John Wick - Movie Review

Who's In It?

Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Willem Dafoe, Adrianne Palicki, and Keanu Reeves

What's It About?

Theon Grayjoy kills Keanu Reeves' dog and steals his car; that's all that needs to be said.

Any Good?

Even from the start, John Wick gave me he feeling THIS is what shlocky 80's action movies should have been - constant action, fantastic acting, and an action movie script.

The story in this film is brilliant, it starts off simple enough and follows basic shoot-em-up plotlines - until it reaches the Continental Bar. Not only is the story good, but the locations are GORGEOUS. One that stuck out to me was a club in the city - a massive dancefloor with a huge set of decks, heavy lights and a glass mezzanine complete with THIS pumping behind it. I'm going to be dreaming of that club for a looong time.

I loved every main in this, Alfie Allen further made his sister look like a fool for that song with his playboy Russian mob son, Michael Nygvist was absolutely fantastic in his role as the mob boss himself, and Willem Defoe played a cross of his American Psycho detective with his Boondock Saints character, it was AWESOME. Most surprisingly, Keanu put in a better turn in this than Constantine and even The Matrix, he's a born action star.

I haven't seen a film that's been a complete 5/5 in a long time, but John Wick is just perfect to me, I'd give it more than 5 if I could. It's 'slow' scenes are complimented by the best soundtrack I've heard since Scott Pilgrim, and the shootouts and fight even beat The Raid (both!) for me. Do yourself a favour and watch this, listen to the soundtrack, then watch it again - it's the perfect action movie.

  Rating:  

Things That Rustle My Jimmies

Morning, All, how has the week treated you thusfar? 

For those of you new to these parts, and it seems there's quite a few *waves maniacally* Thursdays are when we unrustle our jimmies. You know those pesky annoyances that make you want to cut someone? Anyone? Well on Thursdays we rid ourselves of those feelings of stabbiness through the magical medium of gif & look forward to the week anew. It's cathartic. Ready? 

1. Twitter's Attempt to Force the Cricket World Cup Down Everyone's Throat!

2. 'All I Ask is that You Include One Link to Our Site'

3. Google Adsense Stalling For Weeks on End

4. Torrential Rain As Soon As I Put My Runners On!

5. Breda O Brien Being Asked Anything. Ever. 

C'est Ca - that's how the rustled become the unrustled. 

Tell us, can you relate? What's been all up in your jimmies this week? 

New Estée Lauder's Little Black Primer

Every so often a beauty product launches that's so simple in its design that you wonder why it hasn't been released many, many moons before and many times over. Black lash primer for example, yep we've all lashed on its white counterpart with gusto and marvelled at the results but black? Why hasn't this been done before. Not only have Estée Lauder taken a simple product idea with their upcoming Little Black Primer but they've executed that idea brilliantly. 

Marketed as a little black dress for your lashes, I'd offer that it's more like little black spanx. Once in place, this tinted lash primer keeps everything in its place with zero effort. Short lashes are extended, sparse lashes given volume and cheaper mascaras made waterproof with Little Black Primer applied as a seal. Seriously. I tried!

While I've yet to use a lash primer that comes close to this Estée Lauder offering, and there have been many, I honestly believe the true beauty in this primer is the subtle tint. Applied directly to lashes and worn alone, it gives the most beautiful 'your lashes but better' effect. Perfect for fuss free make up days. 

It was only when audibly admiring my almost naked lashes that Adam piped in 'You know that'd be great for guys that wanted to wear mascara without wearing mascara' and you know what? It would. This tiny tube seems to have a very many uses for very many people. 

Little Black Primer has been available exclusively at Boots since January and with a price tag of €26 we'll see it launch nationwide this March. Will you be picking one up? 

Redken Color Rebel Hair Makeup in Purple Riot - Pictures & Review

When it comes to teen rebellion there's no denying I've gotten away very lightly with the two Gorgebags. With them reaching 18 & 19 this year, I'm touching all the wood that it remains exactly that way. When Aaron announced this month though that he's always wanted purple hair, I faltered. Cue Redken sending out a hair makeup missive that very day and me acceding that him being a Color Rebel in his college years is really not that rebellious at all. 

Redken's Color Rebels come in 5 high fashion shades for an almost instant change in hair (and attitude). The ideal taster for purple locks for the lad before he full on committed to the bright side. Formulation is seriously fluid in its application with a sponge tip applicator and free flowing colour - much like a fancy shoe polish - for your bonce. 

Once applied, the colour is sealed into the hair using heat (just your hairdryer) and can be styled to suit your taste. Once dried in, the smudge proof, transfer proof colour will last up to two washes (spaced out for longevity). 

No fear of unwanted permanence though as, if you're not entirely happy with the results you can instantly remove the colour with oil based shampoos. 

So what thought our boy of Redken's Color Rebel Purple Riot? 

'I'm very impressed, though I didn't care much for the sponge applicator. It wouldn't stay attached to the bottle so made applying messier than it needed to be. I loved how quickly the colour showed up though, all in all my hair was done in 15 minutes. 

While the bottle says to style as you wish, my hair was very stiff with the makeup so I didn't really have a choice in style, just as well I was going for a peak. The purple was much more pronounced than I expected for a temporary makeup and lasted a full five days, without fading or flaking but I did notice some purple smudging on my pillow. 

Overall I'd definitely recommend Color Rebel for those wanting to test a hair colour before taking the plunge or for one off parties or festivals. It's a great price for students on a budget too.'

And there we have it, there may have been some hiccups but Aaron is absolutely a fan, so much so that he did take the plunge and went permanently purple that very week (see below). Well as permanently as you can do anything at 19. I'll definitely be giving the hot pink a bash for highlights come summertime having seen his results. 

Taking the Plum Plunge using Shwarzkopf XXL Live (€6.99) (thanks to his Mamma!!)

You'll find the five Redken Color Rebel shades HERE for €23.05 a pop. Would you be tempted? 

Garnish Island, West Cork ~ The Most Amazing Island Garden You Might Have Missed

If you happen to find yourself in West Cork more specifically, Glengarriff be sure to make the time to visit Garnish Island (Ilnacullin). We had been visiting Bantry Bay for years but just never got around to taking the ferry over to Garnish. Little did we realise what we were missing out on. It's quite literally the lush garnish on an incredibly beautiful part of the world. 

Monday's Moments - 23/02/15

Morning, All! 

How did the weekend treat you then? Did you stay up for the Oscar's? All in all they didn't do too badly, though it's a shame American Sniper received anything but mockery. 

As for Moments that mean my Monday is far from blue? There are many: 

1. Corrina Making it to Dublin by the Skin of Her Teeth for the Opening Night of STOMP!

2. Bringing Mam Event Hopping on Thursday 

3. Spending The 50 Shades Press Night 

Heckling With Everyone Else

4. Adam Humbly Sailing Through 

His Leaving Cert Mocks!

5. Getting an Early Birthday Present of 

Tickets to Krakow!

And that right there is why my Monday is going pretty blahhdy well right now. 

Tell me, what are you grateful for on this fine snowy morning then? 

Molton Brown Rhubarb & Rose Review!

When it comes to listening to their customers, Molton Brown are all about that noise. Following overwhelming requests from fans of their best selling Rhubarb & Rose handcream to extend the scent to their Bath & Shower range they did exactly that. Just one sniff is enough to tell you they've done the right thing. 

The perfect indulgence for a late night bath or the ideal zesty shower to begin your day, I. Am. Loving. This! Think of the zingy, sweet scent of Rhubarb & Cream sherbets of yesteryear and you're almost there. It lathers more than most of my Molton Brown stash and leaves a beautiful subtle scent & softened skin once dried off. It's an absolute beaut. 

There are those that argue MB products might be a little spendy when a supermarket shower gel can do exactly the same job. The rub is thus, with Molton Brown, you're buying an experience. A moment or two of indulgence. A well earned treat. (I tell myself that every time I see the total on my virtual basket anyway). 

So if you're listening, Molton Brown, as it's quite clear you do - we need this scent in candle form - as soon as ye can possibly do it!. 

You'll find Rhubarb & Rose online here starting at €22 but I'd urge you to give it a quick sniff in store (there's a new one on Grafton St). I can't imagine if you're a rhubarb fan that you won't fall head over heels for it. 

Tell us, are you a Molton Brown fan? What's your favourite scent? 

*Pssst*

I spied (and picked up) new 
Rhubarb Flower room diffusers
in M&S this week. They smell
EXACTLY like this & only cost
€20 for 3 - BARG!

Bringing Your Bottle Fed Baby on Holidays - You Know You Wanna!

As you well know by now I’m a huge advocate for bringing baby(ies) away on holiday with you. All of my 5 little ones have had their first City Break before they were 12 weeks old. Time & time again I’m asked by new Mums what to do when bringing a bottle fed baby on holiday. How can they sterilise bottles while staying in a hotel? There are a few options to choose from & bringing your huge counter top/microwaveable steriliser is definitely not one of them!

First things first, no matter what way you choose to sterilise you will need washing up liquid & a bottle brush so you can wash the bottles in your bathroom sink. You can bring these with you, as I do, for convenience or buy them locally at your destination.

Disposable cold water sterilising bags are available at Mothercare, Boots & a host of other online stores. They come in a box of 7 bags, individually wrapped and containing a sterilising tablet so there is no need to buy those separately. 

Each bag holds 4 9oz bottles and sterilising is complete in 30 minutes for the Oasis brand & 15 minutes for the Innosence brand. They are advertised as being a 7 day supply but if your baby is on 6 bottles a day you will need to buy a second box. 

Bags are disposable and can only be used once. These would be ideal if you are adventurous enough to bring baby camping as you don’t need any electricity. They retail at approx €13 for a box of 7 bags.

Every hotel, motel or B&B has a microwave so I always use this method, even while travelling Route 66. Microwave steriliser bags come in boxes of usually 3 – 5 depending on the brand you buy. 

You can of course buy much larger boxes on Amazon, these work out cheaper. A box of 3 Munchkin microwave steriliser bags retail at €6.99 in boots while a box of 5 Dr. Browns bags comes in at €10.99 on all4baby.ie 

Each bag can be used 20 times & each bag fits 2, 9 oz bottles, sterilisation is complete in 3 minutes. Some hotels will provide you with a microwave in your room but there is a rental cost, in the USA it was anything up to $40 per night a tad expensive for something you only need for 10 minutes. So I used to wash & bag the bottles then bring my 3 bags to reception, usually there is a microwave in the reception area. When there wasn’t one available I simply asked the receptionist to put them in the hotels microwave.

I was given the Numum Portable Steriliser to trial and, I have to say, at first I thought ‘God, it'd take you ages to sterilise a batch of bottles one at a time’ but that’s not what the creators had in mind. 

It is designed to sterilise one bottle while you are out & about, on the go, or on holiday, when it’s just not possible to get to a power outlet. The Numum uses the latest UV-C sterilisation technology to sterilise a bottle in just 120 seconds. 

It felt really strange to take a dry cold bottle from the steriliser as I’m used to them being too hot to handle & full of steam! Numum is compatible with all standard feeding bottles, unfortunately though not Dr. Browns bottles. 

To fully charge the built in lithium-ion battery takes 3 hours. You are then free as a bird to go out or travel with your baby armed with just a bottle, formula & your Numum. The only drawback that I could find is that you can’t sterilise the lid of a bottle as you are supposed to sterilise the bottle as & when you need it so there actually should be no need to use a lid. 

With this method you’d need to buy Evian water as its safe to use straight from the bottle for babies & your powder formula or you could buy the ready made cartons of formula. This is the most expensive steriliser retailing at €130. This is an introductory offer available at the moment.

Another way is to buy premade bottles & pre sterilised teat from any leading supermarket, personally I have used SMA for all of my little ones, so I know this brand is available in this format. It can work out quite expensive doing it this way if you are going away for more than a weekend.

Tommee Tippee steri-bottles are disposable pre steralised bottles. You will need to buy cartons of formula to use with these. I find these fantastic for the travel part of your holiday, especially on long haul flights as you don’t have a change bag full of dirty bottles when you arrive at your destination. Boots currently have a 5 pack of these for €6.29.

So there you have it, easy peasy ways to steralise your babie's bops while on the move. What are you waiting for? 

Go, book that holiday & have a fantastic time!

Monday's Moments - 16/02/15

Following a weekend of overindulgence in every sense of the word, any moment that I'm upright & fully functional is a Moment as far as I'm concerned. Tell me I'm not alone in this? 

As for the week before? It was a cracker!

1. Feeling the Fear & Doing it Anyway!

Cherry Pick of the Week ~ Thinking Out Loud / I'm Not The Only One MASH UP (Sam Tsui & Casey Breves)

I'm not usually one for Youtube covers but this is something a little bit special. 

Youtubers, Sam Tsui & Casey Breves have combined two of the most popular songs on the airwaves and somehow managed to make both even better. 

Amazing work, lads. 

Things That Rustle My Jimmies

Oh it's been some week on the jimmie rustling front. What with a sick Pops, shoddy public transport and having to cancel some seriously good plans because of IRL work. My rustlings they are many - especially these ones: 

1. 'This Detox Diet Will Rid Your Body of Toxins'

2. Facebook Obliterating 

Business Pages That Don't Plow Money In

4. People That Answer Their Own 

Business Account Tweets

4. 'No Offence But..'

5. Married Men Trying it on in Bars

Can you relate? Got any annoyances to add? 

My Netflix Picks!

Breaking Bad (Irish Netflix)

You all know this one - chemistry teacher Walter White is told he has lung cancer and can't pay for his treatment, so he teams up with local meth head Jesse Pink to cook the only the purest meth to leave money for his family when he's gone.

With an INCREDIBLY slow first season, it will be a slog to get into, but once you're on the BB gravy train there's no getting off - especially with Better Call Saul released this week.  





Jiro Dreams of Sushi (American Netflix)

Jiro Dreams of Sushi is about an elderly Japanese man who makes the best sushi in the world. The documentary follows the process of how he makes it, the people he's met in his 60+ years of the craft, and how his sons (one with his own sushi restaurant) are expected to live up to his huge reputation.

I LOVE this film, sushi is my favourite food and the simple way he prepares it next to the reactions of the critics who eat it are amazing. Beautifully filmed and totally interesting, this is definitely one for your list. 





The Inbetweeners (Irish Netflix)

Posh boy Will is taken from his comfy private school when his rich father leaves his beautiful mother, and is forced to attend public school where he meets Simon (the 'normal' one), Jay (the waffler) and Neil (the gobshite). Full of amazing insults, awkwardness too much to bear at times, and a total MILF, you're going to hate that you love this one. 

The Inbetweeners is the only TV series I've watched more than twice, there's just something so endearing about the jokes and the knuckle-biting, lemon-faced cringing that happens every episode. Did I mention Will's mother is attractive?





BoJack Horseman (Irish Netflix)

BoJack Horseman is a washed up sitcom star from the 90's (think Bill Cosby), still clinging onto his old fame. Drug addicted starlets, a still-famous dog douchebag version of Bojack and Aaron Paul as a couch-surfing bum, this show is pretty fantastic.

BoJack is hilarious, exactly what you imagine a, say... Kim Kardashian without Kanye would be. Awkward situations, accidental hate against war veterans and a totally great opening theme make this one my latest TV show to sink my time into.

Things That Rustle My Jimmies

Oh Jimmies, My Jimmies... Here's what's rustling 'em this week:

1. Trying to Open the AIB Mobile App

2. 'Who Does She Think She Is?'

3. My Lunch Mysteriously Disappearing 

From the Fridge!

4. Adam Eating Kiwis Whole, Like Apples!

5. Any Debate About Marriage Equality That Involves the Word 'Children'

Relateable, non? 

What's getting you all of a rustle this week then?