Cosmetic Review: Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint By Barry M

When it comes to a good drug-store nail varnish I find that it is hard to find a consistant brand but as soon as I tried the Gelly Hi-Shine nail varnish's I knew that I have found a very reliable brand.

The nail varnish's apply like a dream, not too thick, not too thin and I apply 2 coats, for good measure, which makes the finish incredible for such a good priced varnish. 

There are so many different colours to choose from and each colour is consistently brilliant. If you apply a top coat the varnish can last for around 5 days, maybe even up to a week but without a top coat it lasts 3 maybe 4 days which is incredible for a nail varnish which costs less than half of a high end brand (plus superdrug and Boots usually have a 3 for 2 offer on so you can get the varnish even cheaper!). If you are ever looking for an amazingly priced varnish I have to recommend the Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine varnishes!

I have only photographed a few of the varnishes in my collection. The green (cardamom 30), burnt red (chilli 33) and mustard yellow (mustard 31) are from the autumn range whereas the turquoise blue (green berry 12) and white (coconut 28) are more for all year round but maybe more summer suited. 

 I have only managed to find a link to the autumnal colours online but you can buy other colours in store instead http://www.superdrug.com/search?text=barry+m+hi+shine#.VJ7qk14gKA

This isn't sponsored and all opinions are my own :) The link above may be affiliated.

Lauralaura 

Candle Review: Yankee Candle 'Christmas Cookie' and 'Snowflake Cookie'

Yankee Candles are my absolute favourite brand of candle; they smell amazing, are amazingly coloured and relatively good priced. I love the Yankee Christmas range.

 I always buy the 'sample' size because I like to burn my candles in a pretty tea-light holder I have and I can never find a use for the big glass pots after I've burnt the whole candle as well as the trouble of trying to light the damn thing when you cant fit your hand in the pot! 

These two flavours are very similar in scent but however the 'Snowflake Cookie' is slightly sweeter smelling than the 'Christmas Cookie'. The 'Christmas Cookie' is also quite heavily vanilla flavoured with hints of buttery softness whereas the 'Snowflake Cookie' is almost icing flavoured (it would make sense since it is a 'cookie' flavour) these are definitely my two favourite scents of the Yankee Candle Christmas range! 

http://www.boots.com/en/Yankee-Candle-Large-Jar-Snowflake-Cookie_1505611/

http://www.boots.com/en/Yankee-Candle-Large-Jar-Christmas-Cookie_1505603/

This isn't sponsored and all opinions are my own :) Some links above may be affiliated.

Lauralaura 

Film Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1

Finally, after just under a year, the 3rd Hunger Games film has been released to follow 'The Hunger Games' and 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire'. The standards were set very high and there were very high expectations due to the many speculations of where they were going to cut the book in half to make the two parts of the films ('Mockingjay- Part 1' and 'Mockingjay- Part 2'). I confess, I have never read any of the books but honestly, I prefer it that way because I had no clue what to expect apart from a few spoilers that my friends had told me...

The film was directed by Francis Lawrence and based on the book 'Hunger Games: Mockingjay' by Suzanne Collins, it has an age rating of 12A due to the mild violence.

When Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) was rescued during the 75th Hunger Games (the ending of 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire), she got taken to District 13, an underground rebel District which had been built under the ruins of District 13.  Katniss was then reunited with her mother and sister, Prim (Willow Shields). 

While recovering she got introduced to President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore), the leader of the rebels in District 13, and got told that because of her actions, she had sparked riots against the Capitol, and she needed to be the 'Mockingjay' or the 'symbol or rebellion'. Katniss declines, stating that they had left Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) - her fellow District 12 tribute- behind in the arena. Katniss then, after visiting the makeshift hospital in District 8, agrees to be the 'Mockingjay', this then sparks a huge rebellion in District 7. Then when the Capitol found out what Katniss and District 13 had been doing they launched an attack on  District 13. 

You will have to watch it to find out what happens to District 13 and whether Peeta and the other surviving tributes are rescued! 

I absolutely loved the film, the music was empowering, the graphics where astonishing and the acting was just incredible. I would definitely recommend this film, especially if you have seen the first two you, will love this film. But even if you haven't seen the first films, you may not understand some of the character's roles or small links to the previous film (if you spot the pearl that Katniss frequently has in her hands, Peeta gave it to her in the last film), you will most likely be able to understand it by the end of the film. 

I would give this film 4 stars out of 5 as  the story line was easy to follow and you could feel the tension in the room which was created due to amazing writing, directing, editing and acting. 

This isn't sponsored and all opinions are my own :)

Lauralaura 

Lush Review: Candy Mountain Bubble Bar

If any of you are Lush fanatics like me you will know how exciting the Lush Christmas range is (very sad yes I know). I managed to go into 3 different Lush stores in the space of 2 weeks and spend an extortionate amount of money each time... One of the favourite things that I picked up was the Candy Mountain bubble bar.
You simply crumble the bar into running water to create the 'glistening candy-scented bubbles'. It has a very sweet scent with mild hints of vanilla. I managed to break the bar into three pieces therefore enabling me to have 3 baths from the one bar. It created a beautiful light pink and white concoction in the bath (featuring a lot of bubbles!) which made my whole bathroom smell incredible! The scent is similar to the shower gel 'Snow Fairy' (£3.75) and you can also get a shimmer bar version called 'Snow Fairy Sparkle' (£4.95).

I would definitely recommend buying one of these as you can get 3 baths from one bar as well as making your bath smell and look incredible, as well as it being part of the limited addition collection, you need to buy it before it goes! 

 https://www.lush.co.uk/products/bubble-bars/candy-mountain  £2.75 in store and online.

This isn't sponsored and all opinions are my own but the link above may be affiliated.

Lauralaura

Cosmetic Review: Collection Lasting Perfection Foundation and Concealer

Recently I purchased the 'Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Foundation' from Collection because I had bought the concealer (which pretty much every make up Youtuber/ blogger raves about because of it's price and quality) around 2 months ago, yes the writing has rubbed off from the outside, but it is still an incredible concealer because of the flawless coverage but still for the low price of £4.19.

I bought the foundation to match because it was only £4 on an introductory price at Superdrug (original price £5.99) and because of the high expectations (due to the amazing concealer) I was pleasantly surprised because it did live up to my expectations. It provided amazing coverage even with a small amount but I don't know if I would agree with the 16 hour lasting ability but it does still last around 7 hours maybe 8 at a push.

The whole range has 6 colours for the foundation, 3 for the concealer and 3 for the pressed powder; I am yet to try out the pressed powder! 

Therefore for a really dewy, flawless finish to your skin I would definitely recommend this foundation and concealer duo from Collection. 

 http://www.superdrug.com/Collection/Collection-Lasting-Perfection-Concealer---3-Warm-Medium/p/870558#.VFVCpvmsWSo -Concealer at Superdrug

http://www.superdrug.com/Collection/Collection-Lasting-Perfection-Foundation---3-Cool-Beige/p/870658#.VFVCzPmsWSo - Foundation at Superdrug

I use shades 3 warm medium for concealer and 3 cool beige for the foundation.

This post isn't sponsored and all opinions & photos are my own, some of the links above may be affiliated :)

Lauralaura

Film Review: Lucy

I am going to try and do a film review once a month of either newly released or any films that I watch and feel compelled enough to write a review about, Lucy is one of these films.

Due to the ever increasing price of cinema tickets, food and drink I feel like a trip to the cinema is very rare, but my dad decided to take me and my brother to watch the newly released 'Lucy' directed and written by Luc Besson starring Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Amr Waked and Choi Min-Sik.

The film is set in modern day with Lucy (Johansson) a 25 year old living in Taiwan who is tricked into becoming a drug mule by her boyfriend. Lucy had no clue that she had anything to do with drugs until the brief case, that she had been tricked into taking to the head of the Taiwanese drug 'lord', was opened and inside was a drug called 'CPH4'.

Lucy had the drugs put inside of her abdomen (as well as 4 others) to be transported to various countries. While waiting to be flown to her destination she got attacked by a Taiwanese man which caused the drugs to leak into her bloodstream and change the way her mind worked.

During the whole film there is the side story in which supposes that your mind only ever works at 10% and what are the possibilities if your mind could work at 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and even 100%? This story is told by Professor Samuel Norman (Freeman) and when Lucy finds out about the professor she gets in contact with him and flies to Paris to meet him, all the while Lucy's mind is ever increasing in how much it is working. 

Near the end of the film the drug gang that Lucy was supposed to be the drug mule for caught up with her and it is a fight to the death between the incredibly powerful Lucy and the muscle men drug gang.

In my opinion the film as incredible, it captured perfectly the science to make it sound believable whether it was or not. The action was in complete moderation and the final effect was amazing but the gore was slightly too much for me but I am someone that cant stand the sight of blood and someone pulling a packet of drugs out of someone's body is a bit gross for me! 

Scarlett Johansson was the perfect character to play Lucy, her dramatic techniques were incredible and I really love how she captured the character. Morgan Freeman was amazing for keeping his cool and I think everyone can agree that his voice can calm anyone down so to have him deeply within the action was remarkable. 

I also love watching a female dominant action film because there aren't many around these days and if you are someone that loves action, some gore and a great story line then I would definitely recommend this film! 

I would give the film 4 stars out of 5,  like I said the film was a bit too gory for me but i guess that is why it is rated 15!

This isn't sponsored and all opinions are my own :)
Lauralaura

6 Amazing Things I Bet You Didn't Know Vaseline Could Do...

I can almost guarantee that the majority of people reading this either use Vaseline currently or have used it before. Vaseline is one of my favourite beauty products and I always have a pot handy, its just an affordable product (on sale usually for around £1.99) and you can pick it up from pretty much every drugstore/ superstore; but here are some things I bet you didn't know Vaseline could do.

1. Put Vaseline on whatever area of skin you spray your perfume on, then apply the perfume and it will help the scent last for longer.

 

2. Perfect for Halloween! Once you have carved your pumpkin (or any vegetable you want to carve) cover the exposed edges with Vaseline to prevent them drying up or spoiling (but remember you cant eat it after you have applied the Vaseline!)

 

3. Apply a small amount to your leather handbag that is in need of a bit of added shine, leave for 5 minutes or so and before you know it your handbag will look as good as new! You can do the same to your leather shoes but be aware dirt and dust are likely to stick to it.

 

4. Before painting your nails apply Vaseline around the nail edge (not the actual nail but the skin surrounding it) and when you have finished painting your nails where you may have got some onto your skin it should simply wipe off with a tissue or warm water, but make sure your nails are completely dry before you attempt to wipe the Vaseline off!

 

5. You can use it as an exfoliant if you simply mix with sea salt and wash off in the shower, I can guarantee that you will come out of the shower with amazing feeling skin!

 

6. If you apply a small amount of Vaseline onto your eyelashes before you go to sleep you should wake up with longer, fuller looking lashes than before! But don't use too much or your lashes may stick together!

 

Lauralaura

'It's The Season Of The Ankle Darling!'

I was in GAP last weekend with my Aunt, when we were in the changing rooms a woman had tried on some jeans that looked fab on her, but she thought they were too short, luckily her friend exclaimed, 'Don't worry! It's the season of the ankle darling!' And I couldn't agree more!

I always find it hard when buying jeans to make them actually fit down to my ankle because even though I do buy the tall range jeans, they don't always reach my ankle because 'tall range' is designed for woman 5"8/5"10 tall, awkwardly, I am 6"2... Because my jeans don't always meet my ankle I like to roll my trousers up so that I don't get 'ankle swingers' (as people at school would call it).You don't even have to roll them up, you can just buy them cropped and show off your ankles! 

This collage shows how to style the rolled up (or cuffed jeans if you prefer) with heals, boots, sandals and platforms, as well as showing you the different colours. 

This cut of jean is the 'boyfriend jean' which is also very in fashion, so team with flats or strappy heals and you can bag 2 fashion hits in one!

I love the way Kristen Stewart teams the dark wash, high waisted boyfriend jeans, with a tucked in loose tee and finished with a black biker jacket. It is a cool way to layer up as well as looking casual. 

Showing your ankle doesn't just have to apply to jeans, dresses will always look gorgeous with a pair of high healed shoes or even pumps. 

Lauralaura