5 Underrated Female Led Shows

*I am aware it is now Winter, but this post has been a along time in the writing haha!
Now that Autumn is here I feel like it's the perfect time to curl up with a blanket and a hot drink in my pyjamas as the weather's already started to turned here in England. I mean I do that in summer too, but now it's more socially acceptable. I do love summer but there is definitely something special about cosy evenings in with hot chocolate and your favourite tv. 

I've tried to avoid the more obvious choices so this is in fact a PLL free zone! I also tried to get options from a variety of genres, hopefully something to suit everyone. Enjoy!

^Best line in anything ever (Particularly with context)

1//The 100-  As I write this I'm just now sitting down to watch the newest episode of the third season and I can't believe how far the story has come and how well the characters have been/are being developed. But the reason I've chosen to include it among this list is because of how strong the female leads are. They don't do what other people say they should and they don't take the easy option. They have their own opinions and ideas and are constantly trying to do the right thing for the good of the others, even at cost to themselves. There's also a fair amount of action and a little side of romance, particularly a love triangle which I was never a fan of but I'll try to avoid spoilers!

2//Agent Carter- This is probably the most well known among feminist TV fans and comic book lovers alike. Peggy Carter, though introduced as the love interest of Steve Rogers AKA Captain America in the first Captain America movie, has managed to step out (gracefully may I add) of his shadow to become a near enough superhero in her own right. After the war Peggy (and women in general) are once again pushed aside as the men return home from the front-line, so the first season begins with her dealing with this at work whilst doing secret missions with the great inventor and scientist Howard Stark (Tony Stark AKA Iron man's dad) on the side. As Agent Carter, Hayley Atwell, plays a proud, intelligent, witty, unapologetic woman who can kick ass both physically and verbally all whilst embodying the glamour of the 1940's. To add to this she is simply gorgeous with an amazing figure and cute British accent. In my eyes this woman can do no wrong. The supporting cast of James D'Arcy, Enver Gjokaj and Lyndsey Fonseca in the first season provide ample opportunity for laughs, sass and cute heartfelt moments aplenty and I cant wait see what the second season has in store.

3//Sex and the City- This is the most light-hearted, comedic of the shows I picked. It's rather an old show now, and you will definitely cringe at the giant mobile phones and the clothes that they wear but it is genuinely so hilarious.
The 4 main characters are all female and pretty sure of themselves which I love. Plus I love the way it explores sex, sexuality, romance and relationships in a light hearted way, whilst still being quite thought provoking.There are times when a scene will play and I don't find it that funny and then 5 minutes later it clicks with me and I can't stop laughing. It's definitely for a more mature audience as you can probably guess from the title. I found the entire 6 seasons for £12 in Cex the other day and was so tempted to buy it, but since I've already watched 3 seasons I thought it would be bit of a waste.

4// Outlander- The weirdest thing about this one is that I've never actually seen any promotion for this or even seen anyone talk about it on social media except for the booktuber Sasha Alsberg who is obsessed with the book. After seeing her enthusiasm I had to give it a go and was very pleased that I did! As it's set in the Scottish Highlands I decided to watch most of it on my way to Edinburgh in the summer to get me in the mood. It was so surprising how strong Claire was in the story because neither of the time periods that she visits are periods particularly enlightened to equality yet in both the 1940's and 1700's Claire manages to speak up and more importantly get herself heard. Every time you expect her to back down she finds a new and better way of doing things. It's also a great romantic love story with plenty of angst and drama.

5//The Fall- This is a much lesser known option that's again for a more mature audience as it's very dark. It's about the hunt for a serial killer in Belfast and focuses around Stella Gibson who is the lead officer in hunting him. Her philosophies and attitudes towards sex and being a woman are very open and refreshing in a city like Belfast. The screencaps above are from the show and it's just so inspirational the way she deals with the daily sexism and harassment she  suffers, particularly in her line of work.

I think that what I've learned most from writing this is that all I want from a TV programme is to see multi-dimensional female characters who are not only able define and lead their own stories but are representative of real women- Which is something I really don't feel I should be having to ask for at this point! As always leave me your suggestions about what I should be watching below...

Graze Box Review

Popcorn and The Walking Dead // Pretzels and Maths HW // Yoghurt with Granola for dessert // I ate the flapjack without photoing it :(

I've been considering ordering a free Graze box for a while now and finally got round to it just before Halloween, so thought I'd write a review. The site is lovely and it's super easy to set up an account and go through the snacks and rate them as 'Bin', 'Try' 'Like' or 'Love'. There's even a 'send soon' box to tick if you really want a certain snack.  Each snack also comes with little badges such as 'Light', 'High in Fibre' or 'High in Protein'. These features all make it super easy to really tailor the box to your likes and your dietary needs. Each month you get three of these snacks for £3.99, including delivery.

The box arrived very promptly after being dispatched, on the Monday as they said it would, which impressed me to begin with. The next thing I was impressed with was the packaging, it's secure for your food whilst being efficient and not wasteful, plus how gorgeous is the box!  It's just so autumnal and pretty that I've added it to the wall above my desk. 

In my box I received the Black Pepper Popping Corn, Pretzels w. Chocolate dip,  Strawberries and Cream Granola Topper and  Original Protein Flapjack. Also included were some flyers introducing me to Graze, some free box codes for friends and the nutritional information of the snacks.

The Original Protein Flapjack was my favourite of the four snacks I received because it was simply delicious. The slightly crunchy texture of the seeds in the sweet chewy flapjack is literally so good. I also found the portion size for the flapjack very impressive, especially considering that the  portions are specifically designed to be light.

I really wasn't sure about the Black Pepper Popping Corn when I first opened the box, but I love salt and pepper flavoured crackers (Jacobs cracker thins are amazing) so got quite excited for it and was not disappointed when I tried it. It's a really interesting flavour and definitely something different which I'd recommend. I love the fact that you pop the corn yourself as well, I'm not really sure why, but I think it's because it means that you get a nice big portion; which once again surprised me at how light it was.

I took the Pretzels w. Chocolate dip to college with me and ate them in an effort to avoid doing my maths homework during my free period (it worked perfectly, for about 5 minutes) and really enjoyed them. They were delicious and crisp and there was plenty of chocolate dip even though I wasn't sure there would be. The dip itself basically tastes like nutella which was great and the portion size was actually really filling.

My sister had her eye on the Strawberries and Cream Granola Topper and I told her I'd let her have it, but then completely forgot and ate it myself, so she wasn't best pleased! It was very nice, especially with some strawberry, it made a great light sweet treat in the evening or would be great for breakfast.

Overall my experience with Graze had been brilliant, my favourite thing about it is that they provide healthy, portion-controlled snacks that aren't simply fruit and nuts, they also have cakes, flabjacks, popcorn etc that taste delicious.

If you too like what you see, use the code 4CWXTC7HB to get your 1st, 5th and 10th box FREE! 

Autumn Essentials

So who's excited for Halloween? It's October now so I'm finally allowed to be! This year I have also tried out some makeup ideas for Halloween to show you all, so look forward to those! I love going all out on the makeup as there aren't many other opportunities to. But anyway, now that Autumn is definitely here I thought I'd show you some of my essentials. First is the super cosy scarf from New Look that I used as the backdrop for the photos. The colours are super autumnal and will go with most outfits plus its just so soft I wish I could sleep in it, which i definitely could considering the size of it. My autumnal nail picks are very similar to last years with a deep matte burgundy polish Crush by Barry M and a light slate grey from Illamasqua called DWS (Which I picked up for the bargain price of £4 at TKMaxx which greatly excited me). Most of the year, red is my favourite lip colour but over autumn it switches to purples and plums, my favourite of which is Topshop's Lipstick in Wicked, its a very dark purple on the lips though looks more of a brick red in the bullet. It's just gorgeous and I always get compliments whenever I wear it. It's lasting power is also pretty fab. If I'm looking for a less statement lip I have also been loving Burt's Bees Hibiscus Lip Balm to add a slight tint to my lips and moisturise them simultaneously. To make it feel all cosy in my room I've also started burning less summery scents and picked up this lovely pack of yankee samplers from Asda for only £3. Unfortunately though I have noticed that the 'Simply Home' scents aren't quite as good as the usual ones and often don't smell as strong. It contains Apple Crumble, Simply Vanilla and Raspberry Sundae  which I can't wait to try.

Let me know your Autumn essentials in the comments!

My Little Fashion Box: September

I thought this month's theme was a little boring and vague in all honesty, I felt the box lacked it's usual feeling of 'togetherness' in the way all the items are explicitly linked, however the items themselves were of great interest to me. The item I was the most excited about was probably the La Roche Posay Hydreane BB Cream. The brand itself made me excited as I always hear such good things about it, but the fact that it was a BB cream also greatly excited me as I've been thinking lately about trying some lighter coverage products. Unfortunately I found a similar issue with this product as with many BB creams, which is that they tend to not really agree with my oily skin. However the product itself is lovely and I'm sure on a less oily skin it would be much better. The coverage is light and breathable but evens out the skin tone well, plus it smells fresh, is easy to apply and lasts all day as long as I remember to powder. I also received another Keratase product this month to my disappointment. It was the Couture Styling Laque Noire Hairspray which I am yet to try but I haven't really liked any of the other products from this range that I've received. It's a super strong hold hairspray, so I'm not sure I'll have a lot of use for it, but the size should make it good to travel with if nothing else. From the My Little Beauty range I got the Red Dingue Lip Colour which I had high hopes for as it looked like a more blue toned red in the tube, however it turned out to be a more pink toned red which was a slight disappointment to me, as this made it very similar to the So Susan lip colour that I received last month. On the plus side the product itself is lovely, the formula is great as it dries matte, similar to the Bourjois Matte Rouge Lipsticks and is very long lasting as a result.

I was also very excited to find the Alfa.K Nail Decals in my box this month, they are simply gorgeous and sooooo easy to apply. All you have to do is press the plastic sheet against your nails and they come right off. Beautiful nail art in no time at all. I think they look absolutely gorgeous used as an accent nail paired with my new Illamasqua nail varnish in DWS which I picked up for the bargain price of £3.99 in TKMaxx. I would definitely recommend them to anyone. I was slightly less pleased however with the American Vintage Scarf  as I don't really wear scarves, whilst the pattern is pretty it's not something I would wear (I mostly only wear monochrome and not many patterns) and it's strangely small for a scarf so that it barely fits around my neck.

It was rather a mixed bag this month but I am quite pleased. For the price you can't really complain, I would have paid £15 for the La Roche Posay BB Cream alone, so overall it's definitely good value for money and really does bring excitement to my week when I open it. More than that I love the anticipation of it arriving, photographing it, writing about it, trying out all the products for the first time, writing reviews on them. For me it's not just about receiving the products themselves, is about the experience as well.

Malvern Autumn Show

 On the 28th of September I went to the Malvern Autumn Show at the Three Counties Show Ground with my mom and dad, unfortunately my brother and sister both had to work :( I was really annoyed with myself that I had forgotten to take my camera however I'm pretty pleased with how well my phone stood up to the challenge. I had a really fun day all in all, there was so much more there then I thought there would be, there was a huge plant part with flower competitions and displays and giant vegetables plus a vintage fairground, vintage fair, vintage dance hall, historical caravan and lawn mower areas (Wasn't a fan of those!), a huge food and drinks area where I got to try many free drinks and had a lovely glass of Stowford Press Cider, a huge animal area with rabbits and chickens and donkeys and super cute dogs (it was awesome!), plus there were so many shopping stalls. I may have been forced to purchased some fudge whilst I was there, they had such delicious flavours, I brought clotted cream, oreo and jaffa cake. 

All in all I had a really lovely day and would love to go back again next year...

Fall Clothing Hall- H&M + Primark

Fall has to be my favourite season for clothes (I know I'm a cliche! Though I finally got round to trying a Pumpkin Spice Latte and wasn't a fan tbh) so I was pretty excited upon my visits to Primark and H&M. I'm also now pretty excited to wear all my new clothes, I need to arrange some more social outings :)

H&M

Grey Skater Dress on sale at £5

Black Body Con Dress on sale at £7

Plain White Tee £2.99 (It's for a DIY)

Primark

Wool Tartan Skirt £10

Mens Flannel & T-Shirt £12

Long Cream Cardigan £12

Double Buckle Boots £15 

I haven't been very impressed with these as I have been wearing them to school and the sole is already coming off them.

Necklace 3 Pack £3

So where have you been shopping of late?

My Fall Essentials

Rather than doing a September favourites post I decided to do a fall favourites/essentials type post because Fall is quite possibly my favourite season, but I kinda say that about every season except Spring to be honest.

Except for my obvious essentials like big cosy sweaters, mug fulls of hot chocolate/coffee and new boots, three very important things to me during Fall are of course candles, dark lipsticks and even darker nails.

My darkest lipstick (Is it a lipstick? I'm never sure.) is my Apocalips in Eclipse which I adore and wear sooo often in the autumn/winter months. The Bourjois Colour Boost is a rather new addition to my collection but one that I am again loving! Its a strong, long lasting, glossy formula needing minimal touch ups.

Apocalips in left and Colour boost on the right

And two of my favourite autumn candles (the Sugar and Spice one from Tesco's is actually my favourite candle ever, even beating my yankee candles.) help make my bedroom smell like Autumn even if it isnt. The left one is from Tesco and smells delicious and the right one is a Glade Vanilla one which smells just like vanilla fudge and I loveeeeeee it.

And finally the two nail colours I have been swapping between over the last 3 weeks are Barry M Matte nail paint in Crush and a grey BeautyUK one that doesn't seem to have a name. Being the rebellious child that I am I have taken to painting my nails in my free periods at school :0 which inevitably means I end up with at least three dreadfully smudged. 

So there we go, a round up of a few of my autumn favourites, tell me yours so I can have a look...