Going cruelty free

In the last few months, I've turned towards using cruelty free brands. Going 100% cruelty free has been, and still is, a slow transition for me, one officially committed to about 3-4 months ago. Although I have a mix in my collection at the moment, my current focus is on using up the products I have, and every new purchase I make is based on what I've researched to be cruelty free.

I've used a few other blogs to help with researching brands, and the two I've used so far are Break The Standard and Cruelty-Free Kitty. Without these, I don't doubt I would have been totally stuck, so if you're looking to do some more research I can't recommend these two enough!

I've picked up a few tips along the way, so I thought I'd share them with you today...

~ you should work out how serious you are.
 A lot of brands might be cruelty free, but are owned by parent companies who aren't. For example, Urban Decay are but they're owned by L'Oreal who aren't. I'm not going as far as parent companies at the moment so Urban Decay aren't on my miss list, but I know it completely depends on your own viewpoint.

 ~ decide how quickly you want to change.
It isn't an over night process, and after researching for a few days, I had two lists: brands who were, and brands who weren't cruelty free. I went through my make up, knowing some of my favourite go-to products aren't cruelty free, but I want to make sure I find replacements that I'm happy with before I get rid of anything from my collection.

~ think about what you want to include from your beauty regime.
At first I thought 'cruelty free make up', but then that leads to skincare, hair care, nail varnishes, feminine care... there's so much to consider, it can feel a little overwhelming when you realise 80% of the things you own aren't cruelty free. My focus is starting on beauty and skincare, and once I'm happy with all the switches I'm making I'll move into hair products and everything else after that!

I'm planning a few more posts about my transition to cruelty free, including more about specific brands, so if you have any questions please let me know!

nikki x

Olivia Burton enchanted garden watch

Olivia Burton vegan friendly enchanded garden

£85

I have been lusting over Olivia Burton watches for quite a few months now, in particular the vegan friendly range. I love the look of leather watches, but I hate actual leather, so the fact that there's a whole range of watches that cater for this is super exciting.

Like I mentioned in my last post, I got this from Topshop on Oxford Street. I had actually been looking at this watch, but they didn't have that one so I ended up picking this one after (a lot) of deliberation. I actually prefer this one, because I think the blue toned strap will work a lot better with more of my clothes. I'll definitely be looking at another one in the future though!

I love the size of the dial of this watch, even though it's pretty big at 38mm, especially for my tiny wrists. I don't think I've left the house without wearing it since I first put it on, it's just such a perfect accessory for me!

There's a few other bits from Olivia Burton I'm thinking of getting, there's so many lovely things I want! 

nikki x

mid-week in London

Last week I went to London for a few days to spend some time with Jay, as he was working there for the week. We don't get to spend a lot of time together at the moment, so it was amazing to just explore a bit together. 

While Jay was working I treated myself to a few bits of shopping, though my Olivia Burton watch was actually a treat from Jay after he'd met up with me. I'd seen that they're in Topshop on Oxford Street at the moment, and I couldn't miss out on having a look since I've wanted one for so long.

The next day we went to the Natural History Museum before going to Peggy Porschen cakes. I've seen it all over my instagram the last few months, so I convinced Jay he wanted to have coffee and cake in pink mugs in a pink cafe. I had the brownie and it was so so nice! Later we went to St James' Park while the sun was setting, and even though it was freezing we sat and watched literally everyone stopping to take photos of the blossom tree that I, of course, also got some photos of.

There's still so many places in London we want to explore together, so we love having a few days there together every once in a while.

nikki x

Charlotte Tilbury

instant look in a palette in natural beauty

light wonder in fair

wonder glow

lip cheat in hollywood honey

matte revolution in the queen

Charlotte's magic cream

I've fallen in love with Charlotte Tilbury make up, for several reasons. A counter only recently opened up in Norwich, so before then I hadn't really seen her make up anywhere, and that opening coincided with my move towards cruelty free brands. The change means that there's quite a few products that need replacing in my make up bag, so I've been exploring new options.

The main reason I wanted to make this order was for the instant look in a palette in the natural beauty colours. I fell in love as soon as I saw it, and because I still travel quite a lot at the moment it's a perfect summer, with some gorgeous summer colours. I'm so excited to try it out, it looks so much nicer in person! The second product that I really wanted in this order was the matte revolution lipstick in the queen. It's an online exclusive, and it is the most gorgeous pinky-red shade.

Since last summer I've been using Laura Mercier products as my primer and tinted moisturiser, and though I honestly couldn't fault it, sometimes I miss having something a little heavier in coverage. I've tried the magic foundation in the past and liked it, and I wanted to give the wonder glow primer and light wonder foundation duo a chance. I'll definitely report back how it works out!

I also ordered the lip cheat lip pencil in hollywood honey, though it's a little more brown toned that I thought it would be. It's a gorgeous colour but possibly a little dark for me, but if it doesn't suit me I have a perfect home for it in mind. The Charlotte's magic cream is a mini sized product I got for ordering over £100. You can never go wrong with a mini moisturiser, after all.

Have you tried any of these bits? Any more recommendations are more than welcome!

nikki x

Since we last spoke

Windsor January 2017 and Horlicks in his new coat

It's been a while, but hello, I'm back. After an unintentional 6 month hiatus, I've been pretty busy and working on some new projects since we last spoke...

One: I turned 23

I can't believe I'm 23, I don't know where the last few years have gone. I constantly have to check myself when people ask me how old I am, especially because a lot of people think I'm only about 17. I spent my birthday with my family at the zoo and bowling, and of course they made sure that I had the best day ever.

Two: four years with Jay and Windsor (again)

I can't believe that my last post was our first trip to Windsor, and since then we've been again. I wanted to do something a little bit special for our anniversary because we spend so much time apart, so a mini break in Windsor seemed ideal. We finally got to explore the castle (so worth it), and even bought Horlicks the most precious new coat.

Three: Brighton

With Jay and I still living apart, we went to Brighton together last October to spend some much needed time together. We stayed in the most beautiful Airbnb flat that I'm still lusting over, and had picnics on the beach most nights. We totally fell in love with being there, so I'm hoping one day we get to go back.

Four: wedding planning

My sister is getting married in a few months, so family life has been pretty busy sorting out colour themes, table settings and fairy lights. We're into the 2 month countdown as of end of March, and some things are finally coming together, but there's still so much to sort out! (ps- any hen party planning tips are more than welcome, I'm so behind in sorting things out)

Five: cruelty free make up

It seems like a lot of bloggers and youtubers I follow at the moment are all starting to look at cruelty free make up brands, which is perfect timing for me because I'm currently transitioning cruelty free products. I'm sad that I have to find replacements for some of my all time favourite products, but it's something that I really strongly support- more blog posts coming soon.

The next few months are going to be crazier than ever, but I'm hoping to get back into making time to sharing that here, because I've missed it a lot.

nikki x

Windsor in two days

A few weeks ago Jay and I ended up staying overnight in Windsor before driving back up to Nottingham. I can't remember going to Windsor before (though I've definitely been to Legoland just down the road), so it was really fun to just take a few days off to just explore and be together.

We stayed in the Castle Hotel, and booked it through laterooms.com. Our room was absolutely amazing, it was so big and we even had a queen size bed that had the best pillows. There wasn't really a view, but that didn't bother us because we were so central to where we wanted to be. Mostly we just wandered, took lots of pictures, and ate too much food. We didn't go in the castle, because we would have wanted to spend a whole day there, but we're definitely going to go back to stay again.

Jay and I don't get a lot of time alone together so it's extra special for us at the moment when we do. I think my favourite part of the whole two days was going to bed so early and just watching a film together, even if it was Twilight.

If you've never been to Windsor, I would definitely recommend having a look- we might even be going back next month!

nikki x