30/09/2014

Oooo - New Shoes...!



It's really not everyday that I get fanatical about shoes. Handbags, yes - definitely, but shoes? Not so much. It came as a great surprise to me then that I felt it absolutely necessary to dedicate and entire post to a new pair of boots I purchased only yesterday. That's right, it's not even been 24 hours since I parted with the pennies to pay for them and here they are gracing my blog in a post all to themselves. 

Don't you think they're marvellous? I espied them on the shelf in Primark (!) and immediately had to try them on. They tick all the appropriate boxes for me: black - yes, not too high a heel - yes, day/night - yes, and, most importantly, they're from the wide fit section. With a quardruple yes, I just had to have them, and at only £15 they're a complete steal too, right?

They're suede(esq) with a lovely gold metal detail just above the heel, and a zip on the inside of each shoe to get your foot in and out. They're also surprisingly comfortable to wear (even if I only have worn them around the house) and if I didn't know they were from Primark I would have guessed a multitude of other brands before being surprised at where they come from, they just seem too sophisticated in my opinion to be from Primark, but I promise you they are!

I can't wait to wear these out...perhaps I'll convince J to take me on a date very soon...!

Are you a fan of this style of shoe?
What's your favourite boot for winter?




28/09/2014

Jo Malone - Peony & Blush Suede Cologne


Good morning!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post about my holiday to St Lucia my Mama kindly bought me a duty free present mid flight, which significantly improved my inflight pamper routine! She let me choose what I wanted and I chose this gorgeous Jo Malone cologne in the scent Peony & Blush Suede (100ml RRP £82, Duty Free £62) which is one that I tried when fragrance combining at the counter in Harvey Nichols in Bristol back in May.

I'm not really one for overpowering floral scents, I prefer a perfume that's light and fruity, bordering on the sweet side (think Prada Candy). For this reason this perfume is definitely one of the more grown up scents I have in my perfume wardrobe, but I currently cannot get enough of it. Jo Malone are clearly much better at providing an accurate description of this scent than I can, describing this perfume as 'the essence of charm. Peonies in voluptuous bloom, exquisitely fragile. Flirtatious with the juicy bite of red apple and the opulence of jasmine, rose and gillyflower. Mingling with the sensuality of soft, blush suede. Luxurious and seductive'. The notes include red apple (top), peony, jasmine, carnation, rose (middle) and suede (base).

A word of warning: spritz lightly. You really don't need to shower yourself in this cologne or else you'll lose the delicate scent. But it's perfect for day wear (just not at night in the Caribbean or else you'll attract the mosquitoes like I did!) which makes it such a lovely perfume, a very welcome addition to my collection indeed.

Are you a fan of Jo Malone fragrances?
What's your favourite perfume?

27/09/2014

A Caribbean Getaway...My Vacation to St Lucia.

Well hello again little corner of the internet!
I've been back from sunny St Lucia for exactly a week now and I wanted to share a couple of photos with you from my 10 day trip to this pretty little Caribbean island...
Luxury hot chocolate in Wetherspoons / Allure and snacks on the plane
The best continental breakfast ever! / We're off!
It began with trip to Gatwick to stay overnight in the Travelodge, before moseying around duty free at departures and eating the most delicious continental breakfast in Wetherspoons before embarking on an eight hour flight across the ocean. I was most impressed with British Airways' service - afternoon tea on the plane? Yes please! We were sitting in World Traveller Plus (i.e Premium Economy) and had ample leg room and lots of exciting entertainment to keep us occupied inflight. I was also lucky enough to be treated to a gorgeous Jo Malone perfume by my mum mid flight which significantly improved my inflight pamper routine!

Our little coral pink villa / Jacuzzi bath
Beautiful bedroom / Wet room style bathroom
We landed and took a transfer to our hotel which was at the opposite end of the island. St Lucia is teeny tiny - it only takes left than an hour and a half to get from the south to the north! The whole island is covered in lush tropical greenery, rainforest, banana and coco plantations (Hotel Chocolat even has a plantation and a hotel/restaurant on the island!) and the private homes of the St Lucian's are all painted in pretty pastel colours so as not to reflect the sun too much. They were so cute!

Our hotel was called Smugglers Cove Resort & Spa and it was beautiful, with numerous pools and it's own beach with lots of water sports. My Mama had upgraded us to lush little beach front villas to stay in for the whole trip, and we were treated to a queen sized bed, in room jacuzzi and lots and lots of space. We benefitted from being literally right in amongst all of the hotel action, with the buffet restaurant only a minute away, as well as the Piton Lounge (which had the best bar and wifi!) and the pools.
The beach from my cabana / Cocktail o'clock! / view from our terrace
Relaxing in my doughnut floatie / Wave after wave
Waterfall pool = lush!
The hotel was all inclusive so I indulged in a lot of rum punch, many pina coladas and glass after glass of Sprite (my most favourite fizzy drink of all time!). The food ranged from a buffet restaurant with a different theme every night, to Cafe Asia (a mix of lots of different Asian cuisine), an italian restaurant and a fish and jerk chicken restaurant situated on the water. There was also unlimited soft serve every day, a beach BBQ each lunchtime and an amazing buffet breakfast that served the best fresh fruit and pancakes. I cannot fault the food at this resort at all, we were very well fed indeed!

The best breakfast! / Doughnuts, pool water & palm trees
My little haul / Snack haul
St Lucia is the third Caribbean island I've been to, having visited Barbados and Antigua before, and it's definitely the most quaint. Everyone we met was so incredibly friendly and willing to help out (maybe a little too much so sometimes, especially the people we met at the Friday night street party we went to!), they made it such fun - especially the resort drivers who took us to the supermarket and shopping a number of times. In terms of shopping, St Lucia wasn't the best for me personally, I felt like I started to see the same old souvenirs wherever we went, but I did find a duty free MAC Cosmetics store as well as a small Milani stand in a shop named 'Beauty Supplies'. The majority of the products sold in the drugstores were things I can get in the UK and even the supermarkets were selling Waitrose branded items!

We did three excursions on the Island, one was a whale and dolphin watching experience which was such fun (even though I had to sit in the shade because I burned my back! Factor 30 is just not enough for my skin!) and although we didn't see any whales we did see a big pod of dolphins which were adorable and such show offs! Another excursion was an all day trip around the island in an open top jeep where we visited a cocoa plantation, two waterfalls, botanical gardens, a volcano and finished off the day with a catamaran trip back to Rodney Bay (where a majority of the shops and supermarkets were located north of the island). The final excursion was a trip to Castries, the capital of St Lucia, to visit the markets and experience the local way of life.
Disney, lying flat in the sky and drinks / Airport purchase
1st Course of 3 course meal! / My cabin seat
The weather was incredible and I've come back with a lovely tan! I was initially hesitant because September is right in the middle of the rainy season, but it only rained on our final day and we still went in the pool and sea anyway. We then had to dry off and catch our plane, which involved another transfer back down to the south of the island, and then a magical upgrade to Club World (business class) on the aeroplane with a lie flat bed. Now that's one way to travel home in style...!

All in all, it was a lovely little break away and I'd recommend anyone to go and visit St Lucia if you're up for a good time. Our resort was beautiful, not luxurious, but worth a visit if you're after a resort that has everything you're going to need in one space. I would say that it'd be worth it if you paid to upgrade your rooms like we did to get the most out of Smugglers Cove, but there are plenty of other resorts on the island if ours is not to your taste!

I'm already planning my next vacation, hopefully a mini city break to Paris in the near future, followed by Las Vegas and back to Florida in 2016. I've been bitten by the travelling bug again, and cannot wait to jet away to somewhere new...!

Have you ever been to the Caribbean?
Where has been your favourite holiday destination you've travelled to? I need ideas!

06/09/2014

Transatlantic Inflight Essentials...


Hello again!

I've taken an unintentional month and a half off from blogging. I don't know why, life just sometimes gets in the way and I've been chasing a promotion at work this last month, getting caught up in the busy hustle and bustle of running a restaurant during the summer holidays and most of all getting thoroughly excited for my holiday to the Caribbean in 3 days time. I can't believe it's come round so fast, counting down from 100 days only seems like it was five minutes ago and all of sudden I'm rushing around and praying my Very order arrives tomorrow or else it'll be far too late to take nice new dresses on holiday...!

Talking of holidays, I wanted to post today to show you what I've been planning to take on the plane with me. According to my TimeHop exactly two years ago today I was in Covent Garden having cocktails with my boy getting ready to fly to Florida and preparing my inflight beauty kit, and today is no different. As I'm not one for mega beauty regimes inflight, I'm normally more interested in getting cosy with a novel or a crossword, I've decided to bring a larger amount of products with me just in case the worst happens and I am without my toiletries (this year we're flying British Airways and we all know what happens to a lot of BA luggage!).

For my everyday essentials I'm taking two hair ties from Primark (you can guarantee one might snap!), a small packet of Kleenex tissues, some ear plugs, my toothbrush and mini toothpaste, and a Parisian inspired PocketBac hand sanitiser from Bath and Body Works. These are definite must haves on board the plane for me, especially the PocketBac for dealing with germs in the recycled cabin air!

I've decided to have a little skin pampering session in the sky too. As you'll be well aware by now, I have very dry skin and Origins moisturisers and products have always worked wonders for me so I'll be popping the GinZing eye cream and day moisturiser in my bag, as well as a hefty travel sized version of the Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask which I absolutely adore.

I don't actually have much in the way of makeup as I am not really planning on wearing anything heavy. My face base for the entire trip will be the Garnier Ambre Solaire BB Cream in factor 30, and I also have the L'Oreal Miss Manga mascara (not pictured) which I am yet to try so I'm hoping for good things!

Finally I have a mini Factor 30 Hawaiian Tropic SPF to pop in my inflight essentials for pre landing application, I don't want to walk off the plane and burn straightaway as I have done before on holiday so I'm being extra safe from the beginning. It's also rather handy to have a mini suncream incase my luggage is lost and I have some to see me through for a couple of days, or even to pop this in my handbag for a day trip out on the sea.

Not an exhaustive kit by all means, but I'm trying to pack light for this vacation and I think I'm doing well so far!

What do you take with you on the plane?
Do you have an inflight regime?