My Dress-Up Darling

Image taken from My Anime List

I don’t know if I’ve ever written a blog post purely dedicated to a manga/anime series before, but no time like the present, eh?

I really wanted to write about My Dress-Up Darling (Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru, which translates to The Bisque Doll That Fell in Love) today as it’s a manga/anime series I’ve really fallen in love with and it’s definitely fast become one of my favourites, which is crazy to think about. I know a lot of people have fallen head over heels for My Dress-Up Darling too and especially Marin the main female protagonist, some falling for her a little harder than others.

I know today’s post is a little different but I wanted to share my thoughts about this series as I know so many people love it and season one is now completed, so I’d like to share what I thought of it in that aspect too.

Don’t worry, there won’t be any spoilers shared here, I’m not about that life. I will however share the basic information about what the anime is all about and more.

I’m just going to get straight into it, I honestly hope you enjoy reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I think the last time I was into an anime so much I had to pick up the manga to read was A Silent Voice (2017). Me and Dane had been to watch it at The Electric Cinema in Birmingham, as I’d been recommended to watch it by adverts and they were damn right to tell me about it! Forbidden Planet/Worlds Apart is literally a stone throw away from the cinema so we ventured there prior to have a nose at geeky goodness, including manga. Dane walked out with Berserk (which was standard back in the day) and I left with the first three volumes of A Silent Voice. I binge read all the volumes in a week!

The same has happened with My Dress-Up Darling where I’ve binge read volumes one to three (still not started four) of the manga after watching the anime, although I’m holding off reading volumes five to eight online until they actually come out for us in the UK. I don’t know about you guys, but I much prefer holding a manga to read instead of just scrolling pages on my phone or laptop.

The anime is based off of the manga also known as Sono Bisque Doll, which released in Japan with its first volume in January 2018, with there currently being eight volumes of the manga, with volume nine on the way! In the UK there are currently six volumes, with five and six being pre-orders. The manga released to us in the UK in April 2020. With the release of the anime and its quick popularity with anime fans alike, the manga has sold out like hot cakes, with many manga stockists apologising and popping people on wish lists. There has also been a lot of scalpers on selling websites trying to sell volumes one and three (which are the hardest to get right now) for stupid prices!

At the time of writing this post volumes two and four are the main ones you’ll find available to purchase at the moment, with five and six being pre orders for the near future. I’ve found Amazon, Forbidden Planet and Wordery have been some of the best places to find volumes for sale.

I was able to snag volumes one and two from Forbidden Planet, as well as four on Amazon. Last week I was able to finally snag volume three through a lovely seller on Depop! She didn’t scalp or put the price up at all, especially with the volume being brand new.

With that out of the way, I’m going to talk about the anime first, just because that’s what I watched prior to reading the manga. It would be weird to talk about it the other way around when that isn’t how it happened for me. There are twelve episodes in season one with the season beginning on 9th January and concluding on 27th March 2022.

My Dress-Up Darling is about Gojo, a trainee Hinamatsuri (Hina for short) doll creator who has just started his first year of high school. One day during school Gojo is in the craft room at school making some costumes for his Hina dolls when Marin sees him. Marin wants to cosplay, but isn’t very good at making costumes, so once seeing Gojo’s talent, approaches him about whether or not he can help her create her cosplay costume for a character she adores. Whilst Gojo has no experience of this, he helps Marin regardless but one cosplay turns from one to more as the story progresses.

It’s a romantic comedy, slice of life manga/anime and my perfect style of anime/manga! In all honesty I’m a sucker for slice of life, no matter what, even drama you’d find on Channel 4!

Each week I’m a sucker for how Gojo and Marin’s friendship progresses, as well as finding out more about each of the characters and what cosplay Marin will work on next.

I don’t feel like this will be a spoiler at this point, but the opening credits for the anime shows what cosplay outfits Gojo and Marin are working on together, even in the order they do them as well. The covers for the manga volumes have the same images of Marin in her cosplay too. I’m so excited to see more in the future! My favourite so far as definitely been her first.

Dane is the one who introduced me to My Dress-Up Darling. I can’t remember how it came about exactly, as we were sick for the first few weeks of January, which is of course when the anime came out. I remember he was watching it and mentioned, “Everyone is going mad for this anime online and how good the animation is. Especially compared to Berserk!” For anyone that isn’t aware (I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it before or not…), Dane is a massive Berserk fan and like many, was disappointed with the animation style for Berserk 2016.

What got Dane into My Dress-Up Darling was, “I had seen a gif on Reddit of Marin dancing in her bikini (taken from episode two) and without sounding perverted, I really liked the animation style and character’s design. I was immediately enamoured with Marin and wanted to know more about her… Besides her bikini choices.”

The GIF in question, more frames than Berserk 2016. Image taken from Tenor

I think Dane had watched a couple of episodes before I decided to give it a go, which he was more than happy about. I watched the first episode and craved more! We’ve been happily watching each new episode every Saturday morning ever since. It’s always been something to look forward to throughout the past couple of months, especially coming up to the weekends. Since the start of the year we’ve been having regular anime weekends where we sit and binge watch any that have new episodes or ones we’ve discovered and have started to watch together.

There is a huge elephant in the room when it comes to My Dress-Up Darling and it’s the amount of fan service, or arguably… Perverse shots that are in the show. It’s a topic that has blown up all over the internet, which I can understand. I don’t get some of the scenes in question that they chose to animate, and whilst I never feel uncomfortable, I do question it. I know a lot of people have also stated after seeing the “lewd” animated scenes, they stopped watching it, as they no longer wished to support the anime. I personally think its a shame that this happens as it affects everyone who has worked on the anime in question (not just speaking about My Dress-Up Darling here!). As I said, it doesn’t personally bother me, but I do question some stuff. The animators of the show (who may have also worked on the manga too) were probably given a clear vision to be like the manga, so, they have.

As I always do, when I really fall in love with something I always like to try and get some merchandise of it, official or fan made merch at that. I’ve seen one piece of official merchandise I’d love to pick up (key chain) but I’d also love a t-shirt with Marin on, especially pulling one of her many happy faces that she’s pulling during the opening credits of the anime.

Marin is very much loved in the community right now for both her personality, as well as for how pretty and “perfect” she is. I guess it’s because we can all relate to her one way or another as anime, manga and game lovers who just want to show off how much we love characters we watch, read and play as. I’ve personally only cosplayed twice, my first time as Lucy from Elfen Lied and my second time as Cartman’s The Coon from South Park. Both times were so much fun, especially the latter as so many people were telling me and Dane (he dressed up as Kenny’s Mysterion persona) how amazing we looked.

I’d love to cosplay as so many characters and people but I just don’t think I have it in me. I’d be so self conscious the whole day in case anyone judged, if I did the character wrong and more.

So, watching My Dress-Up Darling is a nice way of seeing how people DO get their cosplays together, how happy it makes them feel, the learning processes behind it all and more. Plus the friendships Gojo and Marin make together and with others is really lovely to see. OH and to add, it’s so cool to see how they drew parts of Tokyo. Me and Dane are especially missing Japan so far this year and are craving going back, especially when watching anime where it’s set in areas we stayed/ventured to.

Now I’ve spoken a little about My Dress-Up Darling’s anime, I want to touch upon the manga a little, which I’ve been speed reading the past week since I got volume three! I won’t talk too much about it, as I’ve already spoken a lot about the anime as it is.

The manga (from what I’ve read so far) is pretty much identical to the anime. I can’t say as I’ve noticed any massive differences so far, which I like. The manga style is gorgeous to boot by the way and is very similar again to the anime. I know some manga styles differ to the style when you watch the anime (Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid being a good example of this…) but thankfully this didn’t do that.

At the time of writing this, season one of My Dress-Up Darling has come to a close and what a close it was to a show so many of us adored! I won’t say too much of what happens in the episode itself due to spoilers, etc, but for anyone who is watching (from January, or if you decide to watch it after reading this post), please make sure to continue watching episode twelve after the credits begin… There’s a bit at the end that really rounds up the season perfectly.

Overall I’ve fallen head over heels for My Dress-Up Darling, which is also bad news because now not only do I want as much merchandise from it as I can get my mitts on, but I’m also sad that the anime’s first season is coming to a close this weekend.

Image taken from Good Smile Company US Twitter

I’m already planning on watching the dub version, just so I can enjoy it all over again, as well as ordering the Marin Nendoroid when it releases too! Me and Dane have been talking about whether a DX version will release too, where Marin will have all her cosplay outfits to dress up in too! Otherwise, an additional set of outfits for this would be great. Good Smile Company would miss a trick not doing that!

If you’d like to watch My Dress-Up Darling yourself, you can find it on both Funimation and Crunchyroll!

So, have you been watching My Dress-Up Darling? If so, what do you think of it? Have you been watching the dub, or the sub? Of course, have you also read the manga? Maybe you hadn’t heard of it until now, has my post inspired you to watch? Make sure to let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

Until next time guys, have an amazing weekend and I’ll see you in April! 🙂

August Wish List ’19

I really need to save. It’s so hard at the moment considering I’ve just had to fork out £250 for a part of my car to be replaced and erm… I kinda bought myself a new camera ready for Japan. Honestly I’m going to save up for Japan. I am. I NEED to otherwise I’ll be going to Japan with no sodding money to spend, or eat with. I have 5 months to go until we leave for the holiday and saving needs to happen NOW.

In all honesty though? I already really want at least 2 items on this wish list for work, as well as in general.

I will resist the urge and be good… I need to. 😛

Enough of me wallowing in poor pity, on with the wish list for August.

• Aggretsuko Day/Night Pyjamas (link)

If there is one thing I love buying (and it’s definitely a weakness of mine!) it’s pyjamas and it’s purely because I live in them mostly when I’m at home. Providing I don’t have plans, as soon as I get home from work I’ll get my pyjamas on and get comfortable. These will be perfect for during the summer months, as at the moment I am just purely living in baggy t-shirts and night shirts. EMP has a pretty awesome Aggretsuko line up at the moment, including a couple of hoodies, pyjama bottoms and even some fake Converse.

• Animal Crossing K.K. Slider Sticker by ncdoggGraphics (link)

I LOVE Animal Crossing and I am still stoked about the new one coming out on the Switch in March 2020. I love playing Pocket Camp daily and would love to grab some sort of Animal Crossing merch for when I’m in Japan. I love the “Yo” design of K.K. Slider and although I’ve added it onto this post as a sticker, I would rather love the hoodie or sweater design as I can only imagine it would so comfortable to wear around the house, as well as out and about when running errands.

• Pokemon Holiday Night Kuji Travelling Pouch with Bottles (link)

This is something I’ve had my eye on getting (and in one case winning) since I saw it was announced a couple of months back. I took part in this kuji through YY Kawaii (yykawaiimerch over on Instagram). I’ll be talking about the prizes I won soon, as well as this travelling pouch, which arrived yesterday. Yes, I bought it because I want it for my holiday to Japan, as well as travelling in general. This is a good sized pouch and comes with three generous sized bottles that you can fill with your beauty essentials. I’m already planning what product I’m going to pop in there for travelling with. As I said, I’ll be writing a post all about these goods soon, as well as a little bit of information about kujis, how they work and which amazing ones YY Kawaii has coming up soon!

• Aggretsuko Pencils (link)

I have discovered with my job that I love jotting down notes using pencil… I don’t know why, but I just have! I love Aggretsuko and since season 2 has come onto Netflix (also, they just announced season 3. Who else is excited?!) so I feel merchandise for this is becoming more and more likely everywhere. I don’t need any stationary anytime soon though to be honest. These would just be cool to have whenever I go into meetings and to perk my desk up a little. At the moment I’m using Pusheen pencils… I can’t complain. 😛

• Cath Kidston Stanley Lamp (link)

This isn’t going to be something I buy anytime soon due to the price, but it’s a lamp I will be keeping a close eye on, as I would love it to be a part of my home. I don’t quite know where it would go… Potentially by the sofa in our living room… It’s so damn cute and I love it! I can only assume Stanley is the dog but it’s so gorgeous and you can see a lot of precision went into the design, as it’s just perfect. This is something I’ll keep my eye on during the sales.

• Killstar Amaya Skater Dress (link)

I love a good skater dress, especially one from Killstar. This is from one of their new collections, which represents Japanese school style fashions and manga/anime designs too. This is something I’d love to be able to wear for work but due to the style of the dress (mostly the back with the hanging part) I doubt that would be doable… At least not during the warmer months when I don’t need to wear a cardigan, jumper or my work fleece. I’ll be keeping my eyes on it though, this is something I’ll definitely be picking up in the future.

• Boohoo Cable Boyfriend Button Up Cardigan (link)

I know it’s summer and we in the UK are currently rocking the warm and muggy weather but I am already thinking ahead to the months when the colder weather will be back and I’ll be wanting to snuggle up into something during my shifts at work. My friend Amy (Writing into the Ether) rocks a gorgeous mustard cardigan and she’s inspired me get myself a mustard cardigan, after years of never bothering. I love my burgundy and mustard colours for autumn and winter, and whilst I own loads of mustard jumpers, I haven’t yet picked up a mustard cardigan. I’ve found this one from Boohoo, which I’m going to keep my eye on. I need to venture around more places first, including charity shops. I know what I’m looking for, super soft and baggy so I can be snuggled and cosy!

So those are the items on my wish list for August! I always worry my wish lists are boring, but you guys never seem to say anything other than the complete opposite!

What items do you guys have on your wish lists this month? Make sure to let me know! Hey, let me know which items you’ve picked up this month too!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a good week so far.

Elle’s Doodle Box*

I am so excited to write this post at the moment! I’m feeling a little under the weather right now but I’m sure by the end of this I’ll have perked up after looking at all the cute goodies Elle over at Elle’s Doodle Box sent me.

Recently I’ve gained some confidence in reaching out to companies myself to ask if I can work with them. Some have replied to me and some haven’t. Elle is one of the lovely companies who did and I was so excited to work with her.

I’ve known and brought items from Elle’s Doodle Box for quite a while now, whether that be at cons or via her Etsy. Her designs are so kawaii and I especially love all the characters she draws, especially Haku.

Elle’s Doodle Box store contains loads of different products ranging from greeting cards, prints, stickers, badges, charms, planner, sticker sheets and mystery boxes. Most of her work is based on fandoms, games characters, animals, and anime.

Me and Elle have been chatting since I reached out to her and she has fast become a friend and is such a lovely and sweet person. We plan to go on a coffee date very soon, hehe. 😛

ANYWAY you’re here to see what I was sent, so without further ado let me show you the box of kawaii magic she sent me! As I always do, an * will go next to any items I was gifted.

• Totoro Clear 2″ Acrylic Charm* – (link)

This is the first item I saw in the box and already it’s my favourite! It’s an adorable little Totoro from the Studio Ghibli film My Neighbour Totoro. He’s got such a lovely little face and I can’t quite tell if he’s super happy or smug. Either way I love it and I’m torn whether to hang him off of my car keys or my backpack… Either way I’m sure I’ll decide soon enough!

• Eeveelution Espeon Button Badge* – (link)
• Rockruff Badge* – (link)
• Fox Badge*
• Haku Spirited Away Pin Badge Button* – (link)

I love badges, even if I don’t use and wear them as much as I used to! These badged are all adorable, my favourite of the bunch has to be the Haku one. I especially love that it has holographic flecks throughout it too. You can never go wrong with something like that!

The Espeon badge is a bit bigger than the others and I feel if it had been smaller all the detail of the Pokemon would have been gone.

The Rockruff badge is adorable! Elle has clearly put so much into the design of this newer dog Pokemon and I really like it. I feel like she’s really given it a character.

Finally the fox badge is my second favourite! I love foxes, they’re one of my favourite animals so the fact she included this in my package was so thoughful and sweet. This bagde will definitely be popped on my cardigan!

• Mystery Sticker Bag Stickers Only Mix* – (link)

These contain damaged and miscut stickers but personally I don’t see any difference in these and normal stickers. They all look good to me! I love the amount of variety you get in the bag and I also can’t believe how many you get for the money either! I’ll list below all the ones you get in the pack and if possible link back to them too!

Pokemon – Growlithe, Leafeon, Alolan Vulpix and Vulpix.

Food – 3 scoops, kitty kat, pink cupcake, pizza, doughnut, watermelon and ice lolly.

 

Studio Ghibli – Totoro with umbrella.

Undertale – Frisk and Alphys.

Animals – Whale shark, chubby dog  and unicorn.

Other – Groot, anxiety warrior and puppy with yellow hoodie.

• Random Sticker Pack*

This is another random sticker pack that Elle sent me and out of the two I REALLY love this one! I feel like most of the stuff she popped in here was very personal as she did ask me what sort of stuff I was into. I love all the stickers in here! My favourite would have been the Haku sticker BUT I am loving the Baymax with Glaceon on his head. It’s so adorable.

Pokemon – Rockruff, Growlithe, Vaporeon, Leafeon, Gengar, Eevee and Haunter.

Studio Ghibli – No Face and Haku.

Other – Poison Ivy, Spyro, Baymax with Glaceon and Deadpool.

• Vulpix Card* – 50p (link)

Whilst I was in London Elle announced these Vulpix cards on her Facebook group for the store (which I’ve linked here) and I knew I wanted to get a couple for friends SO when I opened my package and saw one was already in there, I was so chuffed! I’m going to send this to someone special (not spoiling here!) who I know will really love this. 🙂 I plan to order some more to give away to some of my friends as special cards. There are other designs out too including Eevee, Xmas Rat and Gingerbread Man. You can also order these in packs of 4 for £2.00.

• Spirited Away Haku Dragon 7×5 Print* – £3.00 (link)

• Pokemon Rockruff 7×5 Print* – £3.00 (link)

• Pokemon Gardevoir 7×5 Print*

I love ALL the prints that Elle sent me! Sadly I have a feeling I already own the Haku print, so I’ll possibly be gifting this to someone for Christmas, as I know they’ll really appreciate it! 😀 But I do love the Haku print so damn much, as I say time and time again on my blog, Haku is one of my favourite things so any items with him on are always appreciated.

The other Pokemon prints are adorable, especially Rockruff which I think I’m going to keep in my office! 😀 The Gardevoir took me ages to try and remember the name of the Pokemon haha.

I love the size of these prints though, they’re perfect for popping into frames and hanging up near one another, say behind a sofa or a desk.

SO that is the amazing box of goodies that Elle sent me! I love everything she sent and I am so grateful to her for being more than happy to send me some goodies.

I just wanted to say what a lovely person Elle is! She’s really easy to talk to, friendly, always good to go to if you have any questions and finally an amazing and unique designer. I love her work so much and have loved buying from her in the past to gift people with her items.

Alongside the amazing items she sent, Elle also sent me a discount code for myself, as well as my readers to use.

I’ll have this code on the side of my blog after this post goes live, so don’t worry about needing to search through my posts to find this one, it’ll be on the right hand side. 😛

I’ll list below all of Elle’s Doodle Box’s website and social media pages.

Website

Etsy

Facebook

Facebook Group

Twitter

Instagram

What do you guys think of Elle’s Doodle Box? Make sure to let me know in the comments, as well as which item(s) you’d love to pick up!

Until next time, take care and have a fabulous weekend.

 

The Mystery Blogger Award

It’s a Wednesday evening and I’m sat in my garden with a cold drink and Daft Punk playing in the background. I’m loving life right now, especially considering the weekend is also around the corner. 😛

I was thinking for ages about what I could do today’s blog post about and I had loads of ideas swirling around but I didn’t feel like any of them were suitable for today. Then I remembered, Gemma had tagged me in The Mystery Blogger Award post of hers!

In the past I’ve been nominated for one, maybe two awards but meh I never bothered with them. I really like the sound of this one though! 😛

The award was originally created by Okoto Enigma and as I said before, Gemma nominated me so a MASSIVE THANK YOU to Gemma for that, who I talk to on Twitter about Pokemon Go! 😛

So, off we go! 😀

The Rules!…

1. Display the award logo/image on your blog.

2. List the rules.

3. Thank whoever nominated you and link their blog.

4. Mention the creator of the award and link their blog.

5. Tell the readers 3 things about yourself.

6. Nominate 10-20 people. Notify them by commenting on their blog.

7. Ask your nominees any 5 questions, with one being weird or funny (specify which one that is)

8. Share a link to your best posts.

Three things about me!

1. I’m a massive Pokemon fan and have been since I was 9 years old, that means next year I’ll have been a fan for 20 years!

2. My favourite colour to wear is black, but red is also another colour I love wearing.

3. I was asked recently which band I would love to see before I die and the answer is Daft Punk. I’ve loved them since One More Time was released and since then they’ve been one of my favourite bands.

The questions Gemma asked us…

Q1. What are your Autumn and Winter go to comforts?

A1. Oh so many! Definitely having a lovely hot bubble bath, burning scented candles and especially wrapping up in my favourite fluffy blanket. I love being toasty and warm so evenings like this are the best, ever!

Q2. If your life had a scent what would it be?

A2. Mmm I don’t know to be honest with you… Probably Alien or Angel or something peppermint scented. 😛

Q3. What film are you most looking forward to this year?

A3. I was most looking forward to Deadpool 2 and now that’s finished… I’m really excited for Bohemian Rhapsody later this year to be honest with you as well as Venom.

Q4. If you could have any cartoon character narrate your day to day life like a book who would you choose? – funny question.

A4. Holy shit I have SO MANY IDEAS! Okay, one idea is the narrator from the original Pokemon anime and Morgana from Persona 5. 😛

Q5. What was/is your favourite cartoon/anime?

A5. If I had to choose one anime it would probably have to be Nana, but if I had the choice of a couple I would also add K-ON!.

As for nominations, I’ve just got to nominate these gorgeous human beings…

Raiin Monkey

Estellosaurus

Simply Stacey

Evolution Of Amy Jane

Kkochsongi

Cuteek

Eleanor May

The Mini Mermaid

Her Gaming World

Little Pink Duck

My questions for you guys are…

Q1. What is one thing you are really excited for this year? It can be as big or as small as you wish.

Q2. Who is your oldest/best friend? I want you to tell me how you met and a funny moment you both share.

Q3. If you could be a biscuit, which biscuit would you be? (Funny)

Q4. What band/artist would you like to see before you die? Obviously they have to still be around.

Q5. As it is the summer holidays, what is your favourite childhood memory from your six weeks off school?

Finally, my 3 best blog posts…

Benefit Gogotint Cheek & Lip Stain – Review

L’Oreal Paris Pure Clay Face Mask in Blemish Rescue – Review

Barry M Colour Changing Lip Paints in Genie, Neptune and Unicorn – Review

Aww I’ve loved so much taking part in this award and I really hope all the gorgeous people I’ve tagged to do it too give it a go! I certainly can’t wait to read their answers. 😀

I hope you’re all having a great week, the weekend will be here before we know it.

Until next time all, take care and see you next time.

Wish List Wednesday – The Body Shop

I wasn’t planning on doing a wish list Wednesday post for quite a while, but recently The Body Shop came out with their limited edition banana range and I NEED it in my life! I was actually going to order them over the weekend, but I’m leaving it until payday as I need to be good.

So I thought this would be the right time to talk about the banana collection on a wish list Wednesday post, as well as talk about some bath goodies The Body Shop have out now!

• The Body Shop Banana Shower Cream – (link)

As soon as I heard about The Body Shop bringing out this shower cream, I was so excited! Finally they had listened to me (obviously they didn’t… :P) and my cries for a banana range, other than the hair care! I used to love the shampoo due to the scent but I stopped using it as it didn’t do anything for my hair. Sadly the banana range is only limited edition, but I’ll make sure to stock up due to that! When pay day hits I’ll be ordering one, maybe two of these to try out!

• The Body Shop Mango Bath Bomb – (link)

I recently found out that The Body Shop now stock bath products and as I’ve recently stopped buying from Lush, I’ve been on the look out for somewhere new to get my bath time treats. Christmas 2016 They brought out some little bath fizzers which I tried and loved! I love the sound of mango though, especially for summertime and the best bit about these? They’re super cheap and affordable!

• The Body Shop Banana Yogurt – (link)

I’m not someone who moisturises. I have been on and off in the past but these days I’m not arsed. Why? Because it makes me feel hot and sticky and due to that I HATE it! In the past I’ve given The Body Shop’s body sorbets and I loved them. I just felt like they weren’t moisturising my skin, which is a shame. The body yogurts sound similar to the sorbets but much more moisturising! I’m definitely going to pick one up to have a go with. I love the smell of banana so much and I’ve heard this smells of foam banana sweets, yay!

• The Body Shop Coconut Bath Bubble – (link)

Not only do The Body Shop now sell bath bombs, but they do bubble bars too! This is super exciting as I LOVE bubble bars! I especially love that they sell one in coconut as this is one of my favourite scents from The Body Shop. They have another two scents too but they’re both bleh! I’m definitely going to give this bath bubble a go and like the bath bombs, they’re at an affordable price.

• The Body Shop Passionberry Lip Balm – (link)

I don’t really wear many lipsticks anymore, at least not at the moment anyway! I love wearing lip balm and rings and I’m always on the hunt for something colourful and conditioning. I know The Body Shop ones are pretty good and at a good price. There’s a couple of different flavours and shades but I like this purple passion berry one the most.

• The Body Shop Banana Body Butter – (link)

If there is one product I hate by The Body Shop it’s their body butters! I’ve owned a couple in the past and using them has been such a misery for me. They’re just too thick and I always ended up throwing them away, giving them away or using them as hand butters. If I was to buy this banana body butter I’d use it as the latter, a hand butter. My hands get really dry and whilst L’Occitane helps them, I would like to find something else that helps them too, especially if it’s banana scented!

• The Body Shop Green Tea Bath Bomb – (link)

The final product on this wish list is yet another bath bomb! I’ve not tried any of the green tea range from The Body Shop but I have smelt it in the past and it smells so refreshing and summery! It’d be nice to use this bath bomb on a hot summer evening to relax and unwind. Again, these bath bombs are affordable so I wouldn’t feel guilty picking it up.

So those are The Body Shop products that I have on my wish list/future purchasing list. I’m going to wait until I get a decent discount code or venture in a store before I pick anything up.

Have you got your eye on any goodies from The Body Shop? Let me know in the comments what you want to pick up!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a lovely week.

June Favourites ’18

I cannot believe it is July! I ended off June by getting incredibly drunk and nursing a monster of a hangover with McDonalds chicken nuggets. xD

Oh dear. It’s a lovely warm day though, I’m between doing housework and blog work and getting ready to go out to a wedding this evening. I usually get my monthly blog posts written up and scheduled about a week in advance, but sadly that isn’t the case this month… OOPS! 😛

Anyway, enough blabbering, on with the favourites this month! 😀

• Australian Bodycare Tea Tree Oil Skin Wash.

If there is a product that I have REALLY loved lately, it’s definitely this tea tree skin wash, which you can use all over your body, including your face. My skin has been breaking out really bad lately, so much so that I worried I might have acne. Alas, it was just some of the products I was using on my skin as since I started using this stuff on my face it has changed dramatically! Not only that but I use it on my body too as a shower gel and I always get out of the shower feeling fresh and clean! I always forget how much I love this skin wash and from now on it’s definitely going to be a constant piece of my shower/bath!

• Simple Kind To Eyes Soothing Eye Balm.

I recently picked up this old favourite again as I was in need of a new eye gel. I’ve used this on and off over the years and never had a problem with it, but sometimes I’ve found it to be too expensive for what it is and that’s why I didn’t pick one up. However, recently I found it at a price I was willing to pay and oh man, I forgot how great this eye balm is! As many of us Brits know, it’s been really hot in the UK most of June so this eye balm has come in handy for helping cool down my eyes early in the morning, as well as in the evening before bed.

• L’Occitane Almond Foot Cream.

I don’t actually know if L’Occitane even sell this anymore but I’ve started using it lately to help soften my feet. On and off for about a year now I appear to now have eczema on one of my feet, which sucks. Since using this food cream in the mornings before work the eczema has improved dramatically! Some days I don’t use it, but most days I do. Due to the almond it smells really good too and has a matte texture to it so it doesn’t leave your feet feeling greasy after use, which is great!

• Le Mini Macaron Gel Manicure Kit in Midnight Blueberry.

I’ve wanted to try the Le Mini Macaron gel kits for agggges! It started off as a Kickstarter and I remember discovering it after it had finished. I’ve had my eye on the kits online for a while but I didn’t feel that the £30-£35 price tag was really worth it for what you get. However, recently House of Fraser had some of the kits on offer for just £10! So I finally picked one up. I’m so glad I did as I now have a new found love for gel nail polish and since then I’ve used more gel polishes with it than the one provided in the kit. Sadly House of Fraser don’t have anymore of these kits left. 😦

• Tangle Teezer The Ultimate Finishing Brush.

I picked up this hair brush when I went to Bristol at the start of June and oh my God, it has changed my life so much! For about 5-6 years now I’ve been using this style of brush, but never the Tangle Teezer brand. I knew I was in need of a new hair brush so I decided to use my Boots points to pick up one of these brushes, as well as their smoothing tool brush which you use when blow drying your hair. Their brushes are just amazing and I cannot wait to review them both on my blog.

So now my beauty favourites are done, time to talk about the miscellaneous favourites of the month!

Favourite TV Show – RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 10.

Holy shit this season was crazy of RuPaul’s Drag Race and I’m not going to lie or reveal any spoilers, but I am so annoyed at who won… But whatever. If there was one queen on this season who I loved to the moon and back, it’s Monet x Change. She is such an amazing queen and she made me laugh constantly and SHE SHOULD HAVE FUCKING ONE! My favourite moment in this season is the clip I’ve posted above, and it’s definitely one of my favourite moments EVER! 😀

Image taken from giphy.com

Favourite Film – The Shawshank Redemption.

This is such a random film to have on my favourites this month, but it’s probably the only one I’ve actually watched. I fancied watching it after realising that Hank in Detroit:Become Human is the mean prison ward in this film! I just felt the need to watch it again really and I always forget what an amazing film this is. I’m watching it right now as I write this blog post… 😛

Image taken from giphy.com

Favourite Book – Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid.

I bought quite a few Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid manga’s in June as 2 of them came out. I always love when I get the newest volume because I can carry on where the anime left off. I don’t feel like I need to write too much about this manga series as I feel like I wrote WAY TOO MUCH about them throughout June. 😛

Favourite Song/Album/Artist – Panic! At The Disco – A Fever You Can’t Swear Out.

I don’t know quite why, but recently on my journeys to and from work I’ve been mostly listening to A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out and it really took me back to over 10 years ago when it came out. I remember going and buying it one weekend and I listened to it so much at school. I just forgot how much I love it and it’s such a great album for summer too. I don’t care how old the album is, it’s still a classic!

Image taken from knowyourmeme.com

Favourite Game – VR Chat and Pokemon GO.

Well this is a game I’ve wanted to play for the longest time and although I only have a handful of times, I LOVE IT SO MUCH! The first time I went on the game I was incredibly overwhelmed and confused, I didn’t even turn my microphone on as I was too anxious to talk. The second time I went on the microphone was on and I had an amazing time with random people, one even told me how to do bits and pieces on there and it was lovely. As I wore a skin of an anime girl, I become some Ugandan Knuckles’s queen! It was hilarious and Dane filmed the whole thing. I’m really hoping to start making gaming videos with Dane. Keep eyes peeled for that in the future. 😛

Image taken from giphy.com

Image taken from giphy.com

I couldn’t not talk about Pokemon GO this month as I recently downloaded it again and since playing it with Dane and our friends I am in love with it! 😀 We’ve been out with our friends a few times now to play it and walked around our area as well as parks. I’ve also bought the Pokemon GO Plus so I can still play whilst I’m out and about without pulling my phone out of my handbag. I’ll be talking about that very soon! But yeah, I love Pokemon Go and I cannot wait to play it more over the summer.

So those are my favourites from June! What were you loving throughout last month? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time, I hope you all have a lovely day and are enjoying the warm weather.

His & Her E3 2018 Highlights

Not only can I believe we’re less than 2 weeks away from July, but I honestly cannot believe that E3 2018 has come and gone in the blink of an eye!

As we have done for the past couple of years me and Dane both watched and kept up with E3 2018 as much as we could. In all honestly I was quite disappointed with E3 this year. The majority of presentations were poor, some lacked any information on games or didn’t even show anything new, whilst others didn’t seem professional at all. We’ll talk more about this later.

Not only did we keep up with the couple of days that E3 had their conferences on, but we also kept up to date with YouTube channels such as IGN to keep up with any games that were announced outside of those conferences.

Like we did last year, we’ll take it in turns to talk about certain conferences, as well as favourite announcements this year. I don’t want to do it like we did last year and have me talk for ages and then Dane, I want it to be a mixture of us both!

As I would have said on last years post, I really hope you enjoy reading this post as much as we both enjoyed working on it together. Let’s throw ourselves into it! I’ll be the one talking majority of the time, I’ll state if Dane is chatting about anything. 😛

So EA were the ones who kick started us off for E3 2018 and whilst they did a good job, I do feel like it could have been better. I personally loved EA last year because of how much they spoke about Battlefront II, which at the time I was SO excited about! I was also pretty excited for the announcement of Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, which sounds incredibly cool and exciting! Also Unravel 2 being announced was pretty awesome and it’s a game I can see me and Dane playing in the future.

Dane – EA, what happened to you? I think the only good thing that came out of it was Unravel 2. Battlefield:V has a battle-royale mode now. It looks like a typically good Dice game, but don’t try and force shit that didn’t happen in a historical setting and act like it could’ve happened. Also fuck them for ruining Command and Conquer. I fucking hate what they did to a beloved franchise.

To me alongside Bethesda, Microsoft brought it to E3 2018 and they were both the best this year by far! There was loads of announcements during Microsoft that I got so damn excited for. The first one that comes to mind is Battletoads. I used to play this on my Nintendo SNES growing up and I have so many fond memories of playing it, so now I can’t wait for it to be out on the Xbox to play with Dane. Another game that I cannot wait to download next week when it comes out is The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit. It’s by the same guys behind Life Is Strange AND is also in the same universe as that game. I am incredibly excited for it already! Forza Horizons 4 is set in the UK and although I’m not a massive player of the Forza Horizon 3, I want to play this game now so I can play in the UK in autumn. 😛 We Happy Few is a game I’d like to give a go as it really reminds me of Bioshock and I LOVE that story so damn much… Whether I do or not is another story. I think overall though my favourite game that was announced at Microsoft is definitely Tunic, who is a cute little fox with a sword… Think Zelda but in fox form. 😛 I cannot wait for it to come out to play, I just wish it was on my PlayStation 4 but meh, whatever. 😛

Dane – Microsoft killed it this year, largely due to the fact that there was a lot of shit this year (looking at you PlayStation and EA!). I think Microsoft always have a good show and always present it well, they do just struggle with exclusives and giving gamers something to really talk about. This year though, they teamed up with a lot of individual studios to showcase their games, even going as far as buying them up and incorporating them within Microsoft Studios. Definitely excited about Fallout 76 though, I like the move towards multiplayer but the no NPCs is a interesting format which we will have to wait and see. Halo: Infinite didn’t really get me excited as Halo: 5 was mediocre, just hope 343 industries can do something good after their separation from Bungie. Session was an interesting announcement, lets hope it fills the void Skate left after EA did its thing to Black Box Studios. The biggest and best hype for me though was the trailer for Cyberpunk 2077. It was actually announced several years ago and with them showing codes for Witcher 3 (with DLC) hidden in the trailer was a smart move.

Now onto my favourite conference of E3 2018, Bethesda. Oh man they just brought so much to the table this year, especially in comparrison to last year. Their conference last year bored me and was just bland. This year not only did they shock us all with Fallout 76 and what they have planned for it, but they also revealed that Elder Scrolls 6 is in the works! I remember back when Morrowind was out how me and my cousins would play it all together. Then when Oblivion came out I played it so much, on both my laptop and my PS3! Then Skyrim came out and I was so disappointed by it. My dad had bought it me for Christmas the year it came out and I was gutted. It just didn’t play like the previous two had and recently I parted ways with it and took it to GAME. Now that we have something new and fresh on the way, I’m so fucking excited! As for Fallout 76, oh man it’s hella exciting for gamers alike who have loved the Fallout games for many years. They’re bringing so many exciting things for us to do on the game, but at the same time I worry about what it could cause. Are you going to build up your game play only to have it blown up by some dickhead who got the nuclear codes? Maybe, maybe not. We shall soon find out as this game will be out before we know it! Speaking of, how fucking cool is the power armour helmet that comes out with the limited edition game?? OH and one more game I’m excited for? Doom Eternal, but only for the music. HELL NO would I play that game! xD

Dane – My God. All good things and it was well presented, Todd Howard knows how to please. Fallout 76, Elder Scrolls: Blades, some new faraway game called Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6! What I really care about is a sequel to motherfucking Doom. Doom: Eternal ’nuff said. Motherfuckers.

Now we’d talk about Square Enix but we didn’t watch it… We know they would have shown Kingdom Hearts 3, but who the hell didn’t?! I’m not arsed about the Kingdom Hearts games and have played Kingdom Hears 1.5 on my PS3 in the past. It was fun to play but I don’t know if it was for me. I’m not a huge fan of the Final Fantasy games, which are practically the same but with Disney. When it’s cheap enough in the future I’ll probably pick it up.

So onto Ubisoft! The start of their conference to me really worked and it got me excited for what was to be announced throughout. I’ve never played a Just Dance game and I didn’t really know what they were advertising with all the dancing. When Dane suggested it, I wondered how I hadn’t thought of that myself. Either way, it was really cool and I love when people do things like this! To be honest apart from this the only game I was at all interested in was Skull and Bones, which looks like so much fun! Other than that, meh I’m not arsed. Let’s put it this was, near the end of the Skull and Bones talks, I fell to sleep. 😛

Dane – Zzzzz… Oh Ubisoft are on. They’ve announced a game set in Ancient Greece, that’s surpri… wait those animations look like Assassins Creed… Wait! It is Assassins Creed! *Sigh* I know they need to do something to differentiate the games as their formula started to suck but it no longer feels like you’re an assassin. It just looks like a standard adventure game set in Greece. Division 2 was also unsurprisingly announced with a very boring fake game play showcase. I wish the Tom Clancy games would go back to realism and make a single bullet count. Why can’t they make it play like Wildlands?

I didn’t watch the PC Gaming Show, but Dane did…

Dane – A few things… I am now once again a PC gamer. I should probably do another post on that because a lot has changed. I also have VR… so yeah. Segue! Stormlands is the new full VR experience from Insomniac Games. It looks pretty sweet, like Lone Echo but open world. Cyanide and Happiness have an isometric battle royale game, that should be fun. There is a Shark game, where you’re a shark. Odd. Satisfactory a first person Factorio clone looks interesting. Something about Sega releasing some recent-ish games on PC. Star Citizen released a trailer to a game that will be too big to ever be completed. Erm. Can’t really remember much else.

Finally we are coming down to the last 2 and what were the conferences I was the most excited for, as I am every year. Sony is the first one we will be talking about. I wasn’t disappointed by what Sony showed, but by the way they showed it. Every conference before it had spoken about most of the games it showed, or at least announced release dates. Did Sony did that? Nope. I was sad that they didn’t at least talk about new games they revealed. I was excited for a couple of games that they revealed, which include The Last Of Us II, which I have been so excited for since they announced it about 2 years ago. Spider-Man is also another game I was excited for but I have mixed feelings about it at the moment… It reminds me of the first Spider-Man game that came out on PlayStation many years ago now. I played it religiously and I loved it so much! I like the look of the one and especially of the nostalgia is gives me, but meh… I need to see more. Finally we have Death Stranding, a game I’m interested in because I want to know what the hell happens! I was disappointed that we didn’t get to hear about this game. Looking at it and seeing lots more footage for it is amazing, yes. But come on guys! We want to HEAR ABOUT IT TOO!

Dane – Sony, Sony, Sony. I have never liked you. This year though only reinforces that feeling. You were so boring and didn’t show us anything of value, you have your exclusives and decent IPs but what good is that if you have a conference like that. TLOU 2 looks pretty good, too good in fact. The animation in the fight scene from the game play section was something I have never witnessed before and thinking back on it, it has to be a planned animation. It just looked too perfect. Death Stranding was the only highlight for me really, it teased so much but still leaves you with more questions. Hideo Kojima is a batshit genius and I am excited for it. Microsoft are nipping at Sony’s heels though and as much as I am glad that Sony fucked up this year I expected more from them.

Finally we are onto the last conference of E3 2018, which was BY FAR the worst out of all of them for me… Nintendo. I’m a massive Nintendo gamer, they introduced me to gaming with Tetris and Pokemon on the Game Boy, as well as Donkey Kong, Starfox and Bomberman on the SNES. Their conference was starting at 5pm on the Tuesday, which is the same time I finish work. It takes me a max of 20 minutes due to traffic to get home from work. I managed to get out on time and even got petrol on my way home. I worried I may have missed loads and regretted getting petrol, but what did I miss? SWEET FUCK ALL. All I was watching when I got in from work was Super Smash Bros. They must have spoken about this game for at least an hour and it wasn’t even stuff that was THAT INTERESTING, most of it was just extras in the game. I know I’m not a fan of this game series, but who cares?! Let people play the game and discover the extras for themselves! It was obvious that Nintendo didn’t have much new to share, so instead soaked up an hour of their 2 hour conference with bloody Smash Bros. NOW I know all of us Nintendo boys and gals are disappointed that we didn’t get an Animal Crossing game announced for the Switch, but come on… Are you really surprised?! I knew we wouldn’t get an Animal Crossing game announcement. How? Well look at the phone game. If you ask me, Nintendo have run out of ideas for the game series, which is sad to admit but it’s true. I have the camper game but it bores the crap out of me and I only really play it when I’m incredibly bored. Of course I want a Switch game, but I’m not betting on it anytime soon. Whilst I was annoyed and disappointed by Nintendo, I was also happy to see some talk about Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee, which I am SO EXCITED FOR! I’ll definitely be getting the latter, as well as the special Poke Ball controller for the Switch. It’s not the RPG that Game Freak has been telling us about, but this will sure as hell tide me over until that game comes out. I’m just so excited for this and to hear more about that made up for the bullshit of Super Smash Bros that we had to endure beforehand. The game will work alongside Pokemon Go, which I have recently started playing again. I like the thought of being able to use your phone to play the game on the go and then continue when you get home by connecting it all up with the Switch. I also love the idea of playing this game with a friend, AKA Dane. I am a huge Pokemon fan and have been for as long as I can remember. I own and buy most Pokemon related games that come out and this one won’t be an exception, which I’ll also be pre ordering as soon as I can.

Dane – Nintendo this year was basically Super Smash Bros changelog V1.02. It was incredibly boring listening to the most minute detail they were adding to the next game. I don’t give a shit about that, just say we have added these characters and read this to find out more then move onto the next thing. The mini Pokemon games were the only thing of interest which had a small trailer and that was it, Nintendo were always the ones thinking out of the box and doing things for fun. This time it was just a waste of time.

So now we’ve spoken (and probably bored you all!) about the conferences, it’s time for me to briefly talk about some of my favourites that were announced outside of the conferences!

Spyro Reignited Trilogy – Out on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 21st September 2018.

One of my fondest memories of the six weeks holidays one year was playing this game day after day with my cousins and taking it in turns to beat the levels and bosses of Spyro 2! I then went on to play Spyro 3 on my own and nearly completing it 100% before my game file got corrupted and broke! I’ve since then played it fully again and completed it fully twice, once on my PS3 and once on my PS4! You get that I love Spyro, right?! 😛 I just cannot wait for this to come out in September to be perfectly honest with you and I was so excited when I discovered game play of the game. It’s lovely to see a refreshing look at Spyro, as well as hearing Tom Kenny voicing Spyro. He voiced him in both Spyro 2 and 3 and you’ll know him as being the voice behind Spongebob and Ice King.

Tunic – Out on Xbox One and Windows release Date TBC.

I know I mentioned this game when talking about Microsoft but I just had to show it here! I remember them talking about it last year at E3 and I fell in love, so I’m so happy they showed him again! It shows they haven’t forgotten about this little cutie and I don’t think many of us gamers have either. I cannot wait to hear more about this game and I’m keeping fingers crossed it’ll be out before the end of 2018.

Dead or Alive 6 – Out on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 early 2019.

Now if there is a game series like Pokemon that I have been behind and loved since day one, it’s the Dead or Alive games! I love them so much and I laugh so much at the bouncing boobies, like we all do! I just enjoy them and they’re some of the first fighting games I really could get into and play. I also love the stories of some of the characters, especially Ayana, Tina Armstrong, Helena Douglas and definitely Kasumi. The game play itself is the best to date and we are definitely in much need of a new DoA game after 7 years! I cannot wait for it.

Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight – Out on PlayStation 4 and PS Vita early 2019.

 If there was one game I was hoping to see at E3 2018 it was this one! As regular readers of my blog will know, I love Persona 5 so much, so when I heard they were bringing this out I was super excited! I already have the dance game for Persona 4 and I really enjoy playing it, so God help me when this comes out! I am tied between getting it for my PS4 and my PS Vita but I think it’ll have to be my console to be honest with you, just so I can get it to go with the main game. This is a game I will be pre ordering closer to the time!

Pokeball Plus – Out for Nintendo Switch on 16th November 2018.

I didn’t really touch upon this above but I will briefly here. The Pokeball Plus wasn’t really something I was sure if I wanted, until E3! Not only will this Pokeball be limited edition (according to workers in GAME anyway…) but it will also contain Mew, the hardest Pokemon to gain in the original Pokemon series! A lot of people have stated online how their favourite part of E3 2018 was how Mew talks to Reggie during this talk. 😛

Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu and Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee – Out on Nintendo Switch 16th November 2018.

Last but certainly not least we have what is probably one of my favourites from E3 2018 and I’m not going to talk much about it because I’ve pretty much done all of that earlier when talking about Nintendo. I just thought it would be rude not to share the YouTube video on here. 😛

So that is our his and hers post about E3 2018 and our highlights, as well as us bitching and moaning. 😛

In all honesty I don’t know if I speak for both me and Dane when I say this but this is by far the worst E3 I have watched to date and I don’t know why. It just lacked so much overall and it was disappointing because of it. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way too and it is such a shame. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVED watching E3 2018 but at the same time I felt like I wasted my time at points whilst watching it. E3 2017 just had so much more going for it. There was also some technical fuck ups that me and Dane noticed at times too during conferences, which isn’t the end of the world but it’s not exactly great, is it?!

Overall though I am so happy to see some games I’ve been hyped about the past year or two and especially happy to see them all get release dates and times!

What games did you love seeing at E3 this year? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

I hope you’re all well and had an amazing weekend, but until next time take care!

May Favourites ’18

It is already June and we are officially halfway through the year! It’s also one of the most exciting months for me and Dane are celebrate when we bought the house, as well as our anniversary. It’s a big one this year for us, as we’ve been together 5 years and in the house for 2 years. I’m excited for our week off together too, which starts today!

Throughout some of May I was rather quiet on my blog and sadly this was due to my mental health playing up. Blogging wasn’t on my agenda, hell not even reading manga or playing games was either in all honesty. All I did for one week was sleep, I was exhausted. Thankfully I’ve come out of that funk and I’m back to doing what I love! Playing games, reading manga, watching lots of Netflix and of course BLOGGING!

I cannot wait to bring you guys more exciting posts throughout June, as well as the rest of the year! I hope you’re all as excited as I am. For now however, it’s time to talk about my favourites from May.

Image taken from Soap & Glory

 

• Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Mini Hand Food.

You know when you forget about a product you love? Yeah that was me with this hand cream in May. I’m a real sucker for hand creams, especially ones that smell amazing and take care of my skin at the same time. As someone who is prone to eczema on their hands, I have to use hand cream all the time to avoid being in pain later. I remember buying the sugar crush hand cream years ago and falling in love with it. I used it all the time but for some reason, I stopped and I’m not quite sure why. I have a feeling I was savouring this in case Soap & Glory discontinued it. I had a look recently on Boots website and thankfully this is still available to buy! It’s just really helped my hands both at work and at home. I love the sugar crush scent as well by Soap & Glory so to have a hand cream that shares that scent just makes me so happy. I love using it throughout the warmer months, but I also love using it at Christmas as it reminds me of sugar crush gift sets I’ve received. Sadly due to using this hand cream up I don’t have it to photograph, so sadly all you’re getting is a stock photo. 😛

• Lush Santa’s Christmas Shower Cream.

This shower cream is amazing and I wouldn’t have dug it out of my collection so early, but as I picked up two bottles of it I thought I’d have one to use throughout the summer and then one for winter. It smells absolutely amazing, just like cherry cola but with a hint of vanilla too. Due to it being a shower cream it leaves my skin feeling lovely and soft, leaving behind a gorgeous scent! It also lingers in the bathroom for quite some time as well, which is always lovely. Sadly I’ve had a few issues with this shower cream the past month but I still love it so much! Sadly from using this as both a shower cream and bubble bath/bath cream I’ve noticed that the red colour of it stains my bath… Urgh! I made a complaint to Lush about it not thinking anything would come from it but thankfully it did! I’ll write about it properly soon but basically they offered to either refund me and I could send the shower cream back, or they could send me some goodies as an apology, I went for the latter. I’m planning to review this shower cream sometime this month. I know it’s a limited edition Christmas product, but it won’t hurt, will it?

• L’Oreal Paris Smooth Sugar Clear Kiwi Face and Lip Scrub.

I picked this sugar scrub up quiet a while ago… I’m thinking back in April time and I’ve used it loads since then and I absolutely love it to be honest. You’re meant to use it 3 times a week, but I only use it once as I feel that’s more than enough alongside other beauty products I use. This is just such a great face scrub to use for a gentle, yet effective scrub all over the face as well as on my lips. As well as noticing how soft it left my skin after, it’s also helped clean out my pores and left me with lovely clear and clean skin! I cannot wait to review this sugar scrub on my blog this month! 😀

• Carex Fun Bubblegum Hand Gel.

I picked up this hand gel recently as I wanted a new one to keep on my bedside table. I also picked one up for work but that was in the strawberry scent, which isn’t as nice as the bubblegum scent. This is really light in scent and feels lightweight after applying it to your hands. This is never going to be as good as the Bath & Body Works hand gels but this is pretty damn good nonetheless and they only cost a 99p too. I’ll definitely repurchase this in the future as it’s such an amazing scented hand gel for the price!

• Victoria’s Secret PINK Happy Holiyay Body Mist.

This is an old body spray, probably from 2 Christmases ago to be honest with you I’ve only just got around to using it after using up OTHER products! I use this pretty much every day before I get dressed. I spray it all over my skin and the scent lasts all day! I just love using this, especially whilst the weather has been warmer and I need something light to wear instead of perfume. I’ll be sad once I’ve used all my VS PINK body mists up, but it just means I can grab something else in the future!

So now my beauty favourites are done, time to talk about the miscellaneous favourites of the month!

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite TV Show – 13 Reasons Why Season 2 and Evil Genius.

Now I know a lot of people hated on 13 Reasons Why when it came out last year, so those same people if not more will hate on it this year. I LOVE this show so damn much and when I watched season 1 I was going through some shitty and dark places in my life. In theory this show probably didn’t make me feel better, but it made me feel less alone. So when season 2 came out last month I was anxious it would be rubbish. It wasn’t the best in the world, no but it was like seeing old friends again. I really did enjoy season 2 and I cannot believe how it ends! I’m not saying much as I don’t want to reveal spoilers. Let’s put it this way though, if you thought some of the scenes in season 1 were graphic, wait until you see season 2. I felt uncomfortable and that takes a lot for me to feel that way. Be cautious when watching it, especially if scenes from season 1 upset you.

As well as binge watching 13 Reasons Why, me and Dane binge watched Evil Genius in ONE EVENING! One of the girls I worked with was telling me about the documentary and had asked if I’d watched it. It was thanks to her talking to me about it that encouraged me to check it out myself. I LOVE crime documentaries and I’m a complete sucker for them (especially if they’re in the UK!) and from what I had found out about the crime committed in Evil Genius and what it was about, I knew I needed to watch. It’s basically about a crime that occurred back in America in 2003 where I man robbed a bank with a bomb around his neck. From here you find out who that man was, what happened to him, how the bomb came to be around his neck as well as many more. This is all explained in 4 episodes, all an hour each. If you liked Making A Murderer then you will LOVE Evil Genius. I’ve popped the trailer above so you can check it out if you fancy it!

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Film – Deadpool 2.

Come on, which film did you think I was going to talk about this month?! Of course it HAS TO BE DEADPOOL! Oh man I have so much I could say about this film. First of all, it was so much better than I thought it was going to be. I love Deadpool and I love Ryan Reynolds, so when the two merged together a couple of years back and brought us that sickening leaked trailer, I was so happy. Ryan Reynolds was destined to play Deadpool. SO when the second film was announced I was so excited, yet anxious all at the same time. I love Deadpool but I worried a second film may ruin it. Thankfully, good ol’ silver fox Ryan Reynolds did an amazing job yet again and brought to the screens the anti hero everyone loves. The cast was perfect, the acting was great and most of the the comedy had me fucking crying in the cinema. I want to go and watch Deadpool 2 again, but I doubt I will. I just cannot wait for it to come out now so I can watch it at home over and over again!

Image taken from Wordery

Favourite Book – Snotgirl.

I’m ashamed to say that I bought this comic back at the start of 2017 when it first came out and I have only just gotten around to finishing it. I’ve now ordered the second volume already because I am loving this comic book series already! It’s by Bryan O’Malley, the same guy who brought us Scott Pilgrim (which I need to read in the future!) and I discovered it through the YouTuber NinkComPoop when she was talking about it in one of her videos agggggges ago! I immediately ordered it from Amazon to read and fell in love. I forgot all about the fact I hadn’t actually finished it due to me and Dane moving our comic books around the house. I dug it out over the last bank holiday Monday and finally finished it! It’s about Lottie, a blogger who is out there, doing well and looks good! BUT behind closed doors she suffers with terrible allergies and is snotty due to them. There’s way more to the story than that, but I won’t say anything that gives away the story. I definitely urge you to read it if you’re a blogger and love comic books and manga. The only downside to Snotgirl is well… Lottie herself. She’s a bit of a twat and annoying but meh that’s her character I think. She’s just so pretentious and snobby, very up her own arse blogger, which I hate. That aside, it’s definitely worth reading!

Favourite Song/Album/Artist – Flyleaf and Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry.

Two totally different artists, but that just goes to show the type of music I’m into and how diverse I can be! 😛 First of all let’s address the Ariana Grande song being here this month and why. Due to the radio being on at work (Heart FM) we listen to a lot of pop music, if I had it my way I would have my rock music on, Bam Radio or even podcasts. Some of the music that comes on catches my fancy and recently No Tears Left To Cry has done just that. At first I hated the lyrics and loved the tune, now I love both! I find myself getting excited when this song plays on the radio as it’s just so damn catchy, upbeat but also relaxing at the same time! I’ve never heard one of Ariana Grande’s songs before until now. Sadly the rest of her music really isn’t for me, but she did good with this one!

NOW onto Flyleaf, one of my favourite bands and a band I’ve been listening to for quite a bit of May! I love how I can go without listening to Flyleaf for months but when I come back to them it’s like seeing an old friend. I love listening to them on my way to work as I just enjoy singing along to the words and thinking about what they are and mean. That sounds soppy as anything, but it’s true! Surely others do this and it isn’t just me?!

Favourite Game – Detroit: Become Human.

If there is a game I have been excited for these past 4-6 years, it’s Detroit: Become Human. I knew I needed to get hold of this game as soon as it came out, if not beforehand via pre order. Sadly I didn’t get to pre order it in time so I didn’t get it on the release date, instead I picked it up the next day and oh man am I glad I waited to pick it up! Due to some Nectar points as well as a Sainsbury’s coupon, I saved £10 on this game, so instead of £47, I paid £37 instead!  In all honesty though, at full price this game would have been well worth the money! I’m such a saddo and over the bank holiday Monday, I completed the game in the 3 days! Oh man it is just so good and I cannot wait to replay it already! If you own a PlayStation 4 and have played either Heavy Rain or Beyond Two Souls then you will love Detroit: Become Human, which is by the same people as those two games.

So those were my favourites for May! I’m sure my favourites from June will be just as good. I still cannot believe we’re in June already. 2018 is going by so bloody quickly and whilst it’s great, it’s also so scary that my life is flashing by me.

What were your favourites from May? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time, take care all and have an amazing weekend.

Fan fiction: real or not real?

Hi everyone! I’m Kanra, taking over for Nat today since she’s on a vacation (and can’t answer the phone right now). I’m one of those odd bloggers who don’t really have a particular niche I stick to. Some days I’m posting about school (I’m a medical student), some days I’m posting about art (I really like painting) and some days I’m posting about random things that take up my interest. Today’s random topic of the day is fan fiction.

I’m not an avid reader of fan fiction and certainly not a writer either. In fact, I don’t think I would have been overly concerned about this topic at all if it hadn’t cropped up in a chat room I frequent. It was a writing group, where people who were either in the process of writing or editing would congregate to share their work and request for constructive criticism. It was a pretty nice group, until someone posted a fan fiction and asked if it could be reviewed.

Admittedly, it was a poorly written piece of work. I guessed the writer was maybe around 14-15 years old, merely writing out a rough draft of a fantasy or day dream they had. The writing was disjointed, meaningless details about the main character, unrealistic bullying and resultant save by ignoring the situation and focusing on the power of friendship or something along those lines. If someone asked me to constructively criticize that piece of work, I would have probably declined because there’s just so much wrong with it that needs to be fixed.

The moderator then decided to throw out the question: should fan fiction be banned from the group entirely?

I recently took an MBTI test which classed me as an INTJ, given the title of “The Architect” or “The Mastermind”. There are other characteristics of this personality type which include things like “avoiding eye contact while talking”. To be honest, I didn’t even realize I had some the characteristics I have until I read up on it, like arguing as soon as a person of power suggests something. So of course when the discussions started shifting towards a “yes, ban fan fiction”, I couldn’t help but argue against it. It’s like my inner rebel teenager came out.

The history of fan fiction is something long and messy, something we will not discuss at the moment (it involves lawsuits and copy rights). The only thing you need to know is that fan fiction is a gray domain. What fan fiction basically does is create a new story from an already published piece of work. There is almost nothing that you, as a fan fiction writer, can claim for yourself. Everything you build on, from the setting to the characters, is not yours. You can’t monetize your writing. I guess that’s why it explains why most fan fictions are poorly written wish fulfillment pieces.

Yes, I’m not going to lie. More often than not, fan fiction has disappointed me. The majority of these pieces of writing are poorly written, self insert fantasies. The occasional rare gem does show up and I couldn’t let a brash decision of “ban fan fiction” stamp these out. Not to mention the fact that most writers started out using fan fiction as a way to improve their writing before creating original content.

It’s okay to write bad fan fiction! You have to start somewhere and practicing it out with preexisting characters, universes and laws is better for hammering out the fluency of your words and polishing the entire process of writing before putting in effort to bring to life an original creation.

It’s really sad that there are amateur writers out there, who write as a hobby, dismiss fan fiction as legitimate literature. In my opinion, fan fiction involves just as much effort and skill as original content. It doesn’t matter what your idea is or how novel your plot is, if you don’t have the ability to convey ideas properly through good pacing, than what’s the point? It’s much more important for writers to focus on presentation and delivery rather than whether it’s original or not. To be very honest, the kind of attitude I see about fan fiction really makes me wonder why people focus on the wrong things. It’s just a harmless exercise that helps young writers develope their skills. If it’s not good fan fiction, then just leave it?

Personally, I like the idea of fan fiction. I watched Dexter a few months ago and in one of the seasons, Dexter is set up to almost turn himself in to the police, but of course, it doesn’t happen. When I finished that season, I wanted to know so bad what would have happened if Dexter had turned himself in. What would the other characters think? How would they react? I needed to know and I really wanted a fan fiction to answer these questions for me. Imagine how many other “could’ve been” scenarios there are out there that can be elaborated and explored through fan fiction! Isn’t that exciting? Of course, finding such literature is truly a challenge.

I normally don’t read fan fiction regularly, but there are some popular fan fictions that I’ve checked out and was blown away by and if you have zero exposure to fan fiction, then you should check it out! My absolute top favorite fan fiction ever is “Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality”. This is a full fledged Harry Potter book and it’s amazing, it condenses the plot of all seven books and years just into this fan fiction Harry’s first year at Hogwarts. It’s amazing and I can’t stress enough about how great this is. The writing style is great, the concept is great, it’s just amazing and deserves more attention!

The other fan fiction is something I came across while seeing art on Pinterest. This might sound really childish but it’s a PowerPuff Girls fan fiction called “More than Human”. Revolving around a high school (instead of preschool) where the PPGs go, it turns out the RowdyRuff Boys are there too. I actually haven’t read all of it (to be honest I kept getting the boys’ names mixed up) but it was really nice nevertheless (very slice of life, high school drama sort of thing) and there’s a lot of artwork out these from fans who loved the fan fiction, so hey! Check it out, might be your cup of tea!

What do you think about people who write fan fictions? Have you ever dabbled in this art? What’s your favourite fan fiction? Have a nice day!

I just want to say a MASSIVE thank you to Kanra for writing this post! As regular readers on my blog will know, I always love talking geeky on my blog whenever the chance arises! Although I’m not a fan fiction reader, Kanra’s post really opened up my eyes to it from both a reader and a writers point of view!

I hope you enjoyed reading her post just as much as I did! Until next time take care all and I hope you’re doing well!

MCM Comic Con – Birmingham

On Saturday me and Dane went to the Birmingham Comic Con and it was one of my favourite ones to date! Maybe not over Hyper Japan for obvious reasons… 😛

It was pretty much a last minute decision to go after umming and ahhing for a couple of weeks and due to this we weren’t able to grab priority tickets like we did back at the 2014 Comic Con. This being said it turned out well as we booked our parking in advance so we didn’t have to pay after etc etc. We got there an hour early and had to wait what felt like 10 minutes to be let into the convention. Then we had 6 hours of browsing around the stalls, doing some shopping, admiring all the amazing cosplayers and have a good time.

Before I go onto what amazing cosplayers I met and had pictures with throughout the day I want to show off what I wore as I loved it so damn much and got loads of compliments on it!

A few weeks prior to Comic Con I did my weekly eBay search of Black Milk Clothing bargains and came across this Adventure Time dress. These came out YEARS ago and are now museum pieces, meaning they aren’t coming back unless Black Milk decide to release a limited amount. I wanted this dress back when it first came out but due to money and such I didn’t get it. What probably would have cost near to $100 AUS dollars I go for £35. What a bargain! Of course the pattern as you can see is Lumpy Space Princess who I adore!

It’s a skater dress so it flares out a little which I find to be the best style for my figure. The material is lovely and think meaning if it needs to stretch a little the pattern on it won’t get ruined. I teamed it up with a long white t-shirt as I knew it would be too cold outside to wear it without anything underneath. All about the layering in the winter time! I also teamed it with black tights (which I wish had been thicker!), my triumph Dr Martens boots, my new red coat from M&S and a navy choker.

So when we were ready to go we set off to Comic Con!

This was one of my favourite comic cons I’ve attended to date for one reason, all the amazing pictures I managed to get with cosplayers! I’ll be talking about who I saw in the order I saw them!

The first cosplay we spotted was this amazing Totoro from Studio Ghibli My Neighbour Totoro, which is one of mine and Dane’s favourite movies. I never usually have pictures with anyone at conventions as I often feel too shy or they walk off and I never get chance to have a picture at all. However I shoved my way in the best I could and got my picture.

The next cosplayer we saw was another Studio Ghibli related one, which is from my favourite movie, Spirited Away. This person was dressed as No Face and was definitely one of the best cosplayers I saw all day! I’ve never really seen anyone dress as No Face before so I was so excited to see him. Again like Totoro I waited for my turn to have a picture and got it. By this point I was like a little kid, I was so happy!

This next cosplayer felt kind of official due to where you had to stand to have a picture and although there wasn’t an official queue, it did feel like you were queuing to have your picture with him. Of course it’s Deadpool and oh my God he was a legend! Of course it would have been better if it was Ryan Reynolds, but hey it was a guy dressed as Deadpool, a proper costume too not a shitty morphe suit! No offense to anyone who wears/wore a Deadpool morphe suit… 😛

When I went over to him I didn’t expect him to talk, but he did! He say hello, asked if I was okay and even complimented me on my dress and said, “Purple really suits you!” WHAT A BEAUTIFUL HUMAN BEING!

Ahem… Anyway! He got me to put my hand in a backwards C shape to form a heart and thus our picture was taken. I loved how chatty he was and how into the role of Deadpool he was. It was amazing and I hope everyone got the chance to get a picture with him who loves Deadpool just as much as I do. OH and he even has his little unicorn. 😛

This cosplayer was one of the hardest to get a picture with and I’m so glad I did to be honest, even though I did feel like a pain in the arse. I was tired, as was Dane and I couldn’t be arsed to push and shove to get a picture BUT by not doing this a lot of people were being rude and barging their way through. One girl in particular was very rude and as I went over to have my picture she barged past me. I ended up calling her something very nasty (begins with a C…) and walked off. Later on however I saw the Totoro again and this time with the cosplayers family who were dressed as Satsuki and Mei and not only did a somewhat get a picture of them all together, but I finally got my picture with Totoro.

After taking some photographs of me by the big MCM Comic Con sign we were just about ready to go home when we saw the last cosplayers we had pictures with and by far the best ones we had pictures with. Dane had wanted to get a picture with a Stormtrooper (or two) all day and we never got the chance to. So we saw them having pictures with some other people and went over to have ours done too. Dane had his picture taken first which he loves, but then it was my turn and it got funny very fast!

They had proper Stormtrooper armour on that also had voice changers inside so they sounded like the ones from the movies. They told me to get down on my knees as I was being arrested and proper went for it! The officer in black wasn’t there beforehand but when he saw how I was having my picture taken he got into the picture without me knowing… Until I saw the picture anyway! I loved the two pictures that me and Dane got with the Stormtroopers and a part of me wants to pop them in a frame at some point so we can remember what an amazing day we had.

Haul wise we bought each other a couple of Christmas presents, as well as some pictures for the house, but in Dane and Natalee tradition we always get at least one picture drawn of us, which is this one. We both love it so much and it’ll go in a frame and put in the house somewhere.

After a long day we came home cooked some dinner and relaxed. We had a lovely time at Comic Con and it was definitely better than the first one we attended together in 2014. My only negative about it this year was how many fake Nendoroid’s were flying around. One stall in particular annoyed me as it just sold nothing but fake items. You could tell they were fake too… I wanted to say something to some guys buying them but I couldn’t, I didn’t want to worry I would be kicked out for being rude or offensive.

Other than that it was amazing and I can’t wait to either attend Comic Con again or even Hyper Japan next year!

Did you go to an MCM Comic Con event this year? If so let me know which one and which cosplayers you saw and loved! You may have even attended Birmingham like I did! If so what did you do there? Make sure to leave all your comments down below!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you had a lovely weekend.