April Favourites 2014

1. Soap and Glory - No Clogs Allowed

I love a lot of the range of products of Soap and Glory and I particularly love this one. It's a self-heating mask which you only put on for 5 minutes, which is good if you don't like sitting for a long time waiting for it to be done. I notice a difference after I use it and see that my pores are clearer, however I am not sure how often you are supposed to use it and, depending on if your pores can clog up quickly, you could use it whenever you need to. The only thing about this is that sometimes when I am wearing it my eyes water quite bad and I think it may be due to the heat which it creates. Also, afterwards my face can become a bit dry but my skin is incredible sensitive (I wish it wasn't).

2. Naruto Shippuden - The Movie





















I feel as though I should apologize for putting this in this favourites post but I have been watching this so much since I bought it. I am a huge fan of Naruto and I found a shop with a bunch of anime dvd's including all the seasons of Naruto but I only had enough money to buy this and I just love it.

3. Skinfood - Black Bean Nose Pack

These nose strips are really very good and effective and I saw a noticeable difference after using about 3 and I actually really like the smell of them. I have just finished the pack but I am hoping to buy some more soon because they are so good.

4. Akdong Musician - Play Album

As I have already expressed through my review I really love this album and I have been listening to it a lot since it was released. Akdong Musician also seem to be very popular even with this being their debut album and as I am writing this they are still currently number one on quite a few charts which is incredible.

Hope you enjoyed, as I have said in my previous post I am on semi-hiatus and I am finding it difficult to try to update on here but I will try my best to update when I can
- Zin x

Tips For Getting Through Exams

Exam season is coming soon for many people and after the stress of revising there's the actual exam. Exams are usually uncomfortable for many people, let alone the actual exam paper. Here I am giving some tips to help get through exams so you can focus more on your exam paper and hopefully do well.

1) If you have a fear or get anxiety, panicky or whatever you feel during an exam which makes it hard for you to get through it a good thing to do before the exam is to ask yourself 'what is the worst that can happen?' and then 'what would I do in that situation?'. This technique is good for any situation and can make you feel better about it. When you actually think about this in your head many people find that the thing they're worrying about is really not a problem and it makes them feel much more relieved.

2) Perhaps you just don't like the atmosphere as it makes you uncomfortable or something similar. If you imagine yourself to be in your own space or your own bubble and perhaps imagine you're actually in your bedroom or somewhere that you feel comfortable then it can help you to forget about the atmosphere you're in. If you find it hard to do this you could always talk to someone about moving to a place in the exam hall where you would be more comfortable or see if they can offer a different room so that you can actually focus on your exam.

3) To help you focus on exam, underline main points of the question, it can help you to focus on what it is you are reading and understand it more.

4) There should always be a clock in the exam room, use it to your advantage. There a 2 ways you can make the time go faster, if you want it to.(You can use both)

• Every time you look at the clock, count the time left. Obviously the number will get smaller and smaller and make the time seem as though it's going faster.
• When you look at the clock, count the time that has gone. Again, this can make time go faster. Personally this doesn't work for me, but it works for my friends so it's all about what is best for you

5) Make sure you have eaten before the exam. Food will give you energy and effort to do the exam and will help keep your mind on the exam

6) If you get nervous before you go in, take your mind off it. You could do this by going through some key points for the exam, or if that makes you nervous, try to distract yourself in some other way, there are some tips in this post that can help relieve stress and calm yourself for any situation, including exams.

I hope you found this helpful and good luck if you are taking exams

- Zin x

Summer 2014 Colour - Blue

Summer 2014 Colour - Blue by zin-s featuring a sleeveless fit and flare dress

Oasis sleeveless fit and flare dress
$76 - oasis-stores.com

Loose top
$54 - peopletree.co.uk

Forever 21 flared skirt
forever21.com

Francesco Milano blue leather shoes
$84 - pret-a-beaute.com

Mini crossbody purse
dsw.com

Camomilla plastic earrings
$44 - yoox.com




I have read in quite a few fashion magazines lately that navy blue is going to be this summer's colour, so here I have put together a few blue clothing items which will be good for this summer.

Obviously wearing all blue items together will look a bit over the top, for example wearing the top with the skirt will not such a good choice but the top and the bag, or the dress and the earrings would be a good match.

- Zin x

Friendship Help: Changing Friends

When it comes to friends, especially as a teenager when everyone is trying to find who they are and what they want to do in the future as well as all the pressure from society, we can loose friends, separate from them or have a personal issue with them. Sometimes if your in a strong group and you're the only one who doesn't like this friend or it is hard to separate from them even if everyone has a problem with them, it can become more of a problem, especially if you're facing this person almost everyday.

What is important to know is that these friends don't have to be permanent and you don't have to like them. We have to respect who they are now, even if it is just a phase, and may be easier to just slowly un-involve yourself with this person if you don't want to or is hard for you to be around them.

Don't try to change this friend, they might have their own reasons or it just happened and they might not be aware of it. If you wish to speak to them, then do so but don't try to change them back unless they are affecting their health or something similar and even then try to make them aware of who they have become.

As I have said, you don't have to be friends with them forever, find people who you get along with and are happy around. As selfish as it may sound, it is important to put your own happiness first and do what's best for you. A quote that I think about a lot is "Do what you like, love what you do" by Bang Yong Guk of B.A.P. This quote is mainly talking about what you want to do as a job, but I like to interpret it as do what you like with your life, love what it is that you do. 

I hope that any help needed and any advice for the future was given
Hope it was helpful
- Zin x

Block B - Jackpot :- Music Video Review

Block B are back with 'Jackpot' so I have decided to review their MV!

There's 7 members, why are there only 6? They also seem to still have a similar concept to their last one, I'm wondering if it's because they're now with Seven Seasons and they're creating this type of image for them because that's more what they want?? (I don't know, just a guess. Unless it's all supposed to link???)

Notice it says '7 7 7', I know Taeil has a tattoo of this and saw this opportunity of using the lucky 7 because of the '7 albums, 7 members and 7 seasons'. Anyway, there is a scary atmosphere of the girl walking up to them, along with the creepy piano playing behind it. Question - why is the girl walking up to 6 clowns at night? Whatever the reason is she will obviously that in the future she must stay away from strange places after what happens in the mv.

Here's the 7th member, he scared the girl and she fainted to the ground (is there any wonder with the mask?)

Now the song begins, like this, and I question why I stan Block B (but what is P.O doing and why does Jaehyo have that weird bird?). Keeping with this particular concept, the song beings with a piano tune a bit like what would be played at an arcade during the 1940's before the actual song begins and Zico shouts to let us all know that a Block B song has begun. He introduces the '7th album, 7 members, 7 seasons' which caught everyone's attention I think...(I saw so many gif's of it on tumblr)

Zico starts his rap (which, can I say, is always on point) with an unusual scene, he has the girl they have kidnapped dressed as a doll and is also sat on a desk in front of her interrogating her. I haven't seen the English translation yet but I don't think the English lyrics 'get rich or die' are aimed at her ....

It becomes a bit strange when P.O eats a beetle and is singing whilst Jaehyo is measuring the girl dramatically, then U-Kwon and Jaehyo are playing some game (it looks like it could be a card game) with the girl and another man who decides to beat U-Kwon up and has a gun and the scene is similar to the one from Nillili Mambo. This happens within 30 seconds and is quite a bit to take in, but I must say that P.O's singing sounds very good and U-Kwon looks very good-looking with black hair ...(ahem)

I love how the music at the chorus changes slightly from the old-fashioned-fairground-but-also-a-bit-jazzy type based sound to a more funkier and faster paced one and shows part of the choreography as well as Taeil attempting to eat the girl but is given a spoon by her and he walks off admiring it. (He's like the same height as the girl!!)

We then return back to the fairground type sound for the hook and we have the girl trying to escape. Why do they want her? From the mv it looks like they just want to dress her up in different outfits. Hiding behind a car that immediately drives away doesn't seem to help her and next thing we know is that Kyung is throwing knives at her during his rap. I love how his raps usually have a bit of a melody to them to add something more to it and also to make it different to Zico's and P.O's (if he was rapping in the song).

At this point I started to wonder if maybe they're trying to make her join their circus and I wondered why I didn't notice this earlier (probably because of P.O and that beetle...and when did Kyung start showing his legs??)

B-Bomb is next and is seeing how this outfit will look on her whilst she is still trying to get away but is too busy singing to even see how it looks on her.

And then this happened....

Seems like U-Kwon (whilst wearing a wig) is giving the girl a haircut and I don't really want to try and guess what Jaehyo is doing because I'll probably be wrong. Let's just leave it here.

The boys appear all together in suits whilst the girl also appears to be dressed up, the next scenes of them include them showing some of the choreography again but in these suits (thank you to whoever styled them) although Zico's facial expressions help to make this not as serious as it could have been....

The song then becomes jazzy for P.O, Zico and Jaehyo's parts (finally) before the chorus again where it is a big circus kind of event (i don't know, they're outside and there's dancers and fire and everything but not inside a circus ring so I'm a bit confused here). The song comes to an end with some English phrases from P.O and their still in the circus outside place and show some more choreography, but not much. (Too much was going on very fast so I couldn't get a clean screenshot, reason why I don't have one here)

It has ended.. or a similar ending to Nililli Mambo occurs.. the girl flips them off and walks off and the boys (well Zico) gets very angry and chases after her. The pace is fastened a bit and the voices are high pitch to make it funny.

I really enjoyed watching this MV and the song is really good, I had seen that some people didn't think this was as good as 'Very Good' but they're both different songs and are supposed to show and have different elements. 'Very Good' was more powerful but, to me, Jackpot is more fun and the melody is more prominent than the one in 'Very Good'. When I'm listening to the song, I find myself just going to watch the MV because it is very entertaining.

There is a link at the top to the MV if you wish to watch it (where it says Jackpot) and see if you think the same as me.

Hope you enjoyed this

- Zin x

Akdong Musician - AKMU Play : Album Review

I have been waiting for they're debut for so long and I'm pretty sure so many other people have been as well and finally they're here! So I'm going to be reviewing the songs off their debut album, Play.

Give Love - This is really cute (well all of the songs are) especially when they have that small call and response part that they put sometimes in their songs. The melody and lyrics are really sweet and has such a happy feeling. I feel like I should be skipping down the street hugging everyone when I listen to this ...

200% - I love the beach and holiday features in the song to help make it a summery song with a happy vibe, the MV turned out to be quite sad at the end but, again, it's really cute and sweet and I've found myself humming the chorus because it's so catchy.

얼음들 (Melted) - I think this is my favourite of the whole album even though it is sad and it sounds sad and maybe that's why I like it? They'e voices sound so good, the melody sounds so good, the music is really good, I just really like it. When Chan Hyuk does the rap part in it, it just makes it even better (I really like this song really really really, i need to calm down)

지하철에서 (On the Subway) - !!!!! It's such a relaxed and laid back cute song with just their voices and the guitar. I have listened to this to listen to when I do studying and it's good to help concentrate because it's really relaxed.

가르마 (Hair Part) - This has quite of a jazzy feeling and again this is also very relaxing but also sounds entertaining (? I don't really understand but it's the best word I could think of). When I'm listening to the album I normally forget about this song but I really enjoy listening to it.

인공잔디 (Artificial Grass) - It has sounds of outside and children playing in the background and it makes me really happy, I haven't looked up the translated lyrics but it sounds such a happy, light-hearted song that it makes me smile when I listen to it.

안녕 (Don't Hate Me) - This one is quite stripped back and simple like 'On the Subway' but has a sadder and more lonely feeling to it. I also really like listening to this when I'm studying because of the way it is simple.

작은별 (Little Star) - I always get this melody stuck in my head and it's a really sweet, cute song. I love the piano behind their voices and the way their voices sound in this as well.

길이나 (Anyway) - Another sweet song, but this is really joyful and has some of their conversations in which is always really cute and when they almost whisper at one part and it becomes quiet reminds me of how cute they're songs are. I really like this one and is one of my favourites of the album.

소재 (Idea) - I love how this one is very different and they still pull it of and it is still really cute. It's more electronic and has different instruments added than their other ones.

Galaxy - Another sweet song and it's also really cute. I really love the guitar and the other instruments with the 'jungle' kind of drums and it really helps to add a night time feel to the song for me. It's a really enjoyable song and this is also one of my favourites in the album.

If you want to listen to the previews and listen for yourself or download the album the iTunes link is here

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Eric Nam Ooh Ooh MV Inspired Outfit

Eric Nam Ooh Ooh MV Inspired Outfit by zin-s featuring wingtip shoes

Vero Moda black blouse
$39 - zalando.co.uk

Wallis slim fit jacket
wallisfashion.com

DVb Victoria Beckham slim fit jeans
tessabit.com

River Island ankle socks
$5.02 - riverisland.com

Red Herring wingtip shoes
$54 - debenhams.com

Bow hair accessory
$100 - black.co.uk



For Eric Nam's first comeback in 15 months I have put together an outfit based on one of his many outfits in the MV. You can watched the MV here.

- Zin x

Quick Diet Tips

If you are thinking of trying to loose weight, here are some tips to help you. I don't want this to be seen as promoting being skinny but if you have decided that you would like to loose a bit of weight for whatever reason it is. Remember all shapes and sizes are beautiful and you shouldn't be forced into dieting if that's not what you want to do or if your happy, your happiness is what's most important.

1) Start to slowly reduce your daily intake and increase your exercise. In order to successfully loose weight, unfortunately you have to do exercise and change your diet. Firstly, if you snack a lot then reduce it by a small amount then the next week reduce it a bit more and if you don't exercise then start by doing small bits, like walking for 5ish minutes or running so far that is achievable then the next week increase it a bit more.

2) Don't skip meals and make sure your meals have enough energy until you next eat. Skipping meals will make you hungry and will make you snack and it could lead you to gaining weight or not loosing any. Many people in the mornings don't feel like eating but it is important to because of this reason, try to have something very simple such as toast or cereal to get you back into a habit of eating in the morning.

3) Don't think starving yourself will make you loose weight. As soon as you next eat you will just put it all back on, I'm not too sure of the reason why this is but what is the use when you will just put the weight back on?

4) Moving from your normal body temperature to either hot or cold. It hasn't been completely proven that this will help you to loose weight, but for example simply sitting in the cold for a few hours has been said by some people to make them loose weight. This is because your body is changing to try to keep your body temperature normal and so it can help you loose weight. If you're always in the cold your body will eventually get used to it so it will no longer be effective but every once in a while it can be.

5) If you're bad at dieting then have one day a week where you can eat more or not exercise so you can look forward to something so it makes it a bit more achievable.

I hope these tips were useful
- Zin x

Yankee Candle Review : Lavender Vanilla Travel Scent and Pink Hibiscus Candle

(I want to firstly apologize for the low quality of my photo's, I didn't have my camera so I had to use my phone, I'm so sorry because they look terrible)

Lavender Vanilla Travel Scent 
I'm not too sure whether it's actually called a travel scent but it's a scent and it's for travelling so why not?

I'm not actually going to use this for travelling but just to give my room a bit more of a nicer smell (I'm not going to go into details but the sink in my room has become blocked and gives a stale smell to my room)

I love lavender and vanilla smells so I thought that this would be such a lovely smell and it is! It's so great because when you smell it, you can smell both lavender and vanilla clearly and it actually confused me a bit at first because I didn't think it would be like that. To me it smells as though the vanilla is a bit stronger than the lavender but it's such a nice smell.

You have to slide it open and there is this clear gel-like substance which the smell is coming from and I had read that it is for small places when you're travelling, however my room is quite big and I can smell it when I walk in but it is much stronger when you are near it.

Pink Hibiscus Candle
This is going to be a present for a friend so I can't review it when I have lit it, but just simply on it's smell.

When I smelt it I had to basically put my whole face in it to smell it and I must have looked weird in the shop.... but anyway. I was thinking for ages how to describe the smell because it is quite a sharp but pretty smell and I realised that it is a bit similar when you taste a raspberry, it is sweet but it also has a sharp taste. I can imagine that when this is lit and the smell fills the room that it will help to bring a simple smile to your face because it is a pretty smell to lighten your spirits a bit.

Hope you enjoyed this review~
- Zin x

Cute Outfit 2014

Cute Outfit 2014 by zin-s featuring a kiss lock handbag

Long cocktail dress
etsy.com

Dorothy Perkins biker jacket
dorothyperkins.com

Accessorize bow ballerina flat
accessorize.com

River Island kiss lock handbag
$50 - riverisland.com

Lipsy rose gold heart locket
$23 - lipsy.co.uk

Pick of the Month: Korean Brand Heeum

Recently I discovered this Korean brand called Heeum (pronounced like: hee oom) and I found out that they employ former comfort women to help create the artwork for their products and around 70% of the profits are donated to former sex slaves in the Korean district of Gwangju. Heeum the Classic was brought around to remind other's of the comfort women's stories and to help bring attention to all women's issues.

This sweater is my favourite and I'm hoping to order this somehow, I'm not sure if they will ship anywhere out of Korea let alone the UK. This is from another website which sells their products.

I love styles of clothing that usually have a main point but are relatively plain which is why I love this so much. Navy and white are colours that, to me, really go well together which is another reason why I'm really into this style. It also comes in 2 other colours which you can find here

I found out from this as Youngjae from the kpop group B.A.P wore it in a recent video they filmed (far right)

The website which sells Heeum the Classic item is here , clothing is not on this website but they do have bracelets, bags etc.

Hope you enjoyed~

- Zin x