Bit of a Freak. : review

Showing posts with label review. Show all posts

Thursday, 17 April 2014

Lush, Bunch of Carrots | Review | Bit of a Freak

I, along with every other girl in England, am a HUGE fan of Lush. It also is quite special to me, my boyfriend often buys me Lush presents to enjoy whilst at his. I don't have a bath at home so all my lovely Lush products are saved for glorious baths at his house. It comes with lots of sentiment attached, and so when they released their easter collection I had to get myself in on the action!

Introducing: Bunch of Carrots!

Five Guys London Review | Food | Bit of a Freak

So last time I was in London Five Guys happened, and boy oh boy was I happy about it. And yes, my boyfriend is always right and is far superior in terms of foody choices...

It's fair to say that I am somewhat of a burger addict. I'm known for my homemade burgers (recipe coming up!), I have turned my best friends into burger lovers, I received a burger-themed present for Valentine's day (see here),and no matter where I am, if burgers are on the menu I feel it near possible to resist. I just think you can't go wrong with a bread, meat, cheese combo, but some are much more spectacular than others! So when me, Tom and my best friend T were sat enjoying a pint in Covent Garden and Five Guys became a dinner suggestion, I was excited and we hot-footed (technical term) it to the venue in the rain whilst being battered to within an inch of our lives by rude people and their umbrellas (ellas, ellas...).

...And what an absolute HAVEN we were met with! We were greeted by a friendly man at the door, persuaded to munch on free peanuts whilst we waited in the queue, and made to drool by the smell and the prospect of the numerous options of burger toppings. Delightful.

After a tiny wait we were set to order. I opted for the bacon cheeseburger (obviously!) with toppings of (get ready) mayo, lettuce, pickles, tomato, grilled onions, mustard, relish, jalapeño peppers, and green peppers. I was so hungry it was impossible to decide so I pretty much had everything. We also shared a large Cajun fries (also available Five Guys style) and refillable drinks.

Like a bloody work of art!

Now the burgers. Wow. I am drooling just thinking amount them. It is a properly dirty burger, juicy and spilling it's toppings all over. The fries were delicious and the refillable drinks aren't just refillable drinks. They are filled by a machine that comes from the future, a couple of traps of the screen and you are faced with the choice of every brand if drink imaginable in every flavour you've ever dreamt of.

All the food is cooked fresh to order and using peanut oil which is apparently healthier (like we care right now).

Cheers!

So next time you're near one, get on it. I promise you will not be disappointed!

Monday, 17 February 2014

Urban Decay Naked 2 DUPE! | Bit of a Freak

This is EXCITING! Shopping in Next last week I almost screamed with delight when I stumbled upon this little beauty! My boyfriend looked at me bemused as I tried to explain that it looked as if I had found the perfect Urban Decay Naked 2 dupe palette. He literally didn't have a clue what I was banging on about but bought it for me anyway, he's a good egg. Introducing the W7 in the buff palette!

The similar packaging caught my eye!

When I got home I set about swatching and picturing the Naked 2 copy-cat and was amazed at the quality.

So here are the close ups and the matching swatches:

Left-right: Buff, Camel, Sand, Dust Chocolate, Topaz.

Left-rght: Buff, Camel, Sand, Dust, Chocolate, Topaz.

Left-right: Earth, Storm, Silk, Wave, Thunder, Onyx.

I never have the highest expectations for dupes but this little beauty well exceeded them; it was surprisingly pigmented and with a beautiful texture, the colour was easy to blend and buildable. It was not at all chalky. As you can see, the palette consists of 12 neutral colours, 9 shimmer shades and 3 mattes. The packaging of the palette is tin, just like the Naked palettes, and comes with an applicator which I won't be using it, however, considering this was £5.99 I definitely cannot grumble.. All swatches were pictured on clean and bare skin and the colour pay-off was still very impressive. I have been hankering after the Urban Decay Naked palettes for a while and they are firmly on my birthday wish list, but I just couldn't afford them at almost £40 a pop. After this little discovery I'm glad I didn't break the bank and whilst I will still be wanting the Naked palettes, they will be saved for best only. As you can probably tell, I was extremely pleased with my new purchase!

What are your favourite dupe products?

Monday, 20 January 2014

Gdansk, Poland | Review | Bit of a Freak

Once upon a time, me and my friend Clare left on a jet plane, knowing exactly when we would be back again; but NOT knowing how much we would be opposed to coming back after falling deeply in love.

A few weeks previous to our departure, Clare Whatsapp'd me to ask if I fancied going away for a few nights, and we booked it that night. Neither of us had ever heard of Gdansk, but chose it as it was one of the cheaper flights with the ever formidable Ryanair. The flights were around £35 return, and the hostel around £60 between 2 of us, for 4 nights. Brilliantly cheap.

Without sounding too dramatic, Gdansk is the first place I have been to, outside of England, that instantly felt like home. As soon as I stepped on the tarmac I told Clare I already loved it. However, I was a little put off by the crazy scary looking airport people. I think it is the uniform.

We were told that our hostel was near the train station and so we braved the local bus from the airport to central Gdansk, trying to match up the sequence of letters meaning "train station" that we read on the map to any signs we could see through the window. This was a challenge in itself, but we made it.

The thing is, everyone in Poland is so helpful. So willing to go out of their way that it almost comes across as a bit weird, because us English folks just aren't like that. We are a smiley bunch for sure, but the Polish go a step further, and it really does make all the difference.

Gdansk is the most beautiful little city. Very charming, packed full of history, delicious bakeries and industrialism. I had never been somewhere like it before, this was my first time visiting eastern Europe, and it was nothing like I expected. 10X better. Gdansk is also the birthplace of the Solidarity movement, which sparked the fall of communism across central Europe.

As our stay was so short we tried to cram in as much activity as possible. We went on nights out, drank a lot of vodka, ate out for every meal, got the train to Sopot and explored there, visited museums, wandered around the old town, drank lots of Polish tea, and generally had the most amazing time.

My favourite restaurant was Kubicki. The food was delicious and the service was fantastic. The Roads to Freedom Exibition was also one of my favourite things about this trip. it was hugely informative, fairly interactive, and the perfect size. We then took a trip down to the ship yard, which was also amazing after learning all about it at the exhibition.

I think accommodation is important wherever you go, regardless of how much time you spend there, it is nice to feel at home, and able to ask for help. We stayed at a hostel called Happy Seven in a private room. All the rooms are themed; we were assigned to the sports room (ironically), and it was VERY cool. Happy Seven, I can honestly say, is the best hostel I have ever stayed at, and the most reasonable. You get complementary breakfast with your stay, and the staff are super friendly and always go that extra mile. The staff often come back to the hostel, even on their days off, because they just love being there so much. I had the most fantastic stay there. You can find them on Facebook.