Best Vegan Mascara's | Beauty

This is a new series of blog posts dedicated to finding some of the best vegan and cruelty free makeup products which are easy to find online or on the high street. I'm also on the hunt for a range of prices so you can find one that meets your budget. I hope that you enjoy this series and let me know if there are any other make up products you want me to do next. 

Today's post is all about mascaras... an essential part of any makeup bag! The main issue with mascara is that it tends to contain beeswax, therefore making it non-vegan. I am pleasantly surprised with the variety of vegan friendly mascaras I have found though, especially because all the ones I used prior to going vegan weren't vegan friendly. Personally, I use the more expensive Better Than Sex mascara by Too Faced - I have already repurchased it once and I can't see myself changing it as I love it so much! It is on the pricey side, but I believe that there are two makeup products worth splurging more money on: mascara and foundation. I'm past the days of super clumpy mascara and foundation that tints your face orange...

Other vegan mascaras which I haven't mentioned but are worth checking out include the e.l.f. Eye Enhancing Mascara, Pacifica Aquarian Gaze (waterproof) and the Collection Lengthening Mascara. 

I hope this post has helped anyone struggling to find vegan mascaras. I want to try and make the transition to a vegan lifestyle as easy as possible for anyone who is interested. Please do let me know what your favourites are too as I am always up for trying new products!

Make sure to follow me on Instagram to get updates on new posts. The next part of this series will focus on vegan foundations, so stay tuned!

Best Vegan Food | SOUTHAMPTON

Hi everyone! Today I am starting a new series of blog posts compiling some of the best vegan hot spots all around the UK. I hope to eventually build up a big list which anyone can use if they are travelling. Today I am starting off with Southampton, a place which I have become very familiar with in the past year. As my boyfriend lives here, I have tested a lot of the vegan delights Southampton has to offer. Here are a list of my favourite vegan hot spots in Southampton...

Baffi Pizza

Baffi has one of - if not the best - vegan pizza I have ever tried. It's not often you get proper Italian pizzas topped with vegan cheese, usually you have to opt for a cheese-less one. Number 3 on the menu might be the only vegan option, but I do know that you can switch things up a bit depending on what you do and don't like. Luckily for me, I liked everything on it. Check out the deals they have on too, I'm pretty sure on Saturday's between 3-6pm they have £6 pizzas!

My rating: 8/10. Would be higher if service was a bit better. The staff do live up to the Naples stereotype and are quite serious, which is fine but a little different to British customer service.

Cafe Thrive

The holy grail of vegan food in Southampton is Cafe Thrive. It is an all vegan cafe with everything from burgers, to delicious sandwiches and a sweet section which will tempt you. My non-vegan boyfriend loves the donuts in here and claims he can't think of any donuts he has tried which are better! They are always experimenting with new food ideas which you can see on their specials board. Sometimes they do a vegan roast dinner too! What I love about this cafe is that it doesn't look like your average vegan cafe with odd chairs and poor lighting - it's full of light and has a bright interior with fab customer service. If you are a coffee lover like me then I highly recommend getting a latte with oat milk here - my favourite!

My rating: 10/10. Everything from the interior, to the service and the food is perfect here. Cannot fault!

Mango

This was the first place I ever came to in Southampton and it was a on a date with my - now - boyfriend. He did very good! Though I have a confession to make, I have only ever had the same curry and I haven't even tried the tapas yet. My go-to is the golden curry which I get with tofu. It has a sweet hint to it which is so delicious and I like to pair it with the jasmine rice. They do have lots of other dishes which they are able to make vegan and they aren't short on vegan desserts either.

My rating: 8/10. I would rate it higher but it is on the pricey side. Well worth it for a nice meal out though!

Rice Up Wholefoods

I couldn't end this post without mentioning the ALL vegan mini supermarket Rice Up Wholefoods. It has everything a vegan could need: chocolate, cheese, meat replacements, sauces and household products. They also have a selection of foods they make in store such as bread, pastries and cakes. It is only a few doors down from Cafe Thrive which is very handy, but my bank account does suffer a bit!


I hope you enjoyed reading this post and for any of you heading to Southampton in the future, be sure to save this somewhere so you can come back to it. Next on my list is the Scottish vegan capital, Glasgow.

Megan.

One Year Since Graduating | My Life Since Uni + Graduate Tips

It feels crazy that nearly a whole year has gone by since I left university. Nothing will beat living in a city and being surrounded by your friends (AKA actually having a social life). Even though I could have stayed in Glasgow and gotten a job to tie me over whilst I made some decisions about my future, I decided to come back home for a bit. To be honest, I never thought I'd move back here - where I'm from is quite the opposite from city life. University was an amazing period of my life but mentally it drained me a lot. I thought it was important to cool myself off from stress for a year before venturing into adult life, and oh boy am I now ready to get back into a fast-paced routine!

As the high from finishing exams finally started to dwindle, I found myself twiddling my thumbs thinking, “right, what the f*ck do I do now?”. It was frustrating me that I was potentially not going to use the knowledge from my degree in order to give myself an income. Finally, I came to the conclusion that I would become a tutor. With hindsight, this was such a great decision. Not only was I going to be using my knowledge from my degree to tutor biology and chemistry, I was also pushing myself out of my comfort zone which has massively boosted my confidence. Now believe I can do almost anything! 

Onto my second year post-uni plans (yikes that sounds old). I have dreamed of travelling Australia for a while now... so thats what I've decided to do! In January-March 2019 I am planning to travel the East coast of Oz with my boyfriend. I am so excited to make happy memories that I can look back on in the tough years to come. Plus, my seasonal affective disorder would probably thank me for it (long dark days are my biggest enemy). I have always wanted to explore the world - I’m a bit of a travelling noob - but a) my anxiety of flying stopped me and b) I was missing a travel buddy. Though, this does mean I am going to have to save save save this year... But I'm hoping long hours of working will be all worth it!

After my time travelling I have my sights set on doing a master’s degree in nutrition, an area I am very passionate about. It may take me two years post-pharmacology degree to get my butt back in education, but I'm hoping that this time out will give me a much better mindset for the next chapter.

My tips for newbie graduates…

• You don’t need to know what you want to do next. Trust me, I had many mini meltdowns stressing about the fact I didn’t want to go into the pharmaceutical industry. I think taking a gap year post-university is nothing to be ashamed of. If anything, I would encourage it for anyone feeling that final year PTSD - you don't want to burn yourself out.
• Don’t be afraid to change you path. My new journey into nutrition isn’t completely far fetched from my degree in pharmacology, but any degree is a one way ticket into a lot of jobs. Many companies look at skills you would have gained from your degree - especially if it’s an analytical one such as a science of some sort. You might think university was a "waste of time" but you'll be surprised how many places it can take you. Consider using your universities career service - I did, and I was really inspired. Plus, they'll probably put your mind at ease and tell you that most people don't stick to their degree area post-uni.
• Focus on yourself, not what you think everyone else thinks you should do. It’s hard for families to not have an influence on your thoughts about what the next steps are. Take advice, but don’t let others impact YOUR decisions. This is your future after all and if it takes you a little bit longer than everyone else to have your lightbulb moment, then don’t worry!

Megan.

Photocredit: @michael_d_beckwith on Flickr (labelled to allow reuse + modification).