Good morning everyone, have we all had a good weekend? I had a very relaxing one - baking bread, drinking wine and...playing on the Xbox?! I never normally do that but for some reason me and the boyfriend got into playing a game and ended up playing for about 5 hours! It's all good fun. This week I went to see The Avengers (twice!) and absolutely loved it (clearly!). It is the best film I've seen in a while and I would highly recommend it even if you haven't seen any of the films leading up to it. It's a great film in its own right and, my god, it has some serious eye-candy in it. I think I may have fallen in love with Thor (a.k.a Chris Hemsworth, swoooon. Sorry boyfriend.). Let me know if any of you have seen it and what you thought. 

Now, onto the main event, the Glossybox review! I wasn't going to do one because I'm sure lots of you will have read about it other places but I really did like this month's, so felt I should share with you my thoughts on it! The theme this month was au naturel, starting off with a 100% bio-degradable box! (Because we like to look good AND do good of course). I do like this whole themed box thing that they've got going on, I think it adds something extra to the 'experience' and makes the samples seem less random. The first thing I noticed, and which made my heart sing with joy, was that there were no perfume samples in the box this month! Woohoo! I was getting really quite bored of receiving a tiny little sample of obscure perfume (most of the time) and was pleased to see they hadn't copped out and popped one in this month (but I guess perfume can't be all that natural can it?). I was really happy with all of the samples this month, they're all things I use (bar one) and would buy anyway, so I'll get on and show you what they were!

First up the Cauldalie Vinosource Serum which is meant to thoroughly hydrate and quench thirsty skin. It's quite a liquidy formula and quite refreshing when applied and, even though I don't have dry skin, which I'm guessing this may be aimed at, I find it a pleasure to use. After cleansing and toning it is absolutely lovely to pop on and makes my skin feel deliciously soft and smooth. I'm not sure I'd buy the full size version (around £26 on feelunique.com) but it is a lovely product and a generous sample size.

Next up the Monu Spa Hand and Nail cream. Now I personally love a good hand cream (read my post on my fave of the moment here) so I was particularly excited to see this fabulous sized sample in the box. This one is a very thick consistency which leaves absolutely no greasy residue (on my hands anyway), but leaves hands very soft and smelling kind of minty. I've kept this one in my handbag for on-the-go moisturisation and I can't really say a bad thing about it. Again, I probably wouldn't repurchase it because there are loads of great handcreams out there that are cheaper than the £10.95 that this one is asking for, but it is very nice.

The next product is the Figs and Rouge Organic Lip Balm and, oh wow, I love this! How cute is the packaging? I think I'd keep this in my bag even if it was crap because it looks so good! However, it is actually really really good as well! It's an odd consistency at first, kind of lumpy but then it smooths onto the lips (or any other area you want to use it, it's multi-purpose) and feels so smooth and makes lips lusciously soft! This is another minty smelling product and I would definitely consider repurchasing this. It comes in different flavours as well which I may just have to try out!

This product is a Lip Liner from Inika. It's certified organic and is the most gorgeous kind of shimmery orange-coral colour. If I had to I would say it probably has something of a frost finish, which I wouldn't normally go for, but this colour seems to work. On the lips it has a a very pink shimmer running through it, which in my opinion would probably make it more night-time appropriate because it is quite obvious and for day-to-day wear it might be a bit too much. The pencil is really soft and applies well, not too sure about lasting power yet as I haven't road tested it fully but at the moment I am liking it. I think it would make a great base under a deep coral or lighter red lipstick to add some more depth. I actually wore it under my MAC Vegas Volt lipstick (review here) when I went for a night out and it worked very well indeed. 

And finally the product that I wasn't too excited about, the Philip B Styling Gel. I haven't actually attempted to use it yet because I'm not sure how exactly I would use a styling gel in my hair, but it promises to add 'Volume, Texture and Definition', so maybe if I was going for a messy beach waves kind of thing I could add this to the ends to add some definition. It does say on the back that you can add it to the roots to add volume so maybe this is worth trying on second day hair to spice it up a bit. I'll keep you posted! 

So there we have it, this month's Glossybox. Not too shabby in my opinion, a nice mixture of things to try out and some that I would consider repurchasing, so well done to them! Looking forward to this months' box now, I've heard it's their one year anniversary so I'm expecting something spectacular (no pressure Glossybox!). Are any of you signed up to Glossybox? What do you think of the products in this month's box? I hope you've all got a fantastic day lined up, I'm off to work (exciting) so was up early to finish off this post to get it up for you all! That's dedication right there ;) Hope you're all very well and I shall speak soon! Bye for now!

Hello there!

So, last Friday I spent the day getting increasingly excited about going to see The Hunger Games and was sure to pre-book a couple of days in advance because I thought it would be jam-packed! It wasn't. Myself and my boyfriend went to the 8 o'clock showing and I would say it was no more than 40% full, which surprised me. But that doesn't really matter that much. What matters is, what is the film like?

Well, having read all three of the books in the space of about 2 weeks I was going with an open mind because they always say a film will never be as good as the book, and to some extent I agree. First of all, let me say that I think it would be good for me to go and see it for a second time, because I seemed to spend a lot of the film thinking about whether what was happening was the same as in the book and wondering if said boyfriend was understanding what was going on (not that he's a bit simple or anything! Just that he hadn't read them). So I think a second watch would be good so I could really concentrate on the film on its own, as opposed to an interpretation of the book, if that makes sense! 

Overall, however, I did really enjoy it and thought that not only was it very true to the book and followed it almost exactly (only a couple of changes which didn't really make that much difference) but that it was also cast very well. Jennifer Lawrence, who plays the main character Katniss Everdeen, was, in my opinion, perfect. Very strong willed and gorgeous, but not in an obviously girly, pretty way. And the same with almost all the other characters apart from Haymitch, who I had always imagined to be an overweight, short, balding man but, to my surprise, was cast with Woody Harrelson, who is most definitely not any of those things. It was probably my mistake, as I'd imagined him to be a lot older than he was portrayed in the film, so I probably just missed that bit of timescale in the book. 

Apart from that though, I would definitely recommend going to see it whether or not you've read the book beforehand because the story is very interesting and really makes you think about what they're portraying. If you want a basic plot outline you can take a look at my review of the book here. Neither my boyfriend or my parents, who went to see it the day after, have read any of them and they all said they enjoyed it and that it was easy to follow. Also, the fight scenes are done in a way that you can't really see that much of what's going on, so I would say it would be suitable for any young teenagers who've read the books as well. 

I would give it at least a 7.5 out of 10, but a second viewing would definitely help to confirm that! Have any of you seen it? What did you think? Compared to the book? 

Hey folks I hope your day is going swimmingly!

Just thought I'd tell you about a few of the films I've been to see recently. I seem to have gone to the cinema a lot over the past few weeks, which isn't good for the bank balance but I really enjoy seeing films on the big screen so never mind!

Yesterday I went to see 'This Means War', a romantic comedy featuring Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine and Tom Hardy (serious swoon, Tom Hardy is delightful to look at!). I enjoyed it and it was reasonably funny, however, it wouldn't be a film I'd rush to see again and I would definitely advise waiting for it to come out on DVD rather than forking out to see it in the cinema. The story was pretty predictable and it started out extremely cheesy, but as it went along it did get better. Overall an easy watch and good if you're in the mood for something to fill some time. 

A couple of weeks ago I saw 'The Vow', which was more on the romantic drama side, not as much comedy as the previous film. It features Rachel McAdams (girl crush, anyone?) and Channing Tatum trying to piece their lives back together after a car accident in which Paige (McAdams) loses her memory. I thought the parts were performed really quite well and Channing really made you empathise with the character. I would recommend going to see it if it's still on at a cinema near you, otherwise take a look at the DVD when it comes out. It's a nice, heart-warming story (but not in a pass-the-sick-bucket way) and was an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.

I also went to see 'Young Adult' not too long ago, a drama (although from the advert I thought it was going to be a comedy) starring Charlize Theron as a newly-divorced woman, still clinging on to the clichés and the stereotypes from high school and trying to win back her (now married) First Love. I was expecting this to be funny, but it was one of those films where all the funny bits were in the trailer. However, I did actually really enjoy this film. It was really engaging and although not a great deal actually happened, it definitely kept me watching and I didn't feel as if I was drifting off at any point. Again, I thought the part was well acted and I thought it was well written, although I'm not really an expert on that sort of thing.

My favourite of these three was Young Adult and I would definitely give it a watch if you come across it. Let me know if you've seen any of these and what you thought of them! Have a great day!

The reason books three, four and five have been compiled into one review is because they are all part of the same trilogy, so thought it might be wise to review them together. The books are The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins and have pretty much consumed all my time over the past week and a bit. 

I don't know if I mentioned before, but I am one of those people that cannot put a good book down. If I start to get into it it pretty much takes over my life until it's finished, and what with this being a trilogy, it's been pretty hard to do anything else recently. I know there has been a lot of hype about these books and sometimes that can be a bit off-putting, but after seeing the trailer for the up-coming film (out on 23rd March - super excited!) I thought I would give them a read beforehand. And I was not disappointed. 

The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world (stay with me here...) called Panem and is ruled by the Capitol who, every year, host The Hunger Games - an event where 24 'tributes' have to fight to the death, literally, to become Victor. The books follow the volunteer tribute Katniss Everdeen who throws herself into the games to save her young sister from having to do so. 

There is love, loss, fighting, anger, sorrow, hope and so much more and, in a strange way, kind of helped me understand more about what is actually going on in the world today and shows how revolutions and wars and destruction can so easily come about. I found all three of the books really engaging and enjoyable to read and, whilst I think the first one is probably my favourite, none of them seemed to drag on or have that "This didn't need to be a trilogy" feeling. If you know what I mean.

I can't wait to see the film now because from the trailer it looks like they've done a really good job with casting and I'm intrigued to see how they recreate the world of Panem. Take a look at the trailer below.

Hope you're having a brill day and let me know what you thought about the books if you've read them!