May wishlist

This month has been full of mocks, revision, and stress but if internet window shopping isn't the best way to procrastinate in a time like that I don't know what is.

Rimmel Kate Lasting Finish Lipstick in 08

I'm probably the last person in the blogger world who hasn't tried any of the Rimmel Kate Moss lipsticks. Don't get me wrong, I've swatched them and they're lovely, I just haven't ever known which one to pick up. I love the look of this shade though, and I've been wanting another kinda-nude-kinda-brown-kinda-pink lipstick for my everyday lip.

Black Oversized Smock Skater Dress

My thought process was that I wanted a new dress for summer, so obviously I go for black. This is pretty inexpensive and it looks flowy and comfortable, and generally a versatile doozy of a dress.

H&M Mom Jeans

I'm not sure if I've ever said this on here before and it's the weirdest thing - I'm a little bit terrified of wearing jeans, I haven't actually worn them in nearly 2 years. I really want to start wearing them again but skinny jeans are just a no from me until I feel a little more confident with the whole leg area, so I'm looking into Mom jeans as they look comfortable and a bit 90s (in a good grungy kind of way, not flares with sequins going halfway up the leg). I like these ones from H&M, although I think I'll have a look around charity shops and Primark and generally cheaper shops - don't really fancy spending £30 on jeans if I'm scared of wearing them!

24pc Makeup Brush Set with Black Pouch

I really need some new brushes. I only have one set and the odd single one, and I'm not being bourgeois like ugh one pony is not enough, it's nothing like that but I would like some to alternate with so I don't have to wash them so frequently. Plus there are some in this set that I don't have anything similar to, so it would be pretty nice to just expand my collection. I also like how it comes in a case because I'm hoping to go on a little holiday with some buddies from school so it would be nice to have some travel-friendly brushes!

Maybelline Brow Drama

I'm not picky about brands here but I really want to try a tinted brow gel. I like the sound of the Maybelline one and it's pretty inexpensive. Again, because I'm hoping to go on a mini holiday, I'd like something that's a bit quicker to use than eyeshadow or pencil. Plus, everyone seems to be talking about tinted brow gels at the moment so I've been wanting to try them for quite a while.

What do you have your eye on at the moment?

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Music of the month - April 2015

1. Postcards from Paradise - Ringo Starr

I couldn't not mention one track from Ringo Starr's new album given that I'm a massive fan of The Beatles. I don't think the song is particularly musically unique but if you're a Beatles fan, you have to listen to this just for the novelty of it. It's literally a bunch of Beatles references thrown in over the span of 5 minutes - guaranteed to put a smile on your face if you're a fan of the Fab Four.

2. Tiny Vessels - Death Cab for Cutie
This isn't a new release or anything (seriously, it's from 2003) but Death Cab for Cutie is a band I don't know all that well, like I think I know a couple of songs and that's it, but this song came up on my Tumblr dashboard so I gave it a listen like I do 99% of the time when a song comes up on my Tumblr dashboard (this is how you discover the best music bruh), and I love this song. It's a pretty depressing song which I interpret as being about a relationship where there isn't a spark or a deep, emotional connection - it's basically just a relationship of the sexual variety (click on the link it's not porn, I promise)

3. Gasoline - Alpine
Alpine are a new band to me which I discovered in this post by A Little Opulent, I gave their top tracks on Spotify a listen and immediately fell in love. This song is pretty chilled and Alpine on the whole are pretty different to anything I've ever heard before.

4. Yesterdays - Only Real
Only Real is a completely new discovery to me. I saw on the Spotify new releases tab that Jerk At The End of The Line album had came out so I decided to give it a listen and it's so so good. Sort of rap meets indie (before y'all get pretentious on me, I know indie initially meant independent music label, but I am saying indie in the way it's generally used now). I think this is definitely going to be an album I listen to a lot during the Summer, and the song Yesterdays is a really catchy one which explains why it's his top track on Spotify, although the whole album is really good!

5. American Oxygen - Rihanna
Rihanna's someone who I've never really been obsessed with, I never really went through a phase with her or anything, but I do think she's talented and makes good content. I heard this song when the video came out and I just think the video itself was great, I enjoyed the little nod to Mike Brown with the clip of the 'Hands up, don't shoot' marchers (I was one of them in the march in London if you wanna watch me yelling like a moron) and I think the song in general was a bit of a nod towards Eric Garner with the 'breathe out, breathe in', and I interpreted the song to be about disillusion around the American dream and that sort of theme which I quite enjoyed. I'm actually considering doing a makeup-sort-of-tutorial-but-sort-of-not-because-not-a-makeup-artist-guys for the look Rihanna wore in the video, that's if I get round to filming it though.

I'd also like to give a little mention to The Jam and The Style Council because I've been listening to them almost non-stop this month, they weren't really new songs to me or anything so I didn't think to give them a whole dedication but y'know just had to mention them because they're cool as heck.

What music have you been listening to?

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Exams, Philosophy related musicals, shopping, and rediscoveries

It's that time where I do 'Ten Things and Ten Blogs' but I've decided to change it up a bit. I've decided not to showcase ten blogs anymore, not because I don't think they deserve recognition, but because I'd rather be able to give a massive spotlight to one or two blogs I've really been enjoying ('tis a bit more meaningful and all that jazz) so if I am really enjoying a blog you will still hear about it, just not in the same way as before, cool?

one.

Only Dan and Phil could make me laugh about revision (I'm in the midst of my second round of A Level mock exams and I'm just hating every second)

two.

I'm not sure how many of you reading care about Star Wars, but I am a massive fan of Star Wars and I just need a moment to talk about the new trailer with Harrison Ford and Chewbacca - ultimate fangirl moment!

three.
Since the mini-post above, my mocks have finished - huzzah! Philosophy hasn't finished being marked so I can't tell you a grade for that, but I was really happy with my History and I got an A* and an A in Psychology which is what I'm probably going to be doing in University so that's pretty good.

four.
After mocks, our Philosophy teacher decided to give us somewhat of a break and show us a musical called A Theory of Justice (you can see the trailer here), which is actually a university production musical. He always said he would show it to us and we didn't know when, and in all honesty none of us expected anything amazing, but it just is. It's just hilarious, it tells the story of John Rawls and Robert Nozick developing their theory of justice but they travel through time learning about different philosophers' theories of justice. My personal favourite moments were Karl Marx saying 'that's so bourgeois' as that's something I say almost on a daily basis, and Emanuel Kant being portrayed as a fairy godmother - absolutely brilliant.

five.
Me  and my friends decided to go for a mini shopping trip and meal out as another small celebration of the end of mocks, and as it's probably the last time we'll be able to do anything like that before the real exams. I picked up a couple of beauty bits (not enough for a haul though, sorry! Sure you'll see reviews though) and we went to Pizza Express, then we went back to my friend's house and we watched Into The Woods whilst eating a lot of Reese's peanut butter cups and Tangfastics - such fun!

six.
I've become re-obsessed with the app QuizUp. Around exam season, I always tend to get more into apps probably because I'm spending more time on my phone than my computer, and all my friends have this app now which makes it all the more time-consuming!

seven.
Whilst we're on the topic of rediscoveries, I need to mention How I Met Your Mother. I was watching this obsessively over the Summer (and the odd episode throughout 2013) but I hadn't really watched much of season 9 as I already knew what happened in the last episode (what the heck man) and I had generally heard from people that it ruined the series. However, my friend has been pestering me to finish it because I need to be disappointed too and so far, so good, but I am not looking forward to the end.

eight.
Me and my friends are in the process of trying to organise a cottage holiday for the summer, y'know those sort of crappy British holidays pensioners tend to do, hoping it does go ahead because I'm looking forward to it! (We're hoping to do a ouija board and a seance)

nine.
I read and rewatched Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (book review here) and for the past few days I've had So Long and Thanks for All the Fish stuck in my head, which has been annoying as I don't know all the lyrics and it's a bit of a silly obscure song so I can't even sing it out with anyone - #FirstWorldProblems

ten.
Marina from YouTube Channel marinashutup uploaded a video about the evolution of Rape Culture which I thought was so interesting and well worth a watch.

How have the past couple of weeks been for you?

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Recent reads #1

I usually just do single book reviews on this blog but recently I've been loving mini reviews, and there are a lot of books I read that don't get reviewed so from now I'm going to start doing mini reviews instead. I may still do single book reviews if I have a lot to say on a book but for now at least it is bye bye single book reviews, and hello compilation of mini reviews.

Now that that's out of the way...

ELEANOR AND PARK - RAINBOW ROWELL

★★★★★

Eleanor and Park is the story of a couple of high school losers. Eleanor is the new girl in town with a dysfunctional home life to say the last and she doesn't really have any friends, until she meets Park. Park is a bit of a loser but he does have some friends unlike Eleanor. They sit with each other on the bus and Park lends her comics, and makes her mix tapes, and eventually they become friends, and then they start dating. This is the story of their relationship and how it works despite outside problems.

I got this book for my birthday (I did a post on the things I got here) but I didn't get round to reading it for quite a while clearly. As you can see by the 5 star rating, I loved it (it was good enough to get into my Winter Favourites having only read it a day so y'know). I read about half the book in a day, it was so so easy to read. I mean it's a 'coming-of-age' book so it's hardly going to be complex but I just loved so much about it. I loved the characters, I actually developed a bit of a crush on Park which a bit awkward given that he's a high school student and I'm 18 but hey. It's set in the 80s so they talk about The Smiths and Joy Division a fair bit, and The Beatles even got a few mentions so it's hard to go wrong. The book dealt with big themes like racism, gender roles, body image, and abusive family relationships, and whilst you have to get over the set up that Park and Eleanor basically become really close without really talking to each other, it's so so good and the ending had me so on edge.

YOU NEVER GIVE ME YOUR MONEY: THE BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THE BEATLES - PETER DOGGETT

★★★★

This book is the story of The Beatles focusing more on the business side of things, and all the fights that tore them apart as a group. It's tells the tale of how they built up their financial empire at the same time with personal and business rivalry. It  gives you a look into the arguments between the Lennon and McCartney families, the inner conflicts of George Harrison, and Ringo Starr's alcoholism. It documents the changing relationships between the four as they try to dissociate themselves from The Beatles and it shows the transformation of Apple Corps 'from a bastion of 1960s counter-culture into a corporate behemoth'

I got this book for Christmas (I did a post on the things I got here) and I got round to reading it finally because my Dad's been wanting to borrow it off me but he wanted me to read it first and develop my thoughts on it, so that's what I did. This is more about the business side of The Beatles so you definitely have to be an invested fan to read it, but if you are an invested fan (like myself) you will enjoy this because all the facts are there basically and it will just build onto your knowledge. I found it dragged on a bit towards the end and I was glad to finish it, but it did greatly add onto my Beatles knowledge so I'm definitely more prepared for a potential Mastermind session.

THE GREAT GATSBY - F. SCOTT FITZGERALD

★★★★★

The Great Gatsby is the story of a guy called Nick Carraway who has just moved to West Egg of Long Island to seek his fortune as a bond salesman. In East Egg lives Nick's cousin Daisy who's married to his college friend Tom. Nick travels there shortly after moving and he becomes acquainted with their friend Jordan Baker. Daisy, Tom and Jordan are all a lot more privileged than Nick is. When Nick returns home, he sees his neighbour Gatsby staring out at the water with his hand out. Nick later gets invited to one of Gatsby's famous parties, and he becomes friends with the mysterious Gatsby, and the story follows the tale of their friendship and essentially the mystery of Gatsby.

I actually started reading this book a few years ago but I didn't finish it, I remember it was during my GCSEs so I didn't finish it possibly due to stress, lack of time, an increase in the existential crisis, whatever reason, I didn't finish it. Since then I've seen the Leonardo DiCaprio film a few times as well as watching a television adaptation, so I knew the story and I gave it another go as it's pretty short and I feel a bit silly not having read it given how much I love reading and books and classic literature and all that jazz. I really liked this book, it's written in such a beautiful way and I think the social commentary on the seedy underbelly of Capitalism and class distinction was very interesting to read as this is a subject I already am quite interested in (the revolution is coming guys). It's really easy to get into and whilst it's beautifully written, it's not so complex that you can't understand what's going on.

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S - TRUMAN CAPOTE

★★★

This story follows the tale of an unnamed narrator who meets a girl called Holly Golighty, she calls the narrator Fred after her older brother but that isn't actually his name. They're both tenants in apartments in Manhattan's Upper East Side. Holly is essentially a gold digger, she's unemployed and she spends her time with wealthy, elderly men in the hope that one of them will marry her. She likes to shock people by saying bizarre things, and as she slowly reveals herself to the narrator, he becomes interesting in her curious lifestyle.

In all honesty, this story didn't really thrill me. I liked the characterisation of Holly in the sense that she was so annoying and outrageous (and a little bit racist) that it was interesting to read about her, and the actual story was fairly interesting, but I didn't find it exciting to read, the writing style didn't enthral me and I'm not sure if I would read it again. I didn't enjoy the short stories that came with it either. I'm quite upset that I didn't really enjoy it that much because my parents quite like it, I'm hoping that I'll enjoy the film more when I watch it. I know it's very different from the book but I'm thinking I may prefer that (plus you can't go wrong with Audrey Hepburn)

HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY - DOUGLAS ADAMS

★★★★★

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy follows the story of a man called Arthur Dent who's taken off the Earth by his friend Ford Prefect. What Arthur didn't know is that he's actually a researcher for the revised edition of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and he's been posing as an out-of-work actor for 15 years. Together, they travel through space following the guidance of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and they meet a bunch of other travellers on their journey, including a couple of people he knew back on Earth and Marvin the paranoid android who's chronically depressed.

I've wanted to read this for a while because it's one of my Dad's favourite books (I'm pretty certain it was his first fandom ever with the radio show too and all that jazz) and I remember liking the film. I found the book took a few chapters to get going but once it got going, I couldn't put it down - I literally read about 90% of the book in a day. It's light sci-fi but if you're not into sci-fi I reckon you'll still find this pretty accessible, although I'm a big lover of sci-fi so I could be a little bit biased. I thought it was very humorous as well, and I loved Marvin just as much as I did in the film. He really reminded me of Morrissey and of myself which I loved. I definitely want to go on and read the sequels.

What books have you read recently?

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Drugstore/High Street Starter Makeup Kit

When I was about 12 and started building up my makeup collection, I had a massive eyeshadow palette from Claire's Accessories, one mascara and a few lip glosses. This probably wasn't the best set for a rambunctious tween to start with, this resulted in heavy black eyeshadow to try and represent my adoration for My Chemical Romance (no mascara, no blending, yep I'm talking straight up panda eyes). So, here I am now telling you my favourite drugstore and high street makeup options to start up your own kit. If you're well experienced in the world of makeup, this is essentially just my best picks if you will.

FOUNDATION:

First of all, the low coverage low budget option is Makeup Revolution's The Matte Effect foundation. This costs a mere £2 and gives you a tiny bit of coverage, and it works as a nice base to put makeup on top of. This doesn't live up to the claim of being matte  and it actually applies very much like a moisturiser (so do not fear my dry skinned chums) - so it doesn't live up to its claim of being matte but this isn't a problem if you use a powder.

Second of all, the medium-high coverage which is slightly more expensive but well worth the price is L'Oreal's True Match foundation which pretty much everyone in the bloggersphere loves, and for good reason. There's such a wide shade range suiting all undertones which was important for me, I find it ridiculously hard to find a match for my peculiarly undertoned mixed race skin but this fits the bill pretty darn well. It blends really nicely but gives you a fair bit of coverage, this is £9.99 but that's pretty average for a foundation and for a foundation this good it is well worth it.

CONCEALER:

I really struggled picking just one for this one because there are some that I like that I know a lot of people will hate or the shade range is really bad, and frankly I don't want to recommend to anyone who, like me, isn't white or orange a concealer that won't work for them. So a nice creamy, medium coverage concealer with a pretty decent shade range is the Maybelline Fit Me Concealer, I think this is just a good all rounder.

POWDER:

My absolute favourite powder, which is probably not a complete surprise given how many people love it, is the Rimmel Stay Matte powder. This doesn't mattify you to the point where you're 2D but it does help to keep your makeup in place and keep your skin looking like skin, I use the transparent shade because I only use it to set my makeup but they do other shades so you can use it for a light coverage.

Another powder I quite like is the Collection Sheer Loose Powder, this is good if you have to majorly mattify your face. I stopped using this because I felt like I was looking 2D but if you have oily skin this is definitely one to give a go because it really helps keep oil at bay.

BROWS:
Very politician-like of me, I have a tendency to flip flop regarding my brow routine. When I want to go for a pencil, I love the P.S Love Brow Pencil which I own in both Medium and Dark (depending on whether I want a strong Delevigne-esque brow or just a nice natural look). This has the perfect degree of waxiness so it's not so pigmented to the point where your brows are heavier than my sense of shame (and that's pretty heavy bro), but it's also not at all scratchy.

For powder, at the moment I'm been loving using Makeup Revolution's mono eyeshadow in the shade Delicious - this is a lovely ashy, almost grey-brown-taupe shade that blends in with my eyebrows really well. Although, I also love Makeup Revolution's mono eyeshadow in the shade Mmmm although this is a little bit more warm toned than Delicious. Basically, the Makeup Revolution mono eyeshadows are pretty good anyway so you should have a look and see if you can find a shade to suit your brows.

EYESHADOWS:
My favourite eyeshadows ever are the Maybelline Colour Tattoos, they're super pigmented, long lasting, work as a base, work alone - generally the dog's bollocks.

If you prefer powdered eyeshadow, I love Makeup Revolution's Iconic 2 Palette as it offers cool-toned brownish-neutral-you-get-the-drill shades and when I'm not using the Colour Tattoos, I'm using this. The other palettes and mono eyeshadows by Makeup Revolution are great too, but I just think this specific palette is the most wearable of them all.

EYELINER:
I don't think I've gone a makeup-wearing day without liquid eyeliner in the past two years, so I've tried out a fair few, but my favourite without a doubt is the Collection Fast Stroke Liquid Liner - this is super super black, I'm talking black hole black, I'm talking the prospect of my future black... Okay, you get the point. It's also super long lasting and fairly easy to use, and although it's not waterproof, it generally doesn't budge.

Without a doubt, the Rimmel Scandaleyes kohl pencils are the best pencils on the market. They're creamy, pigmented and fairly long lasting. I've found that they do fade if you use them in the waterline but it's barely noticable and they're just generally good pencils, and very affordable too.

MASCARA:
My favourite mascara is L'Oreal's Miss Manga Mascara. It lengthens, volumizes and doesn't flake off throughout the day. It's just a darn amazing all rounder.

LIPS:
If you're not sure what kind of colour lipstick you want, I would definitely recommend Makeup Revolution's range. There's a massive shade range, plus they're only £1 so you can find out what kind of shades suit you.

For lip gloss, I would recommend the Max Factor Colour Elixir Lip Gloss. These aren't the cheapest, but I do really like them despite the fact I don't really wear lip gloss anymore. These aren't at all sticky but in spite of that, they're fairly long lasting, plus there's a nice range of shades from nude to bright.

BLUSH:
I'm not a massive blush wearer and this isn't strictly a blush, but the Maybelline Baby Lips range work really nicely as a subtle blush/highlighter combination. I remember reading that Lily Melrose saw that behind the scenes at a runway, baby lips was being used as a highlighter and blush behind the scenes, and it does help create a very subtle blush which is great if you're starting out and don't want anything too harsh.

BRONZER:
Okay this isn't technically a bronzer, but I love the Makeup Revolution eyeshadows in the shade Delicious and Mmmm (yes, the ones I mentioned in the Brows section) but these are fairly cool toned and work for contouring or warming up the face, plus they're only £1 so they're very good at least to start out on.

HIGHLIGHTER:
My favourite highlighter currently is the Makeup Revolution Baked Highlighter, these come in a few different shades, they're so pigmented and only cost £3, plus they double up as eyeshadows, so if you're starting out on contouring and highlighting and all that face-sculpting jazz, this is a nice inexpensive one.

What are your favourite makeup bits from the drugstore?

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What I've been watching #3

So I haven't been binge watching films so much now that I'm back at school and have actually had mock exams, but I have watched a few films since the last one of these posts I did so lemme update y'all. You can also follow me on Letterboxd to see what films I rewatch as well :-)

LIGHT OF DAY (1987)

★★★★ 1/2

Light of Day is the story of two siblings - Joe, played by Michael J. Fox, and Patti, played by Joan Jett. They're both in a rock band, and it's set in Ohio. Patti is an unmarried Mother and she's got a pretty stormy relationship with her Mum who's deeply religious and generally doesn't agree with anything she does. Patti lives separately from her parents and generally struggles to make ends meet but she's still sticking to the path of the rock lifestyle. Joe pulls away from this lifestyle to look after Patti's son, Benji, and it takes a family crisis to try and mend this dysfunctional family.

I loved this film. I knew I would at least get some enjoyment out of it because it's Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett, Michael J. Fox is one of my all time favourite actors, Joan Jett is generally badass and I love the Runaways, plus it's an 80s film and I generally get along pretty well with them. Unlike my other reviews of 80s films, I don't actually think this was all that cheesy. I really enjoyed the sibling relationship aspect because it's not something you massively see in films, and the actual storyline was quite original. I thought both Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett were convincing in their characters, and I just thought it was really really good.

BRIDE WARS (2009)

★★★★

Bride wars is the story of two best girls, Liv and Emma, who've been best friends since they were little and have been dreaming of the perfect wedding since then - they've both dreamt of the same wedding location which causes a problem when they have a clash in wedding dates, and as a result their friendship breaks down.

I have quite a few friends who really like this film and to be honest, even though I do quite like Anne Hathaway, this just didn't really appeal to me. It seemed like a very generic film, and don't get me wrong I love cheesy films but if there's not some sort of eye candy (usually of the Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, variety) my interest wavers, but I decided to give this a go because the full film was on YouTube, and I did actually quite like it. It was pretty funny and a bit cheesy in that it all works out in the end, but that's just my cynical side coming out and expecting everything to end terribly like in real life (or is it just me that happens to?) The story is actually quite different from anything I've watched before and it's a film I can imagine watching again and again for a bit of light entertainment.

BLADE RUNNER (1982)

★★★★ 1/2

It's 2019, humans have genetically engineered Replicants, which are like humans (but they're really artificial intelligence) designed for labour and entertainment purposes. They're illegal on earth, and they have to be hunted down and killed by blade runners. Our protagonist, Deckard, is a retired blade runner but he's forced to re-enter the force when four Replicants escape from an off-world colony to Earth.

I've wanted to watch this film for quite a while for several reasons: we study artificial intelligence in Philosophy and our teacher recommended it (plus artificial intelligence is such an interesting topic like it's genuinely fun to write an essay on artificial Turing), my brother and my Dad both liked it, and what can I say, I like 80s films and sci-fi. This was my brother's movie choice and we actually watched the Director's Cut which is quite different to the original from what I gather. I really enjoyed this, it didn't really have a dull moment in it, it was based around a very interesting topic, and the ending was good (in the words of River Song: spoilers!)

THE OMEN III (1981)

★★★★

In the third installment of The Omen, Damien is now an adult and he's appointed as United States Ambassador to Britain. However, the priests are out to kill him as he's kinda y'know the spawn of Satan. The film follows the attempts on his life, and a lot of spooky happenings occur as a result of Damien's powers.

This was chosen for my Mum's movie choice as she chose the first two as previous movie choices, I don't know whether it's just the better production value but I think this is better than the first two (or at least the second one, it definitely rivals the first). This one I found genuinely spooky whereas the other two just weren't scary (not that I get scared by films, but there were parts in this which made me jump). I thought this was a great end to the story, and even though I think watching the first two would be helpful if you wanted to watch this, I think it works as a standalone film and if you like more 'classic' horror then this will be right up your street.

INTO THE WOODS (2014)

★★★★

This is a film which combines Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Red Riding Hood. The story focuses on a baker and his wife, and they get a curse put on them resulting on them being childless. However, the witch who put the curse on them was once beautiful and will reverse the curse if they help her become beautiful again by finding some different ingredients - it just so happens that the ingredients they need are different items from each fairytale.

I quite enjoyed watching this, the songs were pretty decent and I enjoyed the characterisation. Plus, it was nice to see a darker twist on some of the fairytales to try and bring it closer to the original Brothers Grimm tales without it traumatising children. Also, James Corden is just great on so many levels.

What films would you recommend?

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Revlon's Smoky Rose Lipstick is a bit like Hole

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Smoky Rose - £7.49

It's rare that it takes a while for a product to grow on me. Usually I love something immediately and maintain an adoration for it, like The Beatles, or I start off loving something and end up going off it, like The Voice*. Although, there are some cases where I'm just a bit indifferent or I don't majorly love something but I don't dislike it. Like 90s grunge band Hole, I had listened to a couple of songs by Hole and I thought they were alright. I didn't think the songs I had listened to were bad, but I wasn't rushing to listen to every other song they had made. However, for some reason, I returned to them quite a long time after and listened to the Celebrity Skin album and I really liked most of the tracks on it. It's a similar situation with Revlon's Super Lustrous Pearl lipstick in Smoky Rose - I bought it quite a few months ago and liked it but I wasn't crazy about it, and it was by no means a shade I reached for regularly, but times have changed.

I know you're probably thinking this isn't a particularly interesting lipstick shade, but it just adds something. It's quite sheer but you can layer it up to get a lovely rose-brown type colour. It's a pearl finish which, from what I gather because I haven't tried any, is quite similar to MAC's frost finish lipsticks. So it's not super glossy but it does have a bit of a sheen to it, which makes your lips look plumper without the use of lip liner if that's the look you're after. Due to the fact that it's not matte, it only lasts for a couple of hours before fading, but that's not so much an issue for me and if you use a lip liner underneath it will last a lot longer.

What's your favourite everyday lipstick?

*I watched The Voice the first year it was on but when it ended I just couldn't be bothered with reality television anymore, it was goodbye X Factor, goodbye The Voice, and goodbye Britain's Got Talent - I've never looked back since.

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Ten things and ten blogs #6

one.

I was looking back at some of my old videos on my YouTube channel, and I found the cringeworthy vlogs I did with one of my best friends a while ago, and it got me thinking that I want to start vlogging again once I get a new phone (I would like to buy a vlogging camera but y'know baby steps), I'm thinking of making a side channel for it though rather than having everything on my main channel - not sure though, please tell me whether you'd like that!!

two.
I got the results of my grade 8 piano exam that (I feel) I've been harping on about for ages, I passed!

three.
I reached 300 followers on this lil old blog of mine, I know that's not a lot to some people, but I'm still surprised that 1 person wants to listen to what I have to say let alone 300 - so y'know thanks for following us here on fashion, beauty and an existential crisis!

four.
For April Fool's Day, my friend decided to prank us (on a Whatsapp group chat) saying she had decided to vote Conservative rather than Labour in the upcoming 2015 election. I predicted this was a prank but she denied it initially, so we spent about an hour telling her why voting Conservative was generally one of the worst things a person could do.. for her to then say, I can't believe you fell for it. I THOUGHT IT WAS A PRANK, I SAID THAT FIRST OF ALL, seriously where is pranking etiquette these days?

five.
Cynthia Lennon, John Lennon's first wife, died and I'm really upset as she's my favourite Beatles girl. She had developed cancer and she was 75 but I really liked her, I read her book 'John' quite a few years ago and it moved me so much reading about her turbulent relationship with John and I grew to love her as individual outside of the mania of The Beatles.
R.I.P Cynthia.

six.
I had a lovely meetup with a few of my friends, as we usually do, we did a little bit of baking (see the picture below) and watched a Disney film, this time it was Aladdin which was really lovely although it's the first Robin Williams film I've watched since he died, so that ruined it a little bit for me. Plus it hit me how much Jasmine and Aladdin look like sister and brother, like I'm sorry if I've now ruined it for you too, but whilst I loved it these things were at the back of my mind the whole time.

seven.
Maddie uploaded a video on her YouTube channel about body confidence and I just thought everything was well said and it's definitely worth a watch!

eight.

I haven't really been doing much over the Easter holiday except for revising and watching films (which you can now see what they are in my new series - what I've been watching), but I've strangely been really enjoying revising Psychology. It's the course I've opted to do in University and I'm planning to retake one of my As Psychology exams, and I've really been enjoying going over the As stuff because we did a whole topic on gender and basically whether we're born gender neutral or cisgender (although that's not the word they use in the book) and it's just generally really interesting which is good!

nine.
I finally got round to watching the last episode of Glee (yes I got back into Glee about a month ago, deal with it haterz) and I cried just a lil bit. Everything I could've ever wanted to happen in the finale happened and whilst I'm sad that it ended in the series where it got good again, I'm glad they've ended on a good note and I don't think they could've done any more series. I'm just a bit sad because I started watching Glee when I was 12 and I'm 18 now, it's literally been there my entire teenage life.

ten.
I've been obsessed with Russell Brand's Trews recently, I don't know whether it's just because it's coming up to the General Election and what he's saying is just more relevant now, or whatever the reason is, but I've just been looking forward to his Trews. I had watched a few in the past and I remember liking them but they have been the highlight of my morning (as I've been off school the past couple of weeks, I've been able to get up a little bit later and have a cup of tea whilst watching the Trews, it's been rather enjoyable)

blogs.
Mermaidens
NikkieTutorials
The rawrdrobe
Behind these closed eyes
Hannah Louise fashion
Citron and Guavaberry
PYT
Splashes with fabulosity
Bluebirds & Bunting
Mouldy fruit

What's the best thing you've done in the past couple of weeks?

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What I've been watching #2

I didn't mean to come out with another one of these posts as soon as it is, but I've watched quite a few films as I've been off school and they've been a bit of a treat for me at the end of the day when I'm revising, but in future I doubt there'll be two of these posts in the space of 5 days! As you'll be able to tell, I've been having a bit of an 80s/John Cusack moment although I've loved 80s films for quite a long time so it's not that out of the ordinary,  but I've just been watching a lot of them recently so here's one for the oldies who are reading.

Also, if you want to keep up to date with what films I'm watching (including rewatches because I'm not including them in these posts) then feel free to follow me on Letterboxd!

SAY ANYTHING (1989)

★★★★

Say Anything is a film about a kid called Lloyd who, to the surprise of everyone around him, starts dating this girl called Diane who is basically perfect in regards to looks and grades, and she actually likes him back. Problems start to occur when Diane's possessive father doesn't approve and pressures her to break up with him.

I quite liked this film, although I think that's because I've managed to develop an intense crush on John Cusack. It's a bit cheesy but enjoyable nonetheless, and worth a watch if you enjoy light hearted rom-coms, plus the iconic John Cusack standing outside holding up a stereo scene is in this film so if you just want to get that reference then it's worth a watch. (I personally think watching John Cusack's face for an hour and a half is more than enough reason to watch a film, but y'know each to their own)

TEEN WOLF (1985)

★★★★

Teen Wolf is a film about a teenager called Scott who learns that being a werewolf runs in his family, and it affects him and his Father. Initially he's a little bit alarmed by this, (I mean, you would be wouldn't you?) he ends up taking advantage of this to become popular. He becomes the school basketball star and gains the interest of Pamela, a popular girl who he has a crush on. However, after a while he starts to feel he's becoming a novelty and not being liked for who he really is.

This film may not be epic but I quite enjoyed it. Maybe it's because it's a cheesy 80s film and I quite like them, maybe it's because Michael J. Fox is in it and I think he's brilliant (seriously, after watching Back to the Future for the first time I had a bit of an obsession with him). It was enjoyable and a bit of fun, but not really one that'll change your life unless you're going through a lycanthropic experience.

LOLITA (1997)

★★★★

Lolita is an adaptation of a book by Vladimir Nabokov about a man called Humbert Humbert who, whilst in the US to teach, looks for a room in a house to rent. He goes to Charlotte Haze's house and decides to rent it only after seeing her 14 year old daughter, Dolores, who he has an immediate attraction to as a result of past trauma in his life where his teenage sweetheart died. To stay around Dolores, he married Charlotte. As you'd expect, problems arise for Humbert as he's more attracted to Dolores than Charlotte.

I know you're probably ridiculously creeped out by that synopsis, but I do find stories like this pretty interesting. I loved the book which I actually read a few years ago, and I liked the 1962 film but I've wanted to watch this adaptation for ages because for a lot of people this is the definitive version. It's definitely a lot more risque than the 1962 version, let's say Stanley Kubrick left a lot to the imagination whereas in this one it's all very clear cut and you know exactly what's going on. I'm not sure whether I preferred that or not, obviously it makes you feel a lot more uncomfortable, but I think that's good as to avoid romanticisation of this abusive relationship (seriously, the amount of people who romanticise Lolita shocks me). I think it was very fast moving and was fairly true to the book, although both the 1962 and this version miss out the details of Humbert's first wife and his experiences in Paris. I think the part of Dolores was better cast in this because she does actually look the right age for the part whereas in the 1962 version she didn't look young enough to play the part which means you don't really see how sick the relationship is (well as much, if you're unable to see that a relationship between a young girl and her stepfather is wrong then y'know you're probably a bit beyond help). However, I think I did prefer Peter Sellers as Humbert Humbert rather than Jeremy Irons. I'm not sure what it is, but Jeremy Irons still did a fairly good job. I'd recommend this if you're quite interested in psychology and abusive relationships, but if you're not then you'll probably just be a bit (or a lot) creeped out by this.

BETTER OFF DEAD (1985)

★★★★ 1/2

Better Off Dead is the story of a teenage boy called Lane Meyer who has a strange family (oh my God the food his Mum makes was utterly ridiculous) and he's kind of obsessed with his girlfriend, Beth. When Beth breaks up with Lane and starts dating the popular kid in school (the ski jock.. yeah that's a thing) , he overreacts just a tad and tries to kill himself multiple times. However, Lane then becomes friends with the French exchange student Monique, and to try and earn some kind of redemption, Lane challenges Beth's new beau on the ski slopes.

I know that synopsis makes this film sound utterly terrible, but I actually found it hilarious. It's a very family friendly film, and I found myself laughing an immense amount. I may be a little biased as John Cusack is in it and he looks gorgeous, but this film had the Cusack comedic charm and was generally just a very funny family film. It's very cheesy, but still very funny, and it's one I'd definitely watch again.

DR. HORRIBLE'S SING-ALONG BLOG (2008)

★★★★★

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is the story of an aspiring super-villain who has a video blog, and has been attempting to make it into the Evil League of Evil. However, his plans are always foiled by the egotistical Captain Hammer. When Dr. Horrible develops a crush on a girl called Penny, who falls for Captain Hammer, Dr. Horrible's life is thrown a little bit off the rails.

My friend really loves this film, although I'm not even sure if it counts as a film because it's under an hour, but it's on Letterboxd so I'm counting it as a film. I can't even express how good it was. It was really funny - I mean it had Neil Patrick Harris in it, how wrong can you go? The songs were really good, and it didn't have a single moment of dullness. Without spoiling anything, the ending will leave you hanging on for more (luckily, there's a sequel coming out soon)

What films would you recommend?

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What I've been watching #1

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before but I am a pretty big film enthusiast, like as in it's one of the things I pride myself on (hence why I'm one of the few people in the world with a Letterboxd account), so I thought I would start a new series here on 'fashion, beauty and an existential crisis' whereby I tell you the films I have watched recently (not including rewatches, because otherwise we'd probably see the Back to the Future trilogy an excessive number of times). 

Just another fun fact, every Saturday for about the past 9 years (give or take a few Saturdays if we've been busy or whatever), me and my family have watched a film together. We alternate in whose choice it is, but this means I watch quite a lot of films from all genres and eras so there could be an odd mix here!

WEIRD SCIENCE (1985)

★★★ 1/2

So Weird Science is about a couple of unpopular, pubescent boys (one of which is Anthony Michael Hall who plays the adorable Brian from The Breakfast Club) who try and create the perfect woman on the computer and she comes to life, then she tries to make them cool and take down the school bullies, but obviously they have to keep her a secret as well because that's how all of these type of films work out.

I'm a massive fan of the Brat Pack films and strangely I hadn't seen this one, it's in the DVD collection with The Breakfast Club and I've seen The Breakfast Club countless times knowing I had Weird Science with it but I never bothered to watch it before, because frankly it looked crap. After watching it, I can conclude that it is crap. However, it's a nice kind of crap, the kind of 80s crap that's so crappy you can laugh at it, which is why I gave it a 3.5/5 rating. It's light hearted and a bit of fun, worth a watch if you like cheesy 80s movies.

ALMOST FAMOUS (2000)

★★★★ 1/2

Almost Famous is the semi-autobiographical story of Cameron Crowe, although his character is called William who's only a teenager, and he's pretty interested in music despite his Mother's opposition to the whole sex, drugs and rock'n'roll scene. It's set in the 70s, and long story short he ends up being asked to do an article for Rolling Stone interviewing a band called Stillwater. He becomes pretty close to a girl called Penny Lane (not her actual name) who isn't a roadie, but a 'band aid' (basically a roadie), and the movie essentially focuses around his new relationship with this girl and his desperation to get this interview with this temperamental band.

I've wanted to watch this for a while because it's one of my close friend's favourite films, plus it came in the box set with The Runaways in it so it's been available for me to watch for a while. I chose this as my movie choice last week although my brother didn't feel well enough to partake, my parents seemed to like it though. It's a funny coming-of-age story and the soundtrack is pretty rad, again it's pretty light hearted and just pretty darn enjoyable.

MISSISSIPPI MASALA (1991)

★★★★

Mississippi Masala is the story of a girl called Mina who comes from an Indian family, and her family is moved out of Uganda by a dictator and they end up living in Mississippi. Mina falls in love with a guy called Demetrius who is black, so his family and Mina's family aren't happy with the interracial relationship going on. This causes a feud between both families and the community around them, and the film basically focuses around this idea of interracial relationships.

This film was suggested to me by a friend because we had a long chat about general racism in the world (sort of inevitable with me, you've got to be ready to talk about this if you want to invest time in me) and she said I had to watch this because it's a good commentary on racism and prejudice between cultures, and I'd completely agree. It was a different perspective to the usual black and white interracial relationships because it was an Indian and black interracial relationship. It was generally really good and I think well worth a watch, it wasn't complicated and plus Denzel Washington is a bit of eye candy so it's a good all rounder.

COALITION (2015)

★★★★

Coalition is a TV movie depicting the May 2010 General Election in Britain and the leadup to the Con-Dem coalition. It's mostly done in Nick Clegg's perspective showing how great Nick was doing in all the debates and everything before the election and then the disappointment at the lack of Lib-Dem support come election time, and then the choice for Nick Clegg as to whether to side with the Tories or the Labour party. 

You may think as an avid Labour supporter that this would be an incredibly depressing film to watch. You'd be right. I had to live through this and I remember, even as a 13 year old, how depressing it was at the time*. However, the adverts for this looked really good so I thought I'd give it a go. The whole film has you feeling sorry for Nick Clegg. Seriously, when it ended I spent a good 20 minutes thinking about how bad Nick Clegg must feel on a daily basis, then I snapped out of it and realised that it was his fault for siding with the Tories. Y'know, siding with the Tories was never gonna be a good move. It was a pretty anti-Tory production but it wasn't particularly pro-Labour, in fact Gordon Brown was barely in it. It was well made and enjoyable, but I think unless you're interested in politics and prepared for an hour and a half of feeling sorry for Nick Clegg, this won't be for you.

GROSSE POINTE BLANK (1997)

★★★★★

Grosse Pointe Blank is the story of a hitman called Martin who fails an assignment so he decides to go back to his home town for his 10 year school reunion. He decides to go meet up with a girl called Debi who was an old girlfriend who he actually stood up at the Prom so as you can imagine she was a little reluctant to get close to him again. Whilst in town, a rival hit man starts to hound him, and Martin's secretary sets a hit up for him but he starts to reconsider his life as a hitman. 

This was my Dad's movie choice yesterday and I loved it. I don't know whether I just enjoy John Cusack.. Okay, I know for a fact I love John Cusack. He's hilarious and he's pretty attractive, don't deny it you know it's true.. maybe not in Being John Malkovich though (which is also great). This film was really funny, plus Dan Akyroyd played the rival hitman and he's also pretty good comic relief. The soundtrack to this was the bomb.com too, had The Violent Femmes, Pixies, The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Specials, and many more - seriously great, great stuff. I just love John Cusack, I'm waiting for the day where I watch a film with him in that I don't like because he's just brilliant.

What films have you watched recently?

*I've been a Labour supporter ever since I can remember. Indoctrinated by my parents? Perhaps, but I'm glad I was indoctrinated with Left-Wing politics as opposed to Right-Wing politics.

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