Liebster Award

I've been tagged by the lovely yeslesley for the Liebster Award - basically I have to answer some questions that some other bloggers and I have been tagged to, then pass it on and make some new questions! I am really lazy and also a new blogger so I'm not sure who to tag - so basically if you are reading this then leave a comment - as I tag YOU!! :)

Here are the rules:

1. Each blogger should answer the questions the tagger has set for you.

2. Choose 11 new bloggers to pass the award onto and link them in your post.

3. Create 11 new questions for the chosen bloggers.

4. Go back to their page and tell them about the award.

5. Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves.

6. No tag backs!

11 Facts

1. I have a degree in Politics and Sociology though I'm still not sure what I want to do with it.
2. I have a strange connection to Cornwall which began with yearly holidays from a young age - My brother and his family now live there as well as my uncle... and now my best friend is moving there to do her PHD this year. Sometimes when I visit it feels like I'm going home in a way!
3. I met my boyfriend for about 10 minutes 5 years prior to us meeting again and him asking me on a date but he doesn't remember it!
4. I'm a very messy person but when I do begin to tidy up and clean I get obsessed with it and can't stop until it's perfect. 
5. I used to be very shy to the point it would stop me taking part in things or prevent me from making new friends. I began to realise how silly it was and I'm mostly over it now though I can be quite a quiet person in general anyway. 
6. I really enjoy working in the supermarket that I do but I can't do it forever and I don't want to be a manager so I must leave when the time is right. 
7. I love animals and I think if I could go back to school I'd become a vetinary nurse or something along those lines.
8. I have a nephew and niece who I only get to see around twice a year as they live so far away but I love them dearly. 
9. I'm addicted to chocolate and get cravings all the time and get sooo grumpy when I can't have any. 
10. My favourite Disney film is Beauty and the Beast. 
11. I hate driving but I like cars. Weird. 

1. Describe what a perfect day would be like for you.

Anything in the sunshine! I 'm a bit outdoorsy so maybe a picnic in the park after a litte bit of shopping and a few beers and a BBQ later? 

2. What is your most prized possession?

A picture of my Grandpa. 

3. Do you have a favourite perfume? If so, what is it?

Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb!

4. What is your favourite place to travel or what is your dream travel destination?

Cornwall! Though I loved Berlin when I went and would love to go again. It would be a dream come true to travel around Europe. 

5. Describe your style in three words.

Monochrome, Comfortable, Boyish

 

6. What is your favourite quote or song lyrics?

Not all those who wander are lost - J R R Tolkien

7. If you could have grown up in any era, which would you have chosen?

The 50s, I'm not sure why but it seems like an exciting time to be growing up in. 

8. Are you a heels, flats, or trainers kind of lady?

Flats, specifically boots! I'm 5 foot 10 so heels aren't really an option without looking like a giraffe. I love a good ankle boot.

9. Do you still read magazines (the actual paper copies, not just online)? What are your favourite?

I read Company sometimes.

10. If you could live in one climate all year round, what would it be?

Sunny but not humid. With a breeze. Thank you. 

11. You have one day to spend an unlimited amount of money on treating yourself to things you normally wouldn't spend money on - what do you do? (Extra points to anyone who watches Parks and Recreation and is now singing Treat Yo'Self 2011!)

hahaha treating myself? Well...a new car because my current one is a banger and is giving up! A Mulberry bag...all of Topshop. And this is weird but I'd do a food shop at Whole Foods hahaha. 

So my questions for you are:

1. What is your one beauty product you couldn't live without?

2. If you were stranded on a dessert island what would be the one thing you would choose to take?

3. What is your favourite kind of music and what does music mean to you?

4. Do you have a signature dish you like to cook?

5. If you could have any pet what would you have?

6. Would you rather wear no make-up and have stylish clothes or have horrible clothes but perfect make up?

7. What is your funniest childhood memory?

8. Favourite place you have visited?

9. What is your dream job?

10. Where did you meet your best friend and tell us a bit about them :)

11. What is your favourite drink?

Clothing Factory Conditions; Who is Responsible?

With a recent focus in the news on factory standards I’ve been thinking a lot about where our clothes actually come from and whose fault it is that people are still working in such horrific standards. Is it simply just bad standards of build or does it go much deeper? I believe it does. I think perhaps the responsibility is shared somewhat…but what exactly can we do?

Let’s face facts, Primark supplies fast, cheap fashion that isn’t exactly the greatest of quality but feeds the demand of shoppers looking for a quick fix of the latest trends at a small price compared to other designer and high street shops. We have all been guilty of shopping in Primark and other such budget stores  looking for the latest trends and items we know we won’t get much wear out of, but does that make us to blame for the way such items are sourced? Or is it up to Primark as a business on the whole to find a more responsible way of manufacturing items in bulk? Quite often the majority of us are quite happy to be ignorant of where our clothes are manufactured, but look at the labels of most of your favourite garments and you’ll more than likely see they are produced in countries such as Bangladesh, China, Vietnam and India. Such countries are considered as less economically developed which means they are susceptible to providing cheap labour in horrendous working conditions, fuelling poverty due to inequalities between factory owners and factory workers. I’m sure we’ve all heard the term ‘sweatshop’ but do many of us actually care or think about what it means when our clothes have been produced here? Unfortunately our clothes are likely to have been made by workers in horrific conditions, many of which who are children. So perhaps we could be a little more responsible. There are many fair trade brands that are ‘socially responsible’ and whilst they are a little more expensive, perhaps it is worth the cost.  I believe even ASOS, Topshop and even Marks and Spencer’s have begun to stock some fair-trade items which is a big step forward!

But is it our problem? It can be said that it is the country that the items are sourced from that are at blame for not providing suitable working conditions. Poverty at the end of the day is to do with politics, and I believe today’s politics is too concerned with self-interest. While rich countries continue to make decisions that only benefit themselves, others in not so fortunate positions are suffering due to these decisions. We wouldn’t have cheap, affordable fast fashion without these countries, but should we be taking advantage of that? We shouldn’t be taking our business elsewhere as surely this benefits workers in no way whatsoever, but the current conditions surely can’t continue.

Will you think twice next time you pick up a cute dress at a bargain price? Or do you think it’s part of a wider problem that is down to governments and charities working together to provide better standards? The argument goes far deeper than this but I thought it was an interesting subject to bring up and something I don’t often see addressed in the fashion blogging world. It would be great to hear your opinions! 

Some links if interested:

War on Want Charity

Ethical Fashion Directory of Stores

People Tree

Nomads Clothing

Weekend Roundup 1

Hello lovelies! I thought I would show you all a few little snippets from my weekend. It may become a regular feature if anyone finds it interesting enough? This weekend wasn’t exactly exciting but it was fairly busy and involved most of my favourite things; shopping, eating out, hillwalking and a little bit of relaxation time in the pub. On Saturday I went into town with my boyfriend to have a little look around the shops. I wasn’t really looking for anything in particular, I only really went along as he was looking for a new football top. I couldn’t stop myself from picking up a few little treats though. Firstly I picked up a new adorable cup by Bobble that I’m going to use for smoothies. I saw these in John Lewis and I’d been searching for a smoothie cup for a while as I like to take drinks on the go and I thought this would be perfect! I also purchased a new Cath Kidston mug as my mum broke one I had before and  I love the size of these mugs; they are perfect for a giant cup of tea. Lastly I got the Sally Hansen Insta-Dry top-coat after reading Gemma’s review on this; I've just applied it this morning so I’ll be putting it to the test myself – first impressions are great though!

On Sunday morning my boyfriend, his dog Mullach and I went on a little rainy hillwalk as we usually do every weekend. It’s good to give Mullach a big walk every weekend as she is very energetic and her walks during the week usually only consist of a quick jaunt around the park a few times. Living in Scotland we are never too far away from beautiful scenery and lovely walks. This time we went up to a little place called Honeymoon Bridge (cute name). The walk was full of little waterfalls which Mullach loved as she adores playing in water, typical Labrador! The view from the top of the hill was rather amazing too, I always think the views make the effort put in to get to the top completely worth it!

Later on my boyfriend was playing in a charity football tournament so I went along to keep my friend who was also watching company. I have to admit we didn't do very well at keeping score for the boy as we were so busy having a good chinwag, oops! We then headed to the pub for a little bit after to celebrate, although my boyfriend’s team didn't exactly win, they came joint 3^rd out of 12 teams which I think is pretty good going!

What did you guys get up to at the weekend? I hope you had a good one!

Ramble & Chanel Goodies

Hey lovelys! Firstly I want to say sorry for being the worst blogger in the world - this is only my 4th post and already I have been absent for a month. Things have been ridiculously hectic over the last few weeks, I've spent some time away from home in Cornwall with some of my family which has been lovely and then returned to attend T in the Park festival which was amazing, although I did catch a nasty cold and have been recovering since! Needless to say, I am definitely back for good and back into the swing of all things blogy (is that even a word?!).

I'm going to start today's post with a little bit of a ramble and book recommendation, which if you can't already tell from the name of this blog is something I like to indulge in fairly often! For my birthday in June I was given money instead of traditional 'present' gifts from many people, which on one hand is nice as I can buy something nice for myself which I've had my eye on for a while! I was considering buying a kindle with this money as I enjoy reading and I think it would encourage me to read more often. However, it was pointed out to me that I could just use the money to in fact buy more books instead of a kindle which was a valid point I must say, especially as many of the books on my wish list aren't available as ebooks yet, thus making my purchase of a kindle a little fruitless! What do you guys think about kindles? Do any of you have one? I would love to hear your thoughts! Taking my friends advice and just buying books instead, I ordered Lauren Oliver's Delirium and absolutely loved it, it was so hard to put down, I think I was addicted at one point during reading! It has been dubbed in some places as 'the new Twilight' as it is set to be a trilogy and there is the possibility of it being adapted into a film, however I cringe a little at this as I feel it is much better written, has a much more captivating storyline and perhaps my impression of Twilight has been tainted due to the overly enthusiastic fanatics and badly made films (I have actually read all of the books and enjoyed the first one especially, the others not so much!). I will definitely post a full review of Delirium of anyone is interested? Although I am sure there are many reviews available in all the usual places.

I went into Glasgow a few weeks ago with my friend so we could buy a present for our other friend's 21st! There were so many birthdays in June, I've noticed a lot of fellow bloggers had their special day in June too, so happy belated birthday to you if it has been or will be your birthday soon! We decided to get her a Ted Baker Ikon bag as she is quite a girly girl and we thought she would appreciate how cute these bags are! We also got her a Paul's Boutique purse and a photo album to put pictures from her party in. Whilst in town I decided it was time to have a bit of a splurge (or investment depending on how you look at it) and finally purchase Chanel Mat Lumiere foundation. I have previously used Chanel Pro Lumiere in the past which was a firm favourite for a while but I just couldn't afford to replace it whilst on a student budget.

I know this is a product that is raved about quite a lot and there is certainly no difference in opinion here...I absolutely adore it! I was little bit scared that it wouldn't sit well on my dry skin, however, after using it for a few weeks now I haven't encountered any problems at all and have heard it works equally as great on oily skin. I decided to get this instead of Pro Lumiere again simply because I love a matt finish instead of a dewy finish, which this certainly delivers. It isn't cakey, which is something else I feared as it does have quite a heavy coverage, but it looks fairly natural. In terms of application it blends really easily, although I have found you have to work quite quickly with it as it sets fairly rapidly. It also lasts the entire day with the exact same finish and coverage from when first applied at the start of the day which I am seriously impressed by! The only downside of this foundation that I can see is that the price means it isn't exactly affordable for everyone; I used a Boot's £5 off voucher when purchasing this which was a great help. However, I firmly believe with this product you get what you pay for and a little goes a long way.

The lady behind the counter was nice enough to provide me with two sample products as well; Inimitable Mascara and the Hydramax + Active Gel Cream. I have only tried these out once or twice but first impressions are certainly good. When I used the gel moisturiser I found it to be very nourishing and my skin felt instantly better after applying it. I don't doubt for one second that it is a fantastic moisturiser; however, priced at £44 in the UK I simply cannot justify ever buying this when the cheap Simple moisturiser I use is just as good!The mascara was just ok if I'm being honest. It is an intense black shade which is always a plus in my opinion and the brush was great for targeting smaller lashes that bigger brushes can miss. However, I experienced clumping after the first coat which is never a good sign! It also made my bottom lashes look a bit er... scary! I had to remove it from my bottom lashes even though I only gave them a scarce coating. Definately not something I'd consider purchasing, but it was a freebie afterall and I'm glad I got to try it!

Hope everyone is well and enjoying their summers so far! xx