Short AF Series Review | The Queen's Gambit

Hey guys, so today I'm going to be a doing a review on the series "The Queen's Gambit". As usual this review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the IMDB synopsis in this and sometimes they can contain spoilers, however 9/10 times they don't. It's just something to keep in mind if you're planning on watching the series.) 

"Orphaned at the tender age of nine, prodigious introvert Beth Harmon discovers and masters the game of chess in 1960's USA. But child stardom comes at a price."

So the reason I wanted to watch this series is because a lot of people online were putting out a lot of hype regarding it. I didn't know anything about the series going into it other than it was around chess, so I genuinely thought I was going to dislike it. I was so wrong. Me and James ended up binging the series in the space of 2 or 3 days. We kept wanting to keep on (but obviously due to sleep and work we couldn't) so we looked forward to watching it after work every day. The series was so good and hit on so much more than chess! I loved it so much and was definitely well written as a stand alone series. The characters and character development in it was beautiful and there were so many twists and turns that I didn't expect.

My favourite characters in the series: 

- Alma Wheatley: Alma was such a troubled character in the series but was also honestly one of the best and sweetest characters throughout the show. She concerned me a little bit at the start of the series which you might see why when you watch it. Her growth throughout the series was beautiful and heartbreaking all at the same time.

Matt & Mike: So I'm going to group these two together as they truly are a spectacular pair. I love their characters so much. When you first meet them they come across as super cocky but they're probably my 2 favourite characters within the series.

- D.L. Townes: Townes is honestly such a lovely character and I can't tell you too much about him without spoiling at least some of the series but I love him and his character development so much.

My least favourite character in the series:

- Benny Watts: Okay, I say he's my least favourite character in the series but honestly it's only because I have such a love hate thought process with him. Benny is a really good character in some ways but in others he really is not.

- Harry Beltik: There's not much I like about Harry's character. He tries, but that's all I'm going to say on the matter.

Once again, this series is really well written! Even if you don't like chess, definitely watch "The Queen's Gambit"! 

What did you think of this series? Who were your favourite and least favourite characters? Do you have any movies, series, podcasts or books you'd recommend for me to watch/listen to/read or would like me to do a short AF review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

As always, have a wonderful day.

Love, Lyndsay

xo

Animal Crossing Mondays

 Hey guys, so this is my weekly blog post where I give away all the DIYs & Items I have spare for the week! A usual this is a first come first serve basis and if it's not been collected by Sunday evening at 9PM GMT they all go to Timmy and Tommy. If you see anything you want on this list please message me on my animal crossing twitter @AstibasCrossing and i will send you a message with my dodo code so you can come and collect what you want! Here's a list of what I have available:

Recipes

- Cherry speakers
- Gold-screen wall
- Mountain standee
- Pansy table
- Natural garden table
- Wooden table
- Golden wall
- Oil-barrel bathtub
- Wooden-plank sign
-Armor shoes
- Shell fountain

Items

- Pull-up-bar stand (Blue)
- Modern office chair (Blue)
- Judge's bell
- Gas range (Silver)
- Punching bag (Red)
- Box sofa (Turquoise)
- Board game (Simple path game)
- Wall-mounted tool board (White)
- Kitty litter box (White)
- Fragrance sticks (Green)
- Light switch (Gray)

And that is everything I have to give away this week! I post these weekly so if you want to keep an eye out for this blog post and be the first to know give me a follow on twitter and bloglovin'! Once again, all of these will be gone at the end of the week. So if you want anything please feel free to let me know!

Who is your favourite villager on Animal Crossing? What is that one item you're absolutely in love with and trying to find? What do you do with your leftover items? Please let me know down in the comments below!

As always, have a wonderful day! 

Love, Lyndsay

xo

Pop Culture Products | Makeup revolution x Disney Nightmare Before Christmas

 Hey guys so I thought I'd start a new segment on my blog called "Pop Culture Products" in which I'll be buying products based on movies/tv series/books etc and reviewing them! I am very new to this type of review (I have tried to before but definitely was not my best work so hopefully this goes okay!). Today I'm going to be reviewing the Makeup Revolution x Disney Nightmare Before Christmas Collection. Please note, I did not get the whole collection due to reasons I will mention down below. So let's just jump straight into it.

This whole collection includes two 36 pan eye shadow palettes, 4 lipglosses, 2 highlighters, and 1 brush set. I personally only bought myself the eyeshadow palettes and lipglosses because I've only recently just purchased a new brush set from skinny dip in TK Max and both of the highlighters seem to be gold based on the website and because I'm really fair gold base highlighters do not suit my skin tone (They end up being very obviously too dark for me).

Top Palette: Makeup Revolution Nightmare Before Christmas Palette Sally | Price £15.00

So as you can see this first palette is full of more warm and neutral tones. What doesn't quite show on photo is the Shimmer shades in this palette. I love the colours and can definitely see me using this as more of a daily palette especially if I just want to feel a bit more glam that I usually look. The shades within the palette are beautiful and I love that they all have ghostly names such as "Play Dead" and "Trick or treat". The palette is really pigmented for the price of the shadows and I do not think £15 for 36 shades is expensive at all.

Bottom Palette: Makeup Revolution Nightmare Before Christmas Palette Jack | Price £15.00

This palette like the first one does have quite a few neutral tones in it still, but unlike the first one is more cool toned as well as having a few bright shades within the palette. This one will definitely more likely be used for cosplay makeup for me (or even day to day depending on how I'm feeling, sometimes I like to be bright!) Once again, I love the ghostly names an the nods to the movie in this one such as "Sandy Claws" and "Pumpkin Song". Once again the palette is really pigmented for the price of the shadows and £15 is still a really good deal.

(The lipglosses I'm listing are from left to right)

Makeup Revolution Nightmare Before Christmas Lip Gloss Sally | £5.00

So this lipgloss is a really cute pink shimmery lip gloss which could be worn on it's own or as a lip topper. I really love the shade on my skin tone and will definitely be using this a lot. It's not sticky which is a plus for me (As i'm not a big fan of sticky lipglosses) and smells really good. £5.00 is about £1-£2 more than I'd usually spend on a lip gloss, but to have it in my collection I didn't mind paying the extra for it being nightmare before christmas themed.

Makeup Revolution Nightmare Before Christmas Lip Gloss Zero | £5.00

So for me it's not very easy to see what kind of lipgloss this was on the photo so I didn't know if when it was going to come if it was going to be a shimmer lipgloss (like the others) or just clear. It is just a clear lipgloss. Once again will get a lot of daily use. The lipgloss is very moisturising and smells really nice.

Makeup Revolution Nightmare Before Christmas Lip Gloss Oogie Boogie | £5.00

So this is the only lip gloss I'm not to keen on out of the collection and it's not even makeup revolutions fault. As I said early the reason I didn't get the highlighters is because gold is just too dark on my skin tone and because this is very gold toned this just doesn't suit my skin tone. Definitely something to keep in mind if you're paler like me! But not to worry as my best friend is having it instead as it will suit her.

Makeup Revolution Nightmare Before Christmas Lip Gloss Jack | £5.00

When this Lip gloss came I was worried it was going to be the same situation as the previous lip gloss with it looking gold in the tube. However when on the skin this is more of a rose gold colour which I can get away with, especially if using it as a lip topper. I do like they've brought out different shades which will compliment most people's skin tones however! This gloss is really pretty and definitely will be using it a lot.

And that is everything I got from the Makeup Revolution x Disney Nightmare Before Christmas collection. Other than the one lipgloss, I really loved everything I got and I'm happy I spent the money to get it. I definitely think they have something for everyone and it's really nice to see that in a brand. I've bought from makeup revolution before (like 90 percent of my palettes are from there) so it was cool to see a brand I already love releasing products like this. If you see anything you like in this collection I'd definitely recommend getting it!

What is your favourite item in the collection? Have you tried out the highlighters, what are they like? Are there any other products you guys would like me to review? Please let me know down in the comments below!

As always, have a wonderful day.

Love, Lyndsay

xo

Short AF Movie Review | Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

 

Hey guys, so today I'm going to be doing a review on the movie "Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children". As usual this review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the IMDB synopsis in this and sometimes they can contain spoilers, however 9/10 times they don't. It's just something to keep in mind if you're planning on watching the movie.)

"When Jacob (Asa Butterfield) discovers clues to a mystery that stretches across time, he finds Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. But the danger deepens after he gets to know the residents and learns about their special powers."

So the reason I wanted to watch this movie is because I've been interested in reading the book for the longest time and I'm usually a book before movie kind of girl. However, me, James and our friend Stephen (keep in mind this was before lockdown started) decided we was going to have a movie night and watch it. This movie is truly magical and but is also relatively dark. It somewhat brings me that same feeling of nostalgia I get when watching movies such as The Labyrinth. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and it has finally got me round to at least starting the book (even if I am reading it very slowly).

My favourite characters in the movie:

- Emma Bloom: Emma's character is honestly so lovely. I adore her character so much and she honestly just makes me really happy. Every time I saw her in the movie I just wanted to know more and more about her and the movie definitely gave us the chance to learn more about her

- Barron: Okay, so I promise Barron isn't my favourite character just because Samuel L. Jackson plays him, but it sure helps. I loved how creepy and eerie his character was and he plays the perfect villain

My least favourite characters in the movie:

- Miss Peregrine: So hear me out on this one, I appreciate that she's a good character and that she's one of the main plot points in the movie, however there just seemed to be something off about her character, and I wasn't the only one who thought so (Stephen and James agreed too). With this being the only movie out of the book series we didn't really get to find out if that was true or not which is another reason I've started reading the books so I can find out.

- Frank: Can I just say Frank is the most useless dad in the world. I mean he really does try and I love Chris O'Dowd. Just watch the movie and you'll see what I mean!

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and I hope that they end up making movies of the other books as well! I also hope the book brings me as much joy as the movie did!

What did you think of this movie? Who were your favourite and least favourite characters? Do you have any movies, series, podcasts or books you'd recommend for me to watch/listen to/read or want me to do a short AF review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

As always, have a wonderful day.

Love, Lyndsay

xo

Short AF Series Review | The Haunting Of Bly Manor

Hey guys, so today I'm going to be doing a review on the series "The Haunting of Bly Manor". As usual this review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the IMDB synopsis in this and sometimes they can contain spoilers, however 9/10 times they don't. It's just something to keep in mind if you're planning on watching the series.)

 

"After an au pair's tragic death, Henry hires a young American nanny to care for his orphaned niece and nephew who reside at Bly Manor with the chef Owen, groundskeeper Jamie and housekeeper, Mrs. Grose."

So, believe it or not, the reason I wanted to watch this was due to two of my favourite cosplayer tiktokers did some really good cosplays of Dani and Jamie. I didn't know much about the series other than it was a horror, and as much as it is, there is so much more to this tv series. The series is so beautifully written and broke my heart more than once. The character development within the series is wonderful and happens so naturally. I cried so many times when watching this series so definitely have some tissues when watching it. What I really appreciated about this series is that there's only one jump scare throughout. I'm not the biggest fan of movies/series with loads of jump scares in because 1: they always get me, and 2: I just feel like it's a cheap gimmick. I prefer horrors that make me think and this is definitely one of them.

My favourite characters in the series:

- Jamie: Jamie honestly just makes my heart melt. She mostly always seems to be in a good mood and she always tries to do what's best by everyone. She's such a soothing character in the weirdest way, and I love her so much for it.

- Owen: Okay so I love Rahul Kohli as it is so to see him in this was so good! I laughed so much when he was on screen with all the puns.

- Mrs. Grose: I wasn't too sure on her when I first started, but she (for me) definitely had the most character development throughout the series (and yes, that includes Dani)

My least favourite characters in the series:

- Peter: I just hate him, but he's definitely written to be hated. I honestly started the series thinking he couldn't get any worse, and boy was I wrong. 

- Henry Wingrave: I apparently don't like selfish characters much, because this is the third review I'm calling a character selfish in a row. I can't say much without giving any spoilers. He does end up having some redeeming qualities, but too little too late in my eyes.

Once again, this series is so beautifully written and I definitely would recommend it to anyone (even if you're not the biggest fan of horrors like me, trust me it's worth it for the story).

What did you think of this series? Who were your favourite and least favourite characters? Do you have any movies, series, podcasts or books you'd recommend for me to watch/listen to/read or want me to do a short AF review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

As always, have a wonderful day.

Love, Lyndsay

xo

Animal Crossing Mondays

Hey guys, so this is going to be my weekly blog post where I give away all the DIYs & Items i have spare for the week! I used to do this but with fossils as well, but no one ever seems to come for the fossils so we've took them out. This is a first come first serve basis and if it's not been collected by Sunday evening at 9PM GMT they all go to Timmy and Tommy. I used to have so much fun writing these because they can be nice and easy blog posts to do. If you see anything you want on this list please message me on my animal crossing twitter @AstibasCrossing and I will send you a message with my dodo code so you can come and collect what you want! Here's a list of what I have available:

Recipes

- Juicy - apple TV
- Log stakes
- Maple - leaf pond stone
- Bamboo flooring
- Log extra - long sofa
- Windflower fan
- Oil-barrel bathtub
- Wooden - block stool
- Floral swag
- Signpost
- Wooden - block bed
- Cardboard bed
- Chocolate herringbone wall

Items

- Cardboard box (Plain)
- Unfinished puzzle
- Folding chair (Blue)
- Tea set (Green)
- Mantis - head model
- Diner chair (Red)
- Drying rack (White)
- Fragrance sticks (Green)
- Cone (Red)
- Rattan towel basket (Brown)
- School desk (Natural & Silver)
- Tankless toilet (White)
- Bottled ship (Trading ship)
- Bunk bed (Silver)
- Rock guitar (Sunburst)

And that is everything I have to give away this week! I post these weekly so if you want to keep an out for this blog post and be the first to know, give me a follow on twitter and bloglovin'! Once again, all of these will be gone at the end of the week. So if you do want anything please feel free to let me know!

Who is your favourite villager on Animal Crossing? What is that one item you're absolutely in love with and trying to find? What do you do with your leftover items? Please let me know down in the comments below!

As always have a wonderful day!

Love, Lyndsay

xo