sorry!

Long time no speak!! I'm so sorry for not blogging in a while, I've been stupidly busy with uni assignments and a little project and stuff, so have had very little time to express me thoughts on here or update on what's been occurring in my life :(
However, I am finished my second year of university on the 7th May, so I will be blogging a lot more frequently from then on!!! (can't wait!!)
To update, a few highlights over the last few weeks have been...

• Handing 2 out of 4 of my assignments in - halfway there!!
• Seeing Funeral For a Friend live - I've loved them since I was like fourteen, so that was pretty epic!! Me and my boyfriend Caine went and saw them at the student bar at Leicester University this time last week - they weren't on for very long and it was a very small, quiet and private gig, but we had a great time
• Finally saw ... THE EVIL DEAD RE-MAKE! I will most likely write about this in detail in a few weeks, but all I can say is that I was fairly blown away (especially for a horror re-make that had a LOT to make up for compared to the original!!!)
• My cough that have I had since January 1st is FINALLY disappearing - HOORAY
• Aaaaand...Student Loan day = a happy Emma who can relax about money for a bit!
• Oh and I've also booked to go Blackpool with my boyfriend on May 20th, which is pretty exciting!

I'm also possibly going Download Festival in Donnington in June (I'm not sure if this is going to happen at the moment though), and I'm going to buy two tickets to see Bastille when they go on sale tomorrow, which will be on October 17th at Leicester University's O2 - which I've been to many time before and it's great!

I am in De Montfort's university library at the moment to start preparing for my next -and final - essay of the year - so wish me luck!

Recent cinema views and mini reviews!

Stoker

Directed by Park Chan-Wook, this psychological thriller begins on India Stoker’s (Mia Wasikowska) father’s funeral, who has tragically died in a car accident just after his daughter has turned eighteen, leaving her with her widowed, distant mother, Evelyn (Nicole Kidman). Mysteriously, on the day of the funeral, her estranged uncle Charlie (Mather Goode) turns up, after he has grew tired of travelling the world; whilst seemingly pleasant, India is initially wary, as this is disturbingly the first time she is told of his existence. Whilst India is at first cautious, Evelyn is won over by his charm, and gladly allows Charlie to move in for a while. Upon moving in, however, mysterious events begin to occur; from brutal slaughter scenes to sexual encounters to unanswered questions, this film is ideal for one who likes to be on their toes and guessing until the very end.

What’s good? Wasikowksa flourishes as the lonesome coming-of-age woman whom finds herself thrown into a bizarre, alluring relationship with her uncle. Goode is rightly creepy with a fixed hardened but humorous persona throughout. Towards the end the twist becomes slightly obvious, but it’s still a successfully shocking ending. The cinematography throughout is also impressive and the music compliments the tone of the film throughout.

What’s bad? Mother Evelyn is irritating; she heartlessly neglects to mourn her husband and becomes fixated on Charlie a bit too quickly. Also, India seems to neglect really obvious elements within the narrative; for example, she doesn’t seem to realise obvious hints of close ones disappearing, and when she founds out the reasons for their disappearance, she simply shrugs them off.

Side-Effects

Doctor Jonathan Banks (Jude Law) is a successful psychiatrist, with numerous patients who praise him highly. He begins treating Emily Taylor (Rooney Mara), who has a long history of depression but appears to be on the road to recovery, even after the death of her husband, Martin (Channing Tatum), whom dies shortly after being released from prison. However, upon testing her in a new drug trial of anti-depressants, his career hangs on the balance; Emily takes a rocketing turn for the worse and once the press and his colleagues get involved, his career his hanging on the edge. However, to outline his innocence and what he believes to be a ‘fake’ patient, he attempts to seek out the truth and get her exposed as a phoney.

What’s good? Jude Law successfully suits playing a serious and intelligent psychiatrist, whom is determined to find the truth and save his career. The visual tone of the film is excellent; clear, bleak tones throughout denote the mood of the film, which is mainly pessimistic and thought-provoking.

What’s bad? The film is fairly slow-paced; it is like a mini rollercoaster throughout, as you think the turning-point is approaching with Law making a possible breakthrough, but instead various slow-paced scenes follow. The film gets heated at about 20-minutes in which shocked the entire cinema audience and gets you involved, but a dull atmosphere follows this. The ending also seems rather rushed and forced.

Oz the Great and Powerful

 

Starring James Franco as Oscar Diggs (the Great Oz), Mila Kunis as Theodora, Rachel Weisz as Evanor, and Michelle Williams as Glinda, this fun and funky family film is a great Disney adventure that explains the origination of the prequel to the 1939 MGM film, The Wizard of Oz. Oscar is a mischievous magician, whom cons and is deceitful to his audience, his single friend (scrubs man) and the majority of women he meets; upon escaping the clutches of the circus that he is involved in, he arrives on a hot-air balloon in the Land of Oz. Upon his arrival, the citizens of Oz are won over by his fake compliments, with them believing he is the great Wizard who they have been waiting for to save them by defeating the Wicked Witch. He promises to help, but his greed is still shown; only if he can keep the gold that the palace is consumed by – will he overcome his selfishness and attempt to save the great land, even though he not actually a wizard?

What’s good? Whilst I did not see this in 3D, I know it would be a typically magical, Disney experience; whilst not a classic Disney picture, it is full of colour, laughter and – a few – happy songs. The film is visually stunning, and loads of the cute, quaint characters will surely win you over – children will definitely love it. Michelle Williams’ depiction of Glinda is exquisite and welcoming.

What’s bad? The choices of actors didn’t win me over – Mila Kunis’ transformation (I will not spoil!) did not persuade me at all; she is irritating throughout the motion-picture. Whilst children will love the bright colours and happy scenes, the scary scenes are fairy eerie and jumpy; you may want to cover their eyes at the introduction of the flying monkeys!

recently purchased!

 

Not posted about stuff I've brought or the kind of clothes/style I like, so here's a quick blog updating on stuff I've brought this week!

I'm usually pretty strapped for cash - I've not been out clubbing in over a month, which is very unlike me!!! - but I got a bit of inheritance this week, from my Nanna's house who sadly passed away on October 1st last year (may you R.I.P.) xxxxxxxxxx

I've been known to either OVERALLY save my money in the past (i.e. refusing to spend any of it), or go on to completely blow it all; numerous pay days have been sadly missed within the week of it entering my bank! I was at my worst in 2011 in my Freshers year, where I went out spending £30-40 weekly on a night out. By November, I was having to borrow money off my dad again, which left me in debt for my next student loan - which quickly dwindled again!

Having grown up - both physically and mentally - over this past year though, I am a lot more sensible with money. Having just said, I don't go town as much anymore (even though I love a good night out, wasting so much money in just a single night is ridiculous - I have no idea how I just about afforded it last year!!!); I am also focusing on the future a bit more, so savings for my holiday to Spain in July, for example, has been nicely stashed away in my money tin on my windowsill :)

Therefore, the money I received the other day is going to be fairly precious; there's nothing big I'm aiming on buying (I'd LOVE a lizard, but for now... no :( ), and I'm considering buying the Frasier boxset which would be about £50, but nothing too extreme at this exact minute! I'd rather use the money for nice meals out, cinema and the occasional partying instead of using large wads of it on one item - consequently, I will carry on as I have been doing so by spending my money sensibly, but I can relax that teeeeeeny bit more than usual :P

 

Therefore this week, I have a treated myself! (Only a little bit!!!!!!!) Here are some of the items I have brought;

 

 

HEADBAND BOW

 

 

 

I've had my eye on this for a while, and now I've finally gone for it! It is plain black headband, which is a comfortable fit (even on my mahoosive head), with an ENORMOUS black blow with white polka dots! It has a few layers of material which make it sticks out and give the WOW-factor; whilst OTT for some, I love it! I have lots of little bows and clips and headbands that I like decorating my head and hair with, but the majority of my bows are clips, which tend to fall out or rip and pull my hair, which can get annoying and put me off even wearing them!

Having tested it around the house for the last half-hour, it is comfortable; I'm a bit unsure of how to actually wear the bow - in the middle? Towards the right like the majority of my hair on my parting? - and the head band is only just fits behind my ears (due to my massive head), but it is comfortable. I look forward to wearing this on a night out!! However, I will worry that if I'm stupidly intoxicated, I'll mosh my head and it'll fall off, or people will steal it :( only time will tell!

MAKE-UP

I don't tend to buy make-up all that much; I do try to take notice of when they go out of date, but as they only supply the pot symbol with a label of '6 MONTHS' or '12 MONTHS' or whatever, I tend to forget when I ACTUALLY brought the bloody thing; do they want me to write down the date I buy everything I own?!? But anyways, I have lots of pretty glitters and bright colours and a range of make-up, that I rarely experiment with now but like to have fun with and plaster my face with when I'm in the mood.
Correction - plaster my EYES with, as I don't actually have lots of foundations/concealers/blushers/creams/moisturisers/blushers, etc..., but I do like my eye make-up!  I think this originates from my 'emo'/'greb'/'goth' days, where I'd wear layers and layers of eyeliner and dark shades and plaster the side of my head with flicks and swirls of liquid eye-liner goodness. PLUS my pale skin and ginger complexion equal...pale eyes :( as well as having blue eyes (I don't mind this - I quite like it in fact!), my eyebrows and eyelashes are sadly very light, which means I look like a squinty, shrivelled-up alien without mascara or eyeliner :( but moving on... *cries*

 

Today I brought this! ^^^^ it's an Maybelline eyebrow Pencil, which cost me £2.99 from boots. It has a browny/goldy pencil one end, with a little eyebrow brush the other. I've gone for years not bothering with my eyebrows - I've always liked the shape and thickness of them - but having reviewed past photos of me recently, one thing - or should I say two - strike out; the lightness and barely-there eyebrows!! Therefore, I've played about with some of my mums eyebrow pencils recently, but thought I should just be hygienic and buy my own.

Whilst I am blondey ginger and the recommended shade for this is for Dark Blonde females, I chose this colour as it was quite similar to one I've been using of my mums.(Also, I doubt they'd supply redhead eyebrows pencils - who would want orange eyebrows?!) Having played with it earlier they're not tremendously different, but they look quite natural and a bit more prominent, so I'm happy with this product for now :)

 

 

I also brought the above item; a 'Wink Black Marker for Eyes' eyeliner pen by Barry M, at boots again. This cost me £4.59 - whilst I would never usually spend this much on an eyeliner, I got this product as I've used it before and I really like it! It took me buy surprise earlier, as I've been using my old one for quite a while now which has become very soft, so this one felt like a stab in the side of my eye! However, it flicks on very well, and for someone who likes to wear their eyeliner pointed at the ends and occasionally on their upper lid, I would recommend this to any fellow eyeliner lover

 

 

 

 

A T-SHIRT

 

 

I got the above top from Topman earlier for my boyfriend for a little present. It's a small, black short-sleeved top, which is soft in material and was reduced from £20 to £10 in the sale. I thought it was nice, as it's quite casual and can be worn on a casual day, but it is also quite stylish and would look nice if you were just going out for drinks. It has two white tie-dye strips going horizontally across it, which look quite cool and not too OTT, extreme or 'hipster'-ish. If he doesn't want it, I'll certainly wear it! :D

 

TICKETS

 

I got two tickets to see the band Funeral for A Friend at the o2 Academy in Leicester, at Leicester University, for my and boyfriend last week. The gig is on Thursday April 18th, and I can't wait! Whilst I'm not a massively huge fan, I've really liked this band since I was about fourteen/fifteen, when I got their album 'Hours', which is still one of my favourites to this day. I only own Hours, Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation, and Seven Ways to Scream Your Name, but now we know we're going, we're going to aim to get the remaining albums. At only £14 each, it's a bargain! I shall blog about the night afterwards :D

 

 

FILM

 

For anyone who knows me, I am a massive film fan; hence why I'm studying Film Studies at University! I used to buy loads of random DVD's, even if I hadn't seen them just because I heard they were 'good', but as I've said I'm a lot more sensible with my money now so try to calm down if I get excited over seeing films in the shop :P

I don't tend to buy films if they've just came out new in the shop - I like to wait a good six months until they've reduced massively in price. Also, I tend to buy 'older' films; there's not too many recent ones I may have seen at the cinema that have amazingly 'wowed' me. However, I found Seth MacFarlane's film, 'Ted', really comical at the cinema last year, and having finally found it reduced to a tenner in Tesco yesterday, I just thought; 'it's got to be done!' There is a good chance I may be hung over all day Sunday, so I am saving it for then :)

 

JEGGINGS

 

Not quite jeans, not quite leggings...ahhh, let's morph them together! Have had a £20 River Island voucher from a close friend since my birthday last month, and have not quite found anything amazingly worth it in the retail shop since then. I know vouchers will last a long time, but once I had it, I got so excited and have popped in the shop at least a good three times a week since! However, rather than buying something random or lots of little bits such as jewellery and sweets, I thought I'd be sensible; whilst I have COUNTLESS of pairs of leggings, I do not own that many jeans or denim materials for the legs, so thought I'd invest in a new pair. Also, the terming of 'Jeggings' assured me these wouldn't be quite as tight or figure-hugging as previous jeans I have owned in the past, so I thought I'd go for it.

They are of a pale blue colour, and were £35; consequently, thanks to my lovely friend and my lovely voucher, I only had to put in £15. Super!

 

SHIRT

I got this pretty sheer shirt from Tesco the other day for £14 :) the first item of clothing I've brought in ages!! (I got it before anything else featured on this blog). It was a tough decision between this one, and a black one with white polka dots on - I so nearly brought both! But after trying them both on and gorming at myself for a lifetime in the Tesco changing rooms mirror, I thought the white one was slightly different and quirky; I have a fair amount of shirts that are all fairly dark, such as a flowery one with dark shades on and a black sheer shirt with fake leather cuffs and a collar. I thought this would brighten my shirt collection up a bit more then, and thought I'd go for it :D am considering wearing it this weekend with maybe my disco pants :) it can also be dressed up alongside a black skirt with heels, but I would feel comfortable wearing it with jeans or just casual leggings in the day time, making it a new perfect item in my wardrobe collection

(It also reminds me of something Fearne Cotton would wear ... which is definitely NOT a bad thing :D) if only I could get away with bright red lipstick, then this would look MEGA cool...

 

Films I have watched this week...

Have been very busy and miserable and moody and mardy (it's a Leicestershire thing) this week, so haven't had much time for films! Howeveeeeeer...


Primal Fear (Gregory Hoblit, 1996);
I watched this film last night with my boyfriend - it was awesome!! I read a tweet from Caroline Flack the other week stating she couldn't believe she hadn't watched it before and that it was amazing, and I came across it in a magazine or something again the other day...so thought I'd rent it from my LoveFilm account! But this was a great film - was slow in parts, it jumps straight into the action; it successfully constructs a 'whodunnit?' narrative, with three core suspects but no definitive answer for the duration of the film. This was Edward Norton's first film role, and his successful future is evident through his great, mysterious performance. Laura Linney is annoying as usual (*cough* The Truman Show *cough*) but Norton and Richard Gere perform successfully. Was on edge for the majority of the film and the twist at the conclusion was unexpected and shocking - I would recommend to anyone that enjoys a good thriller!!!

Amores perros/ Love's a Bitch (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, 2000);
This film was last weeks film screening for my World Cinema course at De Montfort University. Whist my feelings on the films shown throughout the course have been mixed, this way by far my favourite film of the year so far; it was fairly epic, but gripping, thoughtful and mind-blowing. The film involves three stories following peoples lives - the first and the third more physical and brutal, whilst the second more emotionally battering - which come to gradually interlink throughout the narrative, making for an interesting and clever viewing. This Mexican film was quite easy to follow, too; whilst some films I have viewed in the past can be difficult to piece together due to mass amounts of characters or missed details, Amores perros was simple but witty to connect together, althought it still relied heavily on attention. The conclusion of the film is almost sad, with no full happy ending for any of the protagonists, but it still an unaccepted happiness; almost real and not exaggeration. I wouldn't recommend this film for those with dogs; I, myself, struggled to watch some of the dog fight scenes, having had different dogs in my life since I was born. Animal welfare groups got involved due to the controversial scenes, which is highly understandable; they are graphic! The fast-paced action is effective, with no establishing shots throughout the film; the repetitive use of close-ups illustrates the emotional suffocation felt by the troubled characters. Overall, this is one of the best films I have viewed all year, and when I have more money - I will be buying this!

Priceless (Pierre Salvodori, 2007);
Am currently half-way through watching this as I type! I saw this film a few years ago and snatched it for a bargain of £2 from the 'That's Entertainment!' shop in town near where I live. It is a fun comedy, which follows opportunist Irene (Audrey Tautou) and bartender Riverera Jean (Gad Elmaleh), whom coincidentally meet at this hotel that Riverera works in, and is mistaken for a rich businessman; this comical story of mistaken identity goes cringe-worthily wrong, however, as Riverera goes along with his 'new' identity to impress the glamorous Irene - who happens to be a blackmailing, demanding golddigger (too brutal for the bartenders salary!) Humorous chaos follows, which makes for an enjoyable, laid-back French film.
(Also, I've only seen Tautou in one of my favourite films, Amelie, beforehand - where she is cute, loveable and MAINLY innocent -, which constrasts sharply with the gold-digging, promiscious madam here - a great, fun actress!) :)

Mothers Day!

Today is Mothers Day! A time for gifts, hugs and loving gestures to reward and illustrate your thankful nature towards your mother; the woman who carried you for 9 months (in my case 10!), gave life to you and brought you up to contribute to the person you have became to the present day.

To thank my mum, I joined in with the typical loving motions and gave her some pressies! Whilst I would give her the world if I could - she has been my rock, especially in my downs! - I am indeed a poor student, and struggled to get her anything seriously nice. However, I made her this card, which is a meaningful gesture to show my admiration for her;

 

 

 

Whilst the photo doesn't do it much justice, it is basically a card telling her how I feel (in the typical sloppy way of course), written in gold gel pen (woohoo!) and decorated with love-heart confetti shapes :) I have combined the card with chocolate bars to insert comical, cheesy words which make use for a fun card, as well as a tasty treat! Whilst it is difficult to see in the picture (the use of gold gel pen, the dark lighting and the poor flash of my camera were not successful combinations), an example of something included on the card is of 'you have a heart made of [Caramel]!' and 'my love for you is as big as a [Double Decker] bus' - hahaha, pure cheese!

 

As well as this, I got her a fluffy, cute, white teddy bear from Sainsburys, which holds the letters M, U, and M (the spelling is obvious), which was reduced to £2.99 from WHSmith. Whilst my mum doesn't have many cuddly animals, she tends to like arranging to ones on my bed (if she sneaks in my room to tidy it up - annoying!). She clearly liked the bear though, 'aww-ing' at is and teasing my dog Wilson with it :D

I also got her the above cushion, which is also white like the bear and read 'Love you Mum' in swirly pink letters. This was £5 from Sainsburys. She also liked this, and said she will put them in her bedroom; this was my aim, as she frequently buys cushions and pillows - I swear she's addicted - and the colours go well with her bedroom. Pink seems to be a theme in my presents this year (even though home-made card was pink :D). Whilst I couldn't spoil my mum much this year, she appeared to appreciate my presents, which were more focused on the thought rather than the price; if I'm more successful in the future, I'll treat her more next time :D she's currently searching for a new car - a Mini! I may not be able to spoil her THAT much just yet...

 

Whilst Mothers Day is a BIT of a farce in some ways - for example, why dedicate one day to appreciating your mother? Surely every day you should value your mum; whilst difficult at times to take her for granted and neglect what she does for you, surely every day should be a Mothers Day? As well as a Fathers Day, of course! ;)

Whilst I feel it is a bit of a scam to just make money (as my boyfriend always says, 'What is a card going to prove? How will that prove how I feel?), it is a loving, thoughtful idea, and if one day should be designated to highlight motherly affection, then I guess today is the ideal day :D

 

 

 

(me and my mum on my 15th birthday - oh god, look at my hair!!! D:)

 

This years Mothers Day appears to be a success - YESSSSS!

my hair

  I really never know what to do with my hair; my mood ALWAYS changes, so my hair tends to follow.

   I'm quite confident with my style; I've never really been one to be afraid of trying new looks or if something's a bit 'daring', I've always tended to go for it - perhaps triggered through my goth phase when I was younger! So with clothes, unless it's too skimpy or I simply don't feel comfortable in it or I don't think it suits me, I've always been open-minded and confident.
This has always tended to be quite similar with my hair - I've tried a fair amount of different cuts, and couldn't count the amount of hairdyes I have used beyond my fingers and toes. Again, the colours and style have depended on my mood, what I've been wearing and moreover, - and perhaps most importantly!, - what mood my hair's in on the particular day. Sometimes it's quite flat and dry so I can't get any 'oomph' from it, but other times it can be big, wild and almost mane-like (and again depending on my mood, I'll stick with this!) The style of it is irritating me at the moment, however, and the reason for me writing this post is to look back at my old styles and debate what to do with it...

   First off, for people who don't know me, I am a redhead; well, to put it plainer...a ginger! And better yet, a PROUD ginger :D fair enough, in the past I have dyed it numerous different colours, and people have mocked me and teased me about being a 'ginger in the closet', but I have HONESTLY never changed it due to neglecting my ginger roots; instead, as previously noted, it has depended on my mood, my style at the time, and - I guess quite bluntly - part of experimenting with growing up. Whilst I have tried numerous colours, I have ended up where I began now - as a proud ginger again :D and I am 99% sure I will remain a redhead 'till the end of my days! (Although this again depends on my indecisive moods :P)

   I haven't experimented too heavily with the actual style of my hair - growing up, I just had really long hair that I never had trimmed until I was about twelve or thirteen; due to years of neglecting hair cuts, the majority of it was trimmed, and I HATED it - it had no style, no layers and looked so boring :/ it came to about my shoulders, and really did not suit me... so never EVER again will I get my hair cut short!! It looks lovely on others, but for me personally it was horrible. So yup... not again!!
   I was quite conscious of the way I looked - and quite essientially my face - growing up, so when I slowly started to style it (after it grew out again after the dreaded mega chop!!) I experimented more. I slowly began to get layers cut in, as well as eventually parting it to the side - and from here I began to dye it. I've had block fringes/ choppy fringes /grown out fringes / side fringes ... again experimenting! I'd pretty much always end up covering most of my face, as it was 'fashioable' (I was a moody emo kid who thought it was cool to have no face lol) but also I was self-conscious and covered my face a lot. At one point when I wore my fringe very heavily to the left side of my head, I wanted the left part just behind my ear shaved off, to attempt to look 'stylish' and 'hip'... however, upon seeing people growing this shaved part out and having to cut the rest of their hair short, I am VERY glad I did not succumb to this !!!

  So yeah, earlier I was looking through old photos of myself, and was highly amused - and shocked! - at how my hair used to look... here's a brief history of my hair then! -

ME AS A BABY!

As you can see... a natural ginge! It was quite bright back then, and even though I'm a practically bald baba, I am clearly a redhead; the hair (blatently), the pale skin, no eyebrows (ha!) and blue eyes, this is proof that I am indeed a ginger!

 

 

GROWING UP

Here I must have been about seven or eight. As you can see, I am embracing the ginger locks - whilst my mum would have forced me to have had a fringe cut in, I can't remember ever having a haircut for yeaaaars, so it just grew and grew. At one point it was to my bum! But here it is fairly length

 

 

 

AT ABOUT 15

Even though when growing up I experimented with shades of blonde - I remember having blonde highlights at one point, and a blonde 'dip' along the bottom inch or so of my hair - as I started to have more decisions with what clothes I wanted to wear and buy upon getting weekly pocket money from when abouts I was thirteen - my hair began to change too. I used semi-permanent dyes that were light brown at first, to increasing the darkness - this was when I was very 'emo' and had a much grungier style than I do now.

In this picture I had outgrown my emo phase, but I did like the hair. It looks quite healthy and shiny here, and I used to always straighten it - as you can see, I OTT straightened my fringe, so it's all parted from sticky out in different ways! Aswell as the flash of the camera and my pale foundation hiding my freckles here, it also quite comically hides my eyebrows! Back then I can never remember being conscious of my eyebrows, but looking back at pictures now I have no idea what I was thinking! 

 

 

AT ABOUT 16

Please ignore the stupid pose - I practically lived on MySpace and posed for pictures from self-timer a lot haha - the flash picks up my hair colour quite well here. I think my hair dye had faded over time and my gingerness was coming through gradually. Also, I didn't dye my hair quite AS dark over time; whilst still dark in this picture, it is slightly lighter, and a bit more patchy in some ways. The style of my hair is more natural here (although I bet I mainted the shaggy-haired look through a LOT of hairspray and backcombing!) I relied on the hairdye quite frequently, and probably didn't focus on areas of my hair as much as I was used to using it so much - hence the patchiness.

AT ABOUT 16 AGAIN

 

I THINK this picture is after the above (I am dressed up for a charity day at college here by the way, hence the cat ears and whiskers haha) but here's a shot of it outside in natural light - it's slightly lighter brown again, and a little bit auburn, highlighting that my gingerness is slightly coming through. My fringe is quite pushed over to the side and short, which I got cut quite a lot at this time period, as I liked my layers to look quite spikey and 'rocky'

 



 

AT ABOUT 16/17 YEARS

I think this was quite soon after the above photo ^^^ I emphasised the brown with red, which has faded slightly here but is still quite noticable. I went on the brighten the red quite a lot over the months (still highlighting my love for being a REDhead ;)) but here is a good pciture of how I liked to style my hair; it was straight but messy, with a sweep-over messy fringe and my layers being fairly heavily back-combed and hairsprayed. The end of my hair has black here, adding to my experimentation with my hair; I think at this point my mum probably brought some black hairdye for her own hair, had some left over so I would have spontaneously added it to my tips! I do quite like my hair here, as it doesn't look TOO dark and silly against my skin tone, as compared to the very dark brown featured before.

 

 

AT ABOUT 16/17 YEARS

I emphasised the red here by going a step further and dyeing it... purple! The black tips can be clearly seen, but the purpleness is more striking. Whilst I would not have this colour now, I do like the style of my hair very much - the fringe is nicely sweeped but not too long or short, and the layers and nicely natural.

 

AT ABOUT 16/17 YEARS AGAIN

I think my hair dye gradually faded eventually, and I was left with a light brown/ginger colour for quite a while. Here again I experimented with my mum's leftover hairdye - I highlighted my hair with golden brown bits. Here I am at Underage Festival in London quite soon after I'd done it. My eyebrows do look quite light, but are more noticeable as compared to colours beforehand.

 

17 YEARS OLD

After liking the blonde highlights above, I decided to go for it - I bleached my whole hair! Whilst I'm unsure if I'd be brave enough to do that now, I think it looks quite nice in pictures and I remember really liking it at the time. The only reason I went back to being a brunette after was because it was easier to maintain - my roots were VERY noticeable and coincidentally seemed to grow a lot quicker as compared to my other hair colours, which was expensive to maintain, as well as it quickly making my hair quite dry/straw-like at the ends. I did enjoy being a blonde however, and as you can tell by this picture - blondes certainly do have more fun!

 

 

 

WHEN I WAS 18/19

After the picture above, I went back to being brunette for approximately a year I'd say...until I started to see in magazines celebrites and models with ginger hair which looked really nice. This got me considering if to go back to being a redhead; I went to the hairdressers to investigate, and they said it was possible to dye it, but I'd have to grow out my roots - and natural colour - for a while so they could access the colour and moreover match it. However, this grew tedious; I hated my hair for ages! I grew out my fringe as this time too; it was in bad condition and dry and didn't always look 'right'; for example, my fringe was quite thin from trying to grow it out, but the rest of my hair was thick from my many layers. I hated it!

However, eventually I grew it out a few inches on my head, and finally came across what I'd been looking for... purchasable ginger hair dye! I struggled finding any for a while, but out of the blue they started popping up on all the shelves of supermarkets, boots...even in the pound shop! So therefore I began to dye it ginger. Whilst I had to experiment with different SHADES of ginger - for example, one was quite reddy...but came out dark pink! That was a disaster - but eventually my hair grew and grew, my patchy brown/ginger more leaned towards ACTUALLY being ginger - and my hair eventually blended in nicely :D

Below is a picture of my in France on holiday last summer. As you can see, my head is very orange - and I loved it! Again, I experimented with dip-dyeing my hair again - it was very yellow here as the sun had bleached it - but I was very happy with this at the time!

My only problem with dyeing it as orange as this is I felt it faded quite quickly, and again - expensive! And I definatley could not afford getting it professionally done.

 

 

 

AT 19 -

(sorry for the picture - it won't move to the centre!) But this is a fairly recent picture I took about a month and a half ago. Whilst the above ginger was very red and more dark, the picture here shows  my brighter orange - it only last for about two weeks, and I had to use two hairdye packets for it to cover all over! - but I did really like this :D I would use it again! However, again, the price - I am pretty skint at the moment!

 

20 YEARS OLD!

 

 

 

 And now... this picture was taken just under a month ago on my 20th birthday, when I went out shopping with my mum. My hair is still ginger, but is a lot lighter and appears blonde in some sections - this is due to me messing around with blonde to lighten it and cover my roots before, as well as the previous orange hairdyes fading and leaving a blended ginger/blonde colour - ACTUALLY STRAWBERRY BLONDE, AND THIS IS NOT AN EXCUSE! :P

However, I am a lot happier with my hair at the moment! It is quite natural and suits my skintone a lot better, but also is quite bright. I have highlighted sections with blonde, and have even used a pink toner on it last week (although this is VERY unnoticeable!!) The only problem I have with my hair these days is my roots - they are coming through a weird dirty blonde colour, which - as my baby picture clearly shows! - is not my natural colour :/ I don't mind touching up my roots sometimes, but I am going to try to put this off and leave it to grow for a while, out of interest with what colour is ACTUALLY trying to come through.

 

I suppose time will tell with what colour actually comes through... and with what I do with my hair next! I could wake up tomorrow and spontaneously want to dye it green for all I know! (right now... that is a big, fat no!) haha but yes, we will see

 

THERE IS THE HISTORY OF MY HAIR, I HAVE WASTED MY TIME AND IF YOU HAVE READ IT, YOU HAVE MORE THAN LIKELY WASTED YOURS :D I have included this post to explore what has and what hasn't work for me style/hair colour-wise in the past, and for an intial update on what I will do with it next; colours/cuts/styles etc... and what products I used! We will see next!

 

 

Films I have watched (so far!) this year...

   Because I am a sad, SAD person, I have made a list of the films I have watched so far this year (as many as I've been noting down and can remember, that is!). As a Film Studies student, I have a passion for film (corny times) and could watch them all day, every day if so! I would LOVE to get paid to watch films, access them and review them - although I would be extremely fat in the long-term :P

 

   Buuuuuut for now, I will just spend hours aimlessly looking up and reading about films, studying theories on them, and wasting the majority of my student loan and small wages on buying DVD's and renting movies from my LoveFilm account.
My films are fairly precious to me - it is the norm for me to give my brother a five minute lecture on looking after my cases and disks even if he just wants to borrow one DVD for the night! (I have my reasons - he has ruined NUMEROUSLY DVD's in the past just from throwing them around and leaving them scattered around his room, to return them months later with scratches, dents (?) and sticky marks and stains (???) - I don't even want to know!!) HA
   Anyways, so yeah, my films are pretty precious... got a nice collection of about 500-600 so far in my room alone, let alone in the rest of my house. I used to buy any cheap bargains that I could just 'cause I was desperate to watch anything, but now I'm older and more sensible with my money, I tend to mainly watch the films before actually buying them at least. So now it's more of a treat to purchase a DVD - for example, I haven't brought any for quite a few weeks, and as I've organised myself a lot this morning and am actually starting to focus on my future, I brought myself The Village (2004) for just £1.66 (result!)

   Anyhoo, here's a list of the films that I can RECALL watching so far this year! I'll probably sadly update this weekly with what films I've watched, with reviews or facts or colloquial thoughts on my viewings'. It's too late and I'm too tired to include details/release year/review per film -  EXTREME - although I'll give a brief amount if info if I feel relevant...but here ya go!

NOTE- 

the red films I have seen before, but just fancied them again :D

the purples are the ones I didn't like

yellow  - saw at the cinema

Chernobly Diaries - saw at the cinema and got this on DVD over the Christmas period... will say, I wasn't AS impressed watching it second time, but still enjoyed it none-the-less

Terminator

Scum

Falling down

Dark city

Cruel Intentions - pretentious characters - irritating! Still kinda enjoyed this though...hmmm

Dodgeball

Sixty Six

The Weatherman - for a Nicholas Cage film - who irritates the hell out of me!!!! - I actually really enjoyed this!!!!

Paradise Lost - crap

Toy Story - never gets old!

Attack of the Crab Monsters - would have been freaky in its day, but I just wasn't feeling it... humorous (for the wrong reasons) though

Them!

Indiana Jones quadrilogy - WOWWWWWW can't believe I waited so long to see this !!!

The Warriors

The Lost Boys

Road Trip

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - so good!!!! cliffhanger alert

Reality Bites - found this fairly boring, slow and repetitive... won't be watching again! I enjoyed Winona Ryder's performance though

The Class

Bad Biology - hahahaha so tacky and cringey and explicit, but actually enjoyed this! *SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT* - let's just say the narrative involves an overally large penis and a vagina with a mind of its own which get to meet in the finale... creepy, funny stuff!

Harold and Maulde - really enjoyed this and could relate to it family-wise in some ways to when I was younger :)

 Mama - freaky stuff! A disappointing ending though :/

Argo - I preferred some of the other films nominated for Best Picture at the Oscar's, but I still really enjoyed this gripping film

The Life of Pi - I LOVED this - not sure if I'd consider getting it on DVD when it comes out though, as although I don't judge films too highly on special effects, I think this was the mass appeal for this film - however, I definatley want to watch this again!

Constantine - a bad habit of mine is casually putting a film on in the background and not paying attention - to automatically disliking the film as I only viewed the 'bad bits' - I did this with Constantine last year whilst watching it with friends and thought it was awful. However, upon being forced to watch this by my boyfriend in January, I REALLY enjoyed this; lesson learnt - PAY ATTENTION TO FILMS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Forrest Gump - just oh my. We watched this at University for a Baby-boomers lecture :)

The Player

Robocop - just LOL, an epic film

Adaptation - confused how much I enjoyed this; Nicholas Cage, AGAIN, irritated me throughout, but the plot coming together at the end resulted in an awesome conclusion.

Friday 13^th (2009) - for a massive horror fan, and moreover one not keen on pointless horror re-makes.... just no.

Harry potter and the Philosophers Stone - enjoyed very much when younger, but now I just find the Harry Potter series tedious - doesn't excite me!

Stand By Me - just WOWWWWWW, one of my favourites by far!! Still meaning to read the Stephen King classic... I actually nearly brought this film today but forced myself to resist so I didn't go on a DVD splurge, especially after I'd just brought The Village

The Tourist - watched this on Channel 4 last night with my boyfriend - was unsure at the start, but really enjoyed it! I found the twist at the end a bit silly and unrealistic, but was still a fun, action-chase film

The Waterboy - I also watched this yesterday for the first time; I am appreciating Adam Sandler more and more! Enjoyed this with quite a few laughs

Interview with a Vampire - three words; Brad Pitt Mmmmmm

Submarine - amazing amazing amazing, deffo a new favourite film!

Contagion

Road to Perdition

The People Who Live Under the Stairs - haha tacky fun

Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie

Bram Stoker’s Dracula - watched this when I was younger but wasn't so keen, was gripped this time round though!

Inside Man

Thirteen - wrote a film review of this for a university film assignment; made me appreciate it a lot more, although somewhat tacky at times

Breakfast Club - <3

Liar Liar - classic

Edward Scissorhands - perhaps the first film I ever watched to get me passionate about film

The Illusionist

Kill List

Face/Off

The ‘burbs Uncut - the only film I can think of with Tom Hanks that I didn't actually enjoy :(

Happy Gilmore

50/50

Total Recall (1990)

Source Code - first watched this for my first year at Uni and my first Film Society meeting!

Walk The Line - AMAZING

Election

The Kids Are All Right

One Hour Photo - Williams is very creepy in this film...and I like it!

About a Boy - one of my faves, could watch this on repeat and never get bored

Beverly Hills Cop

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - loved Robert Downey Jr. in this!

Gosford Park - I liked this twist :D

Eaten Alive - tacky, repetitive, irritating, awful acting/dubbing....

Super High Me - interesting take on Supersize Me - but with a guy constantly stoned from weed... a bit repetitive at times but I guess that's expected of a diary

Howl’s Moving Castle

Pretty in Pink

Basquiat

Gregory’s Girl

Melancholia

Grindstone Road - boring, slow, nothing REALLY happens, predictable, failed 'jump out of your seat' jumps...

The Silent House (2011) -American re-make of the below film - appreciated Elizabeth Olsen's performance as the troubled protagonist, but the film is too slow, very little happens ... whilst all shot in one take which is amazing, the film was way too dark and WAY too silent (like its title!) at times; whilst expected of horror films, this didn't work here. The ending is far more cleared up in this as compared to the original...

Silent House (La casa muda, 2010) - Spanish orginal - more tension and eerieness as compared to the American re-make above, but the ending is highly ambiguous - a bit puzzling which isn't enjoyable

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) - personally boring for me in the day of age (it's a grainy silent film) but liked the make-up/special effects for the time 

The Birth of a Nation - if I'm honest, I skipped through most of this - found it highly boring, but just wanted to watch the Ku Klux Klang scenes, which were alarming and shocking, but the rest of the film was a bore

Django Unchained - no more words needed than just WOW; Quentin Tarantino is a genius, I want to be him. An INEVITABLE DVD purchase!!!!

Pulse - irritatingly slow, a re-make of a Japanese film which did not hit any scares, frights or shocks on my behalf - was just weird, and not in a good way; yet another too try-hard, American film attempting to fit in with the horror genre

 

WOW I HAVE NO LIFE - all up to date now so my posts won't be QUITE as long or extreme as this again; I promise!!

 

xoxoxoxo

   Hello! I thought it was about time I created a blog, as I'm a uni student just plodding through at the moment... I need something new to motivate me and give me some experience! So...hello blogging!
  
   I used to blog at college for my Media Studies course, which involved me updating my teacher on my work through casual blogs, videos and visuals, which I did enjoy! However, I didn't have a huge amount of freedom to explore my thoughts, as it was strictly for school work.
I'll probably mostly blog about films, what's on TV/media and fashion and whatnot, as these are my personal interests but are also what I would enjoy exploring when I am older (career-wise). I am very unsure what I want to do with my life right now...there is a lot of pressure to even get a part-time job for my 20-year self, let alone choose what I want to do for a career, get involved and successful at it, and - moreover! - stick at it !! But blogging is a start...I guess! ...
 
   I have just had a week off with uni for Cultural Exchanges week, which involved lecturers and talkers coming into uni - for and from a wide range of subjects - and giving talks on their choice of study. Whilst I did not attend any of these talks (naughty!) they were of little interest to me - at glance at the timetable, they were experts of English, Dance, Theatre, etc... and nothing in relation to my chosen study; Film and Media & Communication. Therefore, after a rush of last minute hand-ins and deadlines for the week last, last week was a week of rest for me (a week of slobbing was just needed when I felt poorly too - have had my cough for two months now!)
 
   However, I feel it is now time to try to stand out, get some experience on my CV, and attempt to grow up (a bit :P)... I turned 20 a few weeks ago, and this morning I had to enroll and choose my modules for next year - MY FINAL YEAR - at uni, so stuff is happening fast!! Therefore, after enrolling, I have applied for a placement with Frontrunners, as well as starting this blog!
 
   I am taking gradual steps to motivate and do something with myself...let's see how this goes! :)