Pokémon | Top 5 episodes of series 1 | Indigo League

I've been playing a lot of Pokémon lately. Pokémon yellow, Pokémon Gold, Pokémon Leaf Green, Pokémon Sapphire and so on and so forth...

I have rediscovered my love for the pocket monsters (that's what "Pokémon" stands for, did you know?!). For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the world of Pokémon (have you been living under a rock?), I'll explain a little bit about it...

It's an international, multi-billion dollar/pound/I'm not sure what currency, Japanese invention which began as a video game. It then expanded to playing cards, an anime TV series and more games. Pokémon are similar to animals but each kind of Pokémon has different abilities and can battle one another. Humans can catch Pokémon in a Pokeball and raise them, often to battle other Pokémon. The TV series revolves around Ash Ketchum whose goal is to become the world's greatest Pokémon trainer.

The first series is called Indigo League and most people agree that it's the greatest series. Like I mentioned above, it follows Ash, his first Pokémon, Pikachu and their two friends, Misty and Brock, as they trek around the Kanto region. So, without further ado, here are my top 5 favourite episodes!

WARNING: Although I've tried to be careful with a few episodes, I give away a good portion of the plot in others. If you don't like spoilers, don't read ahead!!

5. Episode 14: Electric Shock Showdown

The reason I love this episode is because we see Pikachu battle Raichu, its evolved state. Pikachu is my favourite Pokémon, as it is a lot of peoples. But the main reason that I chose this episode for my top 5 is because we see Pikachu choose whether to evolve or not. I thought it was sweet that Pikachu showed he wasn't completely controlled by Ash and that Pokémon actually have feelings and their own opinions. We learn that Raichu was forced to evolve way too soon by its trainer, Lt. Surge, the Vermilion City Gym leader. I found the battle pretty exciting!

4. Episode 17: Island of the Giant Pokémon

This episode takes place after the trio and Team Rocket escape the sunken St. Anne and get washed up on the shore of what they think is a deserted island by an army of Gyarados (a water Pokémon). The Pokémon are split up from their trainers and are trying to find their way back whilst the Poké-Gang and Team Rocket try to find them. This episode is in my top five because we actually get to see what the Pokémon are saying to one another and a lot of the time, it can be quite amusing! We get to see how the different Pokémon think and feel about their trainers. But it's not just Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander that get lost. We see Meowth (who can actually talk), Ekans and Koffing try to find their owners, Jessie and James of Team Rocket, and we get to hear them talk a bit too. All characters stumble upon mysterious giant Pokémon. I won't give the plot away or tell you why these Pokémon are so big but this episode is definitely one of my faves!

3. Episode 39: Pikachu's Goodbye

The gang find a pack of wild Pikachu in a forest and who eventually accept Ash's Pikachu as one of their own. Ash can see that his friend is happy in the group and makes the decision to leave him without asking Pikachu what he wants. I love the fact that Ash shows his love and compassion for his Pokémon once again. However, a strange song is played during this episode and I have to say I did cringe. Regardless, it's a heartwarming episode and yes, I got a little emotional at one point! Plus, there's a total overdose of Pikachu! <3 <3
(This episode is technically #39. The YouTube video says it's #37 because there were two episodes prior to this which were only aired in Japan.)

2. Episode 48: Holy Matrimony!

This might be a weird choice to most people but I'm a huge Team Rocket fan. Why? Well, unlike Ash, Misty and Brock, Team Rocket are constantly failing at whatever they set out to do. But this doesn't faze them. Jessie, James and Meowth always get back up and try again. It's this attitude that makes me love them. So why this episode? All the cast end up at a huge mansion which we find out belongs to James' parents. Jessie and Meowth realise he is from a rich family and force him to go inside in an attempt to get a little money but James is then told he must marry some dominatrix-style woman called Jessibelle (watch it and you'll understand the "dominatrix" reference). Jessie and Meowth presume James wants to stay but we get a really touching scene at the end and it really boosted my love for Team Rocket.

1. Episode 21: Bye Bye Butterfree

This episode secures the number one spot on my list for its huge impact on my heart - yes, I did cry! When I play the Pokémon games, I always catch a Caterpie and get it to evolve into a Butterfree (yes, I deal with its inbetween stage of Metapod!). Caterpie is known to many as a bit of a useless Pokémon. It isn't the strongest and it's not quite as cute as some of the others but I have a soft spot for it. The episode sees Ash's Butterfree fall in love with a pink Butterfree who continuously rejects it until he saves her from Team Rocket. The ending breaks my heart as Ash lets Butterfree go. Of course, there is a montage of some of the moments that the pair shared and a cute, emotional chat between them. This episode is definitely my favourite, no doubt about it. It's just too adorable!

Urban Decay Naked Flushed Palette in Streak || Review

Managed to get my hands on this little baby! 

I believe this colour (along with two others) doesn't come out in the UK until the end of the month but I could be wrong. I know you can definitely get them in the States.

This is the Urban Decay Naked Flushed palette in the colour Streak. It's £22 for 0.49oz. I always like to look at prices from a student budget, and I think this is totally affordable!

You get a bronzer, highlighter and blush in one palette. If I were to buy all three products individually, it would cost me at least double so I found this to be a bargain.

The palette comes in a soft coppery/rosy coloured, plastic case. It isn't metallic like the Naked 2 and Naked 3 palettes. If you've seen the original Flushed palette, then it's the same as that. The lid opens and shuts easily and it has a very slight magnetic pull to it to keep it shut in your makeup bag.

The original Naked Flushed palette is now called "Naked". For those that don't know, it contains a medium shade satin bronzer, a pale pink champagne-ish highlighter and a rose satin blush.

The other two new palettes are called Native (medium bronzer with a shimmer in it, a pale pink highlighter and a bright pink, matte blush which is super pigmented) and Strip (darkest bronzer of the palettes, a beautiful golden highlighter and a deep mauve, matte blush).

Bronzer: The Streak palette has the lightest shade bronzer so it's ideal for my pale skin and helps me achieve that natural look that I aim for. It's matte but on closer inspection, there is the slightest shimmer. This was another selling point for me. I like everything in matte. I don't mind a shimmer highlighter, of course, but I like everything else to be matte.

Highlighter: The palette contains a peachy highlighter which blends so beautifully with the blush. It's super shimmery and gorgeous.

Blush: I don't think I suit bright pink blush so I usually opt for corals or peachy shades (not orange though). As you can see below, this palette contains a coral-y blush which was 100% the biggest selling point for me. It also has a matte finish. What more could I want?!

You can blend the different parts together or put them on individually to create different looks. I chose Streak over the others because I think it suits my skin tone best. I don't like blushers which are too pink so this peachy colour really won me over as it isn't too orange or too pink. The trio isn't too powdery so it looks as natural as possible which is perfect for me.

Disclaimer: This review is 100% me. I BOUGHT this product. Urban Decay did not send it to me. The lady at a makeup counter brought me one from the back. I will not say which city/town I bought this in as I do not want her to get in trouble for selling me something too early. I always go to her when I want Urban Decay products - this is why she sold it to me.

Lush - Rub Rub Rub review

Back in April, I received a bunch of complimentary goodies from Lush (see my unboxing post here). 

On April 22, I reviewed the Comforter Bubble Bar and in that post (read here), I said I would review the other product that I had tested "tomorrow" i.e. April 23. In case you haven't guessed, I didn't review said product.

Almost a month later, and here it is - my Rub Rub Rub review!

Rub Rub Rub is first and foremost a body scrub but wait... what's this? It can be used on your hair? Um... 

Here are the facts:

☮ It contains 10 natural ingredients and 6 safe synthetics

☮ None of the ingredients were tested on animals

☮ It's vegan

☮ It costs £8.50 for a 330g tub (my tub is only 130g - I don't know how much this would cost)

My experience?

Smell-wise, it's amazing as expected. It has a jasmine/blossom smell to it and it is absolutely lovely. I'm not one for floral scents at all - not even in perfume. But this smelt wonderfully sweet and not too flowery at all. 

It has a bright blue colour to it which made me a little excited, if I'm honest. It's the small things in life...

The scrub can be used on dry skin for an intense exfoliating session or in the shower/bath.

It's made with fine sea salt which to me sounded a little bit scary but mostly just strange. Why? Well, salt is supposed to dry out your skin and hair and this product claims to "wash, volumise and add shine to hair".  

Fortunately, Rub Rub Rub leaves my skin feeling significantly softer after each use. When used on your hair, it removes unwanted oils and exfoliates your scalp. Weirdly, it did give my hair a little volume and I have completely flat hair normally.

Overall, I really liked this product. I loved the colour, smell and the results. You don't really need to use much at all so the cost is justifiable if you're on a student budget, like myself. I'd probably rate this an 8 out 10.

Thanks again, Lush!