March Favourites | 2015

Hi there, and welcome to my March Favourites! At the end of every month I will show you the things I have been loving recently, from Makeup products and books to films and music, and I am sure that other things like Instagram (bookstagram) accounts will come up as well. I hope you enjoy!

No7 face powder and Essense lipstick // £15

As a boy who wears makeup, it is essential for me to find the perfect face powders. I need ones that will give me that flawless look, while also keeping all of my make up on, and the translucent loose face powder from No7 does that, it looks white, but really has a beautiful finish to it. And while my OTT bold lips are the topic of a lot of controversy with some people, I can go neutral. This Essence Barely There lipstick is one of my favourites, it's a little darker than a nude, but works really well if you have a paler complexion than most. And what's better than an amazing nude lipstick? A nude lipstick that's cheap!

 

Quote Charm Necklace // £9.50 // Oh Panda Eyes

 

When I found out about Oh Panda Eyes on Etsy, I impatiently waited for the owner to put up her personalised prices and then as soon as they were up I put in an order! I decided to go with the charm necklace as it added a lot more character, as you can see on the picture I chose a musical note.

 

"You were so busy trying to be my saviour that you left me all alone" Where She Went, Gayle Forman.

 

It arrived within 3 days after it being dispatched and I am so happy with the product. It's definitely worth the price and the owner is so lovely and easy to work with. If you have a book in mind and a quote, but not sure on what charm then she will help you with that. And these aren't just good for yourself, but make the perfect birthday/Christmas gift to all bookish people.

 

 

Confess by Colleen Hoover and The Winners Curse by Marie Rutkoski // The Book Depository

I'm currently reading The Winners Curse by Mari Rutkoski, it's a YA Fantasy which is one of the genre's I am not a fan of. It can be good sometimes, but I find it hard to get into, however, The Winners Curse is so good. I'm 70 pages into it and the characters are so real, funny. The writing is also so poetic, lyrical. I love it!

My favourite book of the month was definitely Confess by Colleen Hoover. I am a huge fan of New Adult books, but I'm also a fan of art, so combining the 2 really worked well for me. I was crying within the first 10 pages and then the story got better and better, the more I read. If you haven't picked up a Colleen Hoover book yet, then you must!













  












I have 2 TV shows to talk about this month, the first is Once Upon A Time which has just got on
Netflix UK. I wasn't too sure if I'd like it, but after 3 episodes I was hooked. I'm currently on Season 2 Episode 2, I'm definitely liking the direction it's going in. My favourite characters are Snow White/Mary Margaret, Rumplestiltskin and Jefferson/Mad Hatter.

The other show I want to talk about is RuPauls Drag Race. Season 7 started this month and I am so glad that it is back, because I have missed it so much. This season definitely isn't as good as past seasons, but it's still an entertaining show. My favourite Queen is Trixie Mattel, although she sadly got eliminated in Episode 4. RuPaul has now made the worst decision in Drag Race Herstory!

 

 

#JusticeForTrixie

 

 

If I Stay // Chloe Grace Moretz and Jamie Blackley

 

I watched If I Stay this month and absolutely fell in love with it. I read the book back last year and enjoyed it, but got a little confused, the movie is a lot better with it's flashbacks. Chloe Grace Moretz definitely was the star in the movie and she deserves every success!

 

 

Free Fall // Hanna Koffler and Max Riemelt

 

Free Fall isn't exactly my favourite movie of the month, in fact it's my all time favourite movie. Free Fall is a German LGBT movie about two police officers, Mark and Kay (Pronounced Kai) who fall in love, despite the fact that Mark has a child on the way with his girlfriend.

The reason as to why I have listed it on my favourites is because the producer announced this week that there may be a sequel, which I have wanted since watching Free Fall (You can also watch it on UK Netflix). The ending broke my heart and I need to now what happens......

Now, there is only one way us fans will get the sequel and that is by crowd funding. There is a Free Fall 2 page set up and crowd funding will begin within the next month or two!

The last favourites I want to talk about are songs. I'm quite the picky person when it comes to music, but this month I have listened to some amazingly beautiful songs.

Hold Back the River // James Bay

 

Eye of the Needle // Sia

 

Sacrifice // Zella Day

 

What have you been loving this month?

Reviews, no more!

Picture used from @LovelyReads on Instagram

 

A few weeks ago I entered my depressive state and started thinking about stopping blogging for good, but then I listed my least favourite reasons of being a book blogger and there was only one thing: writing up book reviews.

 

Book reviews are not at all easy to write, in fact they are very time worthy. A review may take me up to 2 hours to write, whereas in that time scale I could've written up 3 or 4 other blog posts. And the real truth about book reviews are that they are the least viewed/watched. People are scared to read a review in case they are spoiled, which I understand, because no one likes being spoiled on a book.

 

So this morning I woke up to an eye opening blog post from Queen of Contemporary - Bye, bye reviews! In the post she discussed that writing book reviews are seen as being a "real" book blogger, but in fact, is not.

 

So from now on, I am shaking the book blogging core and bringing my own way of introducing you guys to great books. Every 3 months, I will be posting up specific book recommendations from the books I have read during that time period (Dystopian, Fantasy, Contemporary and New Adult Recommendations). Each and every genre will have their own recommendation posts, which I hope everyone will like.

 

Writing book reviews doesn't show our love for books, our love for books come from our hearts and my heart is brought out while writing about any book, whether that be in a book tag post or a book recommendation post. But just know, I am so happy about this change! And I hope you welcome it with open arms.

The Fights of a Teenager - Depression

As most of you guys can tell, I have been away from my blog for quite a long time and it's not because I've fallen out of love with blogging or reading, it's because I have relapsed. Again. Back in 2013 I was diagnosed with Severe Depression after a long stint on bullying.

Since 2012 I've been battling with Depression, but it took me a year to finally go and see the doctor who could officially diagnose me. And while I not always down and glum, I still feel different on the inside.

A few weeks ago, I did something that changed my whole world again. I began to get suicidal thoughts and just wanted to throw it all away. My family. My friends. But most importantly, my life. Attempting suicide isn't new to me, back when I first came out I tried to commit suicide twice before finally telling my parents that something was wrong with me. And while I have changed over the years, everything felt the same. I felt like I was back to my 16 year old self, who had no confidence, hardly any friends and was just in a hard place. I didn't see a way out and while I feel like I can talk to my family, friends, you guys, I just didn't want too.

My life has always been hard. It's not like it's scarce. But when you're dealing with suicidal thoughts everything bleeds away and you find yourself trapped in your own mind. My life became my death and I hated that. But I can't force myself to get better, just like a drug addict can't force themselves to get off the drugs. It has to happen naturally.

"Faking a smile is so much easier than explaining why you're sad."

Right now I am not 100% myself.

I took time off to get better, but I've only gotten worse. I'm still active on facebook, twitter and instagram but that is it. I don't really talk, it's just an update here and there and I feel like it's time you guys got to know why.

At the minute I'm still on my break and sadly will be for another 2 weeks, but someone from Hodder publicity got in contact with me asking for my review of a book they sent me. A book I've read and have yet to review because of my break. And while I feel like I should review that book ASAP, I also feel that I need to focus on my own life and get better all round.

Being a reviewer for such amazing publishers is something that I can only thank you guys for, and I have every bit of respect for the publishers and the people who work there, however, it would be nice to have my life taken into consideration. My review policy states it can take up to 4 weeks to get a review on the blog and that's not changed since I've started. So, yes, I will get the review up of the books I was sent, but they'll be uploaded when I am back from my break.

If I come back from my break.

I'm not crying out for attention. I never have and I never will. Who I am is who I am, and I love myself. Nothing can stop me, but Depression is a life long battle, one that I will continue to fight while you all live your lives.

I hope you take into consideration that I am trying my hardest to recover and get back up on my feet and that I won't be not reviewing the books I've been sent. They will get a review at some point.

Now, have a good week and I'll talk when I'm back.