Being The Smartest Of The Bunch | Smarties Buttons Review

Hey everyone!

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I thought, that today, I would talk to you all about the new Smarties Buttons that Nestle have recently brought to the public market.

What are Smarties Buttons, I hear you ask. Well according to the production description that is on every bag of the buttons, it says that they are, 'Milk Chocolate pieces with mini Smarties inclusions (24%) (milk chocolate in a crisp sugar shell). They do come in a variety of flavours. The Smarties Buttons come in either, Milk, White or Orange.

When I went to my local supermarket to hunt these down. Yes, I did say hunt, as they were out of stock for the first couple of days. Anyways, when I got to my local store, I couldn't find the Orange variety sadly, so I've only tried the Milk and White versions. If you've tried the Orange version then please do let me know your thoughts down below!

The Milk Chocolate ones were amazing. I actually took them with me to enjoy alongside, the screening of, Kinky boots which I saw at the cinema (comment down below if you've seen Kinky Boots and your opinion of it). I loved them. The texture difference between the smooth thick chocolate and the crisp sharpness of the Smarties themselves. I love the sort of sugary freshness against the slightly sweet chocolate too. I get that this sounds ridiculous, but do you ever havee something that is more sweet on top of sweet? Like a trifle, for example? The custard and cream on a trifle are both really sweet but they kind of work together to counterbalance each other? its the same with these Smarties Buttons. Incredibly moreish and the fact that they are in a pouch means that you can put them away and save them for whenever you want more. Lets be real though, no one is really going to stop and put them away for another time... Well, I'm not at least.

Obviously, the main difference in the Milk and White Smarties Button, is that the Chocolate base is different, and, I realise that, to some, this might not mean enough to write another paragraph about them, but to me, it does. I'm not the biggest fan, of, White Chocolate. I mean its pretty much made up of Cocoa Butter and Milk, so for a lactose intolerant, its not the best for me. Weirdly though, I really enjoyed the White Chocolate version/ The White Chocolate reminded me of Milkybar, and the Smarties again gave a textural and taste contrast. My main concern with both of these products, is that, the Smarties are kind of only in the middle of the product, which is fine, but means that once you've eaten the middle its just a chocolate button. In my personal opinion, I would prefer the Smarties to be dispersed throughout the Button.

Would I buy these again? Definitely. They're a great pouch to enjoy alongside a film or something like that. I think that they're good for the price, which when I bought them was, £1.50. I also think that they're a great talking point for those who had Smarties play a massive role within their childhood. I love these, and, hopefully I'll get to try the Orange ones soon.

Have you tried these yet? Let me know down below!

Thanks for reading!
Jamie x

Click here to read my last food post.

I Don't Feel Like I Belong In The LGBTQIA+ Community

Hey everyone! 

Welcome to a brand new post. This is probably going to be a very rambly post, but, as you can see by the title, I've been thinking about some stuff for a while...

(Photo is a stock image from Pexels)

I'm Jamie, I'm a visually impaired queer non-binary person. I realise that doesn't mean a lot to people for those reasons, alone, I don't feel like I fit into the LGBTQIAP+ community that we live in today.

Being Visually Impaired, can be a good and a bad thing. It can be good, because, it shows that even though you have a disability, you can still be yourself. You can still do what you want to in life. It just means that you might have trouble doing some stuff, and, honestly it means that you have a completely different perspective than abled people, because, well your sight loss, no matter at what stage its at, means that you've retrained yourself in someway shape or form to live a true great life. This might be mentally, via the concept of sight loss, or it might be physically by getting used to a cane, or an assistance dog. It might also mean learning accessibility tools such as VoiceOver. Even though it is a disability and society sees that as different, it does include some amazing stuff, but also at the same time, the main bad thing for myself is incorporating myself into the LGBTQIAP+ community that lives in the culture of today.

The LGBTQIAP+ community survives off the notion of socially communicating within bars and clubs. There are many many conversations at the minute going on about how the LGBTQIAP+ community is somewhat problematic via only thriving via bars and using alcohol as the main gateway of communication, but I want to talk more about the location than the actual use of alcohol. Due to the main hub of the LGBTQIAP+ community being based within clubs and bars, this means that most, well honestly nearly all, are based in a darl lighting environment. Thats great for abled/fuflly sighted people as they can do what they want in this lighting, and adds to the ambience, but for me creates a fair amount of problems. It means that going for a gathering or just a simple drink with LGBTQ+ friends, becomes, honestly, a nightmare for me. It means that I go from being able to communicate with most of a community that I love from the bottom of my heart, to a night in a corner where I feel the most loneliest. It feels a bit like a cage. I'm grateful for friends that try to help me when I do go out, but honestly, as most of the community is based in this environment it means that I feel kind of pushed out of the community because well I pretty much can't do anything. If bright lights are taken away for me, this means that I try to focus on hearing to communicate, which is great but most LGBTQIAP+ friendly locations also have loud music going on so I just feel awkward and kind of numb and distant when out. The main ramblings that I'm trying to get at are that because of this, I just don't feel like I can be included even if I try my hardest, because well I'm struggling 10x more than if I'm out with a load of fully sighted, fully abled queer friends. I get that its not their fault, but also because of this, I feel like sometimes they distance themselves because they don't know how to handle or communicate with me due to me not being able to mingle and go off and talk to whoever by myself.

I'd love for this to change, I really do, but I realise that its going to take a lot, because well as shit as this sounds, unless you're visually impaired or disabled, then you don't really take notice of the implications of what being unaccessible truly means. I get that a rambling non sensical blog post won't do that, but I hope that if you read this mess, you just have a think about the community and everything as a whole. I get that buildings and establishments only have so much of a budget, but it would be nice to at least take people into consideration. It would be great if instead of saying you're accessible and it meaning, honestly, fuck all, it means using lifts for what they are and not storage cupboards, brighter lighting, and just understanding how everyday life can be a nightmare for some

I get that non bar based LGBTQIAP+ safe spaces exist. I've been to a fair couple including the amazing, Flamingo Coffee House within Leeds that is amazing, but also, the main two problems is that not everyone knows about them, or, that most LGBTQIAP+ people like to socialise at night which means that such wonderful places are closed. I just honestly, wish there was more accessibility or that the LGBTQIAP+ community as a while, realised that there are problems in place that stop everyone from actually enjoying themselves. The community is based on an ethos of being diverse and equality, but also at the same time, they're pretty much being a contradiction by not catering for those that aren't cis/abled/not what society or even the LGBTQUAP+ community deem as the norm which is kind of sucky at the end of the day.

When people think of the community, mist think about fitting into a tribe. It took a while, but I found mine in Leeds, and, I'm forever grateful. I kind of thought that I fitted into the bear tribe. For anyone who doesn't know what a bear is, urban dictionary defines bear as, 'A hairy and/or large gay man'. I guess this is more to do with body image, but a big problem that I have with the bear tribe within the community, is their constant fixation with body image. They have some other fixations/problems which I'll talk about later in the post but that's for later. When it comes to the notion of body image within the bear community, the notion of being plus sized is celebrated. Thats amazing, I think that we don't have enough celebration for plus sized people as a whole, but they focus on the biggest people. A fair amount of bears that I've followed have focuses on the concept of the bigger the better. Yes, from afar, this is great for body positivity, and that's not my problem, My problem is shunning anyone that isn't the biggest. It makes the whole community problematic. This goes for any part of the LGBTQIAP+ community. I'm too big for certain tribes, and too thin for other tribes, which means that the tribes don;'t really embrace me which then creates this notion of not feeling like I belong in the community in my head. I kind of hate it. It just defeats the point of actually being body positivite and kind of shows how problematic some people and some tribes within the LGBTQUAP+ community can be. I get that it might be a mental and personal thing to me, but it just makes interacting with people sometimes pointless, because you know that at the drop of a hat, they won't care because someone bigger will have come along... I don't really know how to explain it, but it just screams toxic to me, know? The community as I've said is about equality and whatnot and you're pretty much pitting people against each other to be bigger to get your attention and affection, and, for what, so you can drool over them? It's just, its stupid in my opinion. I already feel ugly on days about myself, and, then to just have it completely certified by people that I thought I was close to or that I know of by not wanting to talk to me in any way shape or form, because, well im not for them, just makes it ten times worse. Its honestly, why id rather just stick to myself sometimes. I get that, this sounds kind of 'antisocial' but it works for my mental health sometimes.

Following on from this, the LGBTQIAP+ community has a heavily influence of sex and honestly, I'm not really the biggest fan over it. I don't really grasp or like the concept of having everything boil down to a tap or pass. I get that the community also rely on specific dating apps to communicate and to get know people. I get that, but let's be real. dating apps are literally there for people to send random pictures of their junk. I realise this sounds bad and almost grumpy grandpa like, but I'd like to at least have a conversation before I randomly get sent stuff like that. I'm just sick of this societal norm, of, not even wanting to get to know someone yet the person who doesn't want to know you waits five minutes and then sends you a flood of pictures that you don't really want. It just makes me feel out of the community as a whole. Following on from this, the whole notion of being thirsty is a weird one that I'm not really in the loop of. I get the concept of being thirsty, but when it gets to the point of where all your social media is, is people being thirsty of everything and everyone then it just makes you feel weird and honestly depressed. It makes you feel like garbage because you can see everyone 'thirsting over everyone' and then you're in the corner thinking, the thirst for me is when I get to actually know someone. I realise that sounds cheesy but that's how my brain works. I'm sick of this whole concept of being so quick and straight to the point that we almost miss out actually feeling anything. I just don't get why sex has to be the main pivotal concept for us to all bond over. I mean doing this instantly forces people that aren't 'gagging for it' all the time into a sort of shame based box. It also means that we're pretty much excluding a part of the community that don't really care about sex when it comes to attraction which is another problematic point.

Furthermore, being non-bnary, kind of affects the whole concept of 'being thirsty'. It's kind of hard to be thirsty over anyone when your dysphoria is at the worse that it can possibly be. For those that don't know, I've identified as non-binary for many years now, and with that for me, comes with some form of body dysphoria. The fact I feel like I'm in the completely wrong body but at the same time, not feeling like any other body in the world would fix that. I realise it sounds stupid to most, but because I identify as pretty much being something that is outside the norm of being either male or female, it becomes hard to feel like you belong in society or that you belong in the right body at all, so having people around you talk about enjoying other bodies, its hard to get on board with that as a concept when you hate yourself so much in one day, that you just wished that you some form of bodiless voice that has a recurring role on Doctor Who. Again, I get that it sounds silly/stupid to most. I just, I just, I'd rather get to know people and I'd rather to get to know them in some way shape or form before just well objectifying them really. A photo doesn't do much for me anyways because well the whole vision thing and because I analyse most of my life, I instantly go into analysing the photo itself.

My final very rambly sort of point, goes back to the bear tribe to an extent. The bear tribe, well certain people within the tribe, can be very iffy when it comes to non-binary people which makes me feel even more eradicated from the community as a whole. I've had bears tell me that I'm not a real person, that I don't belong to be a part of the bear community and honestly worse things and it just makes me feel like I don't belong in this community as a while because I don't exactly fit in what they want when it comes to the bear tribe and it just sucks sometimes. Most do and I love that, I love how most embrace and accept but still its just sometimes those people can make you feel completely worthless in somewhere where society says you should feel welcome and comfortable within. I've also had people say that they're interested in me because of being non binary and that itself is problematic as well. I hate the concept of a chaser. Honestly, don't hunt me down because it's exotic and different in your opinion is kind of disgusting. Get to know people, instead of pretending to be interested in them romantically just so its something you can tick off a list.

Sorry that this is a rambly mess, and, I hope you can take something away from this, or that the LGBTQIAP+ community as a whole can discuss this openly.

Thanks for reading!
Jamie x 

Spraying The Joy Of Life All Over Me | Lush Body Sprays 2020 First Impressions

Hey everyone! 

Welcome to a brand new post! Lush released some new Body Sprays recently. As I am a big Lushie, I thought that it would be good to talk to you all, about my, first impressions of these new Body Sprays.

Notice: These are my first impressions, and, not a proper review. If you've tried any of these sprays for longer than a day, then, please let me know your opinions of them down below.

Avocado Co-Wash 

DRF Alcohol Water (Aqua) Perfume Glycerine Litsea Cubeba Oil Bergamot Oil Olibanum Oil Amyl Cinnamal *Benzyl Cinnamate *Cinnamal *Cinnamyl Alcohol *Citral *Citronellol *Geraniol *Limonene *Linalool

I smelt this one in Liverpool in June, and it smelt like the Shower Cream/Hair product. Very creamy, with a hint of Lime, like Key Lime Pie. When I sprayed this, it smelt completely different to what I had smelt before. Whereas, the old version had hints of Avocado Co-Wash, from the beginning, this reminds me slightly more of Avobath at the beginning. When it settles down, that sprightly hint of citrus still shines through quite a lot, but with it settling, has brought a touch of cream to it.

Big 

DRF Alcohol Water (Aqua) Perfume Glycerine Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone Neroli Oil Sicilian Red Mandarin Oil Vanilla Absolute Orange Flower Absolute *Anise Alcohol *Citral *Coumarin *Farnesol Geraniol *Hydroxycitronellal *Limonene *Linalool

This is a weird one. Just because, it says that it contains Red Mandarin, and, Orange Flower, doesn't mean that it is going to be Citrus based in any way shape or form. If you've smelt the Big Shampoo, then imagine that but in a sprayable from. To me, this smells pretty much, of a, sprightly fresh Violet scent. If you like Lush scents, such as, Kerbside Violet or V, then, you will probably enjoy this Body Spray quite a bit.

Calacas 

DRF Alcohol Perfume Lime Oil Olibanum Oil Neroli Oil Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone Benzyl Salicylate *Citral *Farnesol *Geraniol Hydroxycitronellal *Isoeugenol *Limonene *Linalool

Calacas is a very strange one. I kinda like it, but I also don't like it for some reason. I love that when you spray it, the first note that you get is the Lime Oil, which makes it sprightly and zesty. A scent that Lush doesn't do a lot of within Body Sprays/Perfumes, but after about ten mins of wearing it, the Lime faded quite a lot, to the point that all I was smelling was a whiff of a creamy note. This is a bit of a shame, as I would love to smell of Lime with a touch of Sherbet to it all day long.

Coco Loco 

DRF Alcohol Water (Aqua) Perfume Glycerine Benzyl Alcohol Brazilian Orange Oil Coriander Seed Oil Lemongrass Oil *Citral *Limonene *Linalool Coumarin

I'm still fully unsure what this scent is meant to be. I've smelt and used the Coco Loco Shower Oil, which smells of Coconut, but this smelt a bit like a mix of Watermelon, Lemon and a whisper of Coconut. I love Coconut scents and Coconut itself, as, I drink Coconut Milk often, but honestly, I was sold on this one instantly like I was with other new Body Sprays.

Flying Fox

DRF Alcohol Water (Aqua) Perfume Glycerine *Linalool Jasmine Absolute Ylang Ylang Oil Cypress Oil Palmarosa Oil Benzyl Alcohol *Benzyl Benzoate *Benzyl Salicylate Butylphenyl Methylpropional *Eugenol *Farnesol *Geraniol *Limonene

I quite liked this one, but I can also see this Spray, being a bit like Marmite in the sense of loving or loathing it. The main scent that I got was a mix of floral. If you like scents like Death and Decay, you know, floral with a kick of deep smoke then you will love this one.

Guardian Of The Forest 

DRF Alcohol Water (Aqua) Perfume Glycerine Cypress Oil Lime Oil Rosewood Oil Oakmoss Absolute Oakmoss Extract Amyl Cinnamal Benzyl Alcohol Benzyl Benzoate Benzyl Salicylate Cinnamyl Alcohol *Citral Citronellol *Coumarin *Geraniol Hydroxycitronellal *Limonene *Linalool

If you love the Bath Bomb, that has sadly been discontinued, then you will love it. The grassy sort of notes come out in the Body Spray, compared to the Bath Bomb that had more of a grassy and woody note to it. If you like scents such as Grass then you might love this one.

Groovy Kind Of Love 

DRF Alcohol Water (Aqua) Perfume Glycerine *Limonene Rosewood Oil Bergamot Oil Ylang Ylang Oil Benzyl Alcohol *Benzyl Benzoate *Benzyl Cinnamate *Benzyl Salicylate *Cinnamal *Citral *Farnesol *Geraniol *Isoeugenol *Linalool

The best way to describe this one is Bubblegum with a touch of Lemon. If you rush to buy bottles of Snow Fairy Body Spray at Christmas, but are sick of having to stock up on several bottles at once due to the limited edition of the spray, then this might be a Spray that you'll like. I'd say where Snow Fairy screams in sweetness, so does Groovy, just in a more 'mature' way. I loved this but also think that I'd gravitate to this for when I'm in the sweet scent sort of mood which is not all the time.

Honey I Washed The Kids 

DRF Alcohol Water (Aqua) Perfume Glycerine Bergamot Oil Brazilian Orange Oil Amyl Cinnamal Butylphenyl Methylpropional Citronellol *Limonene *Linalool

When spraying this, it doesn't really smell of much to start off with. Once giving it a few moments to settle, it became gorgeous. If you love the sort of Toffee scent that comes with HIWTK, imagine that and then amped up a bit. It lasted on my skin until the next day, and I still loved it then.

Jungle 

DRF Alcohol Water (Aqua) Perfume Glycerine *Linalool Ylang Ylang Oil Vetivert Oil Cypress Oil Cedarwood Oil *Hydroxycitronellal *Limonene

Sadly, this was another one of the scents that I dint really enjoy that much. It had a sort of fresh Carpet scent to it which isn't something I really want in a Body Spray sadly. I also didn't get any correspondence, via scent, to the Jungle Hair product, unlike the other sprays. I really wanted to love it too but I just couldn't.

Let The Good Times Roll 

DRF Alcohol Water (Aqua) Perfume Glycerine *Limonene *Linalool

I enjoyed this one. If you love Gourmand/Food based scents then you will love this one. I'm still a bit confused as LTGTR is so close to HIWTK, I didn't personally see the point of releasing both. I'd definitely tell you to smell it and decide for yourself.

Plum Rain 

DRF Alcohol Water (Aqua) Perfume *Limonene Glycerine Osmanthus Absolute Petitgrain Oil Sicilian Red Mandarin Oil *Citral *Geraniol *Linalool

Fruity and fresh. This is an amazing scent to have in a Body Spray, and, I love it. I think that this one would be amazing in the Autumn. It's just amazing to me. If you like the Plum Rain Shower Gel then trust me you will love this.

Roller 

DRF Alcohol Water (Aqua) Perfume Glycerine Benzyl Alcohol Geranium Oil Brazilian Orange Oil Tonka Absolute *Citronellol *Geraniol *Limonene *Linalool Amyl Cinnamal Citral

Fruity, floral and creamy. Sadly, this is a bit too creamy for me. As I said with the GKOL scent, I don't mind sweet scents every now and again, but I think that this might be a tad too much for me personally. If you love the scent of Yummy Mummy or sort of florally sweet scents then you will probably love this.

Sakura 

DRF Alcohol Water (Aqua) Perfume Sicilian Lemon Oil Butylphenyl Methylpropional Glycerine *Limonene Mimosa Absolute Orange Flower Absolute Jasmine Absolute *Benzyl Benzoate *Benzyl Salicylate *Citral *Eugenol *Farnesol Geraniol *Linalool

The Lime gets lost in this one I think. When I sprayed it, the first thing that I got was the Jasmine and the Mimosa. I didn't think I was going to like it, but I think that its one of those that I would use everyday. You know the sort of scents that are light and breezy but make people ask you what you're wearing as they're getting a little whisper of it when they are near you.

So White 

DRF Alcohol Water (Aqua) Perfume Glycerine Bergamot Oil Brazilian Orange Oil Rose Absolute Neroli Oil Orange Flower Absolute Butylphenyl Methylpropional Geraniol *Limonene *Linalool

Fresh and vibrant. When I sprayed this one, I got a big whiff of fresh crisp Apple. I think that this one is amazing but weirdly I don't think I would go towards it unless someone suggested it to me. Does that make sense? I'm not one to instantly gravitate towards Apple scented things but this is on a level of its own.

The Comforter 

DRF Alcohol Water (Aqua) Perfume Glycerine Bergamot Oil Cassis Absolute Cypress Oil *Limonene *Linalool

When I sprayed this, I got a sour Blackcurrant note, kind of like the scent of Scrub Scrub Scrub. When I gave it a few moments, I realised that it was slowly becoming more of the sweet Comforter that we all know via the Bubble Bar. I absolutely love this, but I also love anything that is The Comforter scented.

Think Pink 

RF Alcohol Water (Aqua) Perfume Glycerine Lavender Oil Tonka Absolute Vanilla Absolute Neroli Oil *Benzyl Benzoate *Cinnamal *Citral *Coumarin *Geraniol *Limonene *Linalool

Uhm... How do I say this... Uhm... I hated this one! I'm sorry, there's no better way to say it. It smelt horrible. It smelt like burnt rubber. Yeah, sorry. Nah thanks. Nope. Thank you, next. I wanted to like this one, but, I really couldn't.

Tramp

DRF Alcohol Water (Aqua) Patchouli Oil Perfume Glycerine Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone Oakmoss Absolute Oakmoss Extract *Eugenol *Limonene *Linalool

Smoky and is the main scent that I got from this. Pure Smoke. I kind of liked it but I need to try it longer for a five minute sniff to truly understand what it is like under all of the smoke and murrors.

Turmeric Latte 

RF Alcohol Water (Aqua) Perfume Glycerine Tonka Absolute Benzoin Resinoid Vanilla Absolute *Anise Alcohol *Benzyl Benzoate *Cinnamal *Limonene *Linalool Coumarin Eugenol

I need this scent for the rest of my life. I absolutely love it. So, at the beginning the sort of creamy vanilla comes through and then the Turmeric/Spicy notes sort of kick in and oh my god it is amazing. I would wear this all of the time alternating with HIWTK and The Comforter if I could. it just makes my soul warm, which sounds really weird to say. It's not too spicy, and its not too sweet or creamy, which I think is why I love it so much. Give me everything Turmeric Latte scented, please, Lush!

Yoga Bomb 

DRF Alcohol Water (Aqua) Perfume Glycerine Cassie Absolute Olibanum Oil Ho Wood Oil Sandalwood Oil  *Benzyl Salicylate *Farnesol *Limonene *Linalool Eugenol Benzyl Benzoate

This one gave me Woody but Citrus vibes. If you imagine being in the middle of the woods, during Summer and then bottling it up, you would get this exact scent.

Yuzu And Cocoa

DRF Alcohol Water (Aqua) Perfume Glycerine *Limonene Cocoa Absolute Bergamot Oil Grapefruit Oil Tonka Absolute *Citral *Coumarin *Linalool

I know that some think that YAC smells like Chocolate Orange, but this smells more like Coconut to me. YAC is honestly what I thought Coco Loco was going to smell of.

Have you smelt any of the Sprays mentioned today? Let me know down below!

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x