Cornwall Photo Diary

Hello everyone, it's been a while hasn't it?! 

I've been away again spending some time with my family down in Cornwall. Cornwall is one of my favourite places to visit, not only because it means I get to see my family, but also because it's just so lovely! Full of culture, food, drink and some of the most amazing beaches the UK has to offer! It was a much needed break, even though it doesn't feel that long ago since I was in Mexico! I definitely came back down to Earth with a bump today, back to work for my final few weeks of placement (7 and counting!). I hope you enjoy flicking through these photos and hopefully it inspires you to go down and enjoy it too!

Emma xx

My Beach Essentials!

Whether your in the UK heading off to a day trip to the beach or living the dream spending time on some white sands, a properly stocked beach bag is essential. Below are my top 5 must haves...

Suncream: Pretty obvious, no? I brought a few different options with me but this was the one I took with me to the beach... no particular reason why I chose this out of the two I brought really, it's a high factor and I didn't find it to be too sticky, which I hate when you're on the beach - sand and stickiness are an absolutely awful combination if you ask me!

Music: I loveeee listening to music while on the beach, it sets my mood and I also use it as a timer for when to turn over... anyone else do that, or is it just me? Three songs then switch?!

Kindle: I also found I brought this with me, we had wifi on the beach so it was handy to have to watch a quick film on Netflix or play some games - gotta have entertainment while on the beach!

Reading material: I brought two magazines with me and a book this year. The book of choice was Paper Towns which I really enjoyed so would recommend if you haven't already read it! However I must say I find articles much easier to read on the beach, they're smaller and much easier the conquer while sunning yourself!

Avene Eau Thermale: This little can of water was so handy while on the beach, whether it's to help cool down or even to just rinse your hands, it was just nice to have it with me, and it's dinky little size meant it was easy to carry round.

Of course there were other things with me on the beach - let's not forget my trusty pair of sunglasses which literally never left my head and also my leave in hair sun protection spray which I used every morning before I left for the beach - we mustn't forget to protect our hair!

What are your beach essentials?

Emma xx

Mexico | Photo Diary

I'm going to keep this short and sweet... I've just come back from 10 days in Mexico and here are just a selection of pictures from my time there. It was most definitely the best holiday experience I've ever had and if you haven't been to Mexico I would 100% recommend it! Everything was perfect and the locals treated us so nicely, which made the whole thing that little bit more special. 

Now the only problem is... I want to book another holiday already! The thought of going through summer with no holiday is already making me sad and I've only been back at work for a day! What am I like?!

This was our excursion - visiting one of the Seven Wonders of the World; the Chichen Itza. It was such an amazing experience and after walking round and taking in all the beautiful surroundings we got to swim in a 70m deep cenote (a sinkhole to you and me), which was again, an amazing experience and kind of surreal! After that we had some free time to enjoy the Tequila Museum where (of course) we got to try all the different types of tequila - passion fruit being my favourite!

At our hotel there was a Mojito Bar with over 30 different Mojitos on offer, along with almost every cocktail recipe under the sun also on offer! Needless to say we did an extensive taste test while there!

Being on the East Coast of Mexico meant we got to enjoy some amazing sun rises - this is just one of many!

Our hotel also had a michelin star restaurant on site, Le Chic - think Heston Blumenthal-esque food, including caviar, tuna tartare, pancetta foam and desserts with candyfloss and carrot on the same plate!

 We also visited Cancun while we were there and I have to say, they have one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen - the photo below doesn't do justice to just how blue the sea was - it looked unreal!

 

So that's it! I won't bore you any more with the photos! If you have any questions about Mexico or where I stayed feel free to ask :)

Emma xx

My Long Haul Flight Essentials

I'm typing up this post just a few hours before I set off on the first leg of my journey to Mexico - the first part is just driving to Manchester as I fly tomorrow (boring!) - but I know I won't be taking my laptop so this will be the final post until I arrive home! I'm not going to lie, I'm not the biggest fan of flying, especially long haul, mainly because I hate being bored, and restricted, so I've tried to ensure my hand luggage has things to resolve these issues.

I'm going to cover the basic, non-beauty items first... So bag wise, I made sure I brought a reasonable size, within the airline restrictions size limit, but still pretty big. I've gone for a shopper from Topshop, there were a few colour available but I went for the light grey. I'll be throwing in sunglasses, my purse, kindle, phone, iPod, earphones, painkillers, tissues, sweets, John Green's Paper Towns, a sleeping mask (you never know when you'll need one of these!) and finally my passport, travel money and of course tickets! I've also been converted this year to bring along a neck/travel pillow, everyone seems to love these but I've never been too bothered, then one time Primark I found this one and I have to admit, I love it, I've even been wearing it around the house!

The standout product though has to be the This Works Deep Sleep Spray and Stress Less Rollerball. This should keep me calm and relaxed during the flight, even when I'm not! For toiletries I'm also bringing Yes To cucumber wipes, my Body Shop Vitamin E Face Mist, Super Facialist Eye Cream, Estee Lauder Serum, Carex hand sanitiser, and a Tea Tree Spot Stick.

I haven't really brought a lot of make up with me, as I will have applied what I want on before the flight and when I land I really won't care what I look like, I'll just put my sunglasses on! So the very few pieces that are coming with me revolve around necessity, for instance Carmex lip balm, a tiny 5ml vile of Modern Muse and the YSL Touche Eclat just to touch up and keep me feeling at least a little presentable!

And that's it! Not too much, just the essentials plus a few extras - I told you this was the year I pack light!

Emma xx

My Holiday Make-Up Essentials

This is year is the year I pack 'light'. I've been trying for a while to whittle down my makeup choices and it's something I've been struggling with for this years sunny, tropical, bikini-clad holiday! Now the majority of the day I'll be mainly makeup free, in other words bare faced with a quick slick of mascara... waterproof of course... but in the evenings I'll ramp it up with a full face of makeup - nothing too extravagant, more like a day to day look I'd normally wear at home. When I first grabbed what I thought I wanted to take I had to seriously re-evaluate, would I really wear everything I was going to take... probably not! So this is my very basic, minimal make up collection that will be accompanying me on holiday!

I'm going to be taking a rather large selection of lip products (woops!), but in all fairness they're all different types of lip products. First up is the No7 BB Lips in the shade Blush Coral. Now I know a lot of people say not to wear paler colours on holiday... but that is because those people tan, a lot, I on the other hand don't tan a lot, therefore it's okay! The darkest shade I'm taking is another No7 product, their High Shine Lip Crayon in the shade Tropical Beach, which is a really nice pinky/coraly colour. I've also decided to bring along one of my favourite duos, MACs lipstick in Pure Zen, paired with Sexy Mother Pucker by Soap and Glory in the shade Pink Apricot... Can you see a theme here? I like nude shades! I'm also bringing along the Carmex lip balm in Jasmine and Green Tea as well as a Nivea Hydra Care Lip Balm with SPF 15.

For face I've *tried* to keep it simple; just two foundations, one with slightly more coverage - L'oreal's True Match in Rose Beige and then a much lighter alternative, Chanel's Vitalumiere Aqua, both have SPF15 which is always a positive when going on holiday. For concealer I'm bringing along my trusty Maybelline's Eraser Eye Concealer. To take the shine away I've chosen MACs Mineralise Skin Finish Natural and to add definition to my cheek bones I'm bringing the Body Shop's Honey Bronzer in shade 2, and No7's Natural Blush Tint Powder in Coral Flush. I've also decided to bring a base, keeping it a light with Benefit's Porefessional, just because I want to make sure I have primed my skin before I put my makeup on, especially since I'll be covered in suncream all day.

Then for eyes, I'm trying out the No7 Stay Perfect Shade and Define shadow sticks. There are so many of these kind of products available but these are a great dupe at half the price of other options such as the By Terry Ombre Blackstick which is £29, while the No7 version is only £8! The shades I have opted for are Glistening Ray - a beautiful golden shimmery shade, Coffee Bean - a rich brown shade, and Cool Mink - a soft bronze based brown.

 

I think I'll also bring along the Naked 2 Palette just so I have some powder based alternatives. As well as these bases I'll bring along my liquid eyeliner of choice, Rimmel's Glam Eye's Liner and then Benefit's Roller Lash which I am completely obsessed with! I've also got a waterproof mascara for the day time - No7's Intense Volume.

And that's it! I swear this is a basic version for me, it was extremely difficult to cut it down and it was a lot bigger before, I promise!! Do you have anything you love to take away with you?

Emma xx

My Travel Toiletry Essentials

I'm currently in organisation overdrive - trying to plan for my holiday to Mexico in a weeks time! I'm at that stage where I'm trying to plan outfits for the week, without wearing anything I want to take on my travels. I want to make sure everything is planned before I leave, so packing next Friday should be (cross fingers) seamless and easy! I'll be doing a few posts about my upcoming holiday, so look out for them, especially if you like planning blog posts - I know I do... I'm such a snooper! So without further a do, here are my top picks for travel toiletries!

Hair:

For my hair I've decided to go for the Charles Worthington Shine Booster Shampoo and the Moisture Seal Conditioner. I find when I go on holiday my hair can become very dry due to the exposure to sun, so these two - although they aren't an original pair - are perfect, the Shine Booster should inject some gloss into my hair and the Moisture Seal should help revive it. I got these both in full size because I'm away for 11 days and I'll probably end up washing my hair most days so I'll need them to be larger than the mini travel sizes. I also picked up the Sunshine Protector Leave In Spray, also by Charles Worthington. It acts as a suncream but for your hair, to help prevent from damage, drying and fading. This is enriched with Moringa Seed Oil to help with moisture and shine, leaving hair protected, replenished and lightly scented. 

Body & Basics:

My body wash of choice is the Dove Go Fresh Body Wash in the scent Blue Fig and Orange Blossom. I love love love the smell of this, it's so fresh and exactly what I'm going to need to freshen up after being out all day in the sun. There's also a few basics like my deodorant, just a basic Soft and Gentle in Lavender and Patchouli, my razor, a Venus Spa Breeze disposable, my toothbrush, toothpaste etc!

Skincare:

I've tried to stick as close as possible to my normal skincare routine, so I've made sure I have my cleanser, eye cream, serum and moisturiser all the same as I have when I'm at home. I ordered the Bioderma Micellar Water as I really didn't want to take my 400ml Garnier version and this was the only one I knew which was small enough. I was also really intrigued to try the Bioderma version, so this small bottle is perfect. The cleanser of choice is of course my Liz Earle original cleanser, I was given this smaller size at an event at work, which is perfect for taking on holiday! The serum is my Body Shop Vitamin E Serum, it's a bit more gel-like than other serums so it's nice and cooling - perfect after a day sunning myself! Next up is my Una Brennan Vitamin C Brightening Eye Cream and my Eucerin moisturiser. I'm also bringing along a small can of the Avene Thermal Spring Water, which I'll use as a toner but it'll also be handy to use in the day to cool off. Finally, I've got a small packet of the Yes to Cucumber Soothing Facial Wipes. These are more for on the plane but should be handy to have with me for whenever, they're also hypoallergenic which is good because I have very sensitive skin at times.

Sun Care:

I've switched up my sun care this year and gone for the Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration in SPF 30. I'm also bringing along my trusty Piz Buin Ultra Dry Touch Fluid, again in SPF 30 -I don't know about you but I'm really not a fan of feeling sticky so hence the dry touch suncream! I've also opted for the Dry Touch Face Fluid, this time in SPF 15, but I also have a 30 just in case. For After-sun, I've gone for another Hawaiian Tropic line, one I've used before and absolutely love, the Silk Hydration After-sun Lotion. 

So thats it, an inside look at my holiday toiletry essentials! Is there anything you like to take with you when you go away?

Emma x