TOP 10: BEACH ESSENTIALS

As I'm going on holiday to Marbella in a few days I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to blog about my top beach essentials. I've bought a HUGE beach bag this year (link!) as I like to overpack and be prepared for every occasion. However I have managed to narrow down my top 10 favourite items that I would recommend to anyone going on a beach holiday! Here they are...

1. Beauty Bay Lighted Mirror (link)

A portable mirror is a must for me. Even if I'm going to look like a sweaty hot mess I want to know to know about it. This is a great buy at £5 and has a magnified side as well as a normal side. Okay, so the lights aren't essential for the beach, but as a portable makeup mirror, this is a great option. You can just throw it in your clutch on a night out and reapply your lipgloss where ever, even in the back seat of a taxi! 

2. The Body Shop Hand Sanitiser (link)

This is a great option from The Body Shop! It comes in lots of gorgeous scents, such as this one (my personal favourite) the coconut variety. 

3. Garnier Ambre Solaire SPF 30 Dry Mist Sun Screen (link)

I always apply my SPF 30 Piz Buin Once-A-Day suncream in the mornings on holiday, but whatever the manufacturer's claims, you should reapply sunscreen throughout the day. I like the Garnie Ambre Solaire SPF 30 Dry Mist. Its so easy to apply and especially useful for the beach as you don't have to wait around for it to dry or worry about sand getting stuck to you!

4. Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer (link)

A concealer is one of the only items of makeup I wear on a day-to-day basis on holiday- especially when I'm sunbathing. I don't mind going bare-faced but I like to cover my pesky eye bags (although sunglasses are also helpful for this!). 

5. Nars Mutiple in South Beach (link)

A gorgeous bronze coloured cream stick product. This Multiple is perfect to swipe on your cheeks, nose and forehead (anywhere that the sun would catch naturally!) for a gorgeous, healthy glow. You can also use it on your lips and eyes too, a clear winner for me.

6. Clarins Aftersun Moisturiser Self Tanning (link)

Okay so I not it's not technically a beach product but I love it for holidays! This aftersun is so soothing and creaming- and makes your skin feel so soft! It also contains a tiny amount of fake tan which really enhances your natural glow and speeds things up a bit. A must have.

7. La Roche-Posay ANTHELIOS STICK SPF50+ 9g (link)

I love the La Roche-Posay SPF50 stick for reapplying to areas I'm more likely to burn. The high SPF is great to use it on my nose, hair-parting and on my feet! 

8. La Roche-Posay ANTHELIOS FACE COMFORT CREAM SPF50+ 50ml (link)

A high SPF is essential for you face. So you might want a tanned visage but you'll be left with pigmentation marks and wrinkles when you're older. I use this every day on holiday and use a face self tan in the evenings to ensure my face matches with my body.

9. Mini Deodorant (link)

This is my favourite deodorant but in miniature form. Beaches get HOT, need I say more?

10. No7 Anti-Ageing Shimmering Lip & Eye Screen SPF 30 (link)

This is a gorgeous product from No7. Its an SPF lip balm with a subtle shimmer, thus eliminating the need for lipgloss or lipstick on the beach (no more hair-lipgloss moments!). It's SPF 30 so will protect your lips whilst nourishing them. 

I hope you enjoyed reading what I'm going to be taking to the beach this year! What are your beach essentials?

Summer Stripes

A Summer post today to counter-balance all the rain that has just fallen where I live (why can't it be Summer everyday?). 

These shorts are from Zara. I've been wanting to blog about them for a little while but wasn't quite sure about the perfect outfit combination until I saw this blog post here. Charissa teamed a stripy shirt with yellow shorts and I felt so inspired I had to do the same. This is such a lovely outfit for a summers day and I can't wait to wear it on holiday. I love the classic combination of royal blue and stripes, and stripes are one of my top trends this season! The cropped cami is from ASOS and I've teamed the outfit with my Zara mules. 

My backpack is another recent find that I'm excited to share. I've wanted a bag to carry my camera around in for a while now and this backpack from Urban Outfitters just screamed out to me. I've never thought of myself as a backpack person (I think they're a bit 90's personally!) but it's just so useful! I take it with me whenever I'm in London for the day and I don't have to worry about people nicking my camera and I always have my hands free so it's perfect for that. It also comes in black if that's more your colour and I definitely recommend it.

I hope you like this look, thanks to Charissa for the style inspo! 

Details:

Shorts & Shoes- ZARA | Top- ASOS | Backpack- Urban Outfitters (link) | Rings- Primark

New Zara Handbag (& what's in my bag)

I've wanted a new bag for a little while now as I use my 'Focco' all the time and I thought the all black colour wasn't very spring-like. This beauty is from Zara, I ordered it after loving all the bloggers Zara bags that they've been buying recently and I wanted to get one for myself. The bag itself is leather so I'm hoping it's going to last me a long time- being a student I don't have a great deal of money to splash out on new bags so the ones I buy tend to be more classic in appearance and good quality. All the hardware on this bag is gold which I also like as I don't really wear a lot of silver jewellery so this should go with my outfits and be more useful. Overall I love this bag so much! It's not too big that you look like you're carrying around all your worldly processions but it's large enough to hold the essentials- purse, keys, umbrella, make up bag etc. I'm sure I'll feature this bag in lots of my outfit posts so look out for it :)

I feel this post wouldn't be complete without the classic 'what's in my bag?' segment. So here's a little glance of the things I'm most likely to be carrying in my bag; all the essentials of course ;)

Keys, iPhone, Tangle Teezer hairbrush, sunglasses (Marc by Marc Jacobs), perfume (MAC Creations MV1- exciting name I know!), Nivea Milk and Honey lip balm (my favourite!), 'Model Mirror' light up mirror, MAC lipstick, Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream, Blistex 'Relief Cream' lip balm and my revision flashcards-these are so handy for revising key terms on the go!
Other items I forgot to include were my purse, make up bag (although I don't always carry this!) and my earphones :)


Zara Mini City Bag With Zip- Link
I hope everyone is having a good weekend!


xxx

What I got for Christmas..

Here is a few of my favourite presents I got this year for Christmas. For me, the most important thing is spending time with my family but there's nothing wrong with sharing a few gifts every now and again!

1. The first is a collection of 6 Mac brushes. These are the best make up brushes by far and I'm slowly building up my collection by asking for a couple every Christmas and Birthday. This year I got the following brushes: MAC 217 (blending brush), MAC 263 (small angle brush), MAC 138 (tapered face brush), MAC 116 (blush brush), MAC 187 (duo fibre brush), MAC 168 (large angle contour brush)

The other brushes in the jar I received for Christmas last year :)

2. Next I got 'Dior Diorskin Poudre Shimmer all over face powder' in the colour Amber Diamond. I've read about it on lots of blogs and after finishing the highlight colours on my Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick recently I wanted it even more.

At the moment, I am undecided on it. I love it, however it doesn't have the dramatic sheen of the Shimmer Brick. I can't say this is necessarily a bad thing, especially for everyday wear. I suppose I'm just a little less used to the more subtle look. It's also nice to use for eyeshadows and I'm continuing to use it so I can let you know my full opinion soon. I know it's a cult makeup product for many bloggers so I hope it lives up to this!

3. And finally, one of my favourite gifts.. the Focco! After seeing and hearing about these bags absolutely everywhere I knew I wanted one. It has lived up to expectation, I love it. A medium sized bag, with a zip (always useful when travelling- I hate having the contents of my bag exposed!), a side pocket and gorgeous stud detail on the bottom, how could anyone not think it was incredible? I know I'm late jumping on this bandwagon, but I'm so glad I finally have done and I'm pleased to be the owner of this bag.

So these were my favourite presents!

 Do you have any of them? What were your favourite gifts?

I go back to Sixth Form tomorrow but I'm still hoping to make a lot more time to blog as I said in my previous post, so fingers crossed I manage :)

xxx

Seeing Stripes

Today I wore my H&M stripe top with my black Leigh jeans- I was so pleased to see Lucy blog about them here!- they are so comfy and slim fitting and they look classier than leggings in my opinion (although I'm not going to stop wearing them!). I love this look, its simple yet tucking in the top makes it appear different and cute. The top has gorgeous slouchy sleeves which is one of the reasons I love it. I am wearing the new I got for my 18th, it's from Miss Selfridge and I love it. It's the perfect size and since it incorporates brown and black detail, it will look great with everything. I also adore the hardware detail on the side, toughening it up, I absolutely love the androgynous look at the moment. I think I might even do a 'What's in my Bag' post if anyone is interested?

Also is anybody else in love with E4 Made In Chelsea?! I want their style so much, if only I had unlimited money.. The girls are in this month's Glamour if you're interested in reading a bit about their style.

Top- H&M

Leigh Jeans- Topshop

Shoes- Primark

Cross Ring- Topshop

Bracelet- Topshop

Skull Earrings- Topshop (can you tell I like Topshop at the moment!?)

Bag- Miss Selfridge