Review: Pretty Little Liars Book #1

Summary

Alison is perfect --- beautiful, witty, smart and popular. The girls want to be her, and the boys want to kiss her. Alison is a best friend, in more ways than one. But things are not always as they seem. Hanna is a nice person, just a little overweight. Steadily putting on the pounds since her parents divorced, Hanna is having her own time of coping with things. Emily is a swimmer, just like the rest of her family. Living the "blah" life, Emily is just blending in. Aria is different. Her likes and dislikes are borderline weird, at least to others. Aria just doesn't fit in. And Spencer has to deal with living in her sister's shadow. Sometimes, Spencer is just sick of the competition.

Things get really crazy when the girls have a sleepover at Spencer's and an argument gets out of hand. Alison disappears and they never hear from her again. Fast forward three years, and things have certainly changed. The remaining four girls don't even speak now. Aria's family moved away to Finland and just got back. Aria is used to hanging with older guys now and ends up wanting a relationship with her new teacher. Someone just bought Alison's old house with a teenager and bonds with Emily. The problem is, this new resident is helping Emily find out who she really is. Does Emily want to face the music? After many years, Hanna is no longer overweight and has a new set of friends and circumstances to deal with. Hanna finds out the hard way that wanting attention and being Barbie isn't all it's cracked up to be. Spencer is still living in her big sister's shadow but has her own agenda. It's not her fault that all her sister's boyfriends want her.

Soon, the creepiness begins. Someone is watching them all, with information on events that happened three years ago --- events that only each one of them knew...and Alison. But she's gone, right? Who else could twist their past and bring it into the future? Whoever it is, they know a little too much and are hell-bent on hurting them all, one way or another. As the girls are already spooked, things don't get any better when all their current secrets come tumbling out of the woodwork. Who's telling?

Review

Sara Shepard does an amazing job in this first installment of a four-book series. With mystery, intrigue and true-to-life characters, Shepard takes readers into a world of fake and fanciful spoiled brats. These are people who seemingly have it all, but when you delve a little deeper, they have just as many issues as the next kid. As PRETTY LITTLE LIARS expertly crafts just enough suspense to leave you waiting for the next book, one thing is for certain: high school will never be the same!

Hello 2013!

I would say that in a lot of situations, I am able to see the positive aspects but definitely not often enough. I will more than likely think of all the negatives of something before I even consider a more positive outcome. It's mostly reflected in the mood I am in. I need to stop finding things wrong with everything and start looking for all the great things in sticky situations and remember that it's not the be all and end all if things don't go as planned.

I remember that it was sometimes quite a struggle to drink enough water, but I managed to and that it made me feel so much better inside and out. I felt a lot more healthy, a lot more hydrated and my skin was also thankful. It's certainly not an easy thing for me to try and do as I'm naturally not a very thirsty person, it doesn't take me a lot of liquid before I feel like i'm going to burst from the inside out or wee myself. haha. I'm going to try and drink a lot more, whether I manage to complete a 2L bottle a day or just come close, it will be a vast improvement.

Be the best of you. This is one of my favourite quotes. I'm not sure where it comes from but I currently have this quote set as my desktop background. I like that it encourages you to be the very best you can be, surround yourself with people that bring out the best in you and don't be anything but yourself.

So those are my little personal challenges/goals I have decided to set myself. Some are working well already. I am going to really make the most of this year, and I hope you all do too. "Happily ever after starts here". :)

What sort of challenges and resolutions have you set yourself for 2013?

Are you hoping to look back over them in a year and have completed a good handful if not all of them?

Little Online Shopping Spree

It's not all that often that I will buy things from the comfort of my own home. It's not that I don't like online shopping, it's just that I tend to shop more on the High Street. However, come pay day, there were so many things I wanted to buy/try that I wasn't all that sure i'd be able to get hold of in the shops. I went onto the BHS website and bought the items below.

The first thing that accidentally hopped into my virtual basket was a beige and neon pink heart baggy jumper. I've heard such amazing things about this jumper, so of course, I had to give it a whirl and see what all the hype was about. The next thing that ended up in my basket, was a turquoise bikini with salmon pink flamingos all over, with ruffles on the edges. I absolutely love it, I think this will be really pretty in summer, the only problem was that it was too small for me, aswell as a royal blue ruffle bikini. The last thing I bought, was a pair of pink wedged sandals that were also too small for me so I am hoping to order, the wedged sandals and the bikinis again but in the next size up of corse. ;)

Messy Bun

Having long hair meant that the maintenance spent on it, can add up to quite a considerable amount of time. I loved having long hair (Then i decided to cut it, i had 10 inches cut off, i kind of regret it now) , but with long hair there were some days where i thought that i wanted to chop a lot of it off.    For days when i thought having long hair was a bit of a faff, I would sling it up in a messy bun. The bun is never the same each time I do it, but  i was always happy with how it turned out. It is quite difficult, but it's all just trial and error. Sling it up, use as many hair pins and hair bobbles as you like. It doesn't need to look perfect, and that's why it's one of my favourite go-to hair styles. I also really like now that its a bit shorter because you don't have to use up all your hair pins and hir bobbles and you can just use one hair bobble then your ready to walk out the door.

What's your favourite lazy-girl-quick hairstyle?

Xxx

Review: Montagne Jeunesse Face Masks

I have a love of face masks, and that I'm always looking for anything that helps my skin so I went back on my quest to find my perfect one. I do like Lush but I need something that doesn't cost a heap, that lasts longer ( you don't always have time to use a face mask once a week) so I though I'd try some new Montagne Jeunesse. I've used them before and they have always been good, I actual had no idea that there are 50 ! Yes 50 products they produce. 

They even have brand new lip balms, they have no petroleum jelly and most of them have olive oil in  which is great for your skin.  They not only have face masks, foot and leg, body, hair, skin tonic, men's and even a New ethic range (Two new ethnic variants developed specifically for dark complexions and skin types using natural ingredients) they also have eye and pore stripes ! Did you know this? I was shocked. So I now have a wish list as long as my arm, and will be clearing out the shelf of Montagne Jeunesse at Superdrug. These are the first two I have two more for later this week, I have combination skin (just to let you know) and it does say to do a skin test first, behind the ear is the best place. I've never had a problem I think if you have very sensitive skin than you should do the test patch before slapping all over your face. 

The on that I tried was damask rose. This one smells really pretty and the texture is creamy, so it was easy to smooth on. It was really strong and my skin felt a little tingy, it felt like it was sinking deep into my pores. It's the Marula oil that you feel at the start but than the soothing shea and coco butter left my skin feeling kissed. It was a bit messy to remove , and I preferred the other one as I don't have time. I used this in the morning,  so after my makeup went on after like a dream and calmed down my red spots. I also got asked what perfume I was wearing, than realised they were talking about my face (it's the rose). Great for Smoothing 7/10

Montagne Jeunesse do not test on animals and with the bottles you can recycle them (which gets a huge thumbs up from me) plus I love having 10 applications. Plus they have a 6 month shelf life.

Review: The Body Shop

Let me start by saying that i have been a huge fan of The Body Shop products since i was about 9. I was introduced to it by my School Friend, Bella who was a fan herself.

                                                                 

                                                                    Body Butters

                                                      

These are, in my opinion, the most famous product the Body Shop

have produced. Body butters are one of my absolute must haves. I think overall coconut & Cocoa Butter is my favourite.

They are rich in Shea & Cocoa Butter making them really hydrating to the skin.

I also think they work wonders on burnt skin as an aftersun treatment.

If you've been on holiday and you want to keep your tan lasting as long as you can, use a body butter because that works amazingly.

£12.20 (200ml - The larger size)

                                                                                                                                 Lip Butters

My favourite Body Shop scent/flavour is coconut.

The lip butters are just as amazing as the body butters.

I could seriously eat this. They contain Beeswax, Cocoa butter & vitamin E.

It feels like silk on your lips, and i actually found this scent/flavour to be alot more moisturising than a lot of other lip balms.

Again I would have to reccommend these lip butters to everyone I know.

£4.85

Review: Shell Lip Balm

I'm one of these girls, who must always have a lip balm everywhere I go. Lip balms, I think, are an absolute essential. Especially for me as I tend to always have dry lips during both winter and summer months. It's annoying, but nothing that a good lip balm won't sort out.

When I was looking for a knew lip balm saw one of these gorgeous shell lip balms handmade by the brand owner, I was extremely excited. Not only is it such a lovely, unique idea, but i saw how adorable they were! Each shell is individually sourced from the beach, and the lip balm itself is handmade from all the most beneficial and organic ingredients. The balm contains coconut oil, rosehip oil, beeswax, lanolin wax, jojoba oil, macadamia oil and mango seed butter. As well as containing everything that a good lip balm requires. It's not a lot of good having a gorgeous shiny shell balm sitting pretty on your dressing table, or being elegantly pulled from your handbag if it's not actually going to nourish or moisturize your lips. I think the scent and flavour of the balm is mostly unscented, although it probably does have that slight beeswaxy scent to it. I think it would be amazing if they branched out and offered various different flavours to choose from, as I personally would prefer something a little more fruity.

I think these shell lip balms are such a cute idea. Every girls needs a lip balm right, and why not a high quality one inside a naturally sourced shell WITH a mini mirror? If not for yourself, I think they'd make the perfect gift. There are 4 shell styles to choose from; Tiger crown, White frangipani, Mocha and Oriental fan, and they each cost £12.99 and are shipped in their own little grey drawstring bag. There is currently an offer on their website where you can buy 2 for £22, so that's one for you, and a present for someone else.

♥

Mmmmm...

Yesterday night me and my dad made lamb and potato curry, naan bread and popadoms. It was delicious, I wish that we could have it every night.

Yum :P