A muggles view into the wizarding world of Harry Potter

Sipping the famous 'butterbeer'

 Muggles are granted access into the iconic halls of Hogwarts and a peek inside some of the famous Harry Potter film sets. The making of Harry Potter is unveiled and I found out that it really is just as wonderful up close as it is on screen. Although the Harry Potter franchise ended in 2012, Warner Brothers has kept the legendary ‘boy who lives’ alive. The Harry Potter studio tour offers fans from all over the world a behind the scenes look at how the films were made. If your big Harry fans like me then trust me you will not be disappointed by this tour, everything is the real deal.

After a quick, teasing film in which the three young stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson hint that the secrets of the films will be laid bare. The opening segment of the tour really begins when a full sized screen sweeps up to reveal the actual Great Hall seen in all eight films, it was an incredible start and kicked off the tour in style. The great hall is one of the most impressive with such stunning detail and beautiful features. Here holds iconic props from the films such as eleven year old Harrys first ever set of robes. It is however a shame looking up at the “enchanted ceiling” and finding a black metal gantry.

Wandering through the beginning of the tour is great fun, we was told it would take anything from three hours, depending on how much you truly wanted to explore. One of the things I loved is with almost everything that was on display came with a little paragraph explaining and giving  you a little extra insight. 

 

There was too much to be able to share all in the first section as you got to explore and see so many different things. Amazing sets were featured here including: Dumbledore’s office, the boy’s dormitory, the ministry of magic, potions classroom, Hagrid’s hut and the Weasley’s kitchen to name a few. So many amazing props including: costumes from the Yule ball, all of Voldemort’s Horcruxes, the philosopher’s stone, the goblet of fire, the moving staircase, Gringott’s vault door, and so many more iconic film props. All of these sets and props have made a home here and brought back many memories of the book and film franchise.

 

  

  

Being a recently graduated journalist one of the things that instantly caught my eye was the display cabinet that had some many detailed things displayed including the Maudauder’s Map, Harry’s first letter from Hogwarts, a letter from Lily to Sirius. But the real eye catches were the displayed issues of the quibbler magazines and Daily Prophet Newspapers. It was incredible to see all the detail that goes into each one that only one page might have been seen in the film. If there was a dream job designing these would certainly be up there.

Dream job yes?

One of the biggest highlights for me was entering the external area where such wonders as No 4 Privet Drive, the knight bus, Hogwarts Bridge and the Potters Godricks Hollow house awaits. This was a perfect opportunity for photo spots and a chance to sit and have a snack break if fancied. Here I also got the chance to finally try the super sweet non-alcoholic butter beer that most young wizards enjoyed throughout the films. Sadly it was far too sweet to enjoy, with a sickening mix of ice cream and cream soda.

Seeing if Harry's home!

Anyone for chess?

Entering the second building of the tour was where all the special effects characters really took a chance shine. We were greeted by masks of the goblins, werewolfs, and other fantastic creations including Hagrid’s ginormous head, 12 foot Aragog, a lifesize Buckbeak, Kreacher and the wonderful house elf Dobby were all of display to see here.

As we made our way out of there it was onto yet another one of the iconic film sets: Diagon Alley. This street was filled with almost every shop you have seen in the films, Along with the famous bank Gringotts the street included: Ollivanders Wand Shop, Eeylops Owl Emporium, Flourish and Blotts, Madam Malkin’s Robes and the newest and most dazzling Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes that had some stunning creations and designs alone.

Next we got a chance to see some of the fantastic artwork up close with art displayed on the wall of all the different things spoke about throughout the seven books and miniature creations of the buildings, and sets. Once through the artwork you are led to an incredible scale model of Hogwarts which took 86 people and six months to build. This was another photo opportunity and the view of everyone’s favourite castle was breath-taking.

 The tour came to an end in Ollivander’s wand shop where thousands of wands were displayed and I believe that the names printed on them are those who took part in the making and filming of Harry Potter. You come out in the harry potter gift shop and here you can look around and buy some iconic souvenirs from the day, you can buy almost anything Hogwarts related from robes and firebolt broomsticks to Chocolate frogs and sweets. You can also buy wands that are each individuals characters. Although the gift shop, is quite pricey they are memories to take away. Jumpers featuring the different houses on were £70, whereas the mugs were more reasonable at £9.99.  

After I bought the ticket for my best friend for her 21^st birthday last year we eventually got round to going in February and it was so worth the wait. Making a weekend of it we stayed in central Watford on the Saturday night in a lovely little hotel.

Although the industrial estate I Leavesden, just outside of Watford is something even he-who-must-not-be-named couldn’t have conjured up such a bland spot, however look past the grey building and you will find that something magical is going on inside. The London location is ideal and the price ticket at just £30 makes this a perfect day out for all the family and I cannot wait to go again.

Everything that you saw and got to be apart of within the tour showed you just how much time, effort, designing and pure dedication from so many different people went into making J K Rowling’s books come to life. I could not credit once you see all the individual sets and the work put in, reflects how many people worked on the film and it became apparent at just how much ingenuity and effort when into the films. I think it is amazing and an experience I will never forget.  

Enjoying my fruit tea in my HP mug

The harry potter tour is something that you can keep going back to enjoy and I think each time you go new and quirky hidden features will unravel that you may have missed before. I do hope Harry Potter lives on within this studio and can be enjoyed by future generations to come, who will be able to explore the magical world of Harry Potter as we have growing up.   

Ryanne
♥

‘How is posting a picture without make up going to help cure cancer?’.

One of the main questions being asked all over social media this week is ‘how is posting a picture without make up going to help cure cancer?’. When the whole craze of the make-up free selfie nominations first arose at the beginning of the week I didn't really know what to expect. Originally I thought that the whole thing was not going to help in the bigger picture, but after more and more pictures popped up I knew that this had to be serious.

Over the past 36 hours my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram has become full of natural skinned girls posting their bare faced selfie in an attempt to raise awareness for cancer charities. Social Media crazes tend to come and go, but important issues like cancer is where we should all be coming together and supporting the charities.

I have also seen a lot of negativity surrounding this. With many people simple stating that this is pointless and people should be putting a £1 in charity box rather than posting a make-up free picture. But surely aren’t these people missing the point? The whole idea of this was to raise awareness of cancer campaigns and charities not just about money. By all these ladies posties their bare faces, and all the negativity surrounding this for doing so, is getting people involved and talking about cancer. It is already raising the profile of all the campaigns and charities out there so it is doing its job! Even if it helps just one person can an early diagnosis so they have a better chance to fight then it is a job well done to me.

I have seen so many people stating they have donated to cancer research and other charities after seeing all the conversations on these various social media platforms. The majority of people would not have donated money to these charities without this awareness and I suspect many  more than I have seen have so this is an incredible Many of the ladies posting these photos donated, I did. There is a simple option to text BEAT to 70099, this donated £3. But being Tenerife it’s hard for me so I simply headed over to the website and donated £5, you can do it here http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/

There is also a mens version that has erupt over the past 12 hours with men posting a ‘make-up selfie’. Although this is releasing quite silly pictures, it is showing their support too and if the men are help and donating too then it is even better and raising awareness even more.  

 It is amazing that this craze has encouraged so many people to donate to cancer research, so that one day this horrid disease may be cured.

 Sophie Jones story has also emerged in recent weeks. 19 year old Sophie suffered severe stomach pains for weeks and was refused a smear test as doctors said she was too young to have the disease. When doctors discovered later she had cervical cancer it had already spread to other parts of her body and was incurable.

Sophie’s friends and family are campaigning for the age to be lowered, currently it is 25 years old. So that less young women lose their life as a result of this disease. I am highly backing this and added my name to the petition straight away. If you haven’t signed the petition yet keep the support going and add yours here http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/62385

 Cancer to me is close to home, like others all across the world I have had family members suffer from this terrible disease. At the moment my incredible and beautifully brave Granny is suffering from chronic leukaemia and if there was any simple thing out there to help cure this and stop her suffering I would.

Like Sophie, my granny and so many others that are affected by cancer, just stop and think when you make a negative remark about raising awareness on this issue. We should all join together and support this. If raising awareness would get us closer to curing this disease then I would post no make-up pictures every day for the rest of my life!

Ryanne  ♥

The do's and don't's of darker lippy

I have recently fallen in love with the latest trend of darker lips, the plum and purple lippy shades especially have become a major beauty essential in my make-up bag. Dark lipstick can sometimes leaving you looking like Halloween gone wrong, here are my tips on how to pull off this look and avoid the don’t of the lippy.

1. Ditch the daytime and save for the evening antics.

The darker shaded lipsticks including burgundy, plum and reds are much better with more dark and textured fabrics, black, navy, deep greens and purples are some of the perfect fitting colours. Avoid the brighter summer colours as they tend to clash. Save the lipstick for a big night out or event as the look becomes much more confident that the day time.

2. Avoid applying lip liner.

 Although lip liner is popular, it is something that I never really wear. I would avoid however when wearing darker lipstick as it can be slightly overwhelming and take the focus away from the lipstick.

3. Always try before you buy.

Take the time to look at all the different shades available that will suit you. From hair colour, to eye colour to skin type, all of these factors can help to make the final decision as what is best for you. Certain hair colours can influence the lipstick shade, deep plum and burgundy suit brunettes more as the hair colour balances the look out and supports the intense colour. If you have lighter hair, try to avoid the extreme dark shades and swap for the lighter plum and burgundy colours.

4. Let the lips do the talking.

Keep it simple. Avoid the smoky and detailed eyes, as you don’t want the look to be too intense or too much. Keep the eyes and cheeks bare and let the lips do all the talking. Let your look focus on the dramatic dark lipstick.

5. Remember to be chic not a gothic vampire.

One of the biggest fears when trying out these darker and daring lippies is looking like gothic. If you decide to wear a darker colours black dress with the darker shades, still keep the look chic. Team the outfit with brighter accessories, nails, shoes etc. to avoid the worst and looking like a goth vamp.

 

Here I kept the outfit simple, teaming a longer midi skirt with a crop tee and some killer heels. I didn't do my make-up too dramatic just added foundation, bronzer, mascara, falsh lashes and blusher and I was ready to party. The lippy I think really works well with this outfit and they compliment each other nicely. What do you think of this latest craze? Let me know what you think.

Ryanne ♥