The Linkables



Food stuff (kind of): 42 flowers your can't eat

An article I was really glad to read: You don't have to be local (I grew up in a village which has a strong community but I never had interest in taking part, and occasionally felt guilty about it).

Vivienne Westwood and Virgin Travel have hooked up!

How to glitter a concrete floor.

17 signs you've been together too long.

I'm big on businesses using social media, but some businesses should just stay off it. Such as funeral homes.

Texting hurts your grammar.

I couldn't really ever say Missouri was high on my to-travel list, but I think this museum has changed my mind

And people wonder why I don't want kids: creepy things kids say.

Over and out!

Morag

Dinner at Mama's Rasoi



As I mentioned yesterday, my mum was in G-town over the weekend and she offered to take my out for dinner at a place of my choosing. I hit up 5pm.co.uk where I came across a few choices but fell in love when I came across the Mama's Rasoi menu which had a ma-ooh-sive veggie selection. Plus, it's near my flat so it totally won the ooh-ing and ahh-ing over restaurants conundrum pretty quick. 

Mama's Rosa is an Indian situated right beside the St Enoch Centre, on Howard Street. It's small and has a very cosy feel so was a really good choice for a mother and daughter dinner. 



After drooling over the unlimited (slight exaggeration) veggie selection I went for the Malai Kofta. The combination of cottage cheese balls in a cashew nut sauce wasn't something I had ever come across before but cheese and cashew nuts are two of my favourite things and let me tell you, it was delicious! My mum also had a Paneer Mushroom Masala, and even though she liked it she agreed mine was the bees knees!



Along with our meal we has some absolutely delectable garlic naan bread, alongside some rice and two glasses of Mango Lassi which was to die for. My mouth is watering again writing all this. 



If it isn't clear I 100% ridiculously recommend Mama's Rasoi. The only thing I will say is the portions are pretty small so buy two curry's if you're hungry. But at their prices two curries will still cost less than a tenner. Nae bother. It was mum-friendly, and I'd say it would also be perf for a couple who had been together for a while and two girlfriends going for a chinwag.

Also, they are not licensed but you are welcome to bring your own. 

Morag

The Linkables


I like to stay out of ~internet dramaz~ but I agree with the nasty side of blogging.

Naughty American Apparel.

I love Charlene's recent wishlist (look at that cat skirt!).

Admittedly, I had been going off Gala Darling recently as it seemed she was neglecting her blog, but she's regained her momentum in the last few weeks with some awesome daily posts!

A great post on building self-esteem.

If you're going to San Francisco soon The Guardian have a round-up of blogs you might one to check out. One of the blogs is a burrito blog, I mean come on!

On that note, impress the locals with your knowledge on how San Fransisco streets got their names. (On a side note: I've not been actively Googling SF but I went there when I was six and it remains one of my favourite cities to date).

Top 10 questions millennials ask on the internet.

One of my most dedicated IRL followers got a blog: everyone go say hi to Steph!

I also discovered some Aberdonian blogs this week: The Honest Type, Liparazzi, A Scottish Lass, Twenty Something Beauty, Keeping Up With Katie and The Baking Fashionista (if you're knew to the party I was born in Aberdeen, high five to my quines!).

Another blog discovered this week: Making It Lovely.

And an online magazine aimed towards professional women: Your Coffee Break.

Finally, seven people who prove English majors aren't worthless.

Morag

Dressing as Denmark at Eurovision (or Switzerland, or Netherlands)












 


Absolutely 100% congratulations to Denmark at this year's Eurovision. It is thanks to you I had an excuse to be a little more tipsy than usual. And might have a cheeky trip to Copenhagen next year. 

As usual I decided my country a little bit in advanced. For me picking a country for Eurovision (or any other fancy dress costume) is just sometimes about what feels right and in about February I set my eyes on Denmark - long before they were tipped to win.

This costume was bought from Jokers Masquerade which is where I get a lot of my costumes from. I was a bit apprehensive about picking this for Denmark as it is a actually a Heidi costume so would have been more suited if I had picked Switzerland but I thought it looked similar enough to some traditional Danish costumes I had Googled. The bouncer at ABC thought I was Dutch though so I suppose it is quite a versatile costume. ;)

The shoes are my default going out shoe from New Look and the Carlsberg comes courtesy of everyone's favourite British supermarket Tesco.

Did you dress up for Eurovision this year?

  Morag

Eurovision Party Food 2013




In case you hadn't heard Saturday was Eurovision. And I had a party which was essentially me and some friends watching the show wearing fancy dress. And some of my friends brought food which we pigged on (and also brought alcohol, which we drank up).  

Bringing food to the yearly Eurovision party me and my friend have is optional, however the year it was my turn to host I was especially lucky to have loads of my guest bring food. Gillian brought loads of French themed goodnees across from Edinburgh including strawberry macaroons, French onion dip, breadsticks, Camembert cheese, mini-quiches (both veggie and meat), crisps as well as 'champagne' and Chambord. Completely showed up my Danish pastries and Carlsberg but it all my other guests agreed she did a delish job. 

My other friend also came as Belgium and brought along waffles and chocolates, whereas my friend who was Malta brought along Malteasers. Within the mix we also had some Gin for UK, nettle cheese from the Dutch stall at last week's food stall in St Enoch square, baguettes and Swedish vodka. 

And a lot of it was also left at mine to have a cheeky hungover munch the next day. 

Morag

The Linkables



Tiny Twist has got to be one of the most beautiful blogs I've come across in a while. 

What's the best way to refer to a romantic partner?

Bid to censor Anne Frank's 'pornographic' diary in schools fail 

I recently gave my pal Gillian an Arbonne lipstick to try and she included it in her latest make-up look

I wrote my first ever blog post for my work this week (it's about energy suppliers so you'll be forgiven if you don't read).

Typography + sandwhiches = awesome!

Pop culture ice-creams

21 travel Tumblrs for jet-setters

100 places to visit in Canada this summer

Lexican is the website for the your vocabulary whores.

Things we don't say enough (and when to).

If you're not quite organised yet here are some ideas on serving a great Eurovision menu.

30 bizarre and creative packaging ideas. I'm calling shot-gun on the tequila gun. 

My friend just moved to London and she is so excited about the prospect of a cat cafe.


On that note: 101 reasons you need to live in London once


And finally, if you live in Glasgow, you can pick up some free condoms at the Garage on a night out. Am I the only person who finds the idea of picking up condoms from the cloakroom cringy as hell?


Morag

The Linkables



My new favourite blog: Witty Title Here.

I feel the pain of dressing appropriately for a formal event but still looking like 'me' and I love how well SJ has pulled it off.

If you're an avid traveller but don't have all the money have you considered AirBnB?

I love eye cream (yes, some do work) and I love avocados so an avocado eye cream is kind of my thing.

I couldn't name any cruelty-free hairsprays until today.

Lily Melrose has put together a guide on nail polish finishes.

Wild garlic and herb butter. 

We've probably all read what the douche in charge of Abercrombie & Fitch said recently, and Liberty sums up exactly how I feel.

If you want to know what panic attacks can do to someone, Sami wrote a powerful first person perspective.

The Bourjois cream blushers have been added to my beauty to-buy list.

I agree: Likes don't save lives.

Finally, a history of Crayola crayons.

Morag

Lush Volcano Foot Mask


I first bought the Lush Volvano Foot Mask with the giftcard I got for my birthday. And when I mentioned it in my hall video, Instagram etc I was asked if I would do a review. That was back in November so I should probably get cracking.

Truthfully the reason I have taken about half a year to get 'round to this review is because I honestly don't have anything riviting to say about this product. You'd think something as strange as a foot mask would have loads of talking points, but honestly I found this product to be quite 'meh' - nothing horrible to say but also nothing worth doing a wooopeeee about. 



The product itself looks a bit yucky - it's a gray paste and does resemble that of a clay face mask. Smell wise it has a slight minty fresh fragrance but it isn't overpowering so even if mint ain't your thing this shouldn't be an off point.



Application wise it goes on very thick but is still quite spreadable. It feels very similar to clay mask on the face. I mentioned above that it has a mint fragrance but it doesn't have a cooling feel on the skin as I thought it might - it has no sensation whatsoever.



You then let this dry. I was told in the store when I bought it that you should put shopping bags over your feet (explains the picture) so you don't have sit with your feet in the air whilst they dry. I took on this advice and whilst I felt stupid it meant I could get on with my life whilst pampering my tootsies (and not get it over the white rug in my living room). 

Eventually you wash it off whilst massaging it into your feet. For practical reason I just hop in the shower as I can't be assed filling up a bucket of water to gradually massage it off. If I had done this then maybe I would have more to say but who really has time for this? 

Afterwards I found that my feet were a bit softer but the main difference I seen was how refreshed they felt. The clay mask (like all clay masks) soak up excess oil which for my feet doesn't mean oil but sweat. I don't suffer from particularly sweaty feet but the areas that are a bit sweat prone didn't have any excess sweat for the rest of the day. Sorry for all the sweat talk, but you started reading because you wanted an honest review, right?

This hasn't become a weekly beauty ritual for me and instead has become a now and then beauty treat. I use it on occasions where I've been running or during the winter when I'm wearing thick socks and my feet do get a tad sweatier. It may seem excessive but I would consider taking this on a holiday to combat any extra sweat from either really hot conditions or cold conditions where where my toes have been wrapped up. 

As for recommending it, I would say yes, it is a good product but I wouldn't say it is a must have. I am really into footcare but if you aren't and are looking to start a footcare regime I'd say get yourself a really good thick footcream for starters, and then work in a footscrub (and pumice stone if it's really bad) and if you would like to control the sweat on your feet I'd actually start by recommending The Body Shop Peppermint Cooling Foot Spray (I've linked the global site but I can assure you I seen it in a UK store last weekend). The Lush Volcano Foot Mask is an extra just for those moments when your feet really need it.

Morag

The Linkables


First off, did we notice that Facebook changed its logo?

Secondly, new blog discovery of the week: Griff Blog.

And now onto the rest...

I'm not that perversed in the world of make-up brushes (I own one!) so appreciated Estée's post on her favourites.

On that note Sophia of the Tattoo Tea Lady has reviewed the yet to be launched in the UK Duo-Fibre Real Techniques collection.

Twisted bridal hangers. Since I'm not a bride-to-be I'd just have coathangers that said 'dress' or 'denim jacket' (but let's be honest, I'd do that even if I was getting married).

We probably all know Zoella reached 1 million subscribers on YouTube, but isn't her video so happy and uplifting? I like happy things.

I'm an organisation freak so Fleur's bathroom tour was my favourite video of hers yet.

And if you need anymore proof I take organisation super seriously: I favourited this video last summer.

If you only read one "how to become a successful blogger" article, make it this one.

Ella has awesomely created a May fashion calender.

Why some companies don't get Leaping Bunny certified.

I'm not a big baby person and I don't like Korn, but the two combined are amazing!

So jealous Lynsey got to Australia - guess I'll just watch the vlogs. ;)

My favourite vegan & cruelty-free beauty blogger ever has posted her recipe for a spicy vegetable curry.

More food: herbed ricotta and radish crostini.

I'm drooling now: breakfast tostadas.

10 things you never knew about Glastonbury.

I'm not a swimwear kind of babe but these swimmers are gorgeous.

This still a a bit too much labour for me but if you've ever wanted a tutorial on DIY tree stump side tables then here you go!

My song of the moment: Delta Goodrem - Sitting on Top of the World. Yes, I said Delta Goodrem, that chick who played Flick in Neighbours a decade ago.


Morag

Introducing B. Cosmetics


You may have heard about B. Cosmetics* by now. I've seen a few of their products reviewed on other blogs and when I've mentioned it I've been told they've spotted them in Superdrug. B Cosmetics are vegan and approved by BUAV and I thoroughly welcome a new cruelty-free brand to the high-street and was ecstatic to see the PR e-mail offering me the chance to try some products for free.


The B. Skincare range is split into three phase - each phase categorised by how mature your skin is. I have really oily skin which will hopefully serve me well when an I'm older and produce little wrinkles however I've been really liking some serums I also got for free recently so thought I would give this a chance.

 First off it does have a smell to it. Not an added fragrance but a very typical skincare fragrance, like soap. I could smell it but it wouldn't put me off but I still prefer my moisturiser and scrubs to smell of little. But as I said no deal-breaker.

On the nights I have worn this I have woken up to very soft skin. However so far I haven't seen any lasting benefits to my skin, making it good to use if you skin is feeling really tight before bed, but not as a holy grail serum.


Next up I picked the B.Een Skintone Corrector as I have a very uneven skintone so I'm usually all over these kinds of products. Admittedly I was expecting something a bit different. The product description didn't specifically say which type of skin it will correct but when I seen the yellow liquid come out the tube I realised it wasn't suited for my red toned skin but for someone will sallow or dull skin. I have used this and it did brighten up my skin however I don't need a skin brightener so cannot give an indepth review. I would still say dry-skinned girls should give this a chance though and let me know! :)


On top of the redness I've spoken about above I also have pretty predominant dark circles so I'm always on the look out for that concealer. I love a brightening concealer around the eye as I think it makes such a huge different to the eye area (I also have small eye so anything that makes them look wide awake is fine by me!). This concealer comes in a twisty tube, which I have never before, but it makes the whole application process much quicker and easier. I picked the lightest shade which was very light and was almost an exact match for me. As for pigmentation it is fairly opaque so falls under the 'buildable' list of concealers. I don't rely on this by itself to cover dark circles but apply it on top of my Illamasqua concealer to open up my eyes. 


And lastly I chose the B.Groomed Eyebrow pencil, which was by far my fav and a product I could see myself re-purchasing. I've been using HD Brows for ages now (no idea if cruelty-free btw!) but they are very pigmented and can cause quite the scouse brow if you're not careful. This however was more buildable and it is quite natural looking. I have eyebrows that don't match no matter how much I play with them so I don't like using anything that might drag too much attention towards them. So this was perfect. The other end of the stick has some wax which I also really liked. I have been using this every day for over a week and have no yet had to sharpen the pencil so I see this lasting me some time.

Overall, I would say I have some mixed feeling about the products. These are good highstreet make-up products and for the price I am certainly not going to complain. The product I see myself re-purchasing is the eyebrow pencil. The night serum and under eye concealer were good for the price but I would rather pay more expensive and get an amazing product rather than one of typical highstreet quality. The Colour Corrector I don't want to comment on much because I feel it just wasn't the right product for me but could be really suited for drier skinned ladies.

What do you think? Have any of your tried the B.Cosmetics range?

  Morag

* I was gifted these products by a PR company. My opinion is always mine.