Recently Read

Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth
I started reading this ages ago and kind of stopped midway when the BBC series started up but recently returned to it as I hate not finishing a book but also cause I actually really enjoy reading about life during the 1950's, especially post-war London. I also have a particular interest in the history of nursing and midwifery- Jennifer Worth makes an interesting point at the start of this that memoirs about nursing/midwifery are few and far between, we tend as a profession not to write about our working experiences even though this would be hugely beneficial in advancing our knowledge about the profession itself. Anyways, this is Jennifer Worth's hugely successful first part of a trilogy about her life as a midwife and district nurse in the slums of the East-End during the 1950's. It sounds depressing and once or twice is a little bleak, but overall it's very amusing, the characters are very well drawn and even if you have no interest in hospital dramas, you'll enjoy this and hopefully find it as entertaining as I did.

Revenge of the Tide by Elizabeth Haynes
This is the second thriller from Haynes, following on from her successful debut "Into the Darkness", which I actually really enjoyed. This book focuses on Genevieve, a pole dancer with a demanding sales job who leaves the rat race of London behind to follow her dream of starting a new life on a houseboat in Kent. Things seem to be going along swimmingly (see what I did there) until she discovers a body washed up beside her boat. The rest is basically a murder mystery, tense in places but overall lacking the gripping storyline of her first novel. Haynes fails to build a full picture of her characters and in the end I didn't really care what happened to any of them. I would recommend avoiding this and reading her first book instead.

Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton
Another book following on from the author's first novel. "Afterwards" is Rosamund Lupton's second novel after her bestseller "Sister". This is about Grace, a mother of two, who along with her eldest child Jenny find their non corporeal selves wandering around a hospital following a  horrific fire in Jenny's school which left them both unconscious along with life threatening injuries. This is a fairly fast paced thriller- as it turns out the fire was an arson attack and Jenny is still not safe, even in her ICU bed, so Grace sets about trying to solve the mystery of who started the fire and why, even though she is in effect, a ghost. They both also eavesdrop on and follow the rest of their family around which is at times quite emotional. Overall, I liked this, it reminded me slightly of "The Five People you Meet in Heaven", except with less crying this time (seriously, I was inconsolable during that one. Curse you Mitch Albom). It has received mixed reviews, mostly because a lot of people think it's failed to live up to their expectations following "Sister" but I actually thought the ending to that was a bit lame, whereas this was a lot harder to figure out. If you like a good thriller with a difference, this is worth a read.

Kate Moss for Rimmel

I've always liked Kate Moss, God knows she's a bit of a looker (those cheekbones!) and although I personally have no interest in dressing like I'm off to a festival, I think she has a very cool style, unique to herself. I really liked her collections for Topshop so when her lipstick collection for Rimmel came out last year, I was all over it. I ended up buying 3 shades cause they were all half price in Boots (bargain), no 1-a true red with blue undertones, no 5-a peachy/pink and no 8-a nude. Anyway, that's all old news cause she's brought out some Spring/Summer shades, including a fairly vibrant pink that had to be mine.
Again, this was on offer in Boots at 4.56 euro. Sweet.
Here's my little collection all together, including the newbie:

Left to Right: 01, 05, 08 and 20. It's hard to tell from the photo but the two pinks are actually completely different, trust me!! I really like these shades because they're all very wearable, she has a purple and a couple of other dodgy numbers in the collection that just aren't my thing but these are all lovely. The pigmentation in these are excellent with a nice creamy consistency, there isn't any need to build these up, one layer is enough. They smell nice, kind of like sweets but not particularly overpowering. Packaging is fairly plain, as you can see. Just a black plastic casing with the "Kate Moss" signature logo on the lid. Obviously for 4.59 I wasn't exactly expecting solid gold or anything. Here's a swatch of all 4, again L-R 01, 05, 08, 20 with and without flash:

And here's my little S/S beauty on it's own:

And being worn, out in the wild..or Howth, in the sunshine. Although that sounds less dramatic.

I really like this colour, as I've said before I'm always fairly wary of bright pinks with blonde hair but this colour is really flattering and brightens the face. One thing I will say about these is that durability isn't the best, I put the no 20 on just before I had a 99, by the time I was finished making a glutton of myself (note that I had also just had a big seafood dinner) with the ice cream, it had not only worn off but had left a rim of colour around my lips that made it look as if I had ill-advisedly decided to apply some bright pink lipliner really badly and nothing else, you know, as you do. But again- 4.59 so I really can't complain that much, I'm just pointing out that these need regular reapplication. Anyone else get any of Kate's Lipsticks?

Recently Watched

Even though I watched the entire series of Revenge, finished the first series of New Girl (Oh Zooey, so delightfully kooky) and am almost through season 5 of Mad Men (only 13 episodes, why?!! I need more!!), I also managed to squeeze the above four films into my viewing.

1) War of the Dead. HTB told me this was a Nazi-zombie movie, so I was fairly excited. The words Nazi and zombie together seemed like the ideal combination...for a horror, obviously, not just for life in general cause that'd be awful. Anyway I was wrong. Aside from the fact that this is actually about Russian soldiers, captured and experimented on by Nazi doctors and turned into zombies, rather than Nazi zombies themselves, it's also brutal. Brutal in the sense of- it's a terrible movie, rather than it's so amazingly zombie-tasticly brutal. I stopped paying attention about 5 minutes in, HTB left to make a phone call, so neither of us actually knows what happened. But that's no great loss.

2) Prometheus. Not quite a prequel to Alien, Ridley Scott (Director of Alien, Blade Runner and this) said that while the events in this occur chronologically before Alien, and exist in the same universe, it's not directly linked to the Alien franchise. So basically, if you go expecting Alien you'll be disappointed. However, on its own merit, this is a really good scifi/horror. The acting is excellent (Michael Fassbender- amazing as always, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba and Noomi Rapace- all brilliant) and the 3d is really well executed- not just tacked onto the end like a lot of 3d movies. There's plenty of hide-behind-your-hands moments of terror (those Aliens are vicious) so if you're not a big fan of gore, this isn't one for you. Personally, I loved it! Yay for gore!

3) Snow White and the Huntsman. This had so much potential. A darker retelling of the well known fairytale where Snow White is a kick-ass warrior, winning her kingdom back from the evil but beautiful Queen...this unfortunately didn't translate that well on screen. Firstly cause Kristen Stewart is in it and I find her a tad irritating. She tried God love her, but her acting was still pretty poor. Charlize is amazing in this- stunningly beautiful and deliciously evil, completely over the top but in keeping with the part. Chris Hemsworth is the Huntsman, and doesn't do too bad a job apart from his attempt at a Scottish accent that veered dangerously between Bobby Sands, Crocodile Dundee and Groundskeeper Willie. There are some beautiful CGI generated scenes in this that make it very aesthetically pleasing and the 7 dwarves are highly entertaining. What lets this down though is that it doesn't really go anywhere- there's a vague nod to a potential love triangle that doesn't materialise, a battle scene that wasn't very exciting and an ending that felt completely out of the blue. Another thing that annoyed me is the blatant attempt at using feminism to sell the movie- a lot of the press surrounding this made a real effort to convince viewers that this is all about female empowerment and granted, two of the strongest characters in it are female but it just felt incredibly forced to me- like the Spice Girls shoving Girl Power down our throats using precarious trainer/platforms and skimpy union jack dresses. Basically, I just felt it didn't work- I don't think Kristen Stewart can pack enough of a punch literally or figuratively speaking to be a female role model and the evil Queen, although super strong and powerful, fails in this regard too as her main obsession is with avoiding the ageing process and remaining beautiful at all costs, rather than wanting to be powerful just for the sake of it. Cause you know, remaining attractive is every woman's lifelong obsesson. Gah.

4) Shame. Another amazing performance from Fassbender (or Ridebender as I like to affectionately refer to him as), playing a sex addict complete with a dysfunctional relationship with his sister (also an excellent performance from Carey Mulligan, who demonstrates her beautiful singing voice too). This was quite difficult viewing, I have to say. It really explores the levels of degradation that someone with a severe addiction will go to to get their fix. Having said that, it's beautifully shot and as I said, the acting is superb. This is one of those ones I think everyone should see. Shame (pun intended) on the Oscars committee who failed to nominate this film and those involved, I say. If raw and gritty emotional drama isn't your style then best avoid this one. If, however, Fassbender in the complete nip is your style (and God knows, it should be) then this is for you! Yay!

Happy viewing!

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation

The other night a friend of mine asked if I or anyone else had any recommendations for any good drugstore brand foundations that had a light but still good enough coverage for daytime. I thought firstly of Rimmel's Wake Me Up foundation, which I was pleasantly surprised with, but although the coverage was great with that, I felt it might be too heavy for what she's looking for. My all time favourite 'light' foundation is YSL's Perfect Touch, which gives a lovely, dewy, healthy glow. But that'll set you back about 40 squids. Then I remembered Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation, which I got while on an insane spending spree in a Boots in Newry late last year:

According to the bottle, this gives a perfectly glowing complexion and toned skin for up to 16 hrs, using fruit therapy- Apricot, Melon, Apple and Ginger for radiance, hydration, energy and anti-oxidant benefits. I dunno about the whole "16 hr" thing, but it does leave the skin looking healthy and fresh, not caked on in make up, basically. Also, it smells divine- bonus!! 

This is it on and blended, shade 51, Light Vanilla (a nice way of saying "freakishly pale"):

Nice, no? I can't remember how much this was, cause again, crazy supermarket sweep around Boots, but I'm pretty sure it's reasonably priced, as are most Bourjois products.

Revenge!!

I get addicted to tv shows. In the past this has included the X Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Blackadder and Father Ted. More recently, the It Crowd, Mad Men, Misfits and Sherlock have all made the list. You know, that desperate need to see the next episode to find out what happens and those that you rewatch a million times cause they're just that amazing. 
Well, those are all the tv shows I'm happy to admit to loving. Then theres the ones that are a little more embarrassing, those that are merely chewing gum for the eyes, if you will. This leads me on nicely to Revenge- a show I started watching last week and got so addicted to I watched the entire series within a matter of days (yes, it was 22 episodes and yes, I do have a life). This has been hugely successful in the US and has just reached our shores via E4.

So Revenge (or REVENGE!!- shouty capitals and exclamation marks are how I hear it in my head) is kind of like a combination of Dallas, Gossip Girl and Agatha Christie, which is potentially the greatest mix of all time. It centers on Emily, a rich, enigmatic and beautiful heiress who's just moved to the hamptons and bought a beach house next to Grayson manor- home to the super rich Victoria and Conrad Grayson and their 2 kids, Charlotte and Daniel. Emily is not all she seems, however:

She's actually really called Amanda Clarke and lived in the same beach house she just bought as a child, until her father was wrongly accused and imprisoned for life for participating in acts of terrorism on US soil, causing the death of hundreds in an air plane crash. He was framed for this crime by none other than the Graysons and several others who Emily/Amanda's father trusted and was close friends with. Anyway, he died in prison, Emily/Amanda had a rough upbringing in foster homes and ended up in Juvie. So she's pretty angry. Luckily, when she moves back she finds it fairly easy to start ruining the lives of those involved, with the help of multi billionaire, computer genius and ally Nolan, who promised her father he would help her. Part of her plan is to get herself involved with the nefarious Graysons, to take down both husband and wife, but in particular, Victoria Grayson, who is evil incarnate (and also looks amazing, all of the time, even in the most life-devastating of situations):

She starts to put this plan in motion by getting together with Victoria's son, Daniel, thus ingratiating herself into their lives:

A bit like Joey Tribiani- not bad looking but not a lot going on behind the eyes. Emily/Amanda's character is interesting because she tends not to form any emotional attachments (thanks to her somewhat sociopathic tendencies and 2 years training in Japan to be a Ninja...no, I'm not joking), except to local barkeep Jack Porter, who was a childhood friend of Amandas. They both secretly love each other even though he doesn't know she is in fact Amanda and not Emily. All sorts of obstacles are thrown in the way of them getting together, which is for the best really cause she's a bit mental what with the fixation on revenge and all..I'm not sure he'd understand. Anyway, there's lots of crazy plot twists and turns, fabulous costumes and lots of people for her to seek REVENGE!!! on:

So basically, it's pure tripe. But entertaining tripe...Watch it!!!