Coconut Lane Favourites | 20% off discount code*

Coconut Lane just dropped their Luxe collection, and in it are some of the sassiest, most summery phone cases and stationary around. At the moment I'm obsessed with tropical prints, bright colour palettes and I can't take my eyes off the tropical banana leaf print phone case. I've been looking for a new case for a while as my phone is so beat. It's fun and simple yet beautiful. Another one of my favourites from the Luxe collection is the dipped marble phone case! The pink/peach is gorgeous! These are both available for 5/5S, 6/6S. 

In the first picture (credit to Kylie Jenner) I'd had my eye on the nail bracelet by Cartier which is worth around £4950 *sweats* or you can get a replica from Coconut Lane for just £14.50. Much more affordable! Phew. I think I'm going to get the rose gold one, silver and gold are nice but rose gold is my favourite and super elegant.

They also have stationary! How great are these printed notebooks? I need to get my hands on the prickly one and the flamingo one. I'm not sure who illustrated these designs but another thing I'd love to do would be collaborate and make some of my own. These cost £6 each, not bad either. Again my tropical colour obsession drew me to these, I need one to carry in my bag all the time. To see what I was obsessing over in my last Wishlist, click here!

*If you want to order from Coconut Lane, use my code 'scarletstate20' for 20% off! Let me know what you buy!

What's your favourite piece? Are there any online stores you've been obsessed with lately?

Head to Coconut Lane by clicking here.

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Tattoo | How Much Does an Arm Tattoo Hurt?

If you've been following me on Instagram you might know that a couple of weeks ago I got another tattoo added to my arm. This time I decided to get the top of my arm tattooed. I'm always asked how much they hurt and which of my tattoos hurt most so I thought I'd write up about it!

I'm currently having my arm done by Martin Fletcher, an awesome tattooist from Lancaster. He's done all of my professional tattoos so far and I originally chose him because his lines are so clean and he has such enthusiasm about his work. It's important to have an artist that you trust doing your design, and someone who isn't a complete butthole of a human being because that could taint the tattoo experience or the tattoo itself! 

For me, my upper arm/shoulder part hurt a lot less than having the middle of my arm tattooed, that one felt like scratchy sunburn (bearable, but I have a good pain threshold!) and was a lot more itchy while healing. 

It's a circle but it wraps!

My upper arm was less itchy and flaky while healing and didn't hurt nearly as much. I feel like tattoo 'pain' is less painful than it is irritating, though the closer the needle got to the softer skin and my armpit, the more intense it was! I had dotwork in this one which was pretty on par with the other shading I've had (sore but not as bad as long lines). My most painful tattoo is actually the one on the front of my ankle. It's not even half the size of the others but it was more intense, mainly because of the straight lines.

So overall, my upper arm hurt a lot less than the middle of my arm. If you're thinking of getting tattoos on these parts of your arm but aren't good with pain I'd probably go for the upper arm one first. But remember, everyone is different and I know that some people will completely disagree with me on this. See this post for tips on your first tattoo! Also check out this interview I did with Céline, an inspiring woman, photographer and collector of tattoos currently working on her bodysuit with Guy Le. 

Where was your most or least painful tattoo? Do you have a favourite artist?

                                                        You can find me on Bloglovin' | Twitter 

Tattoo | How much does an arm tattoo hurt?

If you've been following me on Instagram you might know that a couple of weeks ago I got another tattoo added to my arm. This time I decided to get the top of my arm tattooed. I'm always asked how much they hurt and which of my tattoos hurt most so I thought I'd write up about it!

I'm currently having my arm done by Martin Fletcher, an awesome tattooist from Lancaster. He's done all of my professional tattoos so far and I originally chose him because his lines are so clean and he has such enthusiasm about his work. It's important to have an artist that you trust doing your design, and someone who isn't a complete butthole of a human being because that could taint the tattoo experience or the tattoo itself! 

For me, my upper arm/shoulder part hurt a lot less than having the middle of my arm tattooed, that one felt like scratchy sunburn (bearable, but I have a good pain threshold!) and was a lot more itchy while healing. 

It's a circle but it wraps!

My upper arm was less itchy and flaky while healing and didn't hurt nearly as much. I feel like tattoo 'pain' is less painful than it is irritating, though the closer the needle got to the softer skin and my armpit, the more intense it was! I had dotwork in this one which was pretty on par with the other shading I've had (sore but not as bad as long lines). My most painful tattoo is actually the one on the front of my ankle. It's not even half the size of the others but it was more intense, mainly because of the straight lines.

So overall, my upper arm hurt a lot less than the middle of my arm. If you're thinking of getting tattoos on these parts of your arm but aren't good with pain I'd probably go for the upper arm one first. But remember, everyone is different and I know that some people will completely disagree with me on this. See this post for tips on your first tattoo! Also check out this interview I did with Céline, an inspiring woman, photographer and collector of tattoos currently working on her bodysuit with Guy Le. 

Where was your most or least painful tattoo? Do you have a favourite artist?

                                                        You can find me on Bloglovin' | Twitter 

VLOG | My First Vlog- eek!

I’m  excited and so so nervous to show you guys this! Like most of the bloggers I’ve spoken to, I watch YouTube and many of you guys I know have YouTube accounts too. For me, the last time I uploaded anything edited and properly put together on YouTube was probably 2008 and something like my friend and I doing a crazy skit with some really bad split screen editing. As I’m back on the blogging train (see this post) I thought I’d go head on and try vlogging! I’ve done it before, just not talking to the camera- a lot of the videos I used to upload were days out and I even recorded an entire weeks trip to Germany and back before I knew ‘vlogging’ was a thing. Maybe I’ll put clips of those in future videos?

Also as I'm going traveling in the next couple of years I want some ‘practice’ so I feel more comfortable filming all these amazing countries to share and look back on. So this is more for me than it is for anyone else!

I didn’t do a lot on the day this was filmed and I look pretty gross throughout but hopefully if you guys like it. The whole thing is recorded on my iPhone so nothing fancy! I’m too nervous about showing my make-upless face (I really don’t look great in this video but I’m conquering this fear) to the world of YouTube at the mo so it’s unlisted and you can only see it by clicking through my link in this post. Hope you guys like it and my incredible awkwardness. I'll get better as it as I make more!

Click here if the video player below doesn't load.

The coconut oil I've been using is from ASDA/Tesco/Waitrose.

You can buy Candy K here when it's restocked.

Let me know what you thought of this post in the comments! Was so nervous to upload this!

                                                                You can find me on Bloglovin' | Twitter 

Hidden Treasures #3 | V Revolution, Manchester

Since becoming a vegetarian it's been easier than I thought to get my paws on food that tastes just like my favourite meaty dishes (if not better), so the myth is true! In March I turned 20 and in leu of that, visited a vegan restaurant I'd wanted to visit for a long time- V Revolution in Manchester.

Hidden in plain sight, Oldham Street in the heart of MCR's northern quarter is home to the incredible, dog friendly V Revolution, a punky yet humble café-looking place with food that blew my mind. Their menu offers up everything from 'cheese' covered 'bacon' burgers to banging hotdogs and shakes. The menu was quite small, but the dishes were in no way limited. Taking into consideration the specials they do every day (posted on their instagram @vrevolutionyeah) this veggie food is not for the lighthearted.

I ordered the slaw dog and nachos to share while Alex indulged in the 'Heisenberger'. It would be unjust to not have photographed this before I ate it and looking at it really makes me want it again haha. The prices are reasonable- no more than you would pay at Almost Famous for a burger if not less. My guess is that the hot dogs were made of tofu but I never asked (I hadn't planned this post). Funnily enough I actually hated hot-dogs until this place, the metallic taste of the skin on meat dogs is disgusting and god knows what they put in them, but here my tastebuds had indeed been revolutionised. 

As if this feast wasn't enough, they offer homemade vegan cakes a plenty on the countertop. Between a Matilda-esque chocolate cake and apple pie cake I made my decision and walked out with a honk of gooey, spongy deliciousness in a box for the train ride home. Witnessing the fact that cruelty-free food such as this exists makes me wonder why we can't buy these sorts of meals in supermarkets so easily (c'mon UK up your game!). Alex and I just managed to squeeze our fat butts through the door on the way out. Kidding, I'm not actually sure how calorific this is but who cares right? Veggie junk food is usually surprisingly less fatty than you'd think.

Overall, fast service, amazing food, innovative specials and I admire how unashamed they are of their food puns. If you're in the Norther Quarter at any point I highly recommend checking this joint out even if you aren't vegetarian or vegan! To see my last Manchester adventure click here.

Me when I saw the cake

Have you been to any amazing restaurants lately? What's your favourite junk/birthday food? See my other 'hidden treasures'  posts here.

                                                       You can follow me on Bloglovin' | Twitter 

Revamp! | It's been a little quiet here lately

Hello hello hello! Gosh, it's been a while hasn't it. The past four to five months have been a crazy cycle of change, growth, learning and losing. Somewhere in the throes of 2016 I neglected blogging (but for good reason, I promise!) Since we last spoke (see this post) so much has changed. I've been coming to grips with change as a constant thing, not just something that occurs every now and again.

For a start Josh and I broke up at the start of the year, because of that- among other things I've lost some very close friends. Not to dismiss the feelings I had, but in brutal honesty I thought I'd be more heartbroken. I suck with heartbreak but I haven't really felt broken at all, which for a little while confused me before realising that I had already let go of the situation before it finished happening. This is a good thing, believe me! Perhaps this is growing up.

Amidst the chaos of the bigger picture, I've started playing guitar again, turned 20 years old, added to my arm tattoos, started to read more, began planning a trip around the world (full scale map stuck to the wall, strings, bells and whistles you name it), picked up a little French again and have found new self worth. Think 'Eat, Pray, Love' style haha. Meanwhile, second year of uni is done with and it's been a blast! Stressful at times but summer is staring us right in the face and I'm ready to collaborate and create, sunbathe a lot and hopefully not abandon this little safe-haven of a blog haha.

I've missed reading all of your posts and discussions as I haven't been active on Twitter either, so feel free to link me to anything cool you've seen or written this year that I might have missed out on! I feel I owe you all some updates so expect a mass of great posts in the next few weeks.

You may have also noticed that my blog has had a bit of a revamp. I'm feeling freshhhhh so I felt like my blog needed a new face to go with that. Here's to a new chapter.

How has 2016 treated you so far? Do you have any plans for summer yet? Let me know in the comments!

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