Review CDrama: Nirvana in Fire 琅琊榜

In fourth century China, there was war between feudal Northern Wei and Southern Liang dynasties. The Liang commander general, Lin Xie, his 19-year-old son, Lin Shu, and the Chiyan Army defeated hostile Wei forces. However, when the Chiyan were weakened from the battle, they were massacred under the Emperor’s orders. Unknown to the king, the Chiyan were framed by political rivals, who claimed that they were conspiring a rebellion with the then-crown prince, Prince Qi. As a result, Prince Qi and members of the Lin manor were also unjustly executed, with Qi’s mother, Consort Chen, and Lin Shu’s mother, committing suicide. ~ Credit: Wikipedia

First Look: Pinocchino 피노키오 (K-Drama)

SBS’s new Wednesday – Thursday primetime drama is the highly anticipated ‘Pinocchio’ starring ‘Lee Jong Suk & Park Shin Hye’. These two are among South Korea’s hottest young actors and actresses and I’m not just talking about looks.

Drama Review: Love At Second Sight 一見不鍾情 (C-Drama)

I have been waiting for Love at Second Sight 一見不鍾情 since 2011, why? It’s because this is some highly anticipated drama or anything of the sort but for one reason… .Rainie Yang 楊丞琳!! My love for Rainie is just that real!! Hahaha… no I am not some stalker who idolises Rainie, I loveeeeee her everything she touches turns to gold in my eyes, such as I never really did like Show Luo 羅志祥 but since they acted together in Hi My Sweetheart I quite like him hahaha and did want them to still be a couple (apparently they only dated for four months) but except when she dated Prince 王子 I still do not really like him (don’t think he is as good looking everyone makes him out to be), he is not good enough for my Rainie!!. There are certain people or artists in different countries or across the globe that I just like, it doesn’t matter if they are crap at singing or acting I just like them!! Its probably because these people that I like are really nice people in real-life! My sister would say Rainie is my “Taiwanese girlfriend” I also have a girlfriend in Hong Kong, Japan and Korea ^_____________^

First Look: My Secret Hotel (K-drama)

This week tvN, airs its new drama called My Secret Hotel starring Yoo In Na, Jin Yi Han and Nam Goong Min.

tvN is the cable network that brought you dramas such as:  Replay 1997, Replay 1994, Queen In Hyun’s Man, I Need Romance 1,2&3, Dating Agency Cyrano and Flower Boy series just to name a few. In the last year or so tvN has made a name for it self with these dramas. They are different from the dramas from the Big 3 tv networks, you can say they have been trend setting and stepping outside the box. Maybe it is because its a cable channel, that they are able to do more, dare to show and talk about topics generally deemed not suitable or fitting for mainstream TV.

MEMEBox

Just over a month ago I discovered a new beauty box called MEMEBox, what makes it different is that its a beauty boxed with just Korean products. I have previously subscribed to Glossybox andBirch boxin the UK, and have thoroughly enjoyed getting them on a monthly basis but towards the end of 2013 I just decided I wasn’t using the products enough to justify getting them on a monthly basis.

Drama Review: I Need Romance 3

I’m slowly, slowly falling in love…. and I’d like to say well done to k-drama ‘I Need Romance 3′. You have achieved what I think this drama has set out to achieve.

I Need Romance 3 is the third instalment of Korean cable channel tvN’s ‘I Need Romance’ series. Do not be afraid as you do not need to watch the previous two series to be able to watch the third. The only thing that connects all three series is that they all share the name I Need Romance, all three series have their own plots and their own set of cast.

It all started with the popular first series I Need Romance, starring Jo Yeo Jung and Kim Jung Hoon. The series was dubbed the Korean version of Sex and the City. Female best friend who love to chat about their love lives. The series was not afraid to talk about the more physical and intimate aspects of a relationship (hence why it was being marketed as the Korean S&tC). I did watch this first series and did thoroughly enjoy it, but I did find it somewhat predictable and that it drag on or sped through certain parts. I never did watch series two so unfortunately I can’t really comment on it but lets get back to series three!!

So this winter tvN debuted the 16 episode series on 13th January 2014, taking the 21:40pm Monday/Tuesday slot. This series stars actress Kim So Yeon (who many of you may recognise from K-drama Iris) and actor Sung Joon (starred in Can We Get Married? and Shut Up Flower Boy Band) as the leads, second leads are actress Wang Ji Won and actor Nam Goong Min. Rounding off the cast are Park Hyo Joo, Yoon Seung Ah and Park Yoo Hwan who play Kim So Yeon’s character’s colleagues. 

A drama focuses on the lives of employees at a home shopping company and revolves around the competition, friendship and love between friends in their 20s and 30s. This drama will depict how working women in Korea live their lives at work and at home and how they mingle with friends and try to find love.

Taken from Dramawiki

Above is a brief plot summary taken from my favourite drama information site: Dramawiki

It doesn’t really tell you much does it?? So let me elaborate a little (more like waffle on in more detail). Kim So Yeon plays leading lady Shin Joo Yeon who is a team leading for a home shopping channel (whats up with the home shopping channel trend?), she is a woman who has closed the door on her emotions a long time ago (due to bad experiences in relationships). She’s so out of touch that she now no longer knows if she ‘likes’ someone or not.

Sung Joon plays leading man Joo Wan/Allen Wan who is a famous producer/composer who would be coming back to South Korea for a while after living in United States for 17 years (he left when he was nine years old).

So how are the two leads connected? Well Joo Yeon’s mother used to work for Joo Wan’s parents as a maid and that of course includes being a nanny/babysitter for Joo Wan (since he was a tiny baby up till the age he left for American). Being the good daughter that Joo Yeon is, of course she helps out by looking after Joo Wan as well. Let me add that Joo Yeon is six years older that Joo Wan, so this will be a noona-dongsaeng relationship. One of the reasons Joo Wan did go back to South Korea was for Joo Yeon, she is his first love, well you could say he never really forgot her. He only has fond memories of their childhood, that Shing Shing (his nickname for Joo Yeon) was a warm loving noona who taught him a lot. One of the main reasons he got into the music business was because of a memory of Joo Yeon teaching him how to express various emotions on a piano. Joo Yeon didn’t exactly have the same memories as Joo Wan, to her she remembered Joo Wan (who she called Sweet Potato as she said he was ugly as a child and looked like sweet potatoes) as a spoilt rich kid who was a little difficult to handle, add to the fact that her and her mother always had to be careful he never got hurt, sick or even upset him (you know… he has rich parents and they couldn’t afford to lose the job). As fate (and some circumstances) would have it, Joo Wan was to live at Joo Yeon’s place for the period of time he was in South Korea for.

Nam Goong Min plays Kang Tae Yoon who is the director of the home shopping channel Joo Yeon works for, Joo Yeon also calls him her Sunbae because he is her senior at the company and he pretty much trained her. Kang Tae Yoon is also the ex-boyfriend to Wang Ji Won’s Oh Se Ryung, and of course the breakup wasn’t a good one and they still have feelings for each other. Oh Se Ryung is a Top Stylist (*rolls eyes*) and rumour has it that it wasn’t just because of hard work that she got to where is is but because she had some special connections (if you get what I mean, oh and it was because of that she and Tae Yoon broke up). Oh did I mention that Oh Se Ryung was Joo Yeon’s best friend while they were in high school, I said was as they are now worse enemies, cut to the chase Se Ryung stole Joo Yeon’s boyfriend in high school and that experience also may have added to Joo Yeon being so emotionally shut off.

The most random connection is Joo Wan and Oh Se Ryung, they happened to work with each other in the US and have been good friends ever since (the end). LOL

Wow just realised my character summaries are quite long…. SORRY!! ^______^

I’m not going to go into much detail on the plot as I think I’ll leave it to you guys to watch it, but what I will go into is why I like it so much.

From the get go, and by that I mean episode 1, the series had me hooked with its cinematography. It was so beautifully filmed, how they had the flash backs into the childhood and then the present, it was just so beautiful. It just had this whimsical feel to it, a warmth glow. The drama is written pretty well, I like the fact the drama is not rushing to the finishing line but allows the time to convey each characters emotions and their story (even the sub characters).

Another HUGE factor is why I like the drama so much is because of the Original Sound Track, this was also a big factor in making the drama ‘beautiful’. So far only five parts of the OST has been released (expect more to come as the drama is still airing). First is a ballad from singer Lee Hyori called Don’t Cry, man this was unexpected from the Queen that is Lee Hyori, the song is BEAUTIFUL and fits so well into the drama and at the right times. Part two is a song by French group  Peppermoon called Peu A Peu, love that its a French song, its a fun quirky song. Third song is by MBLAQ member G.O called You, this of course is more of a pop song, and it doesn’t insert into the drama as well as the others and that’s probably why it really isn’t used as a insert song (there are so few scenes you can insert it into). Its more like a trailer song, a advertisement song. Fourth song is by Korean group Linus’ Blanket called Late Love, this is is fun song with jazz elements, this song for me is similar to You as in there are not many scenes where you can actually insert it in too. The fifth OST and the latest OST to be out is my favourite of the bunch so far is a song by Korean sing Jo Jung Hee called Now and Forever. I LOVE this song!!! Seriously this song suits the drama so well and so perfectly inserted in to the drama!!! LOVEEEE. The song is in full English, I can’t say its 100% perfect English as it isn’t but its like 95% perfect! Now and Forever is a slow tempo jazz song, its got so much grooooooove, its the kind of song that makes me sway while clicking my fingers to the beat!

I do apologise as my reviews are usually like this…. its not really a review just me rambling one… XD But I leave you with a clip of Jo Jung Hee’s Now and Forever

S.

Review: King Flower 金大花的華麗冒險 aka The Chris/Terry Show

[I say review but its really more of my rambling on…. as usual]

Its been one whole week since King Flower 金大花的華麗冒險 (its proper English name is Substitute Princess but I prefer KF) ended and my Sunday drama nights is now empty…. oh the hole in my heart!!

King Flower was a roller coaster ride that I loved and loathed at the same time but always left wanting more. I’ve expressed on my weibo page how much love I have for King Flower and well namely the character Terry 歐陽泰… He was the perfect character and my golly gosh did Chris Wu 吳慷仁 do a fantastic job, you my man WILL win a Golden Bell Award, it will likely not be for the 2013 awards but you will get one!!

Before my imagination runs off with Terry, lets get back on track, what is KF about? Well briefly its about an ugly country pumpkin getting plastic surgery to look like a CEO’s fiance and in return she got a large sum of money to support of family. From that basic plot its obvious the CEO is our male lead BUT SETTV from the the get go had stated a character called Lin Guan Jun 林冠軍 who is our country pumpkin’s childhood sweetheart is the leading man. But after a while SETTV changed its tune and decided there wasn’t going to be one male lead but two…. our CEO and childhood sweetheart….. whattttt? So how is this going to work out???? Well for starters, KF was a live drama, as in it was only filmed an episode of two ahead of airing, so the plot could change at anytime…..

Here is a bit of a character run down and a bit of info on the actors and actresses:

Nikki Hsieh 謝欣穎 as Jin Da Hua 金大花 (Country pumpkin)/ Du Liang Yan 杜亮妍 (CEO’s fiance)
James Wen 溫昇豪 as Lin Guan Jun 林冠軍
Chris Wu 吳慷仁 as Ouyang Tai 歐陽泰

I haven’t really watched anything with Nikki Hsieh in to really comment on her as an actress but she did impress me with the few episodes I watched of Die Sterntaler where Nikki played a deaf girl. James Wen is TTV/SETTV’s muse, the one when a role needs to be filled they call on James. He has forever been their second male lead and a decent one too but for me his acting needed to be more diverse, maybe it was the roles he played. In 2010 James finally moved from second male lead to leading male, in the highly popular and ratings runner The Fierce Wife 犀利人妻 (my gosh was that drama awesome), where James played douchbag husband of the year 溫瑞凡. Now we have Chris, who was still relatively unknown only being in two small movies before his big break in 2009’s highly popular and ratings runner Autumn’s Concerto 下一站，幸福. Chris played second male lead 花拓也 who was the good guy that never got the girl. My eyes lit up when I was watching Chris in AC, I thought to myself he’ll be an amazing leading man one day and one day soon and he’ll win a Golden Bell one day too. I was amazed by Chris in Zhong Wu Yen 鍾無艷 where he played a blind businessman and showed he can be a little ruthless if needed, yet again he was the guy that didn’t get the girl but the douchbag lead did. Then came along his first leading drama What is Love? 花是愛 and I’ll be honest I only watched it for Chris, the drama itself was pretty pants.

So what made this drama click? When I asked myself why I like KF so much I only really found one reason…. and that was Terry, his character carried the show, my gosh I don’t think I’ve fallen for a character this badly in a long long time. He was the perfectly male specimen so perfect that our leading lady didn’t even deserve him because boy did she play my man around!!! Ok there were other things that clicked and I do have to give some credit to the writers because they wrote Terry to be so fabulous but then again I think if it was another actor playing Terry other then than Chris Wu, maybe I wouldn’t have loved the character as much. But the writers really did write some really good scenes, the scene where Liang Yan died (my heart broke, again hats off to Chris), the kiss in the rain (typical right?), the scene where Dai Hua went to apologise to Liang Yan’s father and others.

So what didn’t do it for me??? Well the writers, yes they did get somethings right but boy did they get a lot wrong. The one thing about a live drama is that the story is never concrete, so when SETTV first said Guan Jun was the lead they really meant it, but because Chris kicked it out the park with his character and everyone fell in love with him the writers had to do a U-turn and make leading lady fall for him… which was kind of abrupt. Leading lady Jin Dai Hua was way too wishy washy, up until the very last episode she was still on the fence on who she liked more!!! Like you were seriously thinking of picking douchbag Guan Jun over Terry!?£%&%”*& But hats off to Nikki for playing the role really well.

I also loathed the emotional ride it took me on, Dai Hua started so determined Guan Jun was for her but Terry was just so nice and affectionate to her that after every moment they shared should would take a step towards him but then Guan Jun would appear and she’ll take three steps towards him!! They were hair pulling moments where you (I) would scream at the screen saying ‘you stupid girl how can you not run at full speed towards Terry’ 

Anyhoo I have enjoyed KF as when I think back I will only remember the awesomeness that was Terry. For now I leave you with this:

GlossyBox: February

Its now my third GlossyBox and my final one as well (remember in my first GlossyBox post I wrote about signing up for a three month subscription), after this box I will tally it up compare and decide weather or not I will sign up for a proper subscription.

So here it is:

The box is a nice pale pink colour…. reminds me of the colour of the September box.

My information card.

The contents!

Products I got this month:

• DUWOP – Venom Gloss: Combining subtle tinted lip gloss with DuWop’s Lip Venom to create Venom Gloss
• DR BRONNER – Lavender Hand Sanitiser: A lavender scented hand sanitiser in a handy spray size perfect to keep in your handbag.
  
• PAUL MITCHELL– Super Skinny Relaxing Balm: Intense hydrating treatment for your hair
• BM BEAUTY – Pure Mineral Eyeshadow: Award winning pure mineral eyeshadow. Cruelty free and suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
• COMO SHAMBHALA – Invigorate Shower Gel: A revitalising blend of essential oils that puts you in a perfectly uplifted mood.

Ok so remember what I said in my last month’s GlossyBox?? How I wasn’t’ that impressed with that month’s box… well this months one I was still a little disappointed. Out of the five products I’ll probably only use two of them (the Paul Mitchell Relaxing Balm and the Dr.Bronner hand sanitiser), if the mineral eyeshadow was a different colour then yes I would have loved it.

I’ve tried the Como shower gel before and I didn’t really like it, it smells like medicine as well….

So after my third GlossyBox will I be subscribing?? I’m still not sure yet as I’ve started a Boudoir Prive (who has joined with French beauty box JolieBox and is now known by that name)  subscription so I’ll be using that to compare…. For all I know I may not even get an on-going subscription in the end.

Glossybox: A Little Box of Goodies

In recent months I’ve heard and read a lot a out various sites/companies doing the monthly ‘Beauty Box’ subscriptions. Let me explain what these Beauty Boxes are: you pay a monthly subscription fee and what you get in return is a box containing five or six cosmetic and skin care samples.  When I say sample, they like to use the term ‘deluxe sample size’, its basically just a little bigger than your normal sample size, I think with certain beauty boxes you do get one or two full sized products, which is pretty good.

So finally I had decided to subscribe a beauty box, but the question was which one do I subscribe to????? There are so many out there!!! Glossybox, Boudoir Prive (Jolie Box), Feelunique.com, Carmine, Latest in Beauty Amarya and many many others!! How are you really suppose to decide which box to subscribe to!!! So I decided to ask the best thing out there, and that was to ASK Google!!! Google led me to various sites, various blogs and various youtube videos about beauty boxes. One video I found useful, was a video by quite a well known guru on youtube, gemsmaquillage. She did a video back in early December called ‘Battle of The Beauty Boxes’, she gives a brief description of the contents of the boxes and who should be getting it (as in what kind of box you are looking for). After much deliberating I had decided to go for not one but TWO beauty boxes, why? because I really couldn’t decide which one to get.

I decided on Boudoir Prive (who has now joined with french beauty box Jolie Box) and Glossybox. I was more leaning towards Boudoir Prive but some part of me was interested in Glossybox too. After viewing both sites numerous times, I found that Glossybox was doing a three month Gift subscription (I think it was just because it was Christmas), so I decided to gift it to myself!!! ^___^ That way I can get a three month trial (without having to unsubscribe) and if I really do like the Glossyboxes maybe I’ll actually do the monthly subscription. I’ll talk more about Boudoir Prive when I get my first box, but I don’t expect until February as when I subscribed it was too late for the January one. So when I first bought the three month subscription for Glossybox, I actually didn’t expect it until February as I did miss the January cut off date for that box…. but then end of December a box came… and it was the December box, I’m not complaining but I didn’t expect December’s box, at least January’s box.

Well here it is:

The beauty box comes in a cardboard box and if I am honest I really thought that it was this kind of box…. but then I opened it:

There was another box in it!!!! A nice sturdy red box!!

When you open the red box, there are two cards, one explains what Glossybox is all about and the other tells you about the products inside the box, I quite like the idea of the card that tells you about the products, gives you a little idea about the products.

Underneath the cards, the products are wrapped in tissue papaer and tied up with a ribbon, pretty nice right?

These are the products I got in my very first Glossybox:

• Blink+Go Hi-Definition Mascara (Full Size)
• Cargo Classic Lip Gloss
• Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle Nail Varnish and Nail Varnish wipe off pads
• Rituals Shower Gel (Full Size)
• Jurlique Purely Age Defying Ultra Firm and Lift Cream

First impressions, not a bad box. Like that I got the mascara instead of the eye-shadow palette, I was also intrigued by the Rituals Shower Gel and the Jurlique cream. The lip gloss and nail varnish not to my taste, as I don’t usual use lip gloss and the nail varnish just isn’t my colour!!!

I will hopefully do some mini reviews of the products, so I can earn some Glossy Dots!! What are Glossy Dot? Well they are basically like points you can earn and once you get 1000 Glossy Dots you get ONE FREE beauty box!! So how can you earn Glossy Dots, well there are two methods: 1) Invite a friend to Glossy Box (200 glossy dots) and 2) Write reviews of the products sent to you (20 glossy dots).

 

 

Mini Review: Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector (BB Cream)

So BB creams have officially made its move into the UK, to be exact on the shelves of Superdrugs (one of the UK’s leading drug stores). Popped into my local Superdrugs, just to look around (as I usually do) and I happened to spot on display Garnier’s new product ‘Miracle Skin Perfector’, Garnier’s answer to BB Cream.

So does it live up to the Asian sensation (I know that was cheesy right)??? Before I give me conclusion lets have a look at some swatches first.

This is the Light shade, the BB cream in true fashion only came in two shades, Light and Medium. Initial thoughts on it were that it didn’t seem too heavy, it was quite light weight which is a good thing. I’m of Chinese ethnic and even I think the Light is a little too dark for me. In the picture it doesn’t look dark but the actual cream is darker, it has more of a yellow base, and you’re thinking why am I complaining (you know being Chinese). Yes my skin is more of a yellow tone than a pink tone but BB Creams oxidizes to fit your own skin colour, which means it will get darker, hence why I would always pick a shade lighter than a shade that truly matches my skin tone. That is only for BB Creams of a yellow base.

The Cream is quite smooth, the above is just the general rubbing of the cream with no blending.

Blended out, as you can see it does blend in quite well and quite easily, there is a slight sheen to it too and some people may like that. Unfortunately I’m too keen on the sheenyness of it, I have combination skin so my t-zone gets oily and that just isn’t good for it!

So after reading my initial thoughts, you’ll think I have a good impression of it right? I’d probably buy it right?? Well if that was the kind of answer you were looking for then I’m sorry as its actually not my answer.

I’m afraid I won’t be adding this Garnier product to my collection of BB Creams, why? Well its simple, I don’t like the shades it offers, its too dark for me and it has a really strong perfume like fragrance to it. Yes I have a few BB Creams that smell sooo too but this was just too much for me. Yes the cream was smooth and blend-able but there was a certain thick feeling to it that I didn’t like… a bit too much like thick cream maybe??

Will BB Creams really take off in the West?? I’m not sure, foundation and tinted moisturisers are too much of a big hit, plus if future brands release BB Creams with similar shades, won’t it be too dark for (should I say it?) Caucasians? If I found Garniers Light too dark then what will it look like on Caucasians?? Like tinted moisturisers thats what, or even worse a alternative tanning cream…. It just too dark! Did they create these shades with the tanned skinned in mind?? Well BB Creams are not for that purpose.

The main factor that made me tip over the fence to the ‘no buy’ side is the price £9.99 ARE YOU KIDDDING ME!!!! I DON’T THINK SO!!!

Oh on a note, this mini review is based on my 5minuets in Superdrugs!!! MUWAHAHAHA Yes I am quick to judge, but I have good instincts when it comes to cosmetics and skin care, I tend to know what I like and what I won’t!