lauramerritt96

Spent the day in the trees earlier in the week.

I’d never been to Go Ape before or done anything like this! We couldn’t of picked a better day weather wise and it was lovely that it was not busy so we more or less had the forest to ourselves!

I wrote a post on the cast of The Kissing Booth 2 releasing a mask range with Variant Malibu last month which you can read it here: https://lauramerritt96.com/tkb-cast-face-masks/

Now my mask has arrived I thought I’d write a review on the mask itself!

So to start I’m really impressed with the service from Variant Malibu. My mask was shipped 3 weeks after I placed my order and arrived 2 weeks after shipping. I was really pleased with how quick it came as the masks are made when ordering and not mass produced to avoid waste and with it being international shipping! Shipping time was also estimated when ordering so I was fully aware of timings.

I own quite a range of masks now as I wear them so often, (I wear one all the time when I’m at work as well) and I can honestly say that this is the best mask I own. Both the quality and design are such a high standard.

I basically feel like this emoji right now: ?‍♀️

Just wanted to do a little post on everything going on at the minute again. Really hoped this wouldn’t happen but here we are. ICYMI Newcastle has been in local lockdown since Friday meaning the new ‘rule of 6’ that was brought in (we were only allowed to socialise with as a group of 6) no longer applies and we’re not allowed to socialise with anyone not in our household inside or out.

If all this wasn’t confusing before it is even more so now considering the England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are now differing more on the rules; as well as local lockdowns differing for example in Birmingham where there is also a local lockdown they are allowed to meet one other household outside of their homes.

Celebrating my birthday last week! #PhotoDiaries

Here’s to being 24?

First off I just want to say everyone’s circumstances are totally different and it’s important for people to do what’s right for them as long as it’s safe for you and others to do so. As mentioned in previous blog posts I’ve had several trips cancelled this year so feel very grateful I was able to go abroad this year and have a lovely safe time.

I spent a week on the Greek Island Rhodes and honestly it’s safe to say they’re doing a much better job than the UK. I genuinely felt safer on my week away than I do walking round my local shopping centre! The island as a whole has had a really low rate of cases.

So this post is more a ‘full circle’ type. I’ve had my blog for four years and really enjoy doing it, I love writing all kinds of post from reviews, anything about Disney, different activist topics and just general bits!

While I love doing my blog over the last 4 years I’ve found it hard to keep it active and relevant all the time because sometimes that’s just life.

At the beginning of lockdown I decided to start writing again as let’s face it we had all the time in the world. Without setting myself a particular goal I’ve managed to write 2 blog posts every week (bar the odd 1 or 2) meaning that this is my 42nd blog post in 5 months!

Ive decided to give myself a bit of a break as holiday time approaches but I’m determined to keep uploading regularly. It’ll more likely be 1 post a week but it could be more/less depending on circumstances.

I’m just really glad I’ve managed to achieve writing half of my total blog posts in a short space of time and really enjoyed getting back into it. So I’ll definitely be keeping it active from now on.

First off I want to say that this post is in no way intended to trivialise current events and ‘the new normal’ we are living in. I really just wanted to do a post on this to document as these are times which will, fingers crossed, never happen again and I feel especially at the moment a great way to find out about these things is through by reading up on them. Also this is the way forward so best to just be educated, safe and go with it!

So far I’ve had 3 trips abroad cancelled due to the pandemic and I’m very grateful, one I had the holidays planned in the first place and 2 that they’re only cancelled trips and I will be able to go at some point in the future.

This will be the first year since I was 4 years old that I haven’t been to Cyprus. (Due to having to pay £150 each to provide a negative test and the area we go to not really being open) I’m really sad to not be going and seeing all our friends but I’m already looking forward to next year when hopefully everything is a bit more normal again and it’s possible to go!

So it’s been news for the last year that Newcastle is finally getting a Hard Rock Cafe! Honestly I’m so excited about this as I love a Hard Rock, anywhere I go that is near one I’m there haha. I love the whole aspect from the food, the theming and obviously the merchandise.

I have loads of different pieces of merchandise from Hard Rocks all over the world but the thing I collect from them are T-shirt’s.

So if you’ve followed me it’s no secret that I love eating out so I’m all for this. The UK government has launched this scheme throughout August every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday where you can eat in at participating restaurants and save 50%, up to maximum £10 per person on your entire bill.

The idea is to help businesses recover after being shut for so long during lockdown. It’s such a great deal and through my experience you can tell it’s definitely working as shopping centres in particular as much busier on these days having a positive impact not only the restaurants but other businesses too.

I mean I think after spending months in lockdown it’s the perfect excuse to treat ourselves to nice meals out safely and while supporting businesses helping boost the economy!

If you’ve been following my recent posts you’ll know it’s no secret I’m a big fan of The Kissing Booth series. This week the cast announced they were releasing custom face masks designed by themselves for good causes. The masks are created by Variant Malibu, a company who uses 3D knitting technology which in itself has high ethical standards when looking at production.

Joey King, Taylor Zakhar Perez, Joel Courtney, Meganne Young and Maisie Richardson-Sellers all designed a unique mask with meaning from themselves and from each mask sold $15 goes to their chosen charity. This makes it a great project as by buying a mask you’re helping to protect yourself and others in the global pandemic, and you’re donating to worthy causes!

Variant Malibu aim to reduce the impacts of ‘fast fashion’ by having an on demand service and by using sustainably sourced materials it helps to cut emissions and be more environmentally, ethically and industry friendly.

I really was so impressed by this as it’s great to see a company go out of their way to achieve these standards. This was actually a great reason that confirmed making a purchase myself. The masks are $35 each which I think is really reasonable considering how they are made and that there is a charity donation!

I ordered the mask which Joey King designed which has a ‘kissing lips’ pattern. $15 from Joey’s mask goes to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

I also paid $14.22 in shipping which again I don’t think is bad for international shipping. The masks are shipped 14/16 business days after ordering and then there are the international delivery wait times, so it’ll be a while before my mask arrives. However I really don’t mind as it feels reassuring to know your purchase is made to order therefore reduces waste.

Really looking forward to my mask arriving because let’s face it they’re the 2020 fashion accessory!

Link to website to see full range of masks: https://variantmalibu.com/collections/kissing-booth-masks