Underrated TV Series Worth Checking Out.

For me, it's easy to list TV shows into six different categories... I'll get round to the TV shows I recommend at the end!

1. The shows that have ended that I can happily rewatch again and again.

That '70s Show, Veronica Mars, The OC, Buffy, Gavin & Stacey... All pretty well known, the shows in this category all ended several years yet keep their appeal even when rewatching for the umpteenth time!

2. The shows that lost my interest or I've just fallen behind on.
You know what shows I mean, the ones you love when they first start but your interest in it wanes a couple of seasons in so you just stop watching it altogether. Charmed, True Blood, Supernatural and The Originals fit this description for me.
Then there's the ones that you don't watch as regularly because you've discovered newer shows and more & more new episodes keep coming out, you keep telling yourself that you'll catch up at some point... That 'some point' still hasn't materialized yet. Once Upon a Time, The Vampire Diaries, New girl... I'm looking at you. I promise I will get round to watching you!

3. The shows everyone else loves... I just don't. Sorry, not Sorry.
Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, The Walking dead. Everyone raves about them, I've watched a couple of episodes of each with my boyfriend as he loves these shows but they're just not for me.

4. TV shows where the hype is real!
The ones everyone loves that you end up loving too...
Orange Is The New Black, I clearly won't be doing anything but watch this when season 4 hits Netflix this summer. Girls, Season 5 just finished and next season is going to be the last one... I'm so sad about this. Making A Murderer. Oh god, where do I even start with this? Everyone has their own opinions and theories after finishing Making A Murderer, I think it's the most gripping docuseries I've ever seen!

5. TV Shows that ended too soon.
These shows are a quick watch as they all got cancelled after one season, something I am still not too pleased about as I loved all three of these shows.

Life As We Know It
Remember The Osbournes episode where Kelly auditions for a teen drama and got the part? Well, this was that show! I caught a few episodes of this on Living (Is that channel even around anymore?!) back in 2005 after it had already been cancelled in the US. I bought it on DVD from America so I could watch all of it and it's definitely worth a watch. It hasn't been released on Region 2 DVD but you can buy the american import from Amazon here. Alternatively, there's a playlist with every single episode on Youtube here.

Enlisted
This sitcom was never aired in the UK which is a shame as it would have fit right in on E4's lineup. Despite critical acclaim, Fox cancelled Enlisted two thirds into the season before finally airing the last episodes. I'd go so far as to put Enlisted in my top 5 sitcoms, it's a show I'll definitely rewatch. You can buy the american import on DVD from Amazon here but I'd recommend watching it online instead. The show centers on the Hill brothers, part of Rear D in the US army, and the rest of their unit. If you do watch it online, a quick google search should tell you what order to watch the episodes in as FOX didn't actually show them in the right order! This probably didn't help the ratings, which was a factor in the show's cancellation. There's only 13 episodes at 20 minutes each so this is a quick watch but definitely worth it.

The Secret Circle
I only watched this for the first time in 2014, by which time it had already been cancelled for 2 years. This show has had so many petitions to try and bring it back, I'll hold my hands up and admit that I've signed one! The expensive special effects were listed as the reason for the cancellation, which is sad as the show pulled in good ratings. The show revolves around Cassie Blake after she moves to Chance Harbor. She finds out that she's a witch and completes the circle formed by her new friends.
This hasn't ever been released on DVD so watching online is pretty much your only option when it comes to this. Also be prepared to feel bitter about the cancellation after finishing the season as the finale is pretty open ended. I mean, I finished it ages ago and I'm still bitter. This is the kind of show that makes me think that maybe in 10 years, when I've settled down and got kids, I'll just randomly think 'If it had been renewed for a second season, what would have happened with Cassie & adam?'
Well, I'll never know! I couldn't even get answers from the book series it's based on because they're so different. While we're on that though, the book series is worth a read too!

6. Current Underrated TV Shows
The shows I love that are currently airing and I manage to keep up to date with.

iZombie
Not currently shown on any UK channels, I have to use the Hola plugin on my browser to watch this on the CW website. I first started watching this because it's created by Rob Thomas, who also made Veronica Mars. It's similar in the sense that there's a different murder case every episode while running alongside a season long storyline arc. I've just finished season 2 and I think the season finale might be one of the best I've ever seen. Here's hoping this finds a home on a UK broadcaster soon!

Faking It
An MTV originals series, this focuses on best friends Amy and Karma after they're mistaken for a lesbian couple and decide to go along with it in order to become popular. Amy realises she might not be faking it after all as she finds herself falling for Karma. I believe this is shown on MTV UK but I just watch this on the american MTV website, again using the hola plugin. The show is currently on it's third season but the episodes are only 20 minutes each, meaning it's very easy to fall into binge watch mode!

Teen Wolf
Ahhh, my Favourite! I'm so excited for season six!
I feel like Teen Wolf is very underrated, especially in the UK. The first two seasons were aired on sky Living and then released on DVD but the seasons after were not. But, good news, it was picked up by 5* and they're currently showing seasons 1 & 2 again. There's no word on if they'll show seasons 3 and onwards though.
No surprise that this show is based on the 80s film of the same name. Each season has a different villain, except seasons 3 &5, which are longer seasons and feature two main villains.
I started watching Teen wolf when I saw a tumblr post comparing Stiles Stilinski to Seth Cohen... My interest was piqued! The main cast has gone through some changes over the last five seasons but Scott, Stiles and Lydia are still going strong. They're pretty much Teen Wolf's Harry, Ron and Hermione!

I can't mention Teen Wolf without mention my ultimate OTP of Stiles & Lydia can I?! I've spent five seasons waiting for these two to get it together... and I'm still waiting! Rumour has it season 6 has a bright future for me and my fellow Stydia shippers!


So there we have it. Some of my favourite TV shows that I don't think get enough loving! Will you be checking any of these out?

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Cohorted box, April 2016.

As you may remember from last month's post, I was a bit underwhelmed with Cohorted's March box. Then they revealed the sneak peak for April, a sneak peak that definitely excited me. I had high hopes for April's box, I really did. When I got it, the top wasn't even flat, it seemed to be that full.

Oh yes, this is going to be a great box, I thought. Then I opened it. Underwhelmed doesn't even cover it. I cancelled my subscription after getting this box, obviously I'll still be getting May's box as I've already paid for that. Instead I've hopped onto the Look Incredible band wagon, who are definitely doing a better job with their boxes than cohorted right now. They currently offer two different boxes; a standard one at £18.99 + £2.50 postage and a deluxe box which is the same price as the cohorted box. I'll just mention that their deluxe box this month included products by The Balm, Estee Lauder, Benefit and Bare Minerals. Just keep those brands in mind and compare them to the brands that were included in this month's cohorted box...

Gold Elements Nail Care Kit. Includes hand & nail cream, cuticle oil, nail file and a buffing block. (RRP £29.49)
This seems to be the reason why the box was so full. 4 products in 1! However, this is something I'm not excited about at all. It just makes me think of a gift set I'd get at christmas, never use and eventually end up giving away. I'll be passing this onto my mum who will definitely get some use out of this. Gold Elements is a brand I've never heard of, I think it's an american brand? Cohorted have listed this with an RRP of almost £30, but you can get this on amazon for £20.

Miss Patisserie Bath Melt in Milk & Honey (RRP £3.99)
This is a nice product with a beautiful scent. Even the packaging is pretty. They'd made nice little presents too. But cohorted advertise themselves as a luxury box and this product is something I would expect to see in Birchbox or Glossybox, not a box with a £35 pricetag! Still, this is something I will use and maybe look into Miss Patisserie more to see what other products they do.

The Body Shop White Musk Libertine EDT Perfume 100ml (RRP £24)
Soooo... The Body Shop? I'm not sure how Cohorted can class the Body Shop as a high end brand. The booklet included in the box says this should be 100ml, yet everyone got a 60ml bottle. Great job. It's a nice scent, I've already worn it a lot in the week since receiving the box, but I'll just repeat my issues with this product. It's a high street brand and it's the wrong size.

MDM Flow Lipstick in Panther (RRP £18)
This is a new brand cohorted are apparently and there's a code inside the booklet (mdm10) which you can use to get 10% off all MDM Flow lipsticks on the cohorted website. Again, this is a product that doesn't match the booklet. The Booklet talks about a shade called Milkshake yet it seems every subscriber received this pink shade. I actually prefer this shade to the one in the booklet, but this is just another example of products being different to the description in the booklet. This is an issue Cohorted really need to sort out. I'm not keen on the rose scent of this.

L-R: MDM Flow Panther, MAC Clever.

MAC Patent Polish Lip Pencil in Clever (RRP £17.50)
This was the sneak peak for the box that gave me such high hopes. This is without a doubt the best product in the box, it's no wonder they used it as the sneak peak! It has that iconic MAC vanilla scent and it's a perfect nude colour. I've worn it a couple of time so far and I already love it.

So that's it, one cancelled subscription. I've only had four boxes, yet there has been different issues with each one. January's box was late and was missing the booklet. February's box had the Pixi combo crayon missing. March had repeat products that Cohorted had included in a box towards the end of last year. And this month the products didn't match the description. I know other people have cancelled their subscription too this month after also being unimpressed with this box. It seems like Cohorted started off so well yet they couldn't seem to keep up with the standard they'd originally set.

Have you had this month's cohorted box? What did you think?

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TK Maxx beauty haul.

During my visit to Liverpool, I made sure to check out the beauty section of TK Maxx. The selection of products was better than any I'd seen at my local TK Maxx, which is probably why I left with my purse £65 emptier.

So, seeing as I managed to pick up eight products in total, I thought I'd show you what I managed to get!

Nip + Fab Hyaluronic Fix Body Gel (RRP £7.99, paid £3.99)

This body gel is formulated with hyaluronic acid for intensive hydration, something I'm not going to say no. I can get quite dry skin at times so I'm looking forwards to giving this a try. I'm not crazy on the scent but if it works and gives me softer skin, it is something I'll be able to look past.

Bliss Fabulips Softening Lip Balm (RRP £12.50, paid £3.99)
So, as well as dry skin, my lips also suffer from dryness. The other lip balms I have don't do a great job so I decided to get this. I've been using it since I bought it and can honestly say that this is the best lip balm I've ever used.

The Balm Voyage vol. 2 palette (RRP £36, paid £16.99)

So, recently I've been looking at maybe subscribing to Look Incredible's deluxe box but I've decided to wait and see how consistent the quality of the boxes are. They seem great so far, and this palette that I picked up at TK Maxx is also a product in this month's deluxe box. So I'm glad I hadn't subscribed. Maybe next month? We'll see. I'm going to hold out to see what May's box is like.

Anyway, this palette... Isn't it stunning?! You get 9 eyeshadows, a luminizer, a bronzer, 2 blushers and 2 lip & cheek stains. The fold down bit on the bottom even gives 4 combinations of the best looks. And as always with The Balm, the packaging is adorable.

Cargo California Throwback 3-in-1 Magnetic Palette (paid £4.99)
This bargain was only £4.99. I can't seem to find any info on this palette or the RRP so I'm assuming it wasn't around long before being discontinued? Who knows! But for less than a fiver, I'm not complaining! The palette itself contains 4 magnetic parts, which are designed to look like polaroids. Cute! You get 4 eyeshadows, 1 blusher, 1 swimmables bronzer and 4 lip glosses. Definitely worth the money.

Lancome Hypnose Star Waterproof Mascara (RRP £23.50, paid £16.99)
When it comes to makeup, I've never been much of a mascara girl. I used it and tried different brands, but apart from making them look blacker, I never felt like I could see much difference. But in the last month or so, I've definitely branched out with the mascara I've been using. I bought the Maybelline The Falsies Push Up Drama and I LOVE it, so I'd thought I'd try out some more mascaras and really get out of my comfort zone! I've only worn this Lancome mascara once so far but I really like the effect it had on my lashes.

Cargo Better Than Waterproof Mascara (RRP £14, paid £4.99)
The box claims that this doesn't melt, smudge or run but can be removed easily with warm water and gentle pressure. I haven't tried it yet so we'll see. Reviews online seemed to be quite mixed with this mascara but I'm going to give it a go and see how I like it.

Cargo Oil Free Foundation in 10 (RRP £22, paid £3.99)
Yep, another Cargo product!
"This lightweight, oil-free yet ultra hydrating foundation blends beautifully to a silky finish. The versatile formula is buildable for medium to full coverage."
I picked this up in the lightest shade and I'm excited to try it out. Reviews online seem good so fingers crossed I get on well with this, especially for £3.99! I'm not thrilled with the packaging... For a high end brand, it seems a little... cheap. But it will be handy for putting in a travel make up bag.

Elizabeth Arden Pure Finish Cool Radiance Highlighter in 01 First Mate (RRP £25, paid £9.99)
I've definitely been getting into highlighters a lot more recently so didn't hesitate to grab this when I saw it... The nautical themed packaging may have swayed me towards getting it too! It's very shimmery and has quite a few big chunks of glitter in it, so honestly, I'm not too sure how well I'm going to like this when I get round to trying it. This may have to be saved for nights out, when I don't want my highlight to be quite so subtle.

So that's what I got from TK Maxx. What do you think of these products? Have you tried any of these?

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A very Titanic themed city break in Liverpool.

At the start of April, the other half and I took a little trip to Liverpool for a city break. We stayed in the Titanic Hotel which is located next to Stanley Dock. I always have the job of picking where we stay, being as I'm a "massive hotel snob." His words, not mine!

Originally I'd looked at 30 James Street, which declares itself as the home of Titanic. And yes, this post is going to mention Titanic a lot! It's something I'm fascinated by and I have a permanent reminder of it on my arm. Anyway, 30 James street is a new-ish hotel which actually resides in the old White Star Line building, something that made me very excited about staying there. Unfortunately there were no rooms available on the dates we wanted, so we instead opted for the Titanic Hotel.

My favourite thing about the hotel were all the canvas prints throughout that were dedicated to Titanic and the White Star Line. This deck plan one particularly pleased me and I spent a good while looking at all the details.

The hotel also has a spa, located below the ground floor. The spa was something we didn't get round to but is open to guests and the public to use. We did however, make use of the bath in our room. We popped into Lush on one of our days there to pick up a bath bomb specially.

The hotel has it's own restaurant, Stanley's Bar & Grill, as well as The Rum Bar. The Rum Bar also serves food and specializes in, what do you know, rum. Afternoon tea is also available. We went out to eat in the evenings, making the most of visiting a couple of chain restaurants that we don't have at home, like Jamie's Italian and Red's True Barbecue. We had room service on our last night there and if the quality of that is anything to go by, then the hotel restaurant would definitely be worth a visit.

The Merseyside Maritime Museum was a must visit on our break, having a whole area dedicated to Titanic. Entrance to the museum is free, with an option to donate money towards the museum itself. The museum was my favourite part of the trip and it has made me look forward to our Belfast trip next year even more.

I was mesmerised by the items that were found in the debris field of the Titanic wreck. To think that these items were on the actual ship and went down with her as she sank, it felt a little haunting being just on the other side of the glass from them.

I would definitely recommend looking into staying at the Titanic hotel if you're planning a visit to Liverpool, it's one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in. You can click here to find out more information about the hotel and spa.

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Liebster Awards.

Thank you to Aimee from Littlemisspiggybeautyx for nominating me. It's taken me a while to get round to this!

Liebster Rules

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.

2. Copy and Paste the Liebster Award badge to your post.

3. Nominate 10 new bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

4. Answer the 10 questions the person who nominated you asked you.

5. Create 10 new questions to ask the bloggers you nominate.

6. Notify the bloggers you have nominated by leaving them a comment on their blog.

My questions to answer

1. Why did you start blogging?Blogs are such a great place to find out about new products, TV shows, books and I had certain blogs I liked reading so I thought I'd give it a go myself.

2. What is your favourite post on your blog? And someone else's?
I think my favourite on my own blog is probably the one I did last month about Book series I've loving. Both of the series that I included aren't too well known and I'd like to think I've helped at least one person discover them. Plus Jessica Grace Coleman, one of the authors, liked the blog post and shared it with her followers.
It's a lot more difficult for me to think of a specific post on someone else's blog. I've discovered so many blogs recently. At the moment, I've been loving WhichBeautyBoxUK's posts on the Look Incredible boxes.

3. What's your favourite blog?
My favourite right now is Beauty By The Bunny.

4. What do you love and loathe most about blogging?
I'm still very new to blogging so at the moment, I don't loathe anything! I love the sense of community though. I'm a very shy person, so I feel like this is a good way to get me out of my shell a bit more.

5. How long have you been blogging?
It's only been about three months so far.

6. If you could meet anyone from the entire world, who would it be?
James Cameron. I have so many documentaries on dives to the Titanic wreck, but I'd love to hear about it in person from him.

7. Which do you prefer most, makeup or fashion?
If I'd been asked this a few years ago, the answer would most definitely be fashion. But now, it's 100% makeup. I'd rather buy high end makeup and stick with clothes from Primark then have to have a smaller makeup budget!

8. What do you love most about the blogging community?
I've not been part of it long, so right now I'd have to say how welcoming everyone is!

9. If you could invent a beauty gadget that doesn't currently exist, what would it be?
This is such a hard question!

... I've been sat here for 15 minutes thinking and I still have nothing.

10. If you had your own fashion/beauty/home interior line, what would you call it?
I like the name BitterSweet for a clothing line. I either like to where dark clothing or pretty dresses so it kind of sums up both moods of my style!

Nominations

1. Shellie Skillen
2. Blended & Beautiful
3. Dat Blog Doe
4. Jemima's World
5. Danielle Bambrook
6. Beautiful Appreciations
7. Riddler's Reviews
8. Lifebeginsmissv
9. Rebeccadianex
10. Pretty Little Things

Nominee's questions

1. When did you start blogging?
2. What are your blogging goals for 2016?
3. What TV shows are you loving at the moment?
4. What makeup brand do you think is underrated?
5. Do you have a set blogging routine?
6. What is your favourite music album right now?
7. What type of blog posts do you enjoy most?
8. What is your all time favourite perfume?
9. What is your favourite blog?
10. What do you wish you'd known before you started blogging?

So, that's that! Thanks for reading and don't forget you can follow me on bloglovin to stay up date on new posts. Bye for now x

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March Empties.

I haven't posted in a while, so this empties post is a bit very late. The reason why being I took a little city break at the start of the month but let's save the details of that for another post, shall we? I'd never really thought about how many products I use up a month and this is only my second empties post but I'm surprised that there's more than two things!

Lush Candy Mountain Bubble Bar & Ladybird Bubble BarI'm gutted to see these used up as they're both from seasonal ranges. Ladybird was my favourite out of the two, I loved the scent of peppermint and it turned my bath a lovely colour. I'm slowly working my way through my basket of Lush goodies as I'm on a self imposed Lush ban until it's looking a little emptier. There will definitely be some more Lush products in my empties for next month too!

Vera Wang Rock Princess Eau De Toilette 100ml
This has been a favourite of mine since it was released back in '09. I've only tried the original and this one out of the Princess range but I will keep buying this again and again. It has top notes of peach, raspberry and bergamot; heart notes of heliotrope, rose, jasmine and lily; and bottom notes of cashmere wood, musk, iris and coconut. (Yes, I had to look it up as I'm useless as describing scents.)

Primark Polka Eau De Toilette 50ml
This little bargain only cost £6 and it smells lovely, with the bottle reminding me of the Marc Jacobs Daisy range. I've read that the actual perfume itself is a pretty good dupe for Paco Rabanne's Lady Million but I've never smelt that myself so can't tell you whether I agree or not! I've still got the £2 rollerball of Polka so I won't be rushing out to buy another bottle just yet.

Diesel Loverdose Eau De Toilette 1.5ml
A bit cheeky of me to include a sample perfume in my empties, right? Oh well.
I received a bottle of this for my birthday about five years ago from one of my friends and got through it pretty quickly. Finding this sample size rolling around my muji drawers reminded me how much I loved it! I'm not even sure where this sample came from but it's given me the push I needed to make me want to buy myself a full size bottle.

Rimmel Stay Matte Primer
Rimmel is my favourite high street make up brand and this little primer has been well loved, which explains why the tube is so dirty. This is a definite repurchase.

Simple Kind To Eyes Eye Make-Up Remover Pads
When it comes to skincare, I love Simple products and I've already got another pack of these ready to go now that this one is empty. I tend to only reach for these when I'm wearing eyeshadow and mascara, instead of just mascara else I'm go through these incredibly quickly. It's a handy little pack for travelling with too.


So, that's it for March. What did you use up last month?
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