Girl online: On tour Review

Considering my 'Girl Online' review I did back in January/February on Zoë's first book got so much love and views and great comments, I decided that as soon as got my hands on the second I would have to do a post on that too!

I can say straight away that the book is written so it is super easy to read making me get through it in under a week - shorter if I wasn't watching vlogmas haha. However unlike the first book, I think there is more elder teen content in the novel like drinking, parties, cheating and it goes into more depth of Noah and Penny's relationship.

I did say that the first book was at times cliché and a little unrealistic and I think book 2 was also that some of the time, however I still believe it was relatable to the audience, but my god, poor girl Penny did have a lot of bad luck haha. 

Zoë introduced some new characters into the story including Leah, who after Noah, is my favourite character. Zoë said that she gave her more structure and likability and any scenes with Leah and Penny together made me smile.

Again what I love about this book is the message Zoë indirectly sends to her viewers and readers. The scene with Noah and Penny at the end made me feel so connected to the characters which makes the novel so close to mine and most viewers heart. I think some people can be put off by a 300+ page book however Zoë keeps the energy up throughout that you never lose interest and the length of the book can make you fall in love with the characters.

I will reiterate again that I do not believe Zoë had a ghost writer - I am a heavy reader of her blog and watch her vlogs often enough to be 99% sure she wrote the book and think she had help from an editor (like most authors do) but deserves her name on the front of the book and the revenue from it.

I had such an amazing feeling at the end of this book (the last scene in the first book was on the beach and this mirrored in the second - very happy)! This is something I rarely get from a story, but... these two books deserve a new little sister - I want book 3!

Proud is an understatement - love you Zoë x 

Media Studies Coursework

If you didn't know already, I took media studies as an option for my GCSE's and something I defiantly want to carry on into A-levels and even university due to the high amount of interest I have in the subject. Currently we are studying film in media and after researching a film and creating our own pitch (story line) for a film we made from scratch, we need to form a poster for the film. So today I thought I would share with you the photos me and my friend took for her film poster due to me helping her out a bit. I am sort of taking the credit from someone else but don't worry, I have had her approval.

The film is called 'Sunflowers' and a little overview of the pitch is that schizophrenic girl (portrayed by Masie Williams) wakes up feeling depressed and the last thing she remembers is being in a field of bright sunflowers feeling happy healthy with someone she can't quite remember. The poster is two images combined together (a depressed and happy one - I'm sure you can tell between the two above!) I loved being the model for these photos, especially the depressed photos, it's so much easier to act sad than happy haha - that must say something about me! For a couple of the depressed photos, we had a low exposure and long shutter speed being 3-4 seconds for me to shake me head and to create a distorted face which looks very cool yet freaky.

If you take media studies or decided to carry it on into higher education, please let me know your thoughts as I'm always eager to know more about the subject. 

Christmas Trilogy

To kick start the Christmas season on my YouTube channel, I thought I would do a Christmas trilogy. Three videos consisting of all things Christmassy and to start you off I uploaded a Christmas Q&A this morning. If you would like to be involved in any other Q&A's, you can follow me on Twitter @zoeftshay. Check out the video here: https://youtu.be/8QawgEx-Ay. Hope you enjoy and I'll speak to you all very soon x 

My New Lip Combo

I never used to be a pink girl when it came to lips, I was always a dark brown nude or a warm tone red. But since recently purchasing my new MAC lippy in the shade 'Brave', I have been obsessed. Uno problemo (excuse my Spanish haha), it is a little too bright for school so I searched my makeup collection for some alternatives. But rather than coming across a dupe, I found my oldie yet goodie Rimmel Kate Moss lippy in 26; A pale brown nude but for pale skin like moi, a hard thing to wear because it washes you out. However, over a bright lip like Brave, it'd perfect. If your familiar with MAC velvet teddy, it's kinda like that, maybe just a little more pink.

So what do you think? I challenge you to delve into your collection and match colours up together so they suit you perfectly. It's such a great way to save money too without buying another lipstick (but does use up a little more space when travelling - lippy over toothbrush then haha!)

My Birthday Weekend!

Yesterday (22nd November) was my day of birth and I was 16 years old (WHAT THE...), I can't honestly believe I am now legally allowed to buy a pet without parents permission...haha. So I though I would give a quick run though if my 16th birthday extravaganza weekend! Also excuse the reverse order of the photos... Sorryyyy!

On Saturday I invited seven of my bestest mates to Bella Italia for a meal out and over my pesto pizza (yummy), it was great to chat to all of my friends together, OUTSIDE of school! There were also some very nice purple balloons planted on the table as I arrived with a big 16 on to emphasise a year closer to death (sorry, that was a little morbid)! For desert we also had these cool shot deserts and when I came home I was lucky enough to have a massive cookie cake, adorable!

As my actually birthday came around on Sunday, I received a few presents however I already had my iphone, 5SOS tickets and Imagine Dragons merch safely in my hands before my bday, however I still got a couple of youtuber books, money and a massive cushion with a cat on it (my cats now won't sleep on my bed!) As roast is my favourite dinner, for lunch I went out with my family for this gorgeous roast in this cute little village and for the 3rd time, blew out a candle on my sticky toffee pudding!

My birthday wasn't at all crazy and all out there like some people like to make their 16 birthdays with house parties and alcohol but that's just their choice and I guess I should respect that!? I'm not normally cheesy but... If I have friends and family around me, I'm a happy chappy!

Room Sprays?

Recently I have very much gotten into rooms sprays. I always thought they were quite an old peoples thing but they have won me over. I hate my room not smelling fresh otherwise I kind of feel a little to be claustrophobic honest and even though candles are a great way of refreshing your room, parents may not always trust you with a wick and a flame... So room sprays are a great alternative. I'm loving this one from TU at Sainburys in the lavender scent, it's super calming and a great something to spray in your room before you go to sleep and besides its' purple to match my room. FAB. A great stocking filler and also a great thing to add to my Christmas list!

Imagine Dragons Concert

On Friday night (06/11/15) me and my family drove up to Nottingham to watch our favourite band ever - Imagine Dragons. After my brother discovered the American band 2 and a half years ago after their first albums night visions came out, I was hooked to their songs. After unfortunately missing that tour, we preordered their new album back in January this year and bought tickets for their Smoke & Mirrors tour. 10 long months later, I was walking up to the Capital FM arena with my family ready for a night to remember and by golly it was probably the best night of my life. Here are a few pictures I tried to take with my shaky hand... Enjoy!

And then it was all over (after treating myself to a tour shirt...)

I also posted a vlog of the night on my YouTube channel, so if your interested the link is: https://youtu.be/WSdQ8IIVv-o

I probably sound like a crazy concert girl but I will admit that this was my first concert and it exceeded all expectations. If you have the opitunity to see your favourite artist/band/comedian live, go for it, you won't regret it.

Leopard Cat Halloween Makeup

To celebrate my love for Halloween (and cats) I thought I would mix both in a video for you guys and do a makeup look on my channel. If you are interested in my mediocre makeup skills, you can check out my video here: https://youtu.be/0vsVI2WcXrY and say my blog sent you! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Laurra xox

My love for Essie

Since watching ViviannaDoesMakeup (about 2 years ago) I have kept meaning to pick up an Essie polish, due to Anna's massive love for the nail brand. Being £8 for a polish, it's not the cheapest on the high-street but since treating myself to Cocktail Bling back in the summer I wish I started collected these lovely nail paints sooner!

Cocktail Bling is probably in the top 3 of my (kinda large) collection of polishes so listen up, it's GOOD! It's a gorgeous bluey purple grey, depending what light you see it in. It looks so chic on the nails, and goes with everything! The lovely wide brush makes it super easy to apply, only 2 coats needed, long lasting (6 days I wore this) and chip free, what more could you want?

I was in TK Max the other day and found a LOAD of a Essie polishes for £4!!! The colour selection wasn't great but I do regret picking another up. This colour is Sable Collar which is a dark metallic burgundy red - perfect for autumn. I believe the polishes they do in the store are discontinued in Boots so if you missed a shade you liked, go and check here! So I will defiantly go back to TK to look for some more bargins!

Any Essie polishes you would recommend?

Welcome Fall

I love how the Americans called autumn fall, I think it's so much more appropriate for this time of year but I no us English get annoyed at each other for saying something that isn't typically British, so I'll stick to saying autumn!

Even though my favourite season is summer, there has always been something I love about autumn; a hot chocolate whipped with cream and sprinkled with marshmallows, the dark evenings while cosing  up with my gorgeous cats to watch the newest episode of Strictly Come Dancing - my guilty pleasure.

The little things in life make me the happiest in autumn and not to forget, that a couple of fashion events come around this time of year! London and Paris fashion week all occur in these months, making me very excited for big Zara scarves, fluffy oversized khaki parkas and of course, beanies! 

Other occasions also exist during this months like Halloween, one of my favourite things ever as I love the adrenaline from being scared and all things spooky related. Bonfire night is not long after, something that tends to be forgotten but how can you not forget sparklers! Also my birthday is on the 22nd November (put that in your diary!) Eek I'm 16 this year, help! And then of course the build up to Christmas which is technically in winter but meh.

I just wanted to create a little post to appireciate the small things at this time of the year that make me happy. What makes you happy during fall/autumn? So should I do this every season, what do you think?

Best of September

       

I uploaded a video last night showing you my favourite things of September; a fab all in one face palette, a gorgeous new MAC lippie, a load of top chart songs and a new slightly scary show I became obsessed with, where all included in my 'best of September' video! You can check it out here: https://youtu.be/PTcA5WZQS3c

A Sea-Side Break

On the first week of September (last week of the summer hols), me and my brothers were lucky enough to have a surprise sea-side break, organised by my parents a couple of months ago. It was very exciting that my parents treated us to a gorgeous lodge with sea views in lovely Plymouth, the city my mum came from. We had a relaxing 5 days, I barely used the Wi-Fi, it was just nice to have a break, from everything! Here are a few photos from the holiday and I'll try and summarise each day for you.

After a long 4 hour journey, we settled down in our luxury lodge and went down to the private beach just a couple of minutes walk down the valley from the lodge. It was so relaxing and I took a few artsy photos with my newly purchased Quay sunglasses!

On day 2, we had a long ramble down to Plymouth harbour, strolling over the high cliffs with an amazing view of the city. On the way back we passed a couple of little villages with beautiful lakes and gardens.

Day 3 was undoubtably the most active day. We went go-karting, a sport I secretly enjoy and have got quite good at to be honest! At this amazing leisure facility called Andrenline Quarry (the place they filmed the most recent Walkers advert), me and my dad got the chance to basically jump off a cliff and zip-wire down the valley which was something I have always wanted to do. We then got to swim in the fresh water resivour below the zip-wire where me and my brothers had a lot of fun jumping into the water from the jetti! And finally to finish the day we went to the famous sea-side town of Looe in Cornwall and had fish and chips for dinner. Also we were lucky enough to spontaneously get a boat ride round Looe Island and see the Cornish seals, that was probably the highlight of the week!

On day 4, we were fortunate enough to go onto the famous Dartmoor and ride horses. I used to ride when I was younger but gave it up and after going on a horse again, I regret quitting! Afterwards, we had another nice walk until we got lost on Dartmoor with the fog coming in which was pretty dramatic! We also had a lot of fun playing pooh sticks over the bridge and finally to finish the day we went into a lovely pub back in Plymouth.

On Friday morning, our final full day, we went back to the private beach and got the wetsuits out and swam in the sea, something I have never done in the UK. After having a shower we went into Plymouth city centre, did a bit of shopping and slightly fell in love with the city! When we got back we had a relaxing time in the pool which was basically private and stroked some gorgeous tame chickens, an animal I now adore!

I hope you enjoyed my little summery of my trip to Plymouth, it was a lovely place and I would highly recommend visiting!