I don't know if it's perhaps a 'getting older' thing, but I appear to like cuddling up with a bowl of soup more than I used to. For most of my life I considered it not a real meal and I can remember refusing to eat it at the dinner table (when I was like, four not last week or anything).

This particular soup is one I make often (sometimes I overdo the sesame seeds, sometimes - but rarely - I sprinkle them on just right) and was actually an accidental recipe. I was making my favourite soy sauce recipe and discovered that broccoli soaked in soy sauce is actually to die for.

Try it below and watch broccoli become your new staple vegetable.

Ingredients

1 chopped garlic clove

Half an onion, chopped

5-7 broccoli florets

one vegetable stock cube

300ml boiling water

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Salt and pepper, to taste

Mixed herbs, to taste

Sprinkle of black sesame seeds

Method

1. In a saucepan, fry the onions and garlic in oil until soft

2. Dissolve the stock cube in the boiling water, and pour into the sauce pan

3. Add soy sauce and broccoli to pan and bring to boil. Cook until softened

4. With a hand blender, blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste

5. Once transferred to serving bowl, sprinkle* on black sesame seeds (do this right before serving as these seeds sink ever so slightly).

* Try not to do what I did and cover the soup in a blanket of sesame seeds (so much that it looks like a kiwi fruit), and be too impatient/busy to make another batch exclusively for a blog photo. This is why I'm not a cook by trade.

If there's a type of beauty product that I've tried almost everything of, it's skincare. I have naturally blotchy skin that requires quite a bit of TLC to keep it in its place. You'd think with as much skincare as I've tried over the years I'd purchased it all by now. Nope, there's still plenty of new finds for me to pop into my shopping basket. 

Because I buy so much skincare it's probably easier if I do little round-ups with mini-reviews and leave full reviews of one product for times where I have a lot to say. So here's four skincare purchases I made recently and my thoughts on them. 

Pai Skincare Copaiba Deep Cleanse AHA Mask

I did like this, I really did. It was soothing on the skin, it calmed down my redness and my skin felt cleansed but soft afterwards. However, it is £30 and I'm just not okay parting with that kind of money unless absolute miracles happen. My favourite facemask of all time is Lush Cupcake with is much cheaper and is pretty much the same standard of quality. If none of the Lush facemasks do something for you and you've ran out of other high street options I'd say give this a try but if you've got a budget version that works for you stick with it. 

Tea Tree+ Anti-Blemish Stick

I know tea tree is hailed as a saviour for spotty skin, however me and tea tree have never quite got along. I found this in Tesco while visiting my parents in Aberdeenshire and thought I'd give it a try. It made my spots worse but that's maybe just my skin. 

B.Clean Melting Gel Cleanser

I've said before (numerous times) that I really dislike the make-up offerings from B.Cosmetics but love the products that take off make-up. I've previously reviewed their 4-in-1 wipes and micellar water highly, so thought Id' give their cleanser a try. I do like this product and it does remove make-up (including mascara and eye-liner without stinging the eyes) but it still ranks behind the the wipes and water. 

Pacifica Sea Foam Complete Face Wash

Pacifica is a brand that gets raved about a lot in vegan circles. While I love their perfumes I've never been too keen on their make-up range and this was my first skincare purchase from the brand. I'll be honest: I didn't really like this. While the descriptions on the bottle sound lovely and it smelt gorgeous, I didn't see any changes to my skin. I'll continue to use this on days where my skin isn't looking too troublesome but I doubt I'll re-purchase once the bottle is finished. 

Credit: Brew Box Coffee Company

Glasgow is a pretty amazing place. 

It's one of the most vegan friendly cities in the UK, and a place where you can spot blue tardis-style phone boxes on several streets (there's five in total). These are just two of the reasons why Glasgow can snuff out the cosmopolitan competition. Now, imagine these two things came together. 

That's what Brew Box Coffee Company is. A small vegan-friendly take-away operating out the back of a tardis

Situated on Wilson Street in Merchant City and about a 15 minute walk from my office, it was no surprise that this place shot to the top of my 'must-stop-by-for-lunch' list. I'll be honest, I thought it was a bit gimmicky when I first heard about it, and I ignorantly assumed that something sold out the back of the tardis couldn't compete with the restaurant offerings of Glasgow. 

Internet, I hang my head in shame. The first time I stopped by, the hot vegan offering of the day was Sri Lankan soup and it was the best thing I had eaten in ages. And this is coming from someone who generally wouldn't consider themselves a soup person. I'm not sure what the actual make up of the soup was but it was sprinkled on top with peanut, chillies and coriander - and #girlboss Laura asks what toppings you'd like so if you're not into hot stuff you can leave out the chillies. 

Speaking of Laura, this is a one-women show. Laura cooks everything offsite herself and brings it in for opening at 8:45am and is there until 4pm. She also has some excellent chat and gets to know her customers - I've become a bit of a regular at the tardis and enjoy a good chinwag about my day at the office (there's a few other places I regular at for lunch where I've not been asked where I work let alone what I'm currently working on). She is passionate about health and the environment, and aims to make this a zero-waste business - you'll even get a biodegradable wooden spoon with your soup.

My own photo of the Sri Lankan soup. 

The menu changes up regularly (and she only makes enough for each day), with a hot option, some sandwiches and the occasional brownie. Gluten-free consumers are also catered to as well as vegans. Keep an eye on the Instagram and Facebook to keep up to-date with the rotating menu and pre-order if like me you've got a bit of a walk between your office and the tardis. When I'm in the mood for something quick, easy and cheap it's where I head at 1pm. 

Speaking of cheap, it's very budget friendly. With less running costs than a traditional café Laura can sell her soups for £3. Good to the bank balance, vegan-friendly, tasty, centrally-situated and incorporates a much-loved pop culture icon? Despite being small in size I can imagine this tardis becoming a big player in the Glasgow foodie scene. 

Geek & Pop Culture

Have you ever noticed that all the women on TV have the same hair?

You might have heard about Body Disphormia, but did you know how destructive it can be and the measures suffers go to to 'fix' their appearance. 

I found myself laughing at this story from a women about the things she learnt about people's lingerie habits while working at Victoria's Secret. 

The brilliant Sarah wrote an amazing post on why it's okay to not want children.

I know what it's like to be homeless, but not houseless. I might write about it someday but for now here is Rachel's story. 

An inspiring piece from Claire on how she learnt to love anti-depressants. 

Jeremy Corbyn is in favour of decriminalising sex work. The future is neigh. 

If there's something I find myself calling feminists out on regularly it's shaming of small penises (and erectile dysfunction). Everyday Feminism has put into words why jokes about small penises are anti-feminist.

ASMR

I've found myself getting lost in haircut ASMR roleplays this month, this one from Equilibrium ASMR had me tingling all over.

If you're looking for a British ASMRartist to sooth away your stresses Be Calm With Becca is a new find of mine. Her Is ASMR Sexual? video if informative and softly spoken and her haircut roleplay (told you I was digging into this genre). You might reocgnise her from her lifestyle channel Becca C. 

Voldemort's attempt at ASMR didn't make me tingle, but it did make me laugh.

If your ASMR is brought on by sounds, Ellie Alien is an excellent ASMRartist to check out (and this is coming from someone who's ASMR is brought on by roleplay!).

Travel

There's an AirBnB that let's you run your bookshop for your stay....and it's in Scotland.

Pictures of open borders in the EU Schengen area.

I'm not sure if you've been watching The Cruise? I've only been watching for work but I got hooked, and wrote a blog post on why the Regal Princess is a ship every cruise lover should go on.

Etc. 

Ever wondered which typeface you are? Probably not, but there's a quiz for that anyway. 

Up your selfie game with MSQRD. 

If you've ever wanted to drink a latter with your own face on it...you can do so. 

Would you ever consider cosmetic surgery?

I'm not going to lie and say that I've never considered hovered on it myself. In fact, there's only two reasons why I've never done had some work done: 

1. I'd have to stumble upon a lot of money

2. Could I still call myself cruelty-free if I did?

The second reason is what the topic of today's blog post is. While cosmetic surgery is to a lot of people something to make you look better, plastic surgery is first and foremost a medical procedure. Therefore it has been tested on animals at some point - something I didn't think about until it was pointed out to me. Remember, while cosmetic testing is outlawed in the UK, animal testing is still required by law for medical purposes. So while botox is commonly used to smooth out wrinkles, it was actually tested on animals because it was originally manufactured as a drug to treat a range of medical conditions (such as migraines and cerebral palsy). Then there's the painkillers you'll be on. So if we're using plastic surgery purely for cosmetic reasons can we still consider ourselves cruelty-free, or even vegan? 

As a note, my goal with this blog post is not to defame anyone who has ever considered cosmetic surgery, or even had a procedure done. I'm not attempting to be the cruelty-free or vegan police. Heck, this blog post isn't even going to be informative or argumentative, more something to get the conversation started. 

For a lot of people cosmetic surgery is essential. Breast cancer survivors, burn victims, feminisation surgery for trans women, those who have recovered from an eating disorder and children born with a cleft lip. These are all things that I believe should be available on the NHS. I myself have even had a bit of cosmetic surgery done on the NHS - I had a mole/spot/something on my top right cheek that had to be removed for health reasons. It was a cosmetic surgeon who carried out the procedure to ensure the scarring was minimal (if you look closely you can see the scar, this photo shows it slightly). For the record, I was four and the details are hazy. 

I don't even believe that non-medical plastic surgery is always about vanity. A breast reduction can be for practical reasons, and if someone is really fixating on a facial feature that is causing psychological distress cosmetic surgery could well improve their self-esteem. Even people who do get cosmetic surgery for a nip and a tuck could have just fallen pray to societies standards of beauty, and that's society who is to blame (reason 3 why I would probably never actually go under the knife is because I feel I'd be letting society, and anyone who has ever reminded me that my nose is on the generous side, win).

I think cosmetic surgery is a complicated issue. Whether we're discussing it from an animal rights perspective or a feminist perspective. There's a famous American vegan YouTuber who has had a boob job and lip injections (I hate linking or bringing her directly into the conversation but I can link her privately if you're interested) and received nasty comments practically telling her not to call herself a vegan any more. She isn't even the only cruelty-free individual I know who has at least considered permanently changing a feature they don't like. 

As for medical testing, I don't like that the cure for cancer will come at the expense of animals. But I'm not going to refuse any life saving medical treatment because I'm vegan, or refuse plastic surgery for medical purposes. I support the the Dr Hadwen Trust and I hope one day there will be an alternative method to testing new medicines. 

Until then I'll have to make do with cruelty-free cosmetics to alter facial features that I don't like. Because until the day medical testing has advanced beyond using animals I'm personally not going to book myself in for a cosmetic surgery consultation as it just doesn't align with my cruelty-free beliefs (plus I'd still need to stumble upon that aforementioned pile of money).