Cinder (a review)

Synopsis: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future. 

Review: I don't really know where to begin with this review. I heard such great things about this book but was never compelled to by it when I'd see it in the bookstore. And then I found copies on the bargain table for $4.99 and decided to give it a shot.

I've been big on fairy tale retellings since I read Sisters Red and Sweetly by Jackson Pearce and Beastly by Alex Flinn. Even though I knew the older versions of those stories, the author managed to keep me engaged and guessing with different twists added to the story. Although Cinder has quite a big twist: she is a cyborg, there were no interesting elements to the plot that kept me wanting to read. I put the book down many times and struggled to pick it up again. I had some instances where I would try to guess what would happen. Even though I was on the right track, I felt that it was all anti-climactic. I will pick up part two, which is due next February only because we are left on a cliff hanger at the end of this book. I am hoping that the second book packs the punch that this one did not have.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Some beauty product reviews

I have a couple new beauty/makeup products that I am loving and have to share with you all.

live clean (Fresh Face)

The first is a moisturizer I recently picked up. I have been using Lush's imperialis cream but have found that over the last few weeks it has started to change colour and smell funny. So I wanted to try something new. I found this randomly at Shoppers Drugmart and decided to give it a go. I am very very impressed with this moisturizer. It is light-weight, but provides great hydration. It sinks into your skin and doesn't leave a sticky film like some creams do.

Some added benefits:

• Plant derived
• Hypoallergenic
• Dermatologist tested
• Petroleum free
• Silicone free
• Mineral oil free
• Paraben free
• Phthalate free
• Dye free
• Phosphate free
• DEA free

The fact that it lists so many chemicals that are NOT in the cream is what first attracted me. It also has tons of great ingredients such as vitamin C. I think I have found my perfect face moisturizer!

Marcelle BB cream in light/medium

For months I have been hearing about BB creams. I wasn't really sure what they were and why people are loving them so much. I finally looked into it and the best way to describe it is that it is a foundation-like liquid that has some great skin benefits. The reason I say that it is foundation-like is because it is not as heavy as a foundation. It does not have heavy coverage but does a great job at evening out skin tone and giving your skin a little boost without the heavy makeup feeling. After testing out some samples at the drugstore, I settled on the Marcelle brand. This seems to be the preferred BB cream here in Canada. Here is what this product claims to do.

8-in-1 Multi Benefits:

1. Evens out skin tone
2. Offers immediate and long term hydration
3. Protects from premature aging and environmental stresses
4. Promotes skin regeneration
5. Controls shine
6. Soothes and calms
7. Reduces the appearance of imperfections
8. Provides anti-dull radiant complexion

I can't say that this product does all these things because I have only tried this out a couple of times. But I can say that it does a great job at moisturizing and it feels great on your skin. It also provides decent coverage of redness. If you're not a fan of heavy makeup and you're looking for a light coverage this is a great product.