my first video to Youtube called 'What I Eat in a Day #1' which as the title suggests is a video about everything I've eaten that day. I've had the channel about 5 years but never uploaded to it (minus a few singing videos when I was 12 but I refuse to talk about that ever again). Also I spend the majority of my time watching Youtube videos I thought it was time to start doing my own.

Blogging is really fun and I really enjoy it however, it's not always interesting to read about certain things I want to share. I've done a what I eat in a day on my blog before and it was fairly successful but I thought it would be a lot more fun to film stuff like that rather than just write about it, it's also easier to show you making the food than it is to explain it. Also as a lot of people think veganism is restrictive and boring I wanted to share with everyone that it's not and everything I eat is really really tasty. And I have managed to inspire people, my friend Gina Barkworth wrote a lovely blog post about her lifestyle change (https://laacura.blogspot.co.uk) which you should read and also check out her blog, she mainly does fashion and beauty and it's really interesting!

To film my videos I either use my phone or my Canon EOS 600D camera, I am hoping to invest in a vlogging camera as Ella, my mum and I are all going to a vegan festival soon and my camera gets a bit heavy after a while. To edit my videos I use iMovie and to make thumbnails I use picmonkey. 

My family and friends have been rather supportive of me, not one person has said anything bad about my channel to my face (which I was a little bit worried about). A lot of my friends have been asking to be in my videos and Ella, Jess and Josh have helped me film them so overall it's been a really pleasant experience. I'm trying to upload a video every few days while I have all this time off school so I'm trying hard but editing the videos does take quiet a long time and filming by myself does also prove difficult as my camera enjoys cutting off all the time. I really enjoy doing Youtube, it's a fun and quick way to get my message out there. If you have some time feel free to look at my channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5D58jxwog1ezcdAjmrUu9g.

Thank you for reading!

Staying Positive!

Recently I have been so inspired. I've been speaking out on my opinions a lot more and receiving more negative comments than positive, now if I was in this situation 3 years ago the outcome would have been incredibly different. As some people may already know I have struggled with self-esteem issues, anxiety and depression in the past. Not really from events in my life but more from social media. Don't get me wrong social media is a lovely thing and I really enjoy using it but some people think its acceptable to be keyboard warriors and turn into incredibly nasty human beings. Cyberbullying is by far the worst type of bullying, there's no escape from it, it surrounds you. It's like you're drowning. In real life when you're being bullied, it's easier to avoid it; you can avoid the bully, walk away, tell someone you trust. But when it's online it comes at you from all angles due to the fact the bullies can't actually see your reactions, also when someone sees someone else doing it they jump on the bandwagon and join in because they think if everyone else is doing it then it's perfectly fine. However, from past experiences of being bullied and cyberbullies myself it's honestly changed me for the better. In the past when I did something online that I thought was good, or uploaded a photo where I thought I was pretty, there would always be someone somewhere who would have to comment on it making fun or being nasty. People don't understand how much words actually hurt, then the cycle of self hatred and self doubt begins, and this cycle is never ending. You don't see the light at the end of the tunnel. You begin to doubt everything you ever thought was good in yourself. For example (I know I'm no where near fat) but I have been called fat names in the past and it made my self esteem so low that I wouldn't wear certain things that showed the "fat area" of my body. Now, if someone has something negative to say about me I know it's because they cannot stand to see me succeeding in what I love, they can't stand to see my confidence and they can't stand to see that I love myself. It strikes up jealously and envy bringing out all their negative energy which they then try to share with me and bring me down. If this happens to you block EVERY SINGLE NEGATIVE PERSON FROM YOUR LIFE. No negative opinion matters, good on them for taking their insecurities out on what you're secure on. I know a lot of people read my blog and watch my youtube videos to find mistakes, find errors and prove me wrong but how can an opinion be proved wrong? It's a thought process and honestly everyone should be thankful that they can think. Just keep your negative thoughts to yourself. I've started doing this thing where whenever I think a negative thought about myself or someone/something else I change it into a positive one. For example a few days ago I got out the house and realised my eyebrows where odd and rather than dwelling on the fact they were odd I complimented myself on something else which happened to be my eyes, which I really love.

Like I said in the previous paragraph I've suffered a lot with my mental health and been in countless self hatred and self doubt cycles but now I don't understand how or why I ever hated myself! Even when you have nothing else you'll always have your skeleton to support you, your feet and legs to help you walk and get places, your eyes to see the beautiful things around you, your tongue to taste all the beautiful foods, your lungs to inhale fresh air. Your body does so much for you that you don't even realise, it fights off disease (a lot of the time before it can affect you), you don't have to think to carry on breathing. All the memories you have from your life, all stored in your cerebral cortex. Be thankful and be grateful for yourself, for your body and for your life. Without you the whole world would be so different. At the end of the day you have to love yourself because if you don't, if you end up with nothing there will be no love in your life. You've been blessed with this life and you have a purpose, you can change the world if you put your mind to it. Proceed in what you love, for example I love Instagram, I love Youtube, I love veganism and I love blogging so I am carrying on with this as after 5 years of being in a self hatred self doubt cycle I have finally escaped and I am following my dreams by doing everything I love.

Become more aware of everything around you. Be grateful for it. Next time you go out take time to look up, we spend so much time looking down at our phones that we never appreciate the natural beauty of our planet! Smell the fresh air as you inhale, admire all the trees, notice small details that you didn't before. Make sure you take at least 30 minutes of your day and dedicate it to being outside, being thankful and grateful for everything you have and that is around you. Be compassionate and generous. When you pass someone in the streets notice them, acknowledge them and say hi. It can make someones whole day. Remember to live life in the moment as you only have this moment, this moment and this moment. That was all in the past and now this is too. Life's only boring when you make it boring so take the time to find something you enjoy and get off your butt and do it. Let peace and love flow through you, this way it will come out of you and flow through others around you. Surround yourself with true friends, who are all positive and who you love. Love is so important to feel positive, you must have love in your life and I can't express how important it is to love yourself!

Connect with the earth, feel the energy around you because it's constantly there and flow with it. My story on how I connected with the earth is from veganism. First of all I made the connection all lives matter, then I made the connection that nature keeps us alive. Once you're in touch with that side of yourself you're enlightened and see a whole new side of things. A few years ago I saw walking my dog as something I had to do, now I really don't mind taking my dog out because he appreciates it and it gives me time to reflect on myself and my day so far. Next time you feel bad about yourself remember that you're made up of the same atoms as the stars! Literally once you're connected it's hard to disconnect. The good always outweighs the bad.

However saying all of that, I still do have bad days. They're never as bad as they used to be because now I know 1 bad day doesn't mean it's going to be a bad week or 1 bad week doesn't mean it's going to be a bad month! I'm finally free from that restrictive mindset and always look forwards to waking up tomorrow as tomorrow is a new day and you never know what's going to happen. During your bad days say to yourself "I am smart, I am beautiful, I am caring etc". Change your negative thoughts into positive thoughts and soon enough everything will start looking up. Carb up, the less carbs you have in your system the less energy you will have! Eat lots of fruit, rice pasta, potatoes and get your greens in. Also don't be afraid to treat yourself because everyone deserves a treat once in a while. Some people don't realise how important it is to eat enough (vegan) food, drink enough water and get enough exercise. Your health and mental health will literally rocket.

I'm sharing all of this online because I want to help someone, I want to inspire someone and I want someone to know that even people who have been through hell have come out the other side, better than ever, changed for good. This time last year I never thought I'd be as happy as I am now, I never thought I'd be loving life, but here I am, living proof that everything is only temporary (which can be 1 day or 10 years) and there is always light at the end of the tunnel. Even if you have to spend ages getting to it, eventually you will find that tiny spec of light and everything will get better, take it from me!

Vegan Q and A!

I get a whole bunch of questions on veganism and my experience with the life style, and rather than explain the same things over and over I thought it would be easier to answer all my frequently asked questions.

Do you know any other vegans?
Yes, I know a few. There's a couple at my school and I've met a few from social media or in public.

Is anyone in your family vegan?
Nope. However since I've become vegan my parents have been more open to trying vegan food and sometimes opt for vegan options. My mum has also been considering going vegan for a month too which is pretty great.

How has your body changed since being vegan?
When I first went vegan I was strictly high carb low fat and within a month I lost 6lbs. Now I'm not that strict and I probably should be I've put on a few lbs but that easily comes and goes when I change my diet up. However I feel so much lighter, this is because my body can digest the plant foods a lot fast as nothing is sitting, rotting in your colon. Also because of this I go to the toilet about 3 or 4 times a day. Once again when I first went vegan my skin completely cleared up but since going off HCLF I do have a few spots but when I change my diet back they do go away. In general though my hair is glossier, my skin glowier and my nails are really strong.

Has being vegan changed your perspective?
Yes. When I was younger, finding out people in China ate dogs, I was so upset. However, I didn't associate meat to animals. It's not my parents fault as they were brought up in a society where eating dead animals was the norm. They'd been brainwashed into thinking that they had to give me meat and dairy to be healthy. I've never enjoyed dairy and I remember my parents trying to get me to drink milk and eat yoghurts to make my bones get strong when really dairy has the opposite affect. Expanding my first point, if other cultures eating dogs upsets you, but you're still eating cows pigs and chickens. It makes you a hypocrite. How is any life different from another? Just because chickens aren't your usual pet doesn't mean their lives matter any less to that of your pet cat or dog. Also those people claiming to be animal rights advocates who aren't vegans or even vegetarians, what even is that? "Save the whales" yet you still eat chewing gum containing whales. If you were a true animal rights advocate you wouldn't be eating their friends.

Did your mindset change?
Completely! My self esteem and self worth have increased so much due to the fact I feel I have a purpose. My confidence has rocketed. I don't know if it's because I'm filling my body with good food or if it's because I've finally found a positive passion but either way I see a whole new side of life, mostly positive and I've noticed changes in myself.

Are you on supplements?
Not full time. I have a load of supplements for when I need them but day to day I don't take anything. I sometimes take B12 when I feel run down or when I haven't had it in a while but even people who eat meat need extra B12, not just vegans. In winter I sometimes take vitamin D as that comes from sunlight and is vital, but again not only vegans need it!

Who are your vegan inspirations?
I have a few. Stella Rae, Freelee the Banana Girl, Claire Michelle, Lucette Romy, Elle Tayla and Jess Beautician.

Favourite vegan food?
Either mango or bagels, but like my favourite vegan food that could also be non vegan is the Pudology decadent chocolate pudding with coconut milk or the coconut collab yoghurts.

Why do you tell people you're vegan all the time?
To spread awareness and educate them.

What's with the graphic tweets and pictures?
Again to expose people to the truth behind whatever they're eating that's not vegan.

How come you still have/use non - vegan make up?
Because I bought it before I was vegan and it would just be wasteful throwing it out + that industry already has my money so I might as well use their product then not buy anymore.

"If you could turn 2 people vegan every day the whole world would be vegan in 4 years"