50 Shades of Grey - HONEST MOVIE REVIEW

Probably the most anticipated but also most debated film of 2015: “50 Shades of Grey”.

It is now finally out in movie theatres. As we have already read the books, we had to watch the movie as well and we'd like to share our thoughts.

Firstly, we really liked the choice of actors. Dakota Johnson does a great job at impersonating the naive, very shy Anastasia Steele. She gave her (in the book rather boring) character a nice touch up. Could have smiled a little more though..

When it comes to Jamie Dornan playing Christian Grey, the opinions differ a lot. Personally, I (Juno) think that Matt Bomer, the second one they had in mind, would have done a better job. He would have done better at impersonating the powerful character that Christian Grey definitely is. Also, who could have resisted that face: 

As you watch the movie, however, Dornan kind of grows on you.

Furthermore, in the film this unexpected element of humour was included. In the book that doesn't come across at all, but we were pleasently surprised! It sort of livens the movie up a lot.
Anybody who was expecting to see the first socially acceptable porno in movie theatres will be highly disappointed though. In Austria the age restriction is 16, so the producers can't really make it as dirty as the book. Moreover, Dornan had made a contract with them forbidding them to show too much as he wants to remain a respectable family father. *coughs*

“What is it about elevators?”

We were, however, simply blown away by the soundtrack. A few songs have already been released before hand like "Haunted" or "Crazy in Love" by Beyoncé. We think that all of the songs were picked out so well and they really add that spark to every scene.

Additionally, a great number of extraordinary artists, like The Rolling Stones, Sia, Ellie Goulding were featured ... even Oscar-nominated Danny Elfman made an appearence in this movie. Well done!

If you haven’t already seen the movie… 

Mr. Grey will see you now!

DIY Face Masks

So we don't know what it's like for you people but for us a Sunday just equals us-time. The ideal version of this would start off with a nice lie in, going out for a champagne breakfast, having a nap in the afternoon, binge-watching TV-series and finishing off with a magnificent pamper evening. *squeal*

What does this pamper include though, you might ask? Well, running a bath with either some bath oils in it or a bath bomb (I especially love the Brightside bath bomb by Lush), getting a glass of wine and playing a relaxing playlist. PLUS obviously a DIY face mask! We are going to share 3 recepies for different skin types and an extra one for all skin types:

> normal to dry skin

 - 1/2 avocado

 - honey

After destoning the avocade, mesh half of it up very well before adding the honey until you get the typical mask-like consistency. This mask is going to really hydrate those dry and flaky parts of your face and leave behind a soft finish.

> combination skin

 - 1/2 banana

 - greek yoghurt

 - spritz of lemon

Same procedure as above: cut the banana in half, mesh it up and add the honey. Adding a spritz of lemon at the end is going to brighten you skin due to the vitamin C. Furthermore, it will dry out any spots you are having at the moment.

> oily skin

 - healing earth

 - honey

 - tea tree oil

 - water

For those oily skinned girls out there, we got your back! Mix about a spoonful of healing earth with about 3/4 of a spoon of honey. Add a 3-4 drops of tea tree oil and a little bit of water to liquify the mixture a bit more.

> hangover mask

 - 1/3 cucumber

 - honey

If it's been one of those Saturday nights, we're you've had to catch up with drinking a little and you didn't get to bed until sunrise, don't you worry. This mask will bring your angry post-drinking skin back track. We would recommend to put the cucumber in a blender, than put it in a bowl and add raw organic honey. As an antioxidant it is going to help get rid of the cigarette-fumes infused skin and make it soft and happy again!

You can leave all of these masks on for as long as you want to as long as it's longer than 15 minutes. If you try out any of these recepies, share your thoughts in the comments!

Have a nice pamper Sunday ;)

See you next week - Juno and Alex

January Favourites

Alex's

preparing my Maturaball (=Prom)

The first two weeks of January kept me really busy. You may have read “January Blues And How To Beat It” and know, that I was part of the Maturaball - committee. In spite of the stress and the responsibility, it was a great time. If you love to organise and plan and of course have the possibility to help preparing your Prom or a similar event, I recommend you to participate, you won’t regret it!

sleeping as long as possible

My favourite pastime in January (after my Maturaball) was sleeping as long as possible. Sadly school was in my way and kept me away from my new best friend, my bed. But when it was finally time for me to go to bed I felt like falling into a kind of hibernation. Equipped with woollen blankets and fuzzy socks, even the loudest and most persistent alarm clock (later my mum) wasn’t able to get me out of my cosy and warm bed.

fresh snow

My third favourite of January is fresh snow. I love getting up, looking out of the window and seeing all kept in snow. My mum always says, it’s like god spilled some icing sugar all over our country.

“It” by Alexa Chung

You may have heard of Alexa Chung’s book “It”. I got it for Christmas and finally had the time to read it. “It” is filled with thoughts and pictures of Alexa and is a great book to spend an evening with. I have to say, I really enjoyed reading it.

Juno's

Hair Oils

January in Austria is still very wintery and therefore rather cold. My already dry hair due to natural curls and colour treatment has definitely been lacking moisture lately. There is only one thing that can save it: lots and lots of oils! I enjoy doing oil hair masks on the weekends, when I have time to stay in and they can stay on the hair for a few hours and work their magic. I particularly like coconut oil or olive oil and I usually put it on overnight. Furthermore, after I’ve washed my hair I avoid blow-drying it and just let it air-dry and use the Garnier Fructis Marvelous Oil.

Nike Training Club

As you all know from our New Year’s post we did, a big resolution for us is to get in shape. First I tried to get fit just by working out with YouTube videos and sort of creating my own workout plan. But more often than not, school and loads of homework got in the way and just took over the majority of my leisure time. Then I got introduced to the app Nike Training Club by my cousin Sophie and we partnered up to be training buddies. We have started the “get toned program – beginner” and are already in our fourth week. I can definitely already notice a huge improvement on my body *screams with joy*.

Skype

My last favourite is very connected to this one. As my cousin and I live approximately 350km apart, we had to come up with a solution to overcome the separation. Just calling each other is not as much fun, so we moved to Skype and FaceTime. But luckily I came to visit her this weekend which was really fun! We went out, did a workout together, went shopping and even sledging!

Shameless

Words cannot describe how much I love this TV show! I’ve seen every single episode at least twice, I wait full of anticipation for the next episode every week and cannot contain my excitement when the time has finally come and I can watch it. Not only the witty content is amazing though, they have really great choice in music, as well. A song that’s just been featured recently has been particularly stuck in my head: The Interrupters - Take Back The Power

We hope you've enjoyed reading our little instalment about the things floating our boat in January!

Have a good week, see you next Sunday! - Alex and Juno