I’ve been away (well I partied in Bournemouth with my good amies Beth and Jules) and I’m about to head off to Leeds festival and then Dublin just before my 21st birthday, so lots of stuff to report back on soon before starting my 2nd year at University.

I have a lot of makeup and beauty related stuff in my head, as well as new handmade etsy finds and ebay scrounging goodness.

In other good news I am going to Florence in January with university, so at least this time I will have no trouble finding things to eat (Athens was not good to me in that respect, though I may have increased the Greek economy for tzatziki ten-fold)

I really want to get back into being creative myself as well, but the amount of stuff going on means there is always something else I need to be doing, meh.

Oh, and in the vein of procrastination, I’m back on Kingdom of Loathing so feel free to message or PvP my arse! (name: monsterbeans, Accordian Thief extrordinaire)

I’m going to be batgirl tomorrow at work, thus generate a plethora of funny looks.

Oh hai there, Mr. Kele Okereke of the BLLLOOOCCC PAARTTY (insert rubbish Kele impression here) all up there with your Corona beer. I hear you’re doing a DJ set at one of Lincoln’s more snazzy nightclubs, Sakura. Well thats pretty cool, ain’t it? I do like you, maybe I’ll come for a looksee. It’ll be more that just a looksee at 12 quid, mind.

I got a reply from them in my junk folder and accidently clicked ‘mark as unsafe’ which deleted it. I emailed them again, explaining I am a few shots short of the bottle (not literally). I got another very quick reply, which said that their current supplier cannot provide a FCOD, but that in June they are switching to a contract manufacturer because, amongst other things, they will have a FCOD.

I’m not sure whether to wait till June to see what happens, or buy from them now anyway, given that they soon will have a FCOD. I emailed them back saying as such.

Update on the titanium mavericks of DOOOOM aka microdermals:

They are shit.

In more eloquent terms, the one without a disc blew up to gigantic proportions (probably a blood blister) then settled down again. However, the skin is very purple and you can actually see the outline of the jewellery under my skin. That to me, is not a good sign, like my skin is paper thin or something.

The other one nearest my sternum still refuses to go completely back under and is all in out like the hokey kokey. I think I’m gonna bite a (slow) bullet. I’m very busy at the minute with university and fun things like funerals and helping my parents not look like BRITS ON TOUR for their 25th wedding anniversary hols to Antigua. I have virtually no free days to cart up to Sheffield, fall at Thou Art’s door and yelp ‘I don’t want those two anymore, take them out and give me enough topical anaesthetic to kill a badger when you do it!’ But I need to, soon. I’m scared though, it’ll hurt like a mother.

Also, I’m putting together a post on (mostly Brit) print design on etsy.com, so yeah, lots of pretty pictures soon.

I really hope that the reply is positive. What is promising is that they only use a certain selection of minerals, so hopefully they have been fully tested for skin irritation/toxicity etc etc many moons ago. They produce foundation in sample jars and have £1 p&p, which is awesome, because buying foundation over the internet can be a proverbial minefield.

I do covet Urban Decay’s liquid and mineral foundations, but they are upwards of £16 and whilst not tested on animals and awesome looking (their eye makeup is great) if I can reduce the chemicals on my face, I will.

In Other News: I walked into a revolving door, was hit in a face with a whole salmon and sang Take A Chance On Me in a hallway after a lot of rosé wine with my friends. It was a good week till my best chum au revoired her way to India for 6 weeks and I realised I have a LOT of work to be doing.

People Tree jute cosmetic case – £4.50

My make up bags recently have varied. A while ago I was using a carrier bag from Selfridges and Co. After coming back from Berlin and with all my ‘liquids’ sitting in one of those free bags you get from airports so security don’t hack you to death, I just decided to carry on using it. Very classy.

At the minute, I am using a small FCUK bag that I got, complete with body stuff from a relative for Xmas, and I’m gonna guess here, in about 2001. I have never used the FCUK products as ever before I knew about FCOD’s I knew that FCUK products were probably tested on animals. The bag is cute though and has come in very useful.

Unfortunately, the dual knowledge of eBay and that Urban Decay/Hard Candy cosmetics are not tested on animals (FCOD – 2004) has meant that my makeup collection has grown a bit from what it was to include heated eyelash curlers (I am THAT vain. Actually, I got them because conventional curlers don’t work and instead just rip out my eyelashes), and 3 liquid eyeliners…with which I have been making a total mess with. Thus, stuff no longer fits in my FCUK bag and my only other makeup bag is impossible to use because everything is stacked up in the bag. This People Tree one is nice a flat, so I can find everything easily at 7.00am on a Saturday morning and paw stuff onto my face in the vague places it should go.

Also, Hard Candy Stain & Shine (shade – Stop) is my favourite product at the mo, bought from this seller. I remember when a berry coloured cheek stain was produced by the Body Shop (in their pre-L’oreal days), I saw it in a copy of J-17 when I was about 14. It was £10 though, and that was about 2 weeks pocket money, so I never bought it. I remember thinking that it was a lovely deep wine colour, and the model’s cheeks look dewy and rosy, not cakey and pink like the overdone powder blusher of girls at school.

The obvious one now is Benefit’s BeneTint, but predictably, tested on animals. Cue some wanker saying ‘Haha, they blush rabbits cheeks, how can that annoy you?’ The amount of times I’ve had to explain to people that animal testing isn’t doing rabbit fur with hairspray, its about grazing their skin and eyes and putting chemicals in them, amongst other things. Christ, I could burst. Anyway. Then I found Hard Candy’s lip n cheek version. AMAZING.

On the ethical vibe, Sky.com have a 20% off at Adili voucher until the 30th April, so obviously I have been cruising it to use my maths in the quest for ethical bargains!

I have narrowed it down…same top, 2 different colours, viz;

Frank & Faith ‘Beatrice’ bamboo top

Black or this weird colour named ‘mink’? On the F&F site it looks a nice grey. I suit grey, but I wear a lot of grey clothes. On the Adili product page it looks grey in the model picture, but a sort of biscuity colour in the product photo. I generally avoid things that are skin coloured, they probably wash me out and make me look undead.

I also like the black, and black looks quite good on me. But, black is black…its a boring colour and it would obscure the ruching effect which is kinda the focus of the top. Couldn’t it be green…or yellow??? Something? Gah. In the grand scheme of things, not important. But hey.

For din dins: Sainsburys organic tomato & marscapone sauce with Morrisons organic spinach and ricotta tortellini. Yum.

]]> http://monsterbeans.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/mmmm-eco-purchasings/feed/ 0 Holly Forghorn http://monsterbeans.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/65/ http://monsterbeans.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/65/#comments Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:00:12 +0000 monsterbeans http://monsterbeans.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/65/ Continue reading →]]>

A Tattoo Good Enough To Eat 

Hen Tattoos

The first one mentions the vegan sleeve I enthused over a while ago. I much prefer the vegan sleeve, partly because of subject matter but also the vibrancy of it. Part of the attraction and art of good food and things from the earth is their colour. But, also the subject of the black and white sleeve is veal demi-glace, which is a stock/sauce that is combined with espagnole or something. Basically, it has veal in it, and veal-production is a cruel industry. The tenderness of the veal meat comes from lack of muscle usage and how do you restrict muscle usage? Restrict the area with which the animal can move around in. Cruel? Yes.

Luckily for consumers that eat meat but also have a conscience, there is a push towards ‘rose veal’. Industrial veal is white, whereas because rose veal calves have actually been able to move, their meat is pink, hence the name. I would still only encourage people to buy organically certified rose veal, to ensure the calves and their mothers have been kept in good conditions.

The hen tattoos are gorgeous. I’ve probably mentioned my bird-fancying (haha) before. Most birds are just very cute. I really like chickens and would love to keep some, even though we have a cat. Apparently, chickens can defend themsleves against cats with a peck, which shouldn’t be needed to deter Tom, who was scared of -and chased by a- domestic rabbit on a daily basis.

Also linked on the hen tattoo page was Twwly’s DIY chicken rearing site, which I strongly encourage everyone to look at. It shows how animals should be raised and how good home grown food can be. Which reminds me, it’ll be veg sowing season soon. I hope to grow tomatoes, spinach, basil and chillies. We will be growing other veg, but to start me as an independent grower off, its best that I grow things I will actually eat!

Still vaguely on the topic of meat, I bought this:

  Paul Frank ‘Bob Braces Dog Picnic’ Watch

How brilliant is it??? It is a dog eating a sandwich on a watch. One of the straps has hotdogs on it! Sod your stainless steel fancy ‘grown up’ watches. I want mine to have an orthodontically challenged dog on it.

I know I posted a while ago of some Russian doll twill tape I bought a while ago, intending to use my current watch face to produce my own new watch. I was having a bit of a dilemma over how to attach the fabric/ribbon round the watch for easy washing (my job can get messy) and battery changes. No need to worry, fate sorted out my watch for me. Half way through my Saturday shift I noticed I could actually touch the hands of my watch, meaning the watch glass had either pinged off somewhere or had smashed into someone’s bag or the freezers. God knows. Anyway, I am one of those people who becomes surgically attached to their watch. I don’t have time at the mo to fanny about with designs and finding a suitable watch face with appropriate loops for the ribbon.

I didn’t like spending £45 on a watch, but Paul Frank is a quality brand, the straps are man-made not leather, it has a dog eating a sarnie (did I mention that already?)  and how oftendo I buy watches? My last watch was bought ages ago out of the Argos catalogue. It broke, so it was sewn back together, the fake leather ‘thongs’ started falling apart and off, still I kept it. I do not let go easily.

As I have mentioned before, I enjoy answering questions on Yahoo Answers. I’m also getting alright at having mine voted ‘best answer’. On one particular question I had assumed that either me or this other girl had won ‘best answer’.

Are No7 products tested on animals?

As you can see, the ‘best answer’ is wellll….yanno. Look at it.

More to the point, it is wrong. Scroll down, and look at Fluffycat1930′s great answer. Then scroll down and there is some bint called Holly with another good answer (hehe) .

Quoted from the Boots website: “ We do not use animals to test our products, nor do we have animal testing conducted on our behalf by anyone else. Instead, we ensure product safety through state-of-the-art testing methods on human volunteers.”

Sounds quite good doesn’t it? In addition, Naturewatch state that Boots supports its suppliers in choosing cruelty free testing methods, but crucially, Boots do not have a fixed cut-off date (FCOD). Barry M, for example, have a FCOD of 1990. They will not use any INGREDIENTS tested on animals after 1990 and are committed to not testing the finished products on animals. Boots may very well not test their PRODUCTS on animals, but they ingredients will have been, meaning they are not cruelty free and by proxy, the products are tested on animals.

Obviously, the questioner chose the answer that suited her best, not a right one.

Actually, I quite like Boots. Okay, so they have aisle after aisle of rubbish animal tested products (L’Oreal, Max Factor, Rimmell, Gillette, Lynx, Palmolive, Colgate…I could go on and on) but they also give me a convenient High St makeup and hair stop off. They sell Barry M makeup (I have become a convert to their liquid eyeliner, I just need more practice), Lee Stafford haircare & perfume (Pink Fusion is my new perfume, it smells divine) and for the boys they sell Fish and King of Shaves. All have FCOD, all are cruelty free.

In Other News – After the shitstorm that was the end of last week, I had a god weekend. I got fed yummy curry and listened to the Pokemon theme tune in honour of Danny’s bday, came quite a good place at the Spoon game, walked around town on a Saturday night with eyeliner freckles and drank wine. My till jammed up at the busiest time on Sunday though and it was total mayhem, but Leo, Danny and Libby surprised me after work and we went to the local ice-cream place (you can see the cows raving it up in the fields so I’m happy) because it was sunny for once! Much monopoly has also been played.

Alssssooo….LEEEDDDSS 2008! Line up is fab already. So far, I want to see RATM, Bloc Party, Tenacious D, Slipknot, Biffy, We Are Scientists, Feeder (for Echo Park stuff),  DIZZEE RASCAL, Womabts, MANICS! (but I bet there will be a total lack of The Holy Bible), Justice, Foals, Pendulum and maybe Conor Oberst so I can be 15 again.

So yes, a bountiful festival already, and no need to worry about tickets. Leo, his brother and I got3 of the limited presales for 2008 last year. We just hoped that others would join us and the lineup would be good. Judging by my friend’s status updates on facebook and that fact that Leo accidentally booked 3 weekend tickets last night, the party at the hippy bitch tent will commence!

My other reason for not writing much is that despite the fact I am on ‘Easter Break’ I have been working/covering for other people pretty much all the time. I also have university work to do, but hey, people of Lincoln need feeding cheap ready meals and I have to be subservient. After all, I am only a shop assistant and therefore must be thick as shit.

The one that I lost the disc for in Athens (probably lurking in the Agora somewhere. Archaelogists will dig it up in 100 and think they’ve found some bizarre Hellenic object. Until they test it, of course) was kinda bruised but OK. Then it decided to try and escape too. So it was ‘sweated out’ which had worked for the others really well. It was really red and sore though, unlike the others. Now its blistered. Which is awful.

So I’m ringing up Thou Art tomorrow and in some ways I want the bad two out of my body by the end of this week. I’m fed up, Leo is fed up and my body is obviously fed up. The other two are fine and so are all my other piercings. I hope they might give me some topical anaesthetic when I have them removed as having them put in was bad enough.

I’ve started to contribute on Yahoo UK Answers, partly because answering questions is fun (I mostly lurk in Beauty & Style so I can recommend non-animal tested products and answer piercing/mod questions) and also because I like the sound of my own voice. I wouldn’t write a blog, diary and have a running monologue in my head if I didn’t. I don’t actually like the ‘sound’ of my own voice. Hearing myself on video makes me gag because I sound like a 50 year old man with an all-over-the-place accent. Not the point. I noticed that on a lot of surface piercing questions on Yahoo Answers, there is often an answer that recommends getting microdermals as the safe, no-rejection METHOD OF THE FUTURE! More often than not, the question poster is someone who can barely describe what they want done. Microdermals are a semi-permanent mod. Whilst they don’t require blades to be put in, they are new technology. They fix themselves under your skin and nobody can agree on how to get them out (hemostats, needles or scalpels seem to be the three most popular). If I have mine removed I know there will be scars and I will have to deal with them. My body is hardly a perfect canvas anyway, so it is unlikely to matter. But it worries me that microdermals are being peddled as the one stop solution to surface piercings’ problems.

Anyway. Enough about that.

I’ve been meaning to post this for ages, I found it on Boing Boing a while back:

The Mandala of Perfect Happiness by Chris Harvey

I really like it, partly because of the beautifully combined colours, and the shapes they bring together. It makes me think of some post-apocalyptic city, where they melted down all of the 20th century’s useless plastic and refashioned it into a smiley-faced utopia in order to restore civilisation. I only hope that they do better at running the world than we do at the moment.

Everytime I look at it though, I always think of the Angkor Wat in Cambodia:

I mean, its not strictly the same shape, but South East Asian architecture in my mind has this tapered, skyward appearance. On a similar note, I love the the collection of South Asian Hindu figures at the V&A. Its like ‘oh, that one has stretched earlobes’….’that one too’ ….’YAY!’. I’m easily pleased.

 The Times gave away some free board and TV game CD-roms and one of them was Monopoly and I fear I have become addicted. I am crap at it though, and whenever one of the computer player’s goes bankrupt, do they ever give their properties and money to be, bollocks do they. If they do its all mortgaged and it is loads to unmortgage it.

This is getting long. On a final note, I might be adopting some Roborovski hamsters!