I only joined Birchbox a few months ago, having always told myself it was too indulgent… but curiosity got the better of me and I’m now 5 boxes in. For those of you that don’t know, Birchbox delivers a monthly box of beauty goodies to your door, including a mix of sample size (and occasionally full-size) well-known, exclusive and cult brands. This means that you get to try lots of products to see what really suits you before buying the full-size versions – and it’s also great because it introduces you to brands and products you’ve never heard of. Here are my top 5 recommendations from this year’s Birchboxes:
Continue reading Beauty Review: Top five Birchbox Picks
Tag Archives: lbloggers
Simple Ikebana display
I’ve been following Sansei Life for a few months now and I often visit to explore her blog and chill out for a few minutes with her beautifully simple and peaceful posts. In her own words: “Sansei Life! A blog exploring and learning about the Asian community in Denver. When I was much younger I tried a new Japanese restaurant in Arvada called Namiko’s for a sushi snack. It was very good. I got into a conversation with Yuri the owner and she ended up offering me a part time job on weekends. I spent most of the first evening running to Yuri asking her what the various dishes were and what was in them and what they tasted like. In exasperation Yuri asked me if I was Japanese! She could not understand how a Japanese did not know simple restaurant fare.That is when I really understood that I was a Sansei out of touch with my culture. I am ready to experience and learn about today’s Asian culture”.
Ikebana (生け花, “living flowers”) is the Japanese art of flower arrangement, More than simply putting flowers in a container, ikebana is a disciplined art form in which nature and humanity are brought together. Ikebana often emphasizes other areas of the plant, such as its stems and leaves, and draws emphasis toward shape, line, form. Another aspect present in ikebana is its employment of minimalism. That is, an arrangement may consist of only a minimal number of blooms interspersed among stalks and leaves. The spiritual aspect of ikebana is considered very important to its practitioners. Silence is a must during practices of ikebana. It is a time to appreciate things in nature that people often overlook because of their busy lives (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikebana).
Ikebana, the art of observing nature.
Here is an ikebana display from my heart.
Simple ivy allowed to grow on its own path. At one with nature, it is nature.
Reaching out on its own journey.
7 inspiring things that happened this week
1. I’ve been nominated for the “Encouraging Thunder” blog award! Thank you so much to Encouraging Life for this lovely award. You know how sometimes you’re feeling slightly down about your blog, doubting yourself, not feeling inspired? Well I sometimes feel like that anyway – I sure was feeling it this week and then I got this award, which has made me feel inspired again 🙂
2. Our house purchase fell through this week. I know, that doesn’t sound inspiring! But instead of crumbling, we’ve managed to approach it with a zen-like calm (mostly), taking comfort from the knowledge that it wasn’t meant to be – to quote my favourite saying, “What’s for you will not go by you”. Our dream house is out there somewhere… Continue reading 7 inspiring things that happened this week
go faux and share some snake love
There are nearly 3,000 species of snake in the world. Only around 375 of these are venomous, and only a small proportion of these are potentially harmful to humans. In the UK, we have adder, grass snake and the rare smooth snake, all of which are legally protected (as are their lizard friends). My favourite is the lovely slow worm – actually not a worm or a snake but a legless lizard (insert obvious joke here). These little cuties are only 50cm long and are have lovely smooth skin (for legal and safety reasons reptiles should only be handled by experts, obv!). Continue reading go faux and share some snake love
I’ve Been Nominated for The Creative Blogger Award!
I love blog awards! I hadn’t had one for a little while so I’m extremely grateful to the lovely Amanda Says. I’ve been following Amanda for a while now and she’s a very supportive blogger so please do check out her blog. Her posts are always unusual and quirky – she’s a woman after my own heart!
Rules:
- Thank the person who nominated you and include a link to their blog
- Share 5 facts about yourself
- Nominate 10 bloggers and add their links
- Notify the bloggers you included
- Keep the rules in your post to make it easy to everyone to know what to do!
Five facts about me:
- I’m an ecologist in my day job, and I specialise in bats. I’m off to do a great crested newt survey this evening!
- I have a mushroom phobia – bleeeugh, hate them!
- I once stood (with a beekeeper) in the middle of a swarm of 20,000 bees. I’m allergic to bees.
- I got my Master’s degree at Edinburgh University, where in order to graduate, you have to be hit on the head with John Knox’s pants!
- I play ukulele, guitar and harmonica, and I love to sing.
I nominate the following awesome bloggers:
- Violet and Eloise
- Milkshake Kingdom
- Lucky Otter’s Haven
- Jack Collier 7
- Little Awkward Fox
- Stereotypically Able
- Ravishing Roses
- Vacation Mode
- A Vibrant Day
Bold is Beautiful: Look Good, Do Good AND a Benefit Freebie?!
Regular readers will know how much I love Benefit cosmetics (if not, check out my post Friends with Benefit) – so imagine how happy I was when I heard about the campaign they’re running for the whole of May. If you live in the UK, USA, France or Australia, head to a Benefit Brow Bar for a Brow Wax in May 2015 and 100% of Benefit’s profits from the treatment will go to charities supporting women and girls, an issue close to my heart. As a thank you you’ll also receive a free, full sized Gimme Brow volumising fibre gel!
Continue reading Bold is Beautiful: Look Good, Do Good AND a Benefit Freebie?!
#VIEWSNOTSHOES!
Hi,
This post is about politics and women. It’s a more serious post than my usual art/fashion/travel/inspirational posts, but hopefully just as uplifting and positive. This post is aimed at UK readers, but also to women all over the world when it comes to making your views heard (see links at foot of page) – and to all men, too, because I firmly believe that men will benefit equally from having a balanced government. Say goodbye to any of the tired old feminist stereotypes and have a think about what you want, and what you believe (I am a project manager and senior team member in my company. I frequently work on all-male contractor sites. With gel nails and mascara. I sometimes wear 4 inch heels, and sometimes Converse. I am an ordinary woman not defined by any one stereotype. I’m so tired of facing sexism and I want my voice to be heard). Continue reading #VIEWSNOTSHOES!
I’ve been nominated for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers award!
Thank you so much to Orbb’s Fashion for the nomination, awesome, so grateful! (and sorry it took me a while to do this post). Please check out her lovely fashion blog, which features themed picks across a range of clothing stores, often focussing on affordable ranges for those of us who might be a bit skint! My current favourite is Youthful Exuberance – loving the blue suede boots and heart shaped pastel sunglasses!
Continue reading I’ve been nominated for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers award!
Banana Peanut Butter Ice Cream Recipe
Just wanted to share this yummy and healthy recipe with you, thanks to Sincerely Aimee – wish I could eat this right now after a long day at work!