Cruelty-free beauty.

Hello everyone!

Today is the first day of classes! Luckily for me, Mondays and Fridays only consist of an 8am Organic Chemistry class and a 9am Biology class, so I've had a pretty leisurely afternoon! I'm still working on getting my room just so, so I'll post about that later, but for now I wanted to do a topic that I've been trying to get done for a while.

Now, you all know that I am an animal lover to the core and a tree-hugging hippie. Though I'm not a full vegan (I'd love to one day, but... cheese... ), just a vegetarian, I still try to be a responsible consumer and keep my purchases as cruelty-free as possible. For example, I try my absolute hardest (and mostly succeed) to avoid leather, suede, and down in my clothing and accessories. Wool is not do or die for me, since it CAN be obtained ethically (though tragically that is not always the case), but I will still avoid it just for good measure.

Another thing that is a biggie for me is animal testing. I am, now and forever, passionately opposed to animal testing in any form and for any reason. Yes, I include medicine in this, because there are people willing to volunteer for medical trials (and, really, why are they putting things in medicine they're afraid might hurt me anyway?!). I am aware that many animal activists tend to look the other way in the case of medical testing, using the tried and true "If one person can benefit medically from the suffering of 1,000 animals, then it's worth it." Well, no, no it's not. Because one living, breathing being is benefiting from the suffering of 1,000 other living, breathing beings. Seem fair?

Tragically, when it comes to medicine, you really have no choice but to take what a doctor gives you when you're very ill. I try to avoid medication as much as possible and let my immune system fight it out (natural medicine is something I want to get into someday), but when you're that sick, there's not much else to do. :/

Anyway, tangent aside, this post is more about cruelty-free cosmetics and beauty items. I made the decision to try to eliminate cruelty from my beauty regimen about a year ago, not long before I first came to CNU for my freshman year. I'd like to take you through some of the brands/items I use, and talk about how to not be mislead by labels.

First of all, I just want to give you what has been the most valuable tool out there in terms of having a concise list of cruelty free brands that all live up to a specified standard, the Leaping Bunny Program. They're independent of PETA and are instead sponsored by the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC), which I think is important because a lot of people are mistrusting of PETA due to their extremism. Don't get me wrong though, if PETA says something is cruelty-free, it is. Anyway, a company can take a Leaping Bunny pledge, a promise to eliminate animal testing in ALL phases of production. By taking the pledge, said company can print the bunny logo on their products and you, the consumer, can know for sure that you're buying quality stuff.

I'll lay it out right here that not EVERYTHING I use is Leaping Bunny, though I've been trying to move in that direction. Some of this is for financial reasons (a lot of hippie stuff is more expensive), and some is for idealistic reasons I'll get to later. So, without further adieu, some of my go-to cruelty-free brands:

Burt's Bees: Completely cruelty free and bearing the Leaping Bunny logo. I turn to these guys for EVERYTHING. I use their lip balm, moisturizer (pictured), shampoo/conditioner, face wash, you name it. Also pictured is one of my new (and now favorite) purchases, their herbal blemish stick. It's got willowbark, tea tree oil, eucalyptus and other ingredients. I put it on problem areas after removing my makeup before bed and they're usually gone by morning!

Alba Botanica: Again, excellent all-natural brand that is Leaping Bunny approved. I've been known to get lotion, shampoo/cond., body and face wash and more from these guys. Pictured is a papaya enzyme facial mask that I try to use once a week or so (when I remember!).

Yes to Carrots: This is a line that I'm just now trying out for the first time. They use all-natural ingredients and highlight the natural beauty advantages of various healthy foods (not just carrots, as you can see in the picture). Carrots are invigorating and brightening, tomatoes are acidic and good for clearing breakouts, blueberries fight aging, and cucumbers are refreshing and good for sensitive skin. Yes, they make products with all four! The only product I've had the pleasure of using is their make-up remover wipes in cucumber. Honestly, had I had the money I would have sprang for tomatoes, but alas I am just a poor college student. :( They are not Leaping Bunny, but are certified cruelty-free by PETA (who are still VERY strict).

Tom's of Maine: I actually very recently started buying their toothpaste, and I love it! I can't even use normal brands now because to me they taste like chemicals. Tom's was actually bought by Colgate in 2006, which stirred up some concern that they might change their stance on animal testing, but to this day they maintain their PETA bunny logo.

Non-vegan Brands: When I'm in a pinch and LB products are out of my reach, I turn to more "normal" brands, ones that are usually more affordable. Such brands are St. Ives and Tresemme, shown above, and Almay, shown below. Here, though, is where this gets tricky. MOST of St. Ives' products are not tested on animals, and all (that I've seen) of Tresemme, though they shy away from calling themselves cruelty-free and cannot qualify for Leaping Bunny because their parent company, Unilever, is pro-testing. The same goes with Almay; it's hypoallergenic and non-animal tested, but is owned by Revlon, who is actually very notorious.

They still put "not tested on animals" on product labels and on their websites, but they are not "cruelty free." To be truly cruelty-free, there is NO testing on ANY animal at ANY stage of production. Who's to say that just because the finished product isn't animal tested, all of the ingredients weren't? The parent company gets to make such decisions.

Is this cheating? Is this still okay? The answer depends on the person. It does not make me happy to have to buy something when I know someone somewhere is profiting from suffering. Also, until recently I was completely in the dark about Leaping Bunny and had no idea that I could even find half the products I use that were produced ethically. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Also, and I've been called wrong and idealistic by many fellow animal lovers on this one, I hold onto the notion that if a parent company like Unilever sees that cruelty-free products sell better, then maybe they'll try and head more in that direction. It's far-fetched, I know, but I'm an optimist. :)

I'm ALWAYS on the lookout for new cruelty-free brands and products. Do you use any? Do you have any recommendations? Will the Leaping Bunny logo be helpful? Comments always welcome :)

A week of creativity.

Hi everyone!

First of all, I'd just like to say, I GOT 100 PAGE VIEWS WITH MINIMAL SELF-PROMOTION! I've seriously only told one or two close friends about this blog, and now my views are in triple digits! Maybe that means I'm not too terrible at this after all!

Anyway, sorry about not posting very much this week (and by "not very much," I fully admit that I mean not at all). It's been crazy trying to get everything ready to move back to CNU. There was my last shifts at my job, packing, etc. However, it wasn't all bad, as it was also a week of making some pretty awesome stuff.

For starters, there was the completion of a project I've been working on for a while (sewing is hard!).

My nerdy (adorably so) boyfriend got me absolutely addicted to Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series last semester. Seriously, I cannot put them down. There's too much awesome in the books to fully describe, but I highly recommend looking into them. Anyhoo, my obsessive personality got the best of me, and I decided that I wanted to make a costume from the series.

Without need for much deliberation, I decided that I wanted to be an Aes Sedai, the powerful characters in the series who are capable of wielding WoT's version of magic. I decided on the Yellow Ajah, the one dedicated to Healing, and the Ajah of my favorite character, Nynaeve (although I'm not supposed to know that yet).

To be an Aes Sedai, one needs a shawl fringed in the color of her Ajah and a Great Serpent ring. I'm asking for this ring for my birthday, and I'll be talking about making my shawl in this post.

So, for starters, sewing is a completely foreign discipline to me. Thankfully, I had this post from a great sewing blog called Sew Skate Read as a guide and my mother's expertise in this area to help along the way. I'll take you through the journey in pictures:

 Pinning on the Flame of Tar Valon (Aes Sedai symbol) before attaching it.

^

 After sewing and ironing. At this point I was still waiting for my fringe to arrive in the mail*, so this was as far as I could go.

 ^ Sewing on fringe by hand was rather tedious. 

 VOILA!!! 

You may now call me Alexandra, Aes Sedai of the Yellow Ajah!

Or Ali Sedai for short. :)

* - Though the Sew Skate Read post I mentioned earlier warned me about how hard fringe was to find, I didn't listen and wasted countless trips to various fabric and craft stores trying to find some. In the end, I ended up getting mine from the same source she did - Crazy Crow Trading Post. 

And that's not all! Wednesday of this week, my very close friend and the best roommate ever, Maurissa, and I had a Pinterest craft day. It was so fun!

Yes, I painted a perfectly good mirror. No, it did not turn out perfect. But it was fun, and I still like it :)

Inspiration

Instructions

 And here's the ever-lovely Maurissa. Her mirror turned out much better than mine, and to her right is a cookie sheet-turned-makeup holder.

Inspiration

At the end of the day, we went and got our nails done. I figured, why not keep the Pinterest theme going?!

Inspiration

Well, that's it for my week of creativity! Just so you know, all the links go to my Pinterest. Please check it out sometime! Sorry if this was kind of a long post, but I felt the need to make up for leaving you guys for a whole week.

Move-in was supposed to be today, but campus had some flooding from an all-night monsoon of a rainstorm (you'd think I went to school in Seattle for all the rain we get here!), so I'm holding out until tomorrow. I'll be sure to update you guys either tomorrow or the next day about my classes and share photos of my room!

'Til then,

<3, Ali

Quick Post About Akin Comments

Things like this are why I made this blog in the first place.

Today, a Republican named Todd Akin made some remarks about abortion in a rape scenario. He claimed that because women's bodies can shut down during "legitimate" rape, it's not an excuse for abortion. Needless to say, I have a few issues with these comments.

Now, in my intro post, I confessed to having liberal tendencies. And I do, to my core. But, and this is a shock to some, I am also pro-life. Very much so. In my opinion it is not (as some claim) a contradiction with my beliefs, as I see liberalism as being about compassion and equality for ALL. I do not exclude the unborn from the "all". That being said, Akin embarrasses and angers me as a fellow pro-lifer.

Anyway, as a woman, his use of the word "legitimate" is downright frightening. What constitutes "legitimate" rape? The truth is that rape takes many forms, and all of them are equally legitimate, equally awful, and equally serious.

He is somewhat correct in that biological processes can freeze during a traumatic event, but the key word is CAN. There is no reason whatsoever to assume that that deals with the problem of pregnancy through rape and treat it with a "good enough for me" attitude.

My point is this: if Akin and other Republicans want to stop abortions by rape victims, the answer is NOT to tell women "Well, you must not have REALLY been raped if you got pregnant." That's saying that there's something wrong with HER, which is absolutely not okay. Here's a hint: stop shaming women who get raped and making them scared to come forward and seek care and emergency contraception (which prevents abortion). Don't limit the availability of such care, either. If you don't want to see abortions happen (like I don't), don't make them necessary.

Happy Sunday Everyone! A surprise topic.

And by "everyone", I obviously mean the 26 very nice people who have viewed my page. THANK YOU! That was such a surprise, and it's especially awesome because I haven't done any advertising for the blog yet (I've been working up the courage!).

I'm sorry it's been a while. I've been trying to come up with something worthwhile to write about. Believe it or not, my life tends to be excruciatingly average sometimes.

I was going to spend today talking about cruelty-free cosmetics and share products and brands, but then I went to BRUU (Bull Run Unitarian Universalist in Manassas, the UU church I mentioned in my intro post), and the message today really resonated with me and made me feel inspired. So why not share?

Today the reverend talked a lot about how we as human beings create lots of unnecessary dividers in order to classify ourselves and others. Things like religion, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and even things like clothing choice and preferred genres of music are all things that divide people who should otherwise get along and be harmonious.

Not that it's a bad thing (at all) to be yourself and take pride in what makes you unique. What's important is that we do not allow petty labels to overshadow the most important label  - homo sapien. Human being. We are all people that are entitled to give and feel love and live a fulfilling life.

He said that even among UU churches, which are SUPPOSED to be open-minded and accepting of the fact that everyone is different, there is sometimes conflict and butting heads over small differences in belief.

The solution is very simple: replace but with and. Instead of saying "I think this but you think that," or "I believe God is ______, but you think god is _____," or "I'm from _____ but you're from _____," we should say "I think this and you think that." Plain and simple.

It works for a number of reasons; linguistically, the two statements flow together because "but" is harsh and "and" is smooth, and psychologically that means that you will equate the two thoughts with each other on an equal plane, as if they're the same thing.

The message today really resonated with me, mainly because this is one thing that I believe to my very core. It's also really interesting how well that one simple linguistic change works! I recommend trying it the next time you have a disagreement, it will really change the outcome.

Now, because I can't resist, and because I'm proud of myself, I shall bore you with my outfit choice of the day:

Nothing too crazy, a lot of basics thrown together. Literally thrown together - 5 minutes before I had to get out the door, I realized it was too cool and cloudy to wear my original outfit, which was more fun and colorful. So I had to put it together fast. But I'm pretty proud of how it turned out :)

Cardi & Leggings: Forever 21
Tshirt: just a plain white v-neck
Flats: Target
Necklace: Charlotte Russe
Bag (can't really see it): Marshall's (only $35 for Steve Madden! Normally $90! Obv. faux leather)

Thanks for reading! Why not comment on how the solution provided above worked for you in a conflict? Did/does it help you gain insight and keep calm when confronted? And, as always, leave feedback!! This is for others to learn from as much as it is for me to express myself. Want me to talk more or less about myself? More or less about issues? Any topic suggestions? I'd LOVE to hear from you!

I'm trying to get on a schedule for posting, but with the semester about to start, I'll probably get into one that's based around my classes and such.

Until next time!
<3, Ali

Hello There!

Welcome all  to my blog!

Though I'm somewhat of an internet junkie, a blog is something that hadn't dawned on me as a real idea until recently. However, I absolutely LOVE the idea, and  I'm excited to get started. 

The title of the blog, "Know Thyself!" is a reference to the ancient Greek Oracle of Delphi. It is said that the saying was inscribed over the entrance, to remind people upon entering that they are no more than human. Not that I'm claiming to be an oracle, or that I want people to hold their tongues about my posts. Quite the opposite in fact; I love respectful discussion about almost any topic, and will always encourage readers to give their two cents. However, I do demand that people be respectful, both to me and others, when expressing themselves. So the name comes in handy. Also, my life has been changing almost nonstop lately, and some of these changes may very well be documented here. So, as I learn to "know myself" better, maybe someone else will identify with me on something and get to know themselves a little bit better too :)

Though some of you reading this may already know me, either in real life or on Pinterest or Facebook (where I'll do the majority of my advertising for this blog), I figured I might as well introduce myself and tell a little bit about myself as a starter:

My name is Alexandra, but I go by Ali (pronounced Allie). I am eighteen years old and a rising sophomore at Christopher Newport University. I've lived in Virginia my whole life, born and raised in Manassas and now residing in Newport News for college.

My major at CNU is Organismal Biology. I eventually want to be a veterinarian, though I'm not sure what kind yet. I'm thinking either a zoo vet or an SPCA vet that helps care for injured and abused animals. I've ALWAYS been an "animal person", and animal rights are really important to me. I've been a vegetarian for going on three years because I would feel bad saving animals during the day and then going home and eating them.

I grew up in a staunch Republican, conservative Christian family, but I honestly couldn't be more different from them; I am for the most part liberal (though I like to call myself middle-of-the-road for fairness' sake), I'm what some might call a tree-hugging hippie, and I consider myself a Pantheist. It's a materialism-centered worldview, one that I'll inevitably post about here one day. I also am heavily influenced in this area by Buddhist practices, and I sometimes attend a Unitarian Universalist church. That's about as close as I get to actually belonging to a religion.

That said, religion is without a doubt the most fascinating human phenomenon to study. My minor at CNU is Religious Studies. I enjoy talking with people of all religions and learning as much as I can, because to me, there's something to be taken from all of them, for they all seek to grasp the same truth and explain the same things in different ways. I also love the combination of religion and science in my classes. I enjoy bringing together two subjects that many people think can't mix, and which tend to be opposing forces.

I know that most blogs have themes, and I tried really really hard to come up with one (religious debates? political/social commentary? fashion? pointless opinions no one asked for?), but I just couldn't. So, I finally decided that this blog simply won't have one; it will instead be my sociopolitical/religious/nerdy/fashion-oriented brain vomit of the day. 

I guess that's enough rambling about myself, but now you guys have some background knowledge for when you read my posts. Why not comment and tell me a little about yourselves?!

Looking forward to posting again soon!

<3, Ali