Wednesday 22 May 2013

Summer = Festivals Part 1

I love going to festivals, and as it's approaching summer (one would hope!) I thought I'd do a little three part series on what I'd take to festivals, one is life essentials- and the other skincare/makeup, and then fashion essentials.
In the past I’ve been lucky enough to go to Reading, Glastonbury, Wireless, and Bestival. This year I tried to get some Glasto tickets, and didn't :( Hopefully next year!
Bestival, 2010

Wednesday 15 May 2013

A few book reviews

Since I've had my nexus (nb. 2 months and already addicted to it :s! ) I've been reading a lot more books. I swore I've never get a kindle or an e-reader as I love the feel of a new book, and the smell! But with some of them being as low as 20p on the Kindle app I downloaded and not having to wait for days on end for the postman to finally trundle up to my letterbox with my book- I was sold!
In these 2 months I've managed to read 4 books, not gonna lie, most were cheap crime thrillers but some were better than others and have now gone up massively in price (£4.99!?)

The Hundred year old man who climbed of the window and disappeared ~
I loved reading this book! It begins with Allan Karlsson, a centenarian climbing out of the window of his care home, in his urine splattered slippers, on the morning of his 100th birthday. As the story develops from this point- his escape, an adventure unfolds as Allan makes new friends (and enemies) and tells his amazing life story parallel to this real time one. In his lifetime he encountered Stalin, Mao, Truman, Churchill, and a young Kim Jong Il, among other people. Jonasson's way of writing was original, funny and a bit different; showing a centenarian to be somewhat of an escape artists and criminal, but all in good spirits. I couldn't put the book down, so to speak, and finished it in a few days. I'm looking forward to his next book already!

Safe House~
This was bought on a whim, in the kindle store as it was so cheap and had great reviews. A thriller set on the Isle of man with many twists and turns: it begins as Rob Hale meets Lena when he is called out to fix her boiler, and is then thrown off his motorbike which he was riding with her. But she is nowhere to be seen. As he looks for her, the plot thickens ('scuse the pun!) with the untimely death of his sister, the woman his parent's have hired to investigate it and the shady characters that emerge around Lena's disappearance. I really enjoyed reading this too, it took a while to get into but once I did I found the story quite interesting, especially on the unusual setting of the Isle of man for a crime thriller.

Little girl lost~
This books follows the story of Lucy Black, a police detective in Derry, who is looking for a girl called Kate McLaughlin. The book is set in the cold winter in Derry, and Brian McGilloway paints a vivid description of the icy streets and freezing cold conditions, as a young girl is found that they all believe is Kate, wondering around some woods, covered in blood. She isn't, and won't talk to anyone; Lucy then attempts to find her family, look after he father who has onset Alzheimers, and look for Kate. The story, again, takes many twists and turns and is really well written. 

Dark Winter~
Another crime thriller (sorry!), this time set against the backdrop of Hull and the Humber in East Yorkshire, a man dies on a fishing boat off the coast of Norway, after telling a reporter his story about surviving in the same situation 40 years before, a girl is murdered outside a church, and a junkie is burned alive in a house. All these deaths have a connection, and DS Aector McAvoy attempts to uncover the truth before this mysterious murderer finds his next victim. A great story, as with Safe House it did take a little longer to get into than some of the others on this list, but I enjoyed it all the same.

White Bones~
The last crime thriller, and last book in this list. I both, liked and disliked this book. It was so interesting and gripping to read, another book that I felt I couldn't put down. But on the other hand, the story was so gruesome and the descriptions so good that I didn't like reading them, as they described murders and rituals, there is so much horror and sadness in this story  It tells of a farmer digging up 11 skeletons on his far who are believed to be 100 years old, and part of a ritual killing, after this, similar killings, and rituals begin happening, as DS Katie Maguire tries to find out what they mean, and who is behind them.  A good story, but just keep in mind the vivid descriptions if you read this!


What have you been reading lately? Any recommendations? Do you read on an e-reader or prefer the real deal?

Friday 3 May 2013

Summer time with The Body shop

As uni is over(!!) I'm properly back- and it finally seems to be summer (yay) I thought a good idea for a post would be my favourite summer skincare/ beauty products, as most of them are from The Body shop that seemed like a good place to start.

First up my absolute favourite: coconut body scrub which I was kindly sent by the body shop. It smells amazing and does the job well,- I think it's one of the best scrubs out there! It's one I've been always going back to and repurchasing over the years. This seems like the perfect way to kick start summer and help get a great tan (by removing all those dead skin cells)!
Next up for summer are these brighter than bright Colour Crush eyeshadows which are new to The Body  and not ones I've tried before, again I was sent these by The Body Shop (for disclosure!). They are little pots with big colour, there are 30 different shades, ranging from shimmer to matte, some are as bright as those two above! I think the photo above just about captures how bright they are! These two aren't personally colours I'd go for (I'm more of a green/brown/purple kinda gal), but the colour pay off is really good and long lasting. I think I'll still use these as more of an eye liner 'pop' during the summer months.

And lastly for getting ready for summer I'd be lost without my Mango Body oil- again a product that smells amazing, last for ages and one I constantly use all summer, both for moisturising and a bit of a 'shimmer'. It says on the label (excuse the fraying label- it keeps peeling off from the oil!) that it can be used on hair and body, but I'm not a fan of it on my hair, it smells lovely but doesn't sink in as well as 'proper' hair oils. But this isn't the case on the body, it sinks in after a few minutes and leaves skin feeling lovely and smelling mango-ey!
Thanks for reading- What are your favourite 'getting ready for summer' products? Or The Body Shop products?
P.S There's 35% off http://thebodyshop.co.uk/ with the code HOLIDAY until 7th may