Disney Princesses Challenge, aka I (only kind of) Hate Disney (this week) Part 3: Mulan

Hurray! This week on Michelle’s Disney cheese and whine hour, we have Mulan (1998). Since I’m the slanty-eyed gook in the banner at the top of this blog, you’d be right to guess that this is a Disney film with which I have a particularly strong relationship. I watched this as an impressionable tween when it first came out, and …

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Review: Olieve & Olie natural Australian skincare

For the past few weeks I’ve been trying out a bunch of Olieve & Olie products. Olieve & Olie are a boutique Australian brand who make gorgeous handmade skincare products based on real olive oil. 95% of their products’ ingredients are locally sourced from regional Victoria, and they’ve incorporated many sustainable practices into their production. My first reaction to these …

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What are microbeads and why should I be concerned about them?

Plastic is unavoidable in modern society, and unfortunately the vast majority of the plastic products we use will long outlive us. While we can (and should) recycle a lot of our plastic waste, microplastics (including microbeads) are a form of plastic that is difficult to dispose of thoughtfully.   (Photo credit: Kenny Louie)   What is microplastic? Simply put, microplastic …

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Disney Princesses Challenge, aka I Hate Disney Part 2: Snow White

Time for another edition of Ranty Lab Muffin! Today we’re dealing with Disney’s first animated feature: 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It feels wrong to lay into a senior citizen of a film from contemporary perspectives, so let’s quickly breeze through a few obvious points that I largely covered last week in my grumpy Jasmine rant: – Hot …

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Neutrogena Naturals review and giveaway

As many readers know, I’m not a fan of brands which expect consumers to pay a premium simply because they’re natural, with the implication that “natural” things are somehow safer, or less “unnatural”, because they “don’t contain chemicals” (see one of my earliest posts on this marketing claptrap here). A lot of “natural” brands rely upon consumer ignorance and spread …

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Disney Princesses Challenge, aka I Hate Disney Part 1: Jasmine

I’ve never really been a fan of the Disney Princess franchise, not even as a kid. I loved the catchy songs, and the bold and cheerful animation, but the films never sat well with me, and as a child, I didn’t really have the analytical skills nor the vocabulary to explain why. So when a few girls from Aussie Nails …

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Review and swatches: Face of Australia Budge-Proof Gel Eyeliner

One of my desert island beauty products would have to be gel eyeliner. It lasts for ages, gives precise, dense colour, and is so much easier to handle than liquid (see my rave about Essence Gel Eyeliner here). So, predictably, I was very excited when budget-friendly and cult favourite Aussie brand Face of Australia announced their new Budge-Proof Gel Eyeliner …

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