Should Disney Only Use Caucasian Princesses?

Are people serious?

Now, don't be put off by the title. The question is very much mocking those people with no broadening mind. I recently came across a post about how 5 Disney princesses had been reimagined as if they were caucasian. Being a huge Disney fan, this intrigued me therefore i clicked the link (which can be found here) and was absolutely horrified as to what i read.

Firstly, the pictures just looked weird and to me frankly hard to look at. However, my argument is that Disney created different raced princesses for a reason. The comment in particular that caused me such upset was this 'The Princess And The Frog is an exciting journey about the power of friendship and acceptance, not the color of Princess Tiana’s skin. It’s important for all girls, regardless of race, to feel represented in movies for kids' - the change of race for these princesses are so that people of those races have someone to represent them!! There are a variety of different races in order to make everyone feel as though they can have the perfect princess life and not feel as though it is just for white girls!

Secondly, Underneath the picture of Jasmine, it states that the film would have been just as amazing or maybe even better?! WHY would the colour of her skin or her nationality have anything to do with the success or the quality of the film? 

And possibly using the hashtag  #WhiteDisneyPrincesses is just screaming for negative comments to be thrown at the writer? I was super angry when there was no comment section or no way of finding the reader. 

I happen to enjoy the multicultural nature of Disney and therefore should continue to represent them in best way they can.

What are everyone else's thoughts?

Lauren

Thorpe Shark Hotel Review

New Thorpe Shark Hotel review 

Recently, I stayed at the new Thorpe Park hotel called 'Thorpe Shark' for two days and one night using the Thorpe Breaks Website. I went with my boyfriend and was presently surprised at the price. It was £99 for both of us for two days of park tickets, an overnight stay and a cooked buffet breakfast in the morning. If you are familiar with the usual day prices on entrance to Thorpe Park for the day, you will understand that this is such a good price and definitely value for money!

After reading some, lets say, worrying reviews on trip advisor about the experience, me and my boyfriend were very sceptical about what we had paid for and were therefore scared about going. HOWEVER.. the stay has just made me realise just how stupid some people can be. The reviews stated that the accommodation shouldn't be called a hotel, how the rooms are so small you couldn't 'swing a cat' and how the staff were unhelpful. I don't know if they were seeing something completely different to us but we had excellent service, the room was just perfect for a place to crash after a day in the park and the breakfast was absolutely perfect!

The room itself was quirky. Yes, it was admittedly small but all you need is a shower, a bed and a toilet as you don't spend hardly any time in the room. The bed was super comfy and the wet room shower was heavenly. Although, the water did escape through the door into the room, so make sure you put a towel down beforehand. The only problem with the room was that the air conditioning and heater was hard to work and was very loud and the temperature wasn't consistent so therefore had to wake up a couple of times to sort it out, which wasn't ideal. However, after a not great night sleep the breakfast was definitely what I needed! There was a coffee and tea station, a buffet of hot breakfasts with beans, sausages, eggs, hash browns and bacon which was all cooked properly and was lovely. There is also continental breakfast treats too! Pastries, cereals, yogurts and also a range of fruit juices. So i filled up nicely for the day ahead! 

We went in the last week that Thorpe Park was open for this year and was after the event of 'Fright Night' therefore we were basically the only people in the park. The longest we queued was 20 mins and for people that are aware of Thorpe Park they know that that time is NOTHING. We quite often walked onto rides, stayed on them for a second ride and sometimes were the only people on the ride!! Now as amazing as this sounds, the park got very boring towards the end of the second day and most of the time we PRAYED for a queue! But apart from this, it let us experience the full extent of the park. Also, with the room you get a fast track wristband for the second day that lets you skip queues for the first hour of the day. We didn't need to use this due to the reason above however would come in handy for other times of the year!

Overall, the park is so much fun, the hotel is clean and well worth the price and the overall experience was definitely one i was glad to have!

so, IGNORE TRIPADVISOR REVIEWS!!

What is everyone's favourite ride at Thorpe Park?

Lauren. 

Halloween Costume idea!

Halloween is my all time favourite holiday - because fancy dress is my guilty pleasure, not in the dirty sense before you ask. ;)

Now, being at university halloween is made into such a huge deal, with club nights having crazy halloween themed nights out. Tomorrow i am attending one, so thought i would have a play at what i could go as!

However, i am very vocal of the fact that putting on cat ears and drawing on some whiskers whilst parading around in a skin tight cat suit... is NOT scary therefore you cannot dress like it for halloween. MY OPINION..

so, zombies, vampires, witches, horror film characters are a must, fake blood, wounds, make up are musts!

Therefore this year, i decided to go full on with my costume..

meet Jigsaw....

To do this look i used:

Snazaroo white aqua based face paint - This you can get from amazon or from any fancy dress shop

SuperCat Soap and Glory Liquid eye liner 

Maybelline colour sensation red lip liner

Sleek Au Natural Palette - Black eyeshadow and Brown Sparkly eyeshadow

NYC Lipstick 

Playsuit from Primark 

Bow Tie from Hollywood Fancy Dress

Red tights from Primark

There are LOADS of tutorials on Youtube to do this look and it really is simple to achieve! 

What are you dressing up as this year?

HAPPY HALLOWEEEEEEN!

Until Next Time

Lauren x

Lush Haul - LiveLikeALauren Lifestyle

So, this is the time of year when every blogger gets sucked into the halloweeny christmassy world of Lush. I fell for it even harder this year because i have been soooo ill that nothing seems to shift it like a nice bath with my favourite scents.

HOWEVER, this year, i decided to purchase ones that i have never used before.. so here goes!

1. Dragons Egg Bath Bomb: £3.35 

I have never tried this one before, but heard such good things about it. It actually happened to be the first one out of the batch that i tried. It smells amazing and even though it doesn't do spectacular things in the bath - it does fizz and release orange and blue in the water with gold glitter - it makes your skin feel and look amazing!

2. Twilight Bath Bomb £3.35

Now, i suffer from insomnia, which is where i have trouble sleeping at night. The Twilight Bath Bomb has been known to help with its delicate scent, so thought i would buy it and give it a try. Plus, it's an amazing pink colour so thought it would make my bath water cute 

3. Father Christmas Ballistic £3.50

IT'S NEARLY CHRISTMAS. This one was very well received as anything that smells like christmas just makes me so excited. Fingers crossed it is as good as it smells! 

4. Golden Wonder Bath Bomb £3.75

Gold, present, christmas scent!? how can you say no to this! I looked at this one on the Lush website, because it gives you a little demonstration and this one looked so good!

5. Luxury Lush Pud £3.50

How cute is this one! It doesn't look that christmassy, but with the little holly on the top it just makes me love it. Plus, i'm excited to see what the polka dots will do in the water as well! 

6. Lord of Misrule £3.50

This screaaaaams cold nights to me as the scent of patchouli and the wine coloured centre just makes me feel so calm. I can't wait till it snows so i can use this one

7. Northern Lights Ballistic £3.50

An oblong bath bomb? who'da thought, but the colours in this are amazing and can NOT give it enough justice so you will need to buy it!

and FINALLY

8. Star Light, Star Bright Bath Melt £3.50

Now, i love love love bath melts because they can last for more than one bath and you only need a small amount to crumble in. This one is super glittery and makes your bath looks like the night sky, how sweet!

what is your favourite Lush product?

Until Next Time

Laurenx

I FINALLY SAW GONE GIRL!!

FILM REVIEW:  SPOILER ALERTS

A Film starring Ben Affleck as a husband whose wife (Rosamund Pike) mysteriously disappears one morning leaving a suspicious crime scene behind her. The narrative then follows the story through the police and the people of the town throwing accusations towards Nick Dunne (Affleck). Did he have anything to do with it? Or is there something their ‘perfect marriage’ is hiding.

For a crime thriller, the film is highly recommendable with there being top rated actors within it such as Affleck, Pike and also Neil Patrick Harris who bring Gillian Flynn’s characters to life perfectly. Also, for those who are like me and read the book before seeing the film, it sticks very closely to the challengingly descriptive narrative. The film itself is gripping and allows several different scenario s and possible film endings to flow through you whilst watching it, which is helped on by the clever story line as lots of different clues are revealed. It’s not just simply a ‘man marries wife happy ever after’ type film, its twists turns and tensions break it away from any normal film about marital struggle.

Looking at characters individually, at first I was skeptical about the casting of Rosamund Pike as Amy Dunne after reading the book. This is because her character is so complex, fiery and ultimately haunting therefore seemed a tough role to play for someone known for being one of Jane Austen’s Bennet sisters. However, I was totally taken aback on how amazingly she portrayed one such character and thoroughly enjoyed her performance. 

Ben Affleck still now confuses me. Don't get me wrong, he is an incredible actor and plays the part really well, but I am still gutted because he is not what I pictured at all. I pictured more of an Italian New Yorker looking type guy, skinny, with longish hair. Don't ask why! Also, WHY WHY WHY is Neil Patrick Harris cast as Desi Collings? Out of all the casting, this one infuriates me. After reading the book, I pictured an Indian looking dark skinned relatively chubby man therefore I couldn't concentrate on the scenes he was in.

The director however, David Fincher, does a stunning job to portray the darkness of the storyline in a creative and interesting way through the flashbacks and present story. Alongside the score for the movie it creates an eerie atmosphere that you can feel throughout.

Overall, I encouragingly ask you to take a trip to the cinema to see this incredible adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl and hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

Did everyone else enjoy it?

What did everyone think of the casting of Nick, Amy and Desi? 

Until next time

Lauren

My Top 5 Tips for University

Now, I know the University year has already started and you freshers are stuck in bed with freshers flu, however now being in my second year I have now realised just what the DO's and DONT'S are when it comes to university: so here are my TOP 5 TIPS:

1. Under NO circumstance get NETFLIX or any other similar platform.
-Yes, you may have spare time -  and believe me in first year you do, but do not get sucked into the emotional vortex that is netflix. You will start a tv show and then feel so attached to that show that you will never work, never sleep and never eat. This is coming from first hand experience. By all means, catch up on television shows - but i made the massive mistake of starting to watch a show that already had 8 seasons, and managed them only in a few weeks.

2. DON'T just speak to those who you live with, because chances are they're all horrible or too different to you anyway although in my exception, my flat mates were lovely. JOIN SOCIETIES because it fills up your empty time to refrain you from doing point number one^ but it also gives you the opportunity to meet new people who share the same interests as you. If your university is anything like mine there is societies from things even as weird as BACON! 

3. READ, READ, READ - Just because you have copied down your lecture notes, it does not mean you are done for the day. Additional reading around your subject is KEY.

4. An obvious one - but DON'T leave your assignments to the last minute - I did that last year, and boy did I suffer. Plan ahead!

5. Actually HAVE FUN! yes ultimately it is down to the studying, but explore your new town, go out and get drunk occasionally, meet best friends for life, enjoy your course.
BUT if you're not having fun, there are people you can talk to!
 

As you can see, I have met an amazing group of people here, and just want to make everyone's university experience how good mine is!

If you have any questions about university - then don't hesitate!

Until next time, Lauren. x

Book Review: Gone Girl

 

I am a huge bookworm, to the point where I cannot see an adaptation film in the cinema without reading the book first. However, I read this book before I even knew it was to become a film as it was recommended to me by a friend. To start the review off in ONE word....

INCREDIBLE!!

Now, I can't put good books down, ever. So this book took me only a few days to read as the storyline is so gripping! To explain without giving it away, the book follows and man and wife through, call it diary entries, about the disappearance of the wife, 'Amy'. The media and police suspect that 'Nick', the husband, has something to do with it, and suspect him of murdering her. So, it follows the crime scenes, the numerous pleading missing persons reports but it also delves deep into Amy and Nicks past and their marriage to help you conjure up your own opinion as to 'Who killed Amy Dunne'.

I am yet to see the film, however, as all bookworms are, i am scared. The people who have been cast are not who i imagined would bring these characters to life. I imagined Nick tall, skinny and almost italian looking, you know the sleeked back combovery typed man, which is nothing like Ben Affleck who has been cast. Even though i love Rosamund Pike and think she is incredible, i portrayed the character of Amy as a fiesty women, curvy and ultimately 'sassy'. Rosumund Pike I feel doesn't have the fiesty character. This however i am only basing on her previous roles, such as Jane Bennet in 'Pride and Prejudice'. Despite this, i am excited to see the book brought to life.

Gillian Flynn is definitely an author I am going to investigate as she has a few other thriller themed books that i have yet to read. 

Has anyone else read it?What does everyone else think?

Until Next Time!

Lauren

x

Top 5 Tuesday | Hair Care

Hey Everyone!

Hair care is always essential with me, due to the fact that I have relatively long but very very thick hair. This means that it can knot really easily and struggles to keep styles. Naturally, my hair is wavy therefore i don't very often have to curl my hair, which is a god send because it would take me hours. However, I quite often straighten it. Therefore I need to protect and keep my hair healthy. So here is my current ( and I say current because they are very likely to change) favourite hair care products!

1. Herbal Essences - Limited Edition 'Dazzling Shine' Shampoo and Conditioner

- This shampoo and conditioner set is so amazing and SO AFFORDABLE, don't be put off by the fact that there is a celebrity endorsement crowding the whole packaging this stuff smells amazing and works incredibly. It has made my hair much healthier than normal and my split ends seemed to have cleared up! I also go to this brand when in need of a quick cheap buy because I know how good it is and don't feel guilty purchasing it. 

2. Charles Worthington- Front-Row - 'rough and tousled salt spray'

Now it is summer time, I am really enjoying wearing my hair in a beach wave style with loose curls (natural). This product enhances the look of beach waves with also giving it loads of volume! You simply spray on the ends or on your curls and scrunch your hair up. The product is also non-visible in your hair once applied. It does have a slight smell to it, that i'm not sure I like, however isn't noticeable. So all in all it's a nice easy product to use for simple wavy styles 

3.Aussie - Miracle Recharge Lightweight conditioning spray

At first, I wasn't at all happy with this product, I thought it made my hair greasy and didn't do anything to the shine. However, I found it again a few weeks ago and decided to give it another try. This time round I absolutely loved it. It's a leave in conditioner so perfect for on the go and it really does create a really healthy shine for you hair. It's amazing in this weather as the sun can be really damaging to your hair, but leaving this conditioner in just helps keep your hair vibrant and hydrated. You can apply it to wet or dry hair however I prefer putting it in wet hair as sometimes when applied to dry hair it doesn't apply evenly and you do end up with greasy looking patches. It also, like before, has a smell that I don't find pleasant, but disappears after a while. 

4. TREsemme - Salon touchable feel Ultimate Hold Hairspray

It keeps your hair in place, and like I said before, I have such thick hair that just doesn't keep styles, so this is like my GO-TO product when i'm having a bad hair day!

FINALLY - 5. Lee Stafford - Argan Oil Miracle Heat Defence Spray

It is sooooooo important to protect your hair from heated appliances such as hair straightners, and this product seems to always make in into my basket when im in the drugstore. Firstly, Lee Staffords range is really quirky and it smells amazing, and with the added argan oil it really does wonders for you hair. Secondly, it is really affordable and almost always on a 3 for 2 offer in Boots! 

Like I said, my hair care products quite often change so I will review and new products I find and fall in love with.

What are your favourite hair care products?

Until next time,

Lauren x

June/July Favourite

Hi Everyone!

Now, I realise that I am a bit late in order to be blogging my 'June Favourites' and too early to be blogging my 'July Favourites' however, recently I have brought a lot of new products and wish to share them all with you with my reviews of each one. I realise that I could possibly call this a haul, however these are only a few of my new products and are selected as my favourites, so; here we go!

1. Mac Blush in colour 'Fleur Power'

2. Sleek Eyeshadow Palette in 'Au Naturel' 

3. Bourjois Bronzing Powder

4. Soap and Glory 'Scrub Your Nose In It' facial scrub

5. Soap and Glory 'Supercat' Liquid eye liner pen

Numero Uno:

This buy was quite a long time ago, but was using my other blushes before heading onto this one. Believe it or not, this was my first and ever MAC purchase as the products are a little out of my price range. However, I brought it with some leftover birthday money back in February. Yes, back in FEBRUARY. This makes me really angry at myself because the minute I used it, I fell in love. It's a really pigmented blush as its a very corally pink colour therefore a tiny bit goes a long way and is perfect for a summery shade. Intentionally, I was looking for more of a subtle shade when I went into MAC however couldn't find anything I liked, but the man behind the counter (who was wearing more make up than myself, so I knew I could trust him) kindly convinced me that this colour would be perfect for me. Which, I believe is true. Therefore, this buy has persuaded me perhaps to save more money and try other MAC products and venture out of my comfort zone. 

Numero Dos: 

Sorry for the poor quality photo, my camera decided to act all weird. But, this has to be my favourite purchase out of them all. For ages, I was contemplating whether spending £37 pounds on an Urban Decay Naked 3 palette was worth the money, and all that time I tried to convince myself that it was okay, the reviews have been amazing, i'll get my money's worth. However, this palette has all the same sort of natural colours as the Urban Decay palette for less that a third of the price! I paid £10 for this on Amazon and I am having so much fun testing out all the different colour combinations. They are so pigmented as well so they stay on for ages and are really noticeable! Easily recommendable. 

Numero Tres:

 Now, I was expecting huge things from this bronzer as I have heard such amazing reviews. I was not disappointed. For ages I have been using the Body Shop Bronzer: 'Trio Shade: Warm Sunset' and hated it because it was far too shimmery. This bronzer however, even though 'filled with glints of sunshine' is so much easier to use because it goes on more matte than previous bronzers. Also, its perfect for my skin tone so i use it all around the edges of my face and under my cheek bones for a flawless finish. Also to mention, as everyone does when reviewing this product... IT SMELLS AMAZING! by the way, please resist the temptation to eat it, I don't know about you, but I get such chocolate cravings when I see this. 

Numero.... Four: 

BREATHE LAUREN BREATHE! I get so so so excited when I mention this product to anyone because it really is a life saver. I struggle day to day with extremely oily skin especially on my T-Zone. So I have been in search of a cleanser or a moisturiser that will reduce the size of my pores and help clean up my oily skin. THE SEARCH IS OVER LADIES AND GENTS, because VWA-LAH. A small amount of this over damp skin and massaged in for 2 minutes and afterwards it feels as if you have just had a facial. Not only does it feel good, pores literally are vanished after using it. The blackheads on my nose are visibly clearer and my skin is far less oily. I usually do this after a shower and then apply my normal facial moisturiser. 

FINALLY.. Numero Five:

Lets all just sit and reflect for a minute.. remember that time you spent nearly an hour just purely on mastering your winged eyeliner for a night out? Or the time you wiped off your entire eye make up because your liquid eyeliner just went everywhere? 

*POP*

Thought bubble gone, because the answer is here! This is honestly the easiest and best liquid eyeliner pen I have come across so far. First of all, just look at the packaging! But honestly, it's super black therefore makes eyes look dramatic and the nib is both thick and thin for all the styles from think cat eyes to thin day to day looks. For all you long wearers out there as well, it lasts a long time and also doesn't smudge on to your upper eyelids either. Perfect for ALL occasions. 

So there we have it, for now. Just some of the recent beauty products I have been lovely this summer. You can purchases these items in high street or drugstores, apart from the Mac Blush in which I purchases in Debenhams. Any one else used these and found them as good as I have?

Also, any recommendations for future purchases?

Have a lovely day, until next time

Lauren!

x

Lush Bath Bomb: Secret Garden

Hi Everyone,
Sorry for the lack of posting, i've just be super super busy lately! But, because i have been super busy, i have treated myself to a few pamper and make-up products that i wil feature here on my blog. 

First of all, just a quick one, I recently was recommended by a friend to go into lush and purchase their bubblegum lip scrub, now I was a bit reluctant at first. This was mainly due to the fact that I had no idea what it did. However, after having a long conversation with a very nice customer assistant called Tom about the ins and outs of the product, i couldn't have got my purse out quick enough! 

Basically, its a lip scrub for people with dry lips. You simply use your finger to scrub the product straight onto your lips to make them nice and smooth for when you are having a chapped lip day, or it even works wonders to use before applying lipstick so it doesn't look all chapped and nasty. BUT, the best thing about it is, after you've applied it, instead of wiping it off. YOU CAN EAT IT! This is the reason I brought the bubblegum one, it tastes delicious. However, there is other flavours including popcorn and mint. 

The product is £5.50, however even though the tub is relatively small, it lasts ages because you only need a small amount! 
Here is the link if you feel like checking it out! 
https://www.lush.co.uk/product/67/Bubblegum-Lip-Scrub

Now, on to the actual main bit of my blog post.

This, I am ashamed to say, was my very first experience of a Lush bath bomb, or bath ballistic. (All lush fans will now come and throw things at me) however, I can say I am thoroughly impressed. I brought two today, one being 'Secret Garden' which will feature in today's post, but also 'fluffy egg' which I haven't used yet, but am dying to because it smells like Snow fairy!

Here they both are:
https://www.lush.co.uk/product/154/Fluffy-Egg  - This is the 'Fluffy Egg' £2.95
https://www.lush.co.uk/product/6292/Secret-Garden - Here is today's feature 'Secret Garden' £2.95


SECRET GARDEN BATH BOMB

This is what the bath ballistic looks like, I was immediately drawn to how pretty it was, and it smelt incredible. 

So I ran a clear bath, I didn't put any bubbles or anything it it, and simply dropped it in.

This is what the ballistic did to my bath water!

This was so exciting, because not only did it turn my bath water an incredible mix of green and pink, or just make it smell amazing, BUT, in the middle also were little flower petals that just topped the whole experience off. 

The flowers floating in the water!

So, I can honestly say that my first experience with a Lush Bath Ballistic was one I will never forget and it is 100% that I will be returning to buy many many more to try!

What are you favourite Lush products?

Until next time!

Lauren!

My First Time Tag!

Now, technically this isn't my first blog post, however I deleted all my other posts as I have decided to take a different route towards blogging. I've chosen to pursue life's destiny for me and use my excellent skills of chatting and become a chatty blog. This means I will write about my feelings, my opinions, reviews of things, day to day things really. So where best to start than the 'My First Time Tag'? but before that, here is some information about me... 

Name: Lauren Balchin (The amount of trouble my surname has given me through life, bumchin, bollockchin it's endless. Also, teachers can never spell it, Does anyone else have a weird surname?)
Age: 19
DOB: 7th February 1995
Hometown: Westbury, Wiltshire
Job: In university at Bournemouth, studying Media and Communication
Favourite colour: Green
Favourite Food: Anything that contains chocolate 
Ambition: become a well-known journalist or columnist. 

Any questions, don't hesitate to comment below!

Now, here goes.

1.First best friend: I remember my first best friend very clearly due to the fact that she just so happens to be my best friend now. Her name is Katie and our parents were best friends. Our birthdays are very close so we used to have cute play dates when we were very young and continued on to going to the same schools and staying very close! 

2. First concert: well, this is a tough one, because what I would describe as a concert would be going to see a band or a singer in an arena, which means therefore my first concert was the Xfactor tour the year that One Direction were there. However, the first 'celebrities' or 'artists' (if you can call them that) I saw were Lemar and the Cheeky girls at a party in the park type scenario. Although, i'm not counting them, sorry guys. 

3. First celebrity crush: This is an embarrassing one, I would love to say the usual's of Zac Efron in High School Musical or Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean however, when I was younger I used to watch way too much Nickelodeon which was the reasoning behind my crush on Natt Wolff who was the lead singer of 'The Naked Brothers Band'. Still haunts me today. I can assure you that my choice in celebrity crushes has matured! 

4. First Word: I had to venture to my Mum for this one, as obviously I wouldn't know, and she replied with 'I can't remember that, probably dada, or I could lie and say it was something intelligent!'. So I guess that one can't be answered, sorry!

5. First Job: When I was 13 I got myself a paper round, however I can't really class that as 'MY' job because my mum used to drive me round and do most of the delivering for me! But, when I was 16 I became a waitress and stayed there until I left for university last september!

6. First Phone: oh wow, well, I got my first phone when I was around 7-8 and it was a Nokia 3310 which had a Manchester United case on it, and all I ever used it for was to download ringtones and play snake! 

7. First Tweet: I can't be 100% sure, but I'm vaguely sure it was something about not understanding twitter!

8. First Kiss: I'm not going to name names, but all I remember is that a group of us were on the primary school field one lunchtime and it was one of those peer pressure moments of 'You guys should kiss' and well, we did, everybody went 'ewwwwww' and I felt ashamed. 

So there we have it, that's just a few of my 'First times'
Hopefully I can keep this as quite a regular occurrence as I failed miserably last time!

Until next time folks, I shall leave you with my favourite song at the moment..
Beyonce - Drunk in Love

Lauren!