February Favourites

Hello there everyone. Yes, I am in fact still alive despite a huge lack of activity on this blog. I say every time it won't be long until my next post but I think we've all come around to the idea that's probably a complete lie. Anyway, hopefully I can make up for it with this post because I have been loving a lot of things during the month of February, so let's get on with it. 

Firstly, and very excitingly, I have fallen in love with Jack Garratt's debut album Phase. I love it even more now, though, since my review of the album is my first ever properly published album review. The review was published by two different websites, which I will link here and here if you'd like to see a more in-depth review of album. I was so super-duper excited to see they had been published; it took me a long time to get to sleep that night. The actual album is a dramatic mix of all sorts of genres, ranging from dance-floor pop to hearty ballads with elements of smooth jazz, which makes it divergent from many of the stereotypical pop albums on the scene at the moment.  A lot of the tracks would make a great pick-me-up, as many of them carry positive messages and are generally up-beat. As for Jack's voice, he has a wonderful vocal range and demonstrates that in the majority of the songs. This album is my favourite to be released for quite a while, which surprises me since usually it's not something I'd really look into. Saying that, I strongly recommend it for anyone who likes the heavy use of synthesisers or are looking for an exciting new pop/alternative artist to get into.

I had a little splurge in MAC this month. Luckily, I'm really enjoying all the products I spent too much money on, which are the Mineralize Concealer, Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Bare Study and Matte Lipstick in the shade Mehr. You may know I really like the Moisturecover Concealer from MAC, but mine was running out. Also, I have been kindly gifted a constellation of spots around my nose recently, so I felt like I needed a concealer that had a bit more coverage. I picked up the Mineralize Concealer because the website explained it still had a moisturising formula, a luminous finish and a medium coverage. This really does work a treat on the areas of my face I want to cover up a bit more but definitely doesn't cake my skin. It has a paintbrush-like applicator which makes it a bit easier to pin-point any areas you want to cover, or just slap it on everywhere. I would say that this product is just as moisturising as the Moisturecover, though it is a tad more on the pricey side at £17.50 vs. Moisturecover at £15.50. I don't like to go too crazy with my eyeshadow - I'm much more of a lipstick person, and bold eyes and lips can often look way too much. For this reason, I picked up the Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Bare Study, as it's a very subtle, nude/gold shimmery colour. Though its not particularly noticeable, it adds a little something something that really lifts your eyes. When it catches the light it looks absolutely gorgeous! It's a cream formula too, which helps the product stay for pretty much the whole day. Once again, with MAC, it wouldn't be the cheapest - this was £16. Lastly, and my biggest favourite, is the Matte Lipstick in Mehr. I had heard a lot on the internet about this product, saying that it was a close match to Kylie Jenner's infamous lip shade. That wasn't really what I bought it for, I just generally thought it was a beautiful lippy. It's a mixture of mauve, brown and dark pink all rolled into one. It can be quite intense if you draw it on as you would most lipsticks, so for a more natural look I dot it around my lips and push it around with my finger. As it's matte, too, it has made for the ideal winter colour. This was £15.50, but I definitely think MAC lipsticks are worth the money. Plus they smell delicious.

I've been shouting down everyone's ear this month about a particular TV show that has completely taken over my life, which is Once Upon A Time. I got Netflix at the start of the year and this was a programme that had been recommended to me time and time again, so I gave in and binge watched it for days on end. I think I finished season one in a week. It's quite difficult to explain but it basically follows the story of classic fairytale characters, such as Snow White, Prince Charming, Rumplestiltskin etc, that are trapped in the real world in a town called Storybrooke. However, they are under a curse from the Evil Queen, Regina, which means they don't know they are fairytale characters and instead live the lives of any normal twenty-first-century person. But this curse is threatened when Emma Swan comes to Storybrooke as 'the saviour'. It sounds so childish when I try to explain it, but its very clever and mind-boggling at points that you can't help but carry on watching it. My favourite character has to be Captain Hook, known as Killian Jones in the real world, but I also really like Regina too. My Netflix career so far has predominantly been Once Upon A Time, but now I've finished all four and a half seasons, I've been watching Making a Murderer, which is a documentary series following the real-life story of Steven Avery; an American man on trial for a crime he didn't commit. I haven't finished it yet so I can't really give a full review, but what I can say is that it always has me on edge and I look forward to watching an episode every night. And, of course, I've been watching Season 6B of Pretty Little Liars. I am enjoying it - maybe not as much as 6A, or other previous seasons - but it's still extremely gripping and smart.

On to more things I should have watched a long time ago but didn't, I finally got round to starting the Harry Potter series. I know I'm about 10 years late to the party with this one, but I had never really understood the whole fascination. However, it was probably mid-January I watched the first one, and I recently finished the fourth. The story lines are so enticing, and its fun to watch the characters grow up and see the secrets unravel. Controversially, I think my favourite character is Draco Malfoy, just because I think his character is very funny, but I also really like Professor Snape and Hagrid. I'm halfway through the series at the moment, so, again, I can't give a full review, but my favourite one at the moment is Prisoner of Azkaban, which is the third film.  Its a big commitment to watch all the films as they are very long, but I'm sure I'll let you know my thoughts once I've finished the whole thing.

And lastly, I've been obsessed with two nail polishes recently. These are two shades from the Max Factor Gel Shine Lacquer range, and are called Sparkling Berry and Gleaming Teal. I received Gleaming Teal in my sack at Christmas and was instantly in love with the colour - it is actually a similar colour to a Christmas Tree. I picked up Sparkling Berry much more recently on a shopping trip with a friend. It's a very sophisticated colour; I would say it's the perfect berry shade - more on the purple side than red. Both nail polishes are opaque after two coats max, and leave a beautiful, glossy finish. They stay on for a decent amount of time - maybe about a week - and are easy to remove when the time comes. They will definitely be a statement on my nails when Autumn/Winter comes around again, and I will continue to wear them this season before I move onto my summery pastels.

Its been quite a long post today, but I guess its been a lifetime since I last posted so I'm making up for lost time. Hopefully it won't be as long before my next post, but this time I won't make any promises!

From,
Eleanor