xoliana
Member Since: July 31, 2016Reviews
LUSH Ocean Salt Facial Scrub
The people at Lush were kind enough to give me a sample of this one day when I was shopping. It was a prwtty generous sample, so I had enough to try it out for a couple of weeks, provided I didn't use it every single day. This had a little sticker... +
The people at Lush were kind enough to give me a sample of this one day when I was shopping. It was a prwtty generous sample, so I had enough to try it out for a couple of weeks, provided I didn't use it every single day.
This had a little sticker on the side that said it could be used for either face or body. I found that the texture of this scrub was very gritty, so I wasn't comfortable trying it out on my face. I did, however, use it in the shower as a body scrub, and it worked very nicely. It really slouged away at my skin, polishing it and leaving it feeling clean. I'm glad I didn't use it on my face, though, as it would have been far too rough.
The smell was very pleasant. The only way to describe it is fresh, like you've just been to the beach. I guess thag's why they call it Ocean Salt! The fragrance was light enough that it didn't bother my sensitive lungs.
I'd recommend this as more of a body scrub than a face scrub, unless your skin isn't sensitive at all.
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Jacquot France 74% Dark Chocolate Bar
I can't eat chocolate that contains dairy, and while this says it MAY contain milk, I have never had any issues. This comes in different percentages of cocoa, but this review is specifically for the 74% as that's the only one I buy. This brand is... +
I can't eat chocolate that contains dairy, and while this says it MAY contain milk, I have never had any issues. This comes in different percentages of cocoa, but this review is specifically for the 74% as that's the only one I buy.
This brand is available at Dollarama for a very good price. Dark chocolate can be expensive, so I was happy to gind a dairy-free brand that was more affordable. Each bar has 10 squares in it, and as you can see in the photo, it's quite a large bar (but I also have very tiny hands!).
I find that, overall, the taste is quite good for something you'd get from a dollar store. Every once in awhile, though, I'll hit a bar that tastes very stale and dry. It's covered in that sort of dusty film which you'd expect to see on cheap, old chocolate, but the bar itself is far from expiring. I'm not sure why this happens, but it is a bit of a turnoff. When you get a good bar, there's absolutely nothing wrong with it, and I have no complaints. It's definitely a consistency issue, as far as I'm concerned.
This is a decent choice if you want an affordable dark chocolate. Just be prepared for some bars to be better than others.
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Orange is the New Black season three
This is the third season of the comedy-drama Netflix series, which was created by Jenji Kohan ("Weeds"). It's loosely based on the book Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison, by Piper Kerman. Just like previous seasons, this has 13... +
This is the third season of the comedy-drama Netflix series, which was created by Jenji Kohan ("Weeds"). It's loosely based on the book Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison, by Piper Kerman. Just like previous seasons, this has 13 episodes which are approximately 50-60 minutes in length, except for the finale, which is 90 minutes.
The focus in season three is on faith and religion, as people look to a member of their own community for guidance. With a new company taking over Litchfield, changes in the prison slowly begin to start happening here, including the introduction of a new job, which Piper takes advantage of. A love triangle also begins to form for Piper as a new flame comes into her life just as an old one returns.
This is the season that seems to get mixed opinions. My best friend, for example, stopped watching part of the way through because she was finding it boring. While I do agree that the pacing somehow feels a little bit off in comparison to the previous two seasons, I still feel that it's very good, even if it's not great.
I feel like if you've stuck with the show for this long and you enjoy it, it's worth giving season three a go
Either you like it or you don't. Maybe it's something you decide to watch once, but you don't want to return to it after that. In my opinion, season four is much better, so I feel it's worth making it through in order to get to the most recent season.
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Orange is the New Black season two
This is the second season of the hit Netflix series, created by Jenji Kohan ("Weeds"). It's loosely based on the autobiography Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison, by Piper Kerman. Just like season one, this has 13 episodes which... +
This is the second season of the hit Netflix series, created by Jenji Kohan ("Weeds"). It's loosely based on the autobiography Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison, by Piper Kerman. Just like season one, this has 13 episodes which are approximately 50-60 minutes in length, except for the finale, which is 90 minutes.
This season focuses a lot on family and friendship as loyalties are put to the test. The addition of a new inmate, Vee, really mixes things up among the inmates as more than a few people at Litchfield are familiar with her, and not necessarily in a good way. Though racial segregation was already apparent in this series, I found that this season is where the actual race wars began to start.
This season was very heartbreaking for me because two of my favourite characters really neglected their friendship for a good chunk of the episodes. I won't spoil anything by naming names, but if you've seen it, you know who it is I'm talking about. Vee also makes for a very manipulative and hate-worthy villain, and you'll be waiting on the edge of your seat to see if she finally gets what's coming to her.
If you enjoyed the first season, chances are you'll really like this one too. The trademark flashback sequences are still there, but with glimpses into some different characters than last season.
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Orange is the New Black season one
I first subscribed to Netflix the year that this came out, in summer 2013. I immediately became addicted to the series, and so began my experience with binge-watching. The first season is 13 episodes long, with each episode running somewhere... +
I first subscribed to Netflix the year that this came out, in summer 2013. I immediately became addicted to the series, and so began my experience with binge-watching.
The first season is 13 episodes long, with each episode running somewhere between 50 and 60 minutes. It was created by Jenji Kohan, who is well-known for her work on Weeds, and is loosely based on the 2010 non-fiction novel Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison, by Piper Kerman. Kerman also serves as executive consultant on the show.
The lead character is Piper Chapman, who is based on author Piper Kerman. Piper becomes involved with a woman named Alex Vause and assists her with her drug trafficking and money laundering schemes. She gets sent to a women's prison to serve her sentence alongside the show's many wacky and colourful characters.
I really enjoy how this show is structured. Each episode focuses on flashbacks to provide backstory for a specific character, while simultaneously pushing the current plot forward. This formula works very well, in my opinion, as these transitions are quite seamless and often have a connection to what's going on presently in the prison. The show walks the fine line of comedy and drama so well that, when it comes to award shows, people have had long discussions as to which category it should be placed.
This serves as a great introduction to the series, which is still running and is currently one of my favourite shows. I highly recommend it if you have a Netflix subscription.
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Maynards Swedish Berries
My brother first got me hooked on Swedish Berries. I tried them a few years ago, and I've been a fan ever since. These are really chewy, gummy candies that have a nice berry flavour to them. Quite obviously, they're loaded with sugar/corn syrup... +
My brother first got me hooked on Swedish Berries. I tried them a few years ago, and I've been a fan ever since.
These are really chewy, gummy candies that have a nice berry flavour to them. Quite obviously, they're loaded with sugar/corn syrup, but I don't find that they taste unbearably sweet like some candy varieties. They also notsour, like some Maynards varieties, so if you hate sour things, don't worry! These are fine.
The price can be a little high on a bag of these, depending on where you get them. I tend to buy mine from the bulk food store whenever I crave a fix. They're much cheaper there, and they taste just as good and fresh.
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Maybelline Brow Drama Sculpting Brow Mascara
I'm not really a fan of this product. The wand is not only extremely oddly shaped, with a weird ball at the end which is far too bulbous to be considered accurate by any means, but the wand itself is incredibly flimsy. It bends and curves, like... +
I'm not really a fan of this product. The wand is not only extremely oddly shaped, with a weird ball at the end which is far too bulbous to be considered accurate by any means, but the wand itself is incredibly flimsy. It bends and curves, like it's too weak to keep its shape.
The product itself doesn't clump on the wand, which is good, but it doesn't apply very well to the brows. Part of that is because of the wand, but part of it is the actual formula. It's very thin and streaky. The whole point of a btow mascara is to add some colour and hold to the brows when you don't want to fuss with them too much, but with this, I end up having to fuss more than if I had just used a pencil. I often have to go in with a different applicator/brush to evenly displace the product through my hairs. I would like to just brush it through and go.
If you're looking for a good brow mascara, the drugstore has quite a few on offer, but this isn't one of them.
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LUSH Popcorn Lip Scrub
I wasn't really into the idea of the bubblegum or mint flavours, so I decided to go for the third option -- popcorn! And boy, am I glad I did! First of all, this stuff tastes delicious. It's like having a bowl of kettlecorn and licking the excess... +
I wasn't really into the idea of the bubblegum or mint flavours, so I decided to go for the third option -- popcorn! And boy, am I glad I did!
First of all, this stuff tastes delicious. It's like having a bowl of kettlecorn and licking the excess salt and sugar off your lips. It tastes basically just like that. If you don't like kettlecorn or the idea of combining sweet and salty, you probably won't like this, but I think it tastes amazing. I'm so happy they made this with natural ingredients so you can lick it off your lips after using it.
Second, as for the actual effectiveness of this product, I found that it works quite well. I had heard somewhere that using a damp toothbrush can exfoliate your lips if you don't want to spend money on an actual product, andwhile that does work a little bit, this scrub definitely works much better. Rubbing the product around my lips feels like it's sloughing off any dryness, and leaves my lips smoother than just using a toothbrush. As someone who frequently wears lipstick, this is important to me.
This is well worth the price. One pot lasts quite a few months, and I found that it didn't dry out or go bad in any way. I'd highly recommend this if you need something to exfoliate your lips.
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When Marnie Was There
When Marnie Was There is a 2014 animated film, directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi of Studio Ghibli. It's basedon the 1967 novel by Joan G. Robinson. The story is about Anna, a very shy and awkward young girl whose aunt adopts her after her family... +
When Marnie Was There is a 2014 animated film, directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi of Studio Ghibli. It's basedon the 1967 novel by Joan G. Robinson.
The story is about Anna, a very shy and awkward young girl whose aunt adopts her after her family members pass away. She suffers from severe asthma, and moves out to the country with some relatives for the summer. There, she comes across a beautiful mansion and a lonely girl named Marnie, and the two become fast friends. But there's something not quite right...
This is one of the best films I have ever seen, regardless of genre. I was hooked from the very beginning, and was drawn in even more by the subtle but enthralling mystery that is Marnie. I'm not ashamed to admit that I weeped like a little baby for probably the last 15 minutes of the film. This deeply touched me in a way that doesn't happen very often at all.
The animation is beautiful and the characters are very relatable. I feel like I really connected to Anna on a personal level. I've always been shy, and I've had health issues from a young age. I had trouble making friends because I was different, and when I did make a really good friend, I too felt somewhat jealous when their attention turned to someone else. All of these things felt extremely real.
This film is rated PG and has a running time of 103 minutes. I absolutely recommend this to anyone looking for a heartwarming film of loss, friendship, and family. This is a lovely film.
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Princess Mononoke
Princess Mononoke is a film both written and directed by acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli. The film was released in both Japan and North America in 1997. Some fun facts: -This became the first animated film to win Best... +
Princess Mononoke is a film both written and directed by acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli. The film was released in both Japan and North America in 1997. Some fun facts:
-This became the first animated film to win Best Picture at the Japan Academy Awards.
-Acclaimed fantasy novelist Neil Gaiman helped with the English translation of the film, and is credited as a writer in the English version of the film.
-This is the first Studio Ghibli film to earn a PG-13 rating, as well as the first to use computers to help animate certain sequences.
The story is about Ashitaka, who helps to defend his village when it's attacked by a pack of demon boars. The head boar appears to have been cursed by some sort of plague, which attaches itself to Ashitaka's arm, cursing his body and giving him inhuman strength. The film then follows him on his search to cure that which has poisoned his body.
This film is stunning to look at. The forests and spirits within are incredibly lush and detailed. The messages about the environment and our delicate ecosystem really hit home here, and remain incredibly relevant to this day. It's hard to believe that this film was so unsuccessful when it was first released in North America, as it's now become one of the most well-known of the entire Studio Ghibli catalogue.
There is a lot of blood and violence in this film, hence the PG-13 rating. I would highly recommend seeing this, as it's one of the best animated films of all time, but take care when showing it to younger viewers.
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