What I've Been Up To

As always, I'm very sorry for not updating more often. Right after I finished my internship I took I plane and came back to a place that I didn't think I would ever come back to - the Dominican Republic. I lived here for five years and vowed to never come back. And yet, here I am. How things change.

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The Mortal Instruments Movie Review

The official movie synopsis (from IMDB):

Set in contemporary New York City, a seemingly ordinary teenager, Clary Fray (Lily Collins), discovers she is the descendant of a line of Shadowhunters, a secret cadre of young half-angel warriors locked in an ancient battle to protect our world from demons. After the disappearance of her mother (Lena Headey), Clary must join forces with a group of Shadowhunters, who introduce her to a dangerous alternate New York called Downworld, filled with demons, warlocks, vampires, werewolves and other deadly creatures. Based on the worldwide best-selling book series.

Let me start by saying that I love the book series, and I was really excited when they announced that they were turning the first book into a movie and launching a possible franchise. I thought that the casting was on point - Jamie Campbell Bower was exactly as how I envisioned Jace to be. And the fact that Cassandra Clare was really involved in everything made me think that they were going to make good choices, plot-wise. 

What I liked:

-The scenes at the Institute. Visually, they were beautiful. 

What I hated:

-That they didn't turn Simon into a rat.

-Magnus didn't appear as much.

-The music. In my opinion, the scene where Clary and Jace in the greenhouse was completely ruined by the cheesy song choice. 

-The runes. They looked weird. 

-Small inconsistencies, like the fact that Luke shouldn't have been able to grab the Shadowhunter sword.

I guess I understand why it didn't do very well, box office-wise: it lacked, for me, the charm of the book. The moments that make you want to throw the book out the window (the ones who have read it know what moment I'm talking about) are really downplayed in the movie - I actually would've missed it if it hadn't been for the audible gasp that my friend (who knew nothing about the series) made.

Overall, I was really disappointed with this movie. It just lacked charm and ran too long, specially the battle scenes. I actually regret going to the cinema to see it, I should've just waited until it appeared online. 

Have you seen the movie or read the books? What did you think of them?

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Beautiful Chaos Review

Beautiful Chaos by Kami García and Margaret Stohl is the third book in the Caster Chronicles. It continues the story of Ethan Wate and his Caster love Lena Duchannes after her Claiming disturbed the Order of Things. Here's the overview (from Barnes & Noble):

"Ethan Wate thought he was getting used to the strange, impossible events happening in Gatlin, his small Southern town. But now that Ethan and Lena have returned home, strange and impossible have taken on new meanings. Swarms of locusts, record-breaking heat, and devastating storms ravage Gatlin as Ethan and Lena struggle to understand the impact of Lena's Claiming. Even Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals is affected - and their abilities begin to dangerously misfire. As time passes, one question becomes clear: What - or who - will need to be sacrificed to save Gatlin?"

My opinion:

There's no nice way of doing this, so I'll just say it: this book is boring. Incredibly boring. As in, I only finished reading it because I feel bad when I don't finish books I've purchased myself. It took me a long time to read, mainly because I really felt it was going nowhere.

I bought the first three books on Amazon a while ago (it came in a really beautiful package), and I really regret spending that much money on them. I thought I was getting a really good deal, but that was based on the fact that I was going to actually like the series. I really liked the second book, so it's disappointing that the third one went back to the same slow-paced dullness as the first one. There's a fourth book in the series, but, needless to say, I won't be buying it. 

Have you read the series? What did you think about them? 

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UK Wishlist

I'm so so sorry for not updating. Between the last months of the semester, exams, Christmas, and the internship that I just started, I haven't been able to do much other than keeping the house relatively clean and sleeping. 

I've never been one for New Year's Resolutions, but I'll try and get back into the blogging mindset. And now, onto the post.

So a friend of mine is going to what it's pretty much my dream trip - London, Paris and Rome for three weeks. She'll spend most of the time in London, so that means that I'm sending her straight into Boots and Superdrug and Topshop and getting me some British drugstore/high street beauty favourites that I've seen nearly every blogger rave and that I've always wanted to try.

1. Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in Light.
2. Sleek Blush in Flushed. 
3. Soap & Glory Flake Away Body Scrub.

4.. Topshop Nail Polish in Pool Party.
5. MUA Eyeshadow Palette in Undressed.

6. Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Transparent.

What do you think I'm missing? What are some of your favorite products that you can only get in the UK or are hard to get hold of outside of the UK?

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Mask of Magnaminty

 

I have seen the future, and in it, my entire skincare routine consists of Lush products. And my wallet isn't very happy about it. I've seriously been loving Lush stuff these past months, starting when I got Grease Lightening. But now I've come to rave about another skincare product that actually gets a lot of love online - the Mask of Magnaminty.

 

A friend of mine actually bought it, and gave me about two or three masks worth. Before I started using it I used to get really big pimples that generally left horrible scars, but ever since the first use I've been amazed at how clear my skin has been. So when I realized that I didn't have much left from what my friend gave me, I rushed to Lush and bought my own pot. It doesn't come cheap (here it was $5.900 Chilean pesos, about $12 US dollars, for the small pot of 4.4 oz), but I think it's worth it.

 

Since it's not one of their fresh masks, this one lasts up to four months, and you really don't need a lot to cover your whole face. I usually leave it one for about 15 minutes and then gently rub it before taking it off in the shower.

The only thing I don't really like is the smell - at first I thought it had gone bad (I even asked my friend if it was near the expiration date), but I ended up getting used to it after the second use.

 

 Mask of Magnaminty

LUSH USA ($12.95)

 

What's your favourite Lush product?

My Nail Saviours

              

               As a nail polish junkie, I used to do a really bad thing - I took off my nail polish with my nails, which only resulted in horribly uneven and fickle nails. Needless to say, nail polish chipped off immediately and my nails broke constantly. One day I decided enough was enough, and bought Growth Spurt at a local nail salon. After putting on a coat or two every two days for about a week I saw a lot of improvement, and so it became a staple of mine - I use it as a base coat every time I change my polish, which is every week now. It's lasted me a long time considering how much I use it, and I think I'll be repurchasing it when it's finished - it's a great product at a great price (here in Chile it's considerably cheaper than the OPI version).

              The reason why I scratched off my polish in the first place was because my nail polish removers always left my fingers dry after I used it. Enter this funny-looking bottle: FYO is acetone free, and it also has keratin and almond oil to keep your fingers hydrated. After ten minutes of  trying to figure out how to use it (you turn the top part counter-clockwise and then you pump out the product into a cotton pad) I was marvelled - it took off polish quickly and it didn't dry out my fingers. I've already used half of it and I will be repurchasing after I finish it.

And that's it! What are your staple nail products?

 

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Soy alguien que está obsesionada con los esmaltes de uñas, y antes hacía algo muy malo - me sacaba el esmalte con las uñas, lo que solo resultó en uñas débiles y horribles. Todos los esmaltes no me duraban nada y se me rompían las uñas a cada rato. Un día decidí que ya estaba bueno, y compré Growth Spurt en Intersalon. Después de ponerme una o dos capas cada dos días como por una semana, mis uñas mejoraron muchísimo, así que ahora lo uso cada vez que me pinto las uñas, como base. Me ha durado mucho considerando lo mucho que lo uso, y creo que volveré a comprarlo cuando lo termine - es un muy buen product a un precio muy asequible (acá en Chile es mucho más barato que la version OPI).

 

La razón por la que me sacaba el esmalte con las uñas en primer lugar es porque siempre que usaba el quitaesmalte, los dedos me quedaban demasiado resecos. Y de ahí apareció esta botella rara: FYO es un quitaesmalte que no tiene acetone y que además tiene keratina y aceite de almendras para hidratar los dedos. Después de estar diez minutos tratando de averiguar como se abría (mueves la parte de arriba en el sentido contrario del reloj y después apretas la tapa para abajo con un algodón para que salga el producto) estaba encantada - remueve el esmalte rápido y no te deja para nada los dedos secos. Ya llevo como la mitad y definitivamente lo volveré a comprar cuando lo termine.