Guardians of the Galaxy 2 - Movie Review!

Who's In It?

Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Michael Rooker, and Kurt Russell What's It About? While returning from a mission protecting stealing cosmic batteries from a pretentious monarchy, the Guardians are shot down and rescued by Peter's Dad - Ego.

July Faves ft Max Factor, Lancome, LORAC, Kiehl's, Dream Dots, L'Occitane, Vichy & Guardians of the Galaxy!

It feels like an age since I've done a beauty post on here, does it feel like an age to you? 

Quite possibly because I'm beautying up a storm over on the Dublin City Guide or bringing you sneak peeks of all things beauty over on Instagram but this little old corner of my world seems to be lacking in #bblogger posts - let's amend that, shall we? 

We'll kick it off with July Faves!

1. Max Factor Colour Elixir Glosses: €10.49 - Here

I intagrammed these beauties almost two months ago here and there has rarely been a day since that they've been further than an arms length away from me. 

Not only are they seriously high shine but they're non sticky and taste delicious too (v important). The range of colours means there's something to suit every skin tone and taste and for colour wusses, like me, the brights are a sheer yet vibrant delight. 

HIGHLY recommend. 

2. Lancome's Grandiose Mascara: €30 Here

I've shown you Lancome's Grandiose in action here and given it a full review here - spoiler alert - I am in the love. I'm still unsure if the swan necked wand is responsible, though I do have an interesting post coming up testing that theory, but whatever it is, it works. 

Fans of bigger, grander lashes will love this blacker than black formulation. It lifts, separates and gives more of a false lash effect than I've previously managed to garner from a tube. Even better? It holds the lash curl all day long without flaking or smudging. In. The. Love. 

3. Guardians of the Galaxy Awesome Mix - $10 Here or online Here

You might have caught Aaron's 5 Cherry review of Guardians of the Galaxy here. If you haven't managed to see it yet, please do. We're planning on going again this week just to catch the lines the entire audience laughed over. 

Without doubt though, The Awesome Mix Volume 1 is the soundtrack of the year so far for me - it's also quite possibly entered my all time top ten. Shoulder dancing, hairbrush singing, CARaoke crooning and all round Awesome - you need these songs in your life!

4. LORAC Unzipped - $40 Here

While I try very hard not to describe eyeshadows as buttery, the ten mattes and shimmers in LORAC Unzipped are the Kerrygold of the eyeshadow world. Have you ever used a palette a couple of times and already known you'll be buying another? That's Unzipped for me. 

On our recent trip to London it was the only palette I brought. The minimal, lightweight packaging was one factor, sure, but the endless, effortless looks you can create with these colours are the real WOW factor. I can't count the amount of questions I've had asking about the shadow I'm wearing. It's LORAC, baby!

5. Lancome Golden Riviera Kabuki Brush: €35 Here

This two toned, densely packed, synthetic fibred, bevel cut Kabuki is easily the softest brush I've ever used. It's from the limited edition Golden Riviera collection though, so if you quite fancy the look of this one you'll have to be quick. 

I've been loving the airbrush effect I can achieve with the Hourglass Ambient Lighting palette using this brush all over my visage. The bevel cut means it works perfectly with the contours of the face for bronzer too. 

I actually look forward to using this each morning or to touch up in the evening. It's a little bit of luxury every day. We like daily luxury.   

6. Vichy Aqualia Thermal Serum: €21.99 Here

Newly packaged and reformulated, Vichy's Aqualia line has once more been brought to the fore of my stash as a skincare staple. An increased concentration of hyaluronic acid and a blend of three sugars to capture water in the skin makes this iteration a sensitive or oily OR NORMAL skinned lass's best pal. 

Lightweight and with lightening fast absorption I've been using the Aqualia Thermal Serum after exfoliation this past month and it honestly feels like a cool drink for my visage with lasting moisture. There's something very comforting about the slightly floral scent of the serum, even more so that it doesn't irritate the skin as some scented products can. It's a hydrating winner.

7. L'Occitane Aromachologie Revitalizing Body Scrub: Coming August

I don't normally include products that have yet to launch in my monthly favourites but the truth of the matter is, this scrub will be gone before it's launch date even dawns. 

Me waxing lyrical about L'Occitane scents will come as a surprise to no one but the contents of this jar genuinely stopped me in my tracks. The zingy smash of sugar, orange, grapefruit, mint, lemon and rosemary is nothing like you've inhaled before. 

Ideal for morning showers, this has me bright eyed and bushy tailed regardless of the hour and the silky soft sheen left behind means I can forgo body oil altogether. Hurry up and launch, Aromachologie, I need a refill!

8. Dream Dots: €14.99 Here

You might have seen Dream Dots pop up all over your social media feed of late as they've been enjoying an Irish PR boost. We were sent a pack a couple of weeks back but having been very lucky with the products I'm using of late, I hadn't needed to use them. 

Our plan was (and is) for Adam to give them a trial and give me the low down. Problem being, when I went to pull one out last week, it was the last one! The little git has used every single dot, bar one, without a word. His words now? 'They take the sting out and stop me picking' that's something, right? 

I managed to use the final dot myself, a mini Compeed lookalike, and whether it's fluke or not, I'm hugely impressed. I popped it on a hormonal Vesuvius on Sunday morning at 10am (I'm a rebel) and didn't think of it again until that night. I have to agree with Adam, the pain in my jaw was relieved, the spot itself reduced and the healing time cut significantly. We'll be picking up more for an in depth review but they're getting four thumbs up from us!

9. Kiehl's Creme De Corps: €19  or €53 Here

Speaking of luck with trialling skincare products, my poor old arms haven't fared so well. I'm going to do a full whinge post to explain exactly why Cane & Austin's Retexture Glycolic Treatment Lotion hates me so very much but suffice to say here that my KP hasn't flared as badly in probably 5-6 years. Suddenly I was back to long sleeves in summer time and feeling very self conscious in company. Blahhdy nightmare. 

That's why props go out this month to my all time holy grail Kiehl's Creme De Corps for literally saving my skin once more. Within days my arms had calmed down, skin had begun to heal and tiny bumps disappeared as balance was restored. LUV U, Kiehl's. LUV U LONG TIME. 

Tell me, what's been tickling your pickle in July? Hmmm?

Guardians of the Galaxy - Movie Review

Who's in it?

Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana and Chris Pratt

What's it about?

After recovering a mysterious orb from an abandoned planet, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is chased by two bounty hunters and an assassin, who he teams up with (along with Drax the Destroyer) in prison to stop the Thanos-puppet, Ronan destroying the galaxy.

Any Good? 

This film is not only what Avengers Assemble SHOULD have been, but also what the Star Wars prequels aspired to be. Now that might seem like a big statement straight off the bat, but let me drop a review-bomb on you explaining why I've said it.

Firstly, this is the first comic-book movie to have the Marvel charm, it's hilarious, hugely entertaining and really, really damn feelsie. All the characters are likeable, even ESPECIALLY poor old Groot the three-word-tree. 

Peter Quill is played brilliantly by Chris Pratt, even the inflection of his stupid statements just feels so fitting - like Spider-Man should have. Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista were both pretty good, having their share of funny moments and really witty dialogue but just not on the level of Pratt or Cooper.

Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon is awesome, the lifelike CGI and lip-syncing make him feel realer than most of the team, combined with a fantastic and incredibly dry-funny script for him make him a huge fan-favourite in the making. 

Groot is mo-caped to perfection, even his eyebrow or 'lip' movements are done to a tree (heheheh) - and that's just how he looks; Groot has the most beautiful moments in the film and he WILL make you cry, don't doubt that at all.

Obligatory Karen Gillen..mmmm...

And finally, the reason I said this is what Star Wars should have been is the space battles and sword fights. Small ships fighting bigger enemies with better weapons and improvising to cause AWESOME destruction of a fleet like Hoth is here, it has a Star Wars 3 opening/Death Star-esque HUGE spaceship battle that is clutch as hell and will have you on the edge of your seat.

Fights so awesome that they even have an Anakin Skywalker vs. Asajj Ventress 'shock baton' (totally lightsaber design) fight that is almost as good as the one linked.

This film is magnificent, I can't think of better praise than saying I plan on paying full price to see it in IMAX premier seats at my favourite cinema just to catch the lines I missed due to the whole cinema belly laughing at multiple scenes. And yes, the soundtrack is INCREDIBLE - listen here, so good in fact that I've been listening to it the entire time I've been writing this and will be for a good while. 

If you do see it, be sure to tell me how you liked the totally out of left field after-credits scene in the comments, I LOVED it and Mother just groaned, settle it for us!

Rating:   

Guardians of the Galaxy - A new Avengers?

A couple days ago Chris Pratt premiered the first trailer for Marvel's new movie Guardians of the Galaxy on Jimmy Kimmel's show in the US. I know absolutely nothing about the source material on this, but I do know that it ties into the after-credits scene of Thor due to The Collector getting his hands on an Infinity Stone from the Asgardians which is what Chris Pratt's Star Lord is after in this. It also connects with the post-credit scene reveal of Thanos in Avengers Assemble due to Karen Gillan's Nebula being an agent of Thanos and Gamora being his adopted daughter, but I'm not sure what it will lead to..

With characters such as Groot, Nebula and Rocket looking incredible, the film will be gorgeous and hopefully as funny as the trailer is. Even though I know nothing of the original Guardians of the Galaxy comics, I do know that this looks amazing and after that trailer I'm more than excited for the August 1st release.