Holiday Beauty Essentials

As we are approaching the summer holidays and a lot of people are jetting away (Jealous!) I thought I would share with you my holiday beauty essentials…

Smashbox Bronzer ‘Bronze Lights’

I love bronzer, especially on holiday to give you that extra sun kissed glow. This Smashbox bronzer is such a lovely, natural shade (I use the shade ‘Warm Matte’) and allows your skins natural undertones to come through, never leaving you looking orange or muddy. This Bronzer also has really good staying ability, which is perfect when you are abroad and its warmer.

Tom Ford Cream Colour for Eyes – Colour ‘Sphinx’

The perfect Bronze shade to accompany tanned skin. It glides onto the eye so easily (using a brush or finger) and doesn’t crease or smudge in the hot weather. It is also a perfect base for other eye shadows, but on holiday I like to keep it simple and wear it on its own with lots of brown eyeliner and mascara.

Darphin Soleil Plaisir SPF 30

I picked up this sun cream (for the face) for my holiday to Italy last year. It was recommended by some one who also has sensitive skin and that is prone to break outs like me. I used to find that a lot of high street branded sun cream used to break me out and clog my skin up, but this one doesn’t!
It has a blend of  hyaluronic acid, to keep skin plumped and hydrated, Brazilian Algae which nourishes the skin and Karanja Oil, which has antiseptic properties and helps with wound healing.
I like this facial sun cream as it’s non-greasy, paraben free and contains a non-whitening formula, so doesn’t make my face look extra pale in the sunshine!

Although it is a little pricey at £32, I happily pay this for sun cream for my face as I know this one works for my skin type. It  also worth noting that it lasts a really long time, as a little goes along way with this product. I have only just ran out after using it up whilst on my holiday to Greece, but has lasted me well over a year and 3 trips abroad!

The Reparative Skin Tint – La Mer  & Nude Finishing Illuminating Powder – Bobbi Brown

I have spoken about these two products in more detail here if you fancy a read about them, but both are great holiday essentials. The Reparative Skin Tint is a tinted moisturiser that has SPF 30, so you are protected if you want to wear a little bit of makeup during the day. The Nude Illuminating powder is a setting powder, that makes your skin look radiant. Even though it does give you a slight glow, I found it great on holiday as it made me look nice and healthy, but not a greasy mess.

Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray

This is a texturing salt spray that I spritz onto damp hair when I have towel dried it. I then use a hairdryer and ‘scrunch’ my hair as I dry, leaving me with messy ‘beachy’ waves. By using this product, it meant that I didn’t have to use other styling tools, like curling wands, straighteners etc, which can be unbearable if its a hot country you are holidaying in. Something to consider; you don’t need a lot of this product, if you put too much in it does make your hair feel a bit tacky, but a little bit does the job perfectly!

MAC ‘Gingerly’ Powder Blush & Bobbi Brown pot rouge ‘Fresh Melon.’

MAC blush in the shade ‘Gingerly’ and Bobbi Browns cream blush ‘Fresh Melon’ are both perfect when I have a tan. I took these two as they are both very different shades and different formulas, which was helpful when deciding which style I wanted to go with that evening.

MAC’s Gingerly, is a powder blush and is more of a dark peachy/bronze shade, so worked perfectly when I was wearing the cream eye shadow by Tom Ford.

Bobbi Browns pot rouge ‘Fresh Melon’ is a peachy colour, which I normally always opt for when I have more colour to my skin. This is a cream blush so is a little more radiant on the skin and doesn’t last quite as long as MACS powder blusher (which is to be expected with a cream product in the heat). You can also wear this on the lips, although it makes me look a little washed out despite the fact I love it when used on my cheeks.

Another of my holiday favourites is Bobbi Brown’s Lip Balm. It has SPF15 and is packed with different oils such as wheat germ and Avocado oil, which help condition the lips….I also really like the sleek packaging!

So that’s it for my holiday beauty essentials. Sadly, I’ve already been on my abroad holiday this year (you can read about it here if you’re interested), but I am going to Ilfracombe, Devon at the start of August which I’m very excited about. Fingers crossed the heat wave continues!

Let me know what your holiday beauty Essentials are, or if you are going to pick up any at Duty free…

Sophie x

 

 

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June Favourites

Hello,

I thought it would be better late than never to share with you my June Favourites! I have a real mixture of favourites this month, from books to different places I have visited throughout June. My ultimate favourite thing in the month of June, possibly the year was visiting Thassos, Greece. We came back from our holiday at the start of June & I thoroughly enjoyed lazing around doing nothing! (I wrote a post about it here if you’re interested).  I think I’m still suffering with the holiday blues a month later if that’s still possible?

Talking With Female Serial Killers

I picked this book up from the airport on the way to my holiday. This is a typical me book as I love reading/watching anything to do with real life crime…I’m not sure if I should admit that or not? Not your typical holiday book, I had some strange looks around the pool, but I would thoroughly recommend if you like real life crime. The Author Christopher Berry-Dee explores different female serial killers from around the world and tries to determine why female’s kill.

Super fan Mascara – Smash box Cosmetics

With Mascara, I very rarely buy the same one twice as I’ve never found one that I love. On a whim, I decided to pick up the Superfan mascara by Smashbox, which claims to give buildable volume, length & lift that lasts 12 hours! & I wasn’t disappointed!

It has a plastic spiky applicator, which makes it easy to get to the corners of your lashes. It also doesn’t smudge which is 100% true, with all the hot weather we have had in the UK it hasn’t budged! I will definitely be picking this one up again.

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick – Rose

I have had this shimmer brick by Bobbi Brown for awhile now, but took it on my holiday to Greece and fell in love with it again. I use this shimmer brick over my cream blusher (also by Bobbi Brown) to give my skin a subtle sheen. Its such a fine powder that it doesn’t look cakey/heavy on the skin either, which is never a good look. I would say, as its quite a natural highlighter, if you want something quite dramatic then this wouldn’t be for you.

Printing Pictures

A couple of years ago, I decided every year I would print out my pictures from my phone and put them into a photo album. However, I hadn’t done this for a while so decided it was time. I used Snapfish to order my prints (as it was so cheap) and put them into an album so I have the memories to look back on. It cost me around £5 to print 40+ photos so is excellent value.

Visiting Woolacombe

On one of the hot days last month we decided to have a day trip to Woolacombe, Devon. If you haven’t been to Woolacombe before you must go, I had forgotten how lovely it was, especially the beach. It’s such a quaint town with a few little shops and the clearest, cleanest sea I have seen in the UK. Woolacombe also holds great memories for me as it was mine and James’s first holiday together nearly 7 years ago!

Whilst in Woolacombe we spent the day mainly on the beach sunbathing, paddling in the sea and then stuffing our faces with ice cream, pasties and then Fish and Chips for tea. It was worth the 3 hour trip there and back!

Let me know what your favourite things have been in the last month, or any recommendations of places to go for the day…

Sophie x

Our trip to Thassos, Greece.

Thassos Town, Limenas.

Thassos (or Thasos) is a small, less traveled island, near the Northern coast of Greece. Thassos is surrounded by the crystal clear, blue waters of the Aegean Sea and as its a less known Greek island it has kept its Authenticity.

Even though Thasos is a very small island (apparently it only takes 2 hours in a car to go around the whole island!) there are lots of different locations to stay. We stayed in a hotel which was a 10 minute drive out of Thasos town, in Skala Rachoniou (or Skala Rahoni as it is known).

Skala Rachoniou, which is on the northwest corner, is a very quiet, traditional part of the island surrounded by lots of pine trees and Olive groves, which makes for a beautiful setting.

Louloudis Boutique Hotel

We stayed at the adults only Louloudis Boutique Hotel, set within an Olive Grove. The Louloudis Hotel had a lovely, quiet swimming pool which overlooked the Aegean sea and was only a 5 minute walk to the main beach called ‘Pachis’ where the hotel had its own snack bar and sun loungers to use (you just needed to buy a drink from the bar).

Pachis beach was beautiful and again, very quiet (we went during May half term) and like the hotel, surrounded by Pine trees which provided some nice shade. However, we discovered a even nicer beach on the second day (again only 5 minutes away from the hotel, in the other direction) called ‘Glyfoneri’; this was a small cove surrounded by rocks which were full of fish and great for snorkeling.

Pachis Beach, Thassos Greece.

Glyfoneri

During our stay at the hotel, we went half board, which I’m thankful for as the hotel was very secluded. This is something to bare in mind if you were not to have breakfast/dinner included, as it’s about a 10 minute taxi ride away to the nearest restaurant in Thasos Town, which we did do a couple of nights for a change of scenery (it cost about 12 Euro each way).

The food was served buffet style both morning and evening, with a different choice each night. There was also a ‘A la Carte’ Menu at the hotel, where they offered table service and a choice of meal from a menu. We did have the ‘A la Carte’ menu once just to try it, but the buffet food was equally as good as they served a range of authentic greek food such as Moussaka and Souvlaki.

Thassos town or ‘Limenas’ (meaning the port) was lovely. It was what I expected a traditional Greek island to look like, with lots of authentic Greek restaurants and the local fishermen just relaxing playing cards near their boats.

Thassos town also had a more modern section about a 2 minute walk from the port, where they had all the little trinket shops, but even though it was a more modern section of the town it definitely wasn’t tacky!

As we only visited Thassos for a week, we mainly just spent the days relaxing at the beach and didn’t partake on any trips (there where some available- just not for us!). I would say if you were going for any longer than a week, you would probably need to hire a car. You may get a little bit bored and want to see the rest of the island and according to our Travel rep, the buses are very unreliable and the timetables changed weekly – so watch out for that!

Overall, I would 100% recommend Thassos, especially the Louloudis Boutique Hotel, if you are looking for a quiet, relaxing holiday with all the charm of authentic Greece!

Let me know if you have visited any Greek Islands, I am always looking for recommendations for my next travels…

Yamas!

Sophie x

A simple skincare routine.

I have mentioned previously that I used to struggle with my skin. Since the age of 13, my skin has never been completely clear of spots, but more recently (I’m 25 now) I have seen improvement.

Over the years I have tried so many different brands at varying prices, all of which are supposed to ‘help’ with problem skin. Nothing really made much of a difference, which can be so disheartening – especially when you have spent a small fortune looking for the miracle product.

As I have said in my previous skin care post (click here if you want to have a read), I think my recent clearer skin is a combination of getting older and finally finding a simple, straightforward skincare routine that works for me.

So other than the two face masks that I love to use, mentioned in the post linked above, I now have a very quick, easy and cheap skincare routine… which means I can spend more money on clothes…or just recently, plants. haha.

Simple Moisturising facial wash

I use the simple moisturising facial wash both AM and PM. In the evening, I first take my makeup off with Bobbi Browns Oil Cleanser, removing most of my makeup before using the Simple wash as a second cleanse to get rid of any left over grime. I find that this facial wash makes my skin feel squeaky clean, which I personally like, but not at all dry due to the 100% soap free formula. I also love this wash as there is no faffing about with it, meaning I don’t spend ages washing my face in the morning, so can have a tiny bit longer in bed.

Simple Hydrating Light Moisturiser

After I’ve cleansed my face, I then use the hydrating light moisturiser (again both AM & PM) to put moisture back into my skin. I love this moisturiser as it gives me enough moisture in my skin to stop it feeling dry, but because it is a light consistency its a great base for my makeup. This moisturiser is enriched with Vitamin E, which helps with pollution and other environmental stresses. It’s also non-comedogenic (which means non pore clogging to you and me!), which is great news for people who suffer with spots.

Simple eye make-up remover

I use this eye makeup remover after I have used the Bobbi Brown oil cleanser, as even though the oil cleanser is really good at removing makeup efficiently, I find it’s not the best at getting rid of mascara like this product. I just squirt a bit of this product on two cotton pads and swipe over my eyes to get rid of any remaining residue, which gets the job done, and without stinging my eyes!

So that’s all for my quick and easy skin care routine! I would love to know what skincare you use, especially if you suffer with break outs yourself. Feel free to let me know in the comments below…

Sophie x

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Life Style Favourites |A Catch up

Hello, Happy Wednesday!

It feels as if I haven’t posted anything on here for ages, even though its only been a week! I had last week off work, which was so lovely and much needed. It mainly consisted of relaxing, going on a Kayaking trip and towards the end of the week visiting my family and friends in my hometown for a good catch up as I haven’t seen them all for awhile.

I thought I would do something a little different & do a more chatty post. I personally love reading them, so thought I would share with you my lifestyle favourites.

Kayaking on the river Wye  –Me, James and five of our friends went kayaking for 2 days down the river Wye, which was a fun, but cold experience. We started in Hoarwithy in Herefordshire, then traveled in our Kayaks to Ross on Wye where we then stayed the night in our tents. When we got to Ross on Wye our campsite was flooded, so the rowing club let us camp on their grounds instead, which we were very thankful for!

The next day, we got back in our Kayaks and traveled from Ross on Wye to our finishing point at Symonds Yat, stopping half way for a pub lunch, which was definitely needed after all our rowing (mainly to give our arms a rest)!

Even though we were meant to be Kayaking, me and my friend Lucy, who had no experience in Kayaks, had to use Canoes as the river was so fast flowing on the 1st day (Wednesday) and the instructor didn’t think it was safe for us to go in Kayaks. This turned out for the better as he said it was harder for us to overturn in a canoe and I didn’t fancy going in as it was absolutely freezing!

I would 100% recommend going down the river Wye, even if its not something you would normally consider, as it was beautiful. On the second day, it was especially nice as it was slightly warmer and we got to see lots of wildlife, lovely scenery & fancy houses overlooking the river.

Another thing that I would like to do is go back and visit Ross on Wye town centre as it was so cute, they also had lots of colorful buildings (seen below) & is definitely somewhere to put on my list of places to visit!

Getting my spring wardrobe ready – Even though the weather has been terrible (although I have heard its meant to be getting really warm, fingers crossed!) I’ve really enjoyed a spring clean of my wardrobe & sorting through to see what spring/summer clothes I have, hopefully packing away all my winter clothes for good.

I am also going on holiday to Thassos, Greece at the end of May, so it gave me an idea of what bits that I need to buy. everything.  I’m really loving the new pieces in Mango right now, especially this bag. Pay day needs to hurry!

Sex & the City – Now I know I’m extremely late to the party on this one. Since we moved house & didn’t have a television that worked, but had NOW TV, I found I was able to watch the show on my laptop. After a friend from work was talking to me about how much I would enjoy it, I decided to see what the fuss was about. I’m currently on season 1 episode 4, but I just like how easy it is to watch, I think my favourite characters so far are Charlotte & Carrie. Who are yours?

Seeing Family & Friends – Like I said previously, I went home at the weekend to visit family and friends & it was lovely catching up with them. On the Saturday me & my mum pottered around a town near us and discovered a cute coffee shop (shown on my Instagram if you want to have a nosey). We then visited my grandma & looked through lots of old photographs that she has of when she & my grandad were younger, which is one of my favourite things to do. On the Sunday, I met up with my friends at a nearby place that does afternoon tea called Beauvale Priory. This tea room is set beautifully in the countryside, so if you live around the Nottinghamshire area I would check it out. Here we spent the day catching up, eating & watching new born lambs being fed, which was very cute indeed!

Let me know of your lifestyle favourites in the comments!

Sophie x

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Three products to help get the glow.

Three products to help achieve a glow.

As I am sat writing this, it is currently raining and very miserable outside, so instead of waiting around for the sun to make an appearance & give me that sun kissed glow, I have to fake it for now. Like I have mentioned in previous posts, I have skin that is a little more on the oilier side, but prefer my make-up base to be glowy as I find that my skin can look a little dull sometimes.

Here are my three go to products that make my skin look a little healthier;

Vita Liberata Self Tanning Anti Age Serum – £29.00

I first heard about this Anti-Ageing facial tanner from Alessandra Steinherr, who is the beauty director at GLAMOUR Magazine & regularly gives skincare recommendations via her Instagram stories which are very interesting!

One of the reasons that I love this product is that you can choose the depth of colour by either applying it directly to your skin for a deeper tan, or mixing a couple of drops into your moisturizer for a lighter, more natural tan, which I like to do morning and evening.  Even though this product is a little pricier, it does last ages as a little goes a long way.

Another positive is that it doesn’t break me out like other facial tanners I have used, which is always a good thing as my skin can be quite sensitive to tanning products. I’m not sure how much the Anti-Ageing properties work, but I suppose anti-ageing is always a good thing to have included in a skincare product as I’m not getting any younger haha. I would say if you suffer from breakouts but want a facial tanner that’s natural and gives a lovely glow, check this out!

Mac Strobe Cream – ‘Peach Lite’ -£25.00

This is the latest addition to my make-up bag. I used to use the Shimmering Skin perfector in ‘Opal’ by Becca, but after having it many years, I thought it was time to try something new. This does not disappoint! It goes onto the skin as a white cream, but once rubbed in, goes a peachy pearl colour leaving a subtle glow behind. It says on the website that it is a moisturiser, however, I like to use my normal moisturiser first and then apply this to my cheeks/cheekbones & down the centre of my nose to create a glow. I even sometimes go crazy & mix a little in with my foundation, depending on how dull my skin looks, as it really helps make your skin look energized. I am also looking forward to using this on holiday without foundation on top, hopefully making me look nice and healthy!

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish  Soft & Gentle £25.50

This has been something that people have talked about for years and rightly so, it is a beautiful powder highlight! It is a slow-baked, velvety powder that gives a subtle glow to the face. I apply this to the tops of my cheekbones and underneath my eyebrows to give a gentle glow, which can be seen when the light hits you. If you want a really dramatic highlight, then this wouldn’t be for you, but is a beautiful product if you like something a little more natural (and also lasts such a long time!).

 

So there are my top three products which I use to create a bit more of a glow and to make my skin look a bit less tired! Is there anything that you use that I should check out?

Just recently I’ve seen so many high street highlighters that look amazing, so maybe I should have a look at those next time I need a new highlighter. If you have tried any of the more affordable highlighters let me know!

Sophie x

 

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March Favourites.

I have a few different favourties from the Month of March; but the main highlight has to be moving house. We did this at the end of Feb/beginning of March (when we had all the snow!) & its been amazing for me and James to have our own little space. Worcester is finally starting to feel like my home.

I have done a blog about making our house a home, which I will link below if you want to have a little read, but this move has made my commute to work so much better & now saves me 40 minutes of traveling a day, which is amazing!

Click here to read about our home additions

Beauty favourites;

Bobbi Brown soothing cleansing oil – I got this mid way through March and its quickly become a favourite of mine, I will 100% re-purchase this in the future. I used to use Micellar water to remove my make-up, but my skin was getting a few dry patches, so decided to switch over to this cleansing oil to remove my makeup at night time. It does such a good job at removing my make-up & leaves my skin nice and soft. No dry patches in sight!

Bobbi Brown pot rouge for Lips & Cheeks (Hot Melon) – I feel like there is a little bit of a theme with my love for Bobbi Brown at the moment… I bought this on a whim as I wanted a new blusher for my holiday and during the summer time I always gravitate towards cream products. This blusher has a lovely creamy texture & the colour ‘Hot Melon’ is a perfect peachy colour. I apply this using my real techniques buffing brush as the first time I tried it, I used my fingers and was a little disappointment with the colour pay off, so would recommend using a brush.

Bumble & Bumble Thickening Dryspun finish – This is an all time favourite & need to repurchase this, as the bottle in the picture is actually all gone. I spray this onto my roots after styling my hair into waves, which gives my hair a lift as it is naturally quite fine. What I love about this product is that it instantly makes your hair look a little fuller & gives it a lot of texture, without making your hair feel too sticky ,which is what I found with other products I’ve tried!

Places;

Stratford Upon Avon – On the one sunny Sunday we had in March, me & James decided to take a trip to Stratford upon Avon, as I had never been and James hadn’t visited since he was little. Stratford Upon Avon is only 40 minutes away from us now, so was the perfect Sunday afternoon drive out. I really enjoyed visiting as the town centre and park were so pretty and we had a lovely walk along the river! We also stopped for something to eat in a little cafe (pictured above) called  ‘Bardias’ which is possibly the cutest and prettiest cafe I have ever been in, look at the flowers hanging from the ceiling (perfect for Instagram ;))

Books;

Audrey Hepburn ‘An elegant Spirit’ – This book is one that I have had for awhile but re discovered when I moved house (it is also the one which appears in most of my flat lays haha). The book is all about Audrey Hepburn & her life, written by her son Sean Hepburn. I love this book as I am a massive fan of Audrey Hepburn and as its written by her son it features photographs, recipes that she loved and artwork that hasn’t been seen before. If you like Audrey Hepburn I would recommend looking at this book!

So that is all for my March favourites, I am so excited we are now in April & I’m hoping for some warmer weather soon! Let me know if you had any favourites in March…

Sophie x

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