Update to my cruelty-free brands list

It's been a while since I've posted an update to my cruelty-free brands list. It's not that I haven't been sending e-mails as normal, it's more that the tumbleweed that appears after sending my e-mail has been slightly more depressing as of late . I've always wanted to keep my blog fairly upbeat and I'd much rather provide you guys a list of brands you can buy from rather than a big list of no-go brands.

So I left this one in my drafts for a bit until I pulled together of a list of fun brands for you to purchase from. Below I have five cruelty-free brands for you to spend your money on (and 10 that you probably shouldn't).

Cruelty-Free:

Josie Maran

PHB Beauty

Dr Bronner

Tata Harper

Delilah Cosmetics

Grey Area:

Fairypants Cosmetics

Gabriel Cosmetics

Iconic Cosmetics

Just Pure Minerals

Kimono

Wild About Beauty

Refresh Skincare

PHB Beauty

Chantecaille
Nudestix

As usual a lot of brands end up on my grey area list because I received no reply, but Just Pure Minerals did reply with a very odd-response and I'll leave everyone to decide how they feel about it:

"Just Pure Minerals does not test on animals, and out ingredient suppliers also do not test on animals. We are not owned by any other company. We don't have any customers in mainland China, although I can't say that's because we've refused based on our affectionate feelings for animals. We just haven't had any customers from China yet. If we took a stance on this, it would go 100% unnoticed by anyone in mainland China. ;-)

I actually looked into Leaping Bunny and started the process- I need to put that back on my to-do list to finish it up. Thanks for the reminder!"

Do you have any further information on the brands I've mentioned? Are they're any brands you want me to add to my list?

mòrag

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Cats in the Necropolis

It's the age old question: cats or dogs? Truthfully I am more of a dog person. I grew up with a dog who was there from my first day at home right through until just before my 13th birthday. And it's on my bucket list to become a dog mum again. Butttttt, like most of the internet I agree that cats make funnier memes and fashion accessories. Like a cat bag, or a skirt covered in cat faces...

The cat skirt was from the store Rad Rocket on Etsy, which sells a range of dresses and skirts with bold patterns. Honestly, when I first seen it I actually thought it was kinda ugly but I also really really wanted to buy it. It ended up hanging out on my wishlist for months and then on my latest payday it made the cut for things my wardrobe definitely needed. It's an American shop and shipping can be a major factor in deciding to get lovely products shipped from abroad but because the skirt was already such good value (coming out at £10 when converted) I was more than happy to pay those pesky shipping costs.

Because the skirt is eye-catching and bold I kept the rest of my outfit uncharacteristically monochrome. The rest of my outfit are staples I've collected over the years from high store favourites, but the Vans are the classics that go with almost everything. And much better than smart shoes for a day where you know you'll be showing your mum around Glasgow.

These photos were taken in the Glasgow Necropolis, which is possibly one of the weirdest places to find myself taking outfit photos. It has never even been on my to-go lists since I moved here! My mum however was visiting last weekend and it was somewhere she wanted to check out so I happily had a bit of a trip out to the east side of the city.

Whilst graveyards aren't quite my thing (it probably comes as no surprise to anyone that my request is a natural burial) I did find colourful sites which have been well maintained. Such as this one with a fabulous pink gate:

And this blue circular design:

What's your opinion in the cats versus dogs debate? Have you ever stopped by the Glasgow Necropolis, for outfit photos or otherwise?

mòrag

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The Linkables

To make up for my very brief 'hi, here's some links, bye' intro last Friday I suppose I should do a bit of a catch-up! My mum was through in Glasgow last week to catch her flight to Zambia where she'll be volunteering (again) until October. We went out for lunch and also paid to a visit to the Necropolis in the east of the city, whilst I also stepped into Glasgow Airport for the first time since I was 13 (and then headed back to Glasgow on the bus, while my mum jetted off...). Saturday I met up with Amanda from 365 Vegans for some lunch in The 78 and then headed into Kelvingrove Park to film my submission for her project. And then, Sunday I met up with my friend who was back in Glasgow from her job teaching English in China and we popped up to Botanical Gardens for a walk and some tea. And then I was busy this week with Scottish Greens meetings and watching Charlotte talk at a Glasgow Digital Meet-Up.

Needless to say this weekend I'll be sleeping.

Feminism & Equality

If your parents live separately, chances are you live with your mum. Here's a beautiful and poignant piece from a single mum who decided the best thing for her daughter was for her to live with her father.

This needs a strong trigger warning for rape, sexual assult and asshole boyfriends. But if you can stomach it, it's a powerful piece on how sometimes it's easier to 'put up with it' rather than say fuck off.

Yay! Costa Rica is shutting down zoos and freeing every animal in captivity.

YES! YES! YES! There's a difference between compromise in a relationship and emotional abusive.

Not everyone with red hair looks the same.

Blogging & Marketing

My new favourite blog discovery: Beauty by the Geeks.

It's never occurred to me to set up a blog as a duo, but Helen & Kimberley run one of my favourite I-always-stop-by-manually-to-check-for-new-posts blogs and they have some advice for anyone wanting to blog as a double.

Something I need to print out and pin to my wall: I didn't blog for a week and no one died.

Blog maintenance I should go home and do: what bloggers should have in their e-mail signature.

One of my favourite bloggers got married recently and it looked so perfect.

Relationships, Love & Friendship

If you've been on a few dates with someone you don't know very well - while it's still hiffy - you can get away with ghosting. In any other circumstance end it properly like a mature and respectful human being.

A graphical analysis (sort of) between the correlation between the effort made on someone's birthday and how much you value their friendship.

Big weddings can be beautiful, but maybe best left to the extroverts. So, what if the introvert in you just wants a quiet do?

Moving onto a more sombre life event called funerals. If you're planning one (or just letting loved ones know your wishes) here's some non-religious and slightly geeky readings which may be worth considering.

Scotland & Travel

Lauren took a trip the DJAD Master's Degree show to spot some upcoming talent.

If you fancy a Scottish road trip, there's a new road which loops right round the upper Highlands.

Etc

Ha! The asshole self-rating exam!

Joey Fatone (he was one of the NSync members who wasn't Justin Timberlake, fyi) has a message for One Direction.

This week in mourning: Yvonne Craig, Batgirl on 60's TV series, died at 78..

mòrag

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food glasgow

Bukhara at the Lorna Hotel

You know when you've wanted to try a restaurant for ages and you finally get around to it? That's what happened with today's review. When I first moved to Glasgow (almost three years ago!) I had to stay in a hotel in the West End (thanks Smiths Hotel!) for the first two weeks and each day passed an Indian restaurant called the Bukhara that had such a stylish vibe.

As briefly mentioned in last week's Linkables my mum was in town for her flight to Africa. My mum is a big itson fan and is always finding deals to eat out on when she's through visiting. By chance she stumbled across a deal for the Bukhara for the weekend she was through (to fly off to Africa, lucky git!).

The moment we stepped inside, it appeared that it was just as contemporary and stylish as it looked from the outside. I briefly felt as if me and my mum weren't posh enough to be there but then the down-to-earth staff made me feel right at home.

Like a lot of Itson deals there was a special menu (but we could still order sides and starters off the main menu). Whilst there was only seven options in total, two were vegetarian. Whilst one contained paneer, the other was also completely plant-based: the Vegetable Tawa. A Tawa was a curry I had never tried before, but I was very impressed and would rate it as one of the best I've tried. We also had a bowl of rice as part of the deal, and also ordered extra chapattis and some pickled vegetables. Whilst the pickled vegetables were wayyyy more my mum's taste than mine (picked anything is an acquired taste, no?) the chapattis were pretty much mine to gobble up!

Now you may also noticed something...no starter? Morag you're a savoury girl through and through. Where's a veggie samosa? Well, this was one of the few dessert menus which offered a vegan dessert. Okay, so it was sorbet. But it was beautiful mango and grapefruit sorbet which still had pieces of the original fruit through it. Perfect!

Have you ever been to the Bukahara at the Lorne Hotel?

mòrag

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beauty make-up

Lippy Girl in Son of a Brick

Whilst I'm defiantly more of a hair care and skin care kinda gal, when it comes to make-up it's a certainly a new lipstick that gets me more pumped than anything else (a new nail varnish shade comes a close second). The most recent addition to my expanding collection is by 100% vegan lip stick brand Lippy Girl in the colour Son of a Brick*.

What immediately caught my eye about this collection (aside from being 100% vegan) is the wide colour selection, and colours that are a bit different to the norm. There's no blue shades of the like, but they have shades of pink and red which aren't the 'default' colour (if you get what I mean?). I settled on Son of a Brick after Googling swatches and decided that my collection needed a new orange.

So far I only own one orange lipstick and that is Gosh in Flirty Orange (seen in this outfit post). And good jolly it's ORANGE and not something I'd pop on unless I'm heading on a night out. Son of a Brick is a much more wearable orange, and has a rusty tone to it. If you're quite new to orange lipstick and not sure if it will suit you it's a much better starter shade. Or if you just prefer your lipstick colours to be of a more subtler persuasion but don't want to miss out on the orange trend.

Below is a picture of me wearing along with my daily make-up (ignore the tired would-rather-be-in-bed face - this was 8:30pm last night).

Quality wise Lippy Girl is a moisturising lipstick. which does mean it requires a few coats to get a full on colour, and the it doesn't last as long as a matte lipstick would. If I apply it at 8am before work I tend to find it stays on until 10am and then it's time to reapply. Which isn't bad but you need to remember to pop it in your handbag. But if you have dry lips I recommend this as it is super soft.

Ingredients: Ricinus Communis (Castor), SeedOil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) Fruit Copernicia (Carnauba) Wax, EuphorbiaCerifera (Candelilla) Wax, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (orange) Peel Oil, Tocopherol.

I'd recommend this: if you prefer softening softening, you're after a wearable orange.

I wouldn't recommend this: if you like a long lasting matter lipstick.

mòrag

2 Comments

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Bukhara at the Lorna Hotel

Lippy Girl in Son of a Brick

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