July Favourites ’18

Why hello August! I know, month after month I moan about how fast the year is going but as much as I hate how fast it is whizzing by BUT I’m not going to do that this month… I’m actually excited for September.

Both me and Dane had some lovely news in July, which I’m not going to mention here and NO before you guess we aren’t expecting or having a baby. 😛 Honestly, you will not see a post in 3 months of me holding a scan… Not unless it’s of a puppy fetus. 😛

URGH I really did ramble. I didn’t mean to. 😛

This months favourites were pretty easy to write up, but at the same time they did feel like a bit of a challenge. I hope you enjoy them either way, I always love writing my monthly favourites, so I hope you always enjoy reading them.

• The Body Shop Body Yogurt in Banana.

I recently posted a wish list Wednesday about The Body Shop and the majority of that wish list had the new limited edition banana range on it. Literally 3 days later I was in a store buying all of the goodies I had posted on that wish list. Since I picked up the body yogurt I have been using it daily and oh my, it has changed up my daily routine! My skin has been looking and feeling dry lately and I HATE moisturising. Not only do I find it a chore, but thick creams can leave me feeling clammy and warm so I avoid it like the plague. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the yogurts and it was Estelle’s The Body Shop haul post (which you can read here) where she spoke about the strawberry one that got me into giving it a go. Thanks Estelle! 😛 This has just been a game changer for my skin. It really is lightweight and only takes 5 minutes max to apply all over and thankfully doesn’t take long to dry so you can be dressed quickly. I plan to have a review of this up on my blog ASAP, possibly this time next week so keep your eyes peeled for that!

• Fairy Glo Gel Polishes.

Since I picked these up a couple of months ago I’ve been meaning to review them as they are AMAZING gel polishes for sod all money. Since getting my Le Mini Macaron gel nail kit I’ve been kind of obsessed with gel nail polish and have certainly gotten into it more. I picked up a massive 14 piece gel polish set, with 12 glitter/holographic shades as well as a base and top coat. All for £15.99 on Amazon with Prime too! I’ve worn the polishes a handful of times now and I do adore them. I feel so pretty when I have the shades on and I especially love the silver holographic shade, as well as the lilac and blue shades. My mom also recently gave me her UV lamp as it was taking me 2 hours to do my nails with the little one nail LED lamp that you get in the Le Mini Macaron kit. I’d love to start doing peoples nails, but that just isn’t going to happen. 😛

• Korres Wild Rose Lip Butter.

I really miss wearing lipstick(s) and yet I don’t know why I stopped wearing them. I think it’s due to the fact that I now have on and off eczema in the corners of my lips, which sucks to be honest with you. Using a stick lip balm is now a thing of the past for me and I have to constantly now use lip balm in tins, e.g. Vaseline. I recently picked up a couple of tinted lip balms from The Body Shop but I decided to dig out this old favourite and start using it at work. No, it isn’t lipstick but it’s a gorgeous tinted lip butter which leaves my lips feeling moisturised and with a gorgeous dark pink colour. I would love to try more of the Korres lip butters, but this one has lasted me so long, I don’t know if I need to. 😛

• The Body Shop Body Butter in Banana.

Yes, another one of the banana products from The Body Shop and this one I have fallen head over heels in love with, for many reasons. There is one product I dislike from The Body Shop and that’s their body butters. They’re really thick, and don’t last very long for how much you spend on them! I’ve tried at least 3 different ones over the years and each one has left me feeling sticky and hot both in the colder and hotter months. However, the banana one smelt amazing so I KNEW I had to pick it up. But I decided to pick up the little tub so that I could test what I thought of the body butter as a hand butter instead. Well, so far I am LOVING IT! It makes such an amazing and deeply nourishing hand butter and I do love it. Whenever I use it at work I get nothing but compliments on the scent, which in turn makes me happy. I’ll definitely invest in the bigger tub soon and just keep the little tub to decant the product into. I’ll also definitely give other scents a try in future, including strawberry.

• Clean & Clear Blackhead Clearing Cleanser.

This is another product I’ve mentioned recently on my blog (you can read that post here) and since I picked it up at the start of July I have loved using it on my skin! I was after a new toner and for years my mom has been using this one and always praised it up. My skin has been in atrocious condition for the longest time now, which was down to certain products I was using, including the old cleanser I was using. This one has helped clear my skin so much and for under £3.00 I am so CHUFFED to have finally discovered it.

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

Image taken from tenor.com

Favourite TV Show – Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps.

This is such a random one TV show to start watching, but recently BBC put it onto iPlayer so I’ve just been binge watching it pretty much. I used to LOVE Two Pints growing up and as a student, I just felt like I could relate to it, even with the humour and such. It also just reminds me of when I was younger too with the themes and the fact it’s set back when I was younger. I’m currently on season 5 and close to finishing it. If like me you loved Two Pints growing up, then honestly give yourself a blast to the past and watch the whole box set on iPlayer whilst it’s on there.

Image taken from Giphy.com

Image taken from giphy.com

Favourite Film – Inglorious Basterds.

This was such a random film for me to watch but I saw it on Netflix in July and just thought I’d pop it on to watch one morning whilst I got ready for work. One morning turned into a week pretty much! I do love this film so much and it’s definitely one of my favourites by Quentin Tarantino for many reasons. I remember going to see it with my dad when it came out and he loved it so much. When looking for gifs for this post I giggled at so many awesome ones! 😛

Image taken from giphy.com

Favourite Book – A Polar Bear In Love Vol 3.

Yay finally Vol.3 came out in July and I was so excited to read it after how they left off in Vol.2! I honestly love A Polar Bear In Love, as it is such an adorable manga and one that I will enjoy reading until it finishes. I FINALLY found a gif to use on my blog for posts like this one! They also have short anime clips out of parts from the manga, which is equally adorable, if not cuter. 😛 If you love cute manga, I cannot recommend this enough!

Favourite Song/Album – Daft Punk Random Access Memories.

Recently at work we were talking about music and one of the questions that went around the office was, “What band would you like to see before you die?” and my answer was Daft Punk. I have LOVED this band for as long as I can remember and they are a massive part of my life. They’re the reason for my love of a lot of music and are for sure a band I would love to see perform. This is the last album they released (I pray they’ll bring out another soon!) back in 2013 and it came out not long before I met Dane. This album reminds me of that year and how rough it was. I listened to it when things were hard because it always made me feel better. I even wrote a MASSIVE review on it back in the day, which I’ll link here. I’ve been listening to this album quite a lot since then and ARGH I just forgot how much I love it and how I need more Daft Punk albums on my iPod for my car. I’ve added a couple of my favourite songs from the album above.

Image taken from giphy.com

Favourite Game – Pokemon Go

Yes, I am still playing Pokemon Go and I am LOVING every minute of it. Me and Dane are still playing it loads and even going out late at night to play it. Since me and Dane bought our Pokemon Go Pluses we play it every day. I know it’s seen as a lazy way to play the game, but if you’re going for a walk, or a day out shopping you don’t have to get your phone out to get all the Poke Stops you walk past, which is so handy. The only issue I have is that the game drains my battery, but that’s what I have my battery pack for. 😛 Recently on our way home from visiting Dane’s parents we made a u turn to a local shopping area so that we could catch a Dragonite! It was for sure worth it and we both have a Pokemon we’ve wanted for AGES. I just love the game so much and I wish I’d never stopped playing it years ago. I remember the game coming out in July 2016 and that’s when me and Dane were doing up our house so it does take me back to that time too. 🙂

So those were my favourites from July! I feel like they weren’t anything special but to be honest with you I feel like July went by in a ball of madness! It’s been a pretty decent month to be honest in every single way. As I said at the start of the post me and Dane both had some great news, we’ve had some amazing sunny weather and some much needed rain. It’s overall been a pretty decent month and I’m excited for what August brings!

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

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

Currently #3

It’s been a couple of weeks since I updated you on my life, and my currently posts… But that’s because I’ve been too damn busy to! With me working longer hours, and just life being busy in general it has prevented me from doing my next currently, until now at least!

I’ve been really poorly the past couple of days and as a result I’ve been lying in bed, miserable, and resting up… Whilst catching up on blog related matters! So I have finally have time to get on track with my blog, as well as get posts written up for whilst I’m on holiday.

So here is my third currently list!

Watching: I’ve recently discovered RuPaul’s Drag Race, and it’s safe to say I am obsessed. I started season 6 recently, and when I’ve watched this and season 7 I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself! I also don’t know where I’ll be watching season 7 yet as I’ve been watching them all (well apart from season 1 which I watched online) on Netflix. God bless Netflix! I never really thought it would be my sort of thing, but I just adore it, my boyfriend has even enjoyed watching it at times! My favourite winners have been Raja, Sharon Needles, and Jinkx Monsoon, the latter being my favourite. They were all just so different and alternative, the style that I love anyway! I can’t wait to see who will win season 6 now.

Playing: I haven’t really been playing much since I finished Life Is Strange but one game I have been loving lately is TsumTsum, the phone app. I’ve spoken about it in the past on previous currently posts. I love being able to play it on the go, whilst walking to and from work, and before I go to bed. It is a really relaxing game and one that I think people with anxiety like myself should play. On the topic of games, Nintendo recently announced that they will be releasing all the original Pokemon games (Red, Blue, and Yellow) on the Nintendo eShop for people to play! I cannot wait to relive my childhood, and I intend to buy them all to play!

Listening: I’ve been listening to Daft Punk’s latest album Random Access Memories. It’s by far one of my favourites of theirs and one that holds a big place in my heart. It came out the year my life changed dramatically in both good and bad ways, so it holds a very big place indeed. There are certain songs on the album that I love, one being in a YouTube video above. I just love Daft Punk so much, they’re by far one of my oldest and favourite bands. I’ve actually written a review of this album, and it’s pretty in-depth for anyone who may want to read it, I’ll link it here.

Image taken from weheartit.com

Eating: There isn’t any food that I’ve been eating much of lately to be honest… If anything my eating habits have gone rather odd. I find myself not having much appetite one day, and then I’ll want to eat everything another day. I recently tried a chicken, bacon, and three cheese toastie from Greggs. It was amazing and the thought of it at this moment in time is making my mouth water! A food I have found myself eating a lot is egg and chips… I don’t know why! It’s just so easy and simple to make to be fair. I had it for dinner earlier in the week when I was poorly and I loved it.

Wearing: The cold weather is slowly creeping back and with this it has meant I’ve needed to bring out my big parka back from out of the wardrobe. I love how fluffy it is and how huge the hood is on it. As well as this I have finally started to wear my new 101 Dalmatians Vans (post about those here) and they’re so cute and comfortable! I can’t wait to wear them on holiday next week. Speaking of coats too, I have dragged out my red cape out to wear for Christmas parties and popped on my cute new Pokemon pin badge (can see that here) so it shows my nerdy side!

Image taken from Skinny Dip London website

Wanting: There isn’t much I really want at the moment due to Christmas being just around the corner now (well just over a month away!) so meh I don’t know. There just isn’t much I am lusting after I guess. If there is one thing I want it’s more money to buy people’s Christmas presents, and time! Otherwise one thing I would like right now is the Skinny Dip London iPhone 6 Case with the gorgeous Glitter Unicorn pattern on it (can find that here) but I keep saying to myself to wait for it… I hope this has been bought for me for Christmas… 😛

So that was my third currently list! Which of these things are you currently doing at the moment? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time, take care all.

Daft Punk – Random Access Memories album review *WARNING LONG REVIEW*

Finally after eight years of waiting for the next studio album, Daft Punk have stopped the wait and released Random Access Memories on 20th May 2013. The album was available to preview on iTunes, which I listened to as I just couldn’t wait to have money to buy myself a copy (although I can safely say I have one now!)

Image taken from gq.com

A little bit of bio and some facts about Daft Punk, incase you didn’t know!

Daft punk consists of two French guys called Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo (the one who wears the gold helmet) and Thomas Bangalter (the one with the silver helmet).

The music genre they play is classed as house, although it does have elements of electronica, disco, funk and synthpop.

Although it seems like more, Daft Punk has only brought out 4 studio albums. Homework in 1997, Discovery in 2001, Human After All in 2005 and of course Random Access Memories in 2013.

Recognise this from the late 90’s? Well Thomas Bangalter was behind it! This was the only song Stardust brought out, but still to this day it’s one of my favourite songs.

In 2003 Discovery was turned into a Japanese-French anime film called Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem. There isn’t any speech throughout the film and in the order they appear on the album, the songs are created into different scenes and thus create the whole film. If you haven’t watched it, I recommend it, but if you’ve watched Daft Punk music videos, you’ll recognise the blue guys (and girl).

As many know, Daft Punk created the entire Tron: Legacy soundtrack, which was amazing! It was so great that they made an appearance in the film too.

The two make an appearance in the game DJ Hero, which came out in 2009. The game contains 11 new mixes which feature their songs, as well as other artists. The duo are also available to play as after you play their set in the game, which is pretty cool.

A group of chiptune/8-bit artists got together and created Volume 1 and 2 of Da Chip, Daft Punk songs in 8-bit versions. Both volumes are amazing and free to download! Some great chiptune/8-bit artists appear such as Sabrepulse, Knife City, Stage7 and more! Here’s the link to their website if you want to check them out and download the volumes.

Finally over the years Daft Punks costumes have changed, probably not enough for you to notice, but in total they’ve had four changes. If you’re curious how they’ve changed, check this website out! They’re amazing for any information about Daft Punk and I view it weekly for updates.

Image taken from Random Access Memories Wikipedia page

Right, where to start! I’m going to talk a little bit about each track on the album, just because I love each song so much they all need a say!

“Give Life Back to Music”
“The Game of Love”
“Giorgio by Moroder”
“Within”
“Instant Crush” (featuring Julian Casablancas)
“Lose Yourself to Dance” (featuring Pharrell Williams)
“Touch” (featuring Paul Williams)
“Get Lucky” (featuring Pharrell Williams)
“Beyond”
“Motherboard”
“Fragments of Time” (featuring Todd Edwards)
“Doin’ It Right” (featuring Panda Bear)
“Contact”

The first thing I can say about this album is how Daft Punk has changed their sound slightly to create a disco, electronic, funk sound and as usual, Daft Punk got it perfect! The album is being said to pay tribute to the late 1970’s – early 1980’s, which I didn’t realise until I read said statement. Plus the fact that the duo got Giovanni Giorgio on board, who at the start of “Giorgio by Moroder” talks about how he went from low to high with his own musical career, which of course started in the late 1960’s, early 1970’s.

Daft Punk got some well-known artists together, both young and old to help them create this album. Giovanni Giorgio who has worked with many artists over the years, one of these being Donna Summer. Julian Casablancas, singer of The Strokes features on “Instant Crush” for the vocals, as does Pharrell Williams from N.E.R.D. on tracks “Lose Yourself to Dance” and “Get Lucky”. Some other featuring artists include Paul Williams who has done too much for me to mention here, so I’d recommend you go Google him! Todd Edwards is known for his house and garage house tracks, as well as his various remixes of songs by Klaxons and Justice. Finally Panda Bear who I honestly had never heard of until Random Access Memories, he sounds like a cool artist to check out.

Right, let’s get on with talking about tracks!

“Give Life Back to Music”

The song that introduces an album has to be great enough that the listener doesn’t turn off and judge that the whole album is crap, based off that one song. “Give Life Back to Music” reminds me of walking into a discotheque from the 1970’s. Everyone dressed in amazing clothes, with beautiful hair and gorgeous faces, figures AND don’t even get me started on the shoes! This song just sums up what the album has in store for us, with funky lyrics such as ‘let the music in tonight just turn on the music, let the music of your life give life back to music’. It just sets the scene for the rest of the album and with that we have an amazing opening track. If this is what disco was like when my parents were my age, then I wish I was hitting 60 soon!

“The Game of Love”

One of the more relaxed tracks on the album, “The Game of Love” is a love song about someone having their heart broken, even if the lyrics are repeated throughout the whole song and thus pretty simple, anyone can relate to them and the sound of the track just makes it work. It has a more funk sound to it and follows after “Give Life Back to Music” perfectly! Even though you can’t hear the vocalist’s true voice (one, if not both of the guys sang in this track) due to them being altered and such, it just makes the track even better, as it fits with the sound of the entire song. The bass in the background is really chilled and I’m going to try and find a tab for it soon to play myself. This song is amazing, without lyrics or not you can tell it’s a heartfelt track.

“Giorgio by Moroder”

When I first heard this track it surprised me and not in a bad way! I heard a European guy talking about his life and his musical career and it’s just a really nice introduction to the track. It’s actually Giovanni Giorgio talking, who I mentioned a bit about earlier on in this review. From what I get about this track is that Daft Punk tried to take the track from various different periods of sounds, such as what Giorgio talks about in his speech, an example being, ‘I wanted to do an album with the sounds of the 50s, the sounds of the 60s, of the 70s, and then have a sound of the future.’ which I thought was really interesting. As you listen to the track from start to finish, it keeps a similar beat, but the style of music changes. One minute it sounds electronic, next funk, then disco and then maybe a bit of blues and soul thrown in there. The track is nuts, but it sounds absolutely amazing and when this is played live, the crowd are going to go insane! The end of this track shows the clicks that Giorgio talks about in his little speech, which is pretty cool and a perfect end to the song.

“Within”

I wasn’t sure what to make of this track when I first heard it, but after a couple of listens (well more than a couple!) I’ve finally decided. The introduction reminds me of something you would hear/see being played in a small underground jazz bar in the 1990’s. I can imagine a blues band behind playing the backing track, whilst a guy or even a woman who would sing this song. It seems rather sad and the lyrics show how lost the song is supposed to be. It’s a relaxing song, the lyrics are meaningful (once again) and this is something I know I’ll listen to a lot when I’m feeling lonely or down as the lyrics personally are something I have thought about every once in a while. Otherwise, this song is lovely and definitely one for the ladies… With lots of cats… I kid, I kid!

“Instant Crush” (featuring Julian Casablancas)

This is my favourite song on the album, by far! When I first heard it I just knew I would fall in love with every aspect of it. I didn’t even realise who was singing on this track until I went to Google, let’s just say I made a little squeaky noise. As well as this it’s the first track to have a full set of lyrics (if that makes sense). The song is about… You know what? I can’t even figure out what it’s about! I had a look online and various people think it’s about a guy in love with a girl, but he doesn’t have the courage to tell her and thus he goes to a friend and misses out on his chance to tell her. But honestly I’m not sure, either way it’s not a cheery song, even if it does have an upbeat sort of sound to it. Either way I love this song and I know it’ll be one of my favourites for a very long time.

“Lose Yourself to Dance” (featuring Pharrell Williams)

After a couple of the sadder songs on the album, we’re thrown back into a discotheque style with Pharrell Williams singing the lyrics and either (if not both) of the Daft Punk guys singing a very catchy, ‘Come on, Come on’ in the background. This is the type of song that would be played at a gig or festival that everyone can clap and dance to, whether they knew the words or not. It’s just a happy, go lucky song about dancing and losing yourself whilst doing so. Definitely a winner for hot summer months, especially as it has a funky feel to it, I love it and can’t stop myself from singing along to it, ‘Everybody on the floor’ will definitely get you up to dance on a night out with your friends!

“Touch” (featuring Paul Williams)

I’m not such a fan of this track like I am with the rest of the tracks on this album, but that is purely for the way Paul Williams sings, but that’s just personal taste. It reminds me of something you would hear on an 80’s kids show and due to this I think it’s why I’m not a huge fan. There’s just something about this song that doesn’t fit with me, might be because of the time its set in, the vocals. I don’t know, I just know the only part of the song I like is from 3:00-6:15. It might grow on me the more I listen, but least favourite song on the album, it’s normal to have a least favourite I’m sure!

“Get Lucky” (featuring Pharrell Williams)

The first single from this album and a great one at that! Really catchy for the spring and summer, got a great vocalist on the track and the words are just awesome, typical Daft Punk track! The more I listened, the more I realised how it’s pretty much about  having sex but the more you listen to the lyrics the more you realise it can mean more than that. It could mean the feeling you have when you meet somebody for the first time, whether it be on a night out or any other way. Either way, this song is awesome and if it is about sex, it isn’t that apparent and works! Good job with the first single guys!

“Beyond”

For sure my second favourite song on the album. Everything about it! The introduction reminds me of a superheroes theme tune, which I thought was pretty cool! Then listening to the lyrics it seems like they’re trying to say go out of your comfort zone and do things you wouldn’t normally. The lyrics are beautiful and so is the sound of the track itself. It’s relaxed, yet has a good beat with it. I’d describe it as a funk disco sound and for that it’s very unique due to what the lyrics are about. Overall beautiful song and everyone should hear it! ‘
You are the night, you are the ocean, you are the light behind the cloud. You are the end and the beginning, a world with time is not allowed’. Beautiful lyrics.

“Motherboard”

One of the two tracks on the whole album not to have any lyrics, but that’s because it doesn’t need them! When I first heard this track, I thought how amazing it sounded, but then  the odd and peculiar water sounds and effects came into the track and I didn’t understand them whatsoever! But the more you listen to the track, the more you can understand why they’re there. This track definitely builds itself up as it plays and it’s really nice. I’m curious why they called this “Motherboard” mind. My guess is something to do with a boat, maybe travelling around the beaches of some hot, sunny location like Ibiza. Either way it’s a lovely song though, something to listen to whilst travelling I’d say.

“Fragments of Time” (featuring Todd Edwards)

This is another one of my least favourites on the album. It’s a great song but the lyrics just seem a bit too happy for my liking, but I get why they’re that way. It’s to make people feel cheerful and bubbly and it’s nice in that sense. Now I think about it, I don’t exactly dislike it, but if I was to choose between this and “Beyond”, I’d pick “Beyond”! There’s an awesome guitar solo towards the end, which works really well! Could imagine this song being played whilst travelling somewhere in American from one state to another. Oh how poetic am I? You must have asked that a couple of times throughout this review! It’s a pretty cool track, great for summer for sure. I reckon it’ll grow on me the more I listen to it.

“Doin’ It Right” (featuring Panda Bear)

Another one of my firm favourites from the album. The song just has an amazing funky electronic sound to it that will definitely have singing along to it for a very long time! It’s pretty much a song about going out and enjoying yourself. I couldn’t imagine this being played in a club mind unless it was mixed or mashed in with something else, it’d be a bit awkward to dance to. The tune to this song is catchy as hell and I keep finding myself humming and singing ‘Doing it right everybody will be dancing and will feeling it right, everybody will be dancing and be doing it right, everybody will be dancing and we’ll be feeling all right’, which is the main lyrics to this song.  Either way I love this track, perfect for any day of the year, especially needs singing before and after a night out… In my opinion!

“Contact”

The final track of the album and the second one to have no lyrics whatsoever. It starts off with some NASA related talk, I’m not 100% sure where it’s from and when I went to Google I couldn’t find much about it either. I probably didn’t look properly though to be fair or missed the information. It sounds pretty cool though and not only introduces the last track of the album but it sort of helps to finish the album off too. The song is completely different to anything else on the album, sounding rather church like and then going into a bit of electronica, something that we all know Daft Punk is great at. It reminds me of something you would have heard on Discovery, which I love.

Okay this turned more into what I think of the album and how awesome each track is rather than a review. But I guess at the end of the day it was always going to be about what I like… Sorry LOVE about this album and why I think you, the reader should listen to it, if you haven’t done so already!

Overall this album isn’t a lot different to the style Daft Punk usually play, but it’s definitely a step forward into possibly creating a new genre for existing and new artists to try to create themselves. Daft Punk have inspired so many people and they’ll keep doing so, especially more so now Random Access Memories has come out.

Since Random Access Memories coming out in the UK it’s been in the number 1 spot for two weeks now, which is amazing! I’m not surprised but at the same time I’m really happy for Daft Punk, they really do deserve it!

I hope this review wasn’t too long for you (ahem it is like… 2,974 words!) and if you enjoyed it please, please, PLEASE leave a comment, like, share, do whatever you can to show your love. 🙂 If you didn’t then that’s cool.

This is the first album review I’ve ever written and I tried to write it the way I would want to read someone else.

I hope everyone had a great weekend, I know I did… Even though I was tired for most of it… But other than that, here’s looking to a new week huh?