An Interview With Emily of The Bell Jar

For the third feature of my 'An Interview With' series, I had a chat with cruelty-free blogger Emily of The Bell Jar. Emily's lifestyle blog is a wonderful mix of her adventures, book reviews and beauty finds that I just had to share with you. Also if you're looking for any Lush recommendations Emily knows her stuff!

Hi Emily! Tell us a bit about yourself and your blog.

Hi! The Bell Jar is my little corner of the internet. The name comes from the famous book by one of my favourite writers, Sylvia Plath. There I talk about cruelty free beauty, books and my life - a bit of everything, really!

When did you start blogging and what inspired you to start your own?

I've blogged on and off since the end of 2014. I've always loved writing. When I was at school I used a Diaryland account like a diary then when I was in college/uni, I was big into Tumblr. A friend started blogging and I had just come back from travelling and pursuing a career in fashion. Starting my own blog gave me something to do that I thought would look good on my CV, although fashion has never featured very heavily on my blog!

What are your favourite cruelty-free products?

Oh gosh, where do I begin?! Lush are my go-to when it comes to skincare, perfume, shower gel/bath bombs. My all time favourite products from Lush "Cocktail" & "Kerbside Violet" perfumes. I'm loving Mane 'n' Tail shampoo and conditioner, Too Faced's "Better Than Sex" mascara, Illamasqua's contour kit & Spectrum's gorgeous make up brushes at the moment.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to buy cruelty-free?

It's not as difficult as you may first think and researching new products to try is really fun! Don't worry if you don't have time to contact companies yourself - there are so many bloggers out there with amazing advice and product knowledge - make the most of them. Also, the Leaping Bunny symbol is a fail safe guide and is particularly useful for buying household cleaning products.

What's your favourite part of blogging?

There's so many aspects that I love! I enjoy meeting and chatting to lots of lovely like-minded people on blogger Twitter chats. Reading other blogs is great to get inspiration for pretty much anything - from fashion to make up, places to visit, food to cook or which books to read next. As for my favourite thing about writing my own blog, it would be having a place to be completely myself and share my opinions with the world.

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Thank you Emily for taking part! Also make sure to check out my interviews with Morag of mo'adore and Kelly of The Vegan Taff for their thoughts on blogging and buying cruelty-free.