Review: Pure Heroine, Lorde

This is a quick music review for the album, “PURE HEROINE” by Lorde. Quick, because there isn’t much to say about it – other than repeatedly praise it. You’ve probably heard “Royals” – if you haven’t, where have you been for the last year? It was massive a couple of months ago, and this is the album it comes from. I don’t often really like an album as a whole – usually its a song here, and song there – which is why I haven’t done an album review before. This album is the exception.

If you know anything about me, its that I’m into a very, very wide range of music, but as I get older it seems to be consistantly indie. There’s just a much higher quality of artists and music. Imagine Dragons is one group that is growing more popular. I’ve been their fan for years.

I suppose I only found out about Lorde because of Royals, but I then discovered “Tennis Court” and “Glory and Gore”. Then, through Spotify, I found out about the rest of her album.

 

I’ve embedded a playlist through Spotifys very helpful “play” widget – I may just do a review on that, too. Assuming it works, you should be able to listen to the whole album, which I’ve turned into a playlist (I’m still not sure how, but it should work, anyway).

Go on, press play. I dare you not to like it.

*vague warning – some songs do contain brief swear words*

Review: Magnetic Nail Varnish

Firstly, I haven’t done a review in ages, so apologies about that – what with revision and an increasingly hectic school load, I just haven’t had time to review anything or even draft anything up. So. Magnetic nail varnish – nope, it doesn’t do cool things like holding your cutlery for you, attracting pins or (thankfully) cars. It also (shouldn’t) set off any security alarms… Magnetic nail varnish has its name because it is a type of nail varnish that turns into a pattern when you wave the weak magnet attached to the lid over it. And by “wave”, I actually mean hold it in place for a few seconds.

Magnetic nail varnish is fairly new in terms of nail-decorating devices, or the newest type that can actually be bought at the moment, anyway – who knows what the scientists are coming up with right now?

I’ve done plenty of stuff with various crackle nail varnish, both crocodile and shatter types, but this is my first attempt at magnetic. It doesn’t look too bad, and only took two attempts (the first because I didn’t read the instructions, hehe). The nail varnish has a beautiful, metallic-like colour to it. I don’t know the exact science behind it, but I’m guessing it has something to do with positive and negatively charged parts of the nail varnish.

I might be wrong, I’m only doing science at GCSE level at the moment.

Anyway, magnetic nail varnish can be obtained from several different places. I suspect general nail varnish suppliers such as Boots might sell them, but the place mine were bought from is this website – the link is to the exact shade and pattern I used.

I should, I suppose, mention that at this stage these reviews aren’t sponsored by anyone, so although in this case I have the exact brand (and colour) of magnetic nail varnish, most of my reviews are much more general. In other words, no one is paying me to say they’re amazing – but they are amazing, and with a bit of practise, I think they have a lot of potential to look pretty.

If you want to have a look at the types of magnetic nail varnish, you can visit the website here.

Review: Retrica

Retrica: a new photo editing app that I have discovered to be very useful, much like Rookie. Apparently it’s often used on social networking sites like Instagram, but I found it by browsing through top apps on the App Store.

The best part? It’s free, and although it does leave a small watermark and doesn’t have all features unlocked, it has some very good features that Rookie doesn’t have.

Firstly, the shuffle button. This allows you to switch through effects.

Secondly, then fading edges can be switched on and off.

And finally, precise control over the colour and size of the boarder.

I’ve included some sample screenshots, as usual.

Overall? A good photo editing app allowing you to filter images as you take them rather than afterwards. A good rating from me.

I will be using this app for the front picture of my Game Of Thrones review which will be coming soon.

Review: Iron Pants

Iron pants is the second most frustrating game I have ever had the (mis)fortune to play – the first being flappy bird.

I don’t know if any of you have played flappy bird, but chances are you’ve at least heard of it. Not the case? Allow me to explain: this is the game that involves getting a bird between pipes to live. It has been called many things that I cannot repeat, and also heralded as the last of voldemorts horcruxes.

Flappy bird was removed from the App Store because the creator was getting so much hate. He also won’t allow anyone else to publish it: and as I refused to play flappybird since people began complaining about it early last week, iron pants and many other games similar (search for flappy bird on the App Store an you’ll find mimics of it, such as iron pants) have sprung into use. Iron pants seems to be leading the way.

This particular game is only available on the App Store, so for those of you wish android, thank your lucky stars you have an excuse not to play it.

I’ve provided some screenshots as always.

Review: Happy Jump

Happy jump is another game I’ve recently discovered again and it is very, very addictive. Whereas with Dumb Ways To Die it is a mad dash to get point by completing seemingly simple tasks, this game is about jumping higher and higher, collecting coins while you go, to unlock more and more stuff. The best thing? It’s free, forever, and doesn’t keep bugging you about buying a full copy nor is it preventing further progress until you play.

Not only does it record your high score, it also records your last go, last 10 and average heights with different coloured lines.

It’s a bit like doodle jump, but more food orientated and cuter. Who doesn’t like little jelly things jumping around and making cute (but slightly disturbing) noises as you tilt you screen to direct them where to jump so that they don’t fall, upside down, with a cute face of horror as they face the rapidly approaching ground. Unfortunately (or fortunately, it’s debatable) you don’t get to see their wobbly little faces hit the ground.

Although you begin with a jelly, there are many more to buy ranging from 300 coins to 7000 so far. The game doesn’t constantly update, but it certainly does update from time to time. Since I began playing, trails have been added and more skins for your jumper. Since I downloaded it, loads more in all three categories have been added.

The shop is becoming ever more diverse and filled with co, cute combinations of jelly type, accessory type and trail colours. Take a look at the shots of the top-end things to buy in the shop – super cute.

It’s a fun game, for sure, check out the screenshots below I’ve included of actual gameplay.

I also got some screenshots of the shop, which is updates semi-regularly. It would be nice to have more updates, but since it takes quite a few goes to build up coins to the most expensive items, it isn’t needed that desperately… I’m fine with my zombie jelly and my cow ice cream (seen in the screenshots above).

Overall, this is cute and addictive game that doesn’t require anything except a spare minute and a mobile device on which to play it.

In terms of availability, the game is both on android and iOS, although I’m not sure whether tablets can at the game (I’m fairly sure, but haven’t tested it) however I have played the game on both android and iOS software, and as far as I could tell they were identical.

Review: Text2pic

Another review of an app – this time, less of a photo editing app and more of a text app. As the name suggests, this allows you to app text (words, lines or phrases) of your own to any picture – either a built in background or one of your own.

Although this is free, there is a charge for unlocking the full version – but to be honest? I don’t think it’s worth it, unless you really fall in love with it or find it insanely useful.

I’ve included a selection of screenshots using the built in backgrounds and a favourite quote from City Of Bones to show you some of the possibilities using this app.

There are so many possibilities with this app, whether it is using fonts, colours, backgrounds or the various effects.

So, if you’re into typography or just want to try it out, download it and have a play with it!

Review: Harris&Hoole

Harris&Hoole is a shop that you might have noticed cropping up recently if you’ve been in any tescos recently. It seems that since Tesco bought a share of H&H, they have paired up to provide a much-improved place to eat, drink and relax after the chaos that is often shopping – whether it’s caused by the slow people, the poor lost souls who haven’t been in since they swapped the fruit isle with the electronics section or the people who seem to use the dairy isle as their social hub since there’s nowhere else they could possibly think of stopping to have a chat – and it’s just perfect.

You’re met by a clean, comfortable space with wifi, clean tables, nice chairs and a sensible seating and table arrangement.

Also, the drinks are pure heaven, the drinks being served at nice and warm rather than burn your tongue out of your mouth temperature as it is “when the milk is sweetest” but of course if you want it hot, they’ll do it hot, just like a costa or Starbucks with a bit more of a humble attitude and more attention to the food as well as drink rather than just throwing some sandwiches together.

I recommend the hot chocolate (other sources seem more than content with the coffee) and the flatbread pizzas are pure and utter heaven, available in two sizes.

Just a word of warning, you may seem to only want to share one salad between two unless you plan of rolling away from the shop, since they’re massive yet so nice you’ll just want to keep eating it. Getting full on salad? Sounds mad, but believe me, it’s that good.

Review: WordPress Mobile App

This is a slightly ironic blog post because I’m reviewing the app that I’m using to write this, but still. Not everyone uses the WordPress mobile app – and I’m going to be explain why everyone should be.

The WordPress app is simple and clearly labeled; no long loading times, and I haven’t experienced any crashing incident while using it so far.

It allows you to review on the go… Like as I am, on the bus… Even without an Internet connection. It stores it on your device, ready to reopen once you’re standing at the bus stop waiting to get the second bus home (like me, incidentally). And when your bus arrives? Yep, save it again and put it in your pocket. Perfect.

And there, I just wrote an article while on my bus journey home – entirely. Not only is it great as a reviewing addition, it also makes it far easier for me to do articles despite what I blogged about yesterday.

All I need now is to get home and upload using an Internet connection.

There. I just blogged about making a blog post… But it shows you just how good an app this is.

Note: I’m using the iPod version (same as iPhone) so it may vary on android since I haven’t tested it on an android device.

Review: Soulmates

I discovered Soulmates by chance during one of my many trips to Waterstones, and it was a book that impressed me from the start.

Soulmates is about… Well, Soulmates. But most definitely not in the way you would think.

Soulmates exist… Just not in the way you think.

Soulmates is about love and forbidden love with a twist: they really cannot ever be together.

With a split narrative between the main character and two mystery characters in italics, the story seems that of a normal college girl.

Normal as in, she occasionally passes out and can’t control it.

Normal as in, she doesn’t believe in love.

Until.

I very much have to limit myself on what I say here, because the book is filled with twists and some heart string pulls, and I absolutely will not spoil anything… But it is that book that stands alone and is very different from the typical young adult section.

If you’re looking for mushy romance, you’ve stumbled across the wrong book… But you should still try it, because it might just give you something to think about.

Review: Fortza Racing

Fortza was one of the first Xbox One game releases. It was the first game I played on Xbox One and I have to say, I was very impressed. The game starts by taking you through a race as you might expect – but not against other people, which lets you learn how it all works before making it too competitive. What you do in that race has no impact on your career, and in the race you are equipped with one of the best cars around one of the most beautiful tracks. It’s enough to hook even the type of gamer who, like me, doesn’t really play racing games.

Then, it introduces you to the graviconidea. Basically, as you play the game it builds up a AI equivalent of yourself and your driving style, and this means you compete in races even when not online, and you get credits for this. Once completed, friends playing Fortza will find them playing side by side… Quite literally. They will also push you off the track, ram into you, shatter your windscreen completely. Sorry about that, Jo.

That’s the other great thing about the game: the cosmetic damage to the car is shown after every race in great detail. And so, for those of us who are… More of an aggressive tendency and like to smash into cars, we will find both our and our opponents cars smashed up as appropriate. It then becomes a competition to see who can smash their car up the most. And the best thing? It doesn’t cost to repair, and is only cosmetic for entertainment value.

As an introduction to each section of car, it’s an introduction by Top Gear with some amusing descriptions of cars and car types.

And you don’t have to be a car geek to play. I know nothing about cars, and yet I can still play, but there are technical details about each of the cars too.

It’s a really good game, with a lot of cars and a lot of tracks. There are always challenges for people to beat and the game is constantly encouraging you to get better, faster, and amass enough wealth to buy the ultimate car toys.

There isn’t enough words to say everything about this game. I never thought a racing game could be such fun, but it really is. Each car feels different through the controller, and there are many tracks. Each of the tracks has reverse versions, and sections of the track available to race. Credits are earned the higher you rank, and as you play more you level up higher.

Overall, it’s a great game making use of the sleek design of the controller and the new system. I’m sure there are many more features to be discovered, with a wide range of settings I haven’t even touched yet, including head tracking and various assists (power assisted steering is an assist which can be turned off for a more challenging experience) and some profile changes including showing off your latest achievement in the form of a badge, which can be selected by going to said achievement when it is earned or by