Too many fillers, and not enough thrillers: Prism by Katy Perry...

PRISM is the fourth studio album by Katy Perry, and was released by Capitol Records in October 2013. The record label claims that PRISM a prominently Swedish dance music-inspired record, with most of the tracks on the album revolving around the themes of living in the present, relationships, and self-empowerment.

Katy is the main song-writer and producer on PRISM and once again works with past collaborators Dr. Luke, Bonnie McKee, and Cirkut. The other main collaborators on the album included Max Martin, StarGate, Benny Blanco, Juicy J, Jonatha Brooke, Sia Furler, Bloodshy, and Klas Åhlund.

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Track-wise; the four most personal songs on PRISM [Unconditionally, Ghost, Love Me, and By The Grace Of God] are by far the best. These songs are all raw and emotional lyrically, the music on them doesn't sound as disjointed as it does on the other tracks, and Katy is vocally strong on them. However - as Unconditionally [#25] showed - I don't think any of Katy's better songs are the best choices for singles, as they don't have catchy lyrics or a pop-friendly hook for radio which is what her sales figures rely on.

I'd class lead single Roar, This Is How We Do, International Smile, and the pre-album turned official single Dark Horse as above average. I don't find them as strong as my previous picks, but the lyrical content is catchy and Katy's vocals are good, so the songs have grown on me. I think that the three unreleased songs would probably be top picks for future singles, as they are what I think of as very radio-friendly.

The other tracks? Out of the rest of the album the only song that has proven to be memorable to me is fourth single Birthday, and that is only because I find it kinda cringy. None of the remaining songs stand out to me in either a great or bad way, so whilst PRISM isn't an album that I'd call bad I think it has way too many forgettable tracks on it to be classed as anything better then average; the 'filler' songs just make all of the tracks lump together and become empty noise.

Out of the three bonus tracks that appear on the deluxe edition, two of them [It Takes Two and Choose Your Battles] are growers; they didn't stand out for me for ages, but now I've come to appreciate the honest lyrics. 

The weak link here is Spiritual. There's nothing about it that stands out that would make me call it a bad or especially cringy song, but this also means that the song is unmemorable to me - five minutes after listening to it I still can't remember any single line from it.

I personally think that the way the soft-rock inspired instrumentals have been infused with dancehall synths just seems clumsy to my ears, so doesn't work for me on a lot of the tracks. Same deal with the vocal effects - I don't mind singers using them with dancier pop as I think it fits in with the music, but as Katy leans strongly towards soft rock I don't think it gels with most of the tracks.

It's a shame, as Katy does have the material here. If she'd had fewer tracks on the regular edition and had used the deluxe edition tracks on it instead of having two versions of the album, then the stronger songs would have saved the otherwise unmemorable ones, making Prism a 4 star album. Quantity doesn't make up for quality in this case.

Read on for a complete album breakdown...

We ain't goin' to tha candy shop: Crazy Color in Candy Floss (65) by Renbow...

As soon as I looked in the mirror after applying Candy Floss, I knew that it would be a miss for me; I carefully applied the colour to my whole head but, as you can see, the pale pink only stuck to some of it in random spots, leaving me all patchy.

In a flash: Flashlightening 40 volume Complete Maximum Hair Lightening Kit by Manic Panic...

I mentioned a few post ago (here) that I'd bought a Flashlightening bleach kit to use on my hair to make the most out of the various shades of vivid hair colour I'd just bought, so now I'm going to attempt to try and use it without any major upsets. Wish me luck...

MANIC PANIC FLASHLIGHTNING Complete Bleach Kits were created not only to be the perfect complement to MANIC PANIC Semi Permanent Hair Colors, but also to give you a high quality hair lightening kit that will make you "Platinum Blonde like Blondie" and "as white as Andy". 

FLASHLIGHTNING is strong stuff, with 30 and 40 volume developer, guaranteeing dramatic results. To obtain the most intense colors from our MANIC PANIC Semi Permanent hair dyes we suggest you first lighten your hair with FLASHLIGHTNING Complete Bleach Kits. NO NEED TO BUY ANY EXTRAS. Complete means you get everything from developer with bleach powder to mixing tub to gloves to tint brush to cap. Along with all this comes step by step instructions, plus instructions on how to do a preliminary strand test, which is always an essential part of the process.  

TIPS Remember to shampoo out all the FLASHLIGHTNING from your hair thoroughly before you apply MANIC PANIC Hair Color. Leftover bleach residue on the hair can prevent the hair color from processing properly.  

BLEACH RESULTS ARE PERMANENT.  

Read all instructions and perform strand test before using FLASHLIGHTNING - Manic Panic

As you can see in this photo taken the day before lightening my hair, the old pink dye had mostly washed out - there were just few stubborn patches left over my failed ombre attempt, which I was too impatient to leave and wait to fade on their own. The brown in my hair is also dye, so my Flshlightening kit had a lot to work through...

I'e tried bleaching my own hair a few times over the years and have failed miserably each time, so I enlisted the help of my sister this time in the hope of a better result.

Did it work?

A dark Fantasy reboot - Fantasy: The Naughty Remix edp by Britney Spears...

Britney Spears presents two new versions of her best selling and most popular fragrance Fantasy - The Naughty Remix and The Nice Remix. 

The Naughty Remix is made for moments when you feel a bit dangerous and daring, while The Nice Remix is in touch with your softer side. Both fragrances are made to emphasize certain notes of the original - Fragrantica 

I wanted some over-head headphones for when I'm watching DVDs on my laptop, as using my in-ear ones all of the time isn't very comfortable. I was going to TK Maxx to buy some that I liked the look of, but walked by Superdrug recently and saw the various gift bags they had [gift wrapping various best-selling perfumes and past free-gifts-with-purchases together] displayed for Easter; one of the gift-sets in the window had the perfume Fantasy: The Naughty Remix paired with pink headphones.

As a fan of the original Fantasy I'd been meaning to try the new perfume out but had never gotten around to it, but seeing as the set was cheaper to buy then the similar-looking headphones in TK Maxx I made an impulsive blind buy...

Thinking pink: Renbow Crazy Color semi-permanent hair dye in Cyclamen....

I've wanted to use a pink dye on my hair for as along as I can remember [probably due to the fact that I love Jem and had all of the VHS tapes and dolls] but I'm painfully shy and suffer from anxiety issues, so have never been brave enough to do something that would make me stand out from the background - trying a few of the red and darker purple shades by Schwarzkopf was really wild for me, and that took me a few years of working up to.

Anyway now I'm 30 I've finally reached the point where I can honestly say that I don't care if people look and judge me for how I look or whatever I'm wearing, so after being left a bit underwhelmed by the results of the L'Oreal Intense Ombres kit [my fault for accidentally buying the strongest one], I decided to work with the new bleach in my hair rather then cover it back up by finally trying a shade of intense pink hair dye over it...


My first [and only as it turned out] port of call in my search for a pink hair dye was Amazon, where I found hundreds to choose between, so I narrowed it down to Crazy Color simply because it is inexpensive and if i didn't work I wouldn't be wasting loads of money. Renbow says that the Crazy Color range lasts between 4 to 8 washes, and for the low price I thought that you can't really complain with that.

After umming and ahhing over the large colour selection in the brand for a while I finally choose the shade Cyclamen as it has the best of three worlds; it a hint of red and purple at first, with a strong undertone of pink. The scattered customer reviews stated that the pink undertone is meant to grow stronger as the dye fades.

What the instructions on the bottle say:

Crazy Color does not require the addition of peroxide. For optimal results apply to pre-lightened hair.

After shampooing, towel dry your hair.
Apply Crazy Color direct, spreading evenly over the hair (wear gloves).
Leave for 15/30 minutes, then rinse thoroughly until water runs clear.

[via Crazy Color]


What I Did:

I applied the dye into my freshly washed and still damp hair with gloved hands, starting at the roots.


I remembered that when I previously used a semi-permanent dye it advised placing a plastic cap over my head to lock in heat, to help the pigments develop. So I improvised and paced a carrier bag over my hair.


I have thick hair so decided to leave the dye on my hair for an hour to let it really sink in [it's vegetable dye so you won't damage your hair].


I then rinsed my hair until water ran clear, but didn't use shampoo, conditioner, or any other products on my hair.

I also remember a magazine article where a hairstylist who works in TV said to leave your hair for 48 hours after being dyed, before washing it again. So that's something I always do now.


I couldn't find a customer review for Crazy Color which detailed exactly how well that the dye lasts, I decided to do my own and use photo evidence so other people who are interested in the brand can see the results and make up their own minds.

I'll take two closeup shots (with flash) and one natural lighting portrait after each hairwash, to see just how well this product holds up [I never use any form of enhancement software on any of my photos].

Before application