Day 15 - A Fanfic

Sorry to disappoint on this one, but I've never read a fanfic in my life. But here is a link to a fanfic website that I am definitely going check out this week.

Harry Potter Fanfiction

Day 14 - A Non-Fictional Book

1 Dough, 50 Cookies

I found this in a seconds book store called the works. Reader's from the UK might know it.

I love baking and I love cookies so I had to have it.

It has some amazing recipes which are all based on one simple cookie dough mixture. You can see my first attempt at the first recipe in the book here.

Day 13 - A Fictional Book

Northern Lights

/The Golden Compass

This is the book that the film, The Golden Compass, was based on. I first read it when I was 13 and then once again before the film was released. It's from a trilogy called 'His Dark Materials' and they are an amazing series of books.

Day 12 - Today's Pet Peeve (Whatever Tickles My Fancy)

Cosmetics Advertising

I really hate it when companies advertise beauty products with what can only be described as fake representations. 

Stuff like mascara and hair products are the worst.

They put false eyelashes and hair extensions on the models than draw in even more length and volume in post-production until we are basically looking ata cartoon made out to be a realistic image and I think the Advertising Standards Agency needs to put some rules in place that prevent this.

Hopefully, most people will realise that you will not get eyelashes like Penelope Cruz's false ones just by using L'Oreal Telescopic Mascara.
I'm far more likely to be persuaded by adverts like this one which don't use trickery to get you to buy their stuff!

It just winds me up that these companies are allowed to use these tricks to get people to buy their products, especially when there are so many easy influenced young people being exposed to these advertisements.

Does anyone else get annoyed by this?

Day 11 - A photo of me taken recently

Longleat Park - July 2010

This was taken at Longleat Park a few weeks ago. I've got this thing at the moment about editing all my photos to look like they're oversaturated, kind of like from old SLR cameras. I can't find the tutorial I used now, but this is quite a good one if you want to give it a go.

Day 10 - A photo of me taken over ten years ago

Tea Party - Circa 95

 I'm going to guess that I was about 4 years old here. I can remember the original photo - I was sat around the 'Kiddies Table' with my Brother and Cousin where everything was plastic - including the table and chairs.I actually this tucked away in my Photobucket albums and can't remember how it got there or why I cropped it.

Day 09 - A Picture That I Took

This is one from another Sunday afternoon walk. I just think it's really serene. There's no editing here, the sky really was those colours.

Day 08 - A Photo That Makes Me Angry/Sad

The Ringling Brothers' Elephants

The saddest show on earth

These pictures make me angry and sad. I actually cry when I see pictures like this...

Elephants are one of my favourite animals on the planet.

In the circus, they are broken down with beatings and what is essentially torture, from a very young age until they are nothing but a performing shell of an animal. And it's not just elephants, most circus animals are 'trained' in cruel and degrading ways which would break your heart if you knew.

If you do want to know more, click on the picture above. (Beware: it's not for the faint hearted)

Would you go to an animal circus knowing what you do now?

(if you looked at the website)

I don't think I ever will.

Day 07 - A Photo That Makes You Happy

Me and my Brothers, September 2009

In the middle is my youngest brother, he's 8 years younger than me. The one on the left is 2 years younger. We took this last year on a Sunday walk.

.

Thank you for your help...

Thank you so so so much to everyone who came up with suggestions for names for this blog but I have decided on Sammy's Lips.
The ideas were amazing and definitely inspired me. I was playing around with all the words you gave me and I came up with this one.

Then I realised that the address would be sammyslips.blogspot.com and thought the word play was hilarious because I'm well known for being clumsy!!

Once again, thank you so much. I really am greatful and thanks again for following. I hope you are enjoying my chatterings.

P.S. Sorry if you are getting posts showing up on your feed that are actually not there. I have been trying to get ahead with my 30 day challenge and I sometimes press 'Publish' instead of 'Save'.

Day 06 - What's in my Handbag (Whatever I Fancy)

This is what the contents looked like tipped out on my bed. There are a few things here which I didn't photograph individually - the fan and a Wilkinsons receipt. But you can see the rest below :D

Mobile phone and bluetooth headset
This is my Nokia 5800. I've had it since October '09 and I still love it.
I have the headset for when I'm driving and it's good for chatting when you are busy with your hands painting your nails.

Purse and lighters
This purse cost me £3.50 in Primark - my one stop shop for accessories!

I used to smoke, not heavily, but I don't anymore. I tend to buy lighters as souvenirs so I still carry these lighters with me for sentimental reasons. I got the silver one on a school trip to Barcelona and I've had the faux Zippo for nearly 5 years now.

There's more if you're interested...

Day 05 - My Favourite Quote

'We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams'

:Arthur O'Shaughnessy

It's from the poem, Ode, written by O'Shaughnessy in 1874 and I'm not very expressive so it's hard to say what it means to me, but it's something like 'make the future' - if you can imagine it, it can happen.

 
The first time I heard it, I must have been about 8 years old, watching  Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (youtube). I don't remember it from that day, but it must have stuck when I've watched it since then.

True story: for years I couldn't watch past the boat scene because it was so horrifying.

Did anyone else find the boat scene in WW a bit extreme for a children's film?

Perhaps this is how it should have gone...

Day 04 - My Favourite Book

Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice

I know this is a fairly obvious one but it truly is my favourite book ever. I think I've read it four times all the way through.

If you want to watch adaptation,try the 1995 BBC Series. It's much better than the film, but six hours long!
It also features the classic Colin Firth 'Wet Shirt' scene.

Has anyone seen the BBC Series?

I think it's maybe the only adaptation (of anything) I've seen that compares to the original.

Day 03 - My Favourite TV Show

Arrested Development

I have never actually seen this show on the TV, I'm not even sure if it ever I has been shown in the UK.

I watched it all on my computer during my summer exam period this year. I managed to watch all three series within a week (and I wonder why I didn't get good exam marks!).

I'd read about the anticipation for this 'Arrested Development' film and everyone seemed so excited for it so I thought I would try watching the show, not expecting too much. But I LOVE it. 

If you are a fan, there's a great article about it here. It's someone's countdown of the 25 best moments from the show.

COKA COKA KAW!

If you've seen it, who's your favourite character? Mine's Buster!

If you haven't seen it, you can watch the first episode here.

Day 02 - My Favourite Film

Easy Virtue

As well as music, I LOVE film but this decision wasn't as hard as yesterday's because this has been my favourite film for a while.

Don't let the Chihuaha on the poster fool you - it's genuine, funny and serious at the same time.

Not a lot of people know of this movie, even some of my movie geek friends.

I only actually discovered it by accident - a friend and I went to the cinema one evening with no idea about what we wanted to watch and just picked a film off the board. It was this one and I loved it.

It's a British film adapted from a really old Noel Coward play of the same name and hasn't been much of a commercial success. But considering the calibre of the actors in this film, I blame it on the bad marketing.

Click here if you want to watch the trailer.

Have you ever heard of this film or seen it yourself?

Day 01 - My Favourite Song

This was a really hard one. Music is a big part of my life and I must spend at least 2 hours a day listening to music in some form. Whether it's just on in the background, in the car, or plugged in to my ears. It is such a cliché to say this, but I would be lost without it.

So.. I wanted to pick a song that's been a favourite of mine for some time and that I think will stay with me in the future.

Bloc Party - The Prayer

I was torn between this one and a few others which I want to mention:
Regina Spektor - Hotel Song
Queens Of The Stone Age - River In The Road
(Cheating a bit, I know)

30 Days

A big thank you to Bethanie @ Bethaniee's Nails for reminding me where I saw this tag. It was over at Makeup Kitten. When I first saw it, I just skimmed over it and didn't realise how much work and research some of the posts are going to require! But I'm going to give it my all for these thirty days!

Here is a list of my subjects for the next thirty days...

Day 01 - Your favourite song
Day 02 - Your favourite movie
Day 03 - Your favourite TV programme
Day 04 - Your favourite book
Day 05 - Your favourite quote
Day 06 - Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 - A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 - A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 - A photo that you took
Day 10 - A photo of you taken over 10 years ago

To see the rest, click below...

Thank you for joining.

Hello everyone and thank-you for following despite me making no promises as to what kind of stuff you will be seeing here, you're all very brave!
Despite being very anxious to get this 'beauty' blog started, I am now facing a wall and I have nothing to write about concerning beauty! Eeek.
So... I definitely have to change the name of this blog but I still want to use it and there will be beauty related posts.

I recently saw a post where someone mentioned a sort of task they would undertake which had 30 'objectives' I suppose you could say. It would last 30 days and each day, you do a blog post concerning one thing or another that is set out at the start in the 'objectives'.
Only thing is, I can't remember where I saw it now. So if anyone knows what I mean, I would be very grateful if you can let me know.

Do you have any suggestions for the name of this blog? I'm terrible at thinking up creative names, but also very picky! Probably not very encouraging. I think I will also ask on The Nailasaurus to see if anyone has any ideas.

xx

Welcome...

Welcome to The Beautysaurus. The cosmetics counterpart to my other blog The Nailasaurus.
I've created this blog so I won't be tempted to clog up The Nailasaurus with ramblings about my non-nail-related ventures and keep that one dedicated to the daily nail art.
I'm already beginning to regret calling it The Beautysaurus as I have a feeling it will end up with posts on a range of subjects - not just beauty. So perhaps, if it's possible, I will change the name somewhere in the near future.
So, this is basically a place for me to vent some of my more general ramblings and even if noone ever reads it, I'm sure it will be therapeutic. If you do happen to be reading - I hope you enjoy it.