My Favouite Things #35

Images from: IMBD, World of Wanderlust

 

It's been a long while since I've done one of these posts. This was suppose to go up on Friday but I was busy/lazy to actually write it. It's the weather guys, I just can't function in this heat and humidity.

 

Jessica Jones

I like to think I'm a Marvel fan. I haven't read any of the comics but I love the movies as well as the TV shows. From the first episode I was hooked. The show is darker than any other Marvel show or film which I loved. The superhero aspect of it wasn't that stressed, the show did not centre around it rather it being focused on Jessica and her struggles. I've now watched the entire season and I'm very tempted to re-watch it all again.

 

World of Wanderlust

When I was trying to come up with a name for my little travel series I stumbled across this blog. World of Wanderlust is a travel and lifestyle blog and I found myself reading all the posts about many places around the world and daydreaming. There are also recipes and I found a couple I like the look of and bookmarked them for later.

 

Blue Sandstone Necklace

Ellen and Tara from Shop Style Conquer have recently opened a store which you can check out here. So far they are selling necklaces which are all gorgeous. I couldn't help myself and picked up a Blue Sandstone Crystal Necklace and it's now my favourite piece. There is limited stock with some necklaces already being sold out but the Blue Sandstone Necklace is still available to get.

 

Hope you all enjoyed this post! It's the last day of November, can you believe it! I can't wait for everything to be Christmassy (even though it has been since early November). We got out Christmas tree over the weekend and I'm so excited to decorate it, with the tree there it is actually starting to feel like Christmas.



Long Term Reads

It's been a long while since I've done a book review. The last half of my degree got a bit hectic and stressful which left me no time to read anything other than Titian and Rembrandt. I decided to kill two birds with one stone with this post and write about two books which I was sent from Hachette NZ.

 

Kitchens of the Great Midwest - J. Ryan Stradal*

 

Who is Eva Thorvald? The book follows Eva's life through the eyes of the people she meets. To her father, a chef, she's a pint-sized recipe tester and the love of this life. She's an enigma, a secret ingredient that no one can figure out.

 

I really loved how the reader learns about Eva, the main character, through the perspective of other people. Each chapter follows a different person who somewhere comes into contact with Eva; her father, cousin, boyfriend, work colleagues etc. This approach made the story more interesting, you never knew who was next and what their perception of Eva was.

 

Eva's life isn't perfect. There are a lot of sad and challenging moments for her but she follows her dream. Overall I enjoyed the story and how it was told.

 

 

Close Your Eyes - Michael Robotham*

 

A mother and her teenage daughter are found murdered, clinical psychologist Joe O'Loughlin is drawn into the investigation when a former student jeopardises the inquiry. There are no shortage of suspects and while the case becomes more complex his personal life also becomes disrupted.

 

As I was reading the story it felt like a crime thriller movie or a TV show. I could imagine watching it as I was reading it.  Most of the book is told through O'Laughlin's point of view but there are also snippets of perpetrator's point of view giving us a sense of him and looking at the investigation through his eyes. There are a number of suspects and throughout the book I was constantly like "it was him" "no, it's him". But of course, as good stories go it ended up being the person I didn't suspect at all. As well as the investigation we see O'Laughlin also dealing with issues in his personal life which unfortunately has an unhappy ending.

 

Overall I enjoyed the story and was constantly guessing till the end.

 

 

*These books were sent to me but the review was all my own opinions

Dreaming of Wanderlust

 

 

For the longest time I've had wanderlust, ie a strong desire to travel. This desire only increased when I went over to the Gold Coast in March and now that I have finished my degree and have no plans at all for next I find myself wanting to just get out of the country and explore.

'Dreaming of Wanderlust' is a little travel series which I thought would be cool to do where I write posts about countries and tours I really want to experience. Basically I'm creating a travel bucket list for myself.

One of the things I like to do is to go on travel websites and plan imaginary trips. It's fun but it also reminds me that I need money which entails me to have a job *sigh*. Like with anything these days it's much more easier and accessible to do things on apps. The website Webjet: Aus link here**, NZ link here**, which is great to look for flights/hotels/cruises etc, now has an app which allows you to window shop imaginary trips if you're anything like me.

 

 

 

The app is really easy to use which is great cause for me if something is too hard to figure out I just don't even bother. The screenshot above is of the flights section and as you can see there are separate sections for return, one way, multi city and you just add in all the other information. As you can see I played around with it pretending I'm gonna go to LA.

 

 

As well as flights you can also book hotels and hire cars. The app even has a flight tracker which is cool, you just put in the flight number or just search any flights between two destinations. Overall the app is simple to use and can aid you in your wanderlust daydreaming.

 

You can get the app from iTunes** as well as the Google Play Store** and it's free!! Yay for free things.

 

I would love to know what dream holidays you all want to have. Please tell me I'm not the only one who window shops flights. xx

 

**Sponsored Link/Post 

Photo Diary 13/11/15

As I've gotten older my creativity fizzled out. I've made a conscious decision to take it back as well as to stop and take notice of things around me. Last Friday I ventured out into the city and I bought my camera along and photographed what I thought aesthetically pleasing and interesting.

 

Ode to Liquid Lipsticks

I love lipsticks, it's the makeup product I mostly gravitate towards when shopping both online and in store. I just love how there are such a variety of colours even though nine times out of ten I head straight for the section with all the reds.

 

When I've thought about it I realise I tend to reach for liquid lipsticks more that your traditional bullet. I find them easier to apply and they tend to last a lot longer. Because of this I decided to dedicated this post to my love of liquid lipsticks and highlight some in my possession (spoiler alert, most of them are red).

 

 

 

Australis Velourlips in Doo-Bai

I'd seen pictures of this lip colour and I just had to get it. It's a bit different from what I usually go for (red) but I really loved the dark smoky purple. With all lipsticks I usually put on a lip liner first so I can just easily paint within the lines. I find this lipstick more drying that the others, you can definitely feel it on your lips. It also tends to fade on more easily on the inner side of my lips. Other than that I love the colour and it does last nicely.

 

Rimmel Matte Apocalips in Burning Lava and Atomic Rose

Atomic Rose is really the only nude lipstick I have, I love it. As you can see from the swatch it's a peachy colour which looks natural. Both lipsticks are not overly drying when you apply them which is great. From looking at the swatches I've realised that Burning Lava is very similar to Redrum*. I will note that the Apocalips can be removed and stain more easily than its Jeffree Star counterparts as realised by me who now has a red stain on her shirt.

 

Jeffree Star Velour Liquid Lipstick in Unicorn Blood* and Redrum*

I have written a post about these lipsticks here in which I profess my love for them especially Redrum. They're very comfortable to wear, they don't dry out and they last well. They do wear off on the inner section of my lips especially when drinking and eating but it's easy to just re-apply as it is with all of them. I had my eye on Androgyny, a new shade, but unfortunately I missed out and it hurts so so much.

 

Australis Velourlips & Jeffree Star Velour Liquid Lipsticks were from Makeup.co.nz. Rimmel Matte Apocalips were from Feel Unique.

 

*These were sent to me but the review is all my own opinions

Stuff I Bought off eBay #003

I like to peruse around eBay when I'm bored which usually leads me to find things I want to buy. A while ago I bought a  Deathly Hallows Necklace which I really liked so I decided to see what other cool Harry Potter related jewellery pieces I could find. 

 

As you can see I found something, it's a Wand Necklace. It's not just any wand though, it's Hermione's wand. I bought it from here and you could pick either a necklace or a key chain. There were also options of wands; Hermione, Harry Potter, Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort. I opted for Hermione's as her wand was the nicest and because she's my girl.

 

So yeah, there's another random thing I bought off eBay, you're welcome  xx

Reveal Candles

I'm a part of a couple of Facebook groups which are all about beauty as well as one about lifestyle. I'm pretty sure it was via the lifestyle group which I first saw Reveal Candles mentioned. The candles come in a variety of delicious scents but the thing that really got me, as well as everyone else on the Facebook group, is that there is a ring hidden inside which could be worth $10, $100 or $5000. As a kid I loved lucky dips, you never knew what you were going to get so needleless to say this really appealed to me.

 

 

After much deliberation I went for the French Pear scent. A couple of days after ordering I received an email from Reveal Candles saying as there was such a huge demand for them (thanks to the Facebook group) I would have to wait a while to get it. They gave me an option to get a refund which I thought was great but I decided to wait it out as I had to have one.

 

I pretty much had it light almost everyday and it smelled amazing, it wasn't too sweet and it just smelled nice. Like with perfumes I'm really bad with describing scents. Slowly but surely I eventually uncovered the ring.

 

 

I got one of the cheaper rings, if the ring is worth $100 or more it comes with a tag stating its value and mine did not come with one. I still love it though, it's gorgeous. I love the blue heart and the clear stones along the side. The best thing about it is that it actually fits my finger, I think my fingers are bigger than the generic ring size so I was pleased.

 

The candles are $39.95 + shipping. There are a varity of scents such as Fairy Floss, Fresh Linen and Wild Watermelon.

October Review - Hello Again

It's been a long while since I've written something that won't count towards a degree. I won't lie it's nice to not be having anxiety attacks wondering if an essay has a good enough argument and actually makes sense. Here's a fun fact for you all, I HATE reading my own writing. The thought of it actually makes me ill so editing is my form of hell.

This kind of sums up October for me.  Everything just came crashing down and it felt as though the weeks and hours were going so fast. Even while time was moving fast it felt as though it would never end. Thankfully it has and I never ever want to read anything on Rembrandt or Titian.

With that out of the way, HELLO! How are you? How's your October been? This post is my reintroduction into the blogging forum. I'm excited to do something creative, not just with arte della moda but in general. I don't know why but I'm just in the mood to do something, to be creative, be spontaneous.

So yeah, thanks for reading if you got this far xx