My Lush Halloween Picks

I've been doing Lush reviews since What Lauren Did Today began and, actually, several years before that. My first ever blog post (on a blog I shudder to look at now) was a review of my long-term favourite: the Seanik shampoo bar. Recently, when I was considering what I wanted my blog to be now, I considering ditching the Lush posts - they felt a little done. My old-fashioned blogging style. Like I was stuck in 2014. 

But I still adore Lush. I love their ethics and their pioneering methods for packaging-free products. I love how a simple bath bomb can really, truly, comfort me. So I thought, fuck it. I'm not dropping Lush from my blogging repertoire. But I do want to breathe a little life back into the way I talk about the newest collections and products. I want to make them more current-me-friendly. So welcome to one hell of a walk-through of my picks from the Lush Halloween collection for 2017.

5 Mini Book Reviews

In an effort to talk more about the books I've been reading & loving, I thought I'd put a little spin on my usual book review style. I like to write long, in-depth reviews because I have a lot of thoughts and opinions on a lot of things but it steadily grew more daunting to write them - especially if they were for a book I've really loved. I try my best to think critically and logically about books when I review them as I'm a v emotional person and sometimes my emotions cloud my judgement, but that meant that I wasn't ever talking about the books that really moved me. Today I thought I'd challenge myself to write tiny reviews of the books I've read so far this year - using 100 words or less.

I Finally Watched Clannad: ~After Story~

{This post contains mild spoilers for Clannad}

It's been a while since I last dedicated an entire post to something I love - I usually save them for Favourites posts or mention them in passing on Twitter - but I've just finished another anime and I gotta talk about it. I wrote a little post in honour of Your lie in April as soon as I'd finished it (and stopped crying lolol) and I thought it seemed fitting to do the same now that I've finished the Clannad After Story. I like these little hidden pockets of geekiness on my blog, thrown in amongst the cruelty-free reviews and life musings - I'm always so content with myself after writing them and I know they're the kind of thing I love to discover on other people's blogs, too.

Loved Lately

It's been a while since I talked in some way about my current favourite things and my last Favourites post was back in January, so I have quite a few things to catch you up on!

Vegan Double Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Icing

If you don't follow me on social media you may have missed my birthday last Friday and the abundance of vegan junk food I shared on Instagram. The star of the show was definitely my birthday cake, though, and today I'm here to share the recipe!

Let's Talk About Nephrotic Syndrome



I like to use my own life experiences to help others. I'm constantly nattering on about my anxiety and depression, both to help myself and to raise awareness and reduce stigma, plus I opened up a little while ago about my dad's cancer story. I find that sharing experiences not only helps me to endure them - I almost use it like a sword and shield - but I like to think that it helps others too, even if it is only in a very small way. Today I'm going to talk to you about another health issue, one that plagues my favourite little human in the entire world - my little sister, Leigh. She is eight years old - nine next week! - and she has Nephrotic Syndrome.

 

Nephrotic Syndrome ; noun.

A kidney disease, characterized by oedema and the loss of protein from the plasma into the urine due to increased glomerular permeability.