Festival Essentials Part 2: Non Beauty

If you’ve seen my previous post you’ll know all the beauty products you’ll need to make yourself look at least presentable during your stay, but here is a bunch of other products you’ll need to survive!

Of course the mains ones are a tent and sleeping bag, otherwise you’ll be sleeping out in the cold and although under the stars is a lovely thought, I’d rather be warm.  I’d recommend bringing at least a couple of torches with you with spare batteries if you need them; you can also bring glowsticks, in total I have 2 torches, 2 glowsticks and a hybrid glowstick/torch, very handy.

Essentials, will include a First Aid Kit, incase of any small emergencies you can solve them yourself. Ear plugs and an eye mask are also brilliant, there will probably be a lot of noise going on when you want to sleep and the sun shining through in the morning can ruin your lovely sleep, so these are my recommendations, definitely.

A Water Bottle is also a good item, you can fill it up at the free taps on site and having it on you all day will stop you getting dehydrated. The bottle I have has a clip so it can attach to your jeans or rucksack and a even has a filter. [I’ve just realised I didn’t photograph it]

Anti Bacterial Hand Gel is a must I have the Cuticura branded one, but there are plenty out there. Bringing your own toilet roll would is a good idea, especially if they run out! SPF yes please, if you don’t want that pale skin to burn, Nivea Moisturising Sun Spray SPF 30 is my choice. A good tip for a towel – towels take up tons of room in your rucksack so instead of bringing your favourite Disney beach towel, think again and buy a micro-fibre towel, you can pick them up in your local outdoor store, they come in different sizes and colours, dry very quickly and easily pack away.

Remember your outside and at night the bugs do bite. You can buy small sprays of Insect Repellent and Bite Relief, but also you can buy these bigger bottles of Avon Skin do Soft which is a dry oil spray which keeps the bugs away in the first place, smells good too.

I brought a disposable travel toothbrush, which came with a little toothpaste but as I am there for a week this just won’t do me so you can buy little travel size of these and all other products too. I also have a small eco size deodorant, which you can also use as a body spray if you start to smell.

Hayfever if you suffer from this like me this is a must have to bring, otherwise you will not survive the trip. I’m bringing eye drops, nasal spray and hay fever tablets along with tissues!!! I’m also bringing some Ibuprofen, cause the sun and music may give you headaches, but I’m sure it will be fine.

And along with your clothes, that’s it – I think. So good luck and I hope you enjoy yourself at your festival as much as I do at mine.

 

Love

Laura x

Festival Essentials Part 1: Beauty

So festival season is creeping up, longs nights, plenty of drinking, not showering and living in amongst the mud. I am lucky enough to be going to Glastonbury this year, I am there for work but most of the time I will get to enjoy the pleasures of the festival for myself.

So here are a few of my Festival Essentials that I will be taking with me:

Because I am working while the event is going on I will be there slightly longer than the rest of you festival goers so along with Bastiles Original Dry Shampoo, I will also be bringing a travel size shampoo and a leave-in conditioner, Dove Hair Therapy Leave-in Conditioner (review), for the days when I’ve gone too long without showering.

Another excellent and essential is face cleansing wipes, or baby wipes, not only for taking off the mess and dirt of the day but also a good alternative to cleaning your body when the shower facilities have gone down hill. I’m also bringing the Garnier Micellar Water, to remove my makeup, placing it in a small travel bottle, instead of taking the full size one.

You also need to bring you daily moisturiser I’m bringing a two-in-one product the Ultra Repair Cream from F.A.B, I didn’t like this product when I first tried it, using it in conjunction with other F.A.B products didn’t work for my skin, but alone it is a great hydrating cream and can be used for your face and body.

You’ll also need a lip balm, I’m brining two, The Body Shop Vitamin E SPF Lip Balm and Blistex MedPlus I’m covering all my bases, a easy daily multi using balm and one of the severe, dry, chapped lips.

There a lot of products you could bring with you to look your best but trying to bring it down the the bare essentials, while still looking good, means you have to pick the best products to last all day without smudging or melting off your face. Its summer so the need to bring a heavy foundation isn’t a necessity, plus you won’t have the the comforts of cleansing off all that makeup every night. You could use a tinted moisturised such as the Garnier Miracle Skin Cream or a CC/BB cream a good one is the Bourjois 123 CC cream its light enough to let those freckles shine through but good enough to last all day and night if need be.

Concealer is an obvious bring, if your having a good skin day then concealer may be all you need, Benefit’s Erase Paste (review) is a good all rounder. If your going to bring a blush I would buy a multi-use cream blush like the Stila Convertible Blush (review) or the Revlon Photoready Cream Blush, but I’ve opted just to bring a bronzer with me, my one has no lid as you can see but its has a slight shimmer to it but is quite matte, mine is a Rimmel Bronzer but don’t ask me which one – I have no idea, I think it was Sun Shimmer?

Added to this will be the Rimmel Scandaleyes eyeshadow sticks, long lasting and can be used for eyeshadow or eyeliner, so you can change your look with whatever shades you decided to bring, I’m going for my typical neutral shade Bad Gal Bronze. Finally a must-have is a waterproof mascara two good ones are the L’oreal Telescopic Waterproof Mascara and the No 7 Stay Perfect Mascara.

There will be another post shortly on the non-beauty essentials to bring, so keep and eye out. If there’s anything else you want to know or think I’ve missed off let me know. Remember you don’t need all the products I’ve mentioned, bring one or the other, otherwise your rucksack is gonna be heavy!

I hope you enjoyed this post and have fun if you are going to a festival yourself this summer.

Eczema Update #2 & Catch Up

Hello lovely people!

I know its again been a while since I last posted – back in March – but it’s been a crazy couple of months. My boyfriend got offered a job here in London and within 5 days of him getting the job, we found a new place to live, moved all our belongings, made furniture (a canvas wardrobe) and made our new house a lot cleaner!

As well as learning the area, getting a car – I know for London mental, but he needs it for work – and learning to live together again after being so long apart. But we’re enjoying the transition and its great being closer to London and friends.

Enough about that! Eczema time!

I can happily say I have not had an eczema flare up since we moved – I’ve had a couple itchy moments but nothing thats caused major irritation or skin redness. I am amazed. I don’t know if it is the change in water or environment, but my eczema has never been better and I’m enjoy the normality of my skin while it lasts.

I have however become spotty?! I never really got spots when I was younger but right now especially around my chin and cheek area, spots? So I guess not the greatest addition to my skin but lets hope I only get one thing and not both bouts of irregular skin annoyances for the time being.

Has anyone else experienced this? Or is it just me. I’ve been using Sudocrem to help ease the redness to calm the skin down and while this seems to be working the spots are still there. Here’s hoping the sun comes out again so I can soak up some rays and clear my skin up.

My E45 Favourite

Having always had dry skin there is one area which I always find hard to get a product for. That’s my scalp!

But E45 has really helped I’ve already done a previous review on it but I can’t tell you enough how much its help my head, its affordable and does the job.

I made a really short video explaining how and why I use this E45 product. Enjoy!!

Visit www.e45.co.uk for more information about their Make the Difference Campaign and upload your own video.

Post & video sponsored by E45

No 7 Beautiful Skin Range| Review

I brought this set a while ago while it was on offer and wanted to give this ago since I love their makeup range so much. I purchased a normal to dry day cream and a dry to very dry night cream, my 3rd purchase which I just so happened to get for free with the offer was their cleansing balm.

I love the packaging simple, clean and girly, the containers are plastic but look like glass which makes it look more expensive.

The cleansing balm is not really what I would call this product, I’ve used it quite regularly now and this one has a completely different texture to the previous balms I have tried; it is more of a cream cleanser texture, but leaves the feeling of a balm after you’ve washed it off, so my feelings are mixed.

It is not one I would use to take makeup off with but this tends to be the product I go to if I need to cleanse for a second time, because it leaves the skin so soft afterwards.

The day and night cream both have great textures and just glides on to the skin, I really liked the feel of these, and I did notice a different in the tone and look of my skin whiles using these products. I would definitely repurchase these again.

I would suggest if you have very dry skin all the time I would to go for the Dry/Very Dry formula, but the Normal/Dry formula suits when the skin doesn’t need a heavy product to keep it moisturised so it more suitable for the summer.

But I was very impressed by these products, No 7 keep on surprising me I keep going back to their products.

Have you tried any of the beautiful skin range? What are you favourite products from No7?

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Friday Fav| Primark Shoulder Bag

So I was scouting around Primark for a new bag, I’ve been looking for a sort of businessy type of bag, that I could use for a potential job and job interview since I’ve been applying for loads lately. I was actually looking for the Zara City Bag Dupe but they didn’t have it – but I stubbled across this little beauty.

I think that this bag looks more expensive than it actually is (£10) and I’ve had so many compliments on it already in the week that I’ve had it.

There are so many little touches that make it look just that little bit more special.

The small silver edging on the front and little feet, as well as being a rather softish pleather, it is rather more usable than some of the other bags I found which we so stiff you could hardly open them.

It comes with 2 handles, one on the front and one on the back,The bag also comes with a long, completely adjustable shoulder strap which you can easily unclip from the sides and keep in the bag for easy access.

Inside the bag, is a small zip compartment, where you could keep loose change or receipts and on the other side is a phone pocket. It was a little smaller than I wanted, but only by an inch or so, it can still definitely be used to keep your iPad, books, paperwork etc (A4 size) You couldn’t keep a full sized laptop in there however.

Have you found any amazing products in Primark lately? Do you like this bag? Let me know what you think!

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First Impressions|Revlon Colorburst Matte & Lacquer Balms

So I’ve been dying to try these out for weeks. Finally I have two. There wasn’t a massive selection at my local store only 4 Lacquer and 4 Matte shades, which is fine because I chose very similar colours in each.

I am a pink kind-of-girl I just love it, it suits my pale skin unlike other bright colours, like orange or purple which were all in this new collection. I decided on sticking to what works for me and chose two colours which were both suitable for day and night wear.

I am a huge fan of these chubby pencils! They’re big enough that you won’t lose them in your bag, but not so big that they won’t fit in a pocket should you need to. And you never have to sharpen them. Just twist the base.

I bought these two pinky shades: Elusive (MATTE – left) and Demure (LACQUER – right)

Demure is a pretty pale pink that suits an everyday look down to a T. A definite winner for me, and I’m sure for many others as it’s just so lovely and easy to wear! Whilst they are said to contain large particles of shimmer, I wouldn’t say this was obvious in the slightest, especially with this shade.

Elusive is a cool-toned light to medium pink that if you want a pop of colour also suits an everyday look. Really easy to wear and it has that nude feel to it, even if it is bright. With all matte formulas you should prep your lips with a scrub before applying, but the moisturising complex means you don’t need to prep with a lip balm as well.

And here are the swatches, which are important, because these colours look very different on.

For a product that costs less than eight pounds, I am extremely impressed. Fans of the Kissable Balm Stains will recognise the slightly pepperminty smell however it is definitely not as strongly scented as the older formula. (I wasn’t a fan of the Kissable Balms, I found them rather drying on the lips and when you have relatively dry lips all the time this is not good – however these are fab!)

I love both the formulas of these balms. The colour goes on smoothly and richly, and feels very soft and comfortable on the lips. That is pretty amazing, and sadly quite rare, for matte finishes. But I’m sure this won’t be the last we see of these matte/lacquer combos.

I know I picked similar colours but both really suit me and its great to find products with a similar beautiful effect for different purposes, I can see myself using these over and over – and possibly going back to find more shades.

What do you think of the colours I have chosen? Have I missed one of your favourites?

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Review| Clinique High Lengths Mascara

Love this! Makes my lashes look extremely long without being clumpy, unlike other mascaras.

The wand helps to reach at the root of the lashes and extend outward creating beautiful lengths. This mascara is absolutely perfect for those who have short stubborn lashes that refuses to extend with regular mascaras.

The wand is a little difficult to get used to, as it is completely different than what a mascara brush is supposed to be but once you get the hang of it (and don’t poke your eye multiple times) the results are amazing!

Mascara on both eyes. This product retails for about £16.50, higher end of the mascara spectrum but if you like the results its something you’ll pay.

What do you make of the results? Whats your favourite lengthening mascara?

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Current Skincare Routine

I’ve been trying to keep my skincare as simple as possible. Slowly but surely my skin is getting back on track and its looking much better. At the moment a facial oil, eye cream and face moisturiser is all I’m using. I add a cleanser in the evening.

I’m staying away from face masks at the moment to stop any unnessesary drying or irration on my skin I’m giving the skin a break and so far so good.

Botanics Hot Cloth Cleanser  – It’s a pretty heavy cleanser, it cut through foundation easily enough although there was some residue left after, so make sure you go back with a clean muslin cloth to take this off but this really moisturises my skin. Although hydrating I would not recommend using this as a morning cleanser especially if you have already oily skin – this is my evening cleanser.

Having said that, I have found since using this that my skin has been a lot softer and more hydrated.

Botanics Facial Oil –  I’ve been using this religiously every night for months now and I honestly have noticed a huge difference in my skin. It’s alot softer, more supple. I like to really massage this into my skin and this product not only melts into the skin nicely, but it smells so nice too. I leave it to absorb on my skin for around 5 minutes before applying my usual moisturiser. As of mornings, I tend to skip this oil step and use it more at night to really rejuvenate the skin while I sleep. (Full review here.)

‘See’ Dark Circle Puffy Eye Treatment – I’ve only recently added this to my routine, its extremely expensive to buy but luckily with a wowcher code I got something like 83% off – bargain! I wanted to try this to see if my naturally dark circles would be lightened in anyway. This is a naturally formulated eye treatment helps to lessen wrinkles, puffiness & discoloration. All-natural, non-toxic, paraben-free, fragrance-free, and hypoallergenic. So far it’s good I’ve noticed a slight change to the discolouration under my eyes but I don’t expect it to all go away being inherited from my mum.

But my eyes haven’t reacted, and the cream is moisturising. The only thing I would say is that the pump needs a definite change, when you first open the product you have to pump a zillion times for it to actually get anything out and it gives you too much product when it does.

TOP TIP: Placing a bit of the facial oil around the eye area first before applying the cream has stopped that horrid ‘crispy eye’ look of dry skin. Great tip from Pai Skincare – thank you.

Dr. Organics Manuka Honey Rescue Cream –  The cream itself has no nasty chemicals and is completely natural, and is safe to use on broken, sensitive and irritated skin, and I can even use it on my eyes.

The cream is really thick, but makes the skin really soft, and it cleared the eczema up within a couple of days and moisturised it completely! This is my go-to eczema cream now, whenever I have a flare up or my skin gets a little dry, I put this on regularly and within days the eczema is completely gone and my skin is baby soft again.  (Full review here).

And that’s it!

I hope you enjoyed this post I’d love to know what you are using and if you have an recommendations.

A new post will go up next Friday and every Friday after that.

Laura X

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Pretty In Pink: Valentines Day

We’re surrounded by all things chocolate and heart-shaped, Cupid’s back and love is most definitely in the air! This holiday always has red and pink at its centre but this season pink seems to be a winner. It symbolises love it’s much softer than the passion that red brings to mind. Even if you hate this holiday it’s hard to stay away from the rosy shades. So here are a few of my pink favourites to help you look pretty in pink for Valentines, whether thats with your other half or a night on the town with your best friends. From bold to barely-there, these lip colours will cover whatever look you want. Looking for a sheer, stays-on-all-day shade? Autograph’s Very Pink lip colour from M&S is a comfortable pick. Create a natural, luminous flush with a glide of No 7’s Sheer Temptation lipstick in (40) Lovely. This is one of my repeat buys, it can give you so many different looks, and it glides on for the perfect kissable lips. Looking to go bold then the Clinique Chubby Stick in Plushest Punch is defiantly up your alley, although you can create a number of looks with this product. The form will stain your lips when applied in thin layers; blot in between swipes!. Finally my current favourite is the MAC Cream Sheen in How Darling! it is the lightest pink tone, delicate and perfect.

Natural flushed cheeks the Benefit Poise Tint can help with that feeling of the’ first look of love’ MAC beauty Powder in the colour ‘Formal’ is beautifully smooth and is very pigmented. The colour on my cheeks is a warm, it’s a very versatile colour, so use it for fun and flirty beautiful blushing cheeks.

If you don’t want pink on your face, why not your nails? ‘Love’ from 17 is bright making a clear statement, but if you want something a little more subtle and natural then I would recommend ‘Glacier’ from Mavala.

I hope you all look beautiful and Happy Valentine’s Day to you all.

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