Drinking Port in Porto!

Around this time last year we were approached by a team of researchers from Keele University, asking if we'd tell them our story of how Fairypants came to be. We said yes, and we had a lovely Skype chat one afternoon.

After Christmas we were sent the transcription of the interview, and we found it so interesting to read it again that we serialised it on our blog - read it here.

Then in spring time, we were contacted again - did we want to travel to Portugal in September to present our business story at a seminar concluding the research - we said yes, of course!

We flew out to Portugal on Thursday 22nd September, fizzing with excitement to meet new people and explore a new country. We landed and were immediately struck by how laid back and relaxed it was - much more so than at home!

View over the river Douro, Porto

Obviously the scenery helped too! We were greeted by two members of Keele's expert research team, and we had a really lovely time exploring the historic city of Porto.

On Friday we had some more exploring to do, followed by heading to the University of Porto for our presentation. We had so much fun telling our story, it's always nice to look back on where we started - and to see how far we've come. We also shared some of our plans for the next few months, and it's so exciting to see what's still to come this year.

View from the Crystal Palace Gardens

Afterwards we had the most lovely meal of our whole stay - at a vegetarian restaurant with lots of fab vegan options! Not very Portuguese as we chose a Malasian curry - but it was DIVINE!

We stayed for one more day, and we spent the Saturday walking around Porto - burning off the calories from the night before! We sampled some amazing local Port, and bought some cheesy souvenirs to remember our brief but gorgeous visit.

River Douro

We had a fabulous time, and we at Fairypants HQ count ourselves very lucky to have had the opportunity to travel to Portugal, and to participate in the study. We hope we get to read the finished findings soon, it's very interesting to see real research on young entrepreneurs, and to see that our hectic way of life isn't that unusual after all.

Most of our followers and customers will know that our Chief Fairy is a lady, and as such she was shocked by some of the statistics revealed by the study - only 1 in 3 young entrepreneurs is a woman. With the gender pay gap still in existence, and so many women still coming up against the so called 'glass ceiling' it seems like the only way forward is to create your own glass ceiling, then smash it into smithereens.

That's what we'll be doing at Fairypants HQ, anyway...

Shop some of our newest releases now - and keep your eyes peeled for more!

Autumn Treats: Keep Those Smooches Soft & Sweet!

We know, we know - in our last post we were teaching you how to cling on to Summer. That said, we can't deny (as much as we want to) that the weather is likely to start getting a little bit nippier soon.

As much as we love our sunshine, we're excited to say hello to the chill! Why? WELL, if you can think of a better time of year to indulge in lip balms that smell good enough to eat, we'd be very surprised.

For those of us who don't like your run-of-the-mill, bland chapsticks, the Fairypants Lip Balm range is a welcome change! If you think of a couple of your favourite tasty treats, the odds are that you'll find a lip balm in our range that matches at least one of them! Made using shea butter and jojoba wax (more info on our website, and even MORE available on request), your lips won't know what they did to deserve these little pots of loveliness!

Blueberry Muffin? Peach Bellini? Pina Colada? Rhubarb & Custard? Barely the tip of the iceberg, folks!

Why not treat yourself to one of our delectable lip scrubs while you're at it? Cruelty-free, gentle on your smackers and smelling good enough to eat, it's hard to find a reason NOT to indulge!

We'll catch up with you again soon, but in the meantime, here are a few of our favourites :)

xox

Summer neons, had me a blast...

Now that we're well into September, Summer for 2016 has officially ended. 

Well, we don't know about you, but at Fairypants HQ we're just not ready to say goodbye. What better way to hang onto those fun Summer vibes than by painting them onto our nails?

Anyone who keeps their finger on the pulse of nail art channels on YouTube will know that in the last year or so, 'dry-brushing' has come into its own as the saviour of the not-so-artsy nail fanatics everywhere. You don't need a steady hand, you don't need any fancy products or tools and you don't even need a lot of time. It's also a super easy way to get a French mani with a twist! None of those fiddly straight lines for us!

Choose a nude/pale base coat (we've gone for white), then using your colours of choice, wipe as much product as possible from the brush, and swipe the remainder onto those talons! Swipe vertically, horizontally, diagonally- whatever takes your fancy! This look is so versatile - you could literally use any colours - nudes, brights, glitters - and you're guaranteed an unusual mani that looks like it took a LOT more effort than it did. As our aim is to recapture the Summer, we plumped for the Fairypants Neon Collection on a white base, with a glossy topcoat. A matte topcoat would also look awesome! We've also popped a cheeky bit of a glitter accent on the ring fingernail, but you can work this look any way that takes your fancy!

Is this the most versatile look or what?

Which colours would you choose? If you've recreated this look (or changed it up with new colours), tweet us or tag us on Instagram! We'd love to see what you've come up with!

xox