Recent beauty favourites...

It's been forever since I've done one of these posts, so here are some recent beauty favourites... 

Toni & Guy intense softness shampoo and conditioner

I've always been pretty stingy when it comes to hair products and never like to spend more than a couple of pounds on shampoos but after trying Toni & Guy in a set I got in the new years sale I'm hooked. I have really noticed a difference in the condition of my hair, and it looks, feels and smells so much better!

NYX Voluptuous mascara

My favourite mascara is Clinique High Impact, but I hate spending £20 on just a mascara. Other than that I've never really found one I like enough to re-buy so in Boots after admiring the new NYX stand I decided to give this a go. I really like it, it need a few layers buy does give a lot of volume and lasts well... and it's only £6.50 :) 

Tony Moly Luminous Goddess Aura BB Cream

I use this pretty much every day and have repurchased a few times now. I'm not really a foundation fan so this is perfect for me- it's light and blends in well to give enough coverage to even out my complexion. It also gives a brightening effect which gives my skin a nice healthy glow.

John Frieda Frizz Ease

I've never really been into hair products to be honest as I'm too lazy but my hair can get quite frizzy so I decided to give this a go. I just rub a small amount into the lengths and ends of my hair before drying and it makes my hair lovely and smooth and super soft. Although you only get a small amount for your money fortunately a little goes a long way.

Cougar 24hr Liquid Lipstick in Mulberry

I got this is my most recent Pink Parcel and I love it! Aside from the beautiful mauve colour it dries to matte and stays on the lips for ages. Also it smells of ice cream which is a bonus!

Recently watched...

Deadpool (2015)

For some reason I was expecting to not like this but it ended up surprising me. I really enjoyed the way they turned the superhero origin story on it's head by going back and forwards in time and opening with the superhero suited up and mid battle. There was a lot of humour (i really enjoyed the not so subtle digs towards the X Men films) and I loved Negasonic Teenage Warhead. 3.5/5

The Burning Plain (2009)
I am quite a fan of Charlize Theron so have been trying to watch some her films that I've not yet seen. This is about a woman trying to run away from her difficult past but is forced to face it. There are dual stories that are connected and the acting is just brilliant. If you like a good emotional drama then you'll enjoy this. 4/5 

iZombie Series 1 & 2

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this series. I've been waiting for this show to be available in the UK ever since it was announced, after loving the comic book series (reviewed here) and now it's available to watch on Netflix. The show is only loosely based on the comics, about a young woman called Liv who gets turned into a zombie and must eat brains to stay "human". Whenever she eats a brain she gets flashbacks of the persons memories which come in handy when she gets a job at the police morgue and helps solve murders under the guise of a psychic adviser. If you love Buffy you will love this show- I'm sure it was a big influence as it has a kick ass female protagonist, a lovable scooby gang, lots of humour and even a Spike-esque baddie that you can't help but like! 5/5

Stranger Things

This is the new hyped Netflix show and I had to see what all the fuss was about. After a slow first couple of episodes the story really picked up and I thought it was a brilliant sci-fi/ horror well worth your time. Set in the eighties with a great synthy soundtrack about kids going missing, a monster with no face and a girl with special powers. A lot of the cast were kids and it had a strong Spielberg / E.T feel to it. It also made me think that this is exactly how Paper Girls (current favourite comic) would look if it was made into a TV show. 4/5

A trip to Cardiff...

 The other week it was my Birthday and I was treated to a couple of days in Cardiff. Despite only being a couple of hours drive I've never been to this city before. When we got there we went to the Doctor Who Experience (post here) and then checked into our hotel and had an explore. Fortunately our hotel was right in the city centre and as it is a fairly small city everything was in walking distance. 

 We had a list of places (mainly geeky) that we wanted to go to whilst in Cardiff, but first headed to the main shopping centre for food. Along the way we stopped at the Lego store, I've never been to one before and it was pretty cool. You could create your own lego people, and they also had a wall of pick'n'mix lego bricks!

 As big burger fans we knew we had to go to Shake Shack, an American burger joint that only has two in the UK (Cardiff and London.) I had a cheese and bacon burger and cheese fries and it was DELICIOUS. The food was made to order, the fries were crisp and topped with a rich cheese sauce, and the burger was hand pressed and flame grilled. They go up to the top of the burger leader board knocking Five Guys to second!

 In the evening we stopped at an Italian patisserie to get some treats to take back to the hotel including some cannoli (pastry tubes with in this case a Nutella filling) and sfogliatella (a puff pastry shell filled with pistachio filling). 

 The next morning after having a lovely brunch we headed out to do some shopping. In the middle of the city is Cardiff castle, unfortunately this was the best picture I got but it was very picturesque. Compared to other cities I have visited and Birmingham the one I live in I found Cardiff to be very laid back, it almost didn't feel like a city, which is good for me as I don't enjoy busy hectic places.

 There were also quite a few fancy shopping arcades too that had small boutique shops in.

 One of the places on our 'to visit' list was the Liquid Nitrogen Science Cream parlour

 Set out like a science lab they make ice cream to order using liquid nitrogen. It's very cool! They had so many delicious things on the menu, but I went with the Killer S'mores Cone which was a waffle cone, two scoops of double shot chocolate ice cream and flame toasted homemade marshmallow. It was GOOD! 

 This was a random shop window that was pretty... Overall I had a great time in Cardiff. It was a lovely place and the people there were incredibly friendly :)

So here are the things I bought :) A Wonder Woman lego key chain from the lego shop, a postcard and some bits from Paperchase... 

And these goodies from Forbidden Planet. I was so chuffed to find an SDCC Liv Moore pop- I am currently obsessed with iZombie and hope they bring out a full collection. I also had to get something Catwoman related of course!

Recent comic pulls...

I've been trying to cut down on my single issue subscriptions and have actually been doing pretty well, but here are a few recent titles...

Patsy Walker A.K.A. Hellcat

I love this Marvel series, I've always liked Hellcat and She-Hulk and now that Jessica Jones is in it it's even more exciting! This one is a lot of fun and the artwork is bold and colourful to match.

Bitch Planet

This is a great series from Image that is set in a future where 'non compliant women' are sent to a prison referred to as bitch planet. With strong feminist overtones, and retro style art this is a very empowering read. It is also worth getting in single issues as there's lots of extra content including interesting essays and thought pieces which you don't get in the trades.

Paper Girls

One of my current favourite comics this is like a comic version of Stranger Things but with badass girls! I love it and the often pastel toned artwork by Cliff Chaing is perfect.

Kill or Be Killed

This is a new series by Ed Brubaker which I believe is a thriller although I don't know a huge amount about it. I mainly got it because I usually like his stuff (especially his work on Catwoman and Fatale). He tends to stick to noir so I got issue one to give it a go.

A-Force

This is a series I've been subbed to since the beginning, although I need to start reading this again as my issues are piling up. Featuring all the women of Marvel in an Avengers type team this is a great read, and the artwork is very beautiful.

Batgirl Rebirth

Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Rebirth

I've been getting quite a few of these rebirth issues from DC to see which ones I want to continue reading. As a fan of Batgirl I had to get this especially since this new story takes her to Japan. I love the Birds of Prey and was interested to give this reboot a go, I must admit I'm not to keen on the art style although Black Canary (one of my favourites) doesn't look as bad as the original images suggested.

Snotgirl

Another new Image title, this one is about a fashion blogger who secretly suffers from many allergies hence the name. I read the preview of this and it looked fun and the artwork was really nice so I thought why not!

Montress Volume 1

Finally I got the first volume of Monstress, a mix of steam punk and art deco that tells the story of Maika a badass teenaged survivor of a war that mixes eastern and western styles. I've heard a lot of amazing things about this so can't wait to read it.

The Doctor Who Experience haul...

As promised in my post about my visit to the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff here are the things that I bought there...

The gift shop was packed with so much cool stuff it was hard to decide which things to get! The first thing I grabbed was the Titan Bad Wolf Tardis figure. This has been on my wishlist for a long time as I am a big fan of Rose/Bad Wolf- it's my favourite era :D

I also bought a comic book style coaster and poster, a postcard and a Tardis key chain.

As the trip was a Birthday present I was treated to the companion merchandise ticket which came with a bag of goodies. Inside the Tardis bag cam a a t-shirt, festival band, companion guide book, fancy admission ticket (sponsored by Magpie electricals!), a Gallifrey certificate, and a boxed Tardis key. 

I'd definitely recommend getting this with your ticket if you go as it works out great value and a lot of these things are exclusive to the pack.

So that's my little haul :)

Pink Parcel August 2016....

  Pink Parcel is a 'luxury period subscription box' that sends you a monthly supply of tampons and/or pads and a selection of treats including tea, something sweet and other goodies. You can see my post for the June box here, I forgot to post about the July box... oops!

 This is what it looks like when you open the box, you get a big supply of towels or tampons and then a box of other treats.

So here are this months treats... some matcha green tea, a box of gummy bears, Sunkissed shimmer dust brush, So Susan Haute Light pencil, a Cougar Beauty 24 Hour liquid lipstick (my favourite item, I've been wearing it a LOT), Sass intimate perfect skin concentrate, Emily fruit crisps, and finally an Estella Bartlett bracelet.

Overall I thought this was a good box with a nice selection and I love the packaging of the apple crisps!

The Doctor Who Experience Cardiff...

 It was my 30th Birthday last week and one of my Birthday presents was a trip to Cardiff as well as a visit to the Doctor Who Experience. I've been excitedly counting down to the trip for so long and it was a lot of fun! I went a bit crazy with the picture taking so be warned this a very photo heavy post...

 The Doctor Who Experience is situated in Cardiff Bay which is very very close to the city centre. There are two parts to the experience, firstly an interactive portion where you help the twelfth Doctor on a mission to save his TARDIS and become a companion. You are not allowed to take pictures so as not to spoil it but without giving much details I will say it was a LOT of fun and the set pieces make you feel like you are in a Doctor Who episode :D

 The second part was a two floor exhibition with pieces from throughout the history of Doctor who. There you got to see a number of different TARDIS's inside and out from various Doctors times as well as have your picture taken with some classic Daleks. There was all sorts of memorabilia including  all the different sonic scredrivers and props.

 One of the most exciting bits for me was being able to step into the ninth & tenth Doctors TARDIS. Both of them jointly are my favourites and it was pretty special standing at the console after seeing it on screen.

 Here is the outside of the TARDIS that the ninth and tenth Doctor used

 There was also a very cool Cyberman display that had various incarnations through the years

 A ninth/tenth era Cyberman (bringing back sad memories of Doomsday)

 There were a lot of costumes and prosthetics of various monsters and aliens 

 As well as costumes of all the Doctors and companions 

 There was a section dedicated to Clara as well with the lovely TARDIS at the centre

There was also a section dedicated the the most recent series with pieces from each episode including an ageing Davros here!

My ticket was a merchandise package so I will include what I got in a separate post as they had a very cool gift shop where I got a little haul of things as well.

Overall I loved visiting this place and would definitely recommend if you are a fan of Doctor Who :)

My Birthday presents...

Last Monday it was my Birthday, and I turned 30 Nooo! I got some lovely presents from everyone so thought I would share. I know some people don't like these kind of posts but personally I love them and do them every year so here goes...

 I was lucky enough to get quite a few books off my wishlist, the only problem is deciding which to read first! I got The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware, Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (I'm so excited to have this!), A Book For Her by Bridget Christie, Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff (such a beautiful cover), I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh and finally The Bones of You by Debbie Howells.

 I got a cool classic sci-fi and horror comic colouring book, and a beautiful hard back edition of Batman Mad Love, as well as volume 1 of Giant Days and the Ms. Marvel Civil War spin off book. I'm really looking forward to watching Raised by Wolves a comedy drama written by Caitlin Moran and her sister. 

 I got another Rock Candy figure to add to my collection (see here), some cool Doctor Who drinking glasses and a grow your own crystal kit which I can't wait to try. I love Amethyst so hopefully it will work, although I'm doubtful as I never seem to have any luck with plants...

 Some cool random bits here including an amazing Ursula fold out bag, and some rose quartz, and a chunk of amethyst. You can't really see the badges but they are Homeland ones. One of them says 'never trust a ginger' with a picture of Brody which I find hilarious!

Finally some Lush goodies including one of my faves Intergalactic bath bomb :)

Overall I had a lovely Birthday. I was taken out for a nice meal and then got to go and stay in Cardiff and go to the Doctor Who Experience which I will do some separate posts on soon! 

A trip to Devon...

  At the end of July we spent a week in Devon and thought I would share some of the pictures I took...

  There were hydrangeas everywhere! They are so pretty and I loved being surrounded by every shade of pastel you could think of.

 We spent the day at a place called Bygones which had a replica Victoria Street and tons of memorabilia and recreations of the 30s, 40s and 50s as well. I love historical places and took so many pictures I'm tempted to so a separate post. This was a Victorian sweet shop.

 Donuts on the Pier. Fresh warm seaside donuts are the best!

 We also spent the day at a castle that was built in the late 1800s. Inside they had kept the decor the same, there was some very nice wallpaper. 

 We found a shop called The Sugar Zone and it was Pick'n'Mix heaven. I got so much of the stuff I still haven't eaten it all!

 At both the castle and Bygones they had vintage arcades- they were A LOT cheaper than the normal beach front arcades...

 An evening at the harbour

 You can't go to the South West coast without having a proper cream tea

I spent way too much money trying and failing to win a Batman and (in another machine) Wonder Woman. Damn the CLAAAAWWW.

June and July reading round up...

Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty
One of the reasons I didn't get a whole lot read over the last few months is this damn book! It took me a month to finally finish and I wished I'd have just given up on it as I really didn't enjoy it so I took forever to get through it. About triplets this was very slow. Just not my kind of book. 2/5

Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes
You by Kepnes (review here) was one of my favourite books of last years so I was very excited to read the follow up. Unfortunately I was hugely disappointed. In the first book psychopath Joe was strangely likeable and funny, in this one he was just arrogant and annoying. In You Joe methodically stalked Beck to worm his way into her life, in this book every woman in a mile perimeter threw themselves at him so he didn't need to. The first book was dark, clever well written and funny, Hidden Bodies sadly was none of those things. 2/5

Adventure Time with Fionna & Cake by Natasha Allegri
This was an Adventure Time tale where all the characters were gender switched hence Fionna and cake rather than Finn and Jake. I read this on the beach and it was a fun easy read. The artwork, font and colours were beautiful and I love Prince Gumball! 4/5

Batgirl Vol.1 Batgirl of Burnside by Stewart, Fletcher & Tarr
A reboot of Batgirl where student Babs relocates to Burnside- the hipster part of Gotham. Babs Tarr's artwork in this is definitely the highlight but the story was a bit meh. Trying to be modern the villain was some cyber hacker...social media...blah- he was forgettable. Most of the characters were teens so maybe I'm just too old now but my favourite character by far was Black Canary, who as an adult was the opposite of a voice of reason and thankfully was her usual badass self. 3/5

Saga Volume 6 by Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples
As usual another amazing volume. This is quite possibly my favourite current comic series, just brilliant! 4/5

Doctor Who: Ninth Doctor Weapons of Past Destruction by Scott Caven
I wanted to try a Doctor Who comic and opted for this one as it had Rose in. The artwork was mostly brilliant and they really captured the ninth Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack's likeness perfectly. As for the story it was a bog standard Doctor Who tale and another nit pick is in trying to get each characters dialogue accurate they ended up lifting actual lines from the show which was annoying. 3/5 

The Violent Vol.1 Blood Like Tar by Brisson & Gorham
It was nice to find a good thriller/drama/crime comic amongst the endless super heroes and sci-fi. About a couple who are trying to leave their drug and crime addled past behind for the sake of their young daughter this was dark and well written. The shadowy artwork lent itself well to the story. Sadly after the first arc this one got cancelled, but Brisson will be setting up a kickstarter for the next volume soon. 4/5