5 Horror Films for a night in!

Hi everyone, I'm going to provide you with what I believe are the top 5 films to watch when having a horror themed DVD night in. However, I advise you to have someone close by to hold your hand and to spill your popcorn on!

1. Insidious, 2010 - Undoubtedly the scariest film I've ever watched, simply for the fact that the number of jumpy scenes in the movie nearly gave me a heart attack! The plot revolves around Renai and Josh Lambert who have moved their children into a new house where some creepy things begin to take place. One of their sons falls victim to demons and ends up in a long and eerie coma. Overall the storyline does become a bit farfetched but the sheer fear that the film provides makes it worth the watch!

2. Paranormal Activity, 2007 - An extremely terrifying film that is sure to have you jumping off your seat many times. The film centres around Katie and Micah, a young couple who live in a house occupied by a supernatural presence. They decide to set up their home video camera in their bedroom at night so they can catch any activity that happens whilst they sleep. What they discover on the tape scares them to death...literally!

3. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 1974 - Everyone has heard of this horror classic set around the chilling character of Leatherface and his family of cannibals. What makes films like this one even more creepy is the fact they were inspired by real life killers, and in this case it was the infamous serial killer Ed Gein. In the movie we see brother and sister Sally and Franklin Hardesty travel to their grandfather's grave amidst reports of grave robbing, however they find themselves in a gruesome situation that they could never have imagined!

4. Halloween, 1978 - Probably one of the most influential and famous horror films of our time. We all know the story of how Michael Myers murdered his older sister when he was just six years old and ends up escaping from a mental institution 15 years later to embark on a killing spree in his old hometown. This film will forever remain a classic and will always be as scary as the first time you watched it!

5. Scream, 1996 - I had to include a somewhat more "light hearted" horror flick into the lineup for you, and Scream definitely fits the bill. One of the most famous slasher films out there and of course most recognizable thanks to the killers' famous murderous phone calls and question "What's your favourite scary movie?" Follow Ghostface as he begins murdering unsuspecting teenagers in the town of Woodsboro and find out why he harbours a special obsession with Sidney Prescott. Also influenced by the real life killings of the Gainesville Ripper, which obviously makes it far more frightening!

Easter Viewing

Sex and the City. The Essential Collection: Seasons 1-6

I don’t know if I could ever get bored of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte and I’m sure lots of you feel the same. I know there’s lots of people who religiously watched every single episode back when it was on our television screens, but perhaps some people missed a few and this Boxset provides the opportunity to make sure no episode is missed! Follow New York writer Carrie Bradshaw and her three fantastic girlfriends and their experiences with love, careers, sex, and of course...fashion! It’s also a perfect excuse for a few girly cocktail nights with your friends, not forgetting the most important drink...the iconic cosmopolitan.

The Inbetweeners: Series 1-3

One of my favourite shows yet and I’m sure you’ve heard at least one person in your household mention this hilarious programme. This channel 4 gem centres around four oddball school mates who all share the same aspirations – pulling girls and appearing cool. Unfortunately things never go smoothly for Will, Jay, Neil and Simon. The foursome get themselves into loads of sticky situations and each episode is filled with plenty of cringe worthy and LOL moments. There is also a film out which I highly recommend renting out after you have watched some of the episodes, so that you can appreciate each boy’s personality and stupidity. I have to warn you The Inbetweeners is very rude so if you’re sensitive to bad language etc give it a miss.

F.r.i.e.n.d.s Seasons 1-10

How could this classic not be on the list? Friends will definitely keep you occupied for a few nights. I personally never grow tired of the show and could probably tell you every sentence in each episode but who cares its hilarious! Remind yourself why you originally fell in love with Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Ross, Joey and Chandler (Chandler’s my favourite) and follow the group of friends in their everyday lives and their relationships with each other. I really wish they would follow in the footsteps of SATC and make a film for us all!

Fast and Furious 1-5

Right ladies send your husbands, boyfriends, sons etc to the other TV room while you get stuck into your girly Boxsets and set them down these five Fast and Furious films with some pizza and crisps and you’ll not hear a peep out of them for a few hours. That’s not to say you can’t gatecrash and drool over the gorgeous Paul Walker and Vin Diesel while stealing all the food! These action packed car films follow the story of street racers Brian O’Conner (Walker) and Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and all the different relationships forged along the way. The films are filled with excitement, action and very, very nice cars. The only film in the franchise that is different from the others is number 4 titled Tokyo Drift as it follows a teenager who gets sent to live with his dad in Tokyo following his arrest for illegal street racing. However he falls into contact with all the first class street racers of Tokyo as well as some first class criminals! All in all the Fast and Furious Boxset is a great option for the males in your lives to either escape evenings of SATC and Friends, or even a great suggestion for a “lads” night in with some beer and food!

Kirstine x

In Love with Lush...

I have completely fallen in love with www.lush.co.uk. Their products are amazing; they offer the most unique and fun goodies for bath time, showers, body, face, feet and so much more. They have the cutest things to buy, for example, little robot bath fizzlers, Easter egg fizzlers and I recently purchased an adorable little mushroom bubble bar. I remember when I placed my first order for bath bombs and a lip scrub, my parcel arrived two days later in the sweetest packaging. The cardboard box had lovely little messages printed on it and even stickers with Lush workers’ names on them, so I knew who parcelled my stuff up for me. Every product was securely wrapped and when I got to the bottom of the box I found a little newspaper titled ‘Lush Times – The February 2012 Issue’ – how cute! No plain and boring leaflet for Lush! The newspaper had pictures and details on loads of their products and I got really excited when I found it, as I’m sure you can already tell. I just love discovering companies who go that little bit further and make their customers have an enjoyable experience when they purchase from them. The smells coming from my bath bombs were amazing and my bubble gum lip scrub smells and tastes delicious (yes you can lick it from your lips)! I really recommend that you visit their website as they not only offer tonnes of individual products but also do a range of really good gift boxes, that are decorated so well and each box contains different treats. I actually cannot fault the company at all; their delivery was super fast and their products along with their customer services were of the highest standard. Have fun exploring Lush!

Kirstine x

ELF Products Review

Hi everyone. I completed a separate review on ELF cosmetics in general in a previous article and said that I would give my opinion on some of the products I bought from their website, www.eyeslipsface.co.uk. You don’t have to go and read the other review but it might help in getting an idea of what ELF cosmetics is all about, if you don’t already know. Right, I’m going to start off with the ELF makeup that I love and then move onto the products that have made their way into a very old makeup bag living at the back of my wardrobe.

Studio Radiance Enhancer in “spotlight”

http://www.eyeslipsface.co.uk/product~prodID~272.htm

I love this multi-use highlighter so much! I am a big fan of Benefit’s High Beam highlighter and this little one from ELF is almost as good and only £3.50! It gives a distinctive sparkle to my face and I love dabbing and blending it around my eyes; probably my favourite ELF product.

ELF Complexion Brush – studio range

http://www.eyeslipsface.co.uk/product~prodID~135.htm

No wait this is my favourite ELF product. I actually have two of these brushes now because I used my first one for blushers, bronzers and powders, as the website instructs you to, but one day I couldn’t find my regular foundation brush, so I experimented. I put spots of my foundation all over my face and with a light hand blended it all in using this ELF brush. Oh my goodness my foundation went on SO well and made my skin appear very even and smooth. I definitely recommend this brush for both sweeping and sculpting and as a foundation brush.

Eyeliner and Blending Eye Brush

http://www.eyeslipsface.co.uk/product~prodID~40.htm

http://www.eyeslipsface.co.uk/product~prodID~45.htm

Both brushes work really, really well, especially the eyeliner one which I use to stroke my lids with dark eye shadows. Only £1.50 each and great quality!

Studio Under Eye Concealer & Highlighter

http://www.eyeslipsface.co.uk/product~prodID~126.htm

I really like the concealer part of this duo because I think it definitely brightens up my dark circles! However I’m not a massive fan of the highlighter end as I don’t think it does that much. Will definitely buy it again for my tired under eyes though!

Waterproof Eyeliner Pen

http://www.eyeslipsface.co.uk/product~prodID~101.htm

Another one of my favourite products; it’s so easy to use and the brush just glides the black over my eyelid with one smooth stroke. Only £1.50 again!

Elf Shimmering Facial Whip

http://www.eyeslipsface.co.uk/product~prodID~73.htm

I got this product in both spotlight and lilac petal and I can’t really make my mind up about it. Yes it’s good that the whip is for your lips, eyes and cheeks and yes it does give me a certain shimmer, however it is so sticky and so hard to blend! I really wish it was a lot creamier and light; it would probably work a lot better if immediately blended in following your face being moisturized if your just looking for a glow, but if it’s to go on after your foundation, powders etc then it’s a bit trickier. It is only £1.50 though so I say give it a wee go and see what you think.

Studio Corrective Concealer

http://www.eyeslipsface.co.uk/product~prodID~162.htm

This palette of concealers works to an extent. I definitely think that the green cream helps decrease the redness of my spots etc and the blue tone seems to help with dark under eyes. Since it’s only £3.50 I would probably buy it again.  

Studio Complexion Perfection

http://www.eyeslipsface.co.uk/product~prodID~125.htm

Doesn’t work, simple as! I was so disappointed with this product and after doing a bit of digging on YouTube, found that a lot of other people were too. It is supposed to “create a balanced and radiant complexion that is beautiful and healthy”... it does nothing! You can’t even see it. I think I might just go and bin it.

Studio High Definition Powder

http://www.eyeslipsface.co.uk/product~prodID~144.htm

Same view on this product as the powder above... didn’t notice a thing; definitely a waste of £6.00!

ELF Cosmetic Review

I discovered Elf (eyes, lips and face) beauty products whilst watching makeup tutorials on YouTube. The beauty “gurus” that I follow tend to usually use higher end brands such as MAC and NARS, so with the tight budget that I’m on at the minute I didn’t even think to research how much these ELF products cost, which were being used in their tutorials, assuming it would be in the same price range as NARS etc. However, and thankfully, one day I was determined to do anything except my Uni work (setting a good example to all you students reading this) so I decided to explore ELF’s website and couldn’t believe what I found. The website offers tonnes of makeup, mostly costing £1.50 per product, even for brushes that girls I follow on YouTube claim are as good as MAC’s really pricey ones! Well because of the little shopaholic that I am, budget or no budget, I got extremely OVER excited and ended up ordering over one hundred pounds worth of makeup. Justifiable considering how long my invoice was, as I was able to buy so much for my money (denial is wonderful thing). ELF offer a regular range of beauty products as well as a studio and mineral line, but even they cost so little compared to what you would pay in most chemists etc. My big box of goodies arrived a few days later and even though there were some products that had me thinking “no wonder it only cost £1.50”, the majority of the makeup was very good for what I paid. (Look out for my separate review on some of the actual products I bought and tested and hopefully it will guide you a little bit if you’re thinking of trying ELF out). I do have one big complaint about the ELF website and that is because many of the shades in certain products that I really wanted were out of stock and stated as “coming soon”, as well as some products not having any shade options available at all! Putting it aside, overall I definitely recommend checking out their website, www.eyeslipsface.co.uk because it’s so cheap, great for a budget and there are plenty of hidden treasures to be found, without having to pay the price tag attached to the likes of MAC. Have fun ladies!

Kirstine x