The things I've really loved this month:
Korres lipliner 5, and eyeliner 14, and L'Oreal Extreme Platinum. I really enjoy the contrast between the pale hair colour, paling winter-weather skin, and dark lips. Though lipliners are for lining your lips (pretty self explanatory really) if you wont be touching up your lipstick, or just want a matte colour, they do look quite pretty. The L'Oreal hair dye worked reasonably well,
especially as I regularly dye my hair. Though I did have to dye my hair twice, and some areas are still quite bronzie.
The nail varnishes are Barry M's Paprika 438, and Mustard 436. Though these colours aren't particularly traditional colours, as they are quite dull and don't sand out much, they are quite autumnal/general cold weather colours.
I have also absolutely adored The Xcerts new album, There Is Only You. It really is such easily listening, and good for rocking about the place.
Giorgio Armani's fragrance Sì smell so delectable, as does the accompanying body lotion, and shower gel. Great Christmas gift, if anyone is unsure what to get for a mother, sister, aunt, or older cousin - not a fragrance for a young girl.
I also love the amount of lace that's going around the place, in dresses, knickers, bras - it feels like a classy trend.
5/5 stars. Totally worth the wait, and listening to on repeat.
I personally love The Xcerts, and have been waiting for this album for so long.
During the wait we were left with In The Cold Wind We Smile (2009), and
Scatterbrain (2010). Between 2010's album and the new release, they've
done a few genius gigs, teasing us by saying that the new album will be
about before they start gigging again so that we can learn all the words
and sing along.
"Whether you're a fourteen year old that's just had their first kiss, or
an adult going through a divorce, there's more to this album than just
me whining." -- Murray MacLeod, The Xcerts.
All The Kids Are On Drugs and Pop Song are songs so ridiculously catchy
and well played that is was extremely hard to chose favourites from this
fantastic album. Even though the sound is classic Xcerts, this album is
a more grown up sound, and is a victory rather than an awkward sequel. All I can do now is wait in sweet anticipation for the gigs, which will be epic, and has actually already started, though the London gig isn't for another two days, Fri 14th Nov, Tufnell Park Dome.
"Carpe some fucking diem"
"You broke my bulls!"
Rated 15
4.7/5 stars
Harry Lloyd opens the film with a flashback-style prologue, which
illustrates Lord Riot's lecherous, desire-fuelled, passion-driven
lifestyle. However short this opening prologue was, it really was quite
hilarious and vaguely informative as to the formation of the first Riot
Club.
Then comes the present day Riot Club, as they look for new members among
the freshman joining Oxford University - There must always be ten
members in the Riot Club.
Sam Claflin's character, Alistair Ryle, is so messed up in this film,
and my, does he play it well. His character along with Max Iron's, Miles
Richards, are freshmen at Oxford University who are recruited into the
Riot Club - cue hilarious initiation tests and rites of passage.
Freddie Fox is dashing as ever, playing the Riot Club president, James
Leighton-Masters. Though, all the actors are dashing - which makes
seeing the characters at their worst quite something. We see them in
white ties and tails, going from dapper gents to boisterous lads in a
hyper real Bullingdon Club-esque trashing of restaurants and
accommodation.
Douglas Booth makes an appearance, and quite an entrance, as Harry
Villiers, current member of the Riot Club, with his winning of a game of
fencing. ("Game" or "match" ?)
The Riot Club (film) very effectively shows a bunch of uppity lads who
think that because they went to the best public school, and now arguably
the best university, that they are better than "fucking poor people".
It's quite an intense watch. Even though the film itself avoids heavily
political scenes, it still is interesting as a row of the classes.
Though this isn't a lighthearted film, it's definitely one to watch, and one of the best films this year.
You may think it's too early to think of your costume choices but, oh
how wrong you are. Halloween is a time where you can dress to the nines
as a character of your choice - these characters show off your
creativity and taste. Any number of Mighty Boosh characters are
appropriate here, mostly because of the cheapness the Boosh created them
with and the appreciation from Boosh fans. Let me say "Boosh" one more
time. Tee-hee. It's also a good time to brace cigarette holders between
your teeth, in a bright Hawaiian shirt, shouting about bat country. Go
wild kids.
Even though Halloween seems a very American celebration (and most people
dress up as cheeky cats, nurse uniforms that don't pass regulations and
the like) and no longer about scaring spirits, it doesn't mean you have to make a
fool of yourself with an awkward showing of too much skin or have to egg
or TP a house - Cool your boots. Lets have fun. I'll bring glow sticks,
you're in charge of cups. I'm getting a little carried away...
[Clears throat and carries on]
I myself have been thinking of my costume for sometime, since the
beginning of summer in fact, as Halloween my 2nd favourite day of the
year (after my birthday and before the first day of summer).
There are many places you can get costume pieces from, including the
often overlooked charity shops - good cause, good items. Though the good
items can be a bit frustrating sometimes, as I wanted to find black
lace gloves, and could only find white ones. That was a tense ten
minutes. Though my attention to detail for my costume is becoming ever
so slightly like that of a Parisian woman, just think of the amount of
photographs - precision is everything.
Incase you think I'm being cheeky-rude, Parisians are known for their
attention to detail - they wouldn't have chipped nail varnish, and are
subtle with their detailing, not garish.
And hey, you can even get random items of clothing from shops down t'
street, like the skeleton ribcage from Primark - if you can find the
trousers, you're dandy.
List of potential characters
/ = awkward
Skeleton - Donnie Darko style
Mexican Day of the Dead
Rico the zombie
/ sexy Mexican Day of the Dead
Vyvyan Basterd
Twister Costume - For this costume to work, you need to love your fellow party-goers - no one wants "right foot, red" and to see your mate kicked in the balls.
The Mighty Boosh
Old Greg
The Hitcher
Spirit of Jazz
When gifted with a beard
The dude, with a White Russian and a roomy cardigan. "I like your style, dude". - Always a winner.
/obviously fake beard
Zeus
Bearded lady - for love of carnivals and AHS Freak Show
I started dying my hair noticeably unnatural colours, starting off with a light turquoise, and carried on for about five months.
To get my hair light enough I used L'Oreal Féria Super Platinum Power-
though this got my hair light enough, it was really quite yellow-y. Even
with the brass correcting chemical solution, it remained yellow. As I
already had Bleach London's Blullini, I applied it onto my yellowy hair.
It stayed pretty blue, but got progressively a more green after washes.
(All lovely colours used, including Blullini, are semi-permanent.)
To jazz it up, I also tried using Crazy Colours' Candy Floss (which was a
very nice pink, though was very weak and didn't last for very long) and
Bubblegum Blue (which lasted a lot longer than the pink and was a
really rich blue. Though this also faded after a while into a greenie
colour, which I rocked for a week or so).
After this, I experimented with Directions, mixing Cerise and Violet
together in varying ratios as well as mixing it with white hair
conditioner. Melonlady and ScarletSaint where saviours in this
department, as mixing your own colour took more brains than applying the
bottled colour.
To redo my roots, I used Bleach London Bleach Kit, which was the best -
even though I only saw the work it did to my roots, I feel like it would
have done a better job than the L'Oreal not-bleach-stuff I used at the
beginning of the whole process. My roots weren't at all yellowy or
brassy, but a quite brilliant white - which, of course I covered in even
more dye.
Being called Ramona Flowers was funny at first, as I did change my hair
colour every week or so, but when the same person says "hey, you're like
Ramona Flowers" every week, it does feel overdone.
Even after all the dying of purple and pink and blue and purple and pink
yet again, the overall remaining colour was a kind of green with cheeky
Swedish blonde areas poking through.
Even though a lot of colour was put onto it every week or so for about
six months, my hair stayed fairly sturdy and didn't snap off as was
feared, and even before I attempted to bleach it it had been dyed
several times. Part of this I owe to the fact that to get my desired
colour with Directions I mixed it with a lot of conditioner. Another
part is the fact that I try to hardly ever, and I mean never use a hair
dryer (unless late for lectures) and never straighten my hair. And
lastly, to the powers of the Bleach London moisturising, life restoring
elixir that came along with the bleach kit.
At the end of my bleaching days, I cut my hair an awful lot and grew my
roots to try and regain control of my now fairly dry, battle wary yet
still vaguely healthy hair.
That is my bleach story.
3.8/5 stars. Great production, though still not completely sold in the English.
London Coliseum - English National Opera.
Though the tickets may be sold out by know, it's good to look out for
either the same cast members or creative team in other productions.
Otello - Stuart Skelton
Desdemona - Leah Crocetto
Iago - Jonathan Summers
Conductor - Edward Gardner
Director - David Alden
Designer - Jon Morrell
Movement Director - Maxine Braham
(Other cast and creative team members here)
When I bought the ticket, I didn't check to see if it was in Italian or
not, which I should have done. Only wen checking cast members did I see
that there was a translator of the libretto. If I saw that the opera was
in English before buying the ticket, I would probably have been less
hasty, as the seats were selling fast.
I shouldn't have worried at all. Even though I didn't need the surtitles
to understand the singers, the language change wasn't nearly as
annoying as I'd expected. I'm a bit picky when it comes to librettos -
like when choosing wines, you go for what you love, and I would normally
always picks Italian operas.
One other thing is rather strange about this production, and that is the
fact that Skelton isn't in fact black, so when Iago curses "the moor",
it isn't actually him being a racist bastard, it more like an obscure
curse word we don't know the meaning of.
Set in Cypress, the set had a very tidy array of props, with a few
chairs and tables dramatically thrown and quickly cleared from the
stage. The only constant stage prop was an icon resembling the mother
Mary. And there was some very interesting placements of this icon - when
Iago is talking with Cassio, they throw darts, using the icon as a
target. I took this as Iago being a nasty schemer of dastardly plans.
When Otello is being particularly manipulated he picks up a chair, which
was being used to prop-up the icon, letting it fall on the floor. There
really were some clever minds behind this production.
The story itself was well performed and just as captivating as ever.
A thing to check when buying tickets is whether or not the opera is sung
in English or not, as other operas such as La Boheme and La Traviata
are sung in English.
4.5/5 stars. Who knew a talking racoon (Bradley Cooper) could be hilarious, a tree-man (Vin Diesel) could be endearing and cute, and that a kickass soundtrack could work with both awesome dance moves, random bursts of singing, and references to Kevin Bacon.
This film really is wonderful. With it joining all the easter-eggs of other Marvel films, such as The Collector (Benicio Del Toro), and Thanos (Josh Brolin). The Collector must be the easiest halloween costume out there, but still awesome. And to see Thanos (Brolin) again is really quite exciting, hopefully foreshadowing future Marvel films.
The film opens with the heartbreaking introduction to Peter Quill, who as a child is shown to be abducted from Earth in the late eighties (cue awesome soundtrack) after his mother’s death (cue the tears). It then cuts to twenty-six years in the future where we see a masked figure wandering around a deserted planet (cue awesome dancing). Having the ability to change from tears to heartfelt joy even in the opening twenty minutes set the vibe for the film, proving early on that it wasn’t just bunged together, but really well written and thought through.
Chris Pratt is awesome. This role really shows him off for those who haven’t seen Park and Recreation, or any other work of his. He really bloody encapsulates a cheeky guy with a great taste in music - just an über funny chappy amongst people of the Galaxy.
Saldana pulls of green extremely well, with her ninja/assassin moves. What’s fun is that her character Gamora is the love interest of the film without cheapening her character - she’s too ninja to be boring. Whoever knew they could pull this off along with the caring tree-man Groot (Diesel) and swearing, bomb-making techno-racoon (Cooper) should give himself a pat on the back. Bravo sir.
Seeing Lee Pace all robed up, as Ronan, in an awesome costume and supercool makeup, blue-marble skin is in folks, was quite something, especially after just seeing The Hobbit trailer before the film started. His villainous vibes were pretty strong whilst strutting about the place with Karen Gillan as Nebula was awesome. Lets just use that word again. Awesome.
This film managed to pull in so many characters and jokes without overdoing the superhero, super-gifted, “ooh look shiny” effects, and without feeling über gaudy. (cue “Hooked on a Feeling” - Blue Swede).
Drax’s (Dave Bautista) bright red tattoos on his blue skin look so cool, along with his hilarious unfamiliarity with metaphors. Though not a protagonist, he steals all screen time in fight scenes.
Though the easter-egg wasn’t much of a clue, and was more like a bit of fun for waiting fans, the whole film feels like a foreshadowing for the next instalment. According to the wonders of the internet, another Guardians of the Galaxy film is scheduled for release in 2017. (Even later than the next series of Sherlock).
