Book Review: Saving June by Hannah Harrington

“If she waited less than two weeks, she’d be June who died in June. But I guess my sister didn’t consider that.”

This book is written in the point of view of Harper Scott, younger sister and a somewhat advocate for being second-best. She has only one friend – her best friend, Laney – who she shares everything with. When her sister, June, takes her own life, her divorcing parents decide to split her ashes into his-and-her urns, but Harper takes matters into her own hands. She steals the ashes in a plan to take them to California, a place where June had always dreamed of going.
Then enters Jake Tolan, a guy with bad attitude and a classic-rock obsession. He insists on joining them on their trip to California, and Harper was desperate enough to let him, as her and her best friend had no car. Jake didn’t know much of Harper and Harper didn’t know Jake at all, but somehow Jake had a connection with June, and Harper wouldn’t stop until she figured out what exactly that was.

This book is one of my absolute favourites. The characters are amazing and I feel like I can relate to at least one thing in all the main characters, and that’s one of the reasons why it’s such a good book. The storyline isn’t like one I’ve read before, and the romance part of it isn’t your usual storybook romance, it takes a while, and even then it’s not in stone. I love that. It’s realistic and I found it hard to put it down and go to sleep.  It also has a heavy music influence, as in almost every chapter there is music talk or a list of songs that mean something to a character which gave the story depth.

If you’re looking for a new book to read, I suggest reading this one. Its genre is Young Adult.

- R xo

OOTD:

OTTD:

Dress: Topshop

Shoes: Jeffery Campbell

Lipstick: Topshop "Brighton Rock"

Nail Polish: Sally Hansen "120 Hot Magenta"

When I saw this dress, I immediately fell in love with it and later on realised that Demi Lovato had worn the exact same dress at one of the X-Factor US shows. Demi has always been someone I loved and looked up to, including with fashion... And this just proves it! I absolutely love her. Here is how she wore it:

- R xo

Covergirl Lip Perfection: Hot Passion Review

I heard about this lipstick after watching a Taylor Swift interview where she mentioned that this is the exact lipstick she uses. I always notice how nice it looks on her, and even though I've never used a Covergirl lipstick before, it HAD to be good if Taylor was always wearing it!

I gave it a shot and I literally haven't used another red lipstick since! I am so surprised at how long it lasts, which is literally all day and night... It has an amazing finish which isn't glossy, but not completely matte either, and I love it! 

I recommend this to anyone that has been looking for a long lasting lipstick on the cheaper side, for $14.95. If you get it on sale (like I did) it's even better at around $9.

If this review helped you or if you have your own review on this lipstick, please let me know in the comments! :)

- R xo

My Top TV Boyfriends

I’m not going to lie, one of my favourite things to do is to watch a good TV series! I have more than a couple favourites (as you can tell), and I’d thought I’d share some of my favourite “TV Boyfriends”.

SETH COHEN: The Loveable Geek
(The O.C)

"Dude, you're a Cohen now. Welcome to a world of insecurity and paralyzing self-doubt."

PACEY WITTER: The Misunderstood Bad Boy
(Dawson's Creek)

"The simple act of being in love with you is enough for me."

CHUCK BASS: The Mysterious Bad Boy
(Gossip Girl)

"I’m Chuck Bass."

ERIC FORMAN: The Generally Geeky Nice Guy
(That 70's Show)

"Donna told me she loves me, and then I told her I loved cake." 

CHANDLER BING: The Funny Friend-Turned-Boyfriend
(Friends)

"I hit her in the eye! I hit her in the eye! This is the worst breakup in the history of the world!"

NICK MILLER: The Secretly Romantic ‘Tough Guy’
(New Girl)

"You know what Jess, I don't live in a world where I smile and people do what I want them to do."

I hoped you liked this post, it's different than usual and fun! I'd be happy with any of these characters as my boyfriend haha. If you like these kind of posts, let me know :)

Hope everyone's having a good week!

- R xo

Lipstick Review: Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butters

Red Velvet, Brown Sugar

Brown Sugar, Red Velvet

Wearing Brown Sugar

Wearing Red Velvet

I took the above photos on two different days, wearing 'Brown Sugar' to work with minimal make-up, and 'Red Velvet' to a party with much more colour on my face.

I find these lipsticks to have more of a glossy and moisturising feel to them, which I really like. They look really shiny once applied, and they don't have a scent or taste which is good for me because I sometimes get turned off by some lipsticks that have a weird taste to them.

I only own these two colours but I would love to add to my collection because I there are so many amazing shades available.

The packaging is gorgeous, and I have found that most of the lipstick colours match the packaging which is great.

I would recommend this lipstick to anyone, but with keeping in mind that you may have to reapply every few hours, or after you eat; because of the glossy finish, after eating the gloss fades and to keep up the shine, reapplying is needed.

This lipstick range is one of my favourites as it hydrates your lips and gives them a shine.

They are a little pricey at around $21.95 each in most stores in Australia, but that is pretty standard for an international make-up branded lipstick over here.

I would love to know your thoughts. Do you own any of these? And how much cheaper are they where you live? :)

- R xo

Mascara Review: Bourjois Paris – Volume Glamour MAX

“Ten times the volume. Intensified eyes. Glamour guaranteed.”

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Two coats applied.

What I like:

• Great for seperating lashes
• Adds volume and thickness
• Holds curl
• Decent price at $22

I’m actually in love with this mascara at the moment, and I can’t really think of anything I dislike about it! I purchased it at Priceline, and it was apart of the promo where you could spend $50 and you recieved a free make-up bag with all different branded products. This was one of the products included. I might also do a blog post reviewing the other products I received :)

- R xo

Fashion Necessity: Jeans

Jeans are one of the only closet pieces that you can dress up and down; teaming a casual look with flats or sandals, and a dressy look with heels or boots.

Credit : Tumblr

I've just stumbled across this picture, and I just really loved it and thought it would be a good topic to blog about.

Jeans are a favourite in my wardrobe. I actually have so much denim it's not funny. My favourite jeans at the moment are from TopShop.

MOTO Blue Leigh Jeans
£38.00 / $60.00

JONI Super High-Wasited Blue Jeans
£36.00 / $56.00

 (Both descriptions and prices were straight off the TopShop UK website, but I purchased these both in store in Australia, and for some reason there's not a TopShop AU website, and I remember paying around $70 each for them.)

Both of these jeans are really comfortable and almost feel like you're wearing leggings, but the denim is just really soft, light and stretchy so I recommend them to anyone that hates wearing super tight jeans and likes to be comfortable, because these are definitely for you!

Credit : ShowbizHub

I like to wear most types of jeans, but the ones that don't flatter me are bootcut, super-skinny, and boyfriend jeans. I choose not to wear bootcut and boyfriend jeans because I feel like they're too baggy in places and it doesn't flatter my body shape, and the super-skinny jeans because well... I'm not "super-skinny"; so I stick to straight, skinny, high-wasited (which isn't pictured above), and flare.

My friends are always too scared to wear flare jeans since they're not particularly 'in' right now, and I personally haven't worn mine in a while, but in saying that, I think they might be coming back! They're just so cool to wear with Converse, it brings back the 90's girl in me.

I'd like to know which styles are your favourites and which styles you haven't tried and would like to? :)

- R xo

My Ellen Experience

As many of you already know, Ellen Degeneres has impacted many of peoples’ lives in a positive way and I am lucky enough to be one of those people. She has always been an inspiration to me as I watch her show daily and I love the love and kindness she shares with people. When I heard she was coming to Australia, and more importantly, Melbourne, I jumped at the chance of attending one of her live shows. So on Tuesday the 26^th of March, 2013 that is exactly what I did.

My friend Kelsy and I woke up at 4am and caught the train into the city, wearing our matching “I love Ellen” t-shirts. We got there at 6am and waited in line for almost half an hour where we got our wristbands, clarifying the number of people that have been checked in. I was number 938, and by 6:30 in the morning, there was over 1000 people waiting for Ellen, who wasn’t coming on stage until 12pm.

Sleepy and laying on our blanket, while a massive crowd builds around us at 6:30am.

A little while after sunrise, I saw a couple of other people I knew and we all stuck together. Shockingly since there was already so many there, we didn’t have the best view. In fact, we we’re almost sitting in the very back row, and also very sleepy. But we didn’t let that stop us. We were so happy and excited to even be waiting for Ellen, we even got the attention of one of Ellen’s crew members to approached us and asked for our names. She told us to meet her at 8:30 for an interview. We had no idea what to think!

A very zoomed in view from the back row.

We gathered with about 15 or so other people who got picked and stood in a circle around Ellen’s crew. They explained that we had the chance of actually getting up on stage with Ellen! I mean, we weren’t getting our hopes up or anything but we were pretty excited.

Waiting to get individually interviewed by Ellen's crew.

Kelsy (right), and I.

Kelsy and I in our Swisse hats they gave us to wear.

They told us to wait around until they called us back, and after a couple more hours of waiting (I know, but it was worth it), they told us to follow them. We took our belongings from the very back row (at this stage there was almost 3000 people waiting), and followed the crew members who they took us to the very FRONT ROW.

On the barrier, front row!

The view behind me! (over 3000 people in total showed up to Ellen's live show)

I literally couldn’t believe it. What are the chances?! Ellen was appearing on stage in an hour and the stage was less than a metre away from me! 

My view of the stage.

Tony the DJ! 

When she finally came on stage, it was one of the best moments I’ve ever experienced. It was amazing. Turning back to see the rest of the crowd, and then where I was lucky enough to be standing is absolutely mind-blowing. I also made friends with a few other crew members of hers, such as her Executive Producer, Andy Lassner who actually gave me a bottle of Ellen water which is proudly sitting unopened in my room today. Ellen was also handing out Ellen underwear, which I also got a pair of (although they are mens, I’m not complaining haha).

Ellen on stage!

Jeannie, Andy, Portia and Ellen!

The Ellen underwear I caught from Ellen.

But the surprises from the best day ever didn’t end there. When the show was almost finished and she had already given out thousands and thousands of dollars to people that needed it and/or earned it, Kelsy’s name got called to go up on stage to play a game. I literally could not believe it. Shaken and surprised, I wished her luck and she stood on stage next to Ellen and another lucky winner and played Finish The Lyrics, it ended up being a draw and they both won $1000!

Kelsy on stage talking to Ellen in the middle of the game Finish The Lyrics!

Ellen saying her goodbyes <3

I’ve never experienced anything like it! Ellen you are truly inspirational and such a beautiful person that I was so lucky to witness first hand. I just want to say thank you again for this amazing experience, it was one of the best days of my life!

- R xo

* most of these photos were taken on an iPhone, and aren't the best quality. I didn't have a blog back then so I didn't think about taking my proper camera, apologies!