What I Got for Christmas 2016

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I've been seeing a lot of "What I Got for Christmas" vlogs lately and am really enjoying their ridiculousness. Who knew people want to see what junk other people got? But seriously, it's sort of entertaining to see what people like:) In that light, I would like to introduce to you my Christmas 2016. Hope you enjoy seeing my junk:)

Firstly, I'll show you a few things I got in my stocking.

These are some of my candies. (I'm not showing you the ones I've already half eaten and are in the cupboard) the Chocolove xoxox is one of my very favorite chocolate bars. I don't normally go for chocolate bars; except maybe Hershey's. I'm pretty basic when it comes to candy. So when I found a "fancy" chocolate I liked, I was pretty excited.

Also, that Trader Joes Firework's bar? don't laugh it off. Seriously, my mom tried a piece of it and there was a mini explosion, it nearly started a house fire and she nearly choked to death. Try and your own risk.🔥

Next, I got this Burt's Bees Herbal Blemish Stick. Burts Bees is Cruelty-Free (not vegan) and a Leaping Bunny approved company (although I think they have a parent company). I have been slathering this stick on my face and back like crazy the last week and I am pretty sure I'm seeing an improvement on my um.... large red freckles.

One thing that is no secret about yours truly is I LOVE pugs. Pugs are the best. Who could not like that hideous, wrinkly ball of ugly? (Ok like everyone I know but who cares). My Aunt and Uncle have two of those adorable, stupidly cute globs and I have always wished I could own one. Oh wait, now I do.

Okay, Moving on from the stocking stuffers. Another thing I love and collect is nutcrackers. See the little green guy in the middle? That is the one I got this year. He's a vintage cracker and I just think he is awesome. 

Oh P.S this isn't my whole nutcracker collection. Oh no. I still have at least 5 mini ones that are all hanging out on the Christmas tree. If you want, head over to my YouTube Channel to see my full collection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol_NBdnOeI4

Staying with the toy theme (Because what is the point of Christmas if you don't pretend to be 5 again?) I got this Funko Pop 10th Doctor figurine. (which actually says it is only for ages 14+ lol) 

 He's really cute:) And of course, I already have the full sized 10th doctor sonic, Tardis alarm clock, Tardis Yahtzee and Tardis throw blanket. I think I maybe collect too much junk.... but you can't have enough Doctor Who stuff- can you?

Probably the most useless thing I asked for this year is this mini Rubix Cube. I asked for it because I couldn't figure out the normal one. I've already messed this one up and can't fix it. Go figure😝 

Taking a break from toys, I got this lovely moleskin notebook, which I am happy to announce is not actually made from the skin of moles (or the skin of anyone else for that matter). This moleskin is vegan, made out of cotton "oilcloth" whatever that is. 

Sorry about the photo quality, my SD card basically ate my pictures and I had to download a whole recovery program just to get them back.

Thanks to my wonderful sister I got these lovely airmail envelopes. I've always wanted some because they look so awesome in movies and everywhere else you see airmail envelopes. They are stripey and wonderful😍

Also sister goodies, I got this Ancor Wax Seal to go with my envelopes, and last but not least of her generosity was an AMAZING wooden rat stamp made by Rubber Hedgehog. I had been wanting one of their stamps for SO LONG and she got it for me without even knowing that. Sisters have psychic links man. 

 It looks like the boys!

Normally getting socks for a present is boring. I don't care much about my socks, and generally, don't care what they look like.  They are all in one great pile in my drawer (correction; two great piles, because I do sort long and short socks (only because my ankles started getting cold in the winter though)) also, I never match them up. Despite this, these socks kinda rock. they are cool colors, I can mix match them all I want, and look, look at the Ghibli characters! look at the mini Howl look at the mini Sofie!💗💗💗

Next,  I show you this awesome little book of postcards I got from my Yiayia. I LOVED the Fantastic Beasts movie. I now have a new favorite HP character. Newt Scamander. Anyways, these cards are very nice, and good for those not-so-artistic-days when I would rather color than make a whole drawing.

Also from my Yiayia, I am so excited to get some vests. They are family heirlooms (sort of?) that she was lovely enough to tailor so they would fit an 18-year-old girl instead of a something-year-old dude. 

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄Random happy trees!

Ok, stay with me, we are almost, almost done here. and I promise the last thing on this list is an exciting one. 

I got these three movies, which I'm ecstatic about because I love Audrey Hepburn. 

Breakfast at Tiffanys, Roman Holiday and Love in the Afternoon are just some of her good movies, although they are some of the best. If you haven't watched them, you must, MUST. That is if you like old sappy movies😄

Next, thank you to my wonderful friend and penpal from Japan (you know who you are) for my beautiful Christmas gift. It's so wonderful. Japan has so many awesome things. This little Christmas tree is collapsible and all the little ornaments are removable (even the star topper). This may very well be one of the bestest things I've gotten ever. ever. ever.

Okay, the Big Finale now. The thing you have all been waiting for. 

It's a bird, its a plane, its- a cardboard box? 

No silly it's a Love Goodly Subscription Box! They are a smaller subscription box company that delivers vegan, cruelty-free, and eco-friendly products to the recipient every other month. I am totally beyond words excited to try out all the new vegan/cruelty-free products. Best of all, I will be doing an unboxing on this blog; and as well I  hope to review all the items I get when time permits (Because school is about to start back guys😝) Anyways, hope you enjoyed my "What I got for Christmas"🎄 and also hope you enjoyed YOUR Christmas and/or other holiday whatever it was.

Thanks so much for tuning in. 

Peace. Love. Rats.♥

-MessyRat

Getting Messy. Going Cruelty Free

So considering that this blog is about rats I've decided to talk to you today about beauty. Because that makes sense. Right?😍

LOL. But seriously, I'm not kidding. 🐁

 I've decided over the last couple months I want to (try) and revert to all Cruelty Free cosmetics. I know rat people will be interested in this because the truth is,  rats are being tested on so we can use cosmetics (as are rabbits, guinea pigs and mice).  And sure, maybe we can't all go 100% cruelty free, I'm not sure I can,  but at least we can try to be more conscientious about what we are buying. Before I start ranting, I'd like to say I am in no way an expert on this subject. I have done a lot of research but am still learning and growing and trying to understand it all for myself.

If you're not clear on what cruelty free even means, most basically it is 'not tested on animals'; more specifically, it is products that were not tested on animals at any time in their production.

Testing on animals doesn't mean lathering a bunny with shampoo and seeing if it makes its fur either frizzy or soft. It can actually be quite painful to the animal and can lead to their death. For more info visit this chart. One of the worst things about all this is that animals don't even always react to the substances the same as humans would, which makes the testing kind of pointless. Also, the substances they are putting on these animals are WAY more concentrated than what we would put on ourselves.

So, maybe you now understand why I have this goal to become CF. Unfortunately this task has not been as easy as I thought it was going to be. The first reason I'm having a hard time switching over to CF is because saying your brand is "cruelty free" is not regulated by law. Many brands are actually getting away with animal testing even when they claim they are not. This is because of three main things:

1) China- China REQUIRES animal testing by law. If a brand sells to China they are essentially kinda throwing away all the hard work they were doing by not testing on animals elsewhere. This is because the company has to give China samples of their products to test on animals AND cover the cost of the testing themselves.

2) Parent Companies-  Some cruelty free brands are owned by larger corporations. An example is Carol's Daughter, which is owned by Loreal. Parent Companies are a big debate in the CF world. Some support them and some choose to refuse to buy from brands with non CF parent companies. Personally I haven't decided, but I would like to share a tidbit of info I found that seems sort of important in your decision. Recently Seventh Generation was bought out by the parent company Unilever. In a perfect world you could avoid buying from Seventh Generation and thus avoid Unilever. However, Unilever does not simply sell cosmetics. This parent company owns Ben and Jerry's, Lipton Tea, Hellmanns and Q-tips just to name a few (see full list here). To completely avoid parent companies a LOT more research has to go into this mess; making a very long list of food, cosmetics and hygiene products you must avoid.

3)  Unreliability- If the label reads "No Animal Testing" instead of "Cruelty Free" it simply means that the finished product wasn't tested on animals, the ingredients in the products very well could have been. Actually, "Cruelty Free" labels can sometimes have this problem as well (Shea Moisture is one of the companies who do not regulate where their suppliers get their products). With this problem, cruelty free brand lists are your best friend, ALWAYS check your list before purchasing a product. My favorite lists are the  Logical Harmony Cruelty Free List and the Leaping Bunny Cruelty Free List (there is also a Leaping Bunny App). These lists are super picky about which brands they include, and Logical Harmony updates their list weekly. Although Leaping Bunny is considered one of the best lists, be aware it does include some brands with parent companies.

Another reason I'm having a hard time switching over to CF is I'm EXTREMELY PICKY. On top of wanting my products to be 100% cruelty free, here are my other goals:

• Vegan-  I am personally not vegan, but am experimenting with vegetarianism. I would rather animal products not be in my makeup. Personally, I would feel hypocritical if I was using cruelty free make-up that had ground up animals in it. See this list for a little more info. 
• All natural- do you KNOW what you are putting on your face everyday? They say your skin is like a giant sponge. All those toxins are being sucked in through your face!
• Organic- just an added bonus on top of all natural.
• Environmentally Friendly- another added bonus. If the product was made in a factory that uses windmills or something, I'm going to choose that one over a brand that does not;)

Lastly, why I'm having a hard time switching over is because of money. Seriously, a few months ago when I first found out about cruelty free, I wanted to switch over THAT day. Unfortunately, I am not blessed with a cauldron-ful of galleons. My main priority is to not go broke while trying to feed my rats, so I slowly realized how thick I was being and started facing reality- its going to take a while:P 

Whatever your take on animal testing, cruelty free, parent companies or any of this junk in general, if you got this far and have now finished reading this post, thanks so much for sticking with my rantings! I hope you learned something. Seeing as you were so nice to finish this post you will be gifted with the knowledge that I will be starting to write some product reviews on this blog of the cruelty free cosmetics I have/will  try on my new quest of a cruelty free life. Thanks for joining in. 

Peace. Love. Rats. ♥ 

-MessyRat

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