link love

Check out this sweet little needle felted swan over at Imaginary Wardrobe.

Legging Army* has come out with so many awesome prints lately. Of course I snagged a baseball printed pair, but I really like the jellyfish pair and there's even some with ducks.

I've been sleeping a little better lately, but I think I want to try this oil from Essence of Vali.

Here's an interesting article about what food geniuses eat for lunch.

Check out this amazing Harry Potter snitch lamp thrift find!!

I love Jess' five easy ways to live luxuriously without breaking the bank.

I've been showing my houseplants a little more attention lately and I love these plant pokes and plant animals.

Here's a recipe for vegan grilled cheese and vegan queso.

Annie Spratt
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empties #16

Another month of digging through my little bin of empties. I like keeping these posts as a catalog of things I've tried. As always, be sure to double check cruelty free and vegan statuses! I do my best but I'm only human. ♥

e.l.f. Acne Fighting Foundation* in Porcelain // cruelty free & vegan // I've purchased this a few times. I've found no evidence that it fights acne, but I don't have a lot to begin with. It's oxidised pretty quickly on me each time, so I won't be repurchasing.

Pacifica Kale Detox Face Wash* // cruelty free & vegan // I love this face wash. See the full review here.

Sephora Outrageous Volume Mascara travel size // I think I picked this up to get my birthday gift because it was cheap. The brush was weird and product got everywhere. I won't get this again.

Milani Ultra Fine Liquid Eyeliner // cruelty free // I've had this little tube since I started my CF journey forever ago. I'm decluttering this as liquid liner just isn't for me, thus I can't really even mini-review it.

Jason Sea Fresh Toothpaste // cruelty free & vegan // I really liked this. Here's the full review.

e.l.f. Eye Enhancing Mascara*  // cruelty free & vegan // I picked this up at Marshall's, so it's older packaging and they've since changed the brush. It was a nice, cheap little mascara that I'd buy again.

Montagne Jeunesse Strawberry Souffle Face Mask // cruelty free & vegan // This was a really creamy mask that I enjoyed. I think the travel sizes work better for me as I always have leftover product when I use the full size.

Albolene Eye Makeup Remover sample // cruelty free & vegan // From the research I did, this appears CF and vegan, however I haven't had a chance to contact the company yet. This was a nice little sample, but I wouldn't buy the full size.

Marc Jacobs Mod Noir sample // Not my style.

e.l.f. Flawless Finish Foundation* in Porcelain // cruelty free & vegan // This is my go-to foundation. It matches my skin nicely (I think? I still can't match foundation) and sits well on my face all day while not being heavy. I've already picked up another bottle.

got2b POWDERful Volumizing Style Powder // I've had this for what seems like forever. It's a little messy to apply (it is a loose powder after all) but it did work. However, got2b isn't cruelty free so I'm looking for an alternative.

The Body Shop Shower Gel in Smoky Poppy // cruelty free & vegan // I really like scents like this (Smoky Poppy, Peppered Citrus, etc) and this was a nice shower gel. This scent has been discontinued but I'd pick up more shower gel from The Body Shop.

Victoria's Secret Anti-Bacterial Gel in Amber Romance // No, no, no. This was a hand me down from a friend who wouldn't use it. I find most of VS's scents cloying and heavy, and this was no exception.

Pacifica Power of Love Natural Lipstick in Sweet One // I love Pacifica products and the formula for this lipstick is nice and creamy, but the dusty rose color ages me so I'm decluttering it.

Lush Tea Tree Water // cruelty free & vegan // I LOVED this. I used this as a toner and it worked really well with my skin and was easy to use in this spray bottle. Definitely ordering again.

L'Oreal Ever Pure Volume Shampoo // vegan // I received this in a VoxBox. L'Oreal touts their Ever Pure line as being vegan, and it is, ingredients wise. However, L'Oreal isn't cruelty free and I won't be buying a replacement.

Good Things Manuka Honey Body Scrub // cruelty free // I liked this scrub but it wasn't quite harsh enough for my exfoliation tastes. I also completely missed the giant HONEY on the front, so it's not vegan either. I'd pick up a different variety in their scrub line, though.

Pacifica Purify Facial Cleansing Wipes* // cruelty free & vegan // Can you tell I like Pacifica? These smelled amazing and worked well enough that I'd buy them again. They're really handy for traveling.

All of these items are decluttering items.

OPI Nail Lacquer in You Don't Know Jacques // I've always loved this color, but found a cruelty free and vegan dupe for it at a much smaller price point.

e.l.f. Maximum Coverage Concealer in Porcelain // cruelty free & vegan // I tried to make this concealer work. The product itself is nice and applies well, it just settled into the fine lines under my eyes really badly.

e.l.f. Moisturizing Lipstick in Coral Cutie // cruelty free & vegan // Coral lipstick washes me out. Badly. Sad to see this go, but I can't pull it off.

e.l.f. Exact Lash Mascara // cruelty free & vegan // This sounds like a good idea. A tiny little brush where you can put mascara on individual lashes. It's really not a good idea. You can't really get enough mascara on the stiff brush to transfer it to your lashes. A swing and a miss.

e.l.f. Liquid Eyeliner // cruelty free & vegan // Like I said above, liquid eyeliner isn't my thing. More power to you if it's yours, though!

e.l.f. Eyeshadow Palette // This was a complete eye palette for all parts of your eye. The shadows didn't have amazing color pay off and the fallout, oh my goodness. I'm far better off using my Shiro loose eyeshadows with fallout than these that take ten years to build color. Sorry, e.l.f., this didn't work for me.

(Backdrop is an adorable head wrap my mom gave me from Old Navy.)

And there's another post of mini reviews. What have you used up lately? Send me some links in the comments!

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book haul // i actually bought new books

This is a pretty groundbreaking post in the book talk category - all of these books were bought brand new. Very rarely do I ever buy new books, but in my defense, I didn't pay retail for any of these. I've been reading like crazy this year so my interest in books has been renewed.

I picked up If the Allies had Fallen on a whim while browsing Barnes & Noble. They usually have a great selection of WWII books in their bargain section. That same trip I picked up Matt Bellassai's Everything is Awful, which I'd been pining over since I started listening to his podcast. I scored it for half off since it had just left the new release table.

Leah Remini's Troublemaker was an order from Books-a-Million with a gift card from Christmas. I've always been morbidly interested in Scientology and I've wanted to get my hands on this for a long time since I'm a big fan of Remini. How Not to Kill Your Houseplants was an Amazon purchase since the reviews were good and I've recently really gotten into houseplants.

Lastly, K picked me up Gizelle's Bucket List by Lauren Fern Watt from the airport one night when I was on my way to get him. (What's better than a man that buys you books?? Nothing.) It's almost guaranteed to make me cry, but it looks really good!

And there we go! I'm super excited to get started on all of these. If you haven't already, add me as a friend on Goodreads! I love seeing what other folks are reading.

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