January Favourites 2017

Hey guys, so it’s that time again! For a monthly favourites post! I’m so excited, so many great things are in this month’s favourites post. It’s also the first favourites post in the new year. It’s also my first ever January favourites post!

So let’s get into it!

TV SHOWS:

I’ve decided to start with TV shows because there are so many from this month that I’ve ben loving, I could almost write an individual post just on TV shows.

Casualty – Those of you in the UK will know that this is a medical drama show on BBC1 every Saturday. I went off this show for a while and had stopped watching it, yet, somehow I got dragged back in and at the best time possible as well as the story lines were so gripping and I was desperate to find out what happened next. This is definitely a programme you should consider watching if you’re looking for something simple to watch at the end of the day.

Sherlock – Oh my god, can we please talk about the new season? Wasn’t it amazing? Okay, so, I was never a huge fan of Sherlock, I have to admit (please don’t hate me) I watched it with my family but it was never anything I was passionate about watching. But, then came season 4 and it completely blew me away. Episode 2 was absolutely incredible! The acting was great, the story line was compelling, it was just amazing. I hope Benedict Cumberbatch wins an award for his performance in that episode because it was truly phenomenal. The season finale was also fantastic, it was so gripping and tense and I actually struggled to watch it at times and found myself covering my face with my hands, but it was great all the same. I would highly recommend buying this on DVD when it comes out!

Gilmore Girls – This is going to sound ridiculous but I only watched one episode of this show this month and yet I’m recommending it to you. That might seem a bit soon to be suggesting it to you but the first episode left such a great impression on me that I had to put it in my favourites. I can’t wait to watch more of it but I’ve been busy watching other shows. This show had me very pleasantly surprised because it was one of those shows that everyone was talking about and I assumed that it would just be another one of those TV shows that were okay and you could watch but didn’t actually have any interesting elements to them – Gilmore Girls definitely proved me wrong!

Nashville – If you read my 5 Shows To Binge Watch post then you will know that this show is my all-time favourite TV programme, it truly is the one to watch. This month season 4 was released on DVD in the UK and as I don’t have the TV channel it was aired on I wasn’t able to watch it on live TV so had to wait, you have no idea how incredibly excited I was for this season and I have to say that it absolutely blew me away, it was very definitely one of the best seasons, if not the best season of the entire show! I loved seeing some of the lesser characters truly grow into great and important characters in this season and there was some very empowering and awareness raising storylines on both sexism and homophobia. It was just a fantastic season, I would highly recommend this show – if you do watch it let me know in the comments what you think and who your favourite characters are!

BOOKS:

I actually only have one book for you this month as I haven’t been reading very much and that book is;

After Ever Happy By Anna Todd – This is the final book in the After series that I have been raving about for the last few favourites posts, it was truly great! All of my least favourite elements of the book were lessened and all of my favourite parts heightened. The characters developed in truly great ways and I found myself falling in love with lots of the characters all over again. There were lots of dramatic moments in this book and lots of truly swoon-worthy moments in this book. I’m really sad I’ve finished this book series and I really hope they make the film soon! I have to admit I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending and I felt it jumped forward to the future way too many times but overall it was a fantastic book and a great series.

FILMS:

Nerve – Okay, this film was possibly the highlight of my month where favourites are concerned. I got this film for Christmas and had wanted to see it in the cinema but was too broke and friendless to do so haha! Anyway, I’d been wanting to watch this film for ages and only got around to it this month, however, it did not disappoint, with a fantastic cast and a unique storyline based on the book by Jeanne Ryan this film was one of the best films I have ever seen. It was funny, cute and dead terrifying! I was on the edge of my seat terrified of what was going to happen next. Not only all of that but it really raised the issue of cyber-bullying and anonymity in a way that I have never seen done before, it was just a fantastic film! It was so gripping and widely entertaining, I would truly recommend this film for a sleepover, date night, or any other kind of night (or day) just watch this film. You will not regret it.

BEAUTY AND HEALTH:

MUA Wet Look Liquid Eyeliner – This month I have really got into wearing liquid eyeliner, including the whole winged eyeliner effect. I don’t know why but I go through stages of wearing liquid eyeliner and then stages of not wearing it, but I bought this eyeliner because I was in a show and needed to have winged eyeliner, it is truly great, it’s easy to apply, really cheap and yet good quality. It’s a wet look eyeliner so it looks shiny and not all dry and crumbly when it’s on your face. It’s long lasting. You do have to put quite a thick layer on your eyelid and it feels a bit weird while it dries but once it’s dry you’re good to go. Would definitely recommend.

Simple Eye Make-Up Remover – I bought this from Superdrug this month because it was on offer and I was really struggling to get my waterproof mascara off at the end of the day as it was waterproof and didn’t wash off easily. At first I thought it might be a waste of money buying a product like this because it looked like liquid in a bottle and I thought it wouldn’t work, however, it worked like a complete charm and now I can go to bed with a clean, mascara free face and then my eyelashes are all fresh and ready for the next day. I was really struggling with my mascara when I wasn’t getting it off easily because I would believe that I’d got it all off but then the next day I would be putting mascara on and all my eye lashes would stick together and go all clumpy and horrible looking, I blamed this on the mascara and thought it was just because the mascara was rubbish, turned out I just couldn’t remove it at the end of the day. This eye make-up remover has been an absolute star and really saved my eye lashes and entire make-up look.

Boots Extract Mango Lip Balm – I got this lip balm in a set with a vanilla one and a strawberry one a couple of Christmases ago, I quite often get dry lips in the winter and this lip balm saves the day. It smells nice, it’s not gloopy or sticky on your mouth, it makes your lips shine but it also makes them look natural and it really helps clear off the dry skin and make them soft and smooth again. And the little pot it comes in is really handbag friendly and small. *Unfortunately they don’t make it any more as it was strictly a Christmas gift so I can’t leave a link.*

Head And Shoulders Shampoo – I have allergic reactions to lots of different shampoos and conditioners and they make my hair look really dry and life-less. I was using a shampoo a few months ago that was making my head go all flaky and disgusting and it was just making me feel bad and it wasn’t doing my hair any good. I changed to this shampoo quite recently and it has been an absolute hair life-saver, it has made my hair soft and easy to brush, it’s taken longer for my hair to get dirty and need washing, it’s made it’s shinier and more alive looking and the shampoo itself is both blue and really easy to massage into your scalp. I would highly recommend this to everyone but specifically to people who have difficulty finding good shampoos, it will change your hair care experience!

Aussie Dual Personality: Curl Defining and Soft Feel Serum –  Okay, so I’ve become slightly obsessed with hair care this month and yet at the same time I have become completely lazy with my hair care ritual. Anyway, much like me struggling with shampoos recently I’ve really been struggling with the ends of my hair, my hair kind of needs cutting but at the same time I refuse to get a haircut because I’m trying to grow it and I know everyone tells you trims are necessary to have long hair but there is no such thing as a ‘trim’ when you go to the hairdressers, they will cut a third of your hair off before you can do anything about it, so I’m boycotting hairdressers for that reason but my hair is dry and slightly damaged through curling and straightening it, so, I started using this serum that we had lying around the house, what I would do is at the end of every day I would pump some of the serum onto my hand, comb it through my hair and then put my hair in a plait for the night and then low and behold in no time at all my hair was shiny, smooth and lively looking and I felt really great about my hair and it was helping with the dry ends and my hair was looking healthy and long again. This is definitely something to add to the shopping list!

This has been a long favourites post but we have finally come to the end. I really hoped you enjoyed reading it and it gave you some good ideas for things to watch, read and incorporate into your healthcare routine. Do let me know in the comments if you use any of these products or watch any of the TV shows or films or read the book, also, make sure to share some of your favourite things from January in the comments below as I am always looking for new things!

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That’s all for now!

Inspired Teen 🙂

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