Sunday 20 March 2016

Vegan Afternoon Tea

 Today I took my mum for a belated Mother’s Day and early birthday present. It was for afternoon tea at the Happy Teapot in Worthing. They offer vegetarian and vegan options which is amazing because I haven’t seen a little café offer this before. Walking into the café you instantly feel how cosy it is. The décor is super cute with positive signs, quirky ornaments and lots of fairy lights. The atmosphere is peaceful with old music filling your ears and taking you back to your childhood or yearning for a time before you were born, depending on your age of course.


The lady behind the counter was so polite and she knew we were there for the afternoon tea and remembered that it was one vegetarian and one vegan which I thought was so nice. After we ordered our teas, I ordered peppermint while my mum ordered strawberry and mango. I love peppermint and don’t order fruit teas because I never feel they taste like their description, however the strawberry and mango had a lovely taste to it. We went and sat down and waited, in high anticipation, for our meal.




They arrived a short while after and we began to tuck in! The sandwiches were filled with variations of cheese, cucumber, tomato and I think some sort of chutney. They were delicious none the less and although I was quite full I was so ready to taste the array of cakes and biscuits waiting on the tier below. I started off with the scone, coconut cream and jam. I was a bit sceptical of the coconut cream as I’m not the biggest fan of coconut but it tasted SO good! It was thick and sweet with only a hint of coconut. Put it all together and there were tiny fireworks of flavour going off in my mouth! There were also two mini carrot cakes that were so moist and the icing was so creamy. I haven’t had a vegan carrot cake yet and it used to be one of my favourites! There were two mini lemon cakes that were zingy, two little rocky-road-esque chunks, two different shortbread cakes and biccys. It also came with a few strawberries and raspberries which were refreshing to eat between the cakes. There was so much food that my mum and I took a doggy bag, with the treats we couldn’t quite fit in, home.

VEGETARIAN OPTION
VEGAN OPTION 


 


It’s easy to feel rushed in some café’s, like they want you up and out the door for the next customer to come. There was nothing like this, we were left to spend as long as we wanted chowing down on the delicious afternoon tea they had provided. I’m not sure how many days and on what days they offer a vegan alternative for the tea, I’d like to see it available on a weekly basis but I know that this isn’t always possible, however I will definitely look out for the next one to get my fill of having afternoon tea and pretending I’m a stereotypical rich socialite lol.



Overall I was extremely happy with this café trip, from the service down to the food on our plates and all for only £19.90 it is amazing value. I would recommend it to everyone. Keep up the good work Happy Teapot! You can find their Facebook page here.

See you next week,

Catrina x

Sunday 13 March 2016

B. Matte Red Lipstick Reviews

You may have noticed that I didn’t upload a blog post last week. It was the Sunday before my journalism course was due to start and I was just a bit frazzled but I didn’t like going the rest of the week knowing I hadn’t uploaded a blog post since it was one of my new year’s resolutions and it was the first one I had missed so far!  

This week I want to give a review on the 4 new matte red lipsticks that one of my favourite vegan brands have brought out. They are available in Superdrug stores which is so easy for me to go and swatch rather than just ordering online and hoping I like the product. Since all of B.’s products were on a half price special I took the chance to buy all 4 lipsticks to test out.



They come in matte black packaging in contrast to the usual glossy grey finish the usual lipsticks have. I think this gives the lipsticks a sophisticated look. B. lipsticks have a spring loaded mechanism in which you have to press the end in and the lipstick pops out. I think this gives the packaging a unique look by not having a lid as such but I have to say I do prefer the traditional lipstick packaging of a pull off lid.

Alexa Dita Suki Isabella
Alexa Dita Suki Isabella
The four colours are Alexa, Dita, Suki and Isabella. They are highly pigmented and only take a few swipes to get a good colour. They are long lasting however they do dry out your lips a little after a while, nothing a good moisturising primer can’t fix. I would call them semi-matte just because they are a bit soft and creamy but they do achieve a matte finish and feel very lightweight while you wear it! They look lovely and I feel like each colour compliments my skin in a different way, I am pale however I think these lipsticks would look great on any coloured skin.




Alexa:

This is my favourite every day colour of the bunch. It’s very wearable and matches with most of the reds I have in my wardrobe. It’s a little subdued so it’s perfect for any time of the year. It would work well in the winter with dark colours as well as the summer with lighter shades of clothes.



Dita:

This is a lot brighter than Alexa is definitely more of a colour I would wear in the summer or if I wanted to add a pop of colour to my outfit. I would say it’s a little bit more creamier than Alexa but still has a finish of matte that I’m in love with.



Suki:

Suki is very much like Alexa however I would say that Suki is a mix between Alex and Dita not as bright as Dita but not as dark as Alexa. Again it’s wearable but I think if I wanted to make an impact I would prioritise the other colours for a bold statement.



Isabella:

This red is so orange toned it almost can’t be categorized as a red and I cannot wait to wear it in the summer! It’s a bit in your face but on a sunny summers day with the right outfit choice you will be turning heads while wearing it. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea but I love it! It may even be the key to lighting up your day even when the sun isn’t!



I hope this review has helped to push you into putting these lipsticks into your basket if you were thinking about it or putting these on your ‘to buy’ list and just to be a bolder with your lip colour, it can brighten up the darkest of days. At a usual price of £7.99 and being cruelty free and vegan what else could you want!! 

Alexa Dita Suki Isabella

Photos of the lipsticks taken by my friend Beth, you can find her blog here.


See you next week,

Catrina x