Graze Box tasting....

More Graze Box tasting....!

Salt and Vinegar Nut Selection

This is a nice generous selection of salt & vinegar flavoured almonds and peanuts, i really enjoyed these.

Chocolate Pudding
A mixture of belgian milk chocolate and green and jumbo raisins. I much preferred the green raisins to the jumbo raisins but eating these mixed together pretty much tasted like eating chocolate covered raisins and was really nice.

Cookies & Cream
This was a mix of mini cookies, white chocolate, hazelnuts and sunflower seeds. I loved all of it except the mini cookies, which to me were dry and tasteless...

Hot Dog

This contains sweet mustard breadsticks, smoked cashews and cheese croutons.I loved all of it except the mustard croutons- to me they tasted tangy rather than sweet and after a couple I couldn't take anymore! 

New from Etude House...

I haven't done one of these posts in ages, so here is a round up of what's new from one of my favourite cosmetic brands: Etude House

Etude House have just launched their Pink Wish Holiday collection which includes a festive repackage of their Any Cushion BB compact (seriously, how many times can they repackage this?!), lip balm, hand cream, and body wash sets. I must admit this collection hasn't really got me excited.

They have also just released these cute hand creams that are in castle packaging and can also be bought as a gift set.

For the holidays there are a selection of new shades to the Play 101 pencil line too.

And the good news is etudehouse.com have started shipping wordlwide! 

Etude House Water Color Blusher...

For some reason I am a complete sucker when it comes to blush- especially the cream variety... I think it's all the pretty pastel shades they tend to come in. I've had this Etude House Water Color (no u makes me sad :( ) blush for ages now and thought I should dedicate a post to it as I love it so much!

Firstly let's admire the novel packaging- it looks just like a tube of water colour paint! Of course I chose lilac as I am addicted to the shade, but it does come in a choice of four colours. The texture is like a silky moisturiser, and as with all Etude House products it smells really good. As you can see from the swatch the pigmentation of this blush is pretty damn good! It does blend really easily to a natural look though (FOTD here) and I've found it to last really well. This is certainly one of my favourite blushes- if you're an addict like me I recommend checking out Etude Houses selection!

Book Review: The Moaning of Life by Karl Pilkington...

I've been finding it hard to concentrate on reading of late, but I think The Moaning of Life is one of those books you can easily dip in and out of. I do love Karl Pilkington- he never fails to amuse me, so whenever he has a TV show or book out I will watch or read it. The Moaning of Life is his latest book, an accompaniment to the TV show of the same name which explores ways of life in different cultures.

The book reads as if Karl is having a chat with you and is set out like a travel diary. He travels the world meeting different (and often fascinating) people and seeing how different cultures deal with things like marriage, death, kids, money and happiness whilst giving his own often hilarious views on life. His travels take him to such places as Japan, Ghana, US, South Africa, Mexico, Bali, and South Korea and there are also a few picture sections throughout the book, with some great shots of Karl looking fed up. 

I really did enjoy this book, and despite it mostly being a fun, light hearted read did actually learn a few interesting things!

Bargain buys...

I was excited to see Poundland recently had a lot of The Nightmare Before Christmas goodies in. I think these would make perfect stocking fillers, and I've already stocked up as my niece is obsessed with this film! 

Also from the pound shop I bought a few make up bits. I'm always happy to see Elegant Touch nails in there as I love this brand but am too stingy to pay full price for something that only lasts a week. I also got a Rimmel eyeshadow pencil in a lovely turquoise blue shade. I think when It comes to blue eyeshadow it's either love or hate. I'm firmly in the love camp!

Lastly I found these adorable socks on Ebay. The seller has tons of different designs and they are just £1 each. As soon as these arrived and I felt the quality I ordered more for cute stocking fillers.

All used up...

Apologies for how terrible these pictures are- finding time to take pics when there is good lighting is rare at the moment... 

I don't tend to do empties posts often, mainly because I usually forget to keep the packaging when I've used something up. So here is a post of the empties I HAVE remembered to save...

The Body Shop Satsuma Body Mist: I LOVE this stuff- I have already started using the bottle I had in reserve. It's perfect if like me you are not a fan of heavy perfumes.

Yes To Cucumbers Facial Wipes: I hated these things! The texture of the wipes was horrible. I actually ended up using these to clean my desk, and dust my shelves!

Skin Active Face Wipes: I bought these in a three pack from a bargain shop for cheap and thought they were pretty good other than being really wet. Would be happy to use these again.

Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Deep Conditioner: I really do love this stuff. It smells amazing, and makes my hair feel really soft.

M&S Butterfly EDT: As mentioned above I'm not a fan of heavy scents, so this one is perfect for me. To me it smells of melon, and is really light and fresh.

Maybelline Dream BB Cream: In the lightest shade I can *just* about get this to work but I find it tends to darken as the day goes on and also makes my skin quite oily. Not something I would repurchase.

Missha 3D Mascara: This was a pretty good everyday mascara (full review here) that I might repurchase at some time.

MUA Professional Eyes Primer: Honestly I thought this was a terrible primer. It didn't make my eyeshadow last longer or stop creasing.

Vaseline Lip Therapy: I know everyone slates Vaseline, but I find when I get really bad cracked lips this is the only thing that helps in any way, so I always like to have a tin of this around.

The Body Shop Shea Lip Butter: This is my 'before bed' lip balm. It smells delicious and is fairly moisturising. I will most likely repurchase this.

Urban Decay X Pulp Fiction: Mrs. Mia Wallace lipstick...

I mentioned in a post not too long ago that I had bought the Mrs. Mia Wallace lipstick from the Urban Decay Pulp Fiction collection, and even though posting about a now sold out lipstick is a little pointless I couldn't resist. 

Pulp Fiction is one of my all time favourite films and as soon as Urban Decay announced a collection devoted to the classic film I knew resistance would be hard! I must admit when I first saw the range I was a little disappointed, but as a lipstick obsessive I just had to buy it...

I thought this was a nice touch with the packaging, Jules righteous man speech goes all the way down to the bottom of the box.

The lipstick shade is inspired by the lip colour Mia wears in the film. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to hold the lipstick up to my Pulp Fiction poster to compare! The match is pretty spot on though.

The lipstick is a beautiful deep blood red colour, and is what I would describe as semi matte. The formula is really thick and creamy, but does drag a bit- I found it ever so slightly drying (I've never tried an Urban Decay lipstick before, so I don't know if that's typical.) This one definitely needs liner, or to be applied by a brush too, as it ends up really messy applied from the bullet. In terms of longevity, I was really impressed- it holds up very well. 

Overall I love this lipstick, and as a huge film fan love the idea of make up brands releasing collections inspired by films. There's so many possibilities! If you could choose a film to have a make up collection based on which would it be? I think I'd have to go for The Addams Family, although I admit the colour options are limited! 

Etsy find: Little Shop of Horrors...

Armed with some Etsy gift vouchers and a wishlist full of stuff that I couldn't decide on I decided to search Bride of Frankenstein (who else?!) and stumbled upon an amazing store: Little Shop of Horrors!

LSOH is run by Jen from Oregon, USA who specialises in psychobilly, rockabilly, and horror themed jewellery and most of the designs feature her own brilliant original artwork. Here's what I bought...

This amazing Bride hair bow (£4.33). The bow itself is black and covered in glitter, with a bottle top featuring an image of the bride herself. I just love this!

Possibly my favourite of all of them, these Lovely Lily hairclips (£4.49.) Ever since I was a kid I have loved Lily Munster, and Jens' design with the purple bat filled background is perfect.

Finally I chose these Electrifying Love earrings (£4.65) featuring the Frankenstein monster, and Bride. Again the artwork on these is perfect, and they are really lightweight and comfortable to wear. All three items I bought are a really lovely, good sturdy quality too.

If you love horror, or more alternative jewellery I'd definitely recommend checking the Little Shop of Horrors store out, they also have a 10% November discount code (NOVEMBERRAIN) I discovered they have a store envy store as well that is full of amazing bags *argh, must resist!*

NOTD: Revlon Colorstay in Showtime...

*It really pains me to have to spell Colour without the U* Besides that this Revlon nail polish is just beautiful. A deep rich purple that is packed full of fine blue and purple glitter. When you look into the bottle it's like looking into space, and so I couldn't resist it! 

On the nails with a couple of coats it comes out lovely (although the pictures really don't do it justice) and according to the bottle there is no need for a base (don't worry Revlon- I wasn't planning on using one...) it has a nice solid glossy gel like finish and it lasted on me around a week before it began to chip. Thumbs up!

Bomb Cosmetics Mandarin Sunset Whoopie Blaster...

Out of everything I bought from Bomb Cosmetics, the Whoopie Blasters where definitely the things I liked the look of the most. I can't resist anything donut related and these look like bright and colourful donuts. They are two halves of a bath blaster with pure butters piped in the middle and cute sprinkles on top. 

The scent of the madarin Sunset is probably as you'd guess- a lovely fresh citrus smell. I'm pleased to say the blaster turned my bath a lovely ocean blue, and the butters made the water silky smooth which felt nicely moisturising on my skin. I must admit I was planning to get a few baths out of this giant thing and was going to take it out after half had dissolved, but my plan was flawed: it melted in seconds d'oh! For future reference I will be breaking these up, as sadly I don't have the reflexes of a ninja!

Recently watched...

Here's what I've been watching lately...

Gone Girl (2014)

After enjoying the book A LOT I was eagerly awaiting the film, partly out of curiosity as to whether they could do the story justice. I was on the whole pleasantly surprised, they captured the dark nature of the story and all the plot twists packed a good punch as like in the book they were slowly revealed throughout the film. Even the casting of Ben Affleck worked (sorry, can't stand him :/) but his character is so unlikeable and slimy it fitted. Even the ending (which in the book I found a little disappointing) played out better in the film.

Oculus (2014)

I was expecting a typical predicable horror film here but again was pleasantly surprised to find it was a little bit more clever than that. An enjoyable supernatural horror about siblings who face a tragic event from their childhood this focuses more on a creepy atmosphere and suspense rather than gore. Definitely worth a watch.

Girl Most Likely (2012)

The film starts with Kristen Wiig faking a suicide attempt to try and win back her boyfriend, which I thought was in really bad taste. Beyond that it was a fairly watchable but predictable film. I do love Kristen Wiig, but I've got to say this isn't one of her best films.

Doctor Who series 8

I've been really enjoying the current series of Doctor Who. I stopped watching it when Matt Smith became the doctor as I wasn't a fan, but I'm really enjoying Peter Capaldi's take on the doctor. I find his sarcastic nature, and moodiness quite amusing! 

Recent buys...

As I can never resist a good haul I thought I would do a post of my recent purchases from the last few months...

I bought some Korean make up bits to try including the Holika Holika Naked Face concealer which I'm looking forward to testing out. I also seemed to get very carried away with red lip products (▰˘◡˘▰)

I finally got round to buying my first Pop! Vinyl. There are so many I want to buy *TOO MANY* so it was a tough decision, but of course it had to be Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction. I love it so much, she is so cute- and I love how she is mid dance ♥

Which leads nicely onto my next purchase (Put Pulp Fiction on any packaging and I will buy it!) the Mrs. Mia Wallace lipstick from the Urban Decay Pulp Fiction collection. Initially I told myself I wouldn't, but armed with a discount code for Debenhams I couldn't resist. I will probably do a post on this at some point as I love it!

I was lured into Superdrug with their 3 for 2 offer, and used it as an excuse to finally get some Models Own Diamond Luxe polishes. I also fell in love with this shade of Revlon polish... I think this is the first time I've ever paid full price for a Revlon nail polish 0_0 

I also had (another) free trial of Amazon Prime so decided to take advantage, including adding to my ever growing Halloween reading list!

Halloween OOTD...

Tartan Dress: Simply Be
Shoes: Demonia (old)
Tights: M&S
Lipstick: Mac Russian Red

Seeing as I had no one around to take a full outfit picture, I instead took a jigsaw of pictures which give you some vague idea of what I was wearing. It was either this or a flash heavy wavy Ikea mirror picture!

I've recently dyed my hair back to black, and along with my new tartan dress (that I am in love with) thought it made for kind of Halloween-y kind of goth-y outfit. Although RIP my M&S tights, who after a long life sadly passed away after having my fist ripped through them. It was a hulk smash moment of tights frustration I deeply regret! :'(