Reflections & Resistance

A personal reflection on writing for Tourette’s Action, and why representation, lived experience, and standing together matter more than individual recognition.

While writing about inherited silence and the way “taboo” shapes how we talk about bodies, I realised something important: this conversation doesn’t just belong to women.We talk so little about what men go through as they age, change, and carry stress and that silence affects families too.  

Silence doesn’t protect us.Knowledge does. I’ve shared some honest reflections on perimenopause, inherited silence, and why we need to stop calling shared human experiences “taboo” — for the sake of future generations.

Remembering the connections that most of the world forgot for a while between the moon, the earth, compassion, and power. If you've found your way here you’re doing what wise ones have always done: listening, questioning, and weaving meaning back into a world that’s forgotten how to listen.

Makeup has always been more than vanity.It’s identity. It’s ritual. It’s rebellion. For activists, protestors, and anyone who dares to show up for what’s right, makeup becomes armour, a way to protect, empower, and express even when the world feels heavy with injustice.   What is CV Dazzle? CV Dazzle (short for Computer Vision Dazzle) is a style of makeup and hair design created to disrupt facial recognition technology.It uses bold geometric shapes, contrasting colours, and asymmetry to confuse the algorithms that rely on symmetry and pattern recognition. Originally inspired by World War I “dazzle camouflage,” it isn’t about invisibility, it’s about refusing to conform to systems of control.Think jagged contour lines across one side of the face, heavy blocks of colour where a highlight might normally sit, and abstract patterns that make no visual sense to a computer but speak volumes to the human eye. It’s art. It’s protest. It’s visibility on your own terms.   Makeup as Protection & Power While CV Dazzle makeup is one form of resistance, beauty rituals can serve many roles in activism: Empowerment: Before facing the crowd, ritual makeup can be grounding, eyeliner like war paint, lipstick as sigil, each stroke a reminder of purpose. Expression: Activism thrives on creativity. Makeup tells the story that slogans can’t. Solidarity: Matching colours or symbols unify voices, giving visual power to collective action.   Practical Tips for Attending a peaceful gathering. Whether you’re attending a peaceful rally or a silent vigil, preparation is magick in motion. Here’s how to protect your energy and yourself: 🖤 No phones if possible or keep them switched off and stored safely. Devices can track location data even when idle. 🖤 Cover identifiable tattoos if privacy is important. Bandages, clothing layers, or makeup can help maintain anonymity in images. 🖤 Avoid contact lenses or mascara if there’s a risk of tear gas  plain glasses offer better protection. 🖤 Dress for comfort and mobility. This is not the time for glam heels, good boots and layered clothing are your best allies. 🖤 Bring essentials only: water, snacks, emergency contact info, and a small first-aid kit. 🖤 Know your rights. Familiarise yourself with local protest laws and legal aid contacts  knowledge is its own kind of shield. 🖤 Go with a buddy. Always safer, stronger, and more grounding. 🖤 Stay aware, stay kind. The most powerful energy in any movement is empathy.   Beauty as Defiance To paint your face is to claim your space. To walk in protest is to move the spell from mirror to street. Whether you wear CV Dazzle, a red slash of lipstick, or a bare, unpainted face the act is the same, a declaration that you exist, that you care, and that you refuse to look away. Beauty has always been political and when you choose compassion over cruelty, justice over silence, and visibility over fear that’s the most powerful kind of magick there is. 🕯️ Stay safe. Stay brave. Stay bewitching.

When the world feels too heavy, here are grounding rituals, small acts of resistance, and compassionate self-care to help you through.

As a ND business owner and parent, I hear the same things over and over when it comes to school and education. I just want to share my perspective and say that Advocacy isn’t optional, it’s access. Schools talk a lot about attendance, but far less about (if any mention of) burnout. For disabled and neurodivergent students, prolonged stress and masking drive burnout, and burnout drives absence. Then schools blame the absence instead of the conditions that caused it.Last night visiting comprehensive schools in the area I was told  “Attendance = good grades.”  But GCSE maths/science ( the level being taught in these schools) reminds us: correlation ≠ causation. Showing up is not the same as being supported.Real inclusion can look like: Predictable supports (breaks, water prompts, quiet spaces)Chunked simple instructions and check-backsSensory-friendly options and movement breaks.Co-regulation with a trusted adultFlexible pathways (catch-up windows, remote options when needed)Resilience is another word I have heard an awful lot, "teach your kids to be resilient" but true Resilience isn’t pushing through needs, it’s recovering with support. Let’s design systems that reduce burnout, not just improve registers because sustained access creates sustainable achievement.  

🕯️ Empathy as Spellcraft — Why We Must Care Some spells are cast in silence.Not with candles or circles  but with compassion. In a world that glorifies apathy and detachment, empathy becomes rebellion. To care deeply, to feel for others, to refuse to look away, that is the purest form of magick. The Alchemy of Feeling Empathy is not weakness. It’s energy transmutation, the sacred art of taking another’s pain and shaping it into understanding, action, and solidarity. To feel sorrow for a stranger’s suffering, to ache for animals we’ll never meet, to rage at injustice even when it doesn’t touch us directly, these are not burdens. They’re proof that the spell still works, that the heart still burns and that Humanity is still alive. Each time we choose to feel instead of numb, we whisper to the universe: “I am awake.”  Compassion as Resistance Empathy demands courage. It asks us to bear witness to the horror without turning away, to confront privilege without shame, to listen ... even when it’s uncomfortable. In times when cruelty is normalised and algorithms reward outrage, empathy is the quiet act that breaks the spell. It slows the chaos. It heals the divide. It’s not soft ...it’s radical.It’s not performative..... it’s participatory.It’s the foundation of every revolution worth surviving.  The Witch’s Work Witches have always stood at the edges , listening, healing, protecting the unseen.Our craft has never been about power over others, but power with others. Every act of kindness, every ethical choice, every moment you use your voice to defend the voiceless that’s spell work. It’s activism written in candlelight and conviction. So when the world feels too heavy make sure that you rest, recharge, but don’t close your heart. That’s what oppressive systems want: our disconnection.Keep caring, even when it hurts. Especially when it hurts. Because the act of caring is how we remind the world that humanity still exists. The Closing Spell Light a candle. Whisper a name. Donate, sign, write, speak, show up.Let empathy move through you like a current , not consuming you but cleansing you. To care is to conjure.To feel is to fight.To act is to heal. And that, witch or not, is the oldest magic there is. 🖤VE Cosmetics  Morals before Money. Magick before Apathy.

The world’s pain is networked  and so must be our care. From Gaza to Congo, from Haiti to Hawai‘i, we look at what binds the world’s wounds. 🕯️ May empathy be the spell that saves us all.

The Politics of Compassion  Beauty as Activism In a world that profits from apathy, compassion becomes a radical act. At VE Cosmetics, kindness isn’t a soft virtue. It’s rebellion and defiance wrapped in pigment and spellcraft. Every formula we create, every ingredient we refuse, every stance we take is a statement  "Beauty can be powerful without being cruel"    The Quiet Revolution Most revolutions are loud but ours began with a whisper “What if beauty could be built on empathy instead of exploitation?” From that question came everything we are. We chose synthetic mica when the world didn’t ask why natural wasn’t ethical.We refused to enter markets demanding animal testing, even when the profit would have been tempting.We built transparency into our foundations not just in shade ranges, but in ethics, ingredients, and intent. Because the most dangerous thing you can be in an indifferent industry is caring.   🖤Beauty as a Political Space Makeup has never been neutral.It’s armour, it’s identity, it’s language. For centuries, it’s been used to silence or to shout and in our hands, it becomes both shield and spell. We wear black eyeliner like protest paint. We blend shadows that speak louder than slogans.We craft colours that reclaim what the world once called “too much.” Every brushstroke is activism , a declaration that beauty belongs to every body, every gender, every creature, without harm. “When you buy from an ethical brand, you vote with your coins for the kind of world you want to live in.”    The Politics of Compassion Compassion is not passive. It asks you to act when others look away. It demands integrity when convenience is cheaper. To care for animals, people, and planet in an industry that so often turns them into commodities that’s not branding. That’s protest. Our mantra, Morals Before Money, isn’t a tagline.It’s a promise. It’s a daily decision to choose better over easier, empathy over excess.   🔥 Beauty as Activism in Practice Activism, to us, looks like this: No animal testing. Ever. Synthetic mica only, free from child labour and exploitation. Vegan formulations that don’t trade ethics for aesthetics. Transparency across our supply chain and ingredients. Amplifying compassion for all sentient life. Speaking up, even when it’s inconvenient. Sometimes activism is a placard. Sometimes, it’s a pigment. Both can change the world.   The Coven’s Role You  our coven  are part of this quiet uprising.Every purchase, every conversation, every post shared in support of ethical beauty sends ripples through the collective. When you choose compassion, you shift the landscape. When you wear vegan & cruelty-free lipstick, you wear protest. When you gift vegan skincare, you give permission for gentleness to thrive. “Our kind of beauty doesn’t end at the mirror. It begins there and ripples outward.”    A Final Spell Beauty can be shallow, or it can be sacred. We’ve chosen sacred. Ours is the beauty that refuses harm, the glamour that empowers, the artistry that awakens conscience. Every product, every spell, every shade is built on the belief that kindness can be the most revolutionary form of power. So light the candle. Paint the protest. Wear your compassion like war paint and halo combined. Because empathy, dear one, is the most beautiful rebellion of all.

Because silence helps no one except those who benefit from the violence. To anyone reading this who feels as helpless and heartbroken as I do: you’re not alone. Your rage matters. Your grief matters. And if you still care — deeply, loudly, and inconveniently — then you are exactly what the world needs right now. We don’t need to be perfect. We just need to refuse to go quiet.

This blog explores the science behind gender diversity and why inclusive, cruelty-free beauty matters more than ever.

🖤 Accessibility isn’t just about ramps and lifts, it’s also about communication. I wanted to to touch on this as I have a feeling that this will affect others out there and wanted to share my support.I recently received a form that asked for my phone number to schedule an interview with no option to request adaptations or offer an alternative method of contact.For many, a phone call is no big deal.But for me , a neurodivergent woman with autism, ADHD, and Tourette’s  ( amongst other diagnosis) it’s something I actively dread.Phone calls often leave me overwhelmed. I process information more slowly, so by the time I’ve understood what’s been said and started to respond, the person on the other end is already speaking again. That overlap causes even more stress, more lag in my thinking, and more shutdown.Sometimes, when I’m really overwhelmed, I literally cannot speak, the words are in my head, but they won’t come out. This is often called situational mutism. It’s not rudeness or avoidance. It’s not a choice. It’s my brain trying to protect itself.I’m sharing this not to point fingers, but to offer insight.Because these experiences are common, and yet still so rarely considered.💬 Just a simple question  “Do you need any adaptations?” could make all the difference.I communicate better by email. I can process things at my own pace, without the pressure of instant responses or masking discomfort.Inclusive practices don’t need to be complicated.But they do need to be considered.

🖤 VE Cosmetics at The House of Lords – A Pledge Against Bloodsports 🖤 This past week has been surreal in the best way — VE Cosmetics was invited to the House of Lords to publicly pledge our stance against bloodsports. But let’s be clear: this isn’t just about “not hunting.”It’s about refusing to align with any company, brand, or system that profits from or promotes cruelty — whether through hunting, shooting, or animal fighting. This is a zero-tolerance vow. A mark of ethical rebellion. We proudly signed the Business Without Bloodsports pledge alongside The League Against Cruel Sports, solidifying what we’ve stood for since day one: no animal should ever suffer for profit, power, or pleasure. As a vegan-owned, witch-run brand, we’ve always used our platform to advocate for more than just lipstick. This is about justice, ethics, and accountability — for animals, for the environment, and for every conscious consumer who deserves better. You’ll now see the official pledge badge displayed on our site — a sigil of our continued commitment to cruelty-free living and fearless transparency. 🕯️ Beauty shouldn’t come with blood on its hands. And with VE Cosmetics — it never will.   #VECosmetics #HouseOfLords #AntiBloodsports #CrueltyFreeAlways #WitchOwned #VeganBeauty #GothicEthics #TheLeagueAgainstCruelSports #BeautyWithoutBlood

🖤 Giving Back This Yule – A Little Magick Shared 🖤 At VE Cosmetics, we’ve never just been about makeup — we’re about making a difference. Real beauty is rooted in compassion, and this Yule, we had the honour of giving a little magick back. This year, we donated over £1,000 worth of stock to families who were struggling to put gifts under the tree. In a world that often feels cold and unjust, being able to bring even a flicker of warmth, joy, and relief has been the greatest gift we could ask for. We know it’s not much in the grand scheme of things — but if it helped ease even a little bit of worry, then it was worth every spell, swipe, and sleepless night. 🕯️ Thank you for supporting this brand and allowing us to pay it forward.Wishing you a Blessed Yule and a New Year filled with light, strength, and shadow-kissed kindness. #VECosmetics #YuleBlessings #GothicHeart #GiveBackWithMagick #VeganBeauty #WitchOwned #CrueltyFreeKindness #BeautyWithPurpose #EthicalGlamour

Running VE Cosmetics has been the most rewarding and challenging journey of my life , but imposter syndrome has been a constant companion along the way. A little voice in my head telling me I’m not good enough.When I first launched, I questioned who I was to start a cosmetics brand. I wasn’t a big corporation, I was just me, a former clinical scientist and model, sitting at my kitchen table, trying to create something ethical and different in an industry dominated by giants. Even now, with awards, press features, and a loyal community behind the brand, that whisper still creeps in: “Do I really deserve to be here?”What I’ve learned is that imposter syndrome often appears right before growth. For me It’s a sign that I’m stepping into new spaces, stretching into areas that once felt out of reach and that sense of not knowing opens the doors to that little voice….So if you’ve felt that doubt too, know this: you’re not alone. Your story, your perspective, and your work matter. You do belong here....And sometimes, the very fact that we feel like imposters is proof we’re pushing boundaries and creating space where none existed before.✨ To my fellow founders keep going. The world needs what you’re building.👉 How do you handle imposter syndrome when it shows up?