Who is chArles?!

I know I was a little late to jump on the band wagon, but as soon as I watched the pilot episode of Pretty Little Liars there was no going back! I watched it CONSTANTLY- and somehow inbetween college, work and dancing I managed to watched the whole five series in just a few weeks. I love love LOVE it!!

I watched the final season and finale episode whilst I was away on holiday last week, and my brain is still trying to work out who chArles really could be. (Apologies for spoilers) I really think that chArles must be a brother to either spencer, Jason or Toby... That family connection is in there somewhere and I'm dying to find out how! Luckily tumblr is filled with pll theories which are helping me figure out some clues, but for any certain answers it will be a long old wait until season six premieres in June!

I now also absolutely adore Ashley Benson and think both her and her style are incredible!! I do feel slightly better knowing it's not only me who has become obsessed... It was my friends and my sister who got me watching it in the first place!

Apparently the real answer is so heartbreakingly twisted, sad and beautiful that no one will expect it... I can't wait!

Who do you think chArles really is?

Or are there any other series that I can turn my attention to whilst I wait for 'A'nswers?

x ciao x

Cheddar Gorge

 Who knew Lodges could be so fancy?

Last week I spent the most amazing few days at Cheddar Gorge in Somerset, where we stayed at a lovely spar resort. And the best part was that we got to be VIPs without paying the VIP prices!! (We are yet to discover why this was haha!)

We stayed in a brand new lodge..being the first people to ever stay in it which was pretty cool! I even preferred it to my own house; I'd quite happily live there tbh! We had five TVs, an enormous, beautiful kitchen, an Apple TV, play station 4 and even a jacuzzi!! It was literally Heaven!

It was so nice to have five relaxing days away, doing nothing but eat chocolate, lay in the jacuzzi and spend endless hours watching Netflix (Pretty Little Liars has got me hooked!) and being able to spend a few uniterupted days with my family. 

The week before I had my dance school show which completely knackered me out, leaving me like a zombie/ old woman for the days to follow... I felt as though I needed a walking stick my knees and back were hurting so bad! So the jacuzzi, sauna and steam room was a v good call.

It was also the last chance that I will properly have to relax before the stress of my A2 exams (which are aproachimg so fast it's v v scary!) And pig out on food as much as possible before I start a strict Ibiza diet for the summer, if I have any chance of looking half decent in a bikini!

The gorge itself was quite breath taking, and the caves were absolutely stunning (I shall leave some images below), but I have to say that my favourite part was watching the goats climb up the side of the steep gorge to reach the highest point of grass possible... It was so funny I could have watched them all day!! 

So I'll leave you by saying that don't ever forget to give yourself those moments to relax, whether it's for a week or just a few hours, you'll be surprised at what a difference it can make!

What's your favourite thing to do when your body needs that time to relax? 

x ciao x

Time is a funny thing...

How does time go by so quickly? 

I have to admit that my commitment to my blog last summer failed miserably. 'I'll write a blog post this week' soon turns into 'oh I must write a blog post soon' and soon 'after Christmas I'll make a brand new start to my blog' ... And then before you know it its five months later and we're at the end of March!!

I would be lying if I didn't admit that I'm annoyed at myself. Writing a blog was something that I wanted to do despite being busy at college or with work or anything else that rudely decides to take over my life. But instead of leaving myself time to sit down, relax with a cuppa tea and write a blog post, I let myself forget about it and the promise that I made to myself.

But for no longer! 

I must must must not let time be an excuse for neglecting my blog, and from now on I will try my upmost hardest to write a post as often as possible!

Let's see how long I last this time... 

Hopefully longer than the first attempt!

Ps. Thank you for not unfollowing me whilst I've been away, whether you just purely forgot that you followed me or were genuinely waiting for my return... I appreciate it so thank you :)

x ciao x

The most magical place on Earth!!

Without any doubt whatsoever, my most favourite place I have ever visited, ever, is DisneyLand Paris! (Well, that's until I get a chance to visit Disney Universal in Florida!)

I've visited Disneyland Paris four times now, and I would live or work there if I could, and hope to someday as a Disney Princess- wouldn't that be just the most amazing job ever!?

Anywhooo, this Summer me and my family went to a really lovely campsite in France, and we traveled to Disney for one of the days, (although, it was such a tiring day it felt like much longer!!) and we all had such a lovely, magical day. 

In the morning we went to the Walt Disney park, and went on all time fave rides, including the best ever roller coaster... Rock n Roller! It was certainly an exciting start to the morning!! Traveling from 0 to 57 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds in complete darkness is definitely a way to wake you up! And the awesome Aerosmith tracks blasting against your eardrums certainly helps.

The afternoon was spent in DisneyLand, going on our favourite rides, watching the parades and eating yummy chicken nuggets and pizza! As well as flying through space on Space Mountain, riding a boat on Its a Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean, and soaring through the sky with Peter Pan. 

But without fail, the best part of the day was definitely the Disney Dreams Night Show. They is nothing like it, it is so beautiful and just makes me so so happy haha!! I'm still a Disney child at heart! So please excuse the rather enormous list of pictures I have left below!

Holiday Outfit~2

Following my previous post, this is also one of my favourite holiday outfits that I wore in Ibiza, I was wearing Miss Selfridge from head to toe (apart from well, my toes, which are New Look haha), and Miss Selfride is definitely one of my all time fave shops!

I wore this outfit on our trip to the Sunset Strip in San Antonio, I have to say that is definitely where the party is at on the island! Needless to say that me and my family didn't go at midnight to hit the clubs, but instead went to watch the beautiful sunset from the beach, and have drinks after at Café Mambo. 

We left around twelve (just as people started going into the clubs) and I swear I have never been in a busier bus- let alone at one in the morning!! There were so many people waiting for a bus it was ridiculous. It was busier there at that time that it is anywhere during the day!

Even putting up with this, I still had a lovely evening, and I'll include some snaps of my outfit and the Strip below :)

x Ciao x

Holiday Outfit~1

As promised, I am going to do a few posts based on my favourite holiday outfits, the first being this one!

Although this blouse and shorts combo is not exactly a dressy or fancy outfit, I still really like it as to me it felt really summery. I wore it on our evening to Santa Eulalia, which had the most beautiful marina and views. 

I'm not sure whether it is meant to be or not, but I did try to wear this blouse (H&M) off the shoulder, as I find this is a really flattering neckline, although it did keep sliding up onto my shoulders damn it, like how it is in the pictures below haha!

I found that I really liked wearing these shorts (New Look), as unlike the majority of other denim shorts I own, they didn't leave me with a humungous gap at the back of my waist, even though they just about fit my bum! (I'm sure most of you can relate to this annoyance!) And so this meant I felt a lot more comforatble wearing them with a crop top. 

My sandals are also from New Look, but they are in fact from the kids section (well the teenager 'Generation' section to be precise) haha! But I don't care because I really love them and think they're super comfy and cute. 

Lastly, my sunglasses (being used as a headband here oops) are from Primark, and my lipstick is Kate Moss 01 by Rimmel London- which is one of my faves!

Not too sure what's happening in the last one, but it was fun at the time haha!

Please tell me I'm not the only one to have this problem with denim shorts and jeans?

x Ciao x

Holiday Snaps!

I have just back from an absolutely amazingggg holiday in Ibiza with my family, and am now very sad to be back in Essex in the rain!! :(

The weather out there was just beautiful- although someday's I did find it felt as though the sun was physically frying my skin OUCH. But on these occasions I could simply jump right into the pool or the sea. 

I realised this holiday that floating calmly over the sea waves on a lilo is one of my all time favourite things to do, and I wish that I could just jet off to clear blue seas any time I am feeling stressed or need some relaxation time! It's so peaceful to just feel the waves moving beneath you, the sun shining down with a slight breeze in the air, and nothing but the sea and sky as your view. 

I haven't stopped flicking through the (hundreds- yep slightly over done it) pictures that I took during my week away, and so I thought I'd share a few snaps with you now. 

I am also going to do posts over the next few days showing my fave outfits; but didn't want to bombard you with dozens of pictures all at once haha!

Is it only me who takes far too many pictures than is necessary? 

x Ciao x

What's in my travel rucksack?

I don't know if it's just me (probably) but when I'm going on holiday, I just don't feel complete unless I have a very heavy rucksack attached to my back!!

This year, I found the perfect rucksack in Primark- for only £9!! What a bargain!!

It's completely white, with rose gold buckles, and is the perfect size to fit in all of my travel bits and pieces.

When flying (or any kind of travelling really) I'm one of those people who literally carry every single item I will ever need and more! Just call me Mary Poppins when it comes to fitting things inside a bag haha!

I can't go away without having a good book and magazine to read, and this time I bought 'Billy and Me' by Giovanna Fletcher, and Elle magazine, to keep me occupied during my flight or any waiting around that I will hopefully not have to endure (fingers crossed there's no flight delays!). 

I also don't like to wear a lot of makeup when travelling, especially when leaving aat 2am!! And so I have just packed minimal makeup to apply at the airport, including concealer, mascara, eyeliner, BB cream, my trusted Baby Lips in 'Cherry Me' and my Tangle Teaser hair brush. 

Also, a fan and sunglasses always come in handy when flying to a hot country, so I popped those in as well- not to mention my hand sanitiser!! 

Obviously my phone, earphones and camera (which isn't below as I'm using it to take the picture duhhh) are squished in there as well.

Anywhooo, I really hope that I haven't forgotten anything and that my bag isn't so heavy that the straps will snap!!

What are your travel necessities?

x Ciao x

Tanya Burr Tutorial Attempt

After watching the gorgeous Tanya Burr's new makeup tutorial on her Kylie Jenner look, I thought that it looked absolutely stunning and really wanted to try it out myself- which I'm sure was Tanya's aim for us all haha!

Unfortunately for me, I do not own the majority of amazing high end products featured in Tanya's video, so instead I used a range of similar, high street products, which were obviously not as good quality, but still did the job good enough!! 

Here are some embarrassingly close up selfies showing my Tanya/Kylie inspire look...

I have included a photo of the products I used below... 

Tadaaaa

Real Technique Brushes

Sleek Contour Kit

Collection Shimmer Shades Blush

Soap and Glory Archery Eyebrow pencil

Collection Lasting Perfection Powder

Maybelline The Falsies Mascara

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer

Loreal Paris eye shadow palette in 'Smoky'

Rimmel London Gel Liner

Bourjois '1,2,3 Perfect' Foundation

(Although it's not in the photo, I also used Rimmel London lipstick in 'Sugar Plum')

I really love youtube makeup tutorials because I think that they are such a great help when trying to recreate a look!

Who's your favourite YouTuber?

x Ciao x

(Inedible) Strawberry Sorbet

I am always on the lookout for a good moisturiser, especially one that smells good enough to eat! 

As The Body Shop opposite my work re-opened on Thursday after being beautifully refurbished, and looked so pretty, new and fancyyyy I just had to take a look inside!

Determined not to spend any more than the loose change in my purse, I limited myself to one purchase only haha! I had already seen the strawberry sorbet in there before, and the lovely woman who worked there told me this product is really great for holidays, as it included aloe vera, which works well as a soothing after sun lotion-especially if kept in the fridge!! The product is £8 (although I got 20% off of this as I used my friends 'Love Your Body' member card!) which I thought isn't too expensive when you consider other moisturisers by The Body Shop. 

After this I was completely sold on the product! And went to buy the Strawberry scented one...

It wasn't until I got home that I realised I had accidentally bought the Pink Grapefruit arghhh (I really do not like this scent!!) Luckily they let me exchange the scents and I'm so glad because I think that this scent is so much nicer, and is just so fresh and summery-I am really looking forward to use it on my (hopefully) tanned body on my holiday! 

Which moisturiser would you recommend? 
x Ciao x

My new favourite shop!

Last Saturday me and my friend Emily (check out her awesome blog here!! http://emilyjanewebb.blogspot.co.uk/) went on a shopping spree to buy ourselves some bits and pieces for our holidays. Although we didn't actually buy many things, the few things that we did buy were pretty great, and so I think that that makes the shopping trip quite successful!! 

Anywho, Emily decided that it was high time that I took my first trip to Boux Avenue (which is ((a slightly expensive I may add)) underwear and bikini store) and I have to say that it is my new favourite shop!! Apart from anything else, the changing rooms were absolutely AMAZING! Instead of having numbers, each room was named after a fabric (I was in chiffon) and had three sets of lights- Day, Night or Dusk, which I found super cool and fun!

Now, I'm not going to lie, I am someone who usually does the majority of their underwear and bikini shopping in Primark or H&M (I know I'm cheap!!) and so this shop was a very luxurious experience for me!! I fell in love with this bikini as soon as I walked into the store and took absolutely FOREVER trying to decide if I could justify paying for it - knowing full well I didn't really need another bikini for my holiday. The bikini is called Ipanema Bandeau Bikini, and is black (glittery gold on the inside- it's such a shame its hidden on the inside!) and has a beautiful pink and gold metal flower on the top and bottoms-I'm slightly worried the metal will get very very hot in the sun and burn me, not very practical but oh well haha!

After A LOT of dithering about, I finally decided to buy this gorgeous bikini and I'm so glad I did, I cannot wait to wear it on the beach in Ibiza! I'll pop some photos of it below- not of me wearing it of course, I don't think anyone is ready to see that on the internet!! But if any of you are like me and are usually a very boring underwear or bikini shopper, then Boux Avenue is the place to go! You'll love it...I promise!!

P.S. this shopping trip was also rather fab as me and Emily each got two free cookies from Millies Cookies- not ideal for the bikinis we had just bought haha! (I had a milk chocolate chip and a double chocolate one and they were both VERY yummy!!)

What is your favourite shop at the moment?

x Ciao x

Holiday Reading

As I may have mentioned before, I am going on holiday very soon (to ibiza with my family eeeee I'm so excited!!) and I am in desperate need of some holiday books to read!

(Inserts pretty beach picture to get me even more excited-if possible!) 

When me and my family go on holiday, we're not one of those families who go sight seeing or on a treacherous adventure everyday- far from it!! We just spend our days chilling around the pool or on the beach eating ice cream (my idea of a good time YUM!) 

As this is pretty much all we do, I spend a lot of the time laying in the sun with my head engrossed in a good long book! (I often get told off by my mum for weighing down my suitcase with them oops haha!) 

But this year I am absolutely stuck for ideas on what to take!? There's not one book that I have in mind for a good read! 

So basically, this post is for me to ask you for suggestions for a good summer read! I love anything from Harry Potter to the Perks of being a Wallflower to The Faults in our stars or my recent fave You're the One that I Want by Giovanna Fletcher!! So all suggestions are welcome!

What's your favourite summer read?

xCiao x

Summer Ombre

Last year was the first time that I ombred (I'm sorry but my poopy computer won't let me put an accent on the e?!)  my hair, however as much as I loved it, last year my hair was considerably longer than it is at the minute, and I also wimped out and only chose for the ends to be blond. THIS year, after having quite a lot chopped off my hair, I asked my friend Tiffany (wonderful enough to do my hair for me both times ((find her here tiffanys-balderdash.blogspot.co.uk - go check her out!)) to dye a lot more of my hair blond so that it goes further up the length, and I have to say I LOVE it, grand job Tiffany, well done *claps and cheers for you*. 

Here are a couple of garden snaps showing my new and improved hair...

The hair dye that I used was the Jerome Russell Bblonde Highlighting kit (seen below) and it really is a great and easy kit to use - I would highly recommend!! 

Although it did frighten me slightly when I saw that the contents of the bottle was bright blue!!

After seeing my own hair, my younger sister tried her hardest to persuade my mum into dying hers blond too, however in the end, they both agreed on dip dyed pink ends, which I dyed for her myself, and I have to say I' pretty pleased with how it turned out- considering it was my first ever attempt!! (My sister loves it anyway so that's the main thing hahah!) 

All in all it has been a successful couple of days and we both have shiny new hair ready for our holiday!

What are your plans for this Summer?

x Ciao x