Film Review // Chef

One of the perks of my job is that I get to see as many films as I want for free so last weekend I decided to go with my boyfriend to see Chef.

The film pretty much died a horrid death at my cinema chain so I thought I'd take this opportunity to write a little review about it and hopefully convince more people to see it before it disappears.

What first attracted me to the film was the phenomenal cast: directed by and starring Jon Favreau, best known for the Iron Man franchise, is a pretty good starting point but then add Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jnr, Dustin Hoffman, Sofia Vergara and John Leguizamo into the mix with a dash of some incredible food porn and you've got the recipe for a film that dreams are made of.

Fair enough, the main A-Listers aren't a huge part of the movie and only feature in the first half but it's just enough to lure you in and keep you there for the rest of the ride.

The film centres around chef Carl Casper and his struggle to be as creative as he wants to be in the restaurant he currently works in - as well as his struggle to be a good father to the son he has with his ex-wife. His wife Inez, played by Sofia Vergara, has repeatedly attempted to convince Carl to leave his repressive work place and take to the roads in a food truck but he only shuns the idea. However, after a bad review from food critic Ramsey Michel, played by Oliver Platt, hits the internet Carl's life and career rapidly begins to deteriorate. His son Percy introduces him to the world of social networking via Twitter and upon becoming aware of the review, he takes to Twitter to hit back at the critic in what he believes in a private message. Percy wakes up in the morning to discover 1000s on notifications on his Twitter app and realises his dad's reply to Ramsey Michel has gone viral. Carl has arranged to cook his own menu for the critic at the restaurant but a confrontation with back-seat driver (and owner of the restaurant) Riva - Dustin Hoffman's character - leads to him quitting. A hilarious rant to the critic about chocolate lava cake - IT'S FUCKING MOLTEN!!! - takes place somewhere after all of this which only adds to Carl's viral online persona. After a trip away with his son and ex-wife, Carl is eventually convinced to take the food truck offered to him by Inez's other ex-husband - Robert Downey Jnr - and so cue a road trip with Percy and Martin, Carl's friend and colleague from the restaurant played by John Leguizamo. The trip is full of discoveries and enlightenment in both emotional and culinary fields and makes for a film full of just plain feel-goodness.

What I like about this film is that it doesn't deviate away from the main plot line - it knows what it's about and it sticks to it without any unnecessary subplots. Any romantic affiliations within the plot are glossed over but the audience still understands what is going on between characters. The inclusion - and dependence - of social media in the film is an interesting element, it highlights the power of social media and what people are able to achieve if used correctly. It also keeps the youthful, modern air that surrounds the film already through the concept of food trucks and street food, an ever-growing trend in the food industry.

If you're sitting around with nothing to do or want something new to see but not sure what, I'd definitely recommend going to see Chef, but make sure you take plenty of food with you as it'll definitely leave you feeling hungry!

Review // Dove Summer Glow

Being as pale as I am, and prone to hayfever, I can find it difficult to tan in the summer time.

I've never fancied the idea of 'fake baking' - whether in the form of a self-tan lotion or a spray tan - or using a sun bed in order to achieve golden skin. Seeing girls with streaky, blotchy orange skin made me laugh rather than evoke any sense of jealousy. But after spending an afternoon out in the sunshine and developing a slight tan, I noticed it made me look a little better - definitely more alive anyway - so I thought I'd look into the world of self-tan.

Being a newbie, I didn't want anything too drastic so automatically ruled out conventional self-tan mousses and lotions and instead opted for a moisturiser with a hint of self-tan.

Dove Summer Glow Fair to Medium Nourishing Lotion 250ml

Dove's Summer Glow Nourishing Lotion - Britain's No.1 for this type of product - is a daily lotion which acts as a deep moisturiser as well as a tanning agent. The moisturising element was something that appealed to me as I often find myself having dry skin.

The product is nothing like other tanning products. It comes out looking just like a normal moisturiser and smells lovely and sweet unlike the horrid biscuit smell you usually associate with self-tanners. The downside to it's appearance is that it makes it difficult to know where you've put the lotion and how much you've used so you could end up with sections of your skin looking darker than other parts.

Even after the first use, I instantly saw a difference in my skin. It was incredibly soft! I don't think I've ever used a moisturiser that's been as effective as this one. As well as that, my skin had already began developing a slight summery glow.

Top: left, before; right, day 2 - Bottom: left, day 3; right, day 4

As you can see even after four days, I had developed a nice tan. I was only using the Fair to Medium lotion so the tan was never going to be that substantial but there is a clear difference between what my skin was like before using it and what it looks like now.

However, as I've already pointed out, applying the lotion is made difficult by the colour of it and I have been left with a few white patches.

This photo probably shows up the difference between my before and after skin a lot better but as you can also see I have quite a significant white patch on my wrist! It's obviously easily fixed as you can apply more lotion onto the wrist whilst avoiding the areas already tanned but it's something to keep in mind if you are using this product.

I was all ready to just write a fantastic review raving about this product until I had a bath this morning...

I'd had no problems with the tan when showering, obviously it lessens slightly but my skin was still looking good. However, once I had come out of my bath, I noticed that I had been left looking incredible patchy and streaky. As well as that, whatever of my tan hadn't been rinsed down the plughole had left a lovely ring around the bathtub. 

As you can see, my leg has been left looking rather patchy. Although I still have a nice tan, it is disappointing that this is the result of having a bath. I suppose it's easily fixed but it has left me feeling slightly lukewarm towards the product when I had loved it so much.

Overall, this product is great for a newbie to self-tanning and if you avoid baths then it's perfect! 

The lotion also comes in Medium to Dark as well as the Fair to Medium and is currently on sale at Superdrug: £2.48, down from £4.99!

Review // Collection 'Work The Colour' Nail Varnish

Working in certain retail environments can be tough on a girl: hair always has to be tied back, unflattering uniforms and no nail varnish, ever.

This is a world I know all too well so when I have a good few days off in a block, I jump at the chance to jazz up my nails and actually feel like a girl again. Probably like most girls, I have a vast collection of nail varnish but sometimes the right one just isn't there no matter how many you have so I decided to go out and find something new to try.

Being as pale (and extremely indecisive) as I am, I often struggle to pick a nail varnish as I worry that certain colours will make me look even more corpse-like than I already do. I tend to stay away from the neon trend that's around at the moment, as well as blues and pastels - I feel like I just can't win but perhaps one day I'll take the plunge and just go for it!

However, this time I settled on Raspberry Pink 20 from Collection's new range: Work The Colour.

This nail varnish is extremely good value as it's only £1.99 in Superdrug!

I've got to admit, I didn't expect much from it as it's so cheap and I wasn't exactly in love with the colour either - after a while of um'ing and ah'ing, my boyfriend practically forced it into my hand! But I'm glad he did, as I love it!

The coverage from it is amazing. It takes two strokes to paint the nail and I only needed one coat of it! Plus it's not too Barbie pink, which I was worried about. I like feeling girly, but not that girly. It dries in as a lovely dark pink/red colour and it doesn't leave my hands looking pale either. As you could probably guess though, the only downside to the product is that it chips very easily. After only having it on for a few hours it had already began chipping, although not too drastically.

As you can see, the chipping isn't as noticeable as you would expect, although I did put a clear top coat of protective and strengthening nail varnish on top so that could perhaps be why it hasn't chipped so much (I would recommend doing this, maybe putting two coats on, to prevent chipping!). You could get away with keeping it on like this as it is barely noticeable and so for the price, this nail varnish is pretty impressive!

This range from Collection has a great selection of colours to choose from so if pink isn't for you, take a look and see what you fancy! You can't go wrong at £1.99.

Jack White // Lazaretto

Jack White has featured in music news a lot recently, from producing a song in record-breaking time to publicly apologising to anyone he has ever spoken cruelly about in the past. However, his new album Lazaretto – released on June 10^th through his own label Third Man Records – is something which he shouldn’t have to make apologies for.

The first song of his second solo album Three Women sounds like a rock gospel anthem – whether or not that’s a genre, White has made it one – with White repeating “Lordy Lord” accompanied by a bit of uncharacteristic organ music. Record-breaking track Lazaretto – the first single release – is the second song on the album and despite the production of it being rushed, it is well executed. It contains everything you would expect from the man. His trademark vocals paired with strong rock-sounding guitar riffs altogether creating another great piece of music.

Following on from that, Temporary Ground is a refreshing change from the so far very rock-sounding album as this song has more of a country edge to it. An image of White sitting on a porch in a rocking-chair, chewing on a piece of barley and playing the banjo sprung to mind as it began. However this change is short-lived as we’re straight back onto the iconic piano/guitar pairing in next song: Would You Fight For My Love? Although it begins quite hard-hitting, the guitar soon drifts off to leave White’s vocals – sounding slightly softer than usual – and the piano. This song could be seen as his version of a ballad, however he doesn’t commit to this concept as it very quickly turns back into the familiar angry-sounding rock song. High Ball Stepper is a strictly instrumental piece which seems to encapsulate all we have heard so far in the album, and acts as a break almost half-way through the 11 tracks, with heavy guitar being the most dominant feature and an odd bit of violin thrown in for good measure.

Just One Drink seems like a drunken nod to Would You Fight For My Love?  with the line “I love you, honey why don’t you love me?” being repeated several times, hinting to perhaps some trouble in White’s love life which makes for a bit of awkward listening. This idea is continued through into Alone In My Home as his previous anger seems to have subsided to leave something that just sounds quite sad, with White claiming “lost feelings of love” as well as that he is becoming a ghost. This sense of sadness continues on through Entitlement- which has remnants of the country sound from Temporary Ground. That Black Bat Licorice introduces the Jack White we know best back into the world after a melancholic break, and what else would you expect from a song with a title like that? This is followed through into I Think I Found The Culprit. The final song on Lazaretto, Want and Able begins with the sound of birds crowing and features a chorus which is filled mainly with the word ‘who’. Or is it an impression of an owl? It wouldn’t be an album by Jack White if there wasn’t something a little odd in there.

As a Jack White fan, this album doesn’t disappoint at all. Artists going solo can be a bit hit-and-miss, especially if it spills into a second album, but Lazaretto fills the shoes of Blunderbuss and then some. Bring on the next one.

New dates for a UK arena tour in November have been announced with tickets for the gigs in London, Leeds and Glasgow going on sale at 9am on Friday 13^th June. White will also be making an appearance at Glastonbury later this month.

Tony Moly // Style over Substance?

A few weeks ago it was my 21st birthday so in the run up to that big day I was browsing the Internet trying to find what I wanted to receive as a reward for being alive for another year and then I came across this...

Tony Moly is a brand I hadn't heard of before however, as these products are based around cats it isn't a surprise that it came to my knowledge through a popular hipster post on Tumblr.

As soon as I saw it I knew I just had to have it, whether the actual product itself was of decent quality or not. 

Tony Moly is a major brand in the Korean beauty industry and has a wide variety of products, a lot with cute packaging and design like these cat products. I've yet to test it out as, although the order for these items was placed around 4 weeks ago, they only arrived a few days ago so that's something to keep in mind if you're planning on ordering anything from this brand for a special event or occasion.

Along with the order, I also received a free gift.

Although the English translation on the front of the packet leaves something to be desired, you can never be displeased with receiving a little surprise gift for free!

I'm looking forward to seeing if the products stand up to their great aesthetics. I'm hoping it's not a case of style over substance, but even if it is, they're items that'll look great to display with your other beauty products and will no doubt cause envy amongst your friends.

Have you ever tried anything from Tony Moly? What do you think of the brand?

BRIT Awards // 2014

So tonight sees the annual celebration of a small fraction of the British music industry that's pushed onto us daily by radio stations and music channels on tv and so is categorized as 'popular'. You may know this event as the BRIT awards - hosted once again by James Corden... Is no one else available, really? No one even slightly music related? Or slightly funny?

Anyway, before I even mention anything about the year of music that's just gone by, let's take a look at the award itself. 

Last years award looked like it had taken inspiration the Come Outside aeroplane and this years...

Well, this years just needed to be made of styrofoam to really complete that 'build your own award' look. Whatever that thing at the top of it is, it looks like it could be easily slotted on and off the head, it just reminds me of the styrofoam aeroplanes you'd get in Christmas crackers or with a McDonald's happy meal. Maybe they're trying to link the aeroplane theme that seems to be going on with the design. Either way, the ridiculous design fits in with (no doubt) ridiculous winners - they get the award they deserve. 

All the BRIT awards celebrates is artists who have sold the most or been the most controversial (which normally goes hand in hand). I don't doubt we'll see the likes of Miley Cyrus or Robin Thicke winning awards - whether at the BRITS or any other music award show - and where does that leave artists who actually deserve awards? Those that don't insult women or swing around naked to get attention but actually let their talent get them noticed. If that even happens these days. 

As well as that, the limited amount of music genres that incorporated is shocking. Yes, there's a rock category but what about all the terms that come under rock or variations. Oh wait yes, they're all classed as 'pop' now, right?

Save yourself the hassle and do something else with the two hour slot the BRITS takes up. It's two hours you can't get back and after two hours of James Corden's attempts to be funny, you'll probably end up questioning the point of living.

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Review // £1 Fashion Nails

Okay, so something a little fashion related for my once in a blue moon blogpost.

I'm not exactly the girliest girl you could ever meet but over the last 18 months my style has been changing and one thing I've always fancied is a manicure. However, my job doesn't allow nail polish or fake nails (the downsides of a supermarket retail job, sigh) so that isn't really much of an option for me. Plus, to be honest small talk is something I really hate so also makes manicures less appealing to me. 

But, while I was doing a bit of retail therapy earlier on in the week, I came across some fake nail sets in Primark (and one in Superdrug) that I fancied trying and since I've got a week off work, I thought why not!

Being a self-confessed cat lady, I couldn't resist the cat/polka dot nails (but who could, they're adorable!) and for only £1, I just had to buy them.

The nails themselves were easy to get on, seeing as it's my first time applying fake nails I'd say I did a pretty good job so I'm sure if you're more experienced you'd do a much better job. I had bought nail glue from Superdrug to use and good job I did as I struggled with the free adhesive that comes with the nails. I did struggle to find enough nails in the pack that fit well. I don't know if that's a common issue with fake nails but I reckon they still look good considering. 

However, I put them on before applying my make up for the day and while opening my blusher palette, one of my thumb nails cracked - pretty disappointing after only having them on for about half an hour. But then again, what would you expect for £1?

Overall, these nails are adorable and an absolute bargain. When buying something for that cheap you'd be deluded to think they're going to be top quality and highly sustainable so for the price, they're great. But if you want ones that'll last longer without getting damaged, obviously you get what you pay for.