Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter

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A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of going to the Warner Bros Studio Tour in Watford, London with my lovely friend Emily as a treat to ourselves!

This was my second visit to the studio tours, having first visited 6 years ago in 2013!

  • Me outside the old entrance 6 years ago (2013)
  • Emily outside the new entrance in 2019

So much has changed in those 6 years, and I won’t detail too much or post too many photos on this blog post because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who was planning on visiting because it’s worth it. Emily and I were living our best lives and we absolutely loved it.

Vegan Food

To warn you all, the tour is a long one! There’s so much to see. Emily and I spent a good 4 hours there with a short lunch break, which takes me nicely onto this heading… Vegan Food.

I’m not gunna lie, the little restaurant wasn’t filled with vegan delights. I was pleased there was something though! Having a look at the menu, there were a few bits and bobs that were vegan and/or could be made vegan.

I chose to have the veggie hot dog made vegan and a bottle of coca cola. This came to a very pricey £11, but with no snacks and no where else to go, we didn’t have much choice.

It wasn’t great. It was incredibly average and I didn’t enjoy the burger bun change. I’m guessing due to the original bread being a brioche, it wasn’t vegan but the replacement was poor. The one positive is that the cutlery was vegware so was completely compostable!

If you’re planning a visit as a vegan, don’t have any expectations of food. If possible, you’re better off bringing in your own snacks and food to save yourself a pretty penny and to get something that tastes better.

On the plus side however, the gift shop sells some vegan dark chocolate options which included a dark chocolate wand (which I didn’t buy) and dark chocolate peppermint toads which are delicious!

The Tour

As mentioned, this was my second visit to the studios and it was completely different to the first time. Even the entrance has completely changed and the gift shop is so much bigger.

The queuing area was a bit longer but was filled with interesting prints on the wall to intrigue us as visitors and were perfect photo opportunities. There’s a little introduction with a few VTs before you get to the good stuff but it’s all worth the wait!

My favourite part of the tour by far was the Hogwarts Express. I remember they were building it when I visited 6 years ago and I was disappointed it wasn’t ready in time for our visit. Being on Platform 9 and 3/4 was an absolute dream.

One of the more recent and incredible additions was Gringotts Bank. Turning the corner after seeing how goblins were made and seeing Gringotts was such an incredible sight. It was spectacular.

For Harry Potter fans, this tour is a must! Tickets were £45 which might seem quite expensive, but in the grand scheme of everything you get to see, it’s a bargain.

In fact, I’ve been suffering from HP Tour blues since I’ve returned home so I’ve started re-watching the movies to bring me back some of that magic.

Self Care Sundays: Issue 1

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It is important to take a beat for ourselves on a regular basis. Whether it be enjoying a hobby or trip somewhere you enjoy. With our busy lives, it’s nice to take time for ourselves.

As much as I wish I could, I don’t take every Sunday for myself. But when I do, I like to pamper myself a little.

This usually includes doing my nails, or taking a long bubble bath with my secret stash of Lush bubble bars and bath bombs. I like to throw in a hair mask and a face mask when I can to.

Every now and then, I’ll be throwing one of these posts to let you know some of the products I’ve been using and what I can and absolutely cannot recommend you guys go out and use!

Superdrug Face Mask

Superdrug has a great range of face masks for 99p. The first time I bought these masks, I actually bought them for a hen party goody bag. They’re all very well labelled as to whether they’re vegan or not. They also write on the front what skin type they’re best for.

This week, I used a black seaweed peel off mask. I’m not usually a fan of a peel off mask as I feel like they’re more effort than they’re worth, but for 99p, it was worth a shot.

An image of the mask. I’ll save you from the inappropriate selfie!

The mask was easy to apply and I used it all over my face. I used the entire pack which I don’t actually recommend. You can probably use half of one and achieve the same effect. Because I used the whole pack, it took a while for the mask to dry but once it did, it was easy to peel off.

My skin felt lovely afterwards. The oil had been stripped of my face and I felt super clean.

Lush Bath Bomb

For good measure, I threw in a bath bomb from my secret stash of Lush bath bombs! In fact, it’s so secret that I forgot about it and I’m pretty sure they don’t sell it anymore!

The bath bomb is called Shoot For The Stars and left a lovely blue colour in the bath. The stars were creamy and moisturising and it smelt lovely. It’s a shame that it’s not available anymore because I definitely recommend this bath bomb.

Keep an eye out for my future Self Care Sundays posts with various products that I’ll be using to pamper myself! If there’s anything you’d like me to try and write about then let me know in the comments.

Ambling around La Rochelle

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I’m still trying to relive my Summer holiday before the Summer is over so here’s a short post on what’s in and around La Rochelle.

We drove from our campsite into La Rochelle. The car park we parked in was easy to get to and right next to the Aquarium which is very central.

La Rochelle is absolutely beautiful with so much history surrounding it. We came out from the car park and we had such glorious weather. It was a pleasure just to walk around and enjoy the atmosphere.

There’s a main high street with various well known stores such as H&M and Zara. More importantly there are 2 Sephora’s a few streets away from each other! Now we know not everything in Sephora is vegan but there are some cruelty-free brands and options!

After some more walking, we came across Bagelstein which had a vegan option. We didn’t try it as we already had other plans to eat but definitely worth a look if you’re after a good bagel!

As you may already be aware, we had a delicious breakfast at rawcoco. I blogged about it previously (which you can read here) and I recommend a visit. There’s plenty on the menu to choose from and I thoroughly enjoyed my matcha latte.

After some more ambling, we cam across an outdoor fruit and veg market outside what I can only assume was the main market hall in La Rochelle. There was plenty to choose from and even on a weekday, the market was thriving.

For lunch, we went to Gurou Street Food, which you can read my blog post about here. The burgers were amazing and the service was incredible. I absolutely recommend a visit if you’re in the area.

Along the harbour, there was a street market with various art sellers and jewellery makers. Everything was hand crafted and absolutely beautiful. It took everything in me not to buy everything I saw.

We finished the day off with some delicious vegan sorbet from Ernest le Glacier. Tom, as always, did all the research and found that most of the sorbet options were vegan. The only ones that that weren’t were chocolate. Tom went for blackberry and passionfruit. I had strawberry with fresh mint which was amazing and really refreshing.

I really enjoyed our day trip to La Rochelle. The french aren’t exactly renowned for being super vegan friendly but La Rochelle was a breath of fresh air with more vegan options than I expected.

Brittany Ferries: Vegan Options

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Tom is a non-flyer so our holidays usually involve a ferry crossing. This year, we took the Portsmouth – Cherbourg crossing over to France, and vice versa on the way back. This is usually my preferred crossing as it’s usually only 3 hour long and very comfortable. I’m not the best traveller by sea (I always have to take motion sickness tablets) so I’m not a fan of any overnight crossings so this crossing is perfect for us.

Over the years, there’s rarely been a vegan offering on-board so it wasn’t any different from anywhere else really.

Last year, I remember they had a vegan chilli that I tried that was in a glass jar. It was nice but quite a small portion.

This year, however, was a game changer! There were so many more vegan options available on the boat than there had been before, and arguably, more than some chain restaurants in the UK!

  • Lentil Dhaal
  • Vegan magnum

I bought a lentil dhaal for myself, with a box of mini oreos and a coke. Tom got himself a vegan magnum!

The lentil dhaal was really delicious. It was flavourful and full of veggies such as edamame, broccoli and carrot.

These weren’t the only vegan options available on board! There was also a houmous and vegetable wrap, the chilli that was available the previous year, as well as 2 other vegan options that I didn’t note down.

We’re in a changing world now where veganism is on the up and the demand is high. I’m looking forward to what’s to come in the future. So for those of you taking the Normandie Express over to France for your Summer holidays, don’t worry about options as there’s plenty out there now.

rawcoco in La Rochelle, France

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Another one of Tom’s Happy Cow finds when we were on holiday last month was rawcoco.

rawcoco was very easy to find in the heart of La Rochelle so we popped in around 10:30am for some ‘breakfast’. I put breakfast in quotes because we had treats for breakfast!

We walked in and got ourselves seated and we started browsing the gigantic walled fridge full of food. There were so many different options, ranging from wraps, soups, noodles, puddings, fresh juices and many, many more.

The waitress spoke minimal, but sufficient English, much better than my equivalent French! She explained the wall of food and the drinks options on the back wall behind the counter. Additionally, most of the options are gluten free, except for the wraps. Almond milk was the milk used for their drinks.

  • Excuse Tom’s hand. He tucked straight in.

I ordered a matcha latte and a chocolate pie. Tom ordered a regular latte and a lemon pie. I would have loved to have tried their chia pudding that I saw the label for, but sadly there wasn’t any on the shelf.

The drinks where lovely, nothing to write home about really. Just a standard almond milk latte. The chocolate pudding was delicious. So sweet but not sickly and I really enjoyed it. Tom loved his lemon pudding. I tried a little and it was so flavourful.

The side wall was covered in greenery with their logo emblazoned on top and it was beautiful. Clearly enough for me to take a picture and blog about it! They must also allow dogs inside as when we arrived, there was a small group with 2 small and very well behaved chihuahuas with them.

If you’re ever in La Rochelle, a visit to rawcoco is certainly a must. It’s a fairly small establishment, but the food options are vast and delicious. I’m sure there’ll be something to suit everyone!

French Vegan Supermarket Finds

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If you weren’t already aware from my previous blog posts, Tom and I holidayed in France this year and we continued our search for vegan food.

I don’t think it would be unkind to say that the French are quite reluctant to adopt and invite veganism into their daily lives. Compared to the UK, it’s a lot more difficult to find mainstream meat replacements but there were a few gems that we did find in our local French supermarkets.

Alternative Milks

What I can say for the French is they have a massive alternative milk range. Their shelves are lined with their own brand products, as well as the well known brand Alpro which is what we usually buy.

A large range of cow milk alternatives at E-leclerc in Royan

Fresh Fruit and Veg

What I also really love is how fresh their fruit and vegetables are. There’s a lot less plastic packaging and they do taste so much better than the vegetables we buy in Britain. It might be that everything tastes better on holiday! However, we did notice some oddities in vegetable range which is likely to be due to accessibility. For example, we couldn’t find broccoli at E-Leclerc, but we found some at Super U.

Fresh lettuce at Super U in Royan.

Meat Alternatives

As I mentioned in my introduction paragraph, veganism hasn’t quite been adopted by the masses so they are lacking in meat substitutes compared to the UK. Here’s what we did end up finding though:

Most products are very clearly labelled vegan. We usually only picked it up if it was labelled vegan as our French language skills aren’t quite good enough to decipher the ingredients list fully!

Tofu was a nice option to have and we made ourselves a panko coated tofu katsu curry (with items that we brought over from the UK in our car on the way down).

The veggie balls were an interesting find. The flavour was quite unusual and we put them in a pesto pasta which I didn’t enjoy. I think they might have been much nicer with a tomato based sauce instead.

The ‘Cordon bleu’ was a processed chicken style item with what I can only assume was vegan cheese and vegan ham supplements. I did not enjoy these at all. They had a really weird texture and were very dry.

The soya steaks were great. We enjoyed these so much that we bought them again. We had them as burgers with lettuce as a lunch on numerous occasions. They have a great texture and a nice flavour.

Another item we purchased by didn’t photograph here where the chicken nugget replacements, also part of the Cereal Grill Vegetal range. These were awful. No flavour, very dry. I do not recommend purchasing these if you see them.

Desserts

I’m gunna finish this blog post as I would with a dinner out, desserts!

The French aren’t such on alternative yogurts. There were plenty available, again from their own brand ranges, as well as Alpro. We also found vegan Ben & Jerrys in Chunky Monkey flavour which was Tom’s favourite.

One of my greatest finds in Super U were these amazing looking puddings! From what I could see, they came in 3 different flavours: Mango & Passionfruit, Raspberry (not pictured) and Chocolate Almond.

I bought all 3 and loved all 3. The chocolate almond was lovely but was just like a chocolate yogurt. The Mango & Passionfruit and the Raspberry flavour were delicious! They had the texture of a panna cotta and were really delicious. I hope they bring them to the UK soon!

Gurou Street Food in La Rochelle, France

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When planning our trip to visit La Rochelle, Happy Cow is our biggest friend. Happy Cow will give you a list of the vegan friendly restaurants and shops in a given area that you search. Not only this, they also provide a list of places to avoid to! I highly recommend using it, especially in places where you’re unfamiliar.

Anyway, Tom found Gurou Street Food which was an all vegan restaurant. It opened at 12pm, so we got there just in time for opening. It’s a small restaurant down a quiet side street in La Rochelle, a short walk from the main street in La Rochelle.

We put our belongings down on a table outside under the shaded umbrella and walked inside. The waitress started speak to us in French and I immediately looked dumb-founded and responded with “Parlez-vous anglais?”. She then switched to fluent English and very helpfully started translating the menu for us and making recommendations.

I ordered the ‘Double Cheezy’ burger and Tom ordered the ‘Ultra’ burger. We also ordered a side of cauliflower wings and fries.

The double cheezy was a deep fried seitan patty with 2 slices of vegan cheese, BBQ sauce, salad and onions. It was incredibly large and very filling! The cauliflower wings were amazing and the fries were great. Tom’s Ultra burger was a veggie patty that he thoroughly enjoyed.

After our meal, we were so full that we almost forgot about dessert!

The window sill was lined with delicious goodies, which included: Chocolate and banana cupcakes, Carrot cake and Chocolate brownies. We took a box home with us and decided on the brownie and the cupcake.

The brownie was lovely. It was light and fluffy, not at all dense and filled with pockets of coconut. The cupcake was on another level. There was a pocket of melted chocolate inside and the top of the cupcake was nice and crisp, but the inside was soft and gooey. It was fantastic.

I can’t remember the specific prices for each item, but in total I spent around £42 for mains, sides, dessert and drinks for 2 people, so not at all unreasonable.

All-in-all, for those of you looking for a vegan stop-off in La Rochelle, Gurou Street Food is where you should be. The food is amazing and the staff were so helpful and friendly.

Spectrum Collections: Cardiff Sample Sale [27/28th July]

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This is an urgent blog post that must go up right now so that you guys don’t miss out on the biggest savings possible!

Spectrum Collections are having a sample sale this weekend in the Tramshed in Cardiff.

My friend, Emily, and I went this afternoon and we were in our element. We thought we’d pop by just to have a look at what was around but we weren’t expecting to buy much…

We walked into the Tramshed and were greeted by staff and told that all the products were behind the curtain pictured above. There was also a coffee bar on the right hand side in case you wanted to buy a coffee to browse with! (FYI, there was both cow milk and oat milk for the omnis and vegans out there).

We carried on through to the main part of the room and there were tables and tables lined with boxes of brushes and bags!

We made the tactical decision to look at everything first and make a list of the things that we wanted. I’m not going to lie, it was so difficult. With everything at such bargain prices, it was a challenge to filter!

There were so many options, ranging from small brush sets, 10 piece brush sets, make up bags/rolls, limited edition Disney X Spectrum collection items as well as individual brushes at £1 each! The most expensive set there was at £20 for the Disney roll bag set.

I wrote a post about Spectrum brushes that I bought a few months ago. I didn’t need any new brushes at all, but at the price they were, I really couldn’t say no. I bought some for my mum and sisters as well!

The sets were lovely and perfect to buy as gifts if you don’t even need them for yourself. And lets not forget, the products are all cruelty-free and vegan which is a massive bonus!

If you have some time, the sample sale continues tomorrow (Sunday, 28th July 2019) at the Tramshed in Cardiff from 11am – 5pm!

Summer Reads 2019

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I wouldn’t say I’m an avid reader, but when I’m on holiday I really do chug through the novels. We came back from our 2 week holiday in France last week and I thought I’d give a run down of the books that I have been reading.

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan

The second book in the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy, China Rich Girlfriend continues on seamlessly from the first.

I only started reading Crazy Rich Asians shortly after the movie had been released as my sister had recommended the book. Now after reading, I do too. As much as I enjoyed the movie, the book is a lot better and builds a much better picture of the characters and their back stories.

China Rich Girlfriend was just as enjoyable to read as Crazy Rich Asians and brings more characters into the fold. It focuses more on Shanghai and mainland Chinese characters and the story behind Rachel Chu’s family.

You would definitely need to read Crazy Rich Asians first for context, but definitely an excellent read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Link here.

Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan

The third and final book of the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy provided us with a wonderful closure to the story. The characters were brought back to life for me with additions to their stories and their lives.

Being Chinese myself, I found this trilogy really funny with the Chinese idioms and relatable with regards to the family culture (less with the rich sadly).

Again, you’d need to have read the first 2 books for context, but I highly recommend them. Kevin Kwan writes a beautiful story that epitomises Chinese culture and their loyalties to family, with the building of wonderful characters.

Link here.

Vox by Christina Dalcher

Vox was recommended to me by my friend, Ella, after telling her that I’d only recently started watching The Handmaid’s Tale (I haven’t read it either – it is on my list, but I have caught up on the TV series!).

The same concept has been built on, whereby America has changed under the rule of religion, and women have been suppressed and limited to 100 words a day.

I enjoyed reading the novel, however I felt the build up didn’t receive the ending it deserved. It was gripping throughout, but I felt the ending was rushed and very ‘happily ever after’.

It might not be for everyone, but at only £2.99, I thought it was worth it and still an enjoyable read.

Link here.

The Cactus by Sarah Haywood

At 99p in the Amazon Kindle July sales, it was hard not to buy this book with the excellent reviews that it had received. Additionally, it was added to Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club.

This was my favourite read this Summer. I related heavily to the main character, Susan, and her incredibly prickly and indifferent personality. Although predictable in many aspects, Sarah Haywood has written her characters beautifully, and the story is emotional.

Susan builds as a person throughout and unfolds with every page you turn. My highest recommendation for this Summer. For those of you with Kindles, grab the book for 99p this month.

Link here.

Last Letter from Istanbul by Lucy Foley

And finally, my current and incomplete read book is Last Letter from Istanbul by Lucy Foley. I’m roughly half way through, and based on what I’ve read so far, I highly recommend it.

I’m finding the historical setting really interesting, and each chapter flips between characters. It’s nice to see each character viewpoint of a scenario and it brings new characters in slowly without naming them and only providing a name like ‘The Prisoner’ and ‘The Traveller’ as their distinction to add to the mystery.

Link here.

Spectrum Collection Brushes

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I treated myself to a set of brand new Spectrum Collection brushes in May in their 50% bank holiday sale. Spectrum are well known for their bright, colourful, cruelty-free, vegan brushes. I couldn’t help myself when I saw that they were having a 50% off sale, so here I am, telling you about my glorious purchase.

At Christmas time, Tom bought me a set of brushes which were lovely so I knew they were high quality so I was happy to take the plunge. I bought a set to match my existing set, and only 1 brush overlapped!

  • 50% 12 piece set
  • Christmas gift from Tom

I took the plunge and bought myself the White Marbleous 12 Piece Set. It has a wide range of face and eye brushes for application, buffing and contour.

  • A00 – Luxe Powder 
  • C07 – Luxe Tapered Sculptor 
  • A02 – Angled Foundation
  • C02 – Flat Top Contour
  • A05 – Precision Blush
  • B05 – Luxe Blender 
  • B06 – Tall Tapered Blender
  • A07 – Stubby Shader
  • A12 – Fluffy Pencil
  • A13 – Short Smudge
  • A14 – Brow Definer
  • A15 – Lip Definer

I believe the prefix A, B and C for the brushes stand for Application, Buffing and Contour. I’m sure they have a range of D brushes also which I can only guess is for Definition. Either way, I just use whichever brush is clean and does the job!

The brushes are made of synthetic materials and they’re super soft. Whenever I use them to apply, product is always applied evenly and smoothly. And plus, because the brushes are white, it does make them a lot easier to clean!

And on the topic of brush cleaning…

I also purchased their Mini Vegan Brush Soap. Incredibly easy to use. You simply wet the brush and wipe it over the soap. I then clean as always using one of the make up pads with the bumps I bought on eBay and my brushes smell lovely and are clean for re-use!

Spectrum brushes are quite expensive but they are worth every penny. The quality is fantastic and they look great on the dressing table. And more importantly, they are a vegan and cruelty-free brand!