I Won!

While I was on holiday I received a message on Twitter telling me I had been lucky enough to win a pin from punkypins.co.uk. I had completely forgotten that before I set off I randomly retweeted some Freebie Friday tweets. I always do those halfheartedly, never believing for a minute that I might win. You can imagine my surprise and delight then, to realise I actually had. It was such a nice treat to return home to. I became a bit nutty about pin badges in my last job where I decorated my lanyard with them. This little pin, being multicoloured and heart-shaped, is right up my street. Its so cute! It was also really nicely packaged which always makes receiving a parcel that much more special. I was also impressed that the lovely people who sent it spelled Julianne right- that never happens! Its amazing how with just the click of a button to retweet a competition you can win something that will brighten your day! A big thank you to Punky Pins (who you should definitely check out) and apologies to those of you who follow me on twitter whose feed I clog up with these retweets (hehe).

Harry Potter and The Cursed Child Review

This is a spoiler-free book review I hadn't actually planned on buying or reading Harry Potter and The Cursed Child for the simple reason that although I am a huge HP fan, I've never been very drawn to the 'extra' stories that have been released since the seven books came to an end. I think I was initially put off by the fact I could never find the extra stories published by J.K.Rowling to read online and I didn't even get to the Sorting Ceremony on Pottermore as I found it quite boring. I do love finding out extra or background information about the series itself through facebook fan pages, and I am really excited to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Anyway, my whole attitude changed when my mum came in from Sainsburys one day a few weeks ago with a copy of The Cursed Child for me as a treat. Having the actual book in my hand made me so, so excited and I wanted to read it straight away. My uni reading list took a decisive backseat. It was like I was back when the original books were coming out and I had the chance to relive the excitement and anticipation of a new story. The story is in two parts and is just over 300 pages but it only took me a night to read the full thing. 
One thing I will address straight away is that The Cursed Child isn't a narrated novel like the original Harry Potter books- its the script of a play. In many of the reviews I read, this majorly put people off. To be honest though for me it wasn't a big deal. I'm quite used to reading scripts as literature on my course and I didn't miss the depiction of scenery or description of character as much as I thought I might. I think the main thing you have to do when reading this is take it for what it is- the script of a play which is intended to be acted out rather than read. For this reason I would really love to see the actual show. The writing isn't anything like the original books, which is to be expected considering it was actually written by Jack Thorne. It might be considered a little misleading that J. K. Rowling's name is so prominent on the front cover.
I had pretty mixed feelings overall towards the book. I thought the plot line was quite predictable, like something a fan would come up with. Perhaps if it had taken a more decisive step away from the original story, it wouldn't be judged so harshly against it. I think it struggled in forging a link with original story while staying true to it. For example, the Harry in The Cursed Child and the Harry of the original series seem to me like two completely different people. It's a really fine line between wanting to know what happened when Deathly Hallows ended and having your expectations ruined. For me, I've decided to try and appreciate the details about the future, like what the golden trio are working as, without letting it ruin the impression I held at the end of book seven. In other words, I'm trying to be thankful that we got a little bonus, extra story after all these years, keeping in mind it could never truly live up to the original books.
I did like the introduction of the younger generation, and the exploration of the Malfoy family. In fact, Scorpious Malfoy was my favourite character. For me he was the most likeable and the least one dimensional. Again, I don't want to sound too harsh because I know that characters who may seem one dimensional in a script are supposed to be brought to life on the stage. I also liked the twist (which I won't say explicitly for fear of ruining it for anyone) as it was pretty unexpected, though perhaps a little hard to believe. 
As you have probably gathered, I didn't love The Cursed Child, but I didn't hate it either. I appreciate the story and the excitement of going back into the magical world but I sort of preferred the story ending where it was. It allowed HP lovers to form their own opinions of what happened next, what is really what you're supposed to do at the end of the story. The bittersweet nature of an ending is not being told anything more, but being able to guess at it.

September Haul

I have convinced myself that since I'm going back to uni soon, and (ahem) won't have time to spend money, I should spend my summer earnings now. Anyway, I need lots of new outfits for going back. I'll go to any lengths to justify spending.  Jeans are always a tricky item to buy. Usually either they don't get past my thighs or they are massive at the waist so when I find a style I like, I always buy multiple pairs. I've always wanted a pair of Topshop jeans but when I tried on a pair of Jonis a few years ago they were disastrous. I hadn't even considered that other styles would be a totally different story. I'm now in love with the Leigh and Jamie jeans. I struggle to get my size in store or online so when I seen 2 pairs I just went ahead and bought them both (with a slight tear in my eye at the till). I also really love the Zara basic range. For simple tshirts, you don't pay much more than Primark and you get better material, fit and quality. 
I saw the Barry M lipliners recommended on a Youtube video a couple of weeks ago and since I'm pretty obsessed with brown lip products at the moment, I picked one up for £2.99. While I was in Superdrug, I stocked up on my favourite Simple skincare products as they were on special offer and came with a free Vaseline. I also bought MUA's Pixel Perfect bronzer. I've used their Mosaic Bronzer for years and love it but it seems to have been discontinued (cry) so I've decided to embrace its replacement. Finally, I had a voucher for a No7 Match Made lipstick from the bonus-time summer box. The woman at the counter done a skin tone analysis and gave me a little information card with the shades that best suit me. I've already mentioned my love for brown lipsticks at the moment so I used my voucher to get 'Spiced Latte' worth £9.95! 
All in all, it was actually a pretty sensible shopping trip as I see myself getting plenty of use out of all of this.
What have you bought lately? 

Sleek Face Form Palette in 'Light'

I stumbled upon these pictures in my 'To Post' folder from around a year ago and I can't believe the length of time I have been using the Sleek Face Form Palette without writing a rave review about it. I had read lots of great things about Sleek palettes before taking the plunge and buying one of my own. Coming in at £9.99, its more than I would usually spend on 1 high street makeup item so I had to do that thing where I go into Boots, look, swatch, and leave at least 3 times before I actually bought it. I am so glad I did though because I haven't stopped using it since. 

The packaging is really simple - a wipe clean black- and the palette contains a large mirror which is ideal for when you are applying on the go. I realised my initial hesitation at the cost was unnecessary as you're getting 3 full sized products: a blush, a highlight and bronzer/ contour for £10. Each shade is great quality and applies easily. The swatches actually don't do their pigmentation justice. 

The blush is a lovely rose pink and its gold shimmer acts as a highlighter in itself.  The highlight is a very pale pink/ white but not chalky in the slightest. The highlight is actually my least used of the three as I prefer a more gold based highlighter and my favourite is the MAC MSF in Soft & Gentle. However, the absolute stand out of the palette, and probably worth the £9.99 itself is the contour shade. I went through many drugstore bronzers trying to find one that would work as a contour but they were all too orange, shimmery or difficult to blend. This matte brown works excellently with my skin tone as a contour shade and I apply it with the Real Techniques Contour Brush (reviewed here). 

This is definitely the best cheek & contour palette I have found so far. I am still quite far from hitting pan on the blush and highlight so I might see if I can purchase the contour shade individually as I just couldn't go without it. 

What is your favourite Sleek product?

Makeup Revolution Iconic 2 Palette

I can't quite believe that I'm typing this but I think my MUA eyeshadow palettes have finally been knocked off their podium of my most unbeatable and most used eyeshadows. Elf couldn't do it, Accessorize couldn't do it, even the Naked Palette couldn't. Who is the new kid on the block you might ask? Well, it probably won't be new to many of you because I was very behind when it came to jumping on the Makeup Revolution bandwagon. 

For £4 in the Makeup Revolution Iconic 2 palette you get 12 gorgeous neutral colours: a mix of matte and shimmer. It ranges from pearly nudes to classic shimmery browns to golds to muted grey. This palette is my only go to at the moment where previously I would use 2/3 at once. The colours are so pigmented but there is very little fall down during application. They blend out really well and harmonise with each other really nicely. You can achieve so many different looks with this from simple daytime to dramatic smoky for night. I find this palette to work best over the top of Maybelline's Color Tattoo in On and On Bronze to lock the shades in place. 

I can't believe how long it took me to buy one of these palettes considering the storm they've caused in the blogging world. The amount of comments on blogs I've written saying 'I've still to try this' or 'I must give this a go'! For £4 it is definitely worth it- even if like me you already have eyeshadow palettes coming out of your ears. My MUA palettes aren't completely forgotten about and will no doubt make a return when the initial infatuation with MakeupRev dulls, but even then, this palette is a strong contender for HG and will definitely be a repurchase.