When I originally started drafting this post I was planning to do a round up of my favourite products of this year (as I did last year and the year before that) with a little bit of a blurb on what a good year it had been for the cruelty-free community. But as I wrote down my ideas, I realised my thoughts on this topic were more substantial than what would fit neatly into two paragraphs.
I went cruelty-free two years ago, and it's a lifestyle choice that now feels natural. This year I got more involved in researching beauty brands first hand and also began switching over my cleaning products. However 2014 was also the year I officially went vegan - no longer 'plant-based' or 'transitioning vegan'. Vegan. It was also a fantastic year for my blog - I ended 2013 not really feeling mo'adore and was frustrated as it wasn't the kind of blog I would read myself. I entered 2014 with a new layout and a new content plan, and I'm now pleased to say I am closing 2014 with no predominant changes needed/planned for 2015.
However it is the intersection between these topics that has made 2014 a game changer. When I went cruelty-free in 2012, there were plenty of American blogs on the topic but across here on the British Isles I only knew of Karris and Louise (the latter of which had only just started blogging herself). Going cruelty-free gave my blog a much required niche, but back then the small handful of us were hanging out amongst the mainstream beauty bloggers. This year I really feel as if cruelty-free bloggers have come out of the water and stood on our own feet, bunched together and formed our own niche that differs from #bbloggers with our own trends, our own unwritten rules and our own hangouts (I'm going to shamelessly plug the @CFbloggerschat I help run).
And as for veganism, well, even people who aren't vegan will know that 2014 was the year veganism went mainstream. There are now mainstream chain restaurants marking out their vegan dishes, beauty companies are now providing lists of their vegan-friendly products and there were more vegan brands popping up in the health shops I frequent (Dundee also got a new health store, Heart Space Whole Foods). Personally, I was only able to make the switch because of the new brands popping up to cater to our growing market. When I first attempted veganism back in 2012 it didn't take me long to discover I had a soya intolerance, which set everything back a few steps. Now there are more vegan but also soya-free brands easily available for me to pick up and replace the final few dairy foods that were still included in my diet (we're talking cheese here).
For the last few days I've read quite a few blog posts on how 2014 was a game changer for blogging in general. And by gosh it was. YouTubers now publishing books and becoming legitimate celebrities. The way blogging has shifted into editorial pieces with great photography and edgy content rather than teenagers just spilling their thoughts out (for better or worse, I still prefer a natural sounding blog). Blogging also played a huge part in the Scottish Independence Referendum and I wouldn't have voted yes had blogs such as Wings Over Scotland, National Collective (which is maybe more a magazine, but I'm going with blog) and even the one-off posts written by my blogging friends who usually don't talk politics didn't provide an alternative voice to the pish in the mainstream media. But for me personally the excitement has been the way in which cruelty-free blogging has become a thing. And how veganism and vegan blogging is now a thing. And that's one of the most exciting things about 2014 for me.
Morag x
P.S. I did actually however filmed a YouTube video on my favourite cruelty-free brands from 2014 if you just want to know about products.
P.S. I did actually however filmed a YouTube video on my favourite cruelty-free brands from 2014 if you just want to know about products.