PRETTY YOUNG THING

BEAUTY: MY MONTHLY FAVOURITES

30 July 2016

I haven't done a monthly favourites for a little while and i've been giving a few new products ago so thought i'd share some of my faves!

I've been giving the new BB cream from Clarins a try and it's amazing. It's a nice lightweight product but has really good coverage. It's so easy to blend and a really lovely finish.

I haven't wore blusher for soo long but i've been wearing my Nars Deep Throat blusher loads recently just to add that little pop of colour to my cheeks.

The Two Faced Chocolate palette is one of my favourites, i've been reaching for it alot recently. There's just so many different colours inside to choose from. There's a mixture of mattes and shimmers making it a great palette. Inside theres some gorgeous bronze shades and there's an amazing reddy/purple shade.

I really like the Rosie for Autograph range from M&S i've been using the Cream Eyeshadow sticks alot recently. They are so handy for a quick sweep of colour. They blend out easily and are so pigmented and available is lots of different shades.

The Urban Decay Primer Potion is an everyday staple for me. I tend to switch between the original and it in Sin. They are amazing, it makes your eyeshadow look better and last longer.

I've been using the New Clarins Surpa Volume mascara it gives amazing volume aswell as length. You don't need to add loads and loads of layers it's such an amazing mascara, i'm so impressed with this.

The NYX Micro brow pencil has been my go to brow product this month, its so easy to use and great for an everyday natural brow. I've also been using the Benefit Goof Proof pencil which I got in Elle magazine.

The Becca highlighter in Champagne Pop is my go to highlighter, I literally use it every single day, it's the best highlighter i've ever owned. It's so easy to apply and i've only just hit the pan, i've had it for awhile so it's lasted really well.

I've been trying to use some of my other lipsticks as i've been using Velvet Teddy like every single day. I've been loving my latest Mac Lipstick which is Whirl. It's another matte finish but it's darker than my usual nude shades. I love it though, it's a more sexy colour.

Finally the NYX soft matte lip cream in Stockholm which is a lovely pink/ nude shade. It applies easily and again I have been trying to use some of my other lip colours. The NYX soft matte lip creams are a really lovely formula and I think I might need to get a few more shades.

These have been my favourites this month, I've pretty much reached for these products since i've been back from Turkey. What are your monthly favourites?

* this post contains pr samples, I have not been paid for this blog post and the above comments are my own and honest.

BEAUTY: FESTIVAL ESSENTIALS

27 July 2016

There's about a month till Reading and Leeds so I thought i'd feature some festival beauty essentials. I've teamed up with Boots who have kindly sent me a few bits to feature, i've also added some of my festival beauty must haves!!

Hair Products - Dry shampoo is a must have for any festival, if your going to a festival that does have showers chances are they will be grim and the queues will be ridiculous so Dry Shampoo is going to be your best friend. I always have a stash of Batiste Dry Shampoo in my room, I do want to try the COLAB one as i've heard lots of good things.

Sea Salt spray / texturizing sprays are another must have for any festival. Hide the fact you haven't showered by using a salt spray to texurize your hair and create those beach waves giving your hair and extra day. I really like the Schwartzkopf Got2B beach matte spray as I find it works well and is easy to use. It's a light spritz and doesn't soak the hair and is easy to create those beach waves.

Make Up - The Clarins BB Skin Detox Fluid is very new to my make up collection but it's already a firm favourite of mine. It's a great all round product making it perfect for a festival. A BB cream already has moisturising properties so you wouldn't need to pack a moistuiser too. This one has spf 25 which is great since your going to be outside all day, it's a lovely lightweight product which lasts well all day long.

Bourjois Delice de Poudre Bronzing Powder, is a Blogger favourite but i've never tried it before. I've been giving it a try this week. This is a limited edition Festival version which you can get at Boots. The packaging is lovely and it's a great all round product, you can add that glow all over using this lovely matte bronzer.

The Limited Edition Tropical Festival range also includes a Mascara, which is a huge brush to add lots of volume to those lashes. I love having really full, thick lashes so this is the perfect mascara for me.

Boots also sent over this Sensationail starter kit which includes a UV lamp so you can do your own Gel Nails at home. Gel Nails always last so much longer than normal nail polish. You can use this set to turn your normal nail colours into a gel polish. I'm so excited to give this a try and it would be perfect if you were getting ready for a festival.

This Kiehls Lip Balm is perfect for chapped lips, protect lips from cold weather and wind.

After a late night at the main stage these Eye Treat Spa by Masque Bar are so good, they reduce the appearance of puffiness around the eye area. They are really handy and easy to use. You get 5 in a pack. Skin feels smoother and tighter.

These handy little hand sanitisers and wipes from Carex are so handy for the festival season. Festivals are not the most hygienic of situations so hand sanitiser is an essential and a packet of wipes will come in handy.

LIFESTYLE: HOUSEWARMING GIFT IDEAS

26 July 2016

Recently we've have quite a few friends that have been moving house and having babies and I feel like i've been buying lots of gifts this month. I wasn't sure what to buy our friends who were moving house, so I thought i'd put together a little gift ideas post to help anyone else in a similar situation. Our friends were not moving into their first home, they have lived together for a while so they had most things like appliances etc and I wasn't sure what they needed etc so I thought i'd pick up a few home bits and they loved it. I got a little basket from Primark and filled it with some cute bits like a candle and a sweet little sign for there new home. I forgot to photograph the actual basket but i've put together a few cute bits and pieces here so i'll go through and share some of my ideas.

A basket - I love this wicker basket, my mom actually got me this for one of my birthdays and she had filled it with beauty bits. It's been used for so many things and now it lives in my towel cupboard. You can get a cheap little basket from most home stores, I recently got one from my local b&m bargains for about £5. You could even use a plastic or wire alternative.

In my friends basket I got a little blanket from Primark which cost me £3.50, it was a gorgeous bright blue colour and had a nice geometric print on. I think these blankets are so handy, you can chuck it on when you watching a film and it gets cold or they are perfect for a picnic in the summer etc They have so many colours and prints that there's something for everyone.

Next up everyone loves a candle, this blue one is from Primark and is one of my favourite colours which is why I picked one up. I have quite the collection of candles around our apartment. They are an easy way to make a home feel cosy and you can get some really amazing scents. I would recommend TK Maxx for Candles as you can get some designer brands at great prices and really impress your friends.

I popped a cute little handwash into the basket too as sometimes it's the little things that count. Our friends new house has THREE bathrooms so they will need to pick up some extra bathroom essentials so little things like handwash and toothbrush holders start to add up when you have three bathrooms to stock up. I love this new scent from Carex, it smells like Lovehearts and smells so good!

Cookbooks! Our friends have loads of cookbooks but they are a great housewarming gift especially if your friends are keen cooks or have moved into a house with a much bigger kitchen. I love my Deliciously Ella Cookbook and I have a few baking ones too!!

A cute little art print or quote can be a very loving and thoughtful gift. You can order printable artwork from Etsy and they are really affordable, you can pop it into an ikea frame for a really lovely gift. Primark had some cute hanging plaques and quotes too which are lovely. I love my 'Don't be a prick' print by Ella Masters, it was one of the first home things I bought for our flat.

I picked up this cute Aloe Vera plant in Tesco the other day, usually I buy people flowers when they move into a new house but a plant is going to last them longer and something like a Cactus or Succulent is easy to keep and you can put it in any room, I love having green plants in the Kitchen.

Tea Towels! Another random gift but you can get some lovely tea towels right now, Primark always have some really cute afforable ones! My favourite place again is TK Maxx, My popcorn ones are actually Kate Spade and I picked them up last year in TK Maxx and they didn't cost that much. Cath Kidston is another great place for kitchen essentials like oven mitts and aprons.

FITNESS: MY WEIGHT LOSS UPDATE

25 July 2016

Today blog post is going to be about my weightloss journey and I thought i'd give you guys an update on how much weight i've lost and what fitness i've been doing.

My last update was in May, you can check that out here MAY UPDATE - I had lost 1 stone 6LB

So as you know I recently got back off my holiday I weighed in and I only put on 0.5lb which I was very chuffed with considering i'd been away for 10 days and been off plan for about two weeks.

Now i'm back and at group this week I lost 1lb !! So all together i've lost 2 stone 4.5 lb since I joined Slimming World back in March

I haven't been 100% on track since getting back from Turkey, i've been struggling with food as the weathers been really hot and humid here in the UK. I've had a few really good days and a few really bad days but I still lost which is good.

I want to try and get 100% back on track this week, I know it will be hard with it being warm and the kids holidays so we will be doing more things with friends but the main thing is to have fun and make good decisions.

I've pretty much just been doing Slimming World recently and haven't done much working out because I haven't had time and it's not so fun going for a jog when the sun is blazing and its sooo hot. I have however been walking to work alot and since I got Pokemon Go Clint and I have been going for a few evening strolls as usual i've been using my pedometer to make sure I get over 10,000 steps everyday.

To get to my target weight i've only got 6.5lb to go so now I want to shift it i'm going to be on plan and start excersising again. When I first started loosing weight I was drinking lots of Green Tea but i've since found myself drinking normal tea again so I was thinking I might pick up a Teatox to help shift those last few pounds as the Teatox helps to boost metabolism and cleanses your digestive system.

I'll be sure to keep you up to date with my weightloss and if you want to follow me on instagram I have a Slimming World account which I share my meals on.

Other posts i've done about Fitness and Slimming World

My Slimming World Journey So Far

What I Wear When I'm Working Out

My First Week At Slimming World

BEAUTY: AUTUMN MAKE UP RELEASES FROM CLARINS

24 July 2016

Hello, today i'm going to share some upcoming releases from Clarins that will be out in a few weeks.

This is a few new releases from the Autumn range, I thought i'd share my first impressions and i'll review them in full once i've used them all properly.

First up is my favourite product from the range which is the BB skin detox fluid, i've been using this for about a week and i'm really impressed with it. I went for the shade light as i've just got back from Turkey so i've got a tan. I did think this was going to be a little bit dark when I first swatched it but it's a perfect match. It blends so well and gives a gorgeous all over colour. Enriched with acerola seed which encourages skin oxygenation, meadowsweet extract to help maintains skins balance and aloe vera extract and hydraluronic acid complex to provide all day hydration. It also has spf 25 so it's great for everyday!

Next up the eyeshadow palettes, there is going to be 4 new palettes in the Autumn range. I have two of them here. I have 01 nude and 03 brown theres also 02 rosewood and 04 Oud ( Harrods & Selfridges Exclusive)
I always love the Clarins Eyeshaows, you can use these both wet and dry. They have a gorgeous selection of colours these are perfect for creating a smokey eye. There's a selection of Matte, satin and pearlescent shades in each palette which are easy to build up for a more dramatic eye look.

Finally theres a new mascara in the range too. This is the Supra Volume mascara which looks so good. I like a big fat brush to add volume to my lashes, i'm so excited to give this a try!! It will also be avaliable in brown.

These products will be avalible in August so keep and eye on the Clarins website for their new collection. The summer range is still avaliable so check that out now!

Prices: BB skin detox fluid - £30 // Eyeshadow Palettes- £34 each // Mascara £21.50

* This post contains pr samples, I have not been paid for this post and it's honest and my own opinions.

LIFESTYLE: LET'S CELEBRATE THIS SUMMER

21 July 2016

SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE !!

This week in the UK the sun is out so get outside and start making some memories. Why not head down to the beach for the weekend or go camping? Get your friends and family together and have a BBQ! There's so many things to do across the UK when the weather is good! I love heading to Weston for the day and spending the day on the beach and walk along the pier with an ice cream.

I just got back from Turkey so i'm loving the warm weather we are having! We had such a great time and did so much. As well as relaxing and chilling at the beach and by the pool we did a few exciting things. We hired quad bikes and did some off road which was good, it was the first time i've been on a quad. We also did horse riding which was another great experience as I haven't rode a horse since I was a kid and even then someone was holding the horse. We got to see some amazing views of Turkey from the top of the hills. We also did a boat trip and a jeep safari so we got to check out lots of amazing parts of Turkey. Check out my amazing holiday snaps using my New Fujifilm Instax mini 8 camera, I've wanted one for so so long! I love it, it's abit tricky to use but i've got the hand of it now, i'll need to buy some more film for my next holiday.

Sometimes you just need to get away and go on holiday and I know it's not always possible because of work commitments or money. But I always feel so much better in myself mentally and physically after a holiday and it's mad how much impact it makes. Sometimes you can feel like everything's getting on top of you and you just need to take some time out and when I go back to work or get back to reality after a holiday I always feel more positive about things and things that were getting on top of me don't feel that bad anymore and it really does take the pressure off abit.

If you need help financially there's companies like Ocean Loans that can offer a solution, you can apply online and get an instant decision. Check out their website for more information.

I'm so excited for my next holiday i've been looking at a week away in September as I have a week off work so send over some places you love to visit and somewhere where the weather is good in September.

* In collaboration with Ocean Loans
I have not been paid for this blog post, however I was gifted the Fujifilm camera.

FASHION: SUMMER WEDDING OUTFIT IDEAS

14 July 2016

With the summer upon us and the school holidays are about to start and so is summer wedding season. I thought i'd put together some outfit ideas for him and her.

I love dressing up for a wedding, it's an excuse to go and and buy and whole new outfit. I picked out some pretty summery dresses. Pastels are always a good shout for a summer wedding. This pretty floral dress from New Look is a gorgeous print and a really pretty colour. I find bodycon styles like this are really flattering on me as I have an hourglass figure.

These pale blue shoes from Topshop are so pretty, I love the colour and the wooden heel is lovely, I think they would be really comfy, perfect for a wedding.

I picked out this stripe dress from Topshop which is a lovely shape, I am a huge fan of stripes. I'd wear this with these gorgeous strappy sandals from Kurt Geiger, these are such a stunning pair of sandals which you could wear time after time.

I love this embellished bag from Accessorize, it's perfect for the summer wedding/ prom season.

For the Guys

When it comes down to outfits for mens for weddings it's all about that perfect suit. There's some really lovely suits out there so I thought i'd share some inspiration with you.

This Noose and Monkey suit is a really classic style I love the contrasting Velvet Lapel and I love the skinny fit of the jacket. It's a really nice quality suit that would be perfect for any occasion. Noose and Monkey have some really unique suits and shirts so check out their SS16 lookbook here to see their latest styles.

I'm a sucker for a grey suit, this one from Topman would look fab with a nice skinny fit shirt and a grey bow tie like this one from Noose and Monkey.

A pair of brown/ tan brogues are a great staple for any summer occasion, you can pop them on with any colour suit and they look smart but trendy. I really like brogues and think they are a classic style.

I love a check shirt, with a nice blazer to dress it up or on its own with jeans/ or trousers and some braces for a more casual occasion.

* sponsored post

REVIEW: BARDOLINO BIRMINGHAM BLOGGERS BRUNCH

13 July 2016

On Tuesday I headed into Birmingham for the launch of Bardolino which is a new restaurant that just opened in the Cube. Bardolino is a new Pizzeria, Bellini and Espresso bar by Marco Pierre White. The 'Ultra Casual' restaurant is located at the Cube and is canal side so it's a fab stop if your in Birmigham shopping and you want a bite to eat with the girls or if you have a family occasion and all want to get together for a meal.

Marco believes that italian food is 'affordable and delicious and thats exactly what Bardolino is.

Their main menu is very affordable and is full of lot of amazing dishes that sound amazing. I will be popping by next time i'm in Birmingham to try their Pizza and Al Forno's.

I was so excited when I arrived at Bardolino's and the table was full of amazing looking food. I decided to try a little bit of everything rather than order one thing. Everything that I tried was so good, my favourite dish was the scrambled egg with Salmon. I don't usually eat Salmon but I really wanted to try it and it was lovely. You could tell the Salmon was really fresh and good quality and it was a great portion size. I also tried the Sausage Ciabatta which was really tasty and the Avocado on toast.

They also offer an Italian full breakfast which would be perfect for those sunday morning hangovers. I tried the bacon and the beans and they were both really tasty. I think i'd order the full breakfast next time I go for Brunch as I really enjoyed everything I tried.

I didn't try any of the Bagels but they looked amazing so i'd love to give them a try aswell, they offer Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil, Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese and The Elvis Presley, Peanut Butter and Banana which sounds SO GOOD!

I also had Peach Bellini which was really good aswell as my fresh orange juice, They offer a huge selection of smoothies and juices which all sound amazing and looked very impressive.

Overall I was so impressed with Bardolino, it really ticked all of my boxes. I loved that it was casual, you could drop in for lunch in your jeans and you won't feel out of place. It has a very relaxed vibe however they also have stations where you can plug in your laptop so you could pop in for a coffee and read your emails. The prices were so affordable for both the brunch menu and the main menu. I love the Decor! The lights, the chairs even the tiles were gorgeous!

It's family friendly too, they actually have a massive table where your family can all sit together and chat over brunch or you could pop by with work colleagues for a quick bite to eat at lunch. They also cater for people with food allergies or intolerance's so let them know when your ordering as they offer lots of alternatives and are so accommodating.

Check out the Bardolino menu on their website and be sure to book a table online too as I think this place is going to be so popular. It's in a great location, they have a great menu and lovely staff so be sure to check them out!