LIEBSTER AWARD 2013

I've seen the Liebster Award floating around a couple of blogs before, but it wasn't until recently that I actually realised what it was. I was nominated for this award by the blogger Euphoria-xoxo, so go and check out her blog if you haven't already (and I would thoroughly recommend that you do so!). In case you are unfamiliar with how the award works, here's what you have to do...

1. Each nominee has to list 11 random facts about themselves

2. Answer the 11 questions provided by the blogger who nominated them (the questions I'm answering can be found here: http://euphoria-xoxo.co.uk/348/)

3. Choose 11 more nominees (who must have 200 followers or less) and ask them 11 questions

Eleven Random Facts:

1. My birthday is on the 28th January and I am seventeen years old

2. I'm in my last year of school and I am studying English Literature, Psychology, and Geography
3. I am 5'6" (or approximately 1.67 m) tall
4. I am a published poet - I've written three poems that have been published in anthologies
5. I am a massive fan of Batman (the films, comics, video games, you name it!)
6. I am also very obsessed with the BBC TV series Sherlock - I think it's absolutely amazing!
7. I like listening to all kinds of music - at the moment, I'm loving film scores by Hans Zimmer, The Black Keys, Foo Fighters, and AC/DC - so a bit of a mixed bag!
8. I have three siblings (two brothers and a sister) and a dog called Kodi
9. Anyone remember the CBBC programme The Slammer? I was in it once - how embarrassing!
10. My favourite authors include F Scott Fitzgerald, Ian McEwan, Cormac McCarthy, and John le Carre
11. My favourite film directors include Christopher Nolan, Wes Anderson, David Fincher, and David O. Russell

The Eleven Questions:

1. What do you enjoy most about blogging?

At the risk of sounding hugely cliched, I have always enjoyed writing. When I was younger, I used to write short stories and novellas all the time, but nowadays I don't really have the time or commitment to do it. To compromise, I decided to start a blog because it still enabled me to write, but there is so much more flexibility when blogging - plus you don't have to write anywhere near as much!

2. If you could meet any celebrity in the world for a whole day, who would you meet?

I had to think about this one for a little while - but, as I mentioned earlier, I am a massive fan of Sherlock, so I'm going to say Benedict Cumberbatch. That way, I could also find out how the hell Sherlock survived at the end of The Reichenbach Fall!!

3. You have just won £1 million - what is the first thing you buy?

I could be boring and just say a mansion or a nice house, but I'm going to push the boat out a bit and say either an indoor swimming pool or a home cinema. 

4. Warm or cold?

Probably cold. Since my birthday and Christmas are both in winter, I have a bit of a bias towards the colder months anyway. That aside, I also think that everything looks nicer when its covered in snow or frost, and there's always a nice, cosy atmosphere about winter. I also went away to Iceland earlier on in the year (which was very cold, as you can imagine) and I absolutely loved it there, so cold it is.

5. How would you describe your style?
Smart-casual, I suppose - I love wearing shirts with any kind of collar (I am quite fond of Peter Pan collars at the moment), coloured jeans or trousers, nude ballet pumps, brogues, striped t-shirts... that sort of thing. It's worth a mention that I love printed t-shirts as well - the funnier the better!

6. Do you have a favourite make-up brand?
There are quite a few make-up brands that I really like, but if I had to pick just the one it would probably be Urban Decay. I use their Naked 2 palette on a daily basis, and from what I've tried of their lip products (which isn't much, I'll be honest) I like those as well. In terms of lower-end or drugstore brands, my favourites are Max Factor and Bourjois.

7. Lipstick or lipgloss?
Lipgloss - I find that it's a little more of a pragmatic choice, as I don't like having to have to reapply lip products with great precision, which is often the case with lipsticks. With both products I prefer darker colours, because they tend to stay on for longer and because they are much more noticeable.

8. Jeans or a dress?
Jeans - I do like wearing dresses as well, but jeans are much less hassle when faced with the notorious British weather. I mentioned in one of the previous questions that I love coloured jeans, and I think that a pair of burgundy or dark green jeans are so much more comfy and practical than a nice dress and can look just as smart.

9. What is the one beauty product you couldn't live without?
I'm going to be a bit cheeky and include skincare as a beauty product - the Clinique Clarifying Lotion is one product that I couldn't live without. I have quite dry skin that feels very tight around my face if I don't use skincare products regularly, and this product does the job marvellously. Granted, it is expensive and doesn't smell particularly nice, but it leaves my skin feeling wonderfully smooth and refreshed.

10. Do you have a secret talent?
I wish I could say yes to this question - but sadly, no. I have been told that I'm good at art, but I wouldn't say that that's a secret talent per-say, so I don't think it counts.

11. What is your dream job?
Since I'm feeling ambitious and elaborate right now, I'm going to say a film director. As it may be evident from the conent of my blog, I am a very keen film fan, and any job in the industry would be the coolest thing ever as far as I'm concerned. Failing that, I'd say that film journalism looks quite fun as well - visiting all of those film sets would be incredible!

My Eleven Questions:

1. If you could swap blogs with anyone, who's would it be?
2. What was the last film that you saw in the cinema? Did you enjoy it?
3. If you could switch lives with one person for a day, who would it be and why?
4. What is your biggest guilty pleasure? (if you have one, of course!)
5. You are only allowed to use three beauty products for the rest of your life - what are they?
6. If you could get free tickets to see any artist of your choice, who would you go and see?
7. Would you rather have the ability to fly or heal whenever you get injured?
8. If you could only watch one TV show for the rest of your life what would it be?
9. Describe your sense of style in five words or less
10. What are your top three books? (Both fiction and non-fiction count!)
11. If you found a £50 note (or the equivalent) on the street what would you do with it?

My Eleven Nominees:
- Lili and the Rox - Fearless n Fabulous - Phoebe Victoria - Films & Pies - PeanutJase - Beth-Stocker Blog - BelleJeunesse - Sophie-Ellie - Kirsty - Hanclarky - Small Contemplations -

I hope you've all enjoyed reading this post - it's a little more personal than most of the things I blog about, but I thought it would be nice to mix it up a bit!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT - PEBBLE COOKIES

The past week has been very stressful for me, so what better way to unwind than to enjoy a nice chocolate treat? The title of these cookies may seem a bit odd, but it's because I used Cadbury Pebbles in the biscuits instead of chocolate chips - although M&Ms or Smarties will work fine for this recipe as well. So, if you're in the mood for some double chocolatey cookies, here is the recipe for my Pebble Cookies. (Warning - this recipe makes a lot of biscuits; it made three trayfuls of cookies for me, so you may want to halve the quantities).

INGREDIENTS:

125g of butter

200g of light brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. of vanilla extract

225g of self-raising flour

1/2 tsp. of salt

Cadbury's Pebbles/M&Ms/Smarties or any small chocolate sweets

200g of dark chocolate (optional)

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to around 180 to 200 degrees celsius. Prepare a flat baking tray by placing a sheet of tin-foil or greaseproof paper onto the tray.

Combine the butter and sugar in a large bowl. If you are making double chocolate cookies, melt the dark chocolate in a bain-marie or by using the microwave (if you are using a microwave, be careful that you don't burn the chocolate).

Add in the egg, vanilla extract, salt, and melted chocolate if required. Mix all of the ingredients together to make a mixture with a similar consistency to cake batter.

Sift in the flour and mix it with the other ingredients until a ball of cookie dough is formed. You can add in your sweets  now if you'd prefer - add them in and mix well to make sure that they combine with the dough properly.

Tear off walnut-sized pieces of the dough and place onto the baking tray. Flatten the dough slightly using your fingertips or the back of a spoon. If you haven't done so already, place some of the sweets on top of the cookies, pressing them into the dough so that they don't fall off when cooked. 

Bake them in the oven for approximately 15 minutes - they should be quite soft when they are taken out of the oven, but as they cool down they get a little firmer. 

I hope you've enjoyed reading this post - let me know in the comments if you decide to make your own cookies!

OCTOBER FAVOURITES

I apologise for not having posted anything in over a week - I have been really rather busy, and I confess that I have been lacking in ideas for posts. However, since October has drawn to a close, I've compiled my favourite products and miscellaneous items together for my monthly favourites list. 

MAX FACTOR MASTERPIECE MAX MASCARA

I bought this mascara at the very beginning of the month, so I have had quite some time to road test it. Unlike some, I am definitely the kind of person who gets bored of using the same products and like to shop around for alternatives where possible. The same can be said for my experience with this product - I have used other mascaras by Max Factor before, but never this one. Compared to the other mascaras by Max Factor that I have used, I would say that this is one of my favourites. I apply this mascara by holding a mirror just below my face and looking down into it. By doing this, I find that there are fewer clumps in my eyelashes while remaining voluminous. While I wouldn't say that this is the best mascara that I have ever used, it has definitely been a favourite over the past month at least.

VIDEO GAME - BATMAN: ARKHAM ORIGINS

Technically, this hasn't been a favourite of mine throughout October, since it was released on the 25th. Nevertheless, any new release from the Arkham franchise is worth mentioning on my list of favourites, as the two previous games in the series are both sublime. Although I have yet to finish Arkham Origins, I think that I can safely say that it is as good as the others despite the changes in voice actors and developers. In this installment to the franchise, Batman is in the earlier years of his career as a vigilante. Set during the night of Christmas Eve, Batman must track down the villain Black Mask, who has promised one of eight assassins a fifty million dollar prize - if they can kill Batman. I agree with some other people who have said that the gameplay is very similar to the two previous games, but I feel that this is no bad thing.

L'OREAL PARIS SUPER-LINER PERFECT SLIM

Checking the Boots and Superdrug websites, I'm not sure whether or not this product is actually still available to buy any more. If that is the case, it's a shame - I would say that it is one of the better felt-tip eyeliners that I've used. As the name of the product suggests, you can create very thin lines with this eyeliner pen. I find this preferable to chunkier pens, as I think that thinner pens have more versatility, which works for me because I change the thickness of my eyeliner on a daily basis. On some days, I wear my eyeliner in a very thin and more natural line while on others I like to wear much more thick and dramatic eyeliner. In the photo above, I tried to show the variation in thickness that can be created with this eyeliner - if the picture proves one thing, it's that I can't draw very straight lines.

THEATRE - MACBETH AND FRANKENSTEIN

October has been a month full of theatre - at the very beginning of the month, I went to London to watch a performance of Macbeth at the Globe Theatre and yesterday I watched a recording of the 2011 production of Frankenstein. Both of these performances had to make it into my monthly favourites simply because of how amazing they were. Unfortunately, the performance of Macbeth is no longer running at The Globe - but if you live in the UK and would like to see the recording of Frankenstein, there is a second showing on the 5th November in Showcase Cinemas across the country. To cut a very long story short, both performances were highlights of the month because of the superb acting from all of the casts and creative production design - Frankenstein in particular was outstanding in this area.

I hope you've enjoyed reading my monthly favourites, and if you have any ideas for future posts (I admit, I am lacking in ideas at the moment) please post your suggestions in the comments below!

- Kate Shortt -

RECOMMENDED READS - TOP FIVE BOOKS

Before I begin the countdown of my top five books of all time, I must tell you how hard it was for me to compile this list. Being an avid reader, there are so many books that I absolutely adore - many of which aren't included in the list because they were pipped to the post by the five that I have chosen. So, without further ado, here are my top five books of all time - in other words, the five that I would recommend more than any others.

5. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - John le Carre

I would say that this novel is very much a niche one - if espionage in the Cold War era isn't something you'd like to read about, I'd give this one a miss. The plot of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy follows retired agent George Smiley as he attempts to find a traitor who has hidden in amongst the British secret service. Although the premise sounds a bit like James Bond, the two depictions of spies couldn't be more different. In this novel, there aren't any wacky gadgets or action-packed gunfights. Instead, there are mind-games and almost Sherlock Holmes-esque deductions about when, where, why, and how crimes are committed. The style of writing is very detailed and heavy on espionage jargon, which some people may find a bit heavy - personally, I like very detailed narratives and enjoyed both the plot and style of writing.

4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling

Apologies for the quality of the photo above - the holographic title didn't like the flash on my camera. I felt somewhat obligated to include at least one Harry Potter book in this list - I am, after all, a self confessed superfan. The reason that I picked this book over others in the series and other book series (including The Lord of the Rings and Sherlock Holmes) is simply because it has been a favourite of mine for a very long time. Back when I was much younger, this was one of my favourite books, and is still a favourite today - although, sadly, I no longer have the cassette audiobook that I used to have in my childhood. I'm sure most people will already know the plot, but for those who don't, here's a brief synopsis (taken from the back of the book); Harry Potter is about to start his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - however, when he arrives, the atmosphere is tense. There's an escaped mass murderer on the loose, and the sinister prison guards of Azkaban have been called in to guard the school...

3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey

Unlike Harry Potter, this favourite is more of a recent read. When I was on holiday over the summer, I bought this to read because I thought that it sounded quite interesting and I'd heard that the film was very good - and I always like to read the book before I watch the film. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest follows the shenanigans of R.P. McMurphy as he is committed to a mental institution in Oregon. Upon his arrival at the hospital, McMurphy wages a war against the tyrannical Nurse Ratched, who is determined to stamp out any free spirit and fun in the asylum. This book reminds me of George Orwell's 1984, as it raises questions about oppression and whether or not madness is simply a label for those who don't fit in with society. Overall, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is both a saddening and uplifting novel that celebrates individuality.

2. Atonement - Ian McEwan

I will admit, I my love for this novel is probably on par with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. However, the superior element of Atonement for me is the ending. How OFOTCN ends isn't inherently predictable, but the tone of the novel throughout made me realise that the ending events were inevitable. Atonement, on the other hand, had a completely surprising ending to me, and left me stunned for quite a while afterwards. The plot of Atonement follows thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis, an aspiring writer living at her family's estate in 1930s Britain. Over the course of one summer's day, she witnesses several moments of intimacy between her sister, Cecelia Tallis, and the son of a family servant, Robbie Turner. However, Briony's imagination skews these events, meaning that she commits a crime that she spends the rest of her life trying to atone for. The narrative is hugely detailed and the characters have a lot of depth to them - however, it's the way that Briony's actions manipulate the entire plot that I find most interesting - and ultimately devastating.

1. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Where do I even begin with Gatsby? For me, this novel is as close to perfection as it gets. Fitzgerald's writing style is beautifully descriptive but ultimately tragic. The Great Gatsby follows wannabe bond salesman Nick Carraway, who moves to the New York coastal town of West Egg. An unlikely friendship between him and his millionaire neighbour, Jay Gatsby, begins after Gatsby enlists Nick to help him win back the latter's cousin, Daisy. The corruption and immoral society of 1920s America is fully exposed in this novel as well as consumerism and parties galore. What I find most interesting about this book is how each reader reacts to different characters - I love Gatsby as a character and feel immense sympathy for him, however, some of my friends disagree and find him hugely immoral. Overall, Fitzgerald creates an absorbing plot with dynamic and unique characters that keep you engaged until the very end.

So there you have it - the top five novels that I've read so far (despite some of my other much loved favourites missing out on the list). If you have any recommendations of other novels that I should read, please comment below!

- Kate Shortt -

FILM NIGHT - THE FIFTH ESTATE

I would start this review by saying that the review is spoiler free, but of course, it is based on real events. The film in question is Bill Condon's new film The Fifth Estate, which stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Daniel Brühl as Julian Assange and Daniel Domscheit-Berg respectively. While many reviews of the film haven't been massively positive - the film has a rating of 42% on Rotten Tomatoes - I would take this with a pinch of salt. Compared with the last film that I reviewed (Prisoners, which scored a respectable 81%) I feel that this one is better, as it was much more concise and satisfying.

This is the synopsis of the film taken from IMDB:
The story begins as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his colleague Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Brühl) team up to become underground watchdogs of the privileged and powerful. On a shoestring, they create a platform that allows whistle-blowers to anonymously leak covert data, shining a light on the dark recesses of government secrets and corporate crimes. Soon, they are breaking more hard news than the world's most legendary media organizations combined. But when Assange and Berg gain access to the biggest trove of confidential intelligence documents in U.S. history, they battle each other and a defining question of our time: what are the costs of keeping secrets in a free society-and what are the costs of exposing them?

In terms of acting, the cast is generally solid and convincing throughout the film. For me, the stand-out performance comes from lead actor Benedict Cumberbatch - although admittedly, there is some slight personal bias (he is one of my favourite actors). Assange's Australian accent is done very well by Cumberbatch, and he manages to juggle the accent with a solid performance. The result is a multi-layered portrayal of a controversial character, as the audience's response ranges from sympathetic to shocked, sometimes within the space of a scene.

The cinematography and the editing of this film make it visually stunning. The way in which the technology is integrated into the visuals means that the clunky close-up shots of mobile phones and computers are rarely used. Instead and rather fittingly, a Sherlock-esque approach is taken, where the messages appear next to the characters. The visual splendour of the film means that when the plot begins to slow down a little, there is something to keep you focused on watching. There are particular scenes where more of a metaphorical approach to revealing or reinforcing information is taken, which is done by creating an imaginary office space. As someone who studies literature, I found the symbolism and metaphors used in these scenes as very interesting and unique ways of conveying a message to the audience.

Criticism-wise, I would say that there was perhaps a lack of depth with regards to some of the portrayals. Aside from Assange, there is little back story or development for many of the characters in the film, as it focuses more on the consequences of their actions rather than the people behind them. With that being said, additional development and detail would of course add additional length to the two-hour run time, and would probably stagnate the plot.

Overall, I found the film to be surprisingly enjoyable to watch - given the mediocre reviews and the concept of a documentary feature film, I was a little apprehensive about watching it. I will say that I don't think that The Fifth Estate will be everyone's cup of tea, as it is quite detail heavy and there isn't a great deal of action.

For anyone that is interested in the film, here is the official trailer...

I hope you have enjoyed reading this review - let me know in the comments if you've seen The Fifth Estate and what you thought of it.

- Kate Shortt -

FOOD FOR THOUGHT - CHOCOLATE AND PECAN MUFFINS

I've been so busy lately with visits to universities and masses of schoolwork that I haven't posted in almost a week. I thought that I'd kill two birds with one stone and make a baking post as well as satisfying my hunger for something chocolatey (to compensate for all of my rushing around). The recipe in this post is actually one that I came up with myself, and these tried-and-tested muffins are a result of lacking cupboard ingredients and experimentation.

INGREDIENTS:
170g of self-raising flour
170g of butter
140g of caster sugar
30g of soft light brown sugar
2 eggs
120g of dark chocolate
50g of chopped pecans
A few whole pecans to top the cakes
1 tsp. of vanilla extract
1 tbsp. of Nutella

METHOD:

- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius and place the muffin cases in a baking tray.

- Combine the butter and both types of sugar in a large mixing bowl until the mixture is creamy. The reason for using two types of sugar is to make sure that the top of the cakes are chewy in a similar way to brownies.

- Sift in the self-raising flour until it is fully combined into the mixture. Add each egg in, mixing vigorously in between to make sure that the mixture comes together properly.

- Melt the dark chocolate - I use a bain-marie to do this, but any other chocolate melting method works fine. While the chocolate is melting, chop the pecans into rough quarters.

- Pour the melted chocolate into the cake mixture and add in the tablespoon of Nutella and the teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix well to ensure that the Nutella incorporates into the mixture properly - this may take a little while because of its consistency.

- Sprinkle the chopped pecans into the finished cake mixture and stir them in. Once this is done, spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin cases; usually, the mix makes nine large muffins. Place one whole pecan onto the top of each cake.

- Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. To test if the cakes are cooked, poke a skewer or a small knife into the top of one of the muffins. If the skewer comes out clean (without any raw cake mixture on it), then the cakes are cooked properly.

On the left are the muffins before baking and on the right are the finished cakes

So there you have it - my recipe for chocolate and pecan muffins. If you try out the recipe, let me know how it went in the comments below.

- Kate Shortt -

A BELATED SEPTEMBER FAVOURITES

October is here, which means that it is about time for a favourites post - although, admittedly I would have posted this a little earlier if I was a little bit more organised. Within this months favourites (and probably all of the other favourites posts, too), both beauty products and other things that I've been enjoying throughout the last month will be featured.

REVLON LIP BUTTER IN RASPBERRY PIE

Lip butters have been very hyped-up in the past year or two - personally, I think that they live up to the rave reviews that they have been getting. The texture of these lipsticks is sublime, as they are very creamy to apply and sit very comfortably on the lips. In the last month, I've rediscovered a shade that I bought a little while ago called Raspberry Pie. I wouldn't say that the shade is a true raspberry colour per-se, but more of a fuchsia colour. In any case, the colour of this lip butter is very versatile, as it can be worn for both day and night. However, because of the consistency of the lip butters, they do come off relatively easily during the day, but the darker colours do stay on for a little longer.

FILM - STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

When Star Trek Into Darkness was in the cinema, I went and saw it twice because I liked it so much. You can imagine, then, that I was very pleased when the DVD/Blu-Ray came out this month. Here's short synopsis of the film (taken from Wikipedia) - the plot of Into Darkness takes place one year after the previous installment, with Kirk (Chris Pine) and the crew of the USS Enterprise sent to the Klingonhomeworld seeking former Starfleet member-turned-terrorist John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch). To summarise, Star Trek Into Darkness has a great cast, a script that brings elements of both comedy and tragedy to the plot, and is visually very nice to watch (lens flares aside).

URBAN DECAY 24/7 GLIDE-ON EYE PENCIL IN CRASH

This is another product that I've had for a little while now, and rediscovering it this month made me realise that I ought to use this more often that I do. The Urban Decay eyeliners in general are very good - they are some of the rare eyeliners that don't run during daily wear. Crash is a colour that I've had for a little while now - I got this colour instead of a brown eyeliner that I'd been after, as Urban Decay didn't have any in stock at that point. The colour of this eye pencil is a deep plum purple with flecks of silver glitter in it. This means that it works well as a substitute for black eyeliner, as it isn't as harsh against against lighter eye colours.

MAX FACTOR MIRACLE TOUCH CREAMY BLUSHER IN SOFT MURANO

Usually, I'm not overly fond of wearing blusher, as I don't really like the way that they sit on my skin. However, this one from Max Factor has made me rethink my slight aversion, as this cream blusher has a much nicer consistency than my other powder blushers. Because it is creamy and because I have quite dry skin, the texture of the product seems almost moisturising and blends much more easily on my cheekbones. I also love the colour of this blusher - it is in the shade Soft Murano and is quite red-toned with a sheen to it that doubles as a sort of highlight.

TV SERIES - HEROES

I actually got all of the Heroes box sets last year for Christmas - however, the arrival of my Sherlock box set in the post meant that I stopped half way through series three of Heroes. However, I decided at the beginning of September that I would finish watching the entire show. Currently, I've just started the beginning of series four, and I have to agree with the general consensus that the first series is by far the best one. I still find Heroes an enjoyable show to watch despite the quality (mostly of the plot) faltering as the programme progresses, and it's been my go-to T.V. show for the month of September.

URBAN DECAY NAKED 2 PALETTE (PARTICULARLY THE SHADES SNAKEBITE AND SUSPECT)

Finishing off my September favourites is the Naked 2 palette by Urban Decay, but in particular the shades Snakebite and Suspect. I went out to a party last week and put Suspect as a base colour across my eyes and then heavily concentrated Snakebite in the crease. The colours compliment each other very nicely and can make a great night-out look that is bold but not over the top. I also find that Suspect in particular is a very versatile shade, and one that I enjoy wearing for a daytime look; it adds a nice wash of colour to the eyes that isn't too dark for the day. It's an added bonus for me that both of these metallic neutrals bring out blue eyes, but since they are neutral shades, they will work well with all eye colours.

Again, sorry for the lateness of this post - my next one will be coming up soon and will probably be either a film review or something to do with baking.

- Kate Shortt -