Review | Books ♡ October/November

Books have never played a big role in my life. I always find myself having troubles with choosing a book and when I finally do have a book, I sometimes just forget that I'm reading it, and when the story isn't exciting enough from the beginning I just put it away and leave it on a shelf to catch some dust.. 

BUT, a few weeks ago I thought to myself: "why just not start reading again" and I decided to pick up some books and this time I would keep reading even if the first five pages aren't that appealing. So let me give you a quick overview of what I have been reading since then. (Disclosure: I am in no way experienced in giving proper reviews so bear with me as I just let you know what I think.) 

KITCHEN - Banana Yoshimoto

"Kitchen is the story about Mikage, a young woman who is left without family after her grandmother's death. She moves in with a young man (whom she barely knows) and his transsexual mother. Death, loneliness and love are the main themes in this story, just as in Moonlight Shadow, the second story in this book." 

I bought this book for two main reasons which may seem a little stupid; 1) it's written by a Japanese (and because I'm studying Japanese it appealed to me), 2) it was dirt cheap, I got it for just €1,-. 

After reading it, I can't really say whether I like it or not. The book was really well written and easy to read, but it lacked something. Normally I like my books to build up to some kind of climax where all bits and pieces fall into place and everything becomes clear, but this book doesn't really have that. Especially the first story is more or less a description of Mikage's life without anything substantial happening. Fortunately, the second story does have a moment supreme, but I won't tell you because I don't want to spoil it! 

So I'd say that this book was easy to read, but I'm not sure if I would read anything more of Banana Yoshimoto. 

HAVEN OF OBEDIENCE - Marina Anderson 

"Twenty-something Londoner Natalie Bowen is envied by many, but her personal life is a disaster. Men can't cope with her career succes and Natalie thinks she'll never find real happiness. 

Then she hears about an exclusive weekend retreat called The Haven, a place that specialises in introducing people to pleasures they could never have imagined. Shocked at the idea, but unable to resist finding out more, Natalie decides it's time to put her fears behind her. 

Once at The Haven, Natalie meets the enigmatic and disciplined Simon, a man who is used to getting what he wants. And Natalie may very well have met her match..."

On the front of this book is a sticker that says: "Devoured Fifty Shades?" Well yess, I actually have! So I was super excited to read the book, but it turned out to be quite a disappointment. I got the feeling that miss Anderson just wanted to profit from 'Fifty Shades's' success. There was a lot of sex, and when I say a lot, I mean A LOT! Now, I don't mind the frequency, but the book just lacked sexual tension. The main character, Natalie, is forced to have sex with complete strangers.. and she does it.. without much hesitation. Err.. isn't that a little weird? In Fifty Shades fireworks were basically shooting from every page, the main characters were longing for each other so bad! But in this book? Hardly. 

Such a disappointment this book was.. :( 

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS - John Green

"Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten."

I bought this book because there was such a craze about it. After hearing so many positive things about both the book and the movie. I decided to buy it and give it a try. I haven't finished it yet, but my expectations are high! I also haven't seen the movie yet, so don't spoil it for me, please!! 

Until now I really like this book, I feel like Hazel has a similar character to mine and the way that Augustus is portrayed makes me smile a lot.
I can't wait to read more of it! But again, please people.. don't spoil it for me! :D

Do you have any suggestions on books I should read? 

Which books did you really like? 

I'd love to know!

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Review | LUSH Turkish Delight & Popcorn Lip Scrub

Hi everybody!!

It is already November and it's getting colder and colder every day, which means that I'll be craving for long, hot showers even more than I already do. And what could be any better than to pamper myself with a delicious shower smoothie from LUSH! 

I present to you the 'Turkish Delight' shower smoothie. *Sigh*.. I love this smoothie so much! 

It's very soft, it just melts on your skin and the smell of more than a thousand rose petals will make you feel super fresh and clean. It'll even make your bathroom smell like a flowergarden, yummy!

I thought this product was quite pricey (€31,50 for 200 ml), but the smoothie is very thick and I only need a little to wash my entire body, so it'll last for a good while. Also, everything is made by hand, so ofcourse this will show in the amount of money they'll ask for it.
Even though this product is so delicious, I will not be using this every single day. I want it to be special and extra pampering on nights when I really need it. ;)

 As you can see it's quite thick and slightly pink, and yep, you can also see that I've already used it. Haha! When you buy it, it won't look this messy, I promise! 

Apart from the smoothie, I also decided to buy the Popcorn Lip Scrub. In the autumn and winter I tend to get very dry and chapped lips, and since I had never heard of it before (shame on me, I know!) I thought: "What the hell, I'll just try it". 

As this little container already makes very clear, it is a Popcorn Lip Scrub, and it actually tastes like popcorn. It contains sugar and salt to scrub your lips (so it both tastes salty and sweet, I don't mind licking it off my lips :)) and Jojoba oil and coconut oil to make them feel extra soft. 

This little fella cost me €9,65, which is also quite pricey for my taste, but .. ah well.. I just did it (I'm such a badass!). 

After I used it for the first time, I actually noticed that my lips were softer and that most of the dry, chapped skin was gone. I finished it off with a little lipbalm and my lips were ready to face the cold, dry weather again! YESS 

As a rookie in the world of LUSH I still have to try lots of products, so if you've got any suggestions, I would love to hear about them.

What is your favorite? 

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Review | HEMA make-up

Yay! My very first make-up review!!

Whoooo!!

Even though I don't wear a lot of make-up, I still use a little to hide those small imperfections (you know what I mean ;)) 

So, for today I'm gonna show you some make-up I bought at HEMA. For my non-fellow 'Dutchies', the HEMA is a warehouse where you can buy basically eveything (love it!) for a very good price! It also sells a whole range of make-up items and other types of cosmetics and right now I'll show you what I think. 

5/5

First we have the CC foundation. This is the first time I have ever tried this foundation and I have to tell you, I absolutely love it. 

It covers my blemishes really well, and it also hides the dark circles under my eyes

 It feels really soft and it blends in with my skin really well.
I also think that the pump is really handy since I've had a few bad experiences with foundation tubes where my hand got completely covered in foundation :( So yeah, gotta love the pump!
Price: €10,-

4/5

Next we have the mineral compact powder. 

I use this product to finish off my skin and make it stop shining. 

I really like this powder, even though it's a little 'dusty'. You can see the a little loose powder on my face, so most of the time I have to get rid of that in the end.
Price: €5,50.

3/5

This was my first nailpolish from the HEMA collection, ever, and I absolutely love this color, it's perfect for autumn days! You can't really tell from the picture, but this color is a dark wine red color. So, I tried it that same day (hihi, couldn't wait!). It didn't give full coverage the first time I applied it and it left little streaks, but the second time covered these streaks and gave my nail the right color.

It says on the bottle that it should be long lasting, however, my experience is a little different. After 2 or 3 days, the nailpolish starts to come off :( And when I'm having long nails (I usually don't) it leaves markings on my desk.
Price: €2,50

4/5

Last but not least, the brushes. I never ever used brushes in my life, I always applied my foundation with my fingers, but recently I started getting annoyed by having to was my hands every single time before I could continue with the rest of my make-up. So I figured I should give these brushes a go and I was pleasantly suprised. The foundation brush makes it really easy for me to apply foundation and it doesn't feel so icky (I started feeling that using my fingers was unhygienic). 

I also bought a powder brush, but even though the HEMA doesn't sell a smaller one, I really have the feeling that this brush is maybe a bit too big for me. It sometimes feels like I'm being dusted off with a feather duster. But what do I know, since this is the first time that I have ever used brushes for applying make up.
I can't really remember what the price of these brushes were exactly, but I thought that the powder brush was around €3,50 and the foundation brush €3,- 

Overall impression

I really like make-up from the HEMA! Ever since I started using make-up (age 13?) this has been the store where I would buy everything. It has such a reasonable price and for a girl like me who doesn't feel the need to use a lot of make-up, it's just perfect. 

I hope you liked my FIRST make-up review!

If you have any questions/suggestions/tips or advice, comment me!

Thank you!
Byee x

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