JANUARY FAVOURITES

So the first month of 2018 has come to an end so it seems fitting to do a monthly favourites post. Unlike most beauty and fashion bloggers, my favourites list with include things like music, kpop, film, television and more. I have a couple beauty and fashion favourites but the main focus will be on my favourite media products I’ve consumed over the last month. Also it is worth noting that the majority of these might not have been released in January 2018, but this was when I either watched or experienced them, hence why they fit within this category.

Music

Let You Down - NF: So this song was originally released in September 2017 so looks like I was late to jump on the bandwagon with this one. I heard it on the radio during January and became OBSESSED. The message behind the song is truly beautiful and the two different voices sound incredible together.

Don’t Wanna Fall In Love - KYLE: I originally found this song through BTS. A Bangtan Bomb was released in August of BTS’s dance line practising for the Home Party Unit Stage performance. This song was featured in the last 3rd of the song and it’s an absolute bop. I recently watched the entire Home Party sketch and rediscovered my love for this song and have had it on repeat ever since.

MYMYMY - Troye Sivan: Holy crap how long have we been waiting for Troye to make a comeback? I wanna say like 5 years it feels that long. But wow oh wow did he come back with an absolute banger. The music video is fantastic, the concept is incredible, his visuals are perfect and obviously the song itself is superb. Can you tell I’m a Troye stan? Probably.

Life In Cartoon Motion - MIKA: So this is the only album that I’ve got featured on this list and that’s purely because it’s the most superior album in existence. This came out years and years ago but I rediscovered my love for it when myself and my Dad drove the dentist and jammed out to the whole album. I don’t care what your music taste is, I dare you to listen to this album and not enjoy it because I don’t think thats genuinely possible.

Kpop

BTS Outcast AU: I’ve never been one for fanfiction, not for any particular reason, I think I just love the boys themselves I don’t want to imagine them any other way. But when this AU started on Twitter oh my god it threw the fandom into a frenzy. A game-based horror AU where we got to help shape the story, I mean it would’ve been rude not to get involved. It’s safe to say that the writing and effort that went into this AU were second to none, and it was such an amazing read. For someone who doesn't like fanfiction I really enjoyed this and I’m so intrigued as to what else flirtau will come up with.

American Hustle Life: Going along with the theme of discovering things that were made years ago, I watch AHL for the first time ever this month. And oh my lord what a great decision that was. The boys were so young and so adorable, it also made all the memes I’ve seen in compilations make sense. Plus it made me fall in love with their first 3 albums again as they were all played in the background. All in all, a great watch and so nice to see seeming as how far they’ve come.

Superstar BTS: Well. I went through a lot to download this. I had to hack into the Korean App Store for staters, then had to have a chat with my bank because they froze my account thinking someone from Seoul University had hacked me. I then proceeded to explain that it was me and I could feel her judging me through the phone, but hey ho it was worth it. This app is bloody addictive and so bloody hard. I’ve only just got all 3 stars on normal mode and don’t even get me started on hard mode, that is just beyond my capabilities. I honestly don’t know how people do it. I’ll update you once I’ve done it, but who knows that could be in like 5 years time.

Home Party: 4th Year Anniversary Special: As I said earlier I watched the full Home Party: 4th Anniversary Special and it was so adorable. The individual unit stages varied from impressive, to hilarious, to heart-warming. But overall, the best part was the cute versions of songs like Fire, Boy In Luv and Dope. They honestly killed me. The entire 2 hours was fantastic and I can see myself watching it over and over again. Thank you VLive you incredible website.

TV

ANTM: America’s Next Top Model is someone of a guilty pleasure. But it’s Tyra Banks, how can you not be obsessed? Especially when Ashley Graham is on the panel beside her. It’s merely a modelling reality TV show but I absolutely love the challenges, the photoshoots and the drama in the house. I’m so glad they’ve got rid of the height and age restrictions but oh my god I was praying Tyra was going to have this season mixed gender’s like she had cycle 20-22. I’m just hoping she does that as a 25th cycle special.

Teen Wolf: So I’d heard about Teen Wolf for ages and always had my reservations about it, but I scrolled past it on Netflix and remembered Dylan O’Brien was in it and my decision was set. It took me quite a while to get into it, but season 3, 4 and 6 were absolutely incredible.

Stranger Things: Another example of me being late to jump on the bandwagon is me only watching the first and second season of Stranger Things this year. I’m not sure why I didn’t watch it sooner, the genre is right up my street, why wouldn’t I enjoy it? It’s safe to say I did, and personally I preferred the first season to the second, purely because I was so excited to get to know Will’s character better but he ended up being possessed. Plus the random episode showing Eleven’s sister just seemed random and out of place to me, but it’s a fantastic show and the acting is great especially for actors so young. Once again, I’d highly recommend if fantasy-sci-fi is your thing.

Film

Nerve: Again, this film was released a long time ago, August 2016 to be precise but I only got round to watching it this January - thank you Netflix. The main reason I wanted to watch this film was because of Emma Roberts. Ever since Wild Child I have just loved Emma Roberts and everything she’s been in. The film itself has a very cool story but personally I think it would’ve worked better as a TV series, as the character development of Vee seemed to happen extremely quickly. That aside, I really enjoyed watching the film and thought they showed how dangerous social media could become in the future.

The Martian: Now this is one of those films that I’m actually embarrassed to say I haven’t seen sooner. It was critically acclaimed and everyone I spoke to said it was amazing. I am so bad for not seeing films when they first come out but I’ll watch them like a couple of years later. But wow was I blown away with this film. The cinematography and special effects were second to none, the story was moving yet equally comedic and the acting was great. A must film for anyone. Even if you think this genre isn’t something you would enjoy, I guarantee you’d enjoy this.

YouTube

Peach Jelly: International fans, like myself, struggle so much when BTS release content that we can’t watch or order. So when BTS’s 4th Muster stage performance happened I was so upset I couldn’t watch it. Thank the lord for us, Peach Jelly filmed a lot of the stage performances so international fans wouldn’t miss out. The BS&T performance in onesies is something I really needed in my life, as well as the Best Of Me and Pied Piper choreographies.

AF Taehyung: I can’t speak for everyone on this but I love BTS’s music without knowing what they’re saying. But I also love looking up the translations and falling in love with the song all over again because it has a new meaning. Most translations are unreliable but AF Taehyung has done almost every song they’ve ever come out with and makes me feel less alienated as an international fan.

Squishy Min Yoongi: If you’re an ARMY you definitely would have watched Squishy Min Yoongi’s videos. Ranging from compilations to era guides, I have never missed one of their videos. They make educational videos about the band entertaining and funny. One of my favourite fan channels by far.

People

Stefanie Giesinger: If you don’t know who Stefanie is she’s most well known for winning Germnay’s Next Top Model a couple years ago, but I know her through Marcus Butler. These two have been dating for a while now and I am obsessed with her. She’s an ambassador for L’Oreal and has brought Marcus into modelling as well. Her instagram is something I am truly obsessed with. I love her style, hair, make-up, everything! She always does really simple and natural make-up but she always looks insane. She’s my ultimate girl crush, Marcus mate you’ve done well finding her.

Milly Bobby Brown: It’s safe to say I’ve only become obsessed with Millie since I’ve watched Stranger Things but wow I respect her so much. For a girl as young as she is, she’s dealt with becoming a fashion icon extremely well and has fully embraced this role. Let’s just talk about her Golden Globes outfit and especially her lift entrance. I’ve never seen her so confident and so fierce, a true icon, watch out world.

Andrea Russett: So I’ve never actually watched any of Andrea’s YouTube videos apart from collabs she did with Kian when they were together AGES ago. But I've followed her on Instagram for ages and wow isn’t she just beautiful? One thing I absolutely love about Andrea is how she’s not afraid to be herself. Her IG ranges from insanely beautiful photos to her taking the piss out of herself and being real. She seems really authentic and that’s something I really respect as most people in her industry really aren’t nowadays.

Make-up

Sleek Pencil Eyeliner: I bought myself the Sleek Make-Up Advent Calendar last year as I’ve always wanted a make-up advent calendar and Sleek is one of my favourite brands. I also bought it 3 days into advent so it only cost me £26 for 25 items, an absolute steal if I do say so myself! In this advent calendar I tried their twist up pencil eyeliner and I instantly fell in love. I mainly use it for tight lining and it works perfectly. It’s heavily pigmented which is great as most eyeliners I’ve used for tight lining loose their pigment with the moisture from my eye.

Sleek Matte Nail Polish: The advent calendar also came with a couple matte nail polishes. I am awful at painting my own nails, I honestly don’t know what it is! But this nail polish was so easy to apply and as it dried matte, it dried almost instantly. I’ve never tried matte nail polishes before but I absolutely love the finish it has.

Fashion

Topshop Silver Coat: So I’m not one for constantly updating my wardrobe. I don’t have the money for that. But my weakness has always been coats. I don't know what it is, I have millions of coats but every Winter I have to buy a new one. This year I got one from Topshop for Christmas. It’s suede in texture with a furry lining which folds onto the outside. It’s a grey/silver colour and has suede belts on the cuffs and the hem. I couldn't find a photo of the grey one I have, but this is the exact coat in a different colour.

So those are all the things I’ve been loving over January. I hope you enjoyed reading this and maybe got some TV and Film recommendations from it. It’s probably painful how my favourite film and TV shows weren't actually released in that specific month but as I said, I’m an awful excuse for a media student as I never go to the cinema.

Tune in next week for another ramble about something I like.

Hannah xo