How You Can Eat Vegan On a Budget

I've been following the vegan lifestyle for 11 months now and I will never go back. Why? This is an affordable and healthy lifestyle that not only fuels wellbeing but the response in those who think they cannot contribute to ethical issues our world is facing. 

It's a bit of a stereotype that veganism is expensive and it can be, just like any lifestyle if you're not completely aware of what to buy. The reason for this is because the production of vegan products is low in comparison to animal products, thus the jump in price. Not only that but the government heavily fund the animal agriculture industry to a greater degree over that of plant-based farmers which greatly increases the cost of ingredients. These are businesses remember. It's exciting that vegan branded products are becoming more readily available in our supermarkets and are a great treat, but these are not all necessarily necessity items.  

The trick is to buy whole plant-based foods such as fruit, vegetables, grains, and legumes. This means rather than buying a pre-made vegan product, have a go at making it yourself. This can be daunting, especially if you're like I was and are used to just putting something into an oven. There are thousands of amazing vegan recipes on the internet, YouTube being my favourite as there are step-by-step guides. You can make anything vegan and there are plenty of recipes to show you how. This doesn't have to be the case for everything you consume, but it definitely helps cut costs.

I usually shop at Aldi because it's just up the road from me, but the trick is to shop around. Web sites such as MySupermarket are great for this and help you get the best deal on branded/unbranded items. I personally find Aldi is great because their produce is super low-cost in comparison to other supermarkets.

When starting off, it may be difficult to utilise what you really need versus what you think you need but in time you'll find yourself gravitating to certain foods more than others. I'm 11 months in and am only just finding my way with what food to buy that won't break the bank, taste good and still gives me high nutrition content.

I may do a vegan shopping list for typically what I'd recommend buying for a week's worth of food when starting out.

If you have any questions comment below or send me a tweet @h_nyman.

Thanks for reading,

What a Vegan Eats In a Day #1:

I thought I'd let you in and see what a vegan eats in a day. Now I haven't accounted for snacks etc., but I may do a separate post on that in the future - thought I'd just focus on main meals for now with so many people stereotyping vegans who apparently 'just eat lettuce', definitely not my case!

When you really research you'll find a lot of food to be vegan, so its really quite simple.

Breakfast:
For breakfast I usually have the same everyday because its my absolute favourite and really keeps me full.
- x3 Organic Weetabix
- Organic maple syrup
- x2 tablespoons of milled linseed/flaxseed
- Almond milk
- Glass of juice (make sure to check, some brands aren't vegan due to using shellac)
- Selection of fruit

Lunch:
Soup is my favourite thing, but you need to watch out for some as they contain cream. My favourite is Covent Garden Skinny Tomato & Vegetables - completely vegan. Along with that once again, I have a selection of fruit and some water.

Dinner:
This may look like a non-vegan pizza, but nope! Completely vegan.
This is one of my favourite meals to make and its all D.I.Y.
- I use two tortillas for the base, putting my vegan cream cheese in the middle.
- When they're together and the cream cheese is inside, I use tomato puree, some more vegan cheese and some spinach.
- In the oven on 180 for 20 minutes and wallah - its such a treat, so so tasty!

Thats all for now, I'll be sure to share some more vegan food/what I eat in a day soon.
Do you have any vegan foods that you'd recommend? Let me know, always looking for something new!

Thanks for reading,

Oh, Christmas Tree!

Hello everyone,

Hope you're all well! Seeing as it's only a week until the big day, I decided to take a few snaps of my Christmas Tree this year to let you in on how it's decorated. I would be fancy and title this 'Decor of the Masses', but to be honest, its just the family Christmas Tree.

I'd love to take credit and say it was me, but truth be told - its all my Mum's doing. She's fab at the arty kind of thing, unlike me who can't even draw a stick man and doesn't have an artistic bone in my body. 

Moving on to Christmas jumpers - I decided to be laughable and purchase one this year. This is the first year me and my family have done this kind of thing, but I'd like to think maybe it will turn into a tradition which will be cute. My jumper this year was from Primark at only £9, which is a bargain! I've seen some fab ones from Topshop, but no way could I justify spending £30+ on a jumper I'd wear once a year, so decided to settle on this adorable gingerbread man from good old Primark.

So this post is pretty irrelevant, and I'm running out of things to say, just wanted to give a little insight to Christmas in my household - probably should stop typing now....

I hope you all have an amazing Christmas, get to spend it with the people you love and get everything you wish for.

Questions of the post: What are your family's Christmas traditions?
What is on your wishlist this year?

Thank you for reading,

Hair Growth Products: Do they really work?

Growing my hair has been important to be since about a year ago when I stupidly decided to cut it to my shoulders, from the length of around below my chest. I've spent hours upon hours researching what is the best thing to 'speed up' hair growth and am sure I have tried and tested nearly everything.

If you've watched any videos on hair growth, I'm sure you would have heard about Main 'n Tail. Its a tried and trusted shampoo & conditioner that was origianlly used for horses. Yep, I thought it sounded weird too, but with all the hype these products were getting for hair strengthening and growth, I decided to give them a go. They're relatively cheap too at £6.00 for both the shampoo & conditioner from eBay, which is a bargain to me. 

The first time I used these products I fell in love. The shampoo is both clarifying and moisturising, and leaves my hair feeling great after I've used it. The conditioner is great for an everyday conditioner, however it isn't super moisturising, but I still absolutely love it.

Another product that would come up often is hair growth vitamins, specifically Biotin. I've tried many types of Biotin from Holland & Barrett's 1,000mcg Biotin to the Natrol Biotin 10,000mcg. Biotin does not claim to make hair grow, however claims to promote healthy hair. I find that the Biotin I'm using definitely does this. Most 'hair growth' products will never actually make your hair grow, unfortunately that product doesn't exist yet. However, hair growth products will keep your hair looking and feeling healthier so that when it does grow, it will ultimately be prestige.

The Biotin I'm currently using is by Natrol, which I got from Amazon. You get 100 tablets and are advised to take 1 a day. I've been taking Biotin for a few months now and although I don't really see that much of a difference in the rate my hair grows (it grows about the same rate as before), I definitely feel like my hair is stronger because of this.

In terms of the Main 'n Tail shampoo & conditioner, once again I'd say that although I haven't seen a massive difference in my hair growth, it appears healthier and stronger which would mean I would not need to have it cut, thus growing longer.

I'd say Biotin is the first step to growing hair, as its nourishing from the inside - along with nourishing from the outside with a good shampoo and conditioner like Mane 'n Tail. I'll continue to use these products to see if it changes my results and update you all in the near future!

Do you have any tips or products that aid hair growth? Let me know!

Thanks for reading,

Mini Lush Haul!

The other day my Dad decided to surprise me with some Lush goodies, which is lovely as I haven't really been to Lush in a while! (My obsession has sadly faded a little, oops.) Both products I received I have never actually tried before, which is even better. 

(I'm not too sure if this counts as a haul, but I'll call it that anyway!)

The first thing I got was The Olive Branch shower gel - going to be a typical blogger/vlogger and just say 'THIS SMELLS AMAZING!!!' because it really does. The scent is to me is the typical Lush scent (You know when you walk into a Lush store and are taken over by that scent? Yep, its that one!), mixed with a herbal fragrance. This to me just smells like heaven and I absolutely love it! 

As you can see from the picture, there are two layers which Lush advises to be shaken together to get the best out of the shower gel.

I always love Lush shower gels and have tried many over the years, so can't wait to try this one and see how it goes, especially with all the gorgeous ingredients that are in this bottle of goodness!

The next product is a bath bomb called Granny Takes a Dip! The reasoning behind my Dad getting this one for me is a boutique that was opened in the 60's. With my Dad being a total hippy, he clearly loved the idea of this and bought it! I'm so happy he did because wow, this smells amazing. The smell to me is on the side of citrus, however has an element of a powdery scent too!

I've browsed online for pictures of the bath bomb in action as I haven't used it yet, and it looks amazing! Might even be a contender to my favourite Twilight bath bomb!

I'm so happy I have some new Lush products to try, its been a while and I always love trying new things!

Have you tried any of these products? What did you think?
Do you have an all time favourite Lush product? Let me know, because I'd love to get back into Lush and give it a go!

Thanks for reading,

 

My 18th Birthday!

So as you might've figured out, I had a week off from blogging as finally my 18th birthday came around! (Nope, still dont feel any different I'm afraid.) As I said, I had a week off as lets just say I spent a few nights out clubbing....oops. 

Unfortunately, I dont have too many pictures from my birthday itself (except for terrible quality iPhone snaps), so thought I'd tell you about it instead

My birthday itself consisted at clubbing from 12am on the Wednesday 13th (I'm sneaky, I had this figured out!), along with an amazing buffet in the evening. I wish I brung my camera and had good quality pictures of the buffet, it was perfect and included delicious little M&S nibbles.

The day after my birthday I went to a spa with my Auntie, and oh my goodness - best experience ever. It was a hotel spa and it was just fabulous. Sauna, steam room, pool and more - so so amazing! After that we went for a facial, which was my first ever and wow. I need a facial everyday after that. Literally the best experience ever, resulting to me nearly falling asleep in the process. Decleor products were used which made the process even more relaxing from the gorgeous herbal scent of the products.

In terms of what I recieved, I just asked for money and that is what I got! (Along with a few novelty 18 gifts which I have to love.) With the money I recieved, I decided to upgrade my laptop. I previously had a Chromebook, which although I love, is quite limited so decided I needed to switch back to Windows and I'm so glad that I did! I finally have all of my editing software back so I'm considering making videos again. I stopped due to the fact my previous laptop broke (so unlike me, I'm always so careful but that time I was extremely unlucky), where I was able to edit and always be happy with my videos, but since my laptop broke before all my videos were kind of 'meh' to me. However, like I said I'm considering making videos again but thats not a promise!

That is all for this post, hope I gave you all an insight to my 18th birthday, it was fab!

Thanks for reading, 

       

All Time Favourite Lush Product

Lush has been my favourite bath and body brand for years now - ever since the beginning of my Lush journey in around 2009/10 with the Honey Bee bath bomb. 

However, my love for Lush was extended even more when Twilight was released.
Lush bath bombs are known for their strong scents and patterns in the bath tub -  Twilight is different though. I believe Twilight is the only bath bomb with a bubble bar that is also inside, meaning not only does it give a gorgeous colour and effect that all Lush bath bombs give, but fills your tub with a crazy amount of bubbles too!

When fully fizzed, this bath bomb gives a gorgeous effect (sadly I don't have a picture!) of a pink, blue and  purple galaxy sky which looks simply amazing and makes the bath water a gorgeous consistency, full of oils and fab ingredients. This itself makes it hands down my favourite bath bomb.

 However, we have to talk about the scent. To me, this smells a mix of lavender and vanilla, which is definitely one of my favourite scents. The scent makes the joys of bathtime even more relaxing and is great to use just before bed to wind down and relax.

I'd definitely recommend this for any Lush virgins (I had to say that) or even any experienced Lushies to try out if you haven't before! The smell is one thing, but just see how amazing it'll make your bath water and you'll thank me! At the price of £3.25, this is a real treat.

What is YOUR favourite Lush product? Is there anything you think I should try out? Leave a comment below and let me know!

Thanks for reading,