Rosie the gypsy caravan

This is slightly different to my normal beauty/fashion type posts, but I just wanted to show you a few photos from my mini 4-day holiday a little while ago :)

Me and Josh went on a little break to The New Forest and stayed in an old fashioned gypsy caravan, called Rosie! The caravan was amazing, it was so intricately decorated both inside and out. There was a full size double bed inside covered in velvet & lace throws and cushions. The curtains were all heavy velvet with glass beads hanging from the bottom. It had been converted so that it had working electric lamps and plug sockets, much more like 'glamping' than we expected it would be (I'm not complaining)! 

We spent the daytimes travelling round the local villages, seeing what we found and sampling a selection of cream teas. In one village we found a farmer's market and a vintage fair which was amazing. I bought a Stratton powder compact, some cat-eye sunglasses and a necklace which I featured here. We also visited Josh's sister and her boyfriend as they live close, went to the pub for lunch then found a lake with wild horses and donkeys which just wondered up to us!

The weather was amazing the whole time we were there, so we spent loads of time on the beach which I loved. I've always lived right in the center of England, so the beach has always been a rare treat for me!

It was such a nice relaxing break, I wish I was back there now! You can find the website for the caravan here, if you're interested in staying there yourself or just seeing more photos :)

Have you stayed in any different holiday homes/caravans/tents or anything like that? I'm looking for somewhere exciting for our next holiday so send your recommendations over if you have any! x

Lush - Retread conditioner review

Lush Retread Conditioner - £9.95

A while ago I posted about my new Lush shampoo - I bought this conditioner at the same time and thought it was about time I mentioned my views on it. 

Retread is a conditioner for when your hair needs some 'serious breakdown recovery', perfect for a special treat every now and then! I have been using both my 'Big' shampoo and this conditioner around once a week, and just using my normal shampoo and conditioner in between. 

As stated above this conditioner contains seaweed, soya milk, olive, jojoba, avocado, melon juice and yoghurt. The melon gives it a mild fruity smell which I love, it's not too over-powering but the smell still stays once you've dried your hair. The one thing I'm not too keen on is the consistency of the product, for a 'heavy duty' conditioner you'd think it would be really thick - more like a hair mask. But it's not, it's a yoghurt-y texture which means that if your hair is too wet it just slides straight off. You have to make sure that you wring your hair out well before applying the conditioner, in order to get the best coverage and results! I don't think this is a major downfall though, as it means that the product is always completed washed out of your hair by the end of the shower and doesn't leave a residue or weigh your hair down like some products can!  

Overall, this is a great conditioner for when your hair needs a boost. It's light and fresh yet it leaves your hair soft and smooth, taming any frizz along the way! £9.95 might seem like quite a lot for a conditioner, but if you use it as more of a treat like I do, then it lasts for ages and is worth the extra money :)

Have you tried this conditioner before? What do you think of Lush hair products? x

A/W wishlist

1. Faux-fur lined parka - £95

2. Plum lace trim ankle socks - £3.50

3. Tie dye stud velvet leggings - £28

4. Tie dye cutout tunic - £25

5. Aubergine basic hoody - £22

6. Horse print sweat top - £26

I don't know if it's just because today is pretty cold and gloomy, but I can't wait to be layering up in snuggy Autumn/Winter clothes! Does anyone else feel like this?

Sorry this whole wishlist is Topshop... I got slightly carried away on their new in section. I've had my eye on the tie-dye tunic for a while now, but it always looks really short & tight in the shop and it scares me slightly haha. Does anyone have it? What's it like? I also looove the lacy socks, I already have them in black, white and burgundy but I definitely need them in plum too ;) What's your favourite items from Topshop at the moment?

In other news, I've just got back from Creamfields - which, despite being closed a day early due to awful weather & mud, was amazing! There will be a proper post on this hopefully, I just need to wait for some photos to appear on Facebook as I was pretty rubbish at remembering to take any myself haha. Today I'm just recovering from the weekend's festivities before work tomorrow, a cheeky Nandos is on the cards soon :) - what have you all been up to this bank holiday weekend? x

Quick nail post

Pastel pink & lilac: Gold by Giles at New Look // Top coat: Polishield by Orly // Gem wheel: eBay

I haven't blogged a nail post in ages! 

This is a really quick little manicure I did the other night. I don't wear many pastel colours so I thought I'd branch out. Working with Kim gives me nail envy pretty much every day, so I thought I'd get my act together and actually do something with my nails for once!

These Gold by Giles nail varnishes are great, they come in a massive range of colours, dry really fast and actually last quite a long time with a decent top coat! I'm really impatient, so nail varnishes that dry quickly are a lifesaver for me! I chose to go for a different colour accent nail and added contrasting gems to my thumb and ring finger. 

Where do you get inspiration for nail designs from? I want to try and keep my nails nicely painted as much as possible, so give me ideas! :)

I'm off to Creamfields this weekend! Is anyone else going? I hope the weather is okay and not too rainyyyy :( x

Lush - Big Sea Salt Shampoo Review

Lush - Big Sea Salt Shampoo - £11.25

Last weekend I spent waaay too much money in Lush, so this is the first of a couple of Lush reviews coming up :) 

This is the first tub of shampoo I've had from Lush, I used to have a solid shampoo bar a couple of years ago but didn't really stick to it. This 'Big' shampoo is quite unusual, it has loads of large pieces of rock salt through a normal gooey shampoo. Lush claim that this shampoo will give your hair 'big' volume and they're definitely right. After using this, a quick blast of the hairdryer turned my hair into a giant mane, amazing! 

The pieces of salt through the shampoo gentle exfoliate your scalp. I love this as I use quite a lot of hairspray and products like Dust It which always feel like they clog up your scalp and hair follicles, so sometimes a good scrub is needed! Lush recommend shampooing twice with this product, however I didn't find that necessary. When I first put the shampoo onto my hair, it didn't lather up much, but when I stuck my head under the water again it lathered up really well! This shampoo created the most bubbles I've ever seen, I think it just takes a bit more water to make it bubble due to the amount of salty lumps haha. The clumps of salt do take some getting used to, they fall out of your hair as you're washing it so there's a kind of sprinkling noise as you're washing! 

I think this shampoo has a lovely lemony smell, not really salty at all, but Josh said my hair smelt like the seaside. But I think he was just biased because he'd seen it in the shower and knew it was sea salt shampoo!

Overall I really like this shampoo and it does exactly what Lush say, creates volume! It is quite expensive for a shampoo, definitely a lot more than the big value bottles of Tresemme I usually buy for me and Josh (he's banned from using this one), however I do think it's worth the money for a treat! I won't be using this shampoo every time I wash my hair, to preserve it a little bit, but it'll definitely be used before nights out/special occasions. Keep your eyes peeled for my Lush conditioner review coming soon :)

Have you tried the Lush Big Sea Salt shampoo? What did you think?

What do you think to washing your hair with clumps of salt? x

everyday makeup

Benefit Hello Flawless foundation in 'I'm pure 4 sure' Ivory // Rimmel Stay Matte powder // Benefit Boi-ing concealer in '1' // MAC Mineralize blusher in 'Dainty' // Collection 2000 Fast Stroke liquid eyeliner in 'brown' // Stila multi-effect mascara in 'black' // MAC lipstick in Creme Cup //  Real Techniques stippling, powder and blusher brushes.

This is the basic, everyday makeup that I wear. I'm not going to go into it in detail as I'm sure it's self explanatory! I've got the application time of this combo down to 10 minutes in the morning, yeahh extra sleeping time! Sometimes I have to sacrifice the liquid eyeliner for a bit of pencil, as that's what takes up most of the time! My boyfriend just came in and went 'aww, look at you looking like an emo'... brilliant, exactly the look I was going for!

I'm so freckly at the moment that my foundation doesn't even pretend to hide my freckles, they just shine right through. I don't really mind though :) As you can see, my foundation is on the way out so I'm looking for a new one. I'm torn between trying the new YSL touche eclat foundation or Estee Lauder double wear - does anyone have any reviews for either of these? Let me know your thoughts if you've tried either :)

The two elements of my daily makeup that do tend to change slightly are my blushers and my lipsticks. I recently did a post on my top 3 blushers here, I usually wear my MAC one but it does vary at times. Again, my MAC lipstick is the most commonly used, but I do tend to switch depending on my mood/outfit. 

How long does your morning makeup routine take? What's the one item of makeup you couldn't live without? x

Vintage necklace

Necklace: £7 - vintage fair

While on our mini holiday last week, me and Josh stumbled upon a vintage fair in a little town in the New Forest. 

I spotted this necklace on the first table and fell in love. I thought £7 was a really good price for a chunky piece of jewellery like this, if something similar was on sale in Topshop it would be at least £15! I've worn it loads so far, with plain jersey dresses and under collars like the photo above. It's the perfect length for tucking under collars, so now I feel like I need buy more collared tops!

I'm sure you'll see this necklace cropping up in outfit posts in the future, but I just wanted to feature it on it's own and let you know where it came from :)

Have you been to many vintage fairs? Did you find any jewellery or other bargains there? x

Hair Bow Tutorial

I posted this picture of my hair in bow on instagram a while ago and a couple of people asked how to do it, so I thought I'd do a tutorial post! This is the first ever tutorial I've done, so I'm sorry if it's not very clear - feel free to ask for any more info if you need it :)
(There's a cheeky little Toy Story alien hiding in the background of the first couple of pictures which belongs to my boyfriend aha.)

You will need: hair bobbles, grips & hairspray.

Step 1: start off with your normal, basic ponytail. 

Step 2: put your hair into an 'upside down bun' - I couldn't think of a better expression for this, sorry! Start off by making your hair into another ponytail with a second bobble, but leave the ends of your hair tucked into the bobble. The ends of your hair should be nearest to the top of your head.

Step 3: Part the bun down the middle and pull each half of the bun to the sides. 

Step 4: get plenty of grips handy.

Step 5: pull the ends of your hair through the middle of the parted bun, then grip these just below the base of your ponytail. 

Step 6: finally spray your hair with hairspray and smooth over with your hands to keep any stray hairs down. And tadaaa, you're done :)

This is really simple once you've got the hang of it, but it's a nice change from your standard ponytail or bun. Great for those days when your hair's not behaving, or it needs a wash, but it's still an interesting hairdo! 

Has anyone got a different way of doing this? Let me know how you get on if you try this style! :) x

Favourite blushers

(left - right)

1. MAC mineralize blush in 'Dainty'

2. Stila custom colour self adjusting blush in 'Coral'

3. NARS blush in 'Amour'

Sorry for the tatty packaging of these blushers, they are well loved and used a lot! These are the blushers I use on a daily basis, for both daytime and nighttime wear.

The first of my favourites is MAC mineralize blush in 'Dainty'. MAC describe this as a 'light yellow pink with a gold pearl' and it is a a sheer, but buildable colour - perfect for daytime. I would say that this is the blush I wear most out of the three, it features a in a lot of my posts but is rarely mentioned. I'm wearing it in this post here. It has a pearly pink/gold shimmer which manages to make me look alive when I start work at 8.30am!

The second blush is from the Stila custom colour self adjusting range, in the shade 'Coral'. I did a full review of this blush here, where you can actually see the blush on my cheeks. I still love the colour, application and staying power of this blush - it lasts for ages! I'm still not sure whether the blush actually reacts with your skin tone, like it claims, to make the perfect colour - who knows! I'm just not sure whether that is possible for a blusher, but I'm a cynic.

The third and final favourite is NARS blush in 'Amour'. This was a bit of a random purchase from Selfridges in Birmingham on my way home one day, but it has definitely become a dressing table regular. Again, I've done a full review with pictures of the blush on my cheeks here. It is a much darker colour than I would usually choose, however this means it's perfect for a more dramatic night time look. It can also be used in the daytime, I try to be careful and light-handed with it though! 

What's your favourite blusher? I'm a bit of blusher hoarder at the moment, I can't stop buying them! x