Poltergeist

A while on a girls night out, we went to see  Poltergeist in the cinema (only getting round to writing about it now). I love a good horror movie and I was really hoping this would be a breath of fresh air from all the really bad non-scary films that have been made in the past few years.

The film began quite good, a few strange things started to happen. Things moved on their own, the little girl was talking to "an imaginary friend", there was a few strange noises and they even added in some creepy clowns. Then one night the parents go out and things get a bit more intense. I must admit I did jump in places but I would like to add that we were watching this in 3D.
They tried to make it out that there was some sort of portal in the house, this is where the film started to go downhill for me. I don't really want to go into too much detail here. If you have read any of my previous film or book reviews you will know that I don't like to spoil anything for anyone. But anyway, there is a portal. A ghost hunter comes in to try and investigate and to me everything from this point on becomes a little OTT/far fetched. Frankly some parts are just plain silly and this is what I hate about these kinds of "horror" movies. It takes the scary element out completely.
I was actually quite disappointed in this film because it started so well. It was as if it was created by two different people, one who was creating a masterpiece and a joker who comes in and messes it up halfway through. Although some people get scared easier than others so anyone who gets easily freaked out could probably appreciate this film a lot more than I did.

I don't think I could recommend this film to anyone but I don't like to put anyone off who is wanting to see it. If you want to experience it for yourself please do as your opinion could be very different form mine.

xx

After The Crash

So I have finished my latest read. After The Crash by Michel Bussi. It is a crime thriller and it is his first book to be published in the UK.

At the beginning of the book I found parts of it confusing. There were a lot of characters mentioned and it is only when you read more into the book that the story behind each name is revealed. I like how it is written from the different characters point of view and not always the same person. It gives more insight into the story. The only thing bad about this is that at the start of the chapter there is no indication as to who it is about, you need to read the first paragraph to gather who the author is talking about. As Michel Bussi is a French writer he uses french names and places. I never took much interest in French at school so I wasn't entirely sure how some of the words were supposed to sound, but as long as they sounded 'ok' to me then who cares.
I must say it is a very gripping story. The clues don't really seem to lead anywhere so it is confusing as to how the story is going to end up. I'm the type of person who tries to figure things out for myself so that I can feel kind of smug if I turn out to be right, but this one was too difficult to figure out. Things stopped and started, twisted and turned, it was a task trying to keep up with everything. It was all dates and times which weren't to hard to follow as they were mostly in order anyway, but it was the number of characters that made it hard to keep up. Especially with no indication (until you read the first paragraph) as to who's point of view it actually was.
The last few chapters of the book contained probably the biggest twist of all. I could never have guessed what was to come. If I wasn't already hooked this certainly done the job. Without giving too much away it went from solving an identity, to a "whodunit", to a search investigation. It is the kind of book you need to read almost all at once. There is no time to put it down for a day or two and forget the small details.

If mystery crime thrillers are your sort of thing it is definitely one to add to your collection. Highly recommend.

Want to read more of my book reviews?
The Girl On The Train
Second Life

xx

Met Gala 2015

Twitter was buzzing last night with talk of Vogue's Met Gala. And of course all eyes were on the fashion on the red carpet. 

The dresses this year where fabulous, they had everyone talking. Kim K with her feathers, Beyonce's see through number, Miley's new hair colour, JLo's dragon and Rihanna wore an omelet....

 

While some of the outfits were extravagant and OTT it was hard for me to pick a favorite as so many of the celebs looked so good! Eventually I managed to narrow it down to three! Many of you wont agree with my choices and find them 'plain'. But the fact they are plain and simple is the reason they stood out for me. Call me old fashioned, but I really think less is more in this situation. Celebrities are always trying to make a statement on the red carpet at any event and they tend to choose more risky outfits such as; see through dresses, bold patterns, showing too much flesh or an outfit that is completely mad! This is why I find a more subtle outfit more refreshing. 

First celeb I want to mention is Kate Hudson. She wore a gorgeous gold Michael Kors, floor length dress. It had a high neckline and a bit of a train. Very glamorous, and if anyone can pull off gold its kate! 

Uma Thurman next. Wearing a stunning white Atelier Versace, Perez Hilton described her last night on Twitter as a "grecian goddess" and to me that's exactly how she looked here. I love the wrap design with the silver detail around the cleavage and the split to show off her lovely long legs and matching silver shoes. Its the small details that really makes this dress stand out. 

And finally, Reese Witherspoon in a Jason Wu gown. This red, floor length dress may be plain with no detailing but it is truly elegant. I think the reason I love it so much is because it is the kind of dress I would wear myself to a formal occasion. Of course I could never look as beautiful as Reese does in it, she is flawless! The more I look at it and talk about it the more it becomes my favorite! Also to set it off she wore stunning jewellery from Tiffany & Co. 

There can't be a red carpet event without having some "worst dressed" celebs. Last night there were a lot of fashion choices I didn't understand, but one that stuck in my head was Katy Perry. When I saw her all I could think was "why?!". Some people might think its risky, unique, unusual, almost rebellious but personally I think its tacky. Big thumbs down from me. 

xx

The Boy Next Door

Recently I've been doing a lot of reading so I haven't been watching too many films. But last night I took the time to watch The Boy Next Door. 

My sister and I have wanted to see this film ever since I saw the trailer. To be honest I'm not a big fan of JLo as an actress however, the film looked to be the kind of 'edge of seat' thriller that I like and the guy (Ryan Guzman) is hot... Lol.
The film started off pretty good and there was a good build up to the main story line. The acting was better than I had expected, but it still wasn't the best. I was really beginning to enjoy the film. The secrets, the delusion, the blackmail, etc. And then all of a sudden when it all went belly up. I expected more blackmailing and a bit more of 'thrill' but it never came.
Towards the end of the film he turned from a stalker to a full blown psycho! This just escalated to quickly in my opinion. To be honest I personally was disappointed with the ending.
Also some of the scenes in this movie are a bit OTT. The sex scenes were borderline "50 Shades Of Grey", and the gory scenes at the end were very graphic in parts. It was very shocking as I wasn't expecting it to be that kind of film. So if you are thinking of watching it here's your heads up!

I wouldn't rule out watching it again, but not entirely sure if I would recommend it. Although if you want to give it a watch and form your own opinion please feel free to share it with me.

xx

Inside My Makeup Bag

I know there is a lot of 'Beauty Bloggers' out there and people have their own ideas about makeup brands, but I just wanted to do a post of the products I use. I am not one for 'high end' makeup I use your everyday Boots/Superdrug high street makeup. Its affordable and in my opinion the products I use are just as good as some of the more expensive ranges.

FACE

I use L'Oreal True Match foundation in the shade 'N5' or 'Sand'. It is £9.99 in Boots, although I managed to get my last ones on offer, 2 for £15. Also Boots run their 3 for 2 offers every so often. Good to keep an eye out for them.

Its a liquid foundation that comes in a 30ml pump bottle. I use a foundation brush to apply it and the brush I use I bought for £1 so it wasn't expensive either. I think it goes onto my skin easily and it covers well. Also as its name states it comes in 20 different shades so finding your true match should be easily done. I know that it was for me.

For my bronzer I have using MUA Bronzer in Shade 2. MUA Cosmetics is only available in Superdrug stores and this bronzer is only £1! No that is not a special offer. As this post goes on you will be seeing a lot more MUA products and when you see the prices you will understand why I love them so much! I only use a small amount of bronzer on my face as I don't use blusher so I don't want to have big brown cheeks. Even so, this bronzer lasts for AGES! As you can see from my picture the writing has worn of the packaging I've had it that long. Bargain buy.

Then we have my highlighter. This is again MUA. It is called Undress Your Skin. It is a highlighting powder new to the MUA range. They have two shades in this 'Pink Shimmer' and 'Iridescent Gold'. I bought the 'Iridescent Gold'. As it is new I only purchased this recently so I have only worn it a few times, but so far I really really like it. It is applied so effortlessly and I think it sits really well. It does have a bit of a shimmer to it but not in a childish glittery way and for £3 it is another bargain buy. 

Finally to finish off my face section of my makeup bag I have MUA Matte Perfect Loose Powder. This is only £2.50 for a 15g tub and it is Translucent. I LOVE this stuff. It is great for setting your makeup in place and I love that its translucent. I have never liked having a powder that I have had to pick a shade because I find it sometimes took the look of my foundation. This goes on so perfectly and because its 'Matte Perfect' it has what they call shine control. It really does take away any annoying shiny parts of your face. For me its my nose. Plus you don't need to use a lot of this so the tub will last for a very long time. 

EYES

I'll start with my two eyeshadow palettes. Both of these are MUA Cosmetics palettes. The first is the 'Glitter Ball' palette (Black) and the other 'Romantic Efflorescence' palette (White). There is 12 colours in each palette and each colour has their own name printed on the back of the packaging which I think is a nice touch as most eyeshadow palettes just come as they are. These are £4 each which again is very cheap for an eye palette and they are long lasting good quality. I don't have a favorite out of these two. I normally mix and match some of the colours from each palette when I am doing a smokey eye. Although I do tend to use 'Romantic Efflorescence' shades for a more daytime look and the the bolder 'Glitter Ball' shades for nights out. 

For my liquid eyeliner I recently have been using '2True Effortless Eye Liner' and it is 'Shade 1' which is Black. It is only £1.99 in Superdrug stores. Personally I don't know what to make of this product. For me it is certainly not effortless, but I don't know if that is due to the eyeliner itself or the fact that I am maybe not very good at putting it on. I find that sometimes I have to go over it again cause I can see lighter bits and this usually results in me making a mess of it especially when doing winged liner. But once I have it done it is amazing! It doesn't smudge, it stays put. Maybe if I master applying it I might like it a lot more but for £1.99 it is good value.

I then use a pencil eyeliner for my waterline and lower lash line. I use 'MUA' pencil eyeliner in 'Jet Black'. This is only £1 and again it's a great quality product. It stays on all day and the lid of the pencil has a built in sharpener! What more could you want!

I have been looking high and low for my perfect mascara. I've tried numerous ones from 'Avon' and cheaper ones from the likes of 'Miss Sporty'. Then I came across this, 'Barry M Showgirl'. I buy the 'Extra Lengthening' one and it only costs £4.99 in both Boots and Superdrug, not expensive at all. So far I love it. My lashes do look noticeably longer and I will definitely be sticking to this mascara.

Now for the brows! I have a friend who is a makeup artist that recommended this product to me, it is 'MUA Pro-Brow'. I use the 'Fair - Mid' shades. Love, love, love it! As you can see from the front of the packaging it has four sections. Two shades of brown eyebrow makeup, a highlighter and wax. I tell everyone about this product. It costs £3.50! And I think it is the best high street eyebrow makeup there is! It is a proper little kit. Inside is the Pro-brow makeup, mini tweezers, application brush and mirror on the underside of the lid! Honestly I have stocked up on this, definitely one of my "must haves".

LIPS

I have a small collection of lip liners. I only bought ones that I needed to go with the lipsticks that I use. The three 'MUA' ones I have are 'Brooding Plum', 'Pink Me Up' and 'Berry Wine' (which they class as an eyeliner). These are £1 each and like the eyeliners have a sharpener on the lid. Handy. The brown one I have is 'Cinnamon' from 'Natural Collection'. I bought this in Boots for £1.99 and out of them all I use this one the most as I would normally wear nude shades.  To be honest I would recommend them all. They do the job and work well with the lip colours I own.


This lipstick is from 'Victoria Jackson' and unfortunately you need to purchase any of her products online. If you buy from her website (http://www.vjcosmetics.com/ ) it is all in American currency, but you can get some products on ebay. This was a present and it came with a whole set of lipsticks, eyeshadows, blusher, mascara and a set of brushes, so I can't tell you how much it would cost or the shades of any of the lipsticks. But this pinky shade I keep with me as it was my favorite out of them all.


Back to 'MUA Cosmetics' for my everyday, daytime lipsticks. These are from their 'Matte' range and the two I have here are 'Totally Nude' (lighter shade) and 'Fancy Fawn' (darker shade). I really do like these. I'm a bit of a sucker for the matte look. Out of the two I have to say I prefer the 'Fancy Fawn'. I find the 'Totally Nude' a bit light for me, although I have seen it on others and it does look lovely. I will definitely buy more of these and they are also £1 each. You really can't complain.



Now, its time for the mothership! This is 'MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer' and they are £3 each. The reason I call these the mothership is because they have changed my lipstick choices forever! BEST BUY EVER! It is sooooo matte, I love it! I just want to shout about it from the rooftops. The colours available are so vibrant and very nice shades. The four I have pictured here are: (in order) 'Tranquility', 'Dare', 'Reckless' and 'Halcyon'. I'm in love with all of these colours! I can't even find the words to describe how pleased I am to have these in my life!
Want to know more? Read my full review of this lip lacquer! >> CLICK HERE <<

xx

Second Life

Just finished reading Second Life by SJ Watson. If you read my previous post about the book The Girl On The Train you will already know I like to read mysteries with twists and turns that unfold.

I saw this book in Waterstones and as it was in the Crime, Thrillers & Mystery section I decided to make the purchase. It sounded interesting. "Shes living two lives. She might loose both." I could just tell this was going to be a book full of secrets waiting to unravel, and I was right! 

Reading this straight after reading The Girl On The Train I found some similarities in the characters. At times I felt as though I was reading about the same people, I was picturing the same people in my head but in a different situation. There were also some similarities in the story itself. Things like the violence/abuse, the blackmail and addiction (trying not to give too much away). Don't get me wrong though the story line itself is different and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I loved how nothing was as it seemed. Just when I thought I had it figured out the more pages I turned unveiled something which made me rethink. It is another book I didn't want to put down. I just wanted to read chapter after chapter. Even the characters you can relate to. Its written from Julia's point of view and there are certain parts that I know people will have experienced themselves for example, she has a teenage son. I'm sure many parents can relate to some of the issues. There is also some other parts of the story that anyone can relate to. Even someone of my age. But I can't tell you any more than that. You will have to read it for yourself. No spoilers here.

One thing I would say is a bad point is how SJ Watson ended the story. It just kind of stopped in the middle of something (again trying not to give anything away). It was left at a 'Did she? Didn't she?' situation and the reader is just left to use their own imagination and decide for themselves. Some people might like these abrupt endings but personally I don't. I like answers. I want to know. 

If, like me, you are into these kind of stories I do recommend this book.

Also if you click the link above it will take you to my review of The Girl On The Train. 

xx

My New Lip Find

I was out treating myself to some new make up products the other day and one thing on my list was some new lippy.
Personally I love the matte look and I have a small collection of matte lipsticks (most of them are from MUA cosmetics). I am always searching for a lipstick that stays on and that is cheap. This is why I have bought a few things from MUA cosmetics. Their make up products start from £1! And I know people get put off by this as they automatically assume the products are of cheap quality but I love the quality of their stuff. If you were to empty out my make up bag more than half the items in there are MUA cosmetics.
But anyway...
I came across this new "MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer".
It comes in like a lip gloss bottle with lip gloss applicator. When you first open it and apply, it looks like lip gloss and at first it feels kind of similar to gloss but after a few seconds it drys matte. It is amazing! Is thick so you don't need to apply loads and the pigment in the colour is on point. Most importantly, it does not budge! There isn't a huge range of colours, I think they have about 10 maybe but the colours they do have in it are really nice.
The picture below is just a quick picture off the internet to show you all what it looks like. There are more colours available.

MUA cosmetics can be bought online at: http://www.muastore.co.uk/

Or

You can get MUA cosmetics on the high street, only in Superdrug stores. 

As well as this lip lacquer they do have a range of matte lipsticks which I also like to buy. The matte lipsticks are £1 and this lip lacquer is only £3. Mega bargin. 

I personally like the shades "Tranquility", "Halcyon" and "Serene". I'm really into my 'nude' shades at the moment but I am going to be adding "Reckless" and "Dare" to my collection soon as I like a bold colour for a 'going out' look. 

Below is the packaging the lip lacquer comes in. Just so you all know what to look out for. It doesn't look cheap so no one need know you only spent £3! Our little secret ;) 

xx

The Girl On The Train

Now and again in the afternoon when I am not doing anything sometimes I watch Loose Women after This Morning. Last week the Loose Women panel announced they were going to start a book club and every month one of them is going to pick a book for everyone to read and review. They have encouraged everyone to get involved and post their thoughts on Facebook and Twitter using #loosebooks. First up, Coleen Nolan chose the book The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins.

I haven't read anything in a while. I'm pretty sure the last books I read were the Fifty Shades books. So I was keen to go out and buy this book.

As you can see from the covers of the book it has been given very good reviews, and I can confirm these are accurate. I love thrillers with a lot of twists and turns. I like to be kept guessing and wondering, trying to figure out the clues while the story unfolds. This book definitely lived up to those expectations. There was so much mystery! I just couldn't put the book down, longing to know what was going to be discovered next. One minute I was reading the first line, the next I was on page one hundred and something. Really did hold my attention.

I don't want to go into a big review of the whole story as that would have to contain some spoiler alerts and everyone should read it for themselves and hopefully get the same gripping feeling I got from the story. It really is a brilliant read and I will definitely be keeping my eye out for anything to come from Paula Hawkins.

Highly recommended! I might even read it all over again... 

xx

Clown

Finally I got round to watching the film clown last night. My sister and I love our horror films, so since we were having a girly night in we decided to cross another one off the list.

I seen the trailer for the film when it was first released and my initial thoughts were "that looks like a film that could give me nightmares!"
It starts off straight into the story which I like. I hate the kind of horror films that have people going about their daily lives for the first hour of the film and it takes forever to get to the good 'scary' bits.

I did like the story line and I had high hopes for the film. Personally I didn't find it as scary as I thought, most horrors don't frighten me anyway and I don't have a huge phobia of clowns, but still I wasn't disappointed. There were a few moments where I found myself on the edge of my seat saying to myself "Oh no!" Hes going to do this and hes going to do that.

We (my sister and me) both agreed that we would watch it again. I would recommend this film to everyone unless you have a serious fear of clowns or are under the age of like 15 because you will not sleep!

"A loving father finds a clown suit for his son's birthday party, only to realize the suit is part of an evil curse that turns its wearer into a killer."

xx

Gone Girl

Last night I finally got the time to watch Gone Girl. I had wanted to see this film for a while and now I have I decided to share my opinion of the film with you all.

To begin with I thought it started pretty well. Its one of them films that goes back and forward from past to present which I like because I like things to unfold and to try and figure things out. So I was all hyped up for this mystery and was expecting lots of twists and turns. The twists in the story were definitely there so I wasn't disappointed on that part but I was disappointed in the fact I had it figured out in like the first fifteen minutes!
So Amy (Rosamund Pike) goes missing and they become suspicious of her husband (Ben Affleck) it becomes obvious he is being framed for her disappearance or even murder. Within no time I had it figured out that she was alive and it was all her! She was framing her husband. It was so predicable.
But this didn't put me off watching I was still curious to see what way things ended up. Did he go down for her murder? Did she get caught out? What happens next I was not prepared for.
Turns out Nick was having an affair and Amy knew all about it and that was the motive to frame her husband. While in hiding Amy turns to an ex boyfriend, that she also tried to frame, who agrees to hide her due to the abuse lies she told him. Then she kills him! Such a shock! Amy is then found and of course lies that her ex boyfriend had kidnapped her and had her tied up in the house. She then returns to her husband who is planning on leaving her as he knows that it was her trying to frame him. At first they play up to the cameras that all is well then she plays with his head claiming to be pregnant knowing that will make him stay with her as he always wanted kids. This is where the ending is really messed up as he decides to stay. They live in their house but he sleeps in the spare room. Its clear they don't trust each other and he even locks the bedroom door. Why he even decided to stay with her knowing she tried to get him the death penalty and she just killed her ex is beyond me! I would have been straight out of there. Then they continue their life in front of the cameras as a perfectly happy married couple... To me this ending didn't fit. After all the drama I was expecting a more explosive ending. I thought that maybe he would have found a way to get the truth out there and for her to get sent down or even more dramatic, for her to kill her husband after all.

Overall I wouldn't say it is the worst film I have seen but I do think the ending could have been better. I would watch it again if it is ever on tv but I am in no rush.

xx