The Standouts of 2013, part 2

Time for the second part of my favourites which are sort of the random other things I've loved throughout the past year! They'll include TV shows, books, etc! Get ready for some major geeky fangirling.

I'll start out with TV shows because god knows I'm obsessed with them.

• Sherlock

If you know me, you knew this was coming. Fricken love this show and season 3 premiered on new years day and it was fricken beautiful. After two years since the Reichenbach fall, it was heavily anticipated! I remember watching season 1 when it was on TV a few years ago but this year I watched all the episodes there were (6 - such a small number :( ) and became so obsessed. I just love how the show and its characters are written, the storylines and how mind-trippy it can be at times. Probably my favourite show ever and a new episode comes out today!

• Game of Thrones

I also started watching Game of Thrones this year (all three seasons in less than a week - that's how I roll) and when I marathon a show, I tend to get very obsessed. I've never really been interested in this show but my friend convinced me to watch it and omg I love it - aside from the sex scenes of course which really aren't necessary. I'm not typically a lover of medieval fantasy type shows but this one just seems so REAL. The costumes and sets are so beautiful and I just love (and hate) the characters. The storylines are really, really good and they're not afraid to be ruthless. 

• Doctor Who

This one's a newie - I just finished watching it a few days ago. I watched seven seasons in under three weeks (I didn't watch classic who) and gotta say I fell in love. Ten (David Tennant) is definitely my fave doctor (of who I've watched) but dayum eleven (Matt Smith) I fricken love you. I cried in both regenerations :( . I've never really been a sci-fi fan at all but my friend (yes same friend, love ya Yas) convinced me to watch. It's really not too geeky-sci-fi as I thought and again I just love the characters sooo much. I love that it can be really funny and that there's a whole history behind the show which I find really cool.

• Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

This show started this year and being the huge Marvel fan that I am, I knew I had to watch it! I didn't have super high expectations but it totally impressed me! It has fast become one of my favourite shows. It's got action, comedy and heaps of shippable relationships (which I'm always on the look out for ;) ). 

• The Good Wife

The Good Wife is actually so good and I love it to bits. I find I sometimes forget about it but when I'm actually watching it I remember just how darn good it is. I just love the way it's filmed and I don't know - I just really like it! I feel like not many people watch it? It's great if you love a good drama that's not too heavy.

• How I met your Mother

My favourite comedy was very hard to narrow down but has to be HIMYM. It's on its final season (cries) but I just love it so much. I laugh (out loud) in every episode - guaranteed. My other faves from the year would have to be The Mindy Project and The Big Bang Theory.

Six shows is quite a lot...but considering I watch 20+ I'd say that's quite an achievement haha!

• The Fault in our Stars by John Green
• A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
• Divergent by Veronica Roth

TFIOS was a really beautiful story that was just a teensy bit depressing and emotional, but also light hearted. It was a really interesting story too about all these really serious issues but looked at in what I thought was a new perspective. It was just so beautiful - if you haven't already read it, please do so! I'm so ridiculously excited for the movie!

My reading of AGOT was spurred on by my love for the TV show. I also went ahead and bought the whole box set of the series so far and I've got pretty high hopes for it! I really enjoyed the first book. If you really love the TV series, I highly recommend getting into the books. I feel like they provide a lot more information and detail about the history and in general that was excluded from the TV show or not properly explained. Despite the quite heavy storyline, it is quite easy to read and doesn't at all feel like a chore which can sometimes be the case with these huge books. It's written so wonderfully and the world building is awesome. I'm on the second one and I'm very excited to continue reading!

As I've already said on the blog before, Divergent has been my favourite book of the year, and possibly all time. While the trilogy on the whole isn't my favourite, this first book is and it could even be read alone (though I do recommend reading all three!). I just adore the fast paced action  and character development and the whole storyline of a dystopian society is absolutely stellar. Again I am so excited for the movie - it looks so good! It's quite funny though that both Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort are in both TFIOS and Divergent movies - brother and sister in one, and lovers in the other haha.

• Tumblr

Halfway through the year I created a tumblr blog which can be found here (be warned, not at all beauty related!). It has definitely been a fave as I feel like it's an awesome place for people with similar interests to gather and share stuff about the things they love. It's equally an awesome way to pass the time and a horrible distraction and source of procrastination. Ahh I could scroll through my dash for days hours... It has introduced me to new things (*ahem* Tom Hiddleston - who, let's be real, has also been a favourite) and has really amplified my pre-existing obsessions.

• Beauty Blogging!

And of course beauty blogging has been an absolute favourite! I started this blog early last year and I've absolutely loved writing my blog posts and reading your comments! Sitting down and writing a blog post is something I look forward to and I love sharing my thoughts and loves here on this little blog. I'm so excited to see where this next year takes shiwashiful and hopefully I can stay as consistent and enthusiastic as I was last year (what with the upcoming of grade 12!)! Obviously I also absolutely loved watching Youtube videos and reading blog posts throughout the year!

Phew! That was longer than I anticipated. Please let me know what your guys' fave TV shows and books were! I love reading about other people's obsessions haha!

Monthly Favourites | October 2013

Happy Halloween! The inevitable end of the month favourites are upon us again! We truly are nearing the end of the year which is both shocking and fear-inducing for me! I have my end of year exams soon, and then a very nice eight week holiday. But then, I will begin my final year of high school! I'm more scared than excited haha, I am not ready to face the real world! In terms of favourites this month, I actually struggled a little to gather items as I've been using much the same products as featured in previous monthly favourites. There have been a few standouts this month though!

My skincare favourite of the month has been the Garnier Anti-Dark Spot Renovator Night serum treatment. I've been using this for over a month now and a full review will be up soon! This serum contains 4% glycolic acid along with vitamin c to help exfoliate and brighten the skin. I haven't noticed any drastic improvement in my acne scars, but I do feel that my skin's texture is smoother and my scars slightly lighter.

A tool I've been loving again particularly is my Shu Uemura Eyelash Curlers. These get their fair share of rave reviews and I gotta say they deserve them! They curl my short, asian-straight lashes super well and makes them look quite nice (considering how meagre they are)! 

I haven't been wearing eyeshadow a ton, but if I want to slap on a little bit of product, I've been reaching for the Maybelline Colour Tattoo metal in the shade Inked in Pink. It's a gorgeous sort of icy, silvery but also warm pink, that complements my skintone well and is a great no fuss eye shade!

Another product I featured way back in January is the Australis Fresh & Flawless Pressed Powder which I have in the shade Darkest Brown (really not a very dark brown at all...). Since I've been going the BB cream route pretty much daily this month, throwing this on to set everything adds a bit more coverage. It's a super soft powder that applies really well to the skin. It doesn't leave a cakey residue and keeps me matte-ish for a decent part of the day.

My favourite product out of the bunch this month has definitely been the The Balm Instain Blush in the shade Toile. I'll have a full review up on this one soon too but WOW! I had pretty high expectations for this product and it has certainly lived up to them! The shade is utterly gorgeous, a deeper peachy-pink with a hint of rose that actually looks extremely natural on me and has an amazing staying power to boot.

I have been using the Nivea In-shower Body Lotion quite a bit this month and I really like it. However, I was unsure about purchasing it (but did to qualify for a voucher) because I don't really need it. It's not that I'm too lazy to apply moisturiser, more that I just forget to. This is nice to have and use, and leaves my skin feeling quite soft, but it doesn't actually penetrate the skin to provide any intense moisture. It's sort of a superfluous product which I enjoy using but probably wouldn't repurchase.

I have been really enjoying the Clear Nourishing Shampoo and Conditioner. These are the minis but I did purchase the full sizes. I find these clean my hair really well but don't leave it feeling dry or stripped. The conditioner is so nice - my hair feels amazingly soft and silky after using it! They also smell nice too, nothing to crazy, just nice hair product-y smell.

I've been using the Daiso Detergent for Puff and Sponge to wash my brushes all month and it has been doing a stellar job. It cleans them AMAZINGLY, getting out all of the stains that foundation and concealer would usually leave, making them looks good as new. Awesome for the price!

Oh my gosh, you guys - this book. This book. I think I may have discovered my favourite book of all time!!! It is Divergent by Veronica Roth. It is absolutely amazing and captivating, so well written, awesome characters and romance and just ughhh amazingness crammed into 500 pages. This had me hooked from the first line and I probably would have read it in one sitting if I hadn't had a Chemistry EEI due. If you haven't read this yet, DO IT. It's sort of (ish) similar to the Hunger Games - set in a futuristic, dystopian messed up world and written similarly (first person, present tense). So, if you liked that, you'll probably like this. I'm almost finished Insurgent (the sequel) and Allegiant (the final book) came out last week! There's also a movie coming out next year which I am SO excited for. Let's hope it's a better book-to-movie project that The Mortal Instruments (PLEASE). 

The blurb, to titillate your senses...

So those were my monthly favourites. I'm also going to see Thor: The Dark World tomorrow which I am unbelievably excited for! I've been waiting for so long and cannot even contain myself! My expectations are pretty high so I hope it doesn't disappoint! I'm a huge Marvel fan and an even huger Hiddlestoner (Tom Hiddleston fan) haha.

What have you guys been loving this month, any plans for Halloween?