Growing up in a society where eating meat is the norm and genuine leather products are sought after, it's not surprising when we raise an eyebrow to someone who says "I'm vegan." Any kind of deviation from the norm we conform everyone to is immediately scrutinised and criticised. And especially with something like veganism, where our own morals and values may be questioned or looked down upon, it's easy to become defensive. There are many myths that I've become aware of since becoming vegan, some I even used to believe myself. Basically, I just want to set the record straight.
Phew, a long one. That felt really good to write. I hope that at least one thing I wrote resonated with you, and even if you have no interest in going vegan, you no longer look down upon us or paint us all as these angry hippies. I'd prefer to be a happy hippie, thank you very much. C
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My favourite thing about music is that it always remains the same. While everything in your life may be completely different in 5 years, you can always come back and listen to that song you loved when you were 13 and be brought back to that time. I wasn't the happiest person in my early teens and high school years, but the music I loved was always the most important thing in my life, and today it still brings me memories of the good moments. Being such a sentimental person, just about anything can bring me that bittersweet wave of nostalgia.
I was recently watching a Youtube video and heard a song in the background that I had completely forgotten how much I loved 3 years ago. It instantly made me feel so happy ... almost like coming back home, in a sense. It inspired me to write a journal entry about it, and write up a list of songs that also felt that way to me. This then inspired me to make it in an actual playlist on Spotify, so I could listen to it whenever I craved that warm feeling - which then inspired me to share it with others. Music from the early 2000's in one word is ... iconic. There's some great artists today, but a majority of the songs on here are from the years between 2000-2010. Pop and Indie music back then had such a different vibe than it does today. There are some older and newer songs mixed in with the bunch, but all in all, it's a little bit of a throwback compilation. The image below is of my journal spread, but I added some more once I finally put it all together, and I'm sure I'll be adding on as time passes. Happy listening. Click Here To Listen Acne has always been my number one insecurity. I've not particularly struggled with weight or body image as much as many girls unfortunately do nowadays. However, since the young age of about 10 years old, since fifth grade, my red, bumpy, inflamed skin has brought me shame, affected my confidence growing up, and all in all, has diminished my perceived self-worth. I may just do a separate post in the future on my emotional struggle dealing with acne for half of my life, but today, I wanted to share how I've managed to get it somewhat under control.
First of all, I cannot stress enough how skincare starts from the inside. All of you with genetic acne like me will probably roll your eyes when I say this, but what you eat can greatly affect your skin. It may not cure it completely, but it's a large step in the right direction. Veganism has made the most drastic change in my skin that I've ever witnessed in my life, and it's only been a little over a month. I'm not here to convince you to make a drastic lifestyle change, but the science and evidence are out there. A dramatically large amount of people experience an improvement in their acne/skin when they decrease, or better yet, cut out their consumption of meat and/or dairy. The hormones found in animal products are not meant for our human bodies, and can cause acne to be even worse. If you aren't looking to cut these foods out, just make sure you're getting a lot of:
Unfortunately, just eating your fruits and veggies doesn't give all of us the results we desire. My next point to stress is the effectiveness of natural skincare. While commercial cleansers like Clean&Clear and Garnier may yield temporarily positive results, and draw us in with flashy attractive packaging, why would we want to be putting chemicals we can't pronounce onto our bodies? Our skin is our largest organ, and more importantly, it's a porous surface. It absorbs what we put onto it. So phthalates? Sodium lauryl sulfate? Fragrances and synthetic colours? Nah. It's common sense to avoid those. Granted, some of the products I use, such as items from The Body Shop, aren't completely natural, but it's closer than others. So, try to keep it natural, simple, and as minimal as possible. Here are my recommendations: Products + Routine SKIN TYPE:
And those are all of my personally used products! It's definitely a process trying to find things that work best for you, but it's extremely worth it. If you're currently struggling with acne, just know there's always a solution, and you'll figure it all out someday. Until then, don't worry about it too much. No one notices or cares as much as you do. Seriously. C When I began transitioning into veganism, I knew the hardest thing to give up would be my lovely, beautiful, typical Canadian Tim Horton's Ice Caps. I had a hardcore addiction, to the point where going vegan probably saved me a long list of future health problems. Despite the truth behind the dairy cream that went into those drinks, I have to admit, they were delicious, and going from (at least) one every single day to none was difficult. Starbucks has soy, but let's be real, over 5 dollars for a coffee every day? As if.
This is why my first mission on my journey to veganism was to find the perfect recipe to make my own Ice Cap/Starbucks Frappuccino at home. I've never been a fan of traditional hot coffee, and while I enjoy a nice iced coffee once and awhile, nothing beats the blended texture of these drinks. I've come up with a super simple recipe - two ingredients, two minute process. Even if you're not like me, and don't come from a past of tragic addiction, this is a delicious treat to blend up on a hot summer day if you enjoy creaminess and a light coffee taste. Ingredients:
Optional:
Non-Food Items Required:
Super simple! The exact measurements can be tweaked to suit your own personal tastes and likings, but here are some general steps to follow. How-To
One of my favourite things since going vegan has been finding ways to veganize traditionally non-vegan treats and meals. It never fails to excite me when I find a way to enjoy the things I've always loved, but have a less negative effect on animals, my own health, and the planet. Whether you're trying to cut back on your dairy intake, just trying to save some money, or just feel like some coffee, hopefully this recipe can give you a tasty way to do so! C Since adopting a CF lifestyle at the start of 2016, I've wanted to find a way to express my opinions on it and, most importantly, spread the information I've acquired so that hopefully more people can make the ethical switch.
After becoming vegetarian last September, my passion for animal rights and my desire to live a more ethical lifestyle has grown and flourished into what it is today. I want to stress one thing - it was a process. It was never something that I thought I could do overnight. Buying cruelty free is a big change, and for most people, it'll take some adjusting to get used to. Anyway, a few months after going veggie, I decided to switch over to CF makeup and beauty in January. Further along, I moved into CF household products such as cleaners and laundry soaps. While the actual action happened over the course of a few weeks or even months, the decision only took me a second. Once I made the connection between what I was supporting by buying from these companies, all for the sake of beauty, it wasn't something I had to think about. The only logical thing to do was to make the switch. What is Cruelty Free? In case you're a bit lost in the terminology, I'll explain this quickly. Cruelty Free (or CF) simply means that the products or their ingredients were not tested on animals, during any stage of production. While animal testing may seem like a thing of the past, it is sadly a well hidden reality. Most popular brands you're used to seeing at your local drugstore are not CF - for example: Maybelline, L'Oreal, Tresemme, Herbal Essences, Crest, Clorox... the list, unfortunately, goes on for miles. You may ask: how can companies still get away with this? Why do they even do it in the first place? While these companies may believe that testing their products on animals is the only way to make sure they're safe for humans, this is completely false. As expected, the way a chemical reacts to a rabbit or a dog won't necessarily be the way it reacts to human flesh, so the tests often don't even yield useful results. And how do they get away with it? Well, that one's simple. They lie. Traps To Not Fall For Well, maybe they don't completely lie, but they definitely don't tell the whole truth either. You can even read the FAQ on the websites for some of the companies I listed above, and when asked about animal testing, they will say they don't test. After all, it's 2016 - it would look terrible for a company to openly claim that they still do. There's different ways a company can be non-CF, and here's a bit of a breakdown: 1) Final Products are Tested Self-explanatory: the final products, whatever they may be, are tested on animals by the company themselves. From my own research, this doesn't seem to be common amongst bigger brands, since they can't exactly lie or beat around the bush about that. However, some companies have other people secretly do the testing for them - so they can technically say they don't. 2) Ingredients are Tested This is a more common one. Companies buy - knowingly - from other companies who have tested the ingredients on animals. So while your shower gel wasn't tested in the final stages of production, the ingredients already were when they were sent to be all mixed together. 3) Products are Sold in China If you ever find that a company sells their products in China, it automatically makes them non-CF. This is because China is the only company to have laws requiring animal testing before anything is allowed to be sold there. Basically, this means that the company values profit over animals lives - yikes. What's The Reality? Sadly, animal testing isn't just scientists putting mascara on a bunny. The harsh reality is that these tests are performed on an array of different animals, including small animals like bunnies or mice, to even bigger animals such as dogs or cats. Due to their trusting and loyal nature, Beagles are a common breed to undergo testing for products. (x) These animals are contained in terrible conditions, jabbed and poked with syringes, injecting chemicals and poisons into them. They're stabbed in the limbs, faces, eyes. Many animals die from these toxic substances. For what? So a cosmetics company knows not to use that chemical in their newest foundation? Listen, I don't want to be one of those vegans who guilt you into changing your lifestyle habits. In fact, I want to emphasize that I don't think you need to even be vegan to live CF (in terms of beauty/household). I realize changing your diet is a much bigger deal than changing what makeup or laundry detergent you use. But I think as humans, we can all empathize for these poor mistreated animals. So ask yourself: is it worth it? Is your favourite concealer or tooth paste worth the pain, suffering, and death that it took to create? CF options are all around - and maybe in some cases, you may need to go a bit out of your way. But what's more important to you: convenience, or lives? For more information on what brands are and aren't Cruelty Free, I highly recommend checking out LOGICAL HARMONY and CRUELTY FREE KITTY, which are both incredible blogs with up-to-date info on what and where to buy. There are also many apps that help you actively make the ethical choice while you shop. As much as I'd love to share my own personal favourite CF brands, I'm currently still transitioning into vegan CF, so I feel like I need to clean up my list a bit. Remember, your dollar is your voice and your vote. Who do you want to be supporting, and what kind of society do you want to be contributing to? C I think I've always struggled to find the proper ways to express myself. I've never found myself to be particularly good at anything, despite labeling myself as quite a creative and art admiring spirit. I've tried drawing, painting, poetry, and I feel most myself when I'm writing. As a kid I would start writing novels on my computer that I would give up on after one chapter. I would thrive in english classes when we were given the chance to tell stories. Later on through my schooling, my creativity surrounding writing slowly diminished. Maybe partly from outside sources, but probably mostly from my own lack of motivation and confidence.
I was always that girl who tried to seem like she was always exercising her mind by writing a journal daily and reading regularly, but in actual fact, these were all exhausting tasks for me to keep up with. The reasons for this are vast and not something I want to discuss right now, but all I knew, was that by not writing freely, I was only hurting myself. “It seemed to me that if I didn’t write, I would disappear.” — Frederick Seidel So, this is my blog. Or online journal, scrapbook - whatever you want to call it. I have this constant urge to share things with the world, and if anyone wants to listen, that's great. But mostly, this page will be my own space to try to express understand myself a bit better. As a microscopic introduction, here are some facts:
That's all I have to say today. Hopefully I can stick with this project, and maybe people will stick around. Thanks for reading! C |
Authoradmirer of beautiful things, amateur artist, perpetually confused. Archives
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