London 2012: Fencing

Hello there!

If you're escaping the miserable weather by trapsing through blogs like me.   I thought I'd post some pictures of the sabre finals of the fencing at the ExCel in London.  I was very lucky to go and watch a sport that I did not previously fully understand.

All in all, it was incredibly exciting, and congrats to Hungary for the fabulous Gold Medal.

Nail of the Week: Sydney Sands

Hey guys!

This week I've been obsessing over China Glaze' Sydney Sands.  It's a fantastic nude that just makes your outfit look so effortlessly chic, as well as making your hands and nails look incredibly elegant.

Try it out, you won't regret it.

50 Shades of Grey or 50 Shades of Lame?

E.L James' erotic literature sauntered it's way to number 1 on the UK bestsellers list 2012 back in March.  I know I'm pretty late on commenting on this book, but after finally giving the book a chance I thought I'd put my own thoughts out there.  The novel evolved from the online fad of fan-fic (For those of you who may be slow on the uptake, it generally tends to be sensual fiction about fictional or real people).  And since the boom in popularity with eReaders, women no longer have to feel ashamed of reading novellas such as 'Fifty Shades of Grey' in public!

Christian Grey is a successful, handsome business owner whose sexual desires disables him from having any other form of connection with a woman.  Anastacia Steele, the heroine (if we can call her that) is an inexperienced English Literature Student with big aspirations and a desire for something more.  Basically to cut a long story short they meet, become attracted to each other, and spend the majority of the novel getting down and dirty while Christian Grey waggles his wallet and treats Anastacia to alot more than sexual desires.

The fact that this novel reached the Bestseller's list is mainly due to its gimic rather than for any literary prowess.  I feel as though the author could have maybe done a bit more to keep the readers interest as once you've read one extremely descriptive intimate moment, it does get boring.  I mean come on, how many times can you keep referring back to Christian's bulge? By midway I was ready to put the book down.  However if you can get past the abundance of description and just accept that this novel is more trash than classic, then it does make way for an ok read.  I personally didn't find this to be an amazing novella, it's aim is to shock and in some senses it does.  But I don't see how she could fill out this story to make it into a trilogy, let alone make it's way to number 1 on the Bestsellers list.

5/10

The Book Challenge.

"Read, read, read. Read everything - trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it."- William Faulkner (1897-1962)

Hello there!

As a Literature Student you would probably expect my room to be flooding over with books and a distaste for reading anything other than classics.  On the plus side,  I still have that passion to read even if my room is starting to resemble a second-hand bookshop.  Although I do have 5 or 6 books a week to get through for my classes, I still find time to read anything I can get my nose into.

Whilst my friends are happy to blow their loan on booze, shoes and other pretty things, I have a serious problem with buying books.  Every time I am in a bookshop I end up buying a book or 3.  EVERY...TIME!  Well anyway I'm rambling.  I have noticed that I have a few books (non-uni related) that I need to get my nose into, and so I have decided to set myself a challenge.

The Challenge: Finish the small pile of books that I have been meaning to read in 4 months before I am allowed to buy more.

I have allowed myself 4 months to get through the books that have been on my bookshelf for a very long time before buying any more books. Then that splurge in Waterstones will feel ever so wonderful. 

 The books are as follows:

1. Joseph Conrad- Heart of Darkness
2. Philippa Gregory- The White Queen
3. Charlotte Bronte- Shirley
4. Judy Bloom- Tiger Eyes
5. Suzanne Collins- The Hunger Games
6. Veronica Roth- Divergent
7. Emma Donoghue- Room
8. Julia Williams- Last Christmas
9. Trisha Ashley- Twelve Days of Christmas
10. Trisha Ashley- A Winters Tale

Post a comment if you have any goals yourself and what they are :)

xoxo.

Feather Hair Extensions: To buy or not to buy?

Feather Hair Extensions became popular in the US around 2 years ago with celebrities such as Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez sporting the look. In the past year the UK has began to adopt the trend into the fashion community and slowly but surely, feathers can be spotted in most fashionista’s hair. I bought my feathers from a seller on eBay for around £6; although this does

seem steep it did also include micro rings and the threading tool I needed to attach into my hair. The feathers I chose were black, a dark blonde and a grizzly feather but when I received it I wasn't too sure the colours would blend well with my hair so I placed them on the underside of my hair.

(Mine once they were placed in)

Now the marketing of these hair extensions is that you can curl, straighten and blow-dry them. However in my experience I don’t see how this is possible; I tried to curl and straighten them on a low heat setting, but they just looked straggly and in poor condition so that experiment pretty much ended there. After that I decided to let the feathers dry naturally and tried to do little as possible to them to maintain the condition.

(The feather curly and straight)

In terms on how long they last for: I have read that they last between 2-7 weeks, but some have stated that their feathers lasted for 3 months! I was really hopeful mine would last for at least 2 months as I do very little to them to warrant them in ‘poor condition’ but it has not even been 1 month and the longest feather has fallen out. I want to superglue the feathers together again (as I’m adamant that it is only the binding has wore off!) but after discovering more of the ethical side towards the animals I think I’ll just let them live out their life span. After all they are only meant to be temporary.

I don’t want to ramble about the ethics of the feather hair extension industry, simply because I would be a hypocrite. I did know some aspects of how the roosters are treated but after reading a few more articles on the matter I am definitely wishing I hadn’t given my money to support it. In terms of whether they are worth the money? In my opinion, not really! mine haven’t really lasted 3 weeks and they also definitely didn’t live up to the expectations; however they are a little bit of fun to spice up your hair without doing anything too drastic.