Winter Round Up 2016

First and formost - Happy Holidays/Christmas/Yule/Hanukkah/Other festive celebration to all.

I am currently at my Grandma's for the holiday, sans Internet (disclaimer: this was written on my phone so may look bad), so thought I would make a quick post before Christmas Day (and a longer one before New Years)

What a year 2016 has been. My blog was born mid year, after a good few months of dilly dallying. I just wanted to thank you all for your help with everything; ideas for posts, readership, critique and generally making me feel excited to share a post every time. Without you all I would have given up long ago.

Without further ado; here is my obligatory 'winter jumper selfie'.

Dealing With the Curse of Winter-Hands

When I was younger, I suffered terribly from dry and cracking hands. They were so bad, that I could barely move them. I was given some super greasy cream, and it went away. Ailment gone...or so I thought. To this day, when the weather gets cold - the tips of my fingers peel. If I let it carry on, I'd be a great burglar, because no one would see my finger prints.

It has thus happened again this year. I can tell it's there, because the skin on my hands catches on everything. It's only slight, but it's there, and it annoys me. Last time it happened, my first plan was to moisturise; put on untold amounts of hand cream. But that didn't work, and just made it very difficult for me to do anything, I could really only do that at bedtime.

My very dirty pot of 'Salted Coconut'

I was really stumped, I couldn't just leave it, it would get ten times worse. It wasn't until a chance trip into Lush (who am I kidding - I would spend my whole pay check there if I could), and a talk with one of the lovely people who work there, did I get any help. I was offered a sample of Salted Coconut hand scrub. I was a bit put off at first, I was just worried it would really hurt. Which it did. But obviously salt is an amazing way of getting rid of any infection, it's how I had kept my infected eczema at bay in the past, and is something that I am going to do again some times soon as it's gradually come back. I immediately went back and brought myself a pot.
The scrub is amazing. Within a day or two my hands were as soft as a baby's bottom; there was no catching on fabrics. I didn't need to moisturise them, because the scrub did that for me.

This year, when Winter-Hands came back, I knew exactly what to do. I still had my pot of Salted Coconut around, they last absolutely forever - mine's only just coming to the end, and slathered my hands in it. By slather, I only mean a small amount, as a little goes a long way. After that hand wash, the flakiness was gone and I had lovely and soft hands again.
It's got a weird smell though. Their website says it smells like gorse, and I don't know what gorse is meant to smell like, but it definitely smells like play-dough.

It lasts ages, but I need to get a new pot soon

I'm not the only one who sings Salted Coconut's praises either. My dear friend, Luke, gets much worse cracked and painful hands than I do. His whole hand can be dry and scaly. I took him to Lush and told him to buy a pot of it, don't even bother with a sample - it's so kind to skin, even though it scrubs, that I felt no guilt in not telling him to sample first. Within a few days his hands were much better. I'm not saying it's a miracle cure, but for once his hands weren't red and scaly, and were nice and soft.
But don't take it from me. Luke had this to say about it;

'During the colder months the weather does real damage to my hands. The skin becomes dry, cracked and weak. It's painful and a knock to one's self confidence. No other lotions or creams were working. I was recommended The LUSH Salted Coconut Hand Scrub, by Hannah. At this point I was willing to give anything a go. To my delight it works wonders. Just small amount is enough to exfoliate your hands. It's not the most comfortable product to use, it's very coarse. But, the end result is smooth hands that stay moisturised for a good few hours. The smell is present but not overpowering and it lasts a long time. All I have to do is to keep using it.'

Do you get cracked and painful hands? What's your No.1 go to product for it? Perhaps you've tried Salted Coconut and want to sing it's praises too, or perhaps it wasn't for you. Leave a comment in the box below!

Verulamium Spa Day

For my 21st birthday, I was given a voucher from buyagift by my Dad's friend. After searching high and low for an experience to do with it, I settled on a Spa Day for 2 at Verulamium Spa.
With my Mum in tow, we spent a day at the Spa together.

We spent an hour before our treatments trying out the spa, which is underneath the treatment rooms. It included things like 3 types of sauna, a steam room, a monsoon shower and a hydro pool. We had wanted to have a proper swim before using the spa, but had no idea how to get down to it, so gave up on the venture and attempted (and failed) to do a small amount of swimming in the hydro pool - bear in mind this pool was as big as a jacuzzi.

After spa-ing we had a light lunch at the bistro, because by 1pm we were hungry, and then had our treatments.
Mum had a head massage and a pedicure and I had a back massage and pedicure.

The oils were amazing, my back felt moisturised for days - which is a weird thing to think about when backs are notorious for being the hardest place to reach to moisturise by yourself. I have a bad lower back, I hurt it during a zumba session many years ago and have never had a day without a small twinge. Suffice to say, the massage hurt a lot there, but the day after I had no pain. In fact I hadn't had any pain until a week after, for me that's a massive plus. I wished it had gone on for longer, 25 minutes was not enough. Note to self - book a longer one next time.

After my massage I had a pedicure done. My feet aren't normally scaly or dry, but the winter kicking in has definitely begun to dry them out - hot to cold and vica versa is not good for my ezcema prone skin.
As you can see from the picture, I had my nails painted a black-purple, which has to be my favourite colour of this Autumn/Winter - as my mum had heard me say many times "I want a cardigan in this colour" (I am still waiting on that cardigan, hint hint).  
The colour still hasn't come off, and it's over a week later. Whenever I do my nails at home it lasts 3 or 4 days tops, so I am very happy with this.


While our nails dried, we had an afternoon tea of cake and cava. Most of which we had to bring home with us because we were so full.

I think all the products used were Caudalie or Clarins, the former being a CF brand and the latter sadly not being a CF brand. Obviously, this a point of contention for me (which is why I have linked Caudalie, and not Clarins), but I wanted to enjoy my day out with my mum so may have let it slide. The nail polish was from a brand called Jessica, which I hadn't heard of until we went to the spa, but with the amount of colour pay off I might have to invest.

Have you been to a spa recently? What treatments did you get? What would or wouldn't you recommend? Leave a comment down below!

Cambridge Vegan Market 2016

On Sunday, my friend Luke, went to the Cambridge Vegan Market.
We both got up, on a Sunday morning might I add, and made our way in his bright yellow Jeep towards Cambridge. From home, it took about an hour. We had aimed to be one of the first 100 there, but when we got there, it was already packed - the first 100 would have been there the moment it opened. I didn't aim to spend much money there, I was more curious as to what was going to be there - but I did end up buying some Christmas presents from Harper's Bizarre Candles. All of the candles I purchased were in their "Bargain Basement" Range, known as Harper's Experiements, which means that I can give someone a unique gift, picked especially for them, that they can't get anywhere else.

Think I'm a bit cat obsessed?

My current candle is 'Little Black Cat', it's a smell that just reminds me of sweeties/candy. It has a slight floral scent, but really it just smells edible. I usually have issues with candles giving me really bad headaches, but so far Harper's candles don't give me them. 'Little Black Cat' was given to me last year by Katie for Christmas. She's been a big fan of this brand for a while, and I'm pleased she introduced me to them.
Side note - I use the taper pictured because I am a massive pansy when it comes to fire, and don't fancy burning myself when I attempt to light both the wicks.

Love the archaic look of these tins! 

This a picture of the three candles I brought for gifts. Cobweb does remind me of a Victorian room, the smell of old books. It's an antique smell, and perfect for any 'drawing room'; in both the 19th century sense and the going to draw in a study. It's quite masculine smell, but still homely.
Italiana is a more stereotypical candle smell. It has light floral smells, with a slight citrus tang. My mother loved the smell of this one, unfortunately for her it's not staying in the house.
The last candle is Apple Charlotte, and it smells exactly like an apple pie (I assume an apple charlotte smells like this too, but I've never actually had one of those). It reminds me of my mother's apple crumbles, the smell of cooked apple with a hint of spice. It makes me hungry just smelling it. This candle is staying here, because I fell it love with it almost immediately.

This was just Luke's side of the table

After the market, Luke and I ventured into Yo! Sushi, which neither of us had ever been in before. Lets just say we spent too much money, and ate a lot off food. No regrets. After lunch, a bump into Katie and Rhys, we went on a long walk through the town centre, and a gentle stroll down the river. 
Find pictures of our stroll on my instagram, over at @kittenhannah
I look forward to going back to Cambridge soon, even if it's to gorge on sushi again. 

Have you ever attended a vegan/green market? What type of stuff did you buy? Perhaps you love Harper's Candles too and love a particular one loads. Maybe you live in Cambridge but never know the market was there! Leave a comment in the box below, and tell me about it. 

A 'colourful' year ahead

This week, I started the last year of my undergrad degree. It's the scary and daunting year, and I knew I had to be more dedicated to my schedule. I looked high and low for a planner I really liked, and I couldn't find one. Until, after a final search of Amazon, I found one I fell in love with.

I have a clinical writers cramp, therefore find it really hard to write for a long period of time - anything more than half an A5 page and I feel like I want to vom everywhere. Exams are a big no-no for me if I'm writing - praise Uni for letting me use a PC during my exams (I am a very quick touch typer).
I do, however, really love to colour. Colouring is a de-stress to me, and I don't find my hand begins to hurt until after I've finished the page. I own many a colouring book, including but not limited to; Game of Thrones, I Hate Fairyland,  Creative Cats and Victorian Fashion (I brought this one second hand - and someone had already coloured in two of the pages with the hardest hand and bright felt tips). I always buy a new colouring book before I finish the old one.

I finally found the perfect planner for me. Introducing Johanna Basford's 16-Month Weekly Colouring Planner.

The question is - do I colour in the front page or not?

This is a gorgeous, slightly bigger than A5 (It's a really weird size) planner. The front cover has some gorgeous gold-leaf design that can look green in certain light, giving it a more true to life plant look.

The only downside to the front cover is it is made of the same paper the planner itself is made of - it lacks the protective cover that you want on a book.

Just look at that intricate leaf work!

The moment I opened the planner, to write some important dates in it, I forgot all about it and coloured in the front page - perhaps this planner was a bad idea after all, all I want to do is colour it in! I have told myself I can colour in one of the drawings a week, once I have coloured in the couple weeks from September.
This one page gives a great idea of what the whole planner looks like on the inside. The good thing with these abstract images is you don't have to stick to what colour things are actually meant to be. As you can see here, I coloured a lily-pad blue and some leaves orange.

Cute little stare-y owl waiting to be coloured

And just to prove I'm using it, this is my schedule for the 10th of October to the 17th of October so far. I used a pen given to me as a gift from my friend Daisy, which is why there's both red and black. So far black means assignments for university and red is stuff I want to do myself. I'm looking forward to colouring that owl in!


Do you have any good ideas on how to I should use my planner? Perhaps you have your own planner that you can't wait to gush about. Leave a comment in the box below and tell me all about it! 

New facial routine

After going to Gorgeously Green 2016 and getting a few products given for the face. I've only just started using them, but my skin definitely feels better for doing so!

Without further ado, here's an introduction to the products I have been using for the past couple of weeks!

Mallow+White Soothe Cleansing Oil*
I was given a sample of this cleansing oil (I would say it's half the size of an actual bottle of the oil). I have to say this is the first cleansing oil I have ever used. This product has made me love the feel of cleaning my face properly with warm water and a flannel (which isn't to say I never cleaned my face; but it was with a wipe, not a warm flannel). I love the feel of the oil on my face, and leaving it to draw out the gunk that I know has been sinking into my skin from the 12odd hours since I last properly cleaned my face. I love the smell of cucumbers, my brain relates the smell to the feeling of being fresh and clean. This oil has opened my eyes to the world of cleansing oils and I can't wait to try more!

Pukka Organic Rosewater
This was recommended to me as a toner by Katie (over at KatieVibes). I've never used a toner before, I didn't really know what the point of them was. To be honest, I still don't know what it's doing to my face, but it does feel refreshing. We recently had a heatwave and when it was super hot I spritzed some over my arms as well as my face - it really helped to cool me down and make me feel refreshed. My only issue with it is the smell; perhaps it's just me, but the smell didn't entice me before - it has grown on me since - but the smell seems acquired to me. But like I said, maybe it's just me being a bit weird.

Evolve Beauty's Daily Renew Face Cream*
I have always used a moisturiser morning and night, but before was just using the cheap and cheerful one from the local supermarket (which was probably doing nothing for my face). I have to use a thin moisturiser, because thicker ones make the dry skin on my face more eczema-y and the oilier parts of my face even oilier. I've always been of the opinion that if I need to add extra moisturiser once the previous lot has sunk into my skin I will add more. I love the smell of this cream, it has a tropical coconut smell to it - coconut is one of my favourite smells! It feels soothing to put the cream on too. It is also the consistency that I love, thin enough to moisturise but not feel heavy. My only issue is that it's in a pot, I'm not the biggest fan of sticking my fingers into a pot (I don't want germs to fester). I have stopped using this product for the past week, as something caused my skin to erupt in spots, and I'm trying to figure out what it is. Hopefully it isn't this product, because I really like it.

Evolve Beauty's Miracle Facial Oil*
I have never really used a facial oil before; I have had one, but the smell put me off of using it - I am a sweet smell person, not a strong or heavy smell person. I was pleasantly surprised with this facial oil; it does have a more "mature" smell to it, but it's not unpleasant. The smell has grown on me. I like to use this more of an evening time, where it can really soak into my face. Instead of the face cream I have been using this both morning and evening for the past week.

Gorgeously Green 2016

One of the main reasons (other than telling you all about my fave summer reads or my fave days out) for starting this blog was a document the beginnings of my natural beauty journey. Long story short - I have very bad combination skin. One day it's oily and I've broken out in spots. The next my eczema flares up, and I spend all day itching flaking skin. I am currently on steroid creams and antibiotics to try to clear it up but I'm sick to death of feeling awful to look good. I want to feel healthy inside and out.
I've started eating more healthily, when I'm back at uni I'm going to rejoin the gym (and actually go this time). I want to feel good in my own skin for once.

This weekend (the 10th to the 11th of September) I attended the 'Gorgously Green' blogging event - an event based around green beauty - with a close friend and fellow blogger Katie (from katievibes.com).
I met some lovely bloggers, all much more seasoned than I am, who were all very lovely and on the level - I had worried that I would feel out of place but I was completely wrong. 

There were four different brands speaking; Mallow + White, Evolve Beauty, Terre Verdi and Beeutiful. All four talks were informative and made me want to buy all the products! They all smelt great - I am all about things smelling good.
I love that these brands are close by to where I live, two of these are around the corner from me. Not only am I being good for my face, I'm being good the to environment. Green beauty all around!

Freebies from the event - minus a B-balm lip-balm* that my mother wanted

Once I've got some empties from the event I will post up my reviews. I am excited to try everything!

Abso-bliming-lutely Fab-u-lous

Copyright: BBC / Empire Cinemas

Yesterday, my mother treated me to a movie at Campus West cinema. We went to see the Ab Fab movie; a delightfully funny reprisal of Patsy and Eddie, this time on the 'big screen'. Without further ado, I will give my spoiler free review below!

Watching it was a throw back for me. Obviously, I never really watched Ab Fab when I was a kid, because I'm pretty sure it had ended by the time I was compos mentis enough to understand adult television, but I have since gone back and watched many an episode and Christmas special. It's very British comedy, which I love, and makes me think about the dynamic in my family - there have definitely been points where I have felt like the 'mother' in my relationship with my mum, especially when it comes to teaching her the basics of technology (love you mum, please don't kill me!), but my life is not as bad as Saffie's is. I love the juxtaposition between rebellious mother and studious daughter, this movie brings in a whole new light to this; Saffie's daughter, Lola, is also rebelling against her mother, siding with her Grandmother much more than her mum. Saffie is obviously hurt by this and warns her own daughter not to spend her life ruining her mother's, because that's how her own life got ruined. It's a clear message to the audience that families need to stick together, no matter how different from one another everyone is.

I have a small issue with the film, however. Audiences who have never seen Ab Fab or live abroad will not understand this British comedy. It has an all-star British cast, with 2 Americans (Rebel Wilson and Chris Colfer), some of whom I will assume no American has heard of. The BBC confirmed a list of over 60 celebrities to cameo in the movie, and I'm pretty sure that 58 of them are British tele only. Also...some of the funnies felt forced, but I will let that slide because it was a small amount of them, and the rest of it was pretty funny.


All in all I say it was 'Absolutely Fabulous!' and you should go and see it at once!

My Two Cents (or should that say pounds?...) on Brexit

Now, if you have me on Facebook you'll know how vocal I have been about Brexit, and the aftermath of it. My friends have been vocal themselves; 2 people posting their own views has sparked my train of thought (shout out to Charlotte and Luke). 

Most people would know that I am a strong remain-er, and have always found the leave campaign to be full of lies and slander, which eventually bit them on the backside the morning after, (see; Nigel Farage backtracking on £350mil pledge from EU funds to the NHS).

Now, don't get me wrong, I am intrigued to find out what our country is going to be like when (though it's definetely an 'if' now) we are no longer a part of the EU. But along with that intrigue comes fear. Since Brexit the UK has fallen apart; families are fighting families (mine included), the pound plummeted lower than it has since the 1980's and the vocal minority of leavers seems to have been racist bigots who voted leave to get the Polish out.
I have never been so shocked by our country until the 23rd/24th of June. I knew we could be racist at times, but the things popping up in the news are absolutely vile. People are terrified to leave their houses and children don't want to go to school because "we voted them out".

I also worry for people who have lost their job over this. It seems that anyone in 'EU Relations' has had the bad end of the stick, and is now not employed by their companies. So not only is the pound worth about 80p, these people will struggle even more to get food on their tables.

I also worry for British politics as a whole. It's literally crumbling around us; Cameron is off, leaving us with the terrifying picture of Boris, May, Gove or any other number of white-collared conservatives as PM, and Labour is blaming their whole 'failed campaign' on Corbyn, passing a vote of no confidence in him earlier this week. My issues here are that Cameron called this bloody referendum in the first place, so he's just taking his retirement and leaving? He got us into this mess. I also have an issue with the 170odd MPS that voted no-confidence with Corbyn. He is a left wing man for a left wing party, and currently has my vote. I'm glad that some of them resigned, because it helps to whittle out the Blairites/Blue-Labour from the party, good riddance.

I am worried for my future; for my debts which keep accumulating, for getting a job in an unsteady economy and for how my children have to deal with growing up in post-EU Britain. Honestly, I am scared. But for now, I will sit back quietly and watch what happens. I just don't want to have to say I told you so...I actually want to be wrong on this one.

The Felines

One important thing in my life is these two. Bonnie and Clyde, the cat criminals. I think they'll be 4 in August, but it might be 5...I can't remember...all I know is that my family got them once we had moved.
Clyde used to be my cat, and Bonnie wouldn't go anywhere near me until recently; Bonnie refuses to leave my side at the moment, it's cute and annoying.
They will be a big feature in my blogs, because I am obsessed with them (so apologies in advance).

Introducing me

My name is Hannah, and I have finally found the guts to start my own blog.

I am a Literature, Journalism and Creative Writing undergrad, going into my final year - scary stuff!

This blog is a track of my favourite brands, food, clothing, books, video games, my degree and even my attempt to "shed some pounds".
I try to use cruelty free brands, but I'm new to it all - some of the stuff I use I know isn't cruelty free, or is owned by a bad parent company, but I also have to look out for my super ezcema-y skin, some stuff just doesn't make my skin react and I unfortunately have to stick to it because I can't keep wasting products.
I read a lot of books, I think that I am quite a well-read person. I have read many genres from Jane Austen and Charles Dickens to crappy 50 Shades of Grey style romance.
I am currently part of a project to create an erotic-fantasy world with 2 other creative partners, which you can find here - https://talesfromoeria.tumblr.com/ . It is a NSFW environment!

I am a very political person and like to put my own point forward, sometimes to my detriment - so sorry in advance.

I hope you stick around!