Ughhh I know, I’m a rubbish blogger haha! I don’t even want to look how long it’s been since I’ve posted…I just know it’s more than a couple weeks.

 

I guess I have a few excuses, the main one being that I’ve just been busy with loads of different things like I’ve recently started yoga which I have fallen madly in love with, I will post about this separately I think as id love to tell you all about it and why I’ve fallen so in love with it.

 

Another reason is when I started my blog back up I told myself if you don’t feel like posting, don’t. So I guess I haven’t really felt that inspired to write anything lately and if I force myself this whole thing will just become a chore.

 

I have also started volunteering for a local small animal rescue, The Littlest Rescue who mainly look after rabbits but have guinea pigs and other small critters too. So I am a foster mum for them and I have also helped out a couple times which has obviously taken time and well spending the day with bunnies is a lot better than posting to my blog…no offence.

 

 I thought I would post this though to let my 3 readers know I am alive and all is well! I have a load of ideas ready to go, it is just finding the time and the mood post them! Winter generally has me down in the dumps so this is to be expected haha!!

 

I struggled with the title for this post because I want it to be capturing but I am hoping "vegan tattoos" alone will have the effect it does when I speak to people about mine which is normally loads of questions about how can all tattoos not be vegan... 

Before getting my first tattoo a few months ago I was aware that not all tattoos were vegan and this is a partial reason as to why it took me so long to get one in the first place. I made sure all my beauty and household products we're cruelty free before I actually even went vegan and it was then I discovered that just going into a tattoo parlor isn't going to get you a cruelty free tattoo let alone a vegan one.

Although I knew I had to find a vegan tattooist for me I didn't actually realise the extent of how much cruelty is involved with a lot tattoos until I done some research recently and I want to share what I have found out in the hope that even if two people read this and reconsider who they use for tattoos is a win for me. 

Lets start easy with before the ink has even touched you, the cleaning products used by the tattoo artist are unlikely to be cruelty free and in some cases not even vegan, still before the tattoo itself lanolin which is a waxy oily substance found on woolly animals like sheep is also found in stencil paper.

The ink is the worst part, most inks have gelatine, shellac and bone char in them, black ink I've read is sometimes made with burnt animal bones....

And once the tattoo is done it's likely the aftercare has been tested on animals or has an animal by-products in like bees wax, cod liver oil or again lanolin.

There are probably a lot more things to add to this but this is the basis of what I read online from numerous different sources so next time you are thinking of getting a tattoo consider tracking down a local vegan tattooist, I'm in Bristol, UK and I use the lovely Kat Winifred - www.katwinifred.com.

I'll post about my tattoos I have (so far) and what they're all about soon.

With autumn in full swing and winter on its way I wanted to post a recipe that was slightly warming and "different" to a pumpkin pie or a cookie in the shape of ghost...maybe next year haha!

These BBQ "ribs" will warm your tummy when it's cold outside but of course will also be perfect on the BBQ in the summer.

For this recipe I have used 1 of 6 Jack Daniels sauces, 5 of the 6 are vegan!

It was really tough to choose what one to use for this recipe, you can obviously use any of them but I went with the Full Flavour Smokey.

All of their sauces and our glaze are made with real Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey which you can really taste, I'm not the biggest BBQ sauce fan let alone whiskey fan but the sauces were super yummy!

Anyway let’s get on to the recipe!

Ingredients:

1 cup of vital wheat gluten (seitan)
2 teaspoons of smoked paprika
2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons of onion powder
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
3⁄4 cup of water
2 tablespoons of peanut nut butter
1 teaspoon of liquid smoke
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 cup of Jack Daniels barbecue sauce

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 200°C and lightly grease a baking dish with oil.

Mix the wheat gluten, paprika, yeast, onion powder and garlic powder together.

Mix the water with the peanut butter, liquid smoke, and soy sauce and add it to the wheat gluten, paprika, yeast, onion powder and garlic powder.

Give it a good mix for a couple of minutes.

Put the dough into the baking dish and flatten it so that it evenly fills the pan and then put it in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.

 *free sample but opinions are my own

Cup of tea, Sunday, blogging and listening to some noisy music... heaven...

I have so much I want to write about at the moment that I've just done the opposite for 2 weeks and not posted... Time really does fly, it's hard to stay on top of everything.

Last week obviously I was at work in the day but in the evenings I have been going to fitness classes again as I really hurt my foot running the Bristol Half and ugh I need to do something! I'll go mad otherwise!

Anyway today's post is another rant about how much I love Botanicals! This product is something a little different though.

If you haven't read any of my previous posts about these guys, Botanicals are a natural, vegan, cruelty free brand that are all about plant based products and basically providing ethical products, if you'd like to find out more follow the link below:

www.botanicals.co.uk

"A gentle exfoliating cleanser with organic oatmeal and crushed rosehip kernel, to brighten dull and congested skin and restore moisture balance. This product is concentrated (does not contain water) so only a small amount is needed. Which also makes it great value for money as a little goes a long way."

I have been using this stuff for the past 2 weeks, I wanted to make sure I'd used it to death before writing about it.

I'm going to start by saying I personally don't find it much of an exfoliator, not what I would define as one anyway, to me an exfoliator rips your face apart with massive bits of sand and sugar! However I do feel some bitty bits when using it so I guess it's what you look for in an exforliator.

I used this stuff after make up removing, soaping and brutal exfoliation haha! So for me this stuff took the final bits of make up off my face and majorly moisturised it, it's an amazing mascara melter!

And I've been using quite a bit, I mean come on! This is a pampering product so I'm going to break the rules, ignore the instructions and indulge by smearing loads of it on my face haha!

To remove it I've been just dabbing a hot flannel (love that word) and then letting it dry itself, it leaves you all moisturised and in my case ready for bed!

Also I have to mention even though it goes without saying when it comes to Botanicals, this stuff smells so good, I've been using the chamomile and marigold one!!

Here's the link if you want to find out more about the product:

www.botanicals.co.uk/natural-facial-polish-chamomile-mandarin

 *free sample but opinions are my own

Check me out trying to be creative with my post photo haha!... not that great is it but I wanted something appropriate and I can't ever bring myself to use stock photos...

Anyway this post is going to be a little different to my usual reviews and recipes, I want to tell you my top 5 apps I have on my phone that help me with living a vegan lifestyle... 

Some are the boring usuals that we probably have and use but I'm not going to list loads of random apps just to make this more vegan orientated... lets be realistic here and only use the good stuff! There are a couple that are different and especially useful!

So I'll start in reverse order and save the "bests" for last :)

5 - Twitter

Like I said, there will be some boring ones haha! But the reason Twitter is in my list is because it's a great way to socialise with other vegans and interact with vegan lifestyle bloggers.

There are also hashtag hours, for example #veganhour is a great way to meet other vegans as well as brands who also get involved and sometimes do giveaways... I've won once before wooohoo!

4 - Instagram

Kind of the same as twitter with the fact you can socialise with other vegans and bloggers but I like to use it for food inspiration.

I also follow the likes of Peta so I do like to tag my non vegan friends in some gruesome pictures of the reality of the meat and dairy industry...

3 - Pinterest

Pinterest again is good for inspiration but more importantly it has a lot of recipes, whenever I am struggling with what to have to eat I also refer to Pinterest for a recipe.

You can store all of your faves and "to makes" in there own folder.

2 - Happy Cow

Now for the more interesting apps, Happy cow is literally the only app I think I've ever paid for, it's only £3.99 but still, I never buy apps...

Happy cow is used to find places to eat that have vegan options, you can add places yourself and leave reviews and photos. It's great if you're away and have no idea where you can eat out.

Or if you're like me you can use it in your hometown you've lived all your life because you're useless haha!

1 - Spoon Guru

Quite possibly the best find ever, and it's free!

I discovered this app after reading about it in VeganLife Mag.

The app itself is basically a bar code scanner, you chose your diet preference and then scan away. It from what I've seen works on all branded products but not yet on all supermarket own branded products.

I use it all the time because I seriously can't remember all the E numbers and weird chemicals I can't eat.

So this has been my top 5 apps for vegans, I hope you found this somewhat useful and if there are any apps you guys swear by I would love to know all about them!!

Back to reality...lets try and remember it could be worse...

So the Saturday gone to Tuesday I have been enjoying life in Ilfracombe, this consisted of eating lots of chips and playing pac-man bingo...

The holiday started with us having to take my car which Ollie wasn't best pleased about, the clutch on his went the day before... Not too sure why he hates my car so much, can you get any cooler that a black 4x4??... 

Maybe it's crap I have hanging inside and the vegan stickers on the back...

The day before going I actually had a x-ray on my foot because I managed to hurt it that bad at the Bristol Half Marathon the doctor thought I might have fractured (i hadn't, I'm a pussy) it so walking about in Ilfracombe was killer... it did get better but I was hurting most days after a while...yes I'm a wimp clearly!

Gutted really as I love walking, it's one of those things that shows your getting old... you love walking, home decor shops and growing your own herbs... LOL!

I still walked a lot though even though I was advised not to, hardcore I know!

Ilfracombe is very pretty and as we were there kind of out of season it was nice and quiet there too...I like quiet.

We went away for Ollie's birthday...29...getting very close to the big three ohhhh...

I spent a lot of time there playing on the pac-man bingo... Usually I am a serious 2p-er but these bingo games get me really going haha! But the pac-man one!! Woah... I did win a fair but but must have lost about £20... I have no shame admitting this, totally worth it!

As well as seriously abusing my bank account at the arcades we ate a lot too! Mainly chips for me as vegan eating most places isn't the easiest unless you venture to specific restaurants but most places were good to me and they have a Wetherspoons so I had a couple of avocado bagels baby!!

The best place we ate (to me) was in Barnstaple which isn't too far away from Ilfracombe, we went there for one of the days to look about and do some shopping.

We had lunch at the cutest cafe ever called Purity Petal, I think they only opened that week or the week before but it's owned by a 19 year old woman and her mum... Fair play, so jealous of this, makes me really question my life choices to be honest haha!

Food was yummy and they were lovely people, pics are below of the place!

It sucks to be home and the fact I am back at work next week kills my soul! Can't wait for the next trip!

Thanks for reading and here are some more photos! :-)

Aloha!

I've been weirdly lucky lately... As in I've somehow managed to win 2 competitions online... One of Facebook and one on Twitter... Just a share this post sort of thing so no actual knowledge or effort is needed and to be honest until now I've not always convinced these sort of competitions are even real... but they are!!!

This one I won on twitter during Tuesday's #veganhour, I'll share the other one in a later post, if you're that intrigued go check out my Instagram, it's on there!

So thanks to #veganhour and Good Full Stop I won the above and below treats!!

Good Full Stop bars are completely vegan and super good healthy snack, they're made in Devon here in the UK, not too far from me at all actually!

"Good Full Stop bars offer a perfect marriage of a tasty and satisfying snack bar, while being an excellent source of nutrition – all the pleasure and none of the pain. Using the finest natural, wholesome ingredients and only a ‘hint of naughtiness’, Good Full Stop bars are gluten-free, dairy-free and have a medium to low glycaemic index. All but one of the flavours even counts as one of your five-a-day – a fact we think is epic!

They are also a natural source of copper and fibre, essential for an overall healthy existence, while copper is also contributes to preventing premature aging and increasing energy production"

There are from I can tell 9 flavours currently which are:

Cherry Sweet and Cherry Good (Cherry & Maple)

Sun Kissed and Good (Choc & Orange)

Chocolate is Twice as Good (Double Choc)

Very Nutty and Very Good (Mixed Nuts)

Berry Berry Good (Raspberry)

Cool, Minty and Good (Choc & Mint)

Full of Beans and so Good (Mocha & Caffeine)

Devilishly Hot and Good (Double Choc & Chilli)

Red Hot and Very Good (Fiery Choc & Chilli)

I've only tried one so far and that's the Cherry one, it's all raw, squidgy and yummy! These snacks are the sort of things I have before and/or after a run or going to the gym!

I also pack them with me for long walks too, small but packed full of goodness to keep you going!

They are kind of similar to Nakd bars but...flatter shaped haha!

If you want to find out more about them follow the link below and thanks again Good Full Stop for picking me as the lucky winner!

www.goodfullstop.com

I really don't take photos like I used to, and I really miss it but today when I got back from work I really felt like taking some photos...

I skipped my spin class because I'm lazy and couldn't be bothered to do anything, even go out to take photos so I ambled around my garden getting a few shots.

It was also about time I got some "decent" photos of Bella bun.

It's pretty cool the photos you can get just from your garden, I was playing about with my zoom lens but normally I love just using my macro lens and getting some close ups of random things in the garden... Like super detailed shots of dirt on the floor or a some close up moss haha!!

Anyway here are some shots I got today simple from my garden!

Happy Sunday!

I thought I would post some easy reading, a little review on some sample products I've got my hands on, you can pick up 2 free samples with every purchase.

Botanicals are a natural, vegan, cruelty free brand that are all about plant based products and basically providing ethical products, if you'd like to find out more follow the link below:

www.botanicals.co.uk

The samples I've been using are:

Calming body lotion: Lavender & tea tree

"Botanicals pure and natural body lotion will help soothe and calm the skin after shaving, waxing or the use of depilatory products. And will support the skin’s natural elasticity by replenishing essential moisture lost during hair removal. Essential extracts of calming marigold and aloe-vera are blended with soothing lavender, and antiseptic tea tree, in this pure and natural body treatment."

This stuff smells amazing, lavender is my favourite scent in the whole world! I know some people aren't keen and it has that "old person" vibe but I don't care I love it!

I've been using this on my legs after shaving and yeah it's great, my legs usually go a little flaky after shaving when i guess I shave all the moisture off them haha! This stuff has bee keeping them nice and moisturised.

My boyfriend has also been using this stuff on some weird bites he's got on his legs... *eyeroll*

 Wild rose nourishing body balm

"A deeply conditioning natural balm to help soften and enhance the texture of your skin. Hand whipped with organic shea butter and infused with cold-pressed rosehip, wild rose and rose geranium, renowned for their nourishing and revitalising properties.

Botanicals balms are made entirely with active plant derived ingredients, which support the skin’s natural ability to heal and regenerate new skin cells. The perfect partner for dry skin."

All of Botanicals products smell amazing, this balm is super moisturising, some people may find it slightly oily and heavy but I don't mind that as I get really dry hands so I've been using this on my hands and also my elbows :)

Lemongrass revitalising body lotion

"Botanicals pure and natural body lotion supports the skin’s natural elasticity by replenishing essential moisture often lost through exposure to sunlight and detergents. Skin softening shea and cocoa butters, are blended with soothing aloe-vera and revitalising lemongrass, in this pure and natural body treatment."

*sniffs arms* mmmmmm

So I've used this moisturiser today actually and it smells so good, I SMELL SO GOOD!!

Not a scent I would normally go for but I really like it, I like the way the scent stays on you.

Well thanks for taking the time to read this little post, go check out Botanicals because their stuff is awesome and so are their ethics!

 *free sample but opinions are my own

Baking time!?

Just some super easy and super yummy blueberry muffins, what more can I say? Nothing so lets crack on :)

Ingredients:

1 and a half cups of plain flour 

Half a cup of sugar (I used caster)

2 teaspoons of baking powder

Half a teaspoon of salt

1 cup of dairy-free milk (I used oat)

Quarter cup of oil (I used coconut)

1 cup of  blueberries (frozen or fresh, mine were fresh ones)

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 200oC and line muffin tray with cupcake liners (I made 6 but you could make 8, I like big ones...thats what she said!!)

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a mixing bowl. 

Add the milk and oil.

Stir until combined and then fold in the blueberries (if they're fresh ones be delicate so you don't mush them).

Pour the mix into baking cups and bake for 25 to 30 minutes

Right I know this is kind of a late post for an August box but I actually have a legit reason, well it's a crap one but still a reason, basically LoveLula normally post about the boxes on their site and I like to use their wording to describe the items and then give my review, like I did on the last LoveLula sub box post...

But for some reason they haven't yet so I'm going to have to type it manually myself from the info card...what a liberty haha!!

Again like I said last time if you don't know who LoveLula are, they are natural, cruelty free and organic beauty products seller... in a nutshell...and they do a monthly Beauty Box.

If you want to find out more about them click the link below:

https://www.lovelula.com/about

So in this months box I received:

PHB - Natural Eye Liner
"PHB's Natural Eye Liner is enriched with a gentle nourishing formula of plant oils and waxes whilst being richly pigmented for rich long lasting colour. Glides on smoothly for fast, easy and accurate application."

What can I say, if you read my other posts you'll know I'm a huge PHB fan and most of my make up is theirs... This eyeliner was in a brown shade so not something I'll use as an eyeliner to be honest however I actually already have the black one which I've been using everyday for ages now and I love it...

This one has been used as an eyebrow pencil though haha and does the job!

BALM BALM - Chamomile Floral Water
"This best-selling Floral Water is now available in a handy 30ml size. Mist over sore, inflamed or itchy skin; rashes, cracked nipples and any areas that need a little soothing.
Perfect for spritzing over bed linen to help induce sleeping."

Another one of my favourite beauty brands, love love loooove their skincare!

I'm not going to to lie I thought this stuff smelt a little odd, definitely not to my taste but I still use it after a work out or generally too cool down, I also use it as a toner if I have no cotton pads left.

GLOSSWORKS - Nail Polish
"NEW to LoveLula! Glossworks '9-Free' Nail Polishes are formulated with a creamy, gel-like texture, providing a volumising finish with an extra long-lasting glossy shine."

I painted my nails as I typed this and the pink nail polish I received is lovely, goes on easy and dries really quick, nothing worse than a polish that takes forever to dry and you just end up smudging!

GLOSSWORKS - 3-in-1
"Also from Glossworks, this 3-in-1 is a base coat, a top coat and a hardener in one!"

I used this stuff on it's own as soon as I got the box and thought it was great, shiny and dries quick, all I need really, seemed to last long as well which is good for me as I have bathes all the time and literally melt nail polish off haha!

First nail polish I've received in a LoveLula box so looking forward to receiving some more in the future!

BEAUTY BREWS - Organic Tea
"Beauty Brews is dedicated to sourcing the finest organic teas that combine tried ad tested ingredients into delicious blends, each with a specific flavour combination to help enjoy moment of harmony, peace and beauty that help bring mind, body and soul into natural balance."

The tea I received in my box was Balance - Nana Mint & Lemon, I love mint teas so this is perfect for me, I of course made some of the tea as soon as I received it and I wasn't disappointed... It's really yummy!

I just love that its all natural and not in a bag, it means I can use my cute little teapot/infuser, thinking about it makes me crave some now!

Roll on September's box!