Ebay picks: Halloween...

Hannibal Lecter Pop! Vinyl Figure £11.95 here

Iron Fist Zombie Bag £21.50 here

Red Devil Hello Kitty TY Plush £6.99 here

Chucky Latex Mask £13.95 here

Frankenstein's Monster Pinata £11.99 here

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley £1.99 here

Jack Skellington Pop! Vinyl Figure £12.95 here

Happy Halloween!

Etude House Fantastic Color Eyes Bloody Halloween...

As soon as I saw Etude House had released a Halloween themed palette I couldn't buy it quick enough! The palette is what I would describe as 'mini' in size and has five powder eyeshadows and one cheek/ lip stain in a sturdy palette with mirror. Aside from the amazing name Bloody Halloween the shades themselves have great names too: Pale (an off white shimmery highlight), Zombie Kiss (a brownish red creamy stain), Witch Hunting (a creamy matte peachy brown), Funky Horror (a shimmery brownish mauve), Bloody Burgundy (does what it says on the tin), and finally Halloween Night (a deep blackish brown with gold glitter.) 

When swatched on their own I must admit I was a little disappointed with the pigmentation. The powder has a lovely soft texture but they just don't show up that well. On top of a primer it's a different story, and the shadows are really deep and vibrant. They are lovely to blend, and last well on. Although I know a lot of people won't like the idea of a cream product in an eyeshadow palette, I haven't had any problems with the eyeshadows crumbling. I must say I love Zombie Kiss- the lip/ cheek stain. It lasts really well, is non drying to the lips and is great for a 'vampire bite' style lip.

My Halloween film picks....

Halloween is one of my favourite times of year, and as a big horror film fan I enjoy the tradition of a Halloween film night. Turn the lights off, put you cosy pyjamas on and get your popcorn ready! Here are my film recommendations for what to watch...

The Classics...

You can't beat a bit of classic horror to get you in that eerie mood! Any of the Frankenstein films provide the perfect retro Halloween atmosphere along with any of the iconic Bela Lugosi films (especially Dracula.) The Shining ("Here's Johnny!!") Psycho, The Exorcist and The Birds are on my 'must see' classic horror list too.

Japanese horror...

Arguably Japan are the king of the horror film and have many weird and wonderful scary films to choose from. From the well known- (Ju-On: The Grudge, Chakushin Ari- One Missed Call, Dark Water, Ringu) which have all had US remakes to the more obscure, such as my personal favourite EXTE: Hair Extensions a film that is literally about killer hair extensions; and manages to be both ridiculously amusing and scary at the same time!

The Modern Classics...

Of course there's many great modern horror films. The US remakes of The Ring and The Grudge being two if you are not a fan of subtitles. The Descent is a brilliant film if you like your horror bleak. If you enjoy supernatural scares then you can't go wrong with Shutter, Silent Hill, Dark Corners, and the Paranormal Activity series. Or if you like your horror to be totally ridiculous (yep, guilty) then Drag Me To Hell, Orphan and the Hostel series are must see. 

The Zombie Films...

Zombies get their own section because I love them and quite frankly you can find a zombie film for every occasion. For instance how about Dead Snow, a zombie/ nazi crossover! Or Cockneys Vs Zombies (self explanatory), or one of my personal favourites the so-bad-it's-good Trailer Park of Terror which combines hill-billies and zombies! You can't go wrong with the classic Dawn of the Dead, or for something more recent 28 Days Later and the Resident Evil series (which brings back many nightmarish memories of playing the games as a kid!)

The Horror Comedy...

Perfect if you don't like too many scares, or prefer a laugh instead of nightmares. The best comedy horror (OFFICIALLY!) has to be Shaun of the Dead which brilliantly combines zombies, comedy, romance and many everyday objects as weapons. Other picks include Zombieland, and Dog Soldiers- which involves werewolves. Of course some horror films inadvertently end up as comedies for being so terrible! 

The Fun Horrors...

Finally the films that contain more gothic fun than scares and are (almost) fine for the whole family. Two of my all time favourite films sit in this category: the amazingness that is Beetlejuice (you can't beat a Tim Burton film!) and The Addams Family films (my favourite is the second.) But 90s classic The Craft is great too.

So there is a round up of my Halloween film recommendations... do you have any favourites?

Yankee Candle Halloween 2014...

Every year I eagerly await the new scents Yankee Candle bring out for Halloween and Christmas. This year they had three flavours for Halloween:Ghostly Treats, Candy Corn and Witches Brew. Although I love the look of the big Halloween jars I tend to stick to the wax melts (they are really good, and much cheaper!)

Ghostly Treats is probably my favourite of the three. To me it smells like toasted marshmallows with a fresh kick at the end. This one is very sweet, and I can only burn this for a short while as the smell is so overpowering!

Candy Corn smells like the American sweet which is synonymous with Halloween. I've never tasted Candy Corn :( but from what I've heard it tends to get a love hate reaction. The wax melt itself to me smells mainly of vanilla with a gummy sweet smell. I love the bright orange colour of this one.

Lastly Witches Brew, which is described as a 'spicy sweet aroma of patchouli' which to me smells like a mixture of liquorice, and a fresh mens aftershave.

These are perfect for getting into the Halloween spirit!

My Geek Box October...

My Geek Box is a subscription service based in the UK that sends out a monthly box full of 'geek gear.' Each month they have a different theme, and each box contains a limited edition t shirt. Octobers theme was 'nightmares' and as a big horror fan I couldn't resist giving them a try. The box was shipped out on the 15th and I got it really quickly, so I'm happy with the service. Here's what I got... 

First off a Chucky t shirt! I do love Chucky, and the design is really cute. I'm glad I decided to order a large mens shirt so I can use it as an around the house/ pyjama top as I wouldn't wear a bright red top out and about. There was also a Jack Skellington fridge magnet- I love The Nightmare Before Christmas but the magnet is a bit meh, although it was a nice little touch. I do love the look of the Monster Mates Poppin' Candy as anything apple flavoured is good by me!

Zombies! I suppose you couldn't have a nightmares themed box without them. I got a Zombie Zity Swobblerz toy (the baker) which to me seems much more of a kids toy... Interestingly of all the twelve to collect on the back of the packaging they are all men, so maybe us women will be immune when the zombie outbreak hits! There was also a Zomblings in the Town blind bag toy, I got a funny little zombie pig.

It's probably the cutest zombie I've seen. ♬ Zombie pig, zombie pig, does whatever a zombie pig does ♬

The main item in this months box was a Pop! Vinyl and you could either get Jason or Freddy Krueger. I'm quite happy to add Freddy to my collection (of two!) I think this item definitely makes the box for me.

And finally this small poster. I'm a huge fan of classic horror so was pleased to see this little nod to Bela Lugosi's Dracula, and Boris Karloff's Frankenstein monster (although I would have loved more classic horror!) I think the design could have been better, but maybe I'm just being picky!

So overall I'm pretty pleased with the box, but at £16.99 it's probably not something I'd order again as I'm quite fussy, and a large portion of the stuff I wouldn't have bought knowingly if it hadn't been for the surprise element. I do feel like they could have done a bit better with the theme... 

If you're interested in trying them out they are here, next months theme is Best of British.

Etude House Fresh Cherry Tint 5th Birthday Edition....

The Fresh Cherry Tint by Etude House is one of their most loved products, and to celebrate the products fifth Birthday they released two limited edition shades: Cherry Coral, and the one I chose- Cherry Lavender.

Etude House describe the Cherry Tints as "moist and soft like milk and sparkly like cherry."
They do have an unusual but nice thick creamy texture, which somehow doesn't feel thick or sticky on. I think this is probably the first time I've ever been disappointed with the pigmentation of an Etude House product, swatched it's not too bad but on my lips it provides an only just visible wash of colour. 

On the plus side the tint contains vitamins and minerals to help moisturise the lips, and I can confirm this does feel like I'm wearing a hydrating lip balm rather than a usually drying lip tint. Overall a nice product, just a shame about the colour pay off.

The Cherry Tint is available here (I use this seller all the time, and have had no problems.)

Book Review: The New Ghost by Robert Hunter...

This comic book was an impulse Amazon buy, as the name and cover interested me. I didn't bother to properly read the description so when it arrived I was surprised to find it is actually a short story which I read in about ten minutes. Regardless I still wanted to post about it as I really enjoyed it.

The New Ghost, as you can probably imagine is a story about a ghost on his first night being a ghoul. It's a sweet story of him finding out what he is supposed to to do. The artwork in this book is particularly beautiful, and I love how the majority of the pictures consist of just reds, blues, and greens. 

I think this book would make a really lovely gift too. The New Ghost is part of a graphic short story project to help young artists, so I am definitely going to look into which other stories they have in their series.

Japanese Candy Kit: Meiji Gummy Sushi Kit...

In today's post I bring you a little review of another Japanese candy kit- the Meiji Gummy Sushi Kit. Much like the last kit I blogged about this is a mini and much simpler version of the vast array of Japanese candy kits out there. 

The sushi kit has fun and colourful packaging (I particularly love the angry looking octopus on the back) with easy to follow picture instructions. It's as simple as peeling out your gummies and stacking them. The 'rice' base is banana flavour (usually not a flavour I like, but this was pretty good) and the 'fish' toppings are lemon and cherry flavour. The gummies are extra squidgy (just how I like them) and the flavours worked well together. Thumbs up from me! 

You can get the Gummy Sushi kit here for £1.24*

*affiliate link

You Beauty Box...

I must admit I'm not much of a fan of beauty boxes, when I used to subscribe to them I found myself building up a big collection of things I would never use so prefer to avoid them. Then I found out that the You Beauty Discovery box allows you to choose your two main products (and includes a couple of extra samples.) I always keep an eye on the product selection, and the October choices instantly got my attention for one reason: ILLAMASQUA LIPSTICK! I very quickly ordered, for the bargainous price of £6.95 (that includes postage too.)

The two samples everyone gets is a sachet of Cowshed Night Serum, and a collagen drink that sounds completely disgusting! 

As you have to pick two items from the selection I thought I would give this eyeshadow a try. It's from Wild About Beauty- a brand I've never tried before. The  shade is called Eva, a lovely cool toned brown. Although the packaging and shadow look very nice I must admit I found the pigmentation disappointing.

And onto the reason I ordered the box...  A full sized Illamasqua lipstick from their Glamore collection. I love every shade in the collection so really didn't mind which I got. The one that arrived was Tease, which is a lovely peachy beige colour. I'm a huge fan of Illamasqua so I am totally chuffed that I've got a lipstick for £6.95 woo! 

You can find all the info for the You Beauty box here! 

Tony Moly Panda's Dream Eye Patch...

So as you can guess the first thing that drew me to buy this product (as with all Tony Moly products) was the cute packaging... look at that adorable panda! The product itself also sounded pretty interesting. In the pack you get two black patches (that are the shape of panda eyes) which are soaked in a product that is supposed to vitalise the skin around your eye and help with dark circles. Once you place them on they completely cover the whole eye area. I did attempt to take a picture of me with them on, but not being able to see led to many close up pictures of my shoulder and ear :/

You leave them on for ten to twenty minutes, which does feel really nice and relaxing. They have a very subtle fresh smell to them, and are really cold when you first put them on. Afterwards I didn't notifce any change to my dark circles (although I never expected to, nothing budges those bad boys) but they did leave the skin around my eyes feeling silky soft and refreshed. I also found it a nice relaxing treat! 

New stuff...

I do love finding bargains and picked up these beauties in Poundland. Since Revlon changed their packaging for the Colorstay nail polishes it looks like the pound shops have had them all, which is fine by me! I've built up a nice collection now and I really love the formula of them. 

I also couldn't resist this cute Sanrio Hello Kitty money box which is huge! I didn't realise until I was taking a picture of it that it is fully sealed so there's no way of getting the money out without breaking it...? 0_0

Finally in Primark I bought these chunky heeled ankle boots for £15. I love them! Although they are hard work to put on- it's like trying to squeeze into a wetsuit- they are really comfortable once they are on! 

Ebay picks: Korean cosmetics...

Holika Holika Magic Pole Mascara £5.53 (for 2) here

Tony Moly Panda's Dream White Sleeping Pack £6.84 here

Holika Holika Gonyak Soft Jelly Scrub £6.71 here

Etude House Play Therapy Sleeping Pack £6.72 here

Etude House Princess Happy Endings Lipsticks (urgh out of stock again!) here

Etude House Shea Butter Essentialiser £11.68 here

Bomb Cosmetics Flight of the Frangipani...

On a cold day you can't beat a nice bath, and I decided to pick Flight of the Frangipani Bath Blaster from my Bomb Cosmetics stash to try. I must admit I was a little disappointed with the last few Bomb products I'd tried, but I'm pleased to say this one was lovely (if not for the really long name!) 

As soon as I put this in the bath it started fizzing away and turning the water a lovely pink colour (am I the only one who can't help but feel disappointed if the water doesn't change colour?!) I can't find this on Bombs website to see what the scent is supposed to be, but to me it smelt of sweet powdered rose. It was a beautiful scent that filled the whole bathroom and made for a relaxing bath. As usual the water was silky soft and left my skin feeling nicely moisturised too! 

After that I'm definitely looking forward to working through my stash :) 

My favourite TV shows...

As a lover of both lists and TV shows I thought I would post about some of my favourite shows...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

If you are a regular reader of my blog you'll have probably picked up on my Buffy obsession. As a teenager it was the first show I properly got into and I grew up with it (even bunking off college early on Wednesdays so I didn't miss the first part of the episode... that's dedication!) My favourite character is probably Spike ("Angel's lame. His hair goes straight up, and he's bloody stupid!" not an Angel fan!) I love that beneath the vampires, demons, and werewolves there is a really funny, but also really heartbreaking drama about growing up. Also Buffy is a total badass, who always has a witty one liner up her sleeve.

American Horror Story

If you love horror than the chances are you will love AHS. Each season is based round a totally different story and era, the only thing staying the same being a lot of the regular actors. The first season Murder House, was set in 2011 with a family moving into a sinister house. The second (and so far my favourite) Asylum was set in an insane asylum in the 60s, the third Coven followed a coven of witches in 2013, and the incoming fourth season is called Freakshow and is set in the 50s. The show is really quite dark and twisted and keeps you on the edge of your seat right till the end.

Homeland

This isn't the kind of TV show I am usually interested in (terrorists, CIA, etc...) but there is so much more to this show than that. It follows a CIA agent called Carrie who believes that a recently found POW has been turned into a terrorist after being held hostage for eight years. What follows is a story that is full of twists, and that constantly keeps you guessing. Another thing that makes this show more interesting is complicated private lives of the characters. Carrie has bipolar (portrayed on the whole brilliantly), and POW Brody is understandably messed up, there's all sorts of other stuff going on! Personally I like to pretend there is no season three as I get far too emotionally attached to shows and what happens is too much to deal with!（ ；´Д｀）

 Breaking Bad

Obviously I have to mention Breaking Bad, as like everyone else I became completely addicted with this show. I won't bother explaining the premise of it, as I'm sure everyone knows but I loved the clever storyline that kept hooking you in. I felt the big ending was perfect too, and I'm sure it's a show I will rewatch again at some point.

Ashes to Ashes

My last pick is a BBC show from a few years back. It's a sequel to the show Life on Mars where a cop gets hit by a car and wakes up in 1973 having no idea why or what's happened. I much prefer the sequel because although it retains the humour it's much much darker. This time it focuses on Alex who get shot and wakes up in 1981. She's a great character who has an answer for everything and takes no shit. Also, the amazing 80s soundtrack and questionable fashion made me instantly love this show! This also has a satisfying ending that explain both series.

Other mentions... The X Files, Being Human (UK), Lie To Me, This is England, Orange is the New Black, Luther.

So those are my favourite TV shows.... next on my list of lists to do(!) is my favourite comedy shows. Now that's a whole new story! 

Which TV shows do you love?

Graze Box tasting...

Graze Box is a subscription service where you can get a weekly (or however often you want) delivery of snacks. Each box contains four separately packed snacks that are a good size for carrying in your bag. The boxes cost £3.99 each and you can go through their snack selection on their website when you join to rate each snack to make sure you get things you want.

I used to subscribe to Graze ages ago but was too stingy to pay £3.99 each week for a relatively small amount! Having said that my sister had a code for a few free boxes which I was happy to make use of ;) here is what I got...

After Dinner Mint
This is a mixture of peppermint raisins, dark Belgian chocolate buttons and almonds. This was really tasty although personally I thought there were too many almonds in comparison to the much tastier raisins and chocolate!

Jaffa Cake Flapjack
I'm not a huge flapjack fan to be honest (so I don't know why I checked this snack to receive!) so I gave it to my sister and she gave it the thumbs up an said it was very orangey.

Cheddar Gorge
This is a mix of cheese cashews, salsa corn sticks and herb crackers. The cheese cashews didn't really taste that cheesy to me, just more tangy- but they were nice all the same. The herb crackers were rice crackers which I didn't realise (I hate rice crackers) so I wouldn't order this snack again!

Rough Blend Peanut Butter With Pretzel Sticks
I usually love anything that involves peanut butter, but I found this horribly gooey, and really oily. The pretzel sticks get the thumbs up though!

If you feel like trying a Graze Box yourself here's a few codes you may find useful:

XC2GZ3MZB for your 1st, 5th, & 10th box free (can cancel anytime)
JCNWMK6 FOR £5 credit.