Owlcrate October 2017

I'v e been tweeting recently about how my love for books hasn't really made it onto the blog before so I've been making a conscious effort to share it and also get myself back into reading more regularly.

I signed up for Owlcrate in September and wrote about the September box here so I thought I'd share my thoughts on the October box too.

First Look: Storybook Cosmetics Wizardry and Witchcraft Palette

Hey all!

We've got a quick first look post for you today that we have been super excited about!

A few months ago (way back in February!) we ordered the Storybook Cosmetics Wizardry and Witchcraft palette - we're HUGE Harry Potter fans and heard about this as soon as it was designed, so we just knew we had to get it. Especially after seeing all of the colours and swatches on their instagram account, so we couldn't let it pass us by!

If you haven't heard of Storybook Cosmetics then where have you been?! The business is owned by 3 triplets in the U.S.A., all of whom love Harry Potter and the general fandoms that exist (Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Disney....etc etc). They seem like fun people to be around and you can see their enthusiasm for their products! I think there are actually 6 sisters in total so you can imagine the make up wars they must have had over borrowing and sharing their purchases! They have a fair few ideas in the pipeline so we look forward to seeing what they release next.

Storybook Cosmetics Wand Brushes

Hey All

If you didn't know L and I are HUGE harry potter fans (my bunnies are even named after characters - Harry Hopper and Dumbledore) we've read the books multiple times and watched the films countless times. We've been on the studio tour a few times too and we're planning another trip this year. You can see when we went on The Dark Arts tour here. When we discovered the company Storybook Cosmetics we both spent the next few weeks tagging each other in every post as we knew we'd both want all the products!! We've both got the eyeshadow palette on pre-order so I'm sure you'll be seeing lots of that! The quill and liner set is what I've got my eye on next!

Life Update

Hi all!

The first 2 months of the year have flown by, I've been trying to save some money so have been keeping things fairly low key. I've been out for lots of tea and cake, made a few things for my house and have been trying to up my photography game!

Book Review: Harry Potter Illustrated Book

Hello there! 

I don't know about you but me and M are both super Harry Potter fans, we absolutely love it and can't get enough. We love the books, the films, and have been known to attend Harry Potter parties...nerds!

I also love books in general, and bookshelves and I need to do everything I can to fill mine with the prettiest books in existence. You have probably seen the most recent adaptation to come out but I couldn't resist sharing as it is just so beautiful.

Meet the illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: 

Don't panic, I won't be showing you all the pages as I would hate to ruin the surprise of how beautiful they are! But I have taken a few snaps to make you understand how perfect it is and how you need it in your collection!

I thought this would be another book with a few images in it, beautiful images but just a couple here and there.
I have to say I was extremely impressed that every page has either a scene, a character or just general doodles around the text to bring it to life.



Each of the chapters has a really detailed doodle to introduce them and it just makes me want to draw my own and colour it all in!

Even if you are not as much of a fan as we are, you cannot deny that the book is gorgeous and is a great gift for children and adults.

I cannot wait for the next book to come out and all the rest so that I can complete this collection too!

The RRP of the book is £30 but I believe that you can buy this from Amazon for £14 - which let's face it is a wonderful bargain.

What do you think of Harry Potter? Do you love books like me?

It's my absolute dream to have a display of books that makes it onto Pinterest!

L xxx

Harry Potter Studios: The Dark Arts Tour

Hey All

Last weekend L and I headed to catch up with uni friends for a Harry Potter themed weekend! Our friend is so crafty and had totally decked her house out and made an amazing Harry Potter Monopoly. As it was Dark Arts special we decided to head to the studios for another tour!

We'd all been before but there are so many things to notice I think every time you go you notice more things. We knew there would be extra things to see as on facebook there were some sneak peaks! We've been lucky enough to get special badges every time L and I have been!

The great hall is amazing and being able to walk through the same doors as all the cast have is amazing! It holds a crazy amount of double decker buses (I want to say 20+ I've forgotten the exact number!)

The hall was laid for the Halloween feast! Originally in the films real food was used but as the days went on resin food was used instead! It all looked so realistic!

There were death eaters around to have photos with! Of course we couldn't miss that opportunity!

The Horcruxes was one of the new exhibits! They were amazing to see. We all wanted the Ravenclaw Diadem!! It was so pretty!

The vanishing cabinet was amazing! The detail in all the set work really is unbelievable.

Imagine having had a part in making all of these, the books, the skulls, the random objects that probably came from an image in someone's head.

Borgin and Burke's was one of my favourite new additions for the Dark Arts exhibition, seeing all of the bits and bobs on display was so interesting

The Dementors were also hung up from the ceiling which was amazing to have them hanging around just like the real thing, very creepy.

Malfoy Manor was also there and was really good to see, the fire flickered in the background and all of the casts wigs and outfits were present on dummies which made the scene come to life.
The muggle teacher Charity Burbage was also hanging from the sky just like the scene at the manor with Voldemort and Nagini, who was also present on the table.

Another amazing thing was the case full of death eater masks, they were so detailed and unique to each person who had had their faces cast.

The death eater masks were beautiful! The detail to the was amazing! Everyone was different and cast from the actors face.

It was like an emotional rollercoaster looking at the new scenes. They even had real snakes for us to touch; the real snake they used for Nagini couldn't be shown as she was shedding her skin but they had some of the smaller ones for us instead which as just as good. The man was really informative and it was very interesting to hear about lots of the other animals he has for films.

Dolores Umbridge is arguably one of the most hated characters of the entire series; but obviously one of the most brilliant too. Her sugary pink sweetness goes way overboard into leaving you with a nasty after taste and her wardrobe and office match this overload!

I've seen pictures of Mary Berry sat here drinking tea from the celebrity opening of the exhibition; she suits it perfectly but in the complete opposite way.

One of my scariest but favourite moments was wandering through Diagon Alley which was totally different to normal. It was eerily quiet and the lights were dimmed; not to mention the terrifying Death Eaters who were wandering around too, look how scary they were!

Last time we went we didn't take photos outside, this time we had a little pose! It's great to have the cars and Privet Drive to have photos in! The night bus is also there which is amazing!

One thing we all loved is the books. Everything was thought about. All the currency was properly minted and you can buy the coins but after they started to disappear on set in later years plastic coins were used! In the books used on set one was written in Runes. Some made sense some didn't and it also had English in so Hermoine could read it. The staff are so knowledgeable and are on hand to give information!

This time we decided to treat ourselves to the butterbeer mugs!! We are both fans but it does get sickly, imagine caramel cream soda and it's similar to that!



We both went to the shop with huge lists but tried to be sensible. We both left with chocolate frogs and Hermione wand pens. L also snapped up a Gryffindor Quidditch Team Captain t-shirt too which has barely left her back since, perfect Sunday wear!


Have you been to the Harry Potter Studios? Will you be going to see the Dark Arts exhibition?
We are already planning our next trip to see it, we cannot get enough!

L xxx

Life Update

Hi there!

It has been a little while since I did a life update as things have been so busy. I recently started a new job and things have been crazy, but I've been up to lots! Here's my pictures:

Having seen lots of pictures on twitter of everyone's Harry Potter t shirts I couldn't resist picking up the same as they were all from Primark and perfect for mine and M's upcoming Harry Potter party!
I got the Gryffindor tshirt (above) and the Hogwarts pyjamas.

I've been having a bit of a chocolate fest recently; it's been a long time since I've eaten it but with my Amelia Rope goodies (see post from yesterday) I've been given the taste for it again. I've made a nutella and banana smoothie, and my aunty made a massive white chocolate cheesecake for a family meal, it was HUGE!

 

That said, I've also been back at the gym a lot. My new job is based on shifts so I've been on earlies this week, meaning 4.30am starts which hasn't been too fun! However I've finished at 2 so this meant I could go to the gym straight from work and avoid the rush hour or go home and go back later for classes. I've been really enjoying being able to go to body pump again and building my weights back up, and hopefully seeing some results!

Both me and M went to an event recently for Neal's Yard Remedies and were kindly given the Wild Rose Beauty Balm. I honestly cannot describe how amazing this multi functional product is and it's become my go to for every skin problem. Come back tomorrow for a full review, even the packaging is just so beautiful!

With all of the NATO summit going on in Cardiff it was hard not to get frustrated with public transport and laugh at the ridiculous 'ring of steel' you can just about see on the corner of the picture above.
Me and my parents went down to Cardiff Bay to see the warships there, this is HMS Duncan one of the billion pound ships commissioned by the UK government. It was quite impressive to see it considering it's not something I'm interested in and the whole place was packed.

It was good to see so many policemen (and women!) from so many areas and they even grouped together for their own selfies in front of the ships!

I've also been on a bit of a spending spree (slaps the back of my hand). I managed to buy the Benefit items and Rimmel brow product with my points, the new eye liner was free when you swapped an old liner, the Mac lipstick (Coral Bliss) was a Back to Mac purchase and I also had money to spend on my Debenhams Beauty Card which was the rest of the Urban Decay products.

I was super lucky to have all of this as I've been saving them up for a splurge for a while! I've still got Boots points so I'm looking for my next Benefit buy! Here's a picture with the Pulp Fiction palette, Perversion liquid liner, Perversion mascara, Coral Bliss lipstick and Coralista:

I also had my hair dyed back darker finally! I've been waiting to do it for ages but wanted to wait until the summer months were over. Here's how light my hair was to begin with and how dark it was after dying it:

I loved it but unfortunately it's going to take a few goes to cover it all permanently as some of the colour has washed off already. I think when I go back to see my hairdresser next I will ask her to do it darker again too, as my natural colour is almost black.

I was planning on being good and not buying any more products now that I'm working again and can do overtime and hopefully pay my parents back whilst working my way through my stash.

That idea was totally thrown out the window when Space NK had their deal where you spend £150 and get a fabulous goodie bag, this time with 28 products in. I thought I was going to miss out but then I luckily sold some textbooks on amazon which helped towards the cost! Here's what I bought and am super excited to start playing with:

Up until this week I didn't own a Nars product....oops! Hourglass is a brand I've recently been reading about and their blush was too good to refuse, and I'm already a fan of Laura Mercier.

Here's a quick snap of the goodies in the Beauty Anthology bag:

Some products are only sachets or 5ml which is a bit disappointing as it doesn't give you much chance to use them but others are 30 and 50ml and I can't wait to try out all of them.

Do you see any of your favourite products in the goodie bag?? Have you been eating and exercising to make up for it like me? What do you think of my purchases?

I need to reel in my spending that's for sure!


L xxx