Quick cosmetics review

I bought a few new bits of makeup this week. I was looking for a nice autumn colour for my nails and a way to do my eyes a bit more smoky as I love my Lavera shadows, but they are a little light for when I go out in the evening.  So first up, Essence's new shade: Red Ahead. 

This is the photo from their website. 

This is my bottle and my (badly) painted index finger beside it. 

As you can see, the website photo makes the colour look a lot lighter and in my opinion, not as nice. To me it looks like a beautiful rouge noir and I must say it with an emphasis on the noir, it comes out very dark with just one coat. I have been very happy with the Essence nail polished. Their price/quality is amazing. I always use a base coat and as long as I am patient with my application, the colour stays on well.  

Now over to my new eyeshadow. This is the first time I bought something from Swedish brand IsaDora. I went for quad palette Muddy Nudes. Not the nicest name, but I do like these kinds of colours. I mainly wanted the taupe shade in the bottom right corner to use as a liner with my Lavera shadows. 

The photo from the website in all its glory. 

With this one, the photo from the website is very accurate. These are 3 nice matte shades. The only one with a hint of shimmer is the brownish shade in the bottom left. I used Urban Decay's Primer Potion under my makeup and their Deslick setting spray over it. I was quite happy with its staying power and colour payoff. It's not particularly dark, but that is not what I wanted. It's perfect for a hint of definition. I used the taupe from the lashline to the crease as well and that was nice too. It's a lovely little palette for travelling with I would think, or for just having in your bag for whenever you need it. 

Quick shot of the look. So basically Lavera's shadow in Golden Ivory all over the lid up to the brow bone. Then Lavera's shadow in Chocolate brown from lash line to crease. Then the taupe colour from above palette used as a liner. I used Lush's Eyes Right Mascara and you will recognise the nail polish as the one above. 

So, there's 2 products I would recommend trying out if it's your kind of thing! Both cruelty free of course, otherwise they wouldn't end up with me.

Thanks for reading!

Lush Cosmetics Review

I tried spelling make-up, makeup, make up a few times. Nothing felt right so I settled for cosmetics instead.

This post is a bit overdue, my attention has been elsewhere. But I have been using the products I bought for a while now so at least I know what's what.

So without further ado!

Eyes Right Mascara (I was about to spell massacre :-S)

This mascara has claims to not irritate the eyes like other mascaras sometimes do. I too suffer from irritated eyes when wearing mascara sometimes and I have to say the claim holds up! The other thing I like about this is the compactness of the packaging, which has actually been held against it. People have not enjoyed using the little brush but it took very little getting used to from me and I like that it does not take up a lot of space. When my online order arrived, it even came with a normal sized mascara brush but I haven't used that yet. Other than that it is a nice, normal mascara. It may make the lashes feel a bit nicer, but that could be a placebo effect from its lash conditioning claim. It clumps no more and maybe a little less than other mascaras. I will say it is not waterproof. I think I have been getting a touch of hayfever because my lunchtime walks often have me end up with watering eyes. Last week I got some looks in the office and when I went to the bathroom it turned out I have panda eyes. But as long as you're not tearing up, you're good with this one!

Strong Liquid Lipstick

This is from Lush's Emotional Brilliance line. I don't take the spinning wheel thing overly seriously, but I would no say no to feeling stronger. But essentially it was part of my purchases to make my outlook a bit sunnier, I wanted an lippy with orange tones. This one certainly has that and I love the colour. It comes out a little bit pink on me unless I wear a lot but I have gotten compliments in the office that the shade suits me so it's all good. It's not overly drying but not moisturising. It goes on quite nicely with the little applicator and I use my fingers as well. It is highly pigmented and quite liquid so you have to be careful when applying and I recommend kissing a tissue. Another word of advice is to apply this in daylight if you can because it is quite intense and nobody likes clowns, I know I don't. 

I have a new phone (Nokia Lumia 820=awesome!) so decided to take a few shots of myself wearing the makeup (plus shadows from Urban Decay's Naked 2 Palette and their BB Cream Urban Defense). Here's one. The lippy looks very pink here for some reason. It's a daylight shot. 

Thanks for reading, I hope it was useful!

Lush Bath&Shower Recommendations

I believe it is finally time for that Lush review. I will separate the review for the bath and shower products and the makeup into different blogs. The bath and shower products will follow here.

1. Green Bubbleroon Bubble Bar

I love "green" smells, like leaves and freshly cut grass so from the description on the Lush website (see the link) this would be perfect for my Friday afternoon bath. I used half of it (it's perfectly shaped that way) in my bath yesterday. Because I have found that even when I crumble the Lush bars, they don't always dissolve  completely, I put the piece into the leg of a pair of tights and tied that onto the tap before filling the bath. This produced a lovely amount of foam. Because I take books into the  bath with me I don't want the foam to come up too high and this was just right, it covered the surface of the water without piling up. The smell of the bar is indeed lovely and reminds me of that aforementioned cut grass. Unfortunately the smell does lessen considerably while you are in the bath. A massage therapist told me that essential oils sink to the bottom of the water. This can be fixed by adding a cup of milk to your bath water: it props up the oils so you catch their scent better. I will try that with the other half of the bar. All in all, I'd recommend this one if you like naturey scents.

2. The Bright Side Bubble Bar

This one I bought because I wanted to invite its title into my life more. I tend to look at the dark side of a scenario and it is doing me very little favours.

The scent of this is as you would expect, citrussy and reminiscent of sunlight and joy. I love it.

For my first bath I used about a third of the bar as it is quite large and I like to make expensive products like these last. I found it was just about enough to create the amount of bubbles I like. It also coloured the water a lovely orange shade. I had the same problem with the disappearance of the scent as with the other bubble bar, so I will use milk with this as well when I use the rest. Another products I would definitely recommend: especially to have your spirit lifted. 

3. Spank Me With Saplings Shower Gelly

This product (the makeup aside) was me favourite from this order. It smells amazing. It is just so fresh and invigorating and perfect for early morning pre-work showers. Though I shower after work most of the time as it allows for drying my thick hair and it is also great for picking yourself up after work for an evening of socialising or whatever. The best way to use this is to get one of those shower flowers (is that what you call them? Click for a picture of what I mean), take a little piece of the jelly and rub that into the flower. It creates a good lather,makes your product last and exfoliates you in the process. Of course if you're feeling in a whimsical mood, take the whole thing out of it's pot and jiggle it around. This isn't prison, you can drop the soap!

So long story made slightly longer, I was very happy with this order. Tonight I will put on the makeup so I can upload a blog on that tomorrow!

Life Update

It is Friday afternoon and two hours ago I finished my first working week in over five months. As blogs are so public I will not go into what I do where, it's more to let my readers know my change in situation. I'm glad of it. It is nice to have an income again that I earned myself, rather than have one handed to me by the government. It also adds a structure to my life that I believe will force me to make more effective choices in my free time.

The drawback is that since last night, my back is once again very sore, and I must presume that all the longterm sitting at work is responsible for this. I contacted an osteopath I have seen before but due to a history with a herniated disc, he does not feel confident that whatever he can do will have a positive effect. And I would so love to get my back sorted out so I can do everything from sitting at work to an active day outdoors without having to worry when my pain is going to ruin my concentration or my fun.

Another effect of being back at work is that it really makes me think about the future. When I was on my own for most of the time, I did my own thing whenever I wanted, which allowed for much more living in the moment. Now I see people around me from all walks of life and it makes me thing about what I can do and what I want to do. I am very insecure: if I hear of one person failing at something I have not done before, I become convinced that I too will fail. It's a very irrational thought because although I have certainly failed where others have succeeded, I have more often succeeded where many have failed. I passed my driving test the first time, got my degree in the three years that are in it, roasted a perfect Turkey last Christmas and have many other achievements and talents under my belt. My husband says I can do anything I put my mind to and he may not be 100% right but when I really apply myself, I do not tend to fail. I also have to believe that when I do my best and I fail, the situation was not right for me, rather than me not being right for it. As Einstein said: "Everybody is a genius but if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree it will spend its entire life thinking it is stupid". And I am still searching for that perfect fit, that water to my fish. Currently I am considering graphic design as I hope it could provide me with a career that combines the stability of working for a company with the creative outlet of art and design. I also like the idea of publishing: I love to edit, in fact I can't help but edit when I see a grammar or spelling error. Perhaps technical writing or translations (being bilingual helps here) are options to consider. Other things I love are art, animals and products. Hopefully the situation will present itself when I am ready. For now I can develop myself in my current job. I would just like to work toward something.

But the next best thing is looking forward toward something! This week my husband and I booked a B&B in Bath, a place we have been before, but this time will be different. Instead of flying, which I hate, we will be taking the car across the Irish sea by ferry which will provide us with unlimited freedom in what we want to see! Glastonbury town, Exmoor and Exmoor Zoo, the Cotswolds and many other sights are on the cards. There is something about the area of the UK I just love so I am convinced it is going to be fantastic.

  Our holiday is not until October though so there is a lot of time to fill in Ireland! There are a few festival I want to attend around the country and I'd really like to be a bit more social. My unemployment made me something of a hermit and made me intolerant towards people but being part of a team again has made me realise that I can enjoy the company of people and people enjoy my ocmpany in turn. I just need a bit of a push.

I expect that from next week I will want to go out and be seen and smelled because I have a Lush Cosmetics order on the way, courtesy of my dear husband! It includes mascara, lip colour, a shower gelly, and two bath items AND a bottle of shower gel for the mister himself. All the items I am getting will be my first time using them, so I will definitely review them here as part of my cruelty free lifestyle.

The last thing I want to talk about it my art. Spring has sprung in Ireland and I am feeling heavily inspired by bird song and flowers. I am thinking a brightly coloured Art Nouveau or stained glass style piece with snowdrops and long tailed tits.

But for now I am going to give myself a much needed manicure with a neutral polish by Elysambre. Hopefully I will update again soon with some images.

Thanks for reading!
Dutchess

Disappointment

Ever since I started the cruelty free journey I feel elated when someone is on my side, from my own husband to a large cosmetics company. Unfortunately this only makes disappointment bigger when they leave my side. I don't expect principles on this front from Tesco or Boots, I know where I stand and only buy necessities from them. But when Urban Decay sold to evil L'Oreal I felt betrayed.
And today I felt that again. The Netherlands has many Celtic, Medieval and Fantasy Festivals, one of the bigger ones being Castlefest. Mr. Dutchess and I have been considering a trip over there but of course we need to know what we can eat on location. I did some research online and was delighted to find the 2009 programme for the festival, informing me that they provide free range meat from the barbecue. But 2009 is four years ago and the 2012 booklet did not state this. It being the same caterer (The Cooking Highlander FYI) I hoped that their situation had not changed but to make sure, I e-mailed them. They replied this morning and while there's no point copying a Dutch message here it came down to this:

"We can't sell free range meat anymore. The costs are too high. We don't like it either".

This made me very angry. If they had just said they don't do it anymore due to cost I would not be pleased but business is business. However, it's this "can't" and "we don't like it either" that I have a problem with. They make it sounds like they have no choice but they do and they chose profit. Which is necessary to stay in business of course but what about raising the prices on the meat? People are well aware festival food is expensive and the notion that meat should be anything but is ridiculous, it's the most precious of foods. I know people might not accept the price rise as unfortunately the horrors of intensive farming are not a priority for most but still, there is a choice here and implying there isn't makes me see red. I told them all of this in a reply as well as that it will negatively influence my decision to attend the festival. They probably don't care but here's hoping it makes them think at least a little bit.

Essence Nail Varnish Review

Last week I discovered that my local pharmacy sells a very affordable and cruelty free make-up brand called Essence (please clock on the link for their statement on animal testing). While I would be inclined to go for a premium brand for products that go on my face, I saw no harm in trying out a new nail polish at a mere EURO1,79. I chose shade 117, "I'm So Very". Take a look at it below

As you can see the shade looks the same on my thumb as it does in the bottle. It went on opaque in one layer and I covered it with a layer of top coat. I put it on on Friday afternoon and it stayed on perfectly until today and then it has only chipped in one place. So I must say I am very impressed with the quality of the varnish, especially considering the price and highly recommend giving it a try if you can find it in your area!

Deserting Tumblr for Blogger

I just created this additional Blogspot page to separate my  more random posts from my portfolio blog. So far I have been using Tumblr for this but commenting on blogs doesn't always seem an option with them and I expect to find a slightly more mature crowd here.

I am passionate about animals and have recently started on the road to a cruelty free lifestyle in terms of what I eat and cosmetics so a lot of my posts will probably be about that. My other interests include art (mainly illustration), literature, film and TV, hiking and other outdoor pursuits, spirituality and a lot of other stuff that does not immediately come to mind. So this blog will probably be a bit of a mashup ranging from shouting principles from my imaginary soapbox to downright geeky fangirling but I will try to keep it as coherent and well written as possible with plenty of pics, or it didn't happen.

I would welcome some tips on the following:
- Who to follow on here with similar interests what I mention up here.
- Good video instructions on how to pimp your blogspot, as coding and anything of that nature is very far from my thing.

Now to see if this works to import my Tumblr posts to this blog. Good luck to me!

Eating Out at Creole

For our 5 year anniversary Mr. Dutchess and I went to a grill place called Creole in our hometown of Galway, Ireland.  We had an absolutely gorgeous meal. But vegetarian it was not and at that time my cruelty free consciousness was not yet spreading as far as eating out. That has changed but I would still really love to go back to this restaurant. So when they put up their specials last night, I left a comment asking about where they source their meat, particularly their chicken and pork as cows and sheep are most often free range in Ireland.

Here’s their reply:

@Linda. Pork from collerans. Chicken usually from the friendly farmer. But he’s off for two weeks. Back to free range then. In six months Dan the chef will hopefully have the first of his own free range saddleback pigs for the restaurant. Lots of bbq pork then. 

I am reasonably impressed by their answer. The Friendly Farmer I know to be reputable and cruelty free in its animal rearing. Shame they’re not looking for free range alternatives while he isn’t working but to be fair, he is not exactly one of many. I am not familiar with Collerans, a quick Google search does not tell me much about their policies on cruelty free meat but they do seem to have a good name around here. The fact that the chef rears his down pigs at least inspires the notion that he is conscious of the issues surrounding meat rearing.

For now I am way too broke to go out to eat anywhere but hopefully by the time the chef’s pigs are all set I will be back in a job.

The Transition Phase

Due to my transition to the cruelty free lifestyle I am still in the posession of a (fortunately) limited amount of cosmetics that is not cruelty free. I have been asking myself what to do with this. So far I have been throwing out some of the older stuff but I have been hanging on to some of it too. Having already spent the money I feel I may as well although I am sometimes reluctant to use it. I welcome any thoughts on this.

Another transition is the one of companies to used to be cruelty free but give it up. Would you hang on to the products you already bought or would you chuck it all out straightaway?

Then there are the companies like The Body Shop and Urban Decay. Cruelty free in their own right but also owned by decidedly cruel L’Oreal. I am very conflicted about this. One the one hand they now slot money indirectly into animal testers’ hands, on the other they are now more widely distributed, giving more people the chance of discovering the cruelty free lifestyle (the latter being PETA’s stance). I still have some products by both brands, which I intend to use up. I will not buy any additional products from them for now until what I have is used up and will make my final decision then.

I welcome thoughts on all of the above!

Going full time cruelty free.

In the last few months of 2012 I started living with an increased awareness of how our consuming styles affect those living creatures that cannot defend themselves against humankind but feel pain and fear just as we do: the animals. This was always something I had in the back of my head and I have been buying freerange eggs and chicken and largely non animal tested cosmetics for a long time. However, my principles were often still overruled by convenience, finances, cravings and whatever else “stood in the way”. But enough is enough and it is time to stand by my principles. And these are that animals should not have to needlessly suffer to serve our purpose.

This does not mean that I will become a vegan or even a vegetarian. I do not see a problem with eating meat, eggs and dairy or using other animal products such as leather and wool, as long as the animal it came from was raised in an ethical way and is not threatened to be extinct. Animals kill and eat other animals and to me the only difference between us and them is that we can feel guilt and can think beyond our need to feed. I believe eating and using animal products is part of our nature, we have done it for many years. Where we have gone wrong is the intensively farming of animals for this purpose; causing pain, fear and disease among those we should protect.

So this is my principle and I will stand by it by reducing my consumption of meat and only sourcing it on rare occasions from local farms of which I know the animals were well treated. The same goes for any other animal products and cosmetics: I make a special point of not buying anything as frivolous as an eyeshadow when the products or ingredients were cruelly tested on lab animals.

I want to continue this blog by sharing my musings and some of the products I end up buying as part of the cruelty free lifestyle and where I source them from. I hope this will benefit some people and inspire them to keep in mind our animal friends when spending their money.

One of my major examples when it comes to food awareness is Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall. I very much share his opinions and have recently bought and cooked from his River Cottage Veg! book. It has wonderful recipes that I can recommend to vegetarians and meat eaters alike.