The Monuments Men - Review

 This week I headed to the cinema on a rare outing with the family.  It's nice to be able to hang out with them all and have everyone together once in a while (despite the fact we all live in the same house there never seems to be more than 2 of us in at a time!).

Anyway, we headed off on our little excursion to see The Monuments Men, a film I knew nothing about and wasn't overly enthused to be going to see.  More fool me, because the film was amazing!  There are few films out there that really strike a chord with me, but boy this one really hit me.

The Monuments Men were a team of Professors, Art Collectors and Art Specialists who were tasked to find the art stolen from Museums and Collectors across Europe by Hitler during the Second World War.  Hitler planned to build and fill the Fuhrermuseum with all the great works, and burn or destroy anything that he disliked.

The Monuments Men were determined to preserve the artworks and ensure that they remained for future generations to admire, enjoy and study.  Amongst the serious undertone of the film it's also a hilarious watch, taking you on a roller coaster of emotions.

Something about the combination of the horrors of war, the beauty of art and the passion of those willing to risk their lives so that future generations might know something of their past makes this film a must see.

About Time ~ Review

About Time

Once in a while a film comes along that makes you smile, laugh, cry and warms your heart, sometimes all at the same time.  The rare gems are films to be treasured, watched over and over and enjoyed more each time.

'About Time' was definitely one of those films.  The film was written and directed by Richard Curtis who also wrote 'Love Actually' and 'Notting Hill', and 'About Time' is definitely written and shot in a similar style.  But I think most of the comparisons are drawn purely from the fact the film is British, set in London, features Bill Nighy and has the feel-good-factor of a good rom-com.

If you haven't seen the trailer the film centres around a Tim, who finds out when he turns 21 that the men in his family can travel in time and are able to go back and change what they have done in the past.  Cue re-done dates, fixed family problems and several hitches along the way.

This film really touched my heart and made me think about the way I perceive the world around me, without making it overtly obvious.  Both me and the boyfriend came out of the cinema with smiles on our faces and a warm, fuzzy feeling (I also managed to have half my make-up down my face but less said about that the better!)

If you have a few hours to spare this week I would highly recommend you take yourself down to the cinema and see this film, it will make your week!

Let me know what you thought of the film bellow, did you love it as much as I did?

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The New Forest

This week I had a lovely couple of days away with the boyfriend as a mini holiday.  With both of us having limited funds for a holiday this year we decided to see what was on offer on deal websites and book us a bargain!

I found a great deal with Red Letter Days for a two night stay at Bartley Lodge in the New Forest, we booked it and off we went!

Bartley Lodge Hotel

The New Forest is such a beautiful place and the hotel sits just on the edge of it.  It's quite near to the motorway but  you still felt like you were in the middle of nowhere, bliss!

The hotel was lovely and looked like an old house, the rooms were a little old fashioned (and for some strange reason our double bed had two single mattresses of different heights on it instead of one double one) but it was really comfortable and a lovely place to stay.

Casually up a tree

We went for walks through the forest, had gorgeous breakfasts and dinners and explored the little villages around the area.  It really is such a lovely part of the country to visit, I've loved it ever since we went camping as a family when I was small and was amazed by all the horses just roaming free.

On the journey home we also stopped off in Southampton for some lunch and bit of a look around.  It seemed a really nice place and had some good shopping too!  I especially loved the Go Rhinos exhibition, 40 individually designed and decorated rhinos scattered across the city, I made it my mission to see as many as possible but my favorite had to be the mirrored one.  It just looked so unique and you really got a sense of the rhino's skin through such an unexpected medium.

Mirrored Rhino, Dental Rhino & Flower Power Rhino - some of my faves

I wish we could have stayed longer, partly for the pool and sauna, but also for the peace and relaxed atmosphere.  Living in London it's nice to be able to take a few days away from all the noise and people and breathe some clean air.

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Lee Stafford ~ Hair Growth Review

Over the last year or so I've had real fun experimenting with my hair, I think I've now been every colour of the rainbow, and I've loved it!  However...this has come with some consequences, mostly that my hair turned dry and brittle and then started to break off near to the root.  This left me with an interesting (to say the least!) hair style of very short layers on top and longer hair underneath, kinda like a mullet...it wasn't a good look!

For the last six months I've been trying out the Lee Stafford hair growth range to see if it could make any difference to my poor hair.  The set is made up of a shampoo, conditioner and a hair mask which are 'a protein based complex to fertilize your follicles, creating a healthy environment on the scalp to help hair grow faster and reach its maximum potential length.'  

The system is supposed to increase the blood flow to your scalp making the hair grow faster as well as conditioning it to stop split ends etc. breaking off the hair from the tip.

Lee Stafford Hair Growth System

In terms of price these products definitely aren't cheap, £6.99 each for the shampoo and conditioner and £7.99 for the mask and they're all only 200 ml per container (pricey!).  I managed to get my set on a 3 for 2 offer at Boots so keep an eye out for a deal!

 After trying them out I'm not so sure I agree with the claims they make on the bottles.  I haven't seen my hair grow any faster at all.  My roots seem to grow back in at the same speed as they always have, and my hair is still shoulder length.  I wasn't expecting to hop out of the shower with waist length hair after one use but I thought it might have grown a little more than usual with all this 'Pro-Growth complex'.

However, the label also says it will give your hair 'strength from within' and in that respect it hasn't all been a waste of time and money.  

As I said before my hair was in awful condition.  If you've ever over bleached your hair you'll understand what I mean when I say it was like chewing gum.  It was brittle when dry, snapping off every time I even looked at a hair brush, and stretched a mile whenever it got wet before snapping off again, so not a good look!

Since I've been using the Lee Stafford set my hair is in much better condition.  The hair mask in particular has made a huge difference to the feel and strength of my hair and the days I washed my hair with out using it you could definitely tell the difference. I think the gentleness of the shampoo and conditioner, coupled with the deep conditioning, has also really helped.  My hair is no longer breaking off and those short little layers are starting to look like they're part of a style (thank god!)

I doubt I'll be purchasing these again, unless I go on another hair colouring spree, but I have enjoyed my little bit of luxury while it's lasted.  I'd say if you're looking for products to help your hair grow then don't waste your money, but if you've given your hair a bit of a hard time recently and are in need of some drastic help I'd give these a try.

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