Festival Trend: Tropical Prints ♡

Festival season is well and truly in full swing, so shops are full of lots of festival appropriate pieces!  I'm off to Bestival this year, where the theme is 'Desert Island Disco'!  This means I'm on the hunt for some tropical summery pieces.  Here's some of my picks from the high street! 

1)  Tropical Print Flippy Shorts - £10.00 - BooHoo (buy here) 

Since normally, I don't wear a huge amount of colour, so I like that these are monochrome with a few bursts of colour.  This style of shorts are also perfect for summer, as they have a pretty, feminine look of a skirt but are still super practical!  Teamed with a plain white t-shirt, this would be a winning look.  They could also be worn with tights if the weather isn't so great!

2) Oversized Shirt - £12.00 - ASOS (buy here)

You can never go wrong with an oversized shirt, and this could be worn with a pair of denim cut off shorts to counteract how formal the shirt can look.  It could also be used a cover up, as it gets cooler during the evening.  It's such a gorgeous print, and it perfect for the summer.

3) Palm Tree Print Pinafore - £22.99 - ASOS (buy here)

A more subtle tropical print, if you don't want something too crazy!  This has adorable tiny palm trees on, and would look adorable with a coloured t-shirt, and of course, wellies!

4) Tropical Flower Garland - £7.00 - ASOS (buy here)

Flower garlands seem like a no brainer for festival style, and this tropical one is even better for the Bestival theme!  This would also be great for covering gross hair - no one has good hair by the last day of a festival!

5) Island Girl Sunglasses - £4.50 - Forever 21 (buy here)

Did someone say tropical print sunglasses?  Oh my god, it's real.  These are adorable and perfect for a festival!  Plus, prefect for hiding those eye bags when you can't be bothered with concealer!

Hope you enjoy my tropical picks!  What are your favourite kind of prints for summer?

A Gel Liner Virgin ♡

I love a good cat eye.  I've been wearing one pretty much everyday since I was 15, so I've got a lot of practice behind me.  I've always been happy using a drugstore liquid liner or a felt tip liner.  But there's a lot of buzz around gel liner at the moment, and I've been wandering what I've been missing out on.  So, I decided to lose my gel liner virginity.  I have the Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner (buy here)  in Black Ink.

I must say, gel liner seems pretty intimidating before the first time you apply it.  I spent a lot of time looking at it thinking "how?" but I found it a lot easier than I anticipated.  I used the little brush that came with the liner, and it is much more difficult to get a really fine line with this, but for a statement cat eye, I'm quite a fan.

This liner is super black - none of that weird greyish black liner rubbish.  It also stays on for ages!  I've been testing this for a few days now, some of which I'll have it on for up to twelve hours - it looks just as good at the end of the day as it did at the beginning.  The more I use this, the more I like it.  Could I be a gel liner convert in the near future?  We'll see!

What is your favourite liner to use for a cat eye?

Travel Make Up Bag ♡

I travel quite a bit - my boyfriend lives roughly a three hour train journey from me, so I go on visits quite frequently.  You'd think with all this travelling, I'd be pretty good at packing.  No.  I'm really really not.  At home I have drawers and drawers full of make up, and I like to have a lot of choice when I get ready in the morning.  So having to commit to one base, or two lip products for a whole week is not something I do well.  I'm normally sat with swatches all over my hand in an attempt to whittle down my lip products.  It's tough!  I thought I'd show you what I'm taking with me this time!

I also thought I'd share a tip with you!  I pack my make up bag a few days before, then in the days leading up to the trip, I do my make up with what's in the bag.  That way I'll know if I forget anything crucial!

Primers:

I don't have a massive amount of primers, so I only take one.  That's the L'Oreal Lumi Magique Pure Light Primer (buy here).  It gives your face a really lovely glow, and I use it everyday!

Bases:

Obviously I take my Benefit Big Easy (buy here), which you probably could have guessed, because it's all I seem to talk about lately... oops.  Another favourite for the summer though, is the Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream (buy here), which is a super lovely light base, and has lovely staying power.  This had a lot of hype surrounding it when it first came out, but now everyone seems to have forgotten about it!  

Concealers:

I'll never know why I over-pack when it comes to concealers, but I always do.  What if a huge spot appears and I need concealers of all varieties?  Well I'll be prepared.  I take three.  The Bourjois Healthy Mix (buy here), the Maybelline Eraser Eye Concealer (buy here) and the Revlon Colour Stay Concealer (buy here).  I've tried a lot of drug store concealers, and these ones really take the cake for me.  I wouldn't be without them!

Powder:

I'm not a huge fan of powders anymore, but I do like to powder my t-zone to keep things from getting oily.  I use the Revlon Nearly Naked Pressed Powder (buy here).  This one is super light, and most definitely one of my favourites!  A good one for the summer.

Blushes:

Two blushes in the make up bag - one cream, one powder.  The cream, of course, being the Bourjois Little Round Pot Cream Blush in Nude Velvet (buy here) and powder being the Rimmel Lasting Finish Mono Blush in Santa Rose (buy here).  Both super natural blushes, as I rarely go for anything else.

Bronzer:

There's only one bronzer for me at the minute, and that's the Body Shop Honey Bronzer (buy here).  I have it in the lightest shade, and it's the best thing that's happened to my make up bag in a while! 

Highlight:

The Bourjois Poudre de Riz de Java (buy here) is such a beautiful glowy powder highlight.  I'm also a big fan of the packaging!!

Eyes & Brows:

I don't bother taking eye shadows with me when I travel, I just use a little bit of concealer on my eyelids to hide any veins.  I love a good cat eye, so the Soap & Glory Supercat Liner Pen (buy here) is a must.  This is the best eyeliner pen I've tried, and it's really easy to get a great flick with this!  I wouldn't be without the Benefit They're Real! Mascara (buy here) when it comes to lashes.  I don't think it's a waterproof mascara, but it doesn't seem to budge from my eyelashes that easily, so I like it for summer.  The Soap & Glory Archery Brow Tint and Pencil (buy here) is a lifesaver for me.  I've talked about it before on here, and you know I love it.  To set my brows, I go for the cheapest clear mascara I can find.  At the moment I'm using the Miss Sporty Just Clear Mascara (buy here) and it's doing a pretty good job.

Lips:

My lip product collection is getting kind of ridiculous now, and it's so hard to choose a few!  I usually go for one natural colour, one red, and a few different pinks.  I really love a pink lip!  The red I'm taking this time is a Revlon Colour Burst Matte Balm in Standout (buy here).  This is a really pretty redish pinky colour, and has great lasting power.  I'm a big fan of these kind of chubby stick dupes!  Obviously I wouldn't be without my Revlon Lip Butters (buy here), and I'm taking the colours Raspberry Pie and Lollipop.  Two super pretty eye-catching pinks.  For my natural lip, I've really been loving the Collection Cream Puff Lip Cream (buy here) in Cotton Candy.  It's a really pretty 'my lips but better' colour, with a matte finish.  It does require a bit of topping up throughout the day, but at £2.99 you really can't go wrong.

That's everything!  What are your beauty travel essentials?

Five Product Face ♡

I use quite a lot of products on my face everyday - I'll admit that happily.  But sometimes it's nice to wear lighter make up, so I decided what kind of look I could create using only five products.  For a lot of people, that's no biggie - I used barely wear any make up at all, so a year ago I would be doing this everyday.  I'm not sure what happened since then. but only five products seems like an alien concept to me now!  Here's the look I created and the products I used!

It's a very natural look, but I think it's a really good one for summer, where you don't want loads of make up on!  I used the Benefit Big Easy (buy here), which you're most probably fed up of me talking about, but it's the perfect base for summer!  I don't need much coverage, and I love the cream to powder finish.  It has really good staying power, so is a great one for a busy day!

To conceal any problem areas - there are a lot at the moment, talk about a bad skin week - I use the Bourjois Healthy Mix Concealer (buy here) which is a great all-rounder when it comes to concealers.  This one works wonders for both dark under eye circles, and also the many blemishes that are taking over my face (gross).

Since naturally, my eyebrows are barely there (my eyebrows fell out for no real reason about a year ago, and haven't properly grown back) a brow product had to be one of my five!  The Soap & Glory Archery Tint and Pencil (buy here) is an absolute life saver for me!  It has felt tip kind of thing on one end, then a waxy pencil on the other.  You can create a really natural looking brow with this, and it nicely hides any random bald spots!

Of course mascara is a must, so I went for the Benefit They're Real! Mascara (buy here) which is probably the best mascara I've ever tried!  Every blogger raves about this, so you've probably heard all you need to know prior to reading this post!

I was unsure whether to go for a blush, bronze, highlight or lip product for my final choice.  I needed something to brighten my face up a little.  I decided on my favourite cream blush - the Bourjois Little Round Pot Cream Blush in Nude Velvet (buy here).  This added a nice flush of colour to my face to make me look a little more healthy and alive!

Would you struggle to create a look with only five products?

How Much Does Your Daily Face Cost? ♡

Do you ever think about how much you really spend on make up and it makes you cringe and squirm?  Me too.  So for some reason I've decided to find out how much my daily face costs to create.  I'm only going to factor in make up for this post - I think if I added in skincare and brushes as well the number at the end would make me feel mega sick.  Let's not go there today!  Anyway, down to some maths!

Face: 

L'Oreal Lumi Magique Primer - £9.99 (buy here)
Benefit Big Easy - £27.50 (buy here)
Boujois Healthy Mix Concealer - £7.99 (buy here)
Maybelline Eraser Eye Concealer - £7.99 (buy here)
Body Shop Honey Bronzer - £13.00 (buy here)
Bourjois Cream Blush - £7.99 (buy here)
Bourjois Poudre de Riz de Java - £9.99 (buy here)
Revelon Nearly Naked Powder - £7.99 (buy here)

Face total: £92.44

Eyes/Brows:

Soap & Glory Archery Brow Tint & Pencil - £10.00 (buy here)
Miss Sporty Clear Mascara - £2.99 (buy here)
Soap & Glory Supercat Eyeliner Pen - £6.00 (buy here)
Benefit They're Real! Mascara - £19.50 (buy here)

Eyes/Brows total: £25.50

Lips:

Revelon Lip Butter - £7.99 (buy here)

Lip total: £7.99


TOTAL: £125.93

It's surprising how it all adds up!  I never really think about my daily make up to be a luxury thing, but when you add the cost of each piece up it's pretty shocking - especially since most of my products are drugstore!  I do only tend to buy make up when they are offers on (hello 3 for 2 at Boots...), so I don't think I actually paid the full amount, but still a pretty hefty price tag on my boring everyday face!

Also, a quick disclaimer!  This post isn't bragging about how much my make up collection is worth, it's purely out of interest.  

How much does your face cost? 

Summer Nail Favourites ♡

I always have my nails painted -  I really can't be doing the 'naked nails' thing.  I thought I'd show you what I'm wearing on my nails for the warmer season!

Pastels

You really can't go wrong with a pastel nail for summer!  All my pastel shades are from Barry M.  I love these polishes as they're super affordable, but also brilliant quality.  They are opaque with two coats, and pretty durable.  I always add a top coat though, just to make them extra life-proof!  Here are my picks:

•  Blue Moon - £2.99 (buy here)
• Berry - £2.99 (buy here)
• Gelly Hi Shine in Rose Hip - £3.99 (buy here)

Brights

There's nothing more summery than a bright nail if you ask me, and as you may see from the photo, my choices have been very well loved!  

• No 7 Gel-Look Shine in Mint Treat - £7.00 (buy here)
• No7 Stay Perfect in Stand Back - £6.00 (buy here)
• Rimmel Lasting Finish in Ballet Pump Perfection - £2.99 (buy here)

Glitters

People tend to neglect glitter nails in the warmer months, as they seem to be seen as a more festive thing, but I think they can still look summery -  and they also make you look more tanned!  They may be a pain to remove, but I'm still a fan!

• No7 Stay Perfect in Daisy Darling - £6.00 (buy here)
• Umberto Gianni in Oyster - can't find this one online anywhere!  I got it as part of a gift set - let me know if you see it anywhere!

Removing it all?

When it comes to buying nail varnish remover, I usually just go for the cheapest one at which ever supermarket or drugstore I'm at, and this has lead me to finding the best one ever!  Can I get a yay for the Extra Strength Nail Polish Remover by Sainsbury's (buy here)!?  It got glitter nail polish with with no problem!?  I don't think I'll ever stray from this now, it's amazing!  Plus super cheap - what a find!  

What are your favourite nail colours for summer?

Lush Portsmouth Summer Skin Event ♡

Obviously I haven't been blogging long, so when the opportunity came along for me to attend the Lush Portsmouth blogger event I was thrilled!  I've been a fan of Lush products for a long time, and honestly - who doesn't love a Lush bath bomb?  But this was the Summer Skin event, and I can't say I've tried many skincare products from Lush, but as someone who has a bit of obsession with skin care products, of course I was completely open to trying products!  The staff at the event we so lovely and helpful, and I'm so grateful for being invited!  Also, beware... there may be images of feet ahead!     

We were truly pampered at this event, from head to toe - literally!  The first thing we did was a foot pampering session!  I am completely guilty of neglecting my feet a bit, even in summer!  First we scrubbed our feet with the Stepping Stone Foot Scrub (buy here) which gets rid of dead skin, whilst softening your feet.  It also contains essential oils, to really give your feet some TLC.  What a treat!

It also turns the water green!

Then we used the Volcano Foot Mask (buy here), and I had never used a foot mask before, but this was really nice.  We covered the bottoms of our feet in this, then left for ten minutes.  When you wash it off, your feet feel soft like you can't imagine!  We did cover our feet in cling film while we had this on so we could put our feet down and walk around without making a mess.  

Then we finished off with the Fair Trade Foot Lotion (buy here) and the T for Toes Foot Powder (buy here), and the foot lotion really moisturises your feet, then the powder dries them off, and is good for use before a long day walking, as it soaks up any moister and keeps your feet fresh all day!  This was such a lovely pamper session, and I'll definitely be doing this again at home!  

After this we had one to one consultations with a member of staff.  All the staff know the products so well, and are able to recommend the right products for you!  If you're ever unsure about what to go for in Lush, just ask someone!  We were shown around the store, and each different collection of products, then recommended something that would be good for us.  The event was focused on how to care for and prep your skin for the sun, and Lush have actually brought out a collection of sunscreens!  I'm really excited about trying them out for real in the sun, since they feel so nice on the skin, just like a moisturiser.  I usually find that suncreams can feel sticky and thick, but these are really light on the skin, and there is a range of different SPF strengths to choose from.  I will be doing a post in the near future with reviews and first impressions of the products I've been lucky enough to bring home with me!  They also let us test out many of the products - honestly, my arms have never felt so soft! 

We also got to make our own face mask!  We made the Catastrophe Cosmetic Mask (buy here) which did involve getting our hands (well rubber gloves) dirty, but was obviously really fun!  They actually use real blueberries in this, and I tried it when I got home, and it feels so nice on the skin!  

It was so lovely to meet other bloggers as well!  We all got on so well, and I'm so grateful for being able to attend this event!  Here is a photo of us from Alice's instagram!

 From left to right - Alice, Amy, Man Yee, me, and Becky!  Check out their blogs!

Sorry for the picture spam, I couldn't chose one!  A post will be coming soon with product reviews - Lush were very generous with goodie bags!  I just need a little time to use the products a couple of times to get a proper feel for them!  I had such a lovely time at this event, and feel so lucky to have been invited!  

What Lush products are your favourite?