October Favourites ’22

Happy Halloween guys! It’s tomorrow, one of my favourite times of year, and unfortunately, I’m not here for it. I bought decorations and never put them up, and I had a pumpkin to carve (thanks to my dad and his pumpkin patch!) but due to have a cold/flu this week, I haven’t even felt up to doing it. I’m gutted. Halloween this year has been a major flop for me for many reasons, which is a shame.

It’s not all doom and gloom in the run up to November though, as me and Dane are now on holiday from work for a week! We’ve been in need of some long time off of work so we’re both looking forward to it.

October really flew by and I can’t believe it’s November in just a few days. I love this time of year due to Halloween and Bonfire Night, but the weather is vile, which is such a shame. I hope during our week off the weather holds off a little, I don’t want to just have a wet week off work. 😦

I’m not going to waffle on anymore, let’s get on with the favourites!

Beauty – Neutrogena Hydro Boost Body Gel Cream.

This is a body cream I’ve been using for quite a while now, couple of months now maybe? Unfortunately I recently discovered that I’m allergic to The Body Shop’s strawberry body yogurt on my legs, so I’ve had to discontinue using that there, and instead I’ve been using the Neutrogena gel cream. I don’t just use this on my legs, sometimes I will use all over as it’s such a quick and easy body gel cream to use! It absorbs quickly, feels light and cooling and smells lovely and fresh too! This is one where a little bit goes a long way too, and I already know I’ll be repurchasing this, especially when it costs less than £5! I also have the spray version too, which I don’t use too often… I need to use it more!

Movie – Various horror including Rec and House of 1000 Corpses.

The past week we’ve spent many evenings watching horror movies through Shudder, a movie subscription service dedicated to horror! We have a seven day free trial and so far we’ve watched quite a few films on there, but the two that stand out to me are Rec and House of 1000 Corpses, the latter being a movie my boyfriend has wanted me to watch since we got together! Rec is always a film I’d heard of due to the remake, but I never actually knew what it was about. Alas I was surprised as I watched it and I thoroughly enjoyed! If you’ve never seen it, you should watch it too, not the remake, the original!

My boyfriend did pre-warn me about House of 1000 Corpses about how “amateur” it is due to it being done by Rob Zombie, who at the time was more known as a musician than director. This was the first film he directed and you can kind of tell, but that’s what is so charming about the film itself! The film is about a group of teenagers who are kidnapped by a family during Halloween. My favourite character (one I’m sure the film is best known for) is Captain Spaulding. He’s fucking hilarious and I can’t get enough of some of the stuff he says, hence the clip above.

TV Show – Chainsaw Man.

I haven’t read the manga, but I was so hyped about the anime for Chainsaw Man releasing a couple of weeks ago! I’ve always heard amazing things about the manga series from my friend Sammie, as well as from members of the Worlds Apart Discord community. We’re on three episodes so far and it’s constantly giving you action and things to get you to the edge of your seat. We follow Denji, a teenage human boy, who is orphaned, and has to hunts devils in order to pay off his families debt. With his pet devil Pochita by his side, he can do what he needs to. However, something bad happens, which changes Denji’s life. I won’t say anymore as I don’t wish to spoil but… I’m loving this series so far and I already can’t wait for the next episode on Tuesday. 😛

Music – PVRIS – “Anywhere But Here” and “Animal”.

Recently PVRIS released two new songs in the form of a short film, where both songs were featured. I really love both of these songs, more so “Anywhere But Here” as I love the lyrics and melody style vibe and sound behind it. I do really like “Animal” as well as it feels the complete opposite to “Anywhere But Here” with harder guitar riffs and more, with the lyrics being a little more edgy too and with a rebel attitude? I remember seeing around the end of October that PVRIS had something new to reveal to fans, so I was excited it would at least be a new song, but the fact we got treated to two?! I can’t remember if I mentioned on my blog previously, but at the start of August I finally bit the bullet and booked to see PVRIS live, and I’m so bloody excited for it! Since I discovered PVRIS in 2019 I’ve been dying to go and see them live. 🙂

Game – PlateUp!

This is a game one of our friends was talking about, which intrigued me. I watched the trailer above and I just knew I had to give it a go! As it’s a game Dane already owned, we opted to play it on the split screen play together with said friend and since then I’ve been itching to play it! This was only yesterday by the way. 😛 So, PlateUp! is about running a restaurant, including cooking in the kitchen, serving the customers, as well as cleaning after them. Pretty much Overcooked, BUT it isn’t as stressful, which is always nice. One thing I especially liked about this game is the fact it’s couch co-op, so you don’t need two copies for you and a someone else to play! It’s up to four players, so maybe even four of you could play at the same time!

Just a few of my favourite things…

A new cross stitch project!

At the start of October I started a new cross stitch project and it’s one I was so anxious about at first, so much so I left it untouched for about a week? Since then I’ve been picking it up every other night and a couple of weeks later it’s looking as it does above. If you can’t tell, this is a Studio Ghibli inspired piece from Spirited Away. It’s Chihiro’s little yellow shoes, surrounded by soot sprites. As we don’t like shoes on in the house, I decided to cross stitch this design for our home to hang up! I’m planning to have it completed before the new Pokemon games come out mid November. The design/pattern is by the same person who I bought my Eevee design/pattern off, which I’ll link here.

New smock dresses.

If there’s one style of dress I’m mad about right now, it’s smock dresses. I can’t get enough of them, honestly! I received a couple recently, one being a pre-order, the other being a bargain find on eBay! I’ll talk about them in the order shown about.

The ghost smock dress is by Lazy Girl Club, which I mentioned recently on my October wish list here. I pre-ordered this dress over a month ago and a few weeks ago, it arrived! I love ghosts, so I knew I couldn’t resist this dress for Halloween, as well as all year around! The only issue I have with it though is it’s far too big for me, which people have commented on. If I don’t wear a harness or belt around the middle, I look like I’m trying to hide a pregnancy, which personally isn’t a look I want. Due to this I’m looking for a harness I can wear with this a lot of the time. I do have a Black Milk Clothing corset style harness that I’m wearing in the above photo, which works so well with it! I’ll probably try and wear this at work one day and see how I get on! If you’d like to get one of your own ghost smock dresses by Lazy Girl Club, or any other of her pieces for that matter, get over to her store ASAP as she’s just reopened it for orders!

The eBay bargain I found is this Lazy Oaf sally dress! I’ve seen this dress pop up on eBay and Vinted on and off, but when someone popped one on eBay for under £40, I couldn’t resist! It was brand new with tags and a complete bargain. I couldn’t wait for it to arrive so I could wear it to work and more. I’ve worn it a few times and it’s definitely too big for me, but it’s fine with a belt around the middle! It’s very cosy and perfect for colder days with a cardigan layered over the top of it. When I wore it to work I got a lot of compliments, which was really nice!

Lumichee goodies.

Finally, my long awaited Lumichee goodies arrived that I ordered! I can’t remember if I mentioned on my blog, but I placed this order through a courier service as the costs I would have paid through Etsy were a joke! I have no regrets and since the hoodie arrived, I’ve pretty much lived in it. 😛 I went for the mousemoth hoodie, as well as a sakura inspired mousemoth plush. I’m already chomping at the bit to place a second order, but I must be good due to Christmas looming! I don’t want to talk too much about these as I plan to write a blog post about these at some point in November. 🙂

So, there we have it, my favourites for October! Did you find October flew by really quickly?

What were your favourites from October? Anything I’ve mentioned that you’re planning to check out? Also, what plans do you have for Halloween tomorrow and Bonfire Night next week? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all and have an amazing (and safe) Halloween and Bonfire Night next week!

June Favourites ’22

I can’t believe we are already on day three of July! June really did fly by due to how much fun me and Dane were clearly having with our week off, Manchester, seeing friends and other stuff. But, at the same time it sort of dragged towards the end of June. I remember mid June having a phone call with my dad and saying, “It’s July next week!” and it was due to me thinking about payday… Oh dear! July wasn’t due for another two weeks at that point.

Speaking of payday, I was SKINT after Manchester in June and I’m already “skint” this month too. I made some big purchases I probably shouldn’t have, as well as recouping all the monies I’ve put on bills and such as well. Due to that, after my payday treats this month, I’m going to be really good with money from now on, especially as me and Dane are hoping to make a big purchase for our home in the near future…

That aside I’m not sure how I’m feeling about July yet. At the time of writing this post I’m miserable as fuck in general. A lot of crap news has come up in the news, as well as personal so right now I’m just going with it. I don’t really have a lot planned for July, aside from meeting up with friends I’ve not seen for years due to Covid, as well as lots of D&D game nights! I’m hopeful my mood will lift as the month goes on however, I don’t want a sad one. :’)

Anyhoo, enough of my woes, on with the favourites!

Beauty – The Body Shop Banana Body Yogurt.

Back in 2018 The Body Shop brought out their banana range and I fell in love with it! They brought out a shower gel, body butter and body yogurt and I bought all three of them of course. I managed to get through a lot of them, but I still have some of the products left brand new, including the body butter and body yogurt. As regular readers will know, I started to use body lotion as my skin was honestly screaming out for it and I feel so much better for it since. It’s come to the time where I need to start using the body yogurt as my stash is growing quite low. I’m sad to because I know I won’t be able to pick it up again anytime soon, but at the same time, it means I can get some new goodies in. Hey, maybe I’ll find another banana body lotion soon? The Body Shop body yogurts are amazing, especially during the warmer months as they’re thin, cooling and still very moisturising. Plus, a little bit of this stuff goes a long way! As strawberry is my favourite scent from The Body Shop, I’m planning to pick up the strawberry one in the near future!

Movie – Everything Everywhere All at Once.

First things first, this film is amazing and it isn’t what I was expecting at all. The trailer didn’t really do the film justice for me, but at the same time that wasn’t a bad thing either. I knew this was a film Dane wanted to watch and I was happy to give it a go, because why not. The film is about Evelyn, owner of a laundromat with her husband. Her father lives with them and their daughter appears to have moved out. Evelyn has a lot going on, along with accepting her daughters sexuality and girlfriend, her father needing her care, as well as her business being in trouble money wise. Everything Everywhere All at Once is broken up into chapters, like a play, and whilst the film is a little bat shit crazy, it’s done really, really well! I highly recommend checking this out, no matter what genre of movies you prefer, it’s amazing and I get the hype of it being titled film of the year.

Image taken from Giphy

TV Show – The Boys Season Three.

As regular readers of my blog will know, I love The Boys. It’s a hilarious show with a unique concept, with the show being created off of a comic book series. We’re not on series three of The Boys and it’s getting darker and more intense with each episode. I don’t want to say too much as I may end up spoiling it for some but lets just say there some hilarious adult humour, some fucked up deaths and stuff I didn’t expect Butcher to do. It’s also now been given the green light for a fourth season, which in turn makes me really happy! The original comic book series is by Garth Ennis who also wrote the comic book series Preacher, another TV Show both me and Dane loved. Both are on Amazon Prime Video, so make sure to go and check them out if you haven’t already!

Music – PVRIS – Use Me.

This is an album I’ve found myself listening to a lot towards the end of June and I honestly can’t stop. I’ve been listening to it when working from home, driving to work, and even in the office when I need to get my earphones in and head down to concentrate. I love all of the songs PVRIS work on and release and whilst Use Me isn’t my favourite album (All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell is my favourite) but it’s a close second to be honest with you. I keep meaning to book tickets to see PVRIS in January 2023, but I feel like each payday, the right time isn’t appearing. 😦

Game – Sniper Elite 5.

This is a game me and Dane randomly started playing together after he started to play it on his own. It’s on Xbox Games Pass, so was “free” for us both to pick up and play together. Sniper Elite 5 is set during World War II and your goal is to try and defeat the Nazi’s taking over parts of Europe. It was such a fun game to play with Dane and the more levels we got through, the better we got! We’ve completed the game now, but we’re planning on buying the DLC very soon so we can play some more of the game together. It didn’t take us long to complete the game, I’d like to say a week but that being said, it was a lot of fun! I’ve been asking Dane if he can find something similar for us to play next.

Just a few of my favourite things…

Image from greetings.nerds

For my other favourites this month, I wanted to talk about some small businesses I feel deserve to get some new shoppers, or at least some new followers on their social media pages. I read the above post on Instagram by greetings.nerds earlier this week and wanted to take a moment to share some people who I feel deserve to be mentioned. With the changes to the world from Covid and now the current conflict happening in Eastern Europe, the changes are affecting some people drastically, where others just slightly. Small businesses all over are being affected sales wise, and with social media platforms making it harder than ever to reach new customers, they could do with as much support and help as possible. Which is what I have strived to do since 2019 on my blog, and Instagram page. Even if you can’t afford to make a purchase from any of the mentioned small businesses today, please drop them a follow on their social media accounts. They’re all down to Earth, amazing and friendly people. They’re also my friends and I wouldn’t be friends with them if they weren’t any of the points mentioned. 🙂

Happy Place Cosmetics

Store, Instagram, TikTok.

Cruelty free and SLS free handmade cosmetics, based in Scotland. I’ve been a massive fan of Happy Place Cosmetics since before 2020, but it was only during Covid and lockdowns that I finally bit the bullet and placed my first order! Since then I won’t got anywhere else for my body scrubs AND I’ve become such good friends with the owner too. HPC don’t constantly have stock in, but instead release themed beauty and wax melts boxes for us to buy, with themes including 90’s, horror, pop culture and more! Alongside that HPC will of course release certain stock every now and then. I like the way they release their goods, because it means I can really treat myself to goods! I recently had some new wax melts arrived, with some smelling of Lush Tramp shower gel, an old favourite of mine and the owners! I burnt one yesterday and it smells AMAZING and to boot the scent lasted ages in our office, even after my tea light had gone out. She also included some Calpol scented wax tarts too, which I’m so excited to burn.

Claire Likes To Doodle

Website, Shop, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook.

Claire is one of my oldest friends and for years I encouraged her to turn her art from a hobbie to a job, which she did a couple of years ago! I’m so proud of where she has come, her work is unique and beautiful and every time she posts something new on Instagram, it really does make me smile. Recently alongside selling art, she’s started to play with clay to create pieces of her original character Bernard. In the near future I am hoping to commission her for a piece myself… 😛 Please make sure to go and check her out and maybe even give her some support over on Ko-fi and maybe buy some goodies from her too!

Quirkory

Shop, Pin Club, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

Quirkory are by far my favourite enamel pin creators. Their work always makes me happy to see and really does brighten my day. I discovered them in 2019 and since then I’ve been supporting their work, as well as befriending them over the years. Currently I’m loving what Quirkory are doing with their Patreon/pin club and Discord communities, their new designs and ideas for the future are kawaii AF and I cannot wait to see more in the future! Plus don’t forget I have a discount code for Quirkory where you can save 10% on purchases with code TMBQUIRKORY.

Worlds Apart, Birmingham

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

Worlds Apart is the oldest comic book shop in England and for that fact alone I’m proud to call them my local and favourite comic book shop! I can’t speak for Worlds Apart or other comic book shops but with places like Amazon selling comics and manga online, as well as bigger businesses such as Waterstones too, smaller comic book shops can struggle at times to get custom, especially during Covid! One thing that Worlds Apart did during Covid was open up orders through their Discord, as well as through Instagram, which I used often during lockdowns to get hold of merchandise and manga. I’m a part of the Worlds Apart Discord, which is full of amazing people! I highly recommend if you’re from Birmingham to support Worlds Apart if you can, even if it’s just promoting them online.

So, there we have it guys, my favourites from June! June did really fly by and I’m just wary the rest of the year is going to follow suit, which I don’t want. I mean, I’d love for cooler months to come by so I can start layering my clothes and feeling cosy!

What did you guys love throughout June, and what are you looking forward to in July? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you have a lovely weekend and great start to July.

January Favourites ’22

Can you believe it’s almost the end of January already?! 2022 is already flying by and I don’t like it. 😛 I know I always say this every month, but I know I’m not the only one!

January for me was crap to say the least as both me and Dane were really sick for the first week of it with chest infections (thankfully not Covid!) and without going into too much detail, my mental health has been really bad. I’m hoping it’ll improve moving forward…

I think another thing that sucked was due to us being sick on my birthday, I didn’t exactly have the best day. Memorable, yes, but crap. 😛 I know we’ll be making up for that at some point soon, which I’m really excited about. What though, I don’t know.

That being said January wasn’t all bad! Money wise I did pretty good considering how long people wait for payday in office jobs (six whole weeks!). I came into 2022 with the attitude of, “Spend less and sell more!” after doing really well with selling old stuff I no longer want on Vinted. If you’re interested in what I’m selling please ask for my store link, I won’t post it publicly on my blog. I’m finally going to clear out a lot of my old clothes from my old room, which is WELL overdue seeing as I moved out almost six years ago. xD

I’m hoping for February to be a better month, mainly health wise but also money wise too. Me and Dane have set a lot of home improvement goals for 2022 and I hope to get started on a lot of them this month, including a LOT of spring cleaning!

I don’t know why but I’m incredibly excited for spring this year. Maybe because of nicer weather and baby animals? 😛

Are you looking forward to anything in February? Make sure to let me know.

Anyhoo, on with the monthly favourites!!!

Favourite Beauty Product – Happy Place Cosmetics Bougie Body Scrub.

If there is one product I cannot live without in my bath/shower it’s the Happy Place Cosmetics body scrubs. They are the best I have ever used and smell amazing to boot! Black Friday they brought out some amazing deals, including body scrubs being on offer, so I bought a bunch of them to keep me going for a while, including Bougie. Bougie is a dupe of Lush Yog Nog, which is one of my favourite scents, from both brands! The HPC body scrubs foam up when you add a little bit of water, so not only do you feel nice and scrubbed after use, but clean too! I especially love to give my whole body a good scrub once to twice a week, depending. Mostly however I love using my body scrub on my legs before shaving. My legs were getting really dry at one point and even with a good moisture, they just seemed dry and itchy. Since using the scrub on them before shaving that dry and itchy feeling has gone and I’m so relieved. I need to do a review of HPC in the future, as not only do they create amazing things for your bath and shower, but for your home too with the wax tarts!

Favourite Film – Ron’s Gone Wrong.

Unfortunately I don’t have any “massive” films to shout about watching. Me and Dane are too anxious to go to the cinema so we’ve not been able to watch anything new lately. However, over Christmas we did binge watch a lot of films on Disney+ and Ron’s Gone Wrong was one of them. I’d been itching to watch this film for a while as not only had I seen it spoken about online, but I’d watched the trailer with Dane and found it adorable, which is exactly what it was. Ron’s Gone Wrong is about a new robot (B-bot) that children are using to find friends they’ll have in common and more. It’s basically a phone but disguised as a toy robot for kids. Barney is the only kid in school without a B-bot and it shows how much it affects him and even when Barney does get one, there’s something wrong with it. I won’t talk too much about the plot in case of spoilers, but I highly recommend checking it out, it’s got a really good message to it for younger and even older people about how much technology can affect us forget about what’s actually around us. I had a little cry at the end too. :’)

Favourite TV Show/Anime – Attack on Titan Final Season.

I’ve really been itching to talk about this this month and before I do, do not worry! There won’t be any spoilers shared here. A massive one came up on the latest episode (23/01) and DAMN I’m so glad we watched it. I’d have hated to see spoilers the next day. Anyhoo… Attack on Titan means a lot to me for various reasons and due to that I’m really sad to see it coming to an end to be honest. It’s one of the first (if not the first) anime me and Dane really got into together. We discovered Attack on Titan back in June 2014 when we went to Bristol for our first anniversary. Dane had heard loads about it and decided to buy some of the manga volumes in Forbidden Planet, as well as find the first episode online for us to watch. Dane fell in love with it, as did I and before we knew it, he’d bought all the manga there was on offer at the time and we found the first season to watch online too. I still remember getting to the last episode of season one and saying to Dane, “Next episode!” with him replying, “That’s it, we need to wit for the next season now.” This was almost ten years ago… How crazy is that? It’s amazing and sad at the same time that we’re now on the final season! It’s kind of the end of an era for a lot of people, including me and Dane. So far though, the final season is amazing! I’m still leaving each episode screaming at the screen saying, “WHAT? What’s happening?”. xD

Favourite Music – PVRIS Shuffle and Bring Me The Horizon – Kingslayer (feat. BABYMETAL).

I don’t know why (well I do, because I love them) but lately I’ve been listening to PVRIS so much. I think it’s because when I’ve been in the office for work, or been working on my own stuff at home, I’ve found that they’re my go to choice when I just need to concentrate and get on with things. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before on my blog, but PVRIS are actually doing a tour in the UK in May which I REALLY want to go to, but I don’t know if I can justify it with Covid and such? Purely because I’m seeing My Chemical Romance a week or two after and I’d be gutted if I came out of the PVRIS gig with Covid and couldn’t then see MCR… So yeah. That sucks at the moment! I’m still not writing it out because you never know, but yeah…

I also wanted to share with you a song I discovered around Christmas/New Year that Dane showed me. It’s by Bring Me The Horizon but features BABYMETAL, it’s amazing and I fucking love it! It’s really catchy, can be danced to as well as sang along to as well as it has a mixture of screaming and singing. I’m not a massive Bring Me The Horizon fan (not so much the music…) but I do love BABYMETAL. It’s just a perfect song to me and you should give it a listen.

Image taken from Amazon

Favourite Book – The Sad Ghost Club Volume Two.

Guys I actually did some reading in January! Can you believe it? 😛 I LOVE The Sad Ghost Club and as soon as I heard that the second book was coming out, I knew I had to get it. I pre-ordered as soon as it could be and it arrived on my birthday. As I mentioned at the start of the post, both me and Dane were really sick at the start of January, which sucked. This also meant I didn’t get to do anything for my birthday, apart from cuddle up on the sofa and cuddle with Dane. This being said, I did also read The Sad Ghost Club Volume 2 and I really loved it. I won’t say too much so it doesn’t ruin it for other people, but it really did touch upon people’s anxieties even more, which I loved. I could relate to Socks and it really tore on my heart strings. If you love The Sad Ghost Club on Instagram or any other social media, then you need to pick up the books to read. They’re so wholesome and make me smile when I feel down. I can’t wait for the next instalment!

Image taken from PokeCommunity Daily

Favourite Game – Pokemon Shining Pearl.

I was actually going to mention Pokemon: Legend Arceus today BUT it only came out yesterday so seems a bit premature to mention it so quickly. I’ve found myself picking up Shining Pearl quite a bit over January. Mainly because I REALLY wanted to try and get the main bulk of the story completed before Legend Arceus came out. I did in fact do this, but now I’ve opened the national dex and need to bloody complete that! 😛 This being said, Shining Pearl has been so nice and relaxing to play, especially when I wasn’t feeling very well and had the energy to do something more than binge watch Netflix and TV shows on Channel 4. I forgot how long the gen four games are, but I’m not complaining as it’s much better when you compare to Sword and Shield. I did mention it in November when the gen four remakes came out, BUT I did in fact buy Shining Pearl and Brilliant Diamond, as I expected Dane to play with me. As he isn’t doing such a thing and I’d like to 100% complete Shining Pearl, I will eventually play Brilliant Diamond on his switch so I can swap exclusives and such. Is that sad? Yeah, but whatever. 😛

Another thing I wanted to mention here that’s game related is, I’ve decided to create a games completion thread over on my Twitter, which you can find here! My friend Connor did this in 2021 and he really inspired me to do it myself. At the moment I only really have one game on there, but I’m sure that list will grow! I really want to work my way through some of my games this year. I’m sick of buying new when I have half completed ones gathering dust.

Just a few of my favourite things…

Pingki Buddy plush.

I don’t want to talk tooooo much about this plush as in April I’ll be talking in depth about all of the penguin friends that Pingki has created. However, I couldn’t not talk about my Buddy plush today as it’s so bloody cute! If you haven’t already recognised Buddy, he’s heavily inspired by a certain jock penguin from Animal Crossing… 😛 I pre-ordered this cutie from Pingki back in September 2021 and eagerly waited almost four months for him to arrive! It’s such an adorable plush, a nice size for cuddling and especially perfect for taking lots of photos of, as you can see above. 😛 Just an FYI, Buddy is currently sold out and I’m unsure when he’ll be back up for pre-order since the April pre-orders are all booked up!

In the December pre-orders I also pre-ordered the rest of the penguin gang and I’m already counting down the months until April when they’re due to start being shipped to their new homes! We have Baby, Bestie, Slushie and Brainfreeze. I wasn’t planning on getting them all due to lack of space, but I’ve decided to keep them on the back of our sofa as they’ll look really cute and like they’re watching TV with us… Which any Animal Crossing fan wants, right?

Loungefly Sanrio kawaii wallet.

At the start of January I snagged one of my Loungefly grails and for a fucking bargain too! If you don’t know what I mean when I say a grail, it means an item that you’re after that’s hard to find and rare, expensive or both. I feel like this wallet came out between 2020 and 2021, but don’t quote me on that. I just remember it coming out and really wanting the wallet, as well as the matching backpack too (which is also on my grail list!). I found this wallet on Vinted for a steal and decided to treat myself to it straight away. A couple of days later it arrived and I adore it! It was brand new with tags and under £25. I feel like the person who sold it to me knew the value and didn’t want to be a twat about selling it for a stupidly high price? I do have one flaw with this wallet though and that’s it made me feel a little anxious about keeping my bank card and ID in the usual places, so they’re elsewhere. I thought I’d mention this as I know this wallet style is a popular one that Loungefly make, so if you’re looking to buy this style of wallet from them, please bear this in mind! In the future I’m semi hoping to snag the backpack for a bargain too! 😛

Baking – Salted caramel and salted caramel shortbread.

As me and Dane had some stuff to use up in the house, as well as friends to see I decided to not only make salted caramel, but also to make salted caramel shortbread too! Both were a success and it’s made me realise just how much I do love baking! I mean, I know I love baking but you know what I mean. 😛

I’ve made the caramel shortbread before and don’t recall it being a bit hit with everyone, but this time when I made it, Dane and our friends loved it! It made me so happy to hear everyone’s praise and it’s just made me want to bake more and more! Maybe 2022 will be the year I do lots of baking? Watch this space. I absolutely adore baking, it’s a big passion of mine but at the same time I hate it because then I have to find people to eat it all, or me and Dane scoff all the yummy goods. 😛

I’m going to pop the videos about of the recipes I used as they’re really simple, easy to follow and highly recommended!

Fluffy cardigan.

One of my birthday presents from my mom this year was a fluffy cardigan and I fucking love it. So much so I wore it everyday for a week before washing… Grim yes but true. For Christmas my mom bought me and Dane loads of winter warmers such as a fluffy hot water bottle, teddy bear bedding and a gorgeous cream fluffy throw. Her gifts have really been appreciated to say the least, especially when we were poorly. Due to all these warm goodies and the gas prices going up, I suggested to Dane that we make the most of her gifts and turn the heating off in the day, which he agreed. Since then those winter warmers have been getting some use!

My mom had seen this fluffy cardigan on QVC and decided to order us both one and she gave it to me a couple of weeks ago. It’s so soft and fluffy, baggy, has a MASSIVE hood and is just perfect to throw on when you’re feeling chilly or want something comforting. I’ve practically lived in it! Dane jokily wore it the once whilst I was cooking dinner so I snapped a photo on my phone and sent it to my mom. To my surprise she ordered another one, so me and Dane could have one each! That’s my mom all over, bless her.

I am rather excited for us to get another so I can rotate wear them and always have one to live in when it’s chilly!

Image take from GIPHY

Being sick, boo.

Finally I’m going to talk a bit more about what a shit start to the year I had, and Dane for that matter! Right at the end of 2021 me and Dane started to feel under the weather and we put it down to being a cold, but that soon turned out to be a chest infection, which was evidently worse for me than it was for Dane. I came into 2022 with conjunctivitis in both eyes, a horrible cough and sore throat and no to mention no fucking sleep due to the previous two illnesses. It was vile and no matter what me and Dane did to try and shift it, nothing would. It seemed at one point like it was getting worse! Most of our days in the first week of January were spent on our sofa binge watching anything and everything we could on Netflix and All 4.

Of course I can hear you asking, “It wasn’t Covid then?” Nope, thankfully, but trying to find out if it was or not was a fucking pain in the arse! We’d both booked PCR tests on the Monday to find out if we had it, only for them to arrive on the Thursday. Post was very delayed due to the weird bank holidays we’d had at the start of the year, as well as both the Royal Mail and NHS struggling due to rising Covid rates. We’d tried to book to go to a test centre but had no luck, however, one sleepless night we were awake around 3am and managed to book drive thru tests in on the Wednesday. Thursday morning, we found out we were Covid free, as well as see our PCR tests arrive. They’ve been kept somewhere safe for potential future use.

Alongside all that with us being sick, not only did I not get to do fuck all for my own birthday, but I didn’t get to do anything for mom’s either and it really broke my heart. We didn’t get to do anything last year due to Covid and this year I was sick. My mom’s birthday is the day after mine so we do always try and go for a meal, whether it be her day or mine. We’ll go and do something in February no doubt, but it just felt really shit this year and it’s definitely not put me in the best of moods this month due to that.

During me being sick I lost my voice, which was incredibly uncomfortable and annoying. My voice still breaks every now and then and I’m worried whatever was wrong with me is still present in my system. I’m definitely hopeful that February will not contain any sicknesses of any kind. 😛

So, there we have it guys my January favourites! I really missed not writing this style of post since December when I wrote about my November favourites, but it’s definitely good to be back!

What were some of your favourites from January? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time guys, take care and have a lovely and safe weekend!

November Wish List ‘21

I still can’t believe it’s November already, let alone the end of the second week! This month is flying by and before we know it, it’ll be December. I need to start planning what I’m going to buy people for Christmas and whilst this year doesn’t seem too bad for ideas, I do feel like I’m kind of out of ideas(?).

This months with list was pretty hard for me to put together as I really struggled! Four of the items on this list are either items I’ve order, or already pre-ordered. I think I struggled due to Christmas coming up. I’m not really buying a fat lot right now, I need to keep items available for potential Christmas present ideas for Dane.

This being said, some stuff on this list (that aren’t orders/pre-orders) are things I’m hoping to buy at some point this month… We’ll see. 😛

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy this months wish list hopefully shows off some items you guys may want to pick up too! 😀

• Pokemon Funko Pop! Advent Calendar.

The first item on this months wish list and unfortunately… This is really hard to get hold of now. Putting this out there now for anyone who may ask later. This advent calendar was announced back in August and shortly after Pop In A Box UK popped it up for pre-order, which I jumped on before going to bed. When I woke up, Emily (Totally Emily) had mentioned that the advent calendar was no longer on the website… I was a bit worried and decided to drop an email to Pop In A Box UK to find out if my order was going to be cancelled. I’d not received confirmation of it, so I could only assume my order was okay. Later I found out that my order was safe, but the advent calendar had been taken down from the website due to how quickly it sold out! I’m due to get this in the post this month and I’m honestly so excited! I do love the Pokemon Funko Pop! figures, but I don’t want them at the same time. I only own the Mew Funko Pop! and that’s enough for me. With the little mini versions however, these will be cute to pop in displays in our office living room and bedroom, as well as stick on top of my desk monitor. 😛

• Sugar Bunny Shop Santa’s Reindeer Wood Ornament Garland – (link)

This is a Christmas ornament I really wanted to buy last year, but never did due to the price of it. Christmas was expensive last year as I not only spoilt Dane, but myself with buying loads of stuff from American independent artists. This year both me and Dane have decided to do the house up as much as possible this year for Christmas, including popping some more lights up! Seeing as we’re thinking of doing the house up more Christmassy this year, a part of me wants to actually snag adorable AF reindeer wooden ornaments. I’d pop them on our fireplace, potentially with some battery operated fairy lights.

• Persona 4 Golden Nendoroid P4G Hero Yu Narukami – (link)

I’m always excited for Nendoroid releases, especially when you’re counting down the months from pre-ordering. I’m a massive Persona 5 fan, and Persona 4 Golden is still a game I’m playing at the moment. I got stuck on a boss and I’ve been debating whether or not to restart that game… ANYWAY I couldn’t resist pre-ordering Yo Narukami, the hero in Persona 4/Persona 4 Golden. He won’t be going with my Persona 5 collection, but he’ll go in mine and Dane’s game Nendoroid section of our collection! I’ll make sure to show him off on Instagram when he arrives at the end of November. 😀

• Isabelle Summer Outfit Amiibo – (link)

This is something I ordered last week when I ordered my Animal Crossing series 5 amiibo cards! As some of you may know, I’ve been collecting the Animal Crossing amiibo figures since the summer now and currently I only have two/three left to buy, Timmy & Tommy and Kicks, as well as Smash Isabelle if you want to include her. On places like CeX they’re selling the Isabelle summer outfit amiibo for £15.00, whereas the official Nintendo UK store sells this one for £10.99… So go figure. 😛 I waited to see if the series 5 amiibo cards would land on the Nintendo UK store, which they did so… Yeah I popped her into my basket too. 😛

• Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl  – (link, link and link)

I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS!!! November is an amazing month for games and I honestly cannot wait for this to come out next week, I just wish I was off work to play it all day. xD This being said, I’ll be spending all the weekend it’s out playing it. I bought both Diamond and Pearl, just so Dane can play Diamond if he wants to, but so far he isn’t fussed… Which is fine, I can keep Diamond for myself to grab any special Pokemon for Diamond, as well as the starter Pokemon. PLUS, if I wanted to stream myself playing one of the gen four remakes, I’d be playing Diamond. Pearl was my gen 4 game of choice (as well as Platinum) back in the day and I loved it so much, so I’m already excited about the nostalgia I’m going to feel again. 🙂 ALSO an FYI, I’m planning on writing next week about all the games that have come/coming out this month that I’m excited for and loving, so make sure to keep eyes peeled for that!

• PVRIS Gig Tickets.

Finally, we have a random wish list item… But one I would really love to snag. When I moved to my current role at the start of 2019 I discovered PVRIS through listening to Kerrang! Radio during the working day, as well as driving to and from the office, and since then I’ve been in love. I missed seeing them in the UK when they did an intimate tour in 2020, so I’d love to finally go and see them next year! Why haven’t I ordered tickets then? Well, because I’m anxious. I’m anxious due to COVID and I don’t really know what the future holds? I’m seeing My Chemical Romance in May 2022 (just weeks after the PVRIS gig) but as I booked that back in January 2020, (when COVID wasn’t such a big thing) and how heart-breaking it was to get those tickets, I’m not willing to cancel the tickets for MCR. Thinking of it logically, I’d hate to get COVID from the PVRIS gig and then not be able to attend the MCR gig so… I doubt I’ll buy tickets unless it’s last minute, we’ll see.

So, there we have it guys, my wish list for November! I know it isn’t anything amazing, but with it being so close to Christmas, November is usually quite quiet.. Which is fair in every circumstance.

To think, the next wish list I’ll be writing will be for Christmas now! I seriously can’t believe how quickly the year has flown, it’s scary in a way, isn’t it?

What do you all have on your wish lists for this month? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below, I’m always intrigued at what people have on their wish lists too. 🙂

Until next time guys, I hope you’ve have a lovely week and take care!

Goodbye 2020!

Image taken from Pinterest

I can’t quite believe a whole year has flew past us as we prepare to go into 2021… Sorry but 2020 was a big year for me for so many reasons but of course it wasn’t a great year either…

2020 was the year I entered the 30-35 tick box and I don’t feel ready to turn 31 next week. :S It was also the year me and Dane travelled to Japan for the first time. It was amazing and I’m so glad we were able to go before COVID started to manifest. I remember my dad messaging me our second week into the trip and saying, “There’s a virus called coronavirus going around Japan. Be careful!” and us shrugging it off. Oh how times have changed, eh?

Going back to that trip, it was amazing and I have clutched onto the memories we made and photos we took to get me through 2020 when I felt rubbish. I’m really hoping 2021 will be better COVID wise as I would love to return back to Japan in 2022, maybe even 2023 if that’s the case.

Image taken from GIPHY

Me and Dane have already said we’d like to go around March/April time to see the cherry blossoms, travel around more (Kyoto, Nara, Osaka and Hiroshima) and especially go for Dane’s birthday this time around. We’ve also discussed going for Christmas/New Year at some point too as that would be lovely. We could eat KFC, stay at a private onsen for a few days and again, travel around and have the perfect kawaii/otaku Christmas… But we don’t know when this will be. It’s just an idea.

I wanted to briefly do a bit of a chat about how 2020 was for me overall (including my favourites), mention how December has been and of course talk about 2021 and what I’m looking forward to so far.

I need to get this off of my chest out of the way because it’s still semi ongoing and it’s pissed me off something awful.

I mentioned back in September 2019 on a post (8 Games I’m Excited To Play) about being excited for a game I’d backed on Kickstarter called Calico. The game released 15th December 2020 and was announced on the Nintendo Indie World Showcase. As someone who had backed the game I was pretty meh to discover that people who HADN’T backed the Kickstarter had access to the game before we did and may I add, for less monies… Just felt like a bit of a punch to the stomach. I’m on the Discord channel and started hearing nothing but bug complaints/feedback from people who had been playing the game. Turns out not much testing had been done… Not good! I waited a week for my game code on the Switch, but no sign and I was given excuses of, “we’re new to this, wasn’t aware how long it would take.” etc. Then North American codes were being sent to people in the EU, which of course wouldn’t work. It was just a bit of a shit show to be blunt. I asked for my money back on Sunday, which has been processed and I’m waiting for. I can’t be arsed to play Calico now. It sounds like a rushed out mess and I just don’t want to support a game like that. I’ve heard nothing but complaints from friends about it who have played. I’m happy to have supported the game and help it come to life, but I’m not happy to wait and constantly feel mugged off. The developers have now advised for UK backers to ask for refunds so they can go and buy it themselves on the eShop.

It’s just so poor and clearly rushed out. I was really excited for this game and especially when they announced it as coming out a few weeks back. Dane was away with work and with the game coming out I thought, “Awesome, something to keep me going until he’s back home!” which of course wasn’t the case.

If you’re thinking about getting Calico, get it on Steam if you can. The console versions are full of bugs (I think some may have been fixed?) and from what has been said it can take a while to get them fixed. Or just wait a while for it to go down in price, as I’m sure any bugs will have been amended by then too. I’m not saying don’t support the game, but be wary of the bugs…

I’m sorry if that above has come off as bitchy but I was so frustrated for those two weeks that I just had to be honest with you guys on my experience. I’ve got two other games backed via Kickstarter and from the start I’ve definitely had a better experience with them, so I have very high hopes for how the games will be when they release. 🙂

Now that little rant is out of the way, I thought I would mention some stuff I have loved this year!

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Okay, who DIDN’T love this game in 2020? For some it was a sort of lifeline during the start of COVID, I know it was for me. I don’t play it daily now, but when I do pick it up it just relaxes me straight away and it’s also a game I love playing with my friends online. The Toy Day event on Christmas Eve was so lovely and started to get me in the Christmas spirit. I know a lot of people who ended up buying a Switch/Switch Lite due to the need to play Animal Crossing on it, I even helped two of my friends get a Switch/Switch Lite of their own so they could play!

The Mandalorian – I’ve honestly loved this series in 2020 and it’s actually one me and Dane binge watched over the Christmas period. I couldn’t get into it last year, especially with our Japan trip coming up so we just… Didn’t get into it. Season 2 is AMAZING though and I was all there for it. I highly recommend watching The Mandalorian even if you aren’t a huge Star Wars fan, as it’s just good all around show that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Plus some of my favourite Star Wars characters make appearances in season 2, which made me so happy!

PVRIS Use Me (Deluxe) – Use Me released this year and I had been excited for this album since it was announced. I discovered PVRIS when I started my job in April 2019 and I have since fallen in love. This album is one I’ve found myself listening to time and time again, whether I’m out and about driving/walking or working in the house. I’ve found myself dancing in the kitchen whilst making a cup of coffee, that’s just how much I love it. My top three tracks from the album are – “Gimme a Minute”, “Stay Gold” and “Loveless”. They’re all such amazing songs, with “Stay Gold” being my favourite on the album… And the one I danced to in the kitchen whilst grabbing coffee. 😛

Lyonsleaf Calendula and Marshmallow Balm – This balm has to be mentioned here because it really has helped with my hand in 2020. My eczema/dermatitis is still ongoing and hasn’t improved at all and I’m still waiting to see a specialist. Since about August I’ve been using this balm and it really does help with the dryness and cracking and since using it religiously, my hands haven’t cracked and bled for as long as I can remember. I’ll be continuing to use this for as long as I can as it really does help. 🙂

Aveeno – I’m just going to add Aveeno as a whole, as this is another product that has really changed my life since purchasing it, in so many ways! I use the intense body lotions on my hands, which has really helped recently and I even bought the shower cream to see if that would help too. It smells delicious and makes my body feel lovely and soft. I highly recommend Aveeno in general, let alone if you have really dry skin like myself.

There are a few things in 2021 that I’m excited to have come up!

31st Birthday – This is actually a week from today and yeah it’s scary how quickly it’s come around! I think for the day I’m going to bake some red velvet cupcakes, play with my new resin molds and get a takeaway. At the time of writing this post, Birmingham has actually gone into tier 4 and I’m gutted. Good job I’d planned to do something at home, eh?

Eight Year Anniversary – I can’t believe me and Dane have been together eight years in 2021… It’s really flew by and I hope we can do something for it in 2021. For our seven year anniversary we went for a drive around the countryside and grabbed a Japanese takeaway on our way home. Who knows what we’ll do this year, but I’m sure it’ll be good. 🙂

My Chemical Romance in June – That’s if COVID doesn’t come along and cause it to be postponed/rescheduled like it was this year.

Potential planning for Japan trip #2 – This would be amazing to do! I really hope it can be done towards the end of 2021…

Maybe a puppy(?) – We were really close to getting a dog in 2020 but due to the issues we faced with adopting we gave up and said we would wait and either try to adopt again (although doubtful…) or get a puppy in 2021. If we go for the latter, I already have a breeder in mind that we want to go with… We shall see what happens. Getting a pet is a big thing and we need to make sure we’re ready and able to do it.

Speaking of 2021, I also  wanted to mention what posts I am hoping to bring to you guys in 2021, these are just some ideas of what I have swirling around my head. This isn’t definite, as it never is but it’s ideas I would like to get down on my blog eventually. At the moment it’s mostly independent stores I’ve discovered/known about for years and bought from! There are a lot of USA based independent stores mentioned here as due to the changes in the UK with VAT, a lot of them have stated they aren’t able to sell to the UK anymore, so I went all out!

Quirkory – I’ll be writing a review of the Mostari Mystery Pack, as well as the Animal Crossing Gimme my Joycon 2 enamel pins I’ve pre-ordered. They won’t arrive until January/February.

Lunaticgumis – I’m planning to talk about the Puppycat Amigurumi, stickers and enamel pin I picked up a month or so ago. I wanted to talk about the goodies I picked up before Christmas but I just didn’t have time, sadly.

Pikarar – I only discovered Pikarar in October/November time and I’m already in love with their designs and items! I’ve so far made two orders, one being a pre-order for after Christmas. When my pre-order arrives, I’ll be showing you all what I bought! It’s mostly clothes. 😛

SleepingWolvesArt – Review where I’ll be talking about some notebooks (which have arrived) and enamel pins (literally just ordered) I’ve bought.

Sugar Bunny Shop – It’s still on it’s way to me but I ordered the Doki Fox sweater I’ve wanted for MONTHS.

So there is a sneak peak of what I will be sharing in the future on my blog! Of course I will talk about other things in between, but until the weeks/months come I won’t know 100% what may come up to discuss. As always I’ll have my monthly favourites and wish list too.

I can’t quite believe 2021 is just around the corner and we’re entering it with practically in lockdown, which sucks. Whatever though, it isn’t going to affect me much in regards to work, or my social life. I’ll just miss not being able to be closer to some form of “normality”.

I’m not feeling glum about 2021 and if anything I’m hoping to grow some of my hobbies, as well as see some of my friends again who I haven’t seen for ages.

What are you excited for in 2021? Is there any specific content you would like to see more of on my blog in the New Year? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time all, Happy New Year for tomorrow/Friday and I hope you’re all safe. 🙂

October Favourites ’20

Can you believe it’s November already? October really did go by in the blink of an eye and quite frankly I’m glad. I mentioned back in my September favourites that I’d lost a family member and that grief went through from September to October. I still feel sensitive some days but I’m so busy with work, I’m managing okay.

October was a strange month. I was incredibly busy with work towards the end and I’ve kind of been a hermit and got on with my own thing. As well as that we all know it was Halloween on Saturday and as depressing as I sound, it didn’t go to plan as much or as well as I’d hoped.

We went to a pumpkin patch to pick our own for the first time and it was shit. It rained, we seemed to grab the only decent pumpkins left and it felt very rushed at the farm we went to. I certainly won’t go there again next year.

We carved our pumpkins when we got home, ordered takeaway for dinner and watching scary movies. OH and of course I played Animal Crossing! Two days passed and today we’ve had to throw away the pumpkins as they had started to turn… What a let down. 😦

I can’t complain too much though. We got to see family briefly in the afternoon and we spent most of the day together. For next year I may visit another pumpkin patch, but I won’t be buying any pumpkins and I especially won’t be paying a fee to go in…

Image taken from The Latest Kate

I thought I would share a spooky image this month from The Latest Kate. I love it so much and the little spooky ghosts are so cute!

As you may have noticed (if you’re a regular reader) this months favourites is up a day late… SHOCKER! Basically due to being so busy in the week with work I’ve been shattered and then the weekend I was busy with Halloween and D&D session with friends.

BUT it’s here now and it’s better now than never 🙂

• Happy Melon Sabrina Bubble Bath.

I recently bought myself some goodies from the indie bath brand Happy Melon and I don’t regret it! I picked up two bubble baths, but Sabrina is the one I’ll be talking about this month. This is a gorgeous purple bubble bath that smells of Lush’s famous Snow Fairy shower gel. A little goes a long way with this product and it’s been such a pleasure to use in the evenings when I need a good soak after work. The scent lasts for AGES after too which is always good and leaves the bath with a gorgeous purple/pink colour. I highly recommend the bubble baths by Happy Melon and although their stock has sold out on the website at the moment, if you give them a follow on Instagram they post updates on when the store will be stocked up with goodies.

• Pineapple Cuticle Oil.

This is a cuticle oil from and by my nail technician, I don’t want to mention names to try and keep some privacy my end. I can’t not mention this cuticle oil though as it’s amazing! The smell reminds me of a yummy shower gel I owned back when I was a student, as well as summer holidays abroad both as a child and as an adult. The pen format is perfect too as it’s great to use on the go. When I went to Japan I took one of my previous cuticle oil pens too by my nail technician as it was so handy whilst travelling and out and about. But yes, this is amazing! My nail technician does sell them on her website so if you know me well and would like to get one, DM me and I can link you. 🙂

• Tisserand Tea Tree Pure Essential Oil.

I love this essential oil so much! Dane’s parents bought it for me a few birthdays back alongside my unicorn diffuser and it’s something I find myself using all the time. I especially love using it at night before I’m about to go to sleep, as well as during the day when I’m cleaning and doing housework. Considering how long I’ve owned it, I’m only halfway through the bottle in question. I honestly recommend their essential oils if you’re looking to buy one or two. You can get them on Amazon as well!

• Collection Colour Lash All Day Wear Colour Mascara Clear.

This is a definitely an old  beauty favourite of mine and of late I feel like I’ve needed to use it loads… I don’t know why! My eyebrows are just rebelling at the moment and going all over the place. This is actually a clear mascara but I use it on my eyebrows as it costs sod all (just £1.99!) and works really really well for the price. I highly recommend if you want a cheap brow gel, this one is good. Some brands will charge a fortune for a clear brow gel and they probably don’t work half as well as this does. 🙂

• L’Oreal Paris Hydra Genius Liquid Care (review here).

I thought I would mention this product this month as it’s one I use all the time and it’s really been good this month. With the temperature change happening so quickly my skin has really suffered this year. I really love this moisturiser as it’s so hydrating and I always feel like my skin has had a massive drink. It lasts me ages too as a little bit goes a long way. I use the normal to combination moisturiser and it works perfect for my skin. I’ve just bought myself a new bottle and my skin is very happy about that. 😛

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

Favourite TV Show – The Haunting of Bly Manor.

This horror series was AMAZING and I already can’t wait for potentially another “The Haunting” style show by Mike Flanagan. If you didn’t know he also created The Haunting of Hill House. I loved this show so much, you’re constantly questioning what is happening and on the edge of your seat. We binge watched this pretty quickly and it had the same amount of suspense and nail biting as The Haunting of Hill House did. We did find that the genre of this show went from one thing to another… I’m not going to say anything as it could spoil and ruin it for people who haven’t watched it yet. This is a Netflix exclusive show, so if you haven’t seen it already, GET TO IT!

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Movie – Brüno.

I’m not lying when I say I’ve never watched Borat or Brüno… It was only from the new Borat film coming out on Amazon Prime that me and Dane decided to have a Sacha Baron Cohen marathon and basically have me watch everything he’s ever done. The only film I have ever watched was Ali G Indahouse and I LOVED that growing up. Out of all the films we watched, Brüno was the best one for sure! I was told by loads of people “How can you not like his work?” and I think it’s because I found it dumb at the time. Now I look back, I love Jackass, Viva La Bam and Dirty Sanchez which are REALLY dumb, so how can I not like his work? Brüno is just fucking hilarious, end of.

Gif taken from Tenor

Favourite Book – No reading for me again…

Yeah I didn’t read. To be honest I didn’t have the mental capacity to do any reading and I was so tired from work all I wanted to do was chill out in front of my phone, laptop, TV or switch lite. I’m gutted to be honest as I have so much to read… I will keep trying. I need to spend more evenings reading.

Favourite Music – PVRIS –  Use Me (Deluxe).

I’m mentioning Use Me again this month as quite honestly I’ve listening to this album more this month and I have proper fallen in love with it. I feel I’ve listened to it more because I decided to buy the Deluxe version, which came out a couple of weeks back. It’s been on repeat whilst I’m working and whilst I’m out and about, both walking and in the car. I felt like I couldn’t get into the album at first and I think it’s due to some of the tracks being from previously released singles and EPs. Plus due to buying the normal version on iTunes, the tracks from the EPs that I already owned messed up, so I only had half an album! However now I have the fill album, I’ve found myself listening to it more. All the tracks really compliment one another and everything works so well. The new tracks really do stand out too, with one track in particular which I have fallen in love with, which is “Stay Gold”. This track is amazing and I find myself dancing to it quite often whilst I do the simplest of things… Aka make myself a cup of coffee. 😛

Among Us fan art by One In Hundred – make sure to check out her store!

Favourite Game – Among Us.

I have fallen in love with this game! Mine and Dane’s friends have played it altogether over a couple of Saturday nights in October and we cannot get enough. It’s so much fun, especially with a big group of people. I’m crap at being the imposter and always get caught as soon as I’ve killed someone. I’ve only been the imposter twice as well, thankfully! 😛 The thing I love the most is when you discuss with everyone about a body and who the killer might be. We all have our little jokes and quirks with one another and some of us can suss if someone is fibbing. I know straight away half the time if Dane is being honest or not. It’s just a fun game and it costs next to nothing to buy! It’s free on mobile phones and £3.99 on Steam. I have it on PC and definitely recommend it there, but at least on mobile phones you know you can get it cheaply. 🙂

So there we have it guys, that’s my favourites from October! Can you believe it’s already November and before we know it we’ll be starting to open up advent calendars? It’s crazy isn’t it?

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

Until next time guys, I hope you’re keeping safe and well during these hard times and please remember… This won’t last forever. ❤

September Favourites ’20

Wow, did September fly by or what?! I can’t quite believe it’s October and I’m still saying and writing September down when referring to this month.

As I mentioned this time last month, September is my favourite month of the year, for autumn and it’s always the month I have associated with as a “fresh start”. This is down to starting education in September and preparing myself for that. I was one of those teenagers who started a new year of school with a “new year, new me!” approach… But never really changed much. xD

However, September 2020 for me has been… Shit. Due to lockdown I haven’t been able to do stuff I usually would in the run up to autumn, which sucks, but without saying too much, I’ve been grieving during September and I can only see October being the same. This is also why there wasn’t a blog post last week.

Aside from that September was just bland really. I had to “take a stand” and look after my mental health. I’d found being part of group chats and Discord chats to be too much for me and I’ve ended up muting them for the foreseeable future. That “new year, new me!” stance I’ve always had since the age of 13 appears to have been used this year for sure! xD

This months favourites are strange. I found that a lot of beauty related items I’ve loved have been holy grails for me, especially for my hand, which flared up with my dermatitis. SO, I hope the one product mentioned may help others out there who have dermatitis like myself, or eczema.

Image taken from The Latest Kate

Anyhoo, enough of me waffling and being depressing (ha! xD), on with the monthly favourites for September!

• Happy Place Cosmetics Wild Child Body Scrub.

I got this body scrub towards the end of July/start of August in my Happy Place Cosmetics monthly box. This is my favourite item that was in the box, but I was wary I wasn’t going to like the scent after reading the description on the website. It’s described as being a dupe of Lush’s 29 High Street scent. This is a definite dupe, but back in the day when I was a Lushie, 29 High Street wasn’t a scent I particularly liked. However, it’s really grown on me and actually reminds me of Christmas! It’s a warm foral, but fruity scent! Lush say that 29 High Street is said to be the scent of a Lush shop when you walk in. I think this has changed the past 8 years however…

Honestly though, the Happy Place Cosmetics body scrubs are AMAZING and by far the best I’ve ever used. They’re really scrubby, but they also foam up too depending on how much water you add. I don’t feel like I’ve had a body scrub work as well as these do. I use them once a week and they make my skin lovely and soft. At the time of writing this post (evening of 30/09/2020) there are some body scrubs available on the Happy Place Cosmetics website, so if you’re interested in them, go and check out the website.

• Lyonsleaf Calendula and Marshmallow Balm.

When I say this product has been a lifesaver, I really mean it. I’ve mentioned on and off on my blog how my eczema/dermatitis is really bad on my hand the past year and at one point over the past month it got so bad and uncomfortable. So much so, it was waking me up in the night due to how itchy it was. I decided to research what products I could buy and use on it after washing my hands and in between the ointment my doctor had prescribed me. Lyonsleaf came up and after doing a lot of reading and watching of reviews on YouTube, I decided to order myself a little tub. It’s honestly amazing stuff! It’s greasy in consistency but a little goes a long way. It doesn’t have a scent or taste when applied to the skin, but in the jar it does remind me of a Sunday dinner/gravy sort of smell, which is so odd! I really do recommend this though if you have really dry skin and need something to soothe it, especially if it’s just patches like what I have.

• Doll 10 Doll Skin Perfecting Treatment Powder.

This is something my mom bought me as a gift quite a while ago. I’ve only really started to use it during lockdown whenever I’m popping out for the day, or fancy wearing doing myself up as if I’m going out for the day. Lately I’ve been venturing out a little more, whether it’s going for a shop, getting my nails done or running errands out and about. This is a light translucent powder which goes on pretty straight forward. It’s been my go to really to remove any excess oil on my t-zone. I couldn’t say if it actually keeps the oil at bay all day but it works for me enough at the moment during “lockdown” and whilst I’m working from home. I’m never usually a fan of loose powders as I find they often don’t get picked by the brush (if that makes sense?) which can wind me up a little as I feel like I’m constantly trying to get an even coverage on my face. This being said, this powder is pretty good for that!

• Nivea Blueberry Blush Lip Butter.

I mentioned this a couple of months on my monthly favourites and I’m mentioning it again! This lip butter by Nivea is so lovely to use and as sad as it sounds, it’s a treat for me to use throughout the week during work. It’s buttery, creamy and a little goes a long way. It feels really nice and moisturising on the lips and it smells absolutely gorgeous! I love blueberries and especially love blueberry scented things so this is right up my street. I usually go to Vaseline when it comes to lip balms, but I’m really loving the Nivea lip butter lately, so this is definitely a product I’ll repurchase in the future. I highly recommend it is you want a good lip butter/cream. It’s not greasy or sticky, yet it lasts ages on the lips!

• Bath Bake Love White Cocoa Fluffy Whip Soap.

The final product I want to talk about for the beauty side of my monthly favourites is Bath Bake Love, an independent beauty brand I have fallen in love with during lockdown. I’d like to write a blog post about them in the future, but I don’t know when it’ll be. Anyway, this is the first and only fluffy whip soap I’ve tried by them and it smells of white chocolate/white hot chocolate. It’s divine and it isn’t just me who loves it too, my boyfriend has really taken to this and has been using is everyday to wash with in the mornings. It’s a thick creamy soap, it looks more like a buttercream than soap and it smells like it too. A little goes a long way and when used in a sponge or a shower puff it really foams up and leaves you with loads of lovely smelling lather/bubbles. This can also be used in the bath, which my boyfriend has done. Bath Bake Love has definitely become a must have for our shower and I cannot wait to try and own more of their products in the future. They currently have their Halloween range on their website, so make sure to go and check them out. 🙂

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

Gif taken from GIPHY

Favourite TV Show – The Boys.

First of all, sorry for the C word being used on the gif… Butcher is one of my favourite characters for the way he is, so I had to include that gif. 😛 We are already six episodes into season 2 of The Boys and so far I’m really enjoying it! There’s been loads happen since season 1 finished last year, which is always good. One of the episodes so far felt really slow and I know I wasn’t the only person saying this. Monday morning meetings are spent with my team discussion the episode of The Boys from the weekend and what we thought of it. We’ve all had the same feelings about it and so far we are all loving it! I really do look forward to spending Friday night or Saturday morning watching the latest episode with Dane. The Boys reminds me of Preacher, which ended last year, just after The Boys began. They’re both based off of comics of the same dark comedy, so they’re good in my books! I definitely recommend checking out The Boys and Preacher if you have Amazon Prime, as that’s where they’re hosted.

Favourite Movie – I’m Thinking of Ending Things.

Although we watched this film at the end of start of September it’s the only film I’ve really watched lately that I could think of adding to my monthly favourites this month. This is one that Dane had watched the trailer for, heard about online and really wanted to watch. We popped it on and I swear throughout we were constantly questioning what the fuck was going on. It’s a psychological drama about a young woman who is contemplating ending the six week relationship with her boyfriend as they drive to his parents house so she can meet them for the first time. It spirals from there, but I don’t really want to say much in case it reveals any spoilers but it’s based off of a novel and is directed by Charlie Kaufman the guy behind Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. If you have Netflix or are able to watch it another way I highly recommend it. 🙂

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Book – Oops…

Oops indeed. I didn’t read anything this month. I really need to just have an evening off of my phone, Nintendo Switch and laptop and just read! Sometimes though I just don’t feel like I have time. I’m always trying to make way for everything and reading takes a back burner. Earlier today I ordered Aggretsuko Vol. 1 comic book! I love Aggretsuko so I’m rather excited for that to arrive tomorrow or Friday to read over the weekend… If I’m able to! Honestly though, I have so many manga volumes and comics to read. I really need to get on it!

Favourite Music – PVRIS – Use Me.

PVRIS new album Use Me came out at the end of August and it’s one I’ve been listening to on and off throughout September, but I definitely need to listen to it a lot more. I wanted to share one of the songs from the album that I’ve already fallen in love with, starting with “Loveless”. This song is clearly about a breakup but it’s got such a lovely acoustic melody behind it, as well as powerful lyrics that a lot of people who have or are going through a breakup can relate to. I just love it so much and after I heard it for the first time, I replayed it a few times and got the lyrics up to read as it played and sing along to. Who else does this? 😛

Overall I really love Use Me but I think it’s one that will have to grow on me. I love PVRIS’s previous two albums so much, but that isn’t it. I think due to the fact 5/11 songs on the album have come out gradually the past year as singles and EP’s, nearly half of the albums isn’t a “surprise”, if that makes sense? Even so, I still love it! PVRIS has fast become one of my favourite bands the past year and a half and that’s not going to change.

Favourite Game – Not Tonight: Take Back Control Edition (Nintendo Switch).

I only bought this game about a week ago but it’s already earnt it’s place on my monthly favourites for September due to how much I’ve played it already! The week I bought this was when I received some bad news and I looked on the eShop for something simple to play, but not for a lot of money. I picked Not Tonight up for a BARGAIN price of £1.94! I think it was 90% off so the game was roughly £19? Crazy how cheap this was, but totally worth it! It’s set after Brexit and you’re playing a bouncer with European in their blood. You live in a dump, work for shit money and have loads of bills and taxes to pay. You have to check the ID of people coming in pubs, clubs, festivals, events and even on the border of the UK. I love it, it’s such a “relaxing” game to play which has a dark sense of humour about it. Some people I’ve spoken to about the game said it sounds depressing. It’s really not. If it’s still on offer on the eShop I highly recommend it, I’m sure you won’t miss £1.94 eh?

So, there we have it, my favourites from September. I’ve had to write this post the day before it’s due to be out and I honestly can’t believe tomorrow is going to October. This year has flew, even with the circumstances of COVID. I wish September hadn’t gone by so quickly and I wish myself and my family hadn’t received the news we did… I’m kind of glad for a new month due to that, but at the same time, I don’t know what October will bring. Fingers crossed something good, eh?

What have you been loving throughout September? Are you excited for autumn, the nights starting to draw in and Halloween? I’m excited for Halloween! I’m going to try and use October as the month to watch Halloween movies I’ve always meant to. 🙂

Speaking of, what’s your favourite Halloween movie? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time, stay safe and take care all. 🙂

April Favourites ’20

Can you believe that it’s May already? Damn where is 2020 going, apart from down the pan due to Coronavirus… Sorry for the negativity at the start of my post, but come on… I’m sure you’ll all agree? 😛

How are you all doing during the lock down, both in the UK, as well as where you’re from? Personally whilst I’m enjoying being and working from home, it’s starting to get to me a little. I miss seeing my family and friends, as well as going out for leisure without a care in the world. It sucks feeling anxious whilst going out to buy milk and bread.

However, there are some plus sides to this. I’m getting to spend a little bit more time with Dane, I’m saving money but most of all I am starting to do things with my friends (especially my best friend) and that makes me happy. 🙂 Every cloud has a silver lining.

Image taken from The Latest Kate

Before I start this months favourites post, I just want to say that I’m her for you, as a friend if you need to talk. Right now we are living in uncertain and scary times and my own mental health is being affected right now. I don’t wish to think people are suffering alone in silence. Remember, my email is always open, as well as my DM’s via Twitter and Instagram. We will get through this, we will. 🙂

Anyhoo, on with this months favourites! I’m not going to lie… I kind of struggled. 😛

• Imperial Leather Shake Your Bambootay Shower Gel.

I’m sorry I have another Imperial Leather shower gel up this month, but I bought quite a few before the lock down, okay? 😛 I much prefer this one to the unicorn one I spoke about in my favourites last month, purely for the scent. This has a fruity and fresh scent, which I’ve really been loving using in the mornings before I start work as I find it wakes me up and gets me ready for the day. Plus both me and Dane have found this really moisturising on the skin, which has been really nice. I’m glad I bought a couple of bottles of this now, as I really do like it. 🙂

• Boots Eye Drops for Dry & Irritated Eyes.

I’ve owned these eye drops since my trip to Japan and I still have loads of product left in the bottle. I love using eye drops everyday before I start work/the day in general as I feel it really wakes me up and refreshes my eyes. These have been so essential during the lock down, as I find it just makes me feel that little bit more ready for the day… Especially as I’m working from home. I honestly recommend eye drops to everyone, especially if your eyes feel tired when you wake up in the morning. I find a couple of drops make a huge difference.

• L’Oreal Paris Hydra Genius Aloe Moisturiser for Combination Skin (review).

I honestly love this moisturiser so much and I’m hesitant to change from this to something else, as I feel like I’ve found something that works so good for my skin. My morning skincare routine has changed during the lock down and I have gone from doing a full routine, to under half of it. I’m only really using my moisturiser, and occasionally my serum and eye gel if I feel I need them. I don’t see the point in using all my products up everyday… This moisturiser has really helped my skin out lately, as my face has felt so tight and dry. I’ve actually had to buy another bottle of this, as I’m really close to this one running out now. I’ve linked back to my review of this from back in 2017. Yes, I have been using this product for 3 years now and I have zero regrets.

• Peacci Nail Varnish in Ophelia.

I couldn’t not mention this nail varnish this month as I have loved it so much. I actually get my nails painted with gel by my lovely nail tech, but obviously due to the lock down, this hasn’t been an option for me… I get my nails painted with The Gel Bottle, who also have a sister company called Peacci. Peacci created the same gorgeous colours that The Gel Bottle do BUT in a nail varnish formula. I can’t get my nails done by my nail tech, so I’m doing myself with the nail varnish alternative for the time being. I picked up two colours, Valentina and Ophelia. Valentina is a pink holographic shade, whilst Ophelia is a dark nude pink colour. I’ve worn these two shades together in their gel form and it’s probably my favourite nail manicure I’ve had to date, hence why I bought their nail varnish versions. I’m currently wearing Ophelia and it’s gorgeous. It’s lasted ages and compliments my skin tone. I’m hoping to do a review of these and Peacci in the future. Would you like to see it? If not on a blog post, maybe an IGTV video?

• Childs Farm Baby Moisturiser.

I’ve mentioned this baby moisturiser before on my blog and here I am again, sharing it with you all and why it’s amazing. I have said many a time on my blog, I have eczema on my hands and it would seem that the older I get, the worse it has gotten. It got to a really bad point before my trip to Japan in late 2019 when I had a massive rough patch on my right hand. I ended up going to the doctors as peoples comments on it were upsetting me. It turned out to be dermatitis and I still need to go to a special doctor for more tests in case there is more to it. Although this patch has cleared up at the moment, it was around at the start of April. The Body Shop hand lotion I was using wasn’t enough and I started using my Childs Farm moisturiser again. This has really helped my hands and at the time of writing this, they’re lovely and soft. 🙂 I honestly cannot recommend this enough! It isn’t just for hands either, it can be used all over the body.

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

Favourite TV Show – Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.

Not going to lie. Tiger King was something I had to watch twice and I’m glad I did. Everyone and their cat (ha!) has watched Tiger King and discussed it in full. It’s a Netflix series all about the breeding of tigers in America and some crime that happened during that time revolving around Joe Exotic. I watched it once and I was very much “What the fuck did I just watch? I don’t actually understand what happened.” A week later, I watched it again and understood (kind of…) what had happened. I was surprised though. I have to say here, I am pissed off at anyone who is making merchandise from this and selling. Don’t sell shit based on animal cruelty, potential murder and all around crime. It’s not cool.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Movie – The Cat Returns.

As we all know, all the Studio Ghibli films are now on Netflix, which is amazing! Me and Dane own them all on DVD anyway, but it’s nice to have them on Netflix to watch as and when we fancy watching them. We recently put on The Cat Returns to watch together, as this is one of Dane’s favourites. I always forget how much I love Natoru (in the gif), as well as many other characters. I was surprised there wasn’t more merch in Japan to do with The Cat Returns.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Book – Urgh. I don’t read anymore haha.

Nope. I didn’t read again this month. Honestly guys, I’m just not finding the time between working, playing games, chilling on video chats with friends and more. 😦

Favourite Song – “Gimme a Minute” – PVRIS.

PVRIS released a new single from their upcoming album this month and I haven’t stopped listening to it to be honest with you. I love everything about it, including the lyrics and the electropop/alternative rock sound that I adore. I only discovered PVRIS a year ago and I have really fallen in love with them. I honestly can’t wait for their new album to come out in July. It was meant to be out today but that was pushed back due to coronavirus… 😦

I honestly love Bones so much 🙂 #AnimalCrossing #ACNH #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/6bhAMN4bml

— Nat 🐱 (@MayBeeCoffee) April 27, 2020

Favourite Game – Still Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Of course this is going to be here for another month… I mean, why wouldn’t it? It’s officially been a month since the new Animal Crossing game came out and I am still playing it everyday. I have all my villagers on my island now, as well as 4 I moved in thanks to amiibo cards. I have started to terraform my island now and I’m starting to get into the swing of things. I really do love this game and I especially love playing with my friends. 🙂

So, those are my favourites from April! Again, I can’t believe we are already into May. It’s crazy how quick the past month has flown by, but I’m honestly going to blame coronavirus for that. I don’t mind how quick it’s going. The sooner things can go back to normal, the better.

What were your favourites from April? Also, how are you all doing during this time? What are you doing to keep yourself sane? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time all, take care and stay safe!

2019 Top 3 Favourites

It’s the first day of 2020 and I am spending it in the laziest way possible… Sat on my cuddle chair, in my pyjamas and wrapped in a blanket. I don’t think I can get any cosier to be perfectly honest with you. 😛

I decided to do an overall top favourites post for 2019, as December doesn’t have anything special on it that my January 2020 favourites won’t miss out on in a months time. I didn’t so a December 2018 favourites last year and no one missed it to be fair.

I really love writing my favourites post, I can reflect over the month on things I loved and I enjoy writing about them too and sharing with you all. However, 2019 wasn’t a good year for reading for me. I seem to have been too busy seeing friends or chilling on games, my phone or watching something on the TV… Which is a shame. 2020 is the year I will be trying to read a hell of a lot more! I do miss reading my favourite manga series as soon as the books come out in the UK, but at least 2020 means I will have more to read now… See, past Nat was doing future Nat a massive favour! 😛

Anyhoo, no more nattering, it’s time to show off my op 3 from 2019, as well as runner ups. 🙂 I really hope you enjoy the first post of 2020!

Beauty Top 3

1. The Body Shop Drops of Youth™ Youth Liquid Peel.

2. Laneige Two Tone Matte Lip Bar in Red Velvet (review here).

3. Childs Farm Baby Moisturiser with Shea & Cocoa Butter.

Runner Up – Lime Crime Wet Cherry Gloss in Cherry Bomb.

TV Shows Top 3

1. Inside No. 9.

2. Mr. Pickles.

3. Fruits Basket.

Runner Up – Stranger Things Season 3.

Movies Top 3

1. Detective Pikachu.

2. Spider-Man: Far From Home.

3. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Runner Up – Avengers: End Game.

Books Top 3

1. Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid.

2. In Real Life by Cory Doctorow.

3. Persona 4.

Music Top 3

1. PVRIS – “Fire” (this is the single that got me into the band this year – who I now LOVE TO BITS!).

2. Litany – “Bedroom”.

3. Billie Eilish – “Bad Guy”.

Runner Up – Grimes – “We Appreciate Power”.

Games Top 3

1. Yoshi’s Crafted World.

2. Untitled Goose Game.

3. Borderlands 3.

Runner up – Pokemon Sword & Shield.

So that’s all of the my favourite items of 2019! I honestly can’t believe it’s 2020 now! I’ve spent most of the day relaxing, writing and talking to my mom on FaceTime. Can it really get any better than that? 😛

What were your favourite items from 2019? I’d love to hear!

Until next time all, Happy New Year! ^_^

August Favourites ’19

It’s September, my favourite month of the year! I’ve been so excited for this month as each weekend passed throughout August. I don’t exactly have loads planned for this month but I’d like to try and do as much autumnal stuff as possible to be perfectly honest with you.

September also brought some exciting stuff for There Might Be Coffee, with the launch of my monthly newsletter! This went live last night, so please make sure to go and subscribe to get some extra content that you won’t find on my blog or social media pages. 🙂

This month I found myself discovering old favourites, as well as some new ones. I’ve been rather excited to share with you my monthly favourites for August, especially the general favourites too.

Anyhoo, on with the favourites!

• Diesel Loverdose Eau de Parfum.

This is by far one of my favourite perfumes. It was my friend Jacqui who introduced me to it back in 2011 when it first came out. It has such a unique scent which smells sexy and adult. It was the perfect perfume for when I was 21 and I adored it, as I still do. When I want to smell sexy and like I can do anything, I put this on! I have a feeling this is my third bottle now, but this bottle seems to be lasting ages. Honestly though, I love it. If you haven’t, make sure to go and give it a sniff! I can’t believe it’s been out for almost 10 years. Shit, I’m old!

• The Body Shop Peppermint Candy Cane Shower Gel.

I’ve owned this shower gel for quite a while now… Since the Christmas sales in fact. I decided I didn’t want to use it until the warmer summer months, as this has a slight tingling effect to the skin, which I really like. I started using this back in June to be honest when me and Dane went to Manchester and I forgot how yummy it smells, as well as how lovely and soft it left me feeling. I honestly wish this scent was permanent as it’s gorgeous. It really does remind me of winter and Christmas, especially as one of my go to hot drinks is a peppermint hot chocolate! I’ve noticed these do pop up during The Body Shop sales, so keep eyes peeled if you’re still interested in this shower gel.

• MUA Luxe Inked Lip Stain in Sangria.

I don’t know what it is anymore these days, but I’m really not arsed about make up anymore… I wasn’t before to be fair so how I’m not now is a mystery! I love wearing lipstick, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes it can feel like too much effort. However lately I have really enjoyed wearing lip tints again and I have especially enjoyed wearing this gorgeous hot pink colour! I only apply it into the centre of my lips so that it gives an ombre and soft appearance. One thing I’m excited about when I go to Japan is picking up some of their lip tints. They’re really good! I’ll definitely be stocking up.

• The Body Shop Banana Nourishing Body Butter.

As regular readers will know, I don’t use The Body Shop body butters on my skin, but instead my hands. Even though I just keep this in my handbag as something to use whilst on the move, I’ve actually been reaching for it in the morning before I head to work, as well as when I get home. I still love the scent of this and aside from Strawberry, this is by far my favourite scent that The Body Shop have ever released!

• Philips Sonicare DiamondClean Smart Electric Toothbrush

This has been one of my favourite big purchases this year. I already know regular readers are thinking, “Nat, don’t you already have an electric toothbrush?” Well… I’ll explain… Back in my April Favourites I mentioned that I was gifted an electric toothbrush from my mom. Well that shitty thing decided to break on me and Dane randomly, not once but TWICE for the short 4 months that we owned it. To be rude and blunt, do NOT buy anything from LAB. They seem like a company who talk the talk, but can’t produce decent products. This isn’t the first time either me or my mom have purchased items from this company and had issues. The toothbrush first of all broke because it wasn’t holding its charge. This went on for a few weeks, then suddenly it was fine! Odd, right? Then (and we don’t know how!) the on/off button got stuck and due to that it was little loads of water into the brush and yeah. Me and my mom sent the brush back and she was given a full refund! Since then when I looked on the website we bought it from (QVC) the toothbrush was no longer for sale and reviews were VERY poor. Crap company, DO NOT BUY ANYTHING!

On with the Philips toothbrush anyway! It’s amazing and me and Dane bought it in the official Philips sale too, so we snagged a bargain. This toothbrush has all sorts of different settings, as well as an app you can use alongside it which tracks any teeth you may not be brushing as much as others. If you do miss brushing certain areas of your teeth, the app will take you back to that area and ask you to brush more to ensure your teeth are “clean”. I love this! You can set loads of different things too, such as whitening, plaque fighting and more! It’s an amazing toothbrush and I cannot recommend them enough. OH and it doesn’t lose much charge either. 😛

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

Image taken from Google

Favourite TV Show – Kathy Burke’s All Woman.

I swear, I LOVED this show. I haven’t laughed so much at a show in quite some time (not including comedies!) and it made me realise just how much I miss Kathy Burke in the comedy world. In this 3 part series on Channel 4, Kathy Burke is talking about women (if you hadn’t guessed from the title) and herself as a woman. She covers topics such as having babies, marriage, relationships and beauty. It’s so insightful in ways and I found myself shouting, “YES KATHY!” at my TV throughout. She covers things that I have spoken about on my blog in the past, including my thoughts on having children and getting married. Man or woman, give this show a watch. Kathy is amazing throughout and I honestly want her to do more shows like this in the future.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Movie – Wreck-It Ralph and Ralph Breaks The Internet.

I know these seem like random movies to add to this post this month, considering they’re from 2012 and 2018. I didn’t watch either of them in the cinema and it was only recently at a friends house that we put a movie on to watch in the morning/afternoon with the kids. I’d never seen Wreck-It Ralph so it seemed something good to put on. I think I was acting more like a kid than the actual children were haha! I was poorly recently and had to stay at home from work, so decided to watch Ralph Breaks The Internet whilst I was in bed. These films are amazing and I understand why and how they did so well when they released. Something my friend commented on however that I agree with is that the films HARDLY focus on Ralph at all… Either way I feel these films were definitely made for adults in mind more so than children for the nostalgic feel alone. I can’t speak for America but I feel these days the only places I see and/or hear of having arcades is Japan… But again. I can’t speak for elsewhere other than the UK.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Book – Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Kanna’s Daily Life.

I’ve finally started to get back into reading manga again and it’s making me so damn happy! I love being able to just sit and chill with a couple of volumes of my favourite manga series during the week. When I was poorly recently and I was in bed resting I read some manga and caught up on loads of the Kanna’s Daily Life series. I love this spin off series from Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid as it’s so damn cute and you get to find out more about Kanna along the way too! There is also Elma’s Office Lady Diary, which is of course about Elma, who in turn is my favourite out of the dragons! 😀

Favourite Music – PVRIS – All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell.

If there is an album I LOVE right now it is this one by PVRIS. I only discovered this band in April thanks to KERRANG! Radio and they have fast become one of my favourite bands now. I listen to this album daily in the week, as I always feel the need to give it a listen during my shift at work, either at the start of end of the day. Depends on my mood. I love every single song on this album but my favourite is definitely “Winter”. I could name more songs but I thought I would just mention the one I listen to and love the most. 🙂 PVRIS recently announced 3 dates for a UK tour and they sold out in minutes. I doubt I could have made any of the dates anyway, but I’m gutted all the same. I really wanted to go see them live. 😦

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Game – Minecraft.

I can’t remember why or how but me, Dane and some of our friends randomly decided one day to set up a server so we could play Minecraft all together and we played it so damn much throughout August! I do love Minecraft and definitely go through phases of playing it, depending how busy I am or if I’m playing other games. Sometimes it’s great to come home after work and just want to chill on the sofa in front of Minecraft with a beer and some friends on chat. You can now get foxes on Minecraft too, but I don’t know if we can on the version we have on Xbox One. 😦

So, those were my favourites from August! August did really fly by to be fair, which I’m glad about, purely because I love September so much. I hope to bring some exciting autumnal posts your way this month.

What were your favourite things in August? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

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