Happy Halloween!

Some of you may find yourselves celebrating today with barm brack (and the annual fight to the death for the golden ring), copious amounts of sweets, scary movies or books, getting stupidly excited every time the doorbell rings in the hope that there'll be cute little 'uns trick or treating, trying to carve a pumpkin and failing miserably, getting pelted with eggs by scumbags (particularly if you happen to be from Limerick), or in fancy dress while trying to explain your obscure costume to some drunkard you've had the misfortune to end up talking to in a nightclub (I refer you to the year I dressed up as a Freudian Slip..not the easiest to explain to your average randomer).

I may or may not be celebrating with a combination of the above. However you're spending the day, hope you enjoy it! For now, here's a cute hedgehog dressed as Dracula.

Just cause.

Winter Skincare Additions- Clarins Blue Orchid Oil and HydraQuench Serum

Good old Winter. In one respect, I love you. You bring me Christmas, my beloved winter boots and coats, mulled wine and hot whiskeys by a roaring fire in the pub's snug with Hubster. On the other hand you bring the misery of cold, darkness, the potential for gangrene related hypothermia (unlikely but I did say potential), colds and flu (with that comes Lemsip and flu shots), and general girly problems like dry skin and lips. I've dealt with the dry lips issue HERE and HERE and now I'll share the latest additions to my skincare regime, specifically for the chilly months ahead.

I really like Clarins. I've probably made that clear before (there's a Clarins label there in the list on the right, if you fancy some further related reading), I'm particularly drawn to their skincare (having said that, their Christmas eyeshadow palette WILL be mine. Check out Aundrea's post on it here on Dancing With Disaster) and am really enjoying these two products.

The first, Clarins Blue Orchid Face Treatment Oil for dehydrated skin, I actually got last Winter but because the bottle contains 40mls and you only need a small amount for each use, I still have over half of it left. I apply this at night time after cleansing and toning, before moisturising and I definitely think it's helping. It does smell slightly granny-ish..I'm not being ageist, I promise. It just has that kind of scent that a more mature lady would wear. That doesn't bother me in the slightest, I only mention it as a warning for those who prefer unscented skincare products.

Moving on, HydraQuench Intensive Serum Bi-Phase for Dehydrated skin. Oh the love I have for this. A mixture of oil and water based liquids, this has to be shaken well before spraying and applying to skin, pre-moisturiser. This contains 30mls, although again, only a small amount is needed each time so not a big risk of running out in a hurry. This smells florally, much lighter a scent than the Orchid oil but still noticeably scented. My God, this just feels so soothing on. I would liken it to being really thirsty and the relief you get from drinking a big pint glass of cold water. Lovely. My skin feels way softer after applying this and with moisturiser, it seems to be an excellent base for foundation. I have read a few reviews from people with acne-prone skin, who said this broke them out. Personally, I think my skin is just the right level of dry and that's why this suits me so well. I can't recommend this enough, I actually look forward to putting it on, as sad as that sounds.

Anyone got any other Winter saviour products for me to try?

Halloween Scary movies!!

What with the countdown to Halloween upon us, I reminded himself that we should start our horror film marathon. He was..less than enthusiastic about it, given that movies of a scary nature are really more my thing. So I decided to share my top ten horrors (but not in any actual numerical order, just to confuse matters) with you lovely people instead, husband be damned! (no, not really, he'll still have to watch most of these with me).

I should point out that there are several sub-genres within the horror genre itself and I did wonder if I should try and include one from each in the list, but to be honest that would take way too much time, so here are my general favourites instead. I tend to avoid anything that could be considered "torture horror"- I've watched Hostel, The Collector (internal shudder), Wolf Creek, Creep, The Hills Have Eyes, Captivity and several of the Saws, so we can all agree I've done my homework but they're just not for me. Scary? Indeed. Classics? Oh, hell no. I like my horrors with a bit of intelligence- not just instantly forgettable sadistic slashers. Also, I don't know if I can include Alien or Jaws in here, cause although they both are considered horrors in a way, Alien is really more sci-fi and I've mentioned Jaws before HERE, so I said I'd leave it out of this list.

Noteworthy mentions should also go to Friday the 13th, Final Destination, Evil Dead, Insidious, Jeepers Creepers (which was bloody terrifying, now that I recall), The Hitcher, An American Werewolf in London, Night of the Living Dead, The Birds, The Woman in Black, The Wicker Man, Don't Look Now, The Exorcist, It, Carrie, The Silence of the Lambs, Misery, The Mist and Candyman. If you think of any I've missed, please let me know in the comments!

Scream marked Wes Craven's return to horror in the 90's and signaled a complete upheaval of the entire genre. It features a group of teens (the heroine and main target being Sydney), one by one being picked off by the unknown masked killer, "ghostface", culminating in a big final showdown at a house party. What's so great about Scream is that the characters are aware of the history of horror movies and make reference to it several times as a plan for survival- it means we, as the audience are part of the in-joke, something that hadn't been seen in scary movies before then.

After all that I was saying about "torture horror", picking the film that pretty much started off that entire genre probably seems odd but The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a classic horror- it's been copied (badly) by so many others for a reason. Basic premise- teens out in the middle of nowhere after their van breaks down, they stumble upon a family of inbred psychopaths and the rest is pretty terrifying history.

The Omen was one of the first scary films to employ the use of a small yet terrifying child to freak us all out- Damien is basically the spawn of the devil. It takes his parents a while to figure it out, much to their misfortune. Lots of nasty deaths and an excellent musical score make this a good'un.

Ah, Psycho. I've spoken about this before HERE so I won't go into detail again. Just to say I saw this in the cinema recently and it's even better on the big screen. Psycho was so shocking in its day because it was the first of its kind. It's been copied so much since but it is still the original and best.

The Ring- The American version, a remake of the Japanese original. I often think there are no good remakes of horrors, except for this. Some say this one isn't as scary as the Japanese one but I disagree. The creepy child (who simultaneously looks like a grown man when moving- very unsettling) crawling out of the tv to kill people- shudder.

A Nightmare on Elm Street- the very first one. All the others were a complete washout. Freddy Krueger is a Paedophile/school janitor who was burnt to death after the parents of his victims found out about his crimes. Krueger now haunts and kills the townsfolk's teenagers- but in their sleep. Worth watching for the scares but also to see a young Johnny Depp get torn to shreds. If you're, ahem, into that sort of thing.

Halloween is one of my all time favourite horrors- it follows Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) around on Halloween (unsurprisingly) as she's stalked by psychopathic killer Michael Myers. She's aware something weird is going on and is a bit freaked out but thinks it's all in her mind until her friends start going missing one by one that night- and then it's her turn. One of the first "slashers" made, this also has had many copies and it's own franchise but nothing beats the original.

Ah God, I love a good zombie movie. I say "good" cause there have been some awful ones. 28 Days Later however, is amazing- made by Danny Boyle and starring Cillian Murphy, the zombies in it are infected by rage so they move at an alarmingly fast rate and although the usual beating to the head sorts them out, they are pretty terrifying when they can't be outrun like your average undead. Unusually, this one questions what would happen to uninfected members of society if there was a zombie outbreak. In this case the answer, realistically, is some good old misogyny with male sociopathic army dudes in charge, adding an extra element of creepiness to the film. As an aside- 28 Weeks Later is also great.

The Shining is based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, although the two are very different and I have to say, I prefer the book. Regardless of that, the film is still excellent. The Torrance family have moved to the Overlook hotel in the snowy back arse of nowhere to be the caretakers while it's closed for the Winter months. Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) plans to work on his writing while there but the haunted hotel and his sons ability to sense the paranormal (called "the shining") conspire against him and he ends up going a bit mad. All work and no play, etc. If you've never seen this, I cannot recommend it enough. It is absolutely chilling and so well made. Watch it!!

Rosemary's Baby is a real slow build of a horror. Don't watch it if you're expecting jumps and non-stop shocks, cause you won't get it. Rosemary and Guy are a young married couple who move into an old apartment building in New York that has a fairly unpleasant history. Their neighbours are an elderly couple who quickly immerse themselves completely in Rosemary's life, particularly when she becomes pregnant. I can't really say much more without giving away the entire plot but what I will say is that this is probably the perfect film for you this Halloween if you're not actually a huge horror fan..it's very creepy and you will spend the entire film with a sense of growing unease and tension. You know something bad is happening and you know something even worse is coming but it's so cleverly written that it's more like a disturbing jigsaw puzzle then anything else.

So that's your lot! Happy viewing and of course, Happy Halloween!

Lush Hair Doctor

So my hair has been somewhat akin to that of Worzel Gummidge of late. For those of you too young to remember him, here's a picture:

Attractive, I'm sure you'll agree. After the success of the Lush Mint Julips Lip Scrub I tried recently, I decided to pick up something for my hair in Lush too- enter Hair Doctor. 95g for 8.25, this is a thick mask for dry hair and an itchy, sensitive scalp containing lovely things such as Irish moss seaweed, extra virgin coconut oil, lanolin, almond oil, glycerine and peppermint to condition, strengthen and moisturise the hair.

I massaged this into my scalp, which was like some sort of HEAVEN and put a thick coat of it over dry hair, left it for 20 minutes (it ended up being slightly longer than 20 mins cause I got distracted by an old episode of Sherlock- the BBC one, not the Goddawful US version with Lucy Liu, obviously), washed it out and shampooed and conditioned as usual. It was really easy to wash out even though it's quite thick, my hair was really easy to comb through wet and was super soft and somewhat shiny when dried. The other thing I should mention is how incredible this smells- minty and fresh but also a really comforting scent. My only complaint with this is that I got it last week and it expires next month- which unless you're using it regularly might result in some wasted product. Boo. Having said that, I really love this and can't recommend it enough. I'm hoping that with even more use I'll start to look a little less like Worzel- still as muddy and unkempt but with better hair :)

Hand Creams-Battle to the death! Garnier, Norwegian Formula, Clarins and L'Occitane

I recently finished off a tube of L'Occitane Shea Butter hand cream and a tube of Clarins Creme Jeunesse de Mains.

The Clarins was a present so I have no idea how much it cost but contains 100mls of rather nice smelling but completely useless cream. It is a nice formula- light weight and very easily absorbed, no greasiness but also fairly ineffective- I felt my hands were as dry after use as before. The tube in the picture is completely empty- I gave it a good go but wouldn't buy it again. After that I wen't on to L'Occitane's Shea Butter hand cream (30mls)- I picked this up in Chicago a couple of years ago for 10 dollars and have squeezed every last bit out of the tube- this is lovely. It smells gorgeous, is really moisturising and sinks in straight away. I would happily repurchase another one but I know for a fact it's a lot pricier over here than what I paid for it in the States!

I used Garnier body Intensive Moisturiser  all Summer and really liked it so I said I'd give their "Intensive 7 days hand cream, SOS-Repair" a go (most dramatic name for hand cream of all time). 100mls for 3.89 euro, containing Shea Butter and L-Bififdus (no, I still don't know what this is), I thought this'd be a bit of a bargain. I was wrong. The bottle specifically says that the formula is non-greasy and non-sticky. I, however found it ridiculously greasy- uncomfortably so, to the point where I felt the need to wash my hands straight away after rubbing it in. Ugh. Just the thoughts of it.
Dr. Fancy Pants has agreed to start using it for his crazy dry hands while I then moved on to Norwegian Formula's Nourishing Hand Cream with Nordic Berry.

This one was 5.59 for 75mls, so a little bit pricier but definitely worth it. It smells divine- really fresh and not overpowering. It has a light, instantly absorbed formula and thankfully not a smidge of greasiness in sight! Huzzah! So for the moment the Norwegian Formula wins but obviously if I were to lift my self imposed shopping ban, it'd be L'Occitane all the way!