Mangnificent!

So, I wanted to expand my reviews to more than just films, and what better way to start doing that than by reviewing the new products that the place I work, LUSH, is releasing soon?!

I am madly in love with LUSH and have been systematically going through all the products in the store to find out what ingredients are in them and why they are there. Every now and again, though, we get a special box of glorious new products that we get to try out before they are released. The newest releases are special though, because we are actually able to publicize them and show them off, which is why I am here today.

I want to tell you guys about a new soap from the "Fresh New LUSH" line that will be released around the 3rd of July (I say that because I don't know that we have been confirmed with a specific date. I know that the new campaign begins on the 3rd, and the new campaign is the "Fresh New LUSH" campaign, so there's that.)

Anyways, the new soap that I want to talk about today is one of the two new soaps that are being released called Mangnificent. It's pretty much my new favourite thing. Immediately upon opening the box I fell in love with the smell. I scoured through the box, systematically sniffing each of the seven new products that were in it so as to ascertain where this special, mouth-watering smell was coming from.

When my fingers finally hit a soft, smooth surface, I knew they were where they needed to be. I opened it and clutched it to my nose and momentarily disregarded all the other contents of the box. I decided instantly that I needed to take a shower. A shower that made everything in my life better.

The fresh, soothing mango scents that came from this little bar of glory are incomparable. They are bright, soothing, and really, super fresh. This is easily my new favourite soap scent we have in store now. And not only is it filled with mango, but it has a good hit of lemon and neroli oils in it too. These scents combined give a great, summery, fun scent to your shower that are not comparable to anything else in the store.

But if we go past the smell (which I almost don't even need to. The smell sells it almost all by itself), we see how WILDLY moisturizing it is. I personally have horrifically bad dry skin issues, and this soap happily soothed my dry, upset skin. The mango skin cleansed and the massive abundance of oils left my skin feeling super moisturized and not at all oily (which is GREAT, because I hate that stupid oily feeling that some products can leave with me).

Overall, it's a great product. It's fresh, cleansing, and easily one of my most favourite of the new products that we will be selling in the coming weeks.

Maleficent...

This film.

This is a film that I have been indescribably excited about for years now. Since Angie first signed on to be a part of it, I have been waiting with bated breath, periodically checking IMBD for any sign of progress.

Not being a particularly huge fan of the whole Sleeping Beauty franchise myself, my excitement was not driven by a long-standing love for Aurora and her story of  a curse bestowed upon her that was only broken after many years of being asleep and the kiss of a strange man who always made me quite uncomfortable (I MEAN, SERIOUSLY, WHAT GUY JUST ROAMS THE FOREST TO FIND SLEEPING GIRLS TO KISS?!). I recall the only part about the story I enjoyed being that the entire kingdom would become entirely overgrown as all of its inhabitants slept. I LOVED seeing all the different interpretations on a deserted kingdom. The way the vines would take over every aspect of the town, twirling around the ovens of abandoned bread and closets filled with lavish  fabrics and gowns. That, being the creepy kid I was, was always my favourite part. Not the kiss. Not the search for true love. The desertion and dark.


This film changed everything for me.

First and foremost, I need to tell you guys that the cinematography? Mind-blowing. I could hardly believe the incredible background. Every detail was accounted for in this perfect re-imagining of the classic Sleeping Beauty story. The creature-creation was wonderful. I loved the way the entire land was created seemingly from scratch to establish a world that only could be inhabited by fairies and fantastical forest creatures.

Second? The makeup and hair blew my goddamned mind. I couldn't find one single flaw in the entire film (barring, of course, Aurora's stupid eyebrows, but made me want to kill myself every time she was on the screen. WHY DID THEY HAVE TO BE SO DARK?!). I was stunned by how perfectly executed each prosthetic and brush stroke was. In fact, after the film, Husband and I were discussing Maleficent's makeup and how the horns were installed, only for me to find out that Justin Smith Esquire, a gorgeous milliner from London who I hung out with just prior to leaving the UK, created the headpiece. I was delighted to find this out and felt marginally closer to the film and Angie with this knowledge. He's a wildly talented man and I couldn't have been more pleased for him.

The biggest, and most glorious thing about the film was the storyline. The way that the story had been twisted not only from the point of view of the villain, but also from the point of view of a villain that hadn't always been a villain was spectacular. the scope and approach to the story was superb and I couldn't have even hoped for it to have been better. I found the script to be perfectly executed and the cast immaculately selected to interpret the story just as it needed to be.

Overall, it is a fabulous film. Incredible to watch for young, old, male, female, everyone. My ten-year-old step-daughter adored it, as did her grandmother AND my husband. It's worth a watch and worth dragging any and all of your loved ones to. 

Tuesday, June 10th

Quick one. I have a lot of homework and a child to pay attention to tonight, but I just wanted to whip something out.

Jewish doctors... when I went in for nerve testing on my hands and arms a few weeks ago I had the most stereotypically Jewish doctor I had ever met in my life. He was hilarious, helpful, and really great, and the fact that he had those thick glasses rested on his gigantic nose was just the icing on the cake.
lemon jellybeans
Jim Gaffigan
my handwriting
how well-behaved our dog is
pens
Julie Bowen
Lloyd Kaufman
Oddities... JUST discovered it, and I'm in love.
Thai Yellow Curry
Coconut Prawns
when people respect boundaries... so many people have no concept of how to respect boundaries, and so when someone actually does, it's really wonderful and refreshing.
Dark Roca
hospitals

reading dermatology books
wasting my breaks away talking to Mo...  Like I've said a billion times before, I adore my teacher and spend most of my breaks for lunch or whatever else sitting in her office, talking to her. Brainstorming ideas, venting, or just shooting the shit. I love talking to her so much.
having super-short hair again
Rich Fulcher
Eric Stonestreet
unplugged albums
Riot
Cheryl Hines
Andy Dick
A Million Ways to Die in the West
Maleficent.... OH THERE WILL BE A BLOG, JUST YOU WAIT!

Alrighty, back to schoolwork! Have a fabulous week!
 

A Million Ways to Die in the West...

You know, I thought that since I watch so many films, documentaries, and shows, that I would start storing all my findings in one place for me to hark back to, but also so that I can just tell each person in my life en masse how much I love or loathe a film/documentary/show. I can't promise there won't be spoilers, but I will promise to be as clear and honest as possible. And it may not stop there. I have opinions, as I'm sure many of you are aware, so maybe I'll start slapping my opinions on products, foods, and other crap on here too, just for good measure. I need more of a challenge with my writing and why not direct it towards something helpful and informative?

So, the first one I shall be "reviewing," as such, will be A Million Ways to Die in the West.

Muffin is pretty much the biggest Family Guy fan in the world and so we have pretty much been planning to go see it since the day we discovered it was being made. I personally also do love the whole Seth MacFarlane conglomerate, but abhor constant poop, penis, and vomit jokes. I can handle a few here and there, but I have to say that there are only so many ways I can hear someone innuendo sex before I throw my hands in the air and lose interest.

Take Ted, for instance. Again, Muffin was DYING to see it from the moment word was out about it being made. It was all I heard about for MONTHS. So when it finally came out, we immediately went to see it and I wasn't miserable with it. I got tired of the toilet humour, but I could hang. We now have to pull it off of our shelf ever few months to watch it again (ie. the morning before we went and saw A Million Ways) just to get our fill of the hilarity that ensues. I put on my blinders on during the parts that I know make me want to kill myself and laugh heartily at the parts I know slay me.

Anyways. Back to the film. I trudged into the cinema with my hubby, BFF, and her husband, dreading how much this could make or break my appreciation of Mr. MacFarlane. I knew from day one that this film was either going to make my sides split for one hundred and sixteen minutes or make me want to die. He was either going to hit a home run or be kicked off the team. And I've got to admit, my confidence was not high for the former. I was almost completely certain that this was going to be the last bucket of overly-buttered popcorn that I would be consuming at a MacFarlane film. I had the nails in my hand, set to hammer into his coffin and put my adoration for his smart, snappy sense of humour (despite all poop and penises) to bed once and for all.

And boy was I wrong.

I won't lie, it's pretty heavy on the toilet-humour, but it is VERY sparse in comparison to the surprisingly witty period humour. There were countless plays-on-words and innuendos that were innocent enough to stand on their own as plain old smart jokes. I was in love with all the hilarious cap-nods to the wagon-and-horses days that not many (or any) of us know anything about.

It DID seem that Seth took it upon himself to steal every single joke or one-liner in the film for himself. Despite his HUGE array of big stars (Giovanni Ribisi, Neil Patrick Harris, Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, and Sarah Silverman), he snagged all the hilarity for almost entirely for his character, leaving the other characters not entirely in the dark, but not quite maximized to their full potential.

What he DID do was let those characters give their nods to previous characters or roles, which delighted me to no end. Seeing Giovanni Ribisi dancing his seductive little booty off again a'la Ted was worth all the stress of what the film would have to store. And OH there were tons of nods to Ted, which I didn't have a problem with. It was fun and made the nerds who are huge devotees to MacFarlane's other projects feel like they had a little insider knowledge. 

What this film DID do was make me hate Sarah Silverman less, but only marginally. I just hate her so much and almost immediately lose interest in anything that she is involved in once I find out. OH! And there's a HEAP of cameos! So the film isn't all about just the named stars, the cameos make it GREAT!

What I noticed this film ALSO did was spend probably more money than they needed to on CG animation. I'm just going to say that if you have a few extra bucks in your coffer, don't spend it on animated sheep penises. Nobody ever needs to see animated sheep penises in their film, no matter what they are watching. Yes, the song was funny, but it wasn't heightened by the penises, it just made me lose interest for about five minutes.

Overall, it was really clever, funny, and enjoyable. I wouldn't, in a million years, suggest this film to everyone. Like, I told my sister flat out to not bother going to see it. It's unmistakeably from the creator of Family Guy and worth a watch if you're a fan of it or if you like period humour and don't mind a bit of PERIOD humour (do you see what I did there?)

I'd give it a 4 out of 5. If someone gave me some free tickets to go see it right now, I'd be right there, but I'd not break my bank to see it before DVD release.

May 2014

YAY! A new month! I am so excited for summer than I can hardly stand it!

The cards of my life are falling into clear and beautiful places and I'm so pleased from day-to-day that I stop several times a day just to look up and thank whatever stars finally aligned to make things so great.

I'm going to compile a list of things that made the last month so prolific and great for me, so have a gander!


Things i love most RIGHT NOW:

• Documentaries... Again, I have caught the documentary bug and I've been taking in TONS over the last couple of weeks. Each night when I come home I pop one on. In fact, during my homework today I've zipped through about seven documentaries. It's been really fun and informative. I just love watching them and being back in class has really boosted that excitement again. My teacher LOVES documentaries and has had us watching a lot through the quarter, so I've just been taking that home with me at night and consuming as many as possible.
• FANS... It's been hotter than blazes here the last week or two and I've fallen in love with my fan again. The poor little guy gets dragged from room to room in the house throughout the day to help keep us nice and cool.
• Skyping with Molly... Muffin called me in to Skype with her today and it was SO nice. She's just such a grown-up little lady right now and getting to catch up with her was really nice. Muffin has been loving finally being able to see his little girl quite a lot too. She loves Skyping with him and he couldn't be happier. Seeing that tiny little face light up as she shows us the landmarks of her daily life is so nice. We can't WAIT to see her!
• Numbers falling... I'm ever so slowly losing weight. That number on the scale is falling each day and I couldn't be more pleased!

Things that are consuming my life right now:

• Diseases and Disorders of the skin... I'm pretty much completely obsessed with them. I go to bed each night thinking about them and reading about the ones that I can't piece together by myself. Learning about cell differentiation and the life processes of certain diseases and disorders has really inspired me to discover as much as I possibly can about them. I want to know why certain skin is spared, or why, in a pair of twins, one will have psoriasis and the other won't. It's all such an enigma and I'm in love with it. 
•  Summertime activity planning... So Molly broke her arm, so we've had to alter the activities that we had been planning just a little bit. She'll get her cast off around the middle of her visit, so we'll be able to do some of the fun activities that we had planned, but this has opened up our eyes to a whole heap of NEW activities that are friendly to a broken limb. We have a list as long as that little broken arm of things that we'll be able to do, so we're excited!
• Cosmetic Chemistry... Given my schooling and where I work, it is WILDLY important for me to learn as much as possible about ingredients used in cosmetic products, and that has filled my little life up at the moment. When I'm not looking up the histology of Acne Fulminans or Herpes Zoster, I am reading in-depth about the ingredients in every single thing I possibly can. I want to know why each and every ingredient is in everything I use now and why. I want to know what purpose things serve and why they are on my skin. I literally have my cosmetic dictionary with me everywhere I go and refer to in constantly. It's a lot of fun.

Things I want to tell June Danie:

• "Kindness. Remember kindness and patience."
• "TAKE MORE BATHS! YOU DESERVE TO!"

 last but not least... here's a quote. PHEW! This hit me hard when I read it the other day! It's such a true statement, particularly with all the times I find myself taken aback by people being turds. I've lived with this mantra for years now and this popped up just as I needed it. It hits home.