What a year; Here's to 2017

Well, we made it. We have reached the end of 2017. Its safe to say this year has been fairly eventful for me, from getting through a masters degree to graduating and moving back home. Its been a year of feeling pretty unsettled and having no idea what I'm doing but also a year of finally deciding what I love and whats important for me.

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Brand of the Week; Wintervacht

This weeks brand of the week is exceptionally niche, but as we are now officially in winter, having a brand that specialises in coats made perfect sense to me. Wintervacht a norwegian brand is therefore the focus of this week.

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My Big Eco Gift Guide

I love a good gift guide, I mean who doesn't? Present inspiration is always required, especially with those members of family which are always tricky to buy for. This years gift guide is a big one, and all the items included do good or are ethical as well meaning your presents are even better!

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My Sunday Exploration; Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire

Yorkshire is stunning, there really is no other way to describe it. From amazing cities and shopping to beautiful hidden corners in the dales, you can find beauty everywhere you look. Sadly though, I caught on a little late and only really started appreciating everything around me till I left Leeds. Silly Erin. Recently though I've started my own mission #mysundayexploration . This means every Sunday in some form I will do something, see something or visit somewhere new. 

A week ago was my favourite adventure to date and I cant recommend a trip there yourself if you live in or near the Yorkshire Dales. Our destination, Bolton Abbey.

Bolton Abbey is about an hour away from the centre of Leeds and although there is an Abbey, there is also an awful lot to see in the surrounding area including the Valley of Desolation.

After parking, you are provide with a map offering you all the options for how you can spend your day. This also means that you've got lots of options as to how far you wish to walk varying from thirty minutes to a couple of hours. 

The town also offers plenty of options for where to grab a bite to eat, or a scone and tea. It is chilly after all, and after walking a few miles you've earned a quick bite to eat.

It's safe to say that Bolton Abbey is such a fantastic day out, there are impressive sites and fun to be had at every turn. Whether that be crossing over the river on stepping stones or trying to cram yourself into small spaces for entertainment. 

If you're free over the weekend, add this little destination onto your visiting list, you won't regret it!

Have you been to Bolton Abbey? Where is your favourite spot in Yorkshire?

Love

Erin

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Brand of the Week; Wearth London

Sustainable brands have been popping up left, right and centre across the globe and gradually more and more sustainable outlets are emerging in the UK. One example of this is Wearth London, a brand who's collection ranges from sustainable homeware to jewellery which has provided me with plenty of Christmas inspiration.

                                 Water Bottle | £12                             Bowl Set | £100

The brand wants to change the perception of what it means to be sustainable by providing a platform where quality and style is not compromised. The store brings a variety of eco-conscious pieces together for all of lives needs and provide value for money luxury.

                                 Free Hugs Pot | £13                          Cork Yoga Mat | £65

The items on the site are all carefully selected, with each piece showing what makes it sustainable on the web page. This can vary from being made out of recycled material or free from plastic. Any products on the site are therefore sustainable and ethically sourced.

                            Whale Tail Necklace | £30                    Circle Studs | £15

With so many fantastic products and careful selection of brands, Wearth London therefore take plastic and the packaging they use very seriously. This means they are always trying to use green packaging alternatives. They encourage products to use eco-friendly alternatives such as glass and therefore heavily encourage zero waste.

                     Double Length Wine Ottoman |£275           Wooden Hairpin Leg Bench | £120

The brand is a little different than the others I've featured due to it being more of an eco store but I think any website that can sport such a vast range of fantastic sustainable products that are stunning and eco friendly is fantastic!

                            Silver Tassle Earrings | £27.50              Karma Bangle | £35

What do you think of Wearth London? Do you have any sustainable brands you love?
Love
Erin

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Spreading Christmas Love; Reverse Advent Style

This post inspiration came from my mum. You see, this evening she got in from visiting the shop and proceeded to tell me about a concept that I had somehow not heard of before. As soon as the discussion ended I felt the need to share it instantly hence scribbling down this post this evening.

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Winter Trip to Prague

There is something about travelling during the winter season and having the opportunity to experience different Christmas cultures around the world that I find facinating. Winter, especially January can often feel a little gloomy with everyone having to go back to work/uni/ real life and so I felt like doing a throw back to 2015, when I went to Prague and somehow failed to put any info about my trip on my blog! With Christmas around the corner, there is nothing like some holiday inspiration to put me in the festive mood

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Why Edinburgh is the perfect Winter Staycation

I love to travel however recently the opportunity to jump off our little island onto main land Europe has been limited. This got me thinking back to my trip to Edinburgh at the beginning of this year and how blown away I was by the city.

Edinburgh is one of those places in the UK that feels completely different to anywhere in England. The whole place is a buzz with music, laughter and happiness which is intoxicating. The city has everything you could want and more for a break away and although it can be a little costly compared to other places in the UK here are my top reasons to visit.

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Brand of the Week; Responsible Travel

I love to travel, I mean who doesn't but sometimes our travel choices aren't exactly great for the communities we pass through of the environments we explore. Finding a company who make a real effort to be more sustainable is so refreshing as its one industry that has so many things to consider. That is why Responsible Travel is the brand of the week (easy name to remember hey).

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Brand of the Week; People Tree

I somehow missed last weeks brand of the week, hey, sometimes life gets in the way a little.

Anyway this weeks brand is one that if you know a little about sustainable fashion you may have heard them. They are called People Tree.

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The Truth Behind Organic Cotton

If you spend a lot of time around clothes you may have noticed that many places now say they use organic cotton in their products. However the label doesn't clearly define or even explain to consumers what organic cotton is.

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Brand of the Week; Finlayson

This week I'm not looking at clothes specifically, instead we are changing things up (a little) with a Swedish company called Finlayson.

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Brand of the Week; Veja

Emma Watson, queen of sustainable and ethical clothing first introduced me to Veja trainers. Ironically I went on to learn about them in my sustainability lectures as well and it made me even more intrigued about why the brand is so fantastic.

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Fur In Fashion; The Fur Trade

In the UK, we live in a little bubble. The production of fur in fur farms was banned back in 2003. This doesn't mean however that it can't still be imported or sold. Recently Lucy Watson became the face of a campaign trying to ban fur at London Fashion Week, something I think is a must. What you may not realise however, is the true scale of the industry, now worth $40 billion a year and appears to be back on the increase!

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Brand of the Week; Kowtow

I'm a big lover of minimalist fashion, there is something effortless when its done well and manages to make anyone look flawless. Key statement pieces and clean lines ooze class. There are so many bloggers which show this to from MODERN LEGACY and FASHIONVIBE to Decades of Shade and Emma Hill.

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Champney's Eastwell Manor Spa Review; A Celebration Treat

To celebrate finally finishing my masters, WOOOO GO MEEE, my mum decided to book a spa to allow a little wind down and try to relax at the Champney's Eastwell Manor Spa in Kent and it seemed only fair to share my experience on the blog.

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Brand of the Week; SOLO eyewear

SOLO eyewear doesn't just use products that are recycled and sustainable they also go way beyond.

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Cause of the Month; Endometriosis UK

In September I started a new section called Cause of the Month with the aim to raise awareness of smaller charities, or ones that are important to me.

This month is a charity called Endometriosis UK, a little different from the Wave Project but important none the less.

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Brand of the Week; ECOALF

ECOALF is a brand with a fantastic ethos. They don't believe fashion should use up our natural resources in a careless way and so that's why they recycle waste and turn it into their products.

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Brand of the Week; Matt and Nat

Matt and Nat have been a brand I have been lusting after for about 2 years now. They started off pretty small and only selling in Canada, where the brand was created. Today they sell all over the world and are listed on ASOS and for good reason, the brand is pretty special!

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Acting Like Children

When I was younger I hated being told that I was acting like a child, I use to think it was condescending. People often even used it as an insult. Now though, I love any childish moment and I think its safe to say, a part of you does to.

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Brand of the Week; Girlfriend Collective

There are some brands which use really unusual methods and techniques to make their clothes. One of these brands is the Girlfriend Collective and hence being this weeks chosen brand.

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Leeds Freshers Week Guide

I feel like I can stand it pretty good sted on what is good during freshers week in Leeds. I've been through 4 years of them after all and so, although I wont be attending this year I thought I may as well create a list so that others can have the fun.

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Brand of the Week; Marks and Spencer

There are so many brands out there doing great things, from main high street names to companies you may never heard of. These vary from fashion brands, to banks and airlines. So many of these good things though, sadly get brushed under the carpet and go unnoticed.

So I wanted to create something on my blog that not only shows brands with fantastic products but ones who also have a brilliant ethos which can sometimes be a little difficult to uncover.

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Sustainable Travel; A Talking Point

When I was younger, I always dreamed about flying first class, getting to soar above the ocean whilst reclined on a comfy bed, sipping on that fizzy stuff in a fancy glass. I can't deny that this would be nice sometimes but recently I've found myself thinking about just how sustainable our hopping on and off a plane lifestyle really is? (Blame the Sustainability Masters).

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25 things to do before I'm 25

I don't mean to alarm you but today I turned 24. 24! I don't know whether to laugh or cry, at this age my mum was married and my nan was pregnant and here I am, having just finished my masters degree, unemployed and trying to figure out what the hell I'm going to do with myself for the last year where I am still closer to 20 than I am 30. So in trying to find a positive in the fact I'm getting old yet still feel like I have only just turned 21 I made a list of all the things I want to accomplish in the next 365 days.

So here goes...

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Cause of the Month; Wave Project

Sometimes you come across a place and a charity that makes you feel a little better about life and makes you want to to tell their story. That was what happened when I walked into the Wave Project in Newquay during my recent visit. The Wave Project recently inspired me to start a new blog segment called Cause of the Month.

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The Catch, Mawgan Porth, Newquay

I could hardly write about Cornwall without at least mentioning one of the best restaurants around. We managed to get squeezed in at the restaurant named the Catch, which has become more and more popular as the years have gone on and boy was I happy we did!

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Visiting Cornwall; Boardmasters, Waves and Newquay

One of my favourite things to do when at the seaside is to close my eyes and listen to the waves crashing onto the sand, the pull back of the water and the methodical continuous buzz that the ocean provides, so naturally, this post will have me visit two beaches.

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Visiting Cornwall; Padstow

There are those places that you can visit and it feels like the rest of the world has melted away. Your breaths feel deeper, your mind feels clearer and your soul, happier. For me, that place is Cornwall.

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Superdrug Faketan- Review

I love having a tan, but sadly this year due to my masters, the opportunity to firstly have a holiday or secondly get out in the sun is exceptionally limited which is why this year I decided to try out some fake tans instead. Fake it till you make it, right?

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Personal Post; There's more than meets the eye

I'm writing the post tucked up on the sofa, looking back on the past year and where I am today and how, behind the face, the make up and smiles, there is much more going on than meets the eye.

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A New Type of Festival; Blue Dot Festival

I love festivals, there is nothing quite like the buzz of music, the small of all those food trucks and the atmosphere of people just enjoying themselves care free. A few weeks ago my mum asked if I wanted to go to a festival which was a little different from your conventional music festival and so of course, I said yes.

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When in Roma; The Vatican, Pantheon and Side Street wandering

New day, new itinerary. We were up at 8 to pack our bags and to munch on breakfast. After checking out we called an Uber to take us to the Vatican.

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When in Roma; Ancient Rome

What a crazy whirlwind trip. two nights, two and a quarter days in Rome really did fly by. Somehow though we managed to cram in pretty much everything we could dream to!

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You're NARS what I thought

If you can tell from my blog, I only buy cruelty free makeup. NARS was one of my favourite brands; I recently just purchased their primer, new lipstick and and concealer and was going to obviously write a quick post reviewing them. Sadly however, NARS announced this week they're no longer going to be cruelty free and so gone was my review and instead here we are, addressing something far more important.

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Friends with Dreams

I'm not normally one to boast about my friends but sometimes they need ALOT of credit. My friends at home are like no other, it's like time has never past when we're back together.

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