2015 READING CHALLENGE: OCTOBER ROUND-UP

In October I read 5 books, meaning that I have read 56 books in 2015. I re-kicked my Harry Potter obsession this month and now it's basically all I ever think about. I also started but didn't finished 'Not That Kind of Girl' by Lena Dunham, I just couldn't get into it and I really couldn't stand the writing voice of the author. I am currently a little over 100 pages through 'Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian' by Rick Riordan, the final book in the series.

Books Read:

1. 'Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?'- Mindy Kaling 
I love Mindy Kaling, I read this book in around November last year but I wanted to re-read it, as I've been watching the US Office and I wanted to re-read what she'd written about it, as it didn't make sense to me the last time. I also wanted to re-read it before her second book came out at the start of October. The first time I read this book, I thought it was only okay, I gave it about 3.5 stars on Goodreads but this time, ohmygosh, this time, I absolutely loved it. I flew through this book in about two days, it was a five star read and I'd consider it one of my favourites. Definitely worth a re-read, it was incredible and hilarious and insightful and oh I just love Mindy so much.

2. 'Why Not Me?'- Mindy Kaling
The minute I saw this was coming out, I wanted to read it. I also had no clue that it was coming out so that was a nice surprise. I found this one a slower read than Mindy's first book, I wasn't as into it as I was the first book, but I'm wondering if it'll be the same case as before where I'll absolutely love it if I re-read it. I still really enjoyed it, I enjoy Mindy's writing style and her topics, and I still absolutely love her.

3. 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'- J.K. Rowling 
Now this book. This book. This book. This book has always had a bad rep as being the most boring of all the Harry Potter books, it's very, very, very long and fairly slow paced, and it's always seen as everyone's least favourite. I'm re-reading the Harry Potter series at the moment and I was very apprehensive about this one, I read it when I was quite a bit younger and I was wondering if being older would change my opinions of it (my parents said it wouldn't). But OHMYGOD I absolutely loved this book, everyone I say this to thinks I'm crazy because of how negative the perception of it is but it was incredible. I was absolutely hooked and I'd go as far as to say that this beast is in my top three Harry Potter books. (Top three, previously two, four and seven, currently (as I write this) one, three and five with number six fighting it's way into the top).

4. 'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince'- J.K. Rowling
After I finished Harry Potter five I was somewhat obsessed, I literally didn't want to do anything else apart from read more Harry Potter, so I did. And holy shit this book was incredible. I flew through this in about three days (it's a 600-and-something-page book) and it was just so, so, so good. I'd always said how good the film of this book was but it really does not do the book justice. There's so many things in the book that aren't in the film and it's just amazing, I absolutely loved all the bits with the memories and the horcruxes and just wow. I can't believe I only have one book left to re-read.

5. 'Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth'- Rick Riordan
I'd tried to start this book twice before I finally got down to reading it, but the other times I just hadn't been in the mood. But this time, I was so in the mood and it was absolutely incredible, I loved, loved, loved the labyrinth and, obviously, I'm absolutely in love with the genius use of mythology. I love Percy, Rick Riordan is a genius, this is the best book of the series so far.

FAIRYPANTS

I discovered the Chester-based, handmade, independent company 'Fairypants' on Twitter a while ago and I absolutely loved the idea of some of their products, though I've only very recently remembered about them and decided to have another look. (How amazing is their brand name and logo by the way?)

I dropped some water on it, which annoyingly damaged the label ever so slightly

Fairypants is a vegan company, and I'm not vegan, but I simply couldn't resist trying their lip balms after I saw the flavours. Fairypants' lip balm speciality is 'cocktails and cakes', and with a mixture of cocktail or desert flavoured lip balms, how could I resist? All Fairypants lip balms contain Shea butter, jojoba wax, sweet almond oil and natural colourings and flavourings, have you ever see a more lovely line-up of ingredients? (As they're a vegan company, all products are natural and none are tested on animals).

Choosing a flavour of lip balm was a near impossible task for me. Personal favourites of mine from the cocktail range were Irish cream, mojito, margarita and ameretto and cola. And from the deserts range I was tempted by key lime pie, banoffee pie, sticky toffee pudding, cherry bakewell, blueberry muffin and parma violets. They have 20 incredible flavours of lip balm, all for £3.99 each, plus many other cosmetic products.

In the end, I opted for Irish Cream after a very lovely conversation I had on Twitter with the creator/owner/inventor (I don't know what to call her) of Fairypants. I really like it when business owners get involved with people on Twitter, it adds such a nice, personal touch and it makes me all the more keen to support their company. After asking exactly what Irish Cream smelt like (exact Twitter reply: 'happiness, Rosie. It basically smells like rich coffee, and Irish Cream liqueur. Like pouring bailey's into your cuppa') I couldn't resist; if you seen the ingredients photo (above) you'll note that it contains coffee and whiskey, though it's definitely not alcoholic. This lip balm does smell incredible, I occasionally find myself sitting in my room and sniffing it while I'm browsing online. You can definitely smell the coffee and whisky but it's so good and not at all overwhelming; you can't smell it while it's on your lips, but I prefer it that way. The creator of Fairypants has said online that this lip balm is one of the more Christmasy scents, and it can definitely makes you feel all warm and wintery when you smell it. I'm desperate to try out some of the other scents, which are bound to be equally as incredible.

Now onto the lip balm itself. When I first opened it, it looked like a hard balm and I was fully prepared for that, but surprisingly it turned out the be the complete opposite. The minute I touched it, it was a lovely smooth and creamy texture that feels really good on the lips. It sinks into your lips, rather than just sitting annoyingly on top, though this does depend on how much you put on. If I'm at home or before bed, I tend to be very generous with my lip balm application, so it takes slightly longer to sink in, but I wake up with beautifully soft lips the next morning. One of the things I like about this lip balm is that it's thick but not at all greasy, and everyone knows I really cannot stand anything greasy.

It's no secret that I've tried a hell of a lot of lip balms in my time, but I'd go as far as to say that this is one of the best and one of my current favourites. I've been using for a little over a week now, and my lips are super soft and smooth. They started to peel slightly after I didn't use the lip balm for a couple of days, though that is most likely due to the awful weather, and they healed literally over night with the help of this product. My lips do not like the winter weather and I can already tell that this product is going to be a life-saver over the next few months. It's such a lovely lip balm, the thick and creamy texture is incredible and my lips feel amazing. I'd highly, highly recommend, I can't rave about it enough, and I'm itching to try out some more of their stuff.

BOOK DEBATE #2: HARDBACK VS. PAPERBACK BOOKS

A few months ago I did a mini book debate on kindle vs. physical books, so today I'm going to do another one on hardback vs. paperback books.

My beloveds

If you watch booktube, you'll see that everyone is obsessed with hardback books, there are quite a few people who only buy their books in hardback. While there are some perks to this, I personally also have quite a few negatives towards it as well. The main perk to buying hardback books, obviously, is that you get to read the new books straight away without having to wait for the paperback to come out. I normally choose to wait for paperbacks (unless it's something I'm truly desperate for, looking at you, Harry Potter) but the waiting can be agonising sometimes.

I'd also like to quickly add here that I like small books to be in hardback, like J.K. Rowling's 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard', that's so small and thin, it would not be a good book in paperback. Or fancy copies of things. They always have to be in hardback as well. Mostly my debate is just arguing the negatives rather than the positives, because the positives are all basically that they're pretty books and everyone likes pretty books.

Obviously, the negative points of one format are going to equal the positives of the other. The most notable one being price; price as a negative for hardbacks and a positive for paperbacks. Don't get me started on the general price of books, I personally think that £6.99-£8.99 is a ridiculous price for a book (that's why I mostly get my books from Amazon, Book Depository or the library). Saying that, though, the price of a hardback book is even more ridiculous. Say your average hardback book cost between £11.99-£14.99, that's a crazy amount of money to be paying each time you buy a book. So yes, though there are negatives to the cost of buying books in general, it is definitely much easier on your purse to be buying paperbacks.

Some personal issues I have with hardback books are their size and dust jackets. I find dust jackets unbelievably annoying, they constantly slide about when you read, the edges of the jacket constantly get damaged, and you can never put them on properly again if you take it off, it always looks weird. I tend to remove the dust jackets and then lose them, which is why I'm so grateful that books like Harry Potter have the same design underneath the dust jacket as well as on it; I have absolutely no clue where the dust jackets for Harry Potter six and seven are. I know it looks nice if the book underneath the dust jacket is all plain coloured or patterned nicely, but then you don't get to appreciate the cover if you do lose the dust jacket. My other issue is the size. Hardbacks are HUGE. Most of the time, if you ever see me reading a hardback book, I'm holding it with two hands. My hands or not big enough and my wrists not strong enough to hold the book with two hands like I do with paperbacks. Hardback books are also much taller, which equals more two-handed reading.

There is one major con to paperback books, that being the amount of damage they sustain. I personally love cracking the spine and being able to lie all of my books flat (we'll get to that later in a different book debate), but it pains me so much when the cover gets bent, which often happens with paperback books. Firstly, the cover bends when you read it, which is immensely annoying when the book is no longer flat when closed, but even worse, occasionally the corner of the cover gets bent. You can bend the cover back to normal as much as you like, but it'll never look right again and that breaks my little heart. Cover damage is a sin. Another issue I have with the cover of paperback books is that the plastic covering on the front will sometimes start to peel off. I HATE this, it's awful and it makes your books look awful and publishers should never, never put a plasticy cover over the front of books. It looks kind of like when you cover your hands in glue and peel it off, but less fun.

Overall, however, I much, much prefer paperback books. Nothing thrills me more than a brand new, unopened, fresh paperback book, and no fancy hardcovers will ever change my mind of this. Paperbacks look so nice on the shelf together (nicer than hardbacks, in my opinion) and I can't express my love for a good, nice-feeling paperback.

OCTOBER PLAYLIST

You'll see a trend in this playlist that it's mostly entirely Clean Bandit. I've been discovering some new artists, rediscovering old favourites and finally joining the Clean Bandit obsession that my best friend has been on since last year.

(Check out those screen protector air bubbles)

'Uma Thurman'- Fall Out Boy
I challenge anyone not to dance when they hear this. I've loved Fall Out Boy for years now and this is definitely my favourite from the new(ish) album. It's so catchy and I like to sing along as loud as I can.

'Breezeblocks'- alt-J
I was first introduced to this song last Christmas and I still love it. I'm not all that bothered by the rest of alt-J's stuff but this one is absolutely incredible, it blows my mind.

'Rihanna'- Clean Bandit
This is another song that I was introduced to last Christmas, the first Clean Bandit song that I really enjoyed. I still love this song, I love the use of (what sounds like) xylophone, and my dad really loves this song as well.

'Mozart's House'- Clean Bandit
I never used to enjoy electronic music, I used to basically avoid it and look down on it a bit but damn this is catchy. I think it's so clever the way Clean Bandit mix electronic and classical music together, their violin and cello playing is absolutely beautiful and I am really enjoying their stuff.

'King'- Years & Years
Some more electronic stuff that I would never have listened to until recently. I don't have all that much to say about this one, I like it and I like the lyrics a lot, it's my favourite Years & Years song, give it a listen.

'Help Me, Rhonda'- The Beach Boys
A classic favourite. I rediscovered this recently and remembered why I loved it so much, I've had it on repeat for a while now and I just love, love, love the Beach Boys.

'Shine'- Years & Years 
This is probably the most popular Years & Years song at the moment, and the one I first listened to. It's super catchy and I have to resist dancing to it when we play it at work.

'Stronger'- Clean Bandit
More Clean Bandit, more stunning instrumentals, more love.

'Hold Me Down'- Halsey 
Everyone's obsessed with Halsey at the moment and I'm slightly behind (I've only just started listening to her). I wouldn't say I'm obsessed, I wouldn't say I'm that big a fan (I don't like all of her stuff), but this one is really, really good. I approve.

'Telephone Banking'- Clean Bandit
The final Clean Bandit song, I really love this one, it's so catchy and you can't help but enjoy it.

'Strange Love'- Halsey
More Halsey but I wanted to give this one some recognition as well (and also to mention that the album cover for 'Badlands' is so stunning). The chorus for this is catchy and great.

SKIN SAVIOURS

I have bad skin, it's not as bad as it once was, but it's still pretty bad. This is something that I have come to accept, though I'm always on the look-out for good spot treatments (and concealers- but we all know that already). One brand that I'd never tried before is Clearasil, but I spotted it at work (you can probably guess where I work) and I thought I'd give it a try.

I picked up two spot creams from Clearasil, the Rapid Action Treatment Cream and and Blemish and Marks Treatment Cream. The Rapid Action cream claims to 'visibily reduce spot size and redness in four hours', and the Blemish and Marks cream claims to 'clear blemishes and fight the appearance of red marks'. The majority of my problem with my skin is that I have a lot of scars, marks, blemishes and redness from previous spots. Both of these creams are twice-daily applications and came in at under £6 each.

First up, the Clearasil Rapid Action Treatment Cream. Clearing spots in four hours is a very bold claim, but this little cream surprised me. I put it on for the first time over night and I definitely noticed some changes the next morning, and my mum noticed it as well. This cream and I have got on very well. It reduces but it definitely doesn't completely clear spots within four hours, not that it claims to, I'd say it takes about two or three days for the spot to go totally. It has definitely helped me a lot and I'd highly recommend.

Now for the Clearasil Blemish and Marks Treatment Cream. I'd like to start by saying that this cream smells incredible, it has a kind of fruity-shampoo scent and my whole face smells really good after using it. I also have to say, though, that it is immensely drying to the face. I have dry skin anyway, but this leaves big dry patches where I've used it. Saying that, I'll live through dry skin if it means I have clear skin, and the dryness is nothing that can't be fixed by some good moisturiser. I'm not so sure about this cream, it has faded my scars, not as much as I would have liked, and I'm still a little bit red in the chin and forehead areas; I use it at the same time as the Rapid Action cream. I have definitely noticed some change in my scars so I'll definitely carry on using it, but I'm not entirely convinced.

I'm definitely going to try more Clearasil products soon.

Rosie

AUTUMN/WINTER WARDROBE WISH LIST

Autumn is one of my favourite times of the year and, now that it's October, I feel like I can finally start dressing all autumnal and enjoying scarves and hot drinks and just general autumn-ness again. I also really love October, it's just a great month, definitely autumn but not too cold. As I do love a good list, I've made a list below of my wardrobe wish list for the coming months.

1. Roll Neck Jumpers 
Also known as the humble turtle neck or polo neck, I've previously not been too much of a fan of high-necked clothing, until now. I'm really loving this style, I think it's really flattering, and I've already bought a black roll neck jumper but I'm eyeing up more in different colours.

2. Button-Down Skirts
I didn't know what to call this style of skirt so I've gone for the obvious. Literally just a skirt with buttons down the front. I want a denim one but I'm also thinking of getting a camel coloured cord material one, which I think would look great with my black roll neck jumper.

3. Stripes
I just love stripes. I want everything in my wardrobe to be stripey. T-shirts, jumpers, long sleeves, short sleeves, I want so many stripes.

4. T-Shirts 
Recently I've become really into plain or simply-patterned t-shirts and sleeveless tops. I want to introduce more into my wardrobe as they're so simple but effective.

5. Cardigans
There's a distinct lack of cardigans in my life and that needs to change. 

6. Fjallraven Kanken Rucksack 
I know I got a new rucksack recently and obviously I'm still absolutely in love with it, BUT it's more of my version of a handbag than anything else. It's just slightly too small to comfortably fit a pad of A4 paper, and definitely not big enough to carry a ring binder, and that's my defence for wanting to buy a new bag. I really love the Fjallraven Kanken bags, who doesn't? My best friend got one for her birthday and that made me love them even more. They can carry an A4 ringer binder and textbooks, which is perfect for college, and this is me just basically convincing myself that a £70 bag is worth it (I can use it for uni as well, yes). I might just put this on my Christmas list.

7. Jumpers 
It's no secret that I really love jumpers, and I'm bored of all my current ones so I want more.

8. Denim Jacket
The denim jacket is such a classic and flawless look and I want to take part in it. I'm more inclined to get a slightly over-sized one (or I might just borrow my brother's).

9. New Black Jeans 
My black jeans are basically grey so it's high time I got some new ones. I'm planning on getting exactly the same ones as before, which are the Topshop Jamie Jeans, my favourite jeans (as everyone knows by now- see previous post).

10. Tweed Shorts
If you go right back to September 2013 on this blog, you'll see that I wanted some tweed shorts. I still don't have any. I still want some. It's getting ridiculous now.

11. Trashy Christmas Jumper 
Yes, of course!? I want one that looks like an entire Christmas pudding, it's a wardrobe essential that I can't believe I don't own.

12. Waterproof Coat
I want a really nice waterproof coat, not a hiking one or a jack-in-a-pack, but I really nice, thick proper one. I have one ordered and it will be featured in a outfit of the day post, most likely in December. Watch this space.

WHEN SIMPLE WORKS BEST - OOTD 05/10/15

Recently I've become quite a fan of basic t-shirts and wearing the colour white. I find that simple clothing looks really good a lot of the time, and I am really in love with one of my latest buys; this simple white top is from New Look and has a cute pocket on the front, it's quite slouchy (which I love) so it isn't just a boring, plain white t-shirt. I like to wear it with the equally simple-but-effective blue jeans and I either wear it with black Dr Martens boots or white Converse low-tops. With simple clothing, I also like to layer quite basic and low-key necklaces.

Just to add, I wanted to write a quick paragraph here about my favourite jeans. Topshop Jamie jeans. I've been favouring this style of jeans for well over a year now, I have them in black and blue, and I think they're possibly the most perfect jeans I've ever found. I think it's quite important to invest in some nice-quality jeans, because jeans tend to last ages and ages, so I don't really find myself minding about the £40 price tag. I like my jeans to be skinny, and these definitely are, they hug my legs in a flattering way and they haven't become baggy and misshapen over time, which is perfect. They're the style known as 'ankle grazers' so they finish just on my ankle bone, but I think that's a pretty good look with folded over socks and low-cut shoes. All in all, I love these jeans. I think they're perfect. The perfect style, the perfect fit, they've lasted ages without having to buy a new pair, and they have a soft denim feel (for some reason, I like my denim items of clothing to actually feel like denim, that's important to me when buying jeans). I can't see myself changing my jeans style for a long time.

Top- New Look (£6.99)
Jeans- Topshop Jamie (£40)
Shoes- Dr Martens (£100)