What a 'Wicked' show - Theatre Royal Plymouth

'Are people born wicked or do they have wickedness thrust upon them..? 

Wicked is the show to beat all shows, I am an avid Theatre fan and have been lucky enough to watch many shows in London and in the Theatre Royal Plymouth over the years. So it's a big statement for me to make, but Wicked goes above and beyond and offers an electrifying performance to make all other shows go green with envy!

It is one of the shows that I have been wanting to see since it began in London but had not had the opportunity to see it before. I was shocked when I found out that the international award winning show was heading down to Plymouth (nothing ever comes to Plymouth!) as part of the Wicked UK tour. After speaking with quite a few people over on twitter it seems that a lot of people are already familiar with it or have had the chance to watch Wicked already, and I had only heard good things about the show! Wicked originally started out in Broadway and a few years later arrived to the West End where it has been for a number of years. Wicked has become a world wide phenomenon and sees people from all over the world flocking to watch it.

Wicked The Musical arrived to Plymouth on the 20th January and is here to stay until February 14th which is a nice long time for a touring show. I was lucky enough to attend Wednesdays performance and upon arrival at the Theatre Royal Plymouth I knew we were in for a 'wicked' evening. The entrance to the Theatre was illuminated with green lighting and which invited us onto the green carpet, I felt like this was a great touch to the whole experience and really set everyone up for the show ahead.

Wicked follows on from the story of The Wizard of Oz and contains elements of it throughout the show. In short it picks up from where the story ended and goes on to tell the story from Elphabas (the wicked witch) side of things as told by Glinda, who are the two main characters and where the tale starts off with the two of them meeting at Sorcery school. As a heads up the following does contain a few spoilers about the plot of the show!

It nails the stereotypical American high school cliche and singles out Elphaba as the outcast because of her sickeningly green appearance and as the girl who has no friends, as opposed to Glinda, the posh and popular girl at school who everyone wants to know. As the story progresses it shows how their initial unlikely pairing blossoms into a perfect relationship, and which in turn unfolds into the darker side of life in Oz when Elphaba realises her true powers which leads them on an adventure to the Emerald City in search of the wizard. The wizard misuses Elphabas power to his benefit and  which leads her down a dark spiralling turn of events which makes her out to indeed be the Wicked Witch of the West.

We are initially led to believe that Elphaba might be as wicked as she is made out but as the story unfolds we get to see the true picture of what actually happened and how the both girls help each other in the end to get justice. 

The whole show had me hooked from the opening scene and the acting, costumes and scenery were second to none and I really cannot find any faults with the whole show.. It had me spellbound from the word go! 

If you do live in Plymouth I would strongly recommend you all to visit the show even if you've seen it before (I know I want to go again!), it's here until February 14th and you will be sorry to miss out on this show stopper - you can buy your tickets here! Wicked is currently touring round the UK so it might be coming to a city near you soon, you can find that out here. If you want to see a little taster of the show check out the official Wicked trailer below...

  Have you seen Wicked before? What are your thoughts on the show?

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Kebelo Enriching Hair Care Range Review

I'm back from an amazing trip in Finland now (more about that in another post!) and I'm back with lots of fresh new content to bring to you, I also have the rest of the week off work so I have plenty of time for once to do some blogging! Recently Lookfantastic introduced me to an amazing new hair care brand called Kebelo. New brands that come onto the market ridiculously excite me as I rarely ever stick to one type of shampoo/conditioner. Kebelo seem to be a great universal brand and have products suitable for every hair type. They offer 4 different types of ranges to suit each individual including; the Revitalising Range, Enriching Range, Silk Range and Velvet Curls Range. They also have some clarifying products too which are perfect for all hair types, more about that later... I have been testing these products for over a couple of weeks now so lets see how I got on...

The bundle of Kebelo products came beautifully wrapped!

 Kebelo The Ultimate Enriching Set* £29.85

I opted for the enriching range which is designed for normal to dry hair. The set includes a shampoo, conditioner and hair mask and they are all enriched with guar sugar, wheat, argan and grape oil, this range intends to create softer, healthier hair that feels nourished from within. I think most people suffer from dry hair at some time in their life and no one likes having hair that resembles a piece of straw..This set is perfect for re hydrating dry and dull hair and restoring it to luscious and bouncy locks! 

I adore the packaging of these products, the different colours on the bottles makes it much easier to distinguish which one is the shampoo and conditioner, is it only me that always gets mixed up?! The shampoo and conditioner complement each other really well. The shampoo lathers up really well  and you can tell that there is guar sugar and grape oil in the products, as they do smell pretty similar to grapes... but not in a bad way! I have then been using the conditioner afterwards which leaves my hair so silky and smooth. This set was a no brainer for me as with long hair I do suffer with dry ends so it's really helped to add moisture back into my hair. On alternate washes I have been using the hair mask with the shampoo, you can leave masks on for however long you like really, this one suggests for 10-20 minutes, the longer the better in my opinion. As a real treat I love slathering my hair in this and wrapping cling film or a towel around my hair and sleeping with it in, as it gives your hair a nice long time to drink it up. As I swim a lot I also pop a good lathering of it under my hair cap and it works a treat from protecting it from the chlorine and preventing it from drying out even more!

Kebelo Clarifying Shampoo* (250ml) £12.95

I was also given the shampoo from the clarifying range to test out which is suitable for all hair types. Clarifying shampoos basically act as a detox for the hair, they help to exfoliate your hair and delicately strip the build up of chemicals from products, daily environmental factors and chlorine from swimming - an all round perfect product for me! This product can be used as little as once a month to help keep your hair free from a build up. Personally, I have been using this in most washes and have completely fell in love with it. The product strips your hair without being too harsh and you can definitely tell the difference when using this against a normal shampoo as it makes my hair feel a lot squeakier and dryer before putting conditioner onto my hair. Once dry my hair feels so much thicker, healthier and luscious and I could not recommend this product from the Kebelo clarifying range enough as it really is a product that everyone needs to look into using. It is natural for everyone to get a build up on their hair which does need to be exfoliated and gently removed occasionally, our hair is no different to our skin at the end of the day, the only difference is we can't see the build up on our hair!

A big thank you to Lookfantastic to introducing me to Kebelo, my hair is feeling better than ever with the enriching range and a well overdue detox with the clarifying shampoo! The ranges are reasonably priced and the bottles will probably last me for a few months as you don't need to use a lot of the product for each wash. I did love the enriching range but without a doubt the clarifying shampoo is the winner for me, I often forget that hair gets a build up and it's probably worse for me as my hair is exposed to a lot of chlorine and this shampoo has helped to revitalise my tired and dull tresses and make them look better than ever, forget the teatox its all about the hairtox this month!

Have you heard of Kebelo before? Would you like to try out this range? What hair brands are your favourite?

*Products marked with an asterix (*) have been sent to me for review. However, all opinions in this post are 100% my own

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January Wishlist

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

Sorry for the lack of posts this week, I have been having a really hectic week with work and everything else, and sometimes life really does have to come first, but there's always time for dreaming about what new things I want to buy! Once Christmas is over I'm fully ready for summer despite the pouring rain and stormy weather and the new season of clothes in the shop always excites me! Spring is all about the nautical/Parisian and pastel shades of clothing for me and I will drag similar items out of my wardrobe every year. New Look in particular have a great new selection in the shops at the moment and within the next few weeks I will be stocking up on some beauties like the ones above in the hope for some sun and warmth!

I'm off to Finland on the weekend so this will be my last post until next week but I have lots of different posts lined up for my return, so stay tuned..I hope you all have a great week!

What do you think of my picks? Which item is your favourite? Are you looking forward to Spring?

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Benefit the POREfessional primer review

Only until about a year ago I discovered what a primer actually was and it's only been within the last few months that I've starting wearing them with my makeup, and I really don't know how I ever lived without a primer before! I've been using a few makes but the one that has been the best is Benefit the POREfessional which I'm sure a lot of you maybe use or know about, as it has been around for a couple of years now. Benefit really is one of my favourite makeup brands and the difference this has made to the staying power of my makeup is really impressive.

Benefit the POREfessional £24.50

So, firstly what is a primer? A primer can be applied under or over makeup and it is meant to minimize the appearance of pores and fine lines, making your skin look more smoother and flawless, as well as improving the staying power of your makeup.

I tend to alternate between oily and combination skin which for me means that upon leaving the house for work with a full face of makeup I return looking like I've not even bothered. Makeup really does tend to slide off my face in the day and powders don't even help in that department either. It really was time for me to start using a primer. I think I was reluctant to use one for so long as I didn't want anything else to clog my pores up as I have spot prone skin, but I wish I never let this put me off as it really has changed my life!

As always I absolutely adore the packaging of this product and the door which opens to the mini porefessional action figure, you couldn't dream this stuff up?! The Benefit marketing/advertising team have it down to a tee!

I use this primer under my makeup, I usually apply it to the problem areas on the T zone which are my forehead, nose and chin with my fingers. It is not a thick consistency at all and it rubs in really easily. As you can see it comes out of the tube with an orangey shade to it, but don't let this worry you as it blends into your skin clear as you can see from the pictures above, so this product can be used for all skin types and colours. The liquid smooths into the skin beautifully and it feels really velvety and silky on the skin. 

I wait a few moments before then applying the rest of the makeup to my face. Makeup slides onto my skin with ease after using it and the formula really does help to fill out my pores. The difference between wearing makeup with a primer such as this beneath my makeup has made a massive difference, I come home from work with all of my makeup still in tact, it also helps to keep the grease at bay and stop my forehead shining like an oil slick, I do still use my powder with this to set my makeup though,

The POREfessional is the perfect product for people who just want to smooth their skin out under their makeup, those with combination/oily skin who find their makeup slides  off and I can see that this will be a miracle worker throughout the summer as makeup literally does slip off your face in the heat. The price of this product I think is reasonable as it does last for ages as you really only need to use a small amount for each application. I really don't know where I would be without this trusty primer, I just wish I had met you sooner!

Do you wear a primer? What do you think of the POREfessional? Which primer is your favourite?

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