Character Review! - Tuesdays with Ash

Heya guys!

Sorry that I didn't post last week guys! It was half-term and I spend most of my time sleeping! A brilliant excuse, I know.

Anywho, a couple of weeks ago Belle did a character review on Ian O'Shea from the book The Host, so I decided that I would do my own review on one of my favourite characters! (Just a heads up, if you guys haven't read Harry Potter yet there will be spoilers ahead so read at your own risk!)

If you hadn't guessed yet, yes this character is from Harry Potter and it is none other than... 

Draco Malfoy!

For you guys who haven't seen or read Harry Potter Draco starts off being one of the main antagonists of the books and stays as Harry's rival through the series, until the very end where he has a change of heart. As many of my friends know I adore this character and I have a crush on the actor who played him spectacularly in the films, who is none other than Tom Felton.

Since this review will be about the Draco in the books, Harry and him first meet in Madam Malkin's which is a clothing shop in Diagon Alley where they are being fitted for robes. They engage in polite conversation but it is clear from the way Draco talks, especially when he talks about pure-bloods being 'our kind' and calling Muggleborns 'mud-bloods' that he is extremely arrogant and Harry instantly has a dislike of him. During this entire exchange Draco has no idea who Harry is until when they meet again on the Hogwarts Express (or outside the Great Hall in the films) and he extends his hand in friendship. 

However, Harry completely disregards him as Draco had previously insulted Ron who Harry had just made friends with. Through the rest of the third year Draco attempts to make Harry's life a misery and even goes as far as to try and expel him. Draco is constantly followed by his 'henchmen' Crabbe and Goyle, and his most famous saying is 'wait till my father hears about this!'

Crabbe (left) and Goyle (right)

Throughout the first four books Draco is portrayed as a bully to Harry and his friends, with Rowling even suggesting that Draco was jealous of Harry's high status as 'The Boy Who Lived' which is shown when Draco ridicules Harry when Lockheart's having a book signing by saying 'you can't even walk into a book ship without making the front page'. Many people may wonder why I like this character so much and I honestly can't explain why, but it will start to make more sense as the book series continues.

It is in the 5th book (The Order of the Phoenix) when you start to see a change in Draco's behaviour, as his father (Lucius Malfoy) is send to Azkaban (a wizard prison) due to Harry revealing him to be a Death Eater (a follower of Voldemort). Draco attempts to hex Harry on the Hogwart's Express but his friends come to the rescue and Draco, Crabbe and Goyle end up going home looking like giant slugs! 

Draco's life takes a turn for the worst in book 6 (The Half-Blood Prince) as he has become a Death Eater and has been given the task of killing Dumbledore. It is told later that if Draco did not succeed in his mission, Voldemort would kill him and his parents instead. Draco spends the whole year trying to fix The Vanishing Cabinet so that the Death Eaters can enter Hogwarts. Draco's character changes drastically as he is shown to become distant from his friends and almost kills Ron and Katie Bell when attempting to kill Dumbledore. Draco himself almost dies when him and Harry have a wand fight (no dirty thoughts here guys!) in Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom but is healed by Snape. When the time comes for Draco to kill Dumbledore, he cannot bring himself to do it so Snape intervenes and all the Death Eaters flee Hogwarts.

Draco injured in Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom

During the last and final book (The Deathly Hallows) it is hard to tell whether Draco is still on Voldemort's side or has turned good. When Harry, Ron and Hermione get captured Draco is forced to identify Harry, in which he says 'it might be'. This is a huge character development for Draco as even though Voldemort has threaten to kill him and his parents, he still won't intentionally give Harry up. This means that there might still be a chance for Draco to prove himself. As well as this when Draco, Crabbe and Goyle flee the burning Room of Requirement with Harry, Ron and Hermione and Crabbe doesn't, it shows Draco morning for his lost friend which shows that even though Crabbe seemed no more than a henchman for Draco he was still considered a dear friend. 

It is also shown during the final confront between Harry and Voldemort that Draco does indeed have a close relationship with his parents. When Narcissa is ordered to check whether Harry is still alive after being struck by the Killing Curse, she lies about his being alive so that she will be able to search Hogwarts for Draco. After Voldemort dies, it is briefly mentioned that the Malfoys are all sitting huddled together showing that they are all alive and well. In the epilogue, Rowling has stated that Draco married Astoria Greengrass (the younger sister of a classmate of his) and they now have a son called Scorpio. When Draco sees Harry, it is shown that he gives him a brief and curt nod which symbolises that their rivalry is other and they are no longer enemies. However, on Pottermore Rowling has also stated that Draco and Astoria are not teaching Scorpio to be scornful at Muggle-borns and only be friends with pure-bloods, which apparently Lucius is not so happy with. But for all I could care, Lucius can go and stick his opinion where the sun don't sun as his son has grown up and has become a better person than what he was. 

Draco, Scorpio and Astoria in Kings Cross Station

This character has gone through many significant changes and has grown up into a good man in front of our very eyes. As you can see from the gif, he obviously deeply cares for his son and wife and I am so glad that he got a happy ending. With the amount of shit that happened in his life, I think that he deserves it. Yes, I admit that he was a douche to the Golden Trio but it is clearly shown in the books that he has grown out of that arrogant boy and if Harry can forgive him then so can you. Even though it may take Ron some convincing otherwise, with him telling his daughter Rosie not to get too friendly with Scorpio, as 'Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pure-blood'. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this not-so little review about Draco Malfoy and I hope that if you didn't like him before, that you may like him a little bit now. 

See you guys next week!

Ash xx

Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 Palette Review - Saturdays with Payton

Hey!

It is Saturday, which means today’s host is me…. Payton! So I hope that you all have had a wonderful week, mine has been a little crazy with getting back into the swing of school and working but thank goodness that it is finally the weekend! Anyway this week I wanted to give you a review on one of my favourite products, so let’s get into the review!

Today’s product that I will be reviewing is the Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 palette! Now I can tell you now that it will not just contain my review on the Naked Basics 2 palette but it will be a comparison to the Naked Basics 1 palette.

Firstly, if you know me I am absolutely in love with makeup and if you ask any girl what their favourite type of makeup is they could say, lipstick, blush, bronzer, concealer, mascara, eyeliner etc., my answer to that question is definitely eye shadow. I cannot live without eye shadow it is basically perfect!

So one of my favourite ranges of eye shadow is Urban Decay’s whole range of eye shadow but specific the Naked range, now I am going to admit that I do not own all of the different palette’s in the Naked range however that is because these are some of the first palettes that I picked up, and I straight away fell in love with them!

The Naked Basics 2 palette is the newest palette to the collection which was released in the second half of 2014. It contains 6 different shades and they are:
Skimp (pale nude satin)
Stark (nude-pink matte)
Frisk (warm grey matte)
Cover (muted red-brown matte)
Primal (muted brown matte)
Undone (deep, smoky, brown matte)

As you can see these shades are more grey oriented and this makes it really fun to play around with the Smokey eye! I could not tell you which shade is my favourite as they all work so well for any look, they are also work really well together with the Naked Basics 1 palette which I find is heaven!

To help you compare this new palette to its predecessor these are the shades contained in the naked Basics 1 palette:

Venus (white with a semi matte finish)

Foxy (yellow toned ivory with a matte finish)

Walk Of Shame (W.O.S) (Pale cream with pink tones)

Naked 2 (pink nude with grey tones)

Faint (Matte Light brown with red and charcoal undertones)

Crave (Deep, dark brown that is almost black)

What I love about the Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 palette along with the Naked Basics 1 palette is the size and the practicality of them. The size is wonderful as the palette can be taken anywhere as it is so small and lightweight so it can be easy to put in your handbag and you’re away! What I mean with the practicality of the palettes are that they are amazing for both day and night looks, and it is so simple to turn a simple day look into an effortlessly-looking Smokey eye ready for an evening out! The reason why they are perfect with making a day look into a night look is due to the fact that they are highly pigmented which is a dream for anybody who wants their look to pop and to last all day and night!

Overall I have no bad things to say about the Naked Basics 2 palette, I have had no struggle with creating amazing eye looks which get many compliments from my friends and family! This product is a must have for anybody as it can create such amazing natural looks as well as looks that make the eyes just pop!

So that’s it for today’s post folks, I hope you enjoyed my review of the Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 palette and the comparison to the original Naked Basics 1 palette. Comment what type of product that you think I should review next!

See you next Saturday!

Payton <3

Book Series' Reviews! (#1) - Tuesdays with Ash

Hey guys! =D

Can't believe that it's Tuesday once again! I swear these weeks are getting shorter and shorter as they go by! Anywho, this week's blog is going to be reviews on 3 different book series that I love! However, I shall refrain myself from writing a review about the Harry Potter franchise as I will go on forever and, basically, it's amazing and you should all go and read it. Now.

The series I've chosen are all quite different in their own way so I really hope that you'll see one that you'll enjoy reading! =)

1. H.I.V.E - By Mark Walden

This series is by a very talented author and I read through the entire series in under a week!

There are 6 books in this series:

1. Higher Institute of Villainous Education (H.I.V.E)
2. The Overlord Protocol
3. Escape Velocity, Dreadnought
4. Rogue
5. Zero Hour
6. Aftershock

As you can tell from the title of the first book, this series is based around a school in which teenagers are sent too a secret school *cough* kidnapped *cough* and here they learn all sorts of different spy tricks such as martial arts and building cool technology. It's basically a school to train kids into becoming the next James Bond, but as a villain instead.

Confused? Well, the fact is that there are even more villainous people in these books which these kids have to try and defeat. Even though it may sound a bit strange it shouldn't stop you from reading these amazing books! They are full of action with extremely clever plots as well as the occasional dash of humour here and there. The story focuses around a 13 year old boy called Otto Malpense and his group of friends and I just absolutely adore him as he is just believes he's an ordinary boy, but really he has such a tragic backstory. A bit like Harry Potter actually.

Anyway here's the blurb from the first book:

Thirteen-year-old master criminal Otto Malpense has been chosen to attend H.I.V.E, the top-secret school of villainy. But there is one small catch - he cannot leave until his training is complete. There's no way Otoo is going to spend six years studying something he has such a natural talent for. He is left with one option. Escape. He just needs to figure out how...

2. Chronicles of Ancient Darkness - By Michelle Paver

This next series is an old favourite of mine and I read these books way before I read the H.I.V.E series. This story is based in the time before the ice age and it focuses around a boy named Torak who has to survive on his own after the passing of his father. Luckily though, he finds comradeship in a lone wolf and you get to read about all the adventures they have together. This series is simply wonderful and is so different to any other story that I've read.

The author has clearly done her research into this as there are many different medicines and tribal traditions that take place throughout the book. Also, the point of view change from Torak to Wolf (yes, that is what he ends up naming the wolf) every so often and you get to see the world through Wolf's eyes which I find adorable as he has different names for objects and people. For example, he calls Torak 'Tall Tailless' from which you can guess why he does. At the beginning and end of each book there's a map of their world and they are all beautifully illustrated.

There are 6 books in this series:

1. Wolf Brother
2. Spirit Walker
3. Soul Eater
4. Outcast
5. Oath Breaker
6. Ghost Hunter

Here is the blurb of the first book:

Torak is alone... wounded, terrified and on the run. An outcast like his father, he has avoided all contact with the clans. But now his father lies dead: slaughtered by a demon in the form of a great bear. Somehow, Torak must keep going. His only ally is an orphaned wolf cub...

This book also has a great review from the actor Ian McKellen:

'Like other great children's books which also entrance adults. Wolf Brother conjures up an utterly believable yet original world.'

3. Inheritance Cycle - By Christopher Paolini

This next series is just stunningly beautiful as it creates a whole new world full of magic and most importantly: DRAGONS! This series got recommended to me by a friend of mine and we have a very similar taste in books so I gave it a go and I am so glad I did! The writing style is breathtaking and you seriously will just lose yourself in these books! The author was only 15 when he wrote the first draft of Eragon!

There are 4 books in this series:

1. Eragon
2. Eldest
3. Brisingr
4. Inheritance

They are quite chunky books, with the first one being just shy of 500 pages and the author even included a map of the world in the first couple of pages, just like in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness. There are also languages called the Ancient Language,  the Dwarf language and the Urgual language and Paolini (no idea how you pronounce his surname by the way) has added in a pronunciation guide at the end of each book! This series focuses on a boy called Eragon who finds a egg in the woods which hatches into a dragon, but someone else is also searching for this dragon and will stop at nothing to find it...

Here's the blurb of the first book:

One boy... One dragon... A world of adventure

When Eragon finds a polishes blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realises he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself.

Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic and power. Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands...

Right, I think that's it from me this week. I could write down quite a few more book series but I'm afraid that it would go on forever!

Hope you guys enjoyed this week's book series' reviews!

Ash xx

Sia's Elastic Heart and Broadchurch - Saturday's with Payton

Hey!

It's Payton again which means that it is another Saturday, woohoo the weekend! I am going to admit this now and say that usually I am stuck for blog post ideas however this week I have been inspired by a couple of different things which you can probably guess from the title of this post.

First though, let me give you a quick summary of my week, so it has been a week of mixed emotions and feelings really - don't worry its nothing too bad! So we started school back on Monday which was stressful as there was exams this week, luckily I only had exams on Tuesday so the stress was only short-lived for the duration of those exams! The rest of the week I was off timetable - which was amazing! However I thought that I should take advantage of the week so on Thursday I went into school with Maya and I finished some coursework which felt good as I had a big weight lifted off my shoulders as I was organised! Wednesday and Friday I generally procrastinated however I got myself into a new TV series - Broadchurch! (Don't worry I will give you a review of it once I have caught up on all the episodes!) 

Yes I've jumped on the Broadchurch bandwagon, but who can blame me this show is amazing! For me watching this is a big thing as I am into watching reality shows however this is a crime drama show. As most of you know series 2 has just started and I have only just started watching it, so to understand it properly I am going to watch series 1, which means you will get a review of it from me too!

I feel like now I have rambled on about my daily life, but do you know what I feel that posting on this blog kind of like a diary for me so yeah and now lets get into my review of the Elastic Heart music video by Sia!

So Sia's back with one of her different style of music videos than what the world is used to, also the amazing dancer Maddie Ziegler is back too (I am in love with this fact as she started out and is still on my favorite TV show Dance Moms) Elastic Hearts also stars Shia LaBeouf from Transformers and one of my favorite childhood shows Even Stevens. Now this music video has had a lot of media attention and controversy and very diverse opinions on it so much so that Sia has apologized for the suggested pedophilia which some say can be suggested from the video. I feel that was a safe move by Sia and I'm glad that was done so that people can actually enjoy the video because it is so artistically different from what people expect to see.

My personal opinion on the music video is that it is brilliant, it is such wonderfully choreographed, both Maddie and Shia work together to create something different and unusual yet something so captivating! I feel that I get past what everyone is worrying about as I am used to watching Dance Moms and everyone in leotards, but what I don't get is their outfits are nothing unusual that you wont see any different from what you see in a swimming pool where everyone accepts it - a guy in shorts and a girl in a leotard-like full swimming costume. Back onto the topic of how amazingly captivating this video is that it is only just that the song and the lyrics fit perfectly with the video but the last 45 seconds of the video is silent with Maddie and Shia still on the screen where Maddie's character  is trying to get Shia's character out of the cage that they were trapped dancing in. This part of the video is so moving and intriguing that I just love it!  

Many people interpret this video in many different ways, to many it looks like a father-daughter relationship of playing around - included with the strange funny faces that everyone makes, I have the same sort of interpretation as that, watch the video and you'll see why! I don't have much else to say on this review of the Elastic Heart music video by Sia as it left me speechless!

Anyway, I feel that this post has been extremely long but I feel that I needed to fill you in on my life this week along with my small review of the music video! Don't worry I have many more ideas for posts in the future!

See you next week!

Payton <3 

Lush Product Review

Heya guys

Well, it's safe to say this past week has been a pretty stressful week. Starting off the first week of term with mock exams - how fun (not!). But hey, I soldiered on through to earn the rest of the week off to chill, relax!

So anyways, enough about the boring aspect of life. I wasn't sure exactly what to write this week, so I thought I'd post a product review for you all.

For the last couple of months my obsession has definitely been with lush products. For all of you that may not know what lush is, it is a cosmetic store that sells handmade bath and shower products, soaps, makeup, lip care, hair care and plenty more. It is by far my favourite shop, everything in their smells soo good, good enough to eat at times!

I thought I would do a short product review on some of my most recent favourites!

1. Lush's exfoliating lip scrub. To use, you simply scrub your lips with this and follow up with some lip balm or tint for added softness and colour. This is perfect for those who get quite cracked and chapped lips as it leaves them feeling super soft and smooth. They currently sell this in three flavours; Mint, Bubblegum and popcorn -they also bring out a cola flavoured one at Christmas time! I own one of each, and even though it is a little sweet, bubblegum is by far my favourite.

2. Dirty Toothy tabs. Now, these may sound a little weird, but they actually make my mouth feel so clean and fresh unlike regular toothpaste. They're so easy to use, simply just wet your toothbrush, place a tab in between your front teeth and nibble to break it up. It will begin to foam and you then begin to brush your teeth following a rinse and spit. I like to use these In the morning for a clean fresh feeling, but use regular toothpaste in the evenings.  These also come in a wide variety of flavours, but my favourite so far would definitely be "Gorilla Perfume" because of its spearmint flavourings.

3. Shower gel. Lush create a wide range of shower gels, of all different scents and textures in order for you to find one that works best for your skin. My recent favourite has been "It's raining men".  With honey added to soothe and retain your skins moisture as well as sweet wild orange oils that just perk me up and lift my mood in the mornings. 

4. Bath bombs. My all time favourites from lush are their classic bath bombs. You simply just plop them into your tub of hot water and let them dissolve. With such a wide range to choose from, there are just so many that I fall in love with. I still have some new ones I received for Christmas to try out, such as Phoenix rising and cinders, but at the moment these have been my absolute favourites.

Firstly, my all time classic favourite would be the adorable butter bear. With scents of vanilla and cocoa, and cocoa butter pieces, your skin feels soo smooth after this bath.

My second favourite would be golden wonder. This doesn't just turn your bath a beautiful blue-green colour, it also has glitter and stars added, to leave your skin feeling all soft and shimmery. For me personally it smells sweet, but not over powering, and sort of a tropical scent.

And finally, my third favourite is twilight. This slowly turns your bath the most beautiful deep sparkling purple. It contains ingredients such as lavender, which help to clear your mind and soothe you. This is my personal favourite when it's been a long day and I'm tired, I'll use this in a steamy bath to follow up with what usually is a good nights sleep. 

That's all for now guys, see you next week!

Love, Maya♡

It's not an Eve (This War of Mine Review) - Wednesday's Child

GREETINGS Y'ALL!

Welcome to my first post of 2015. What a year. I can see this year is going to be filled with new beginnings, laughter, love, smiles and funtimes. 

Just kidding. It's going to be another stress filled nightmare. Enjoy yourselves, because I know I will be. 

I was originally planning to start one of my regular segments, but I've been sidetracked over the past week. I finally got my Steam account working, and managed to download the two games I've wanted from it for ages; This War of Mine and Papers, Please. 

Now lemme tell you a thing about This War of Mine. It rocks. It's awesome, and I love it. Not a game filled with laughter, love and smiles it is a game that will most likely haunt you and make you question all your moral choices. 

The game was recommended to me by a friend months ago, and after finally downloading it I found it was a much simpler format than I'd first assumed. It's a platform point and click style game, and at first I had my doubts, but within the first few minutes I was hooked, (and it may have become my new addiction). 

Set during a civil war in a fictionalized Eastern European country, you play as a group of civilians with (with the exception of one character) no military training. With snipers positioned throughout the city during the daytime your characters have no option but to work around the house, crafting tools and objects to help them survive, while during the night they have the option to sleep (on the floor or on a bed if you've crafted one), guard your home from possible looters or go out and scavenge. 

Each of your survivors brings a unique skill to the group - one is trained in combat, another is a fast runner, and another is good at brokering deals. They each have a limited amount of backpack space, so you have to choose carefully and prioritize what your group needs that evening. There are one or two locations that are safe to scavenge without any interruption, but most places are guarded or have people living in them, so stealing is needed. If you're caught stealing, you'll be attacked, and depending on how combat-efficient the victims are, your character may be killed, and the supplies gathered will be lost. There are also many options to trade - a character will regularly appear at your house during the day to barter, there is a priest often found at the church willing to trade, and sometimes soldiers will be willing to exchange items for cigarettes and booze. If you're lucky, you'll open the game in the version of the city with the trading center, which is filled with bartering opportunities.

Your characters are affected directly by events in the game. Obviously, they will grow hungry after a day without food, and then three days later will become very hungry. Two days after that they will become starving, and after that they'll die of malnutrition. The death or injury of a character will affect the mood of the other characters, as will stealing, killing civilians, or not completing some actions (such as helping neighbors or saving the women in the brothel.) Being raided and having supplies stolen or characters injured will also affect the morale of the group, so building defenses is advised. 

The game is tricky to complete (it took me countless tries and some consulting of the online wiki and it's unofficial counterpart to get to the ceasefire, and even then one of my group members died). But it's worth the ten pounds and half hour download time from Steam. I'd rate it a 9/10 as there are some patches that need to be made (but are more annoying than hindering, and I'm only picking up on them to be nit-picky). 

It's gritty, it's difficult, and it makes you question your moral compass. And as it's based on the war diary of a survivor of the horrific events of the Siege of Sarajevo from '92-'96, it becomes more hard hitting and more gritty. Despite this, as an uncomplicated and plotless game, it is excellent, and my top videogame recommendation.

Happy gaming, and as always, 

I'm with you 'till the end of the line, folks ♥