Travel Beauty Essentials

I thought I would write a quick post to show you the beauty essentials I will be taking with me to Peru. I'm hoping to pack light so I'm trying to keep my beauty products to a minimum so here is a little post about the things I cant bear to leave behind.

My Must Have Beauty Essentials

Aussie Hair Curl Definition Serum

This little bottle of awesomeness is perfect for when I want to wash my hair and for it to dry with a slight curly wave.

Just a few drops rubbed together in my hands is then scrunched through my wet hair and voila it then dries naturally with a lovely natural wave to it.

Perfect for taming my hair during the heat and humidity in Peru and also smells lush.

As hair care while I'm away will be a low priority, this little bottle will be my 'no fuss - go too' product.

I picked up my bottle from the supermarket but you can buy it from Superdrug here for less than £5.

Body Shop Vitamin E moisturiser

This little pot of moisturiser from the Body Shop will be great for keeping my skin hydratred.

The cream is actually a night cream but in the view of not over packing I will use both a day and night cream.

The cream is light and gives my skin the right amount of moisture without making it too greasy and leaves a really soft finish.

Garnier Chap Stick

For someone that bites her lips a lot this little baby has to come with me. Not just to keep my lips hydrated but it also has a SPF factor 15 so will protect them from the sun too.

Hand Cream

I actually got this L'occitane hand cream free with an issue of Glamour and its been a handbag favourite ever since. 

Make Up

Whenever I am on holiday I try and keep the make up I wear to a minimum and let my freckles shine through. For Peru though I cannot bear not to be without these essentials.

The make up I cant live without

• Maxfactor Masterpiece Max Mascara - I have been using this mascara for about 4 years now and it never fails to give my lashes great thickness and coverage.
• Eyeliner - This eye pencil I picked up from Superdrug for less than a fiver
• Blusher - Rimmel pink rose is my go to blusher to give my skin that extra holiday glow.
• Mac Brown Eyeshadow - this Charcoal Brown colour actually is great for using on my eyebrows and lids. Double Winner.
• Loreal Glamshine pink lipgloss - (not pictured) For the few nights I will be making an effort to look semi presentable this lipgloss will give my lips a hint of colour and shine.

Only 5 more days to go, best get packing x

Glastonbury Memories

So its that time of year again where everyone is talking about the UK's biggest festival - Glastonbury.

I was lucky enough to get tickets last year, so with just under a week until the 2014 festival kicks off I thought I would write a quick blog post about my experience and link it back to my bucket list.

Glastonbury has long been on my bucket list so last year was finally my year to tick that baby off.

When people say Glastonbury is a marathon of a festival, they couldn't be more right. The place is just so vast, not just in size but in culture and variety. I mean Brucie of all people was there last year!!

Everywhere you go at Glastonbury you will either come across some weird and wonderful art installation, be tucking into some of the diverse food options available or dancing like a loon to one of your favourite bands.

Follow the white rabbit down the rabbit hole

We were seriously lucky with the weather in 2013 and after a small downpour on the Thursday it made way for the following 3 days of Sunshine. Happy times.

We pitched our tent in the Dairy Ground which I would definitely recommend as it was quiet enough to be able to sleep at night but not too far away to walk to the main areas. It's also on a slight incline which means if it does rain you wont be one of the poor people watching their tent floats past them in the floods.

The first two days at Glasto are really yours to just explore and get to grips with. Then on the Friday when the music starts you at least feel you have started to get to grips with the place.

For me on the Friday night I jumped about listening to Foals, Saturday it was all about the Rolling Stones and Sunday was a perfect blissed out evening watching The XX.

The Rolling Stones played an epic set.

Whilst I wont be going back to Glastonbury for a few years (too many other places to get ticked off that Bucket List first). My experience was amazing and one I will remember forever.

Here are my Glastonbury highlights.

* Meeting Radio 1's Greg James and having my photo taken with him (swoon)

* Covering myself in neon face paint while watching people dance the Salsa in a tent

* Watching Ben Howard perform on the Pyramid Stage in the blistering sunshine

* Rocking out with some oldies to Mick Jagger and Co.
* Eating the most amazing vegetarian Chilli in the Greenpeace area
* Buying a souvenir t-shirt that I will keep forever
* Watching 2 guys shoot fire and lasers at each other in the Arcadia area
* Jumping about in a teepee in The Park field
* Getting close to the front of The XX for the final night

If you are going this year then enjoy every second of it.

p.s the toilets are really not that bad!!

Here are a few photo of my highlights x

Rum Shack in The Common

We even made it on to BBC 3

A Tea Bus

Mr Ant made of recycled plastic bottles

Violin playing Fox in The Glade

Glastonbury 2013 - Done

Holiday Shopping

Its been a while since I did a 'Loving this week' blog post so here goes.......

Holiday Shopping

My big trip to South America is now just under 2 weeks away and i'm getting so excited. Last week I set aside a whole day dedicated purely to Holiday clothes shopping. Yay!!!

For Holiday basics you cant go wrong at Primark and I was so excited to nab this cute all over print Pineapple polo tee for £4, teamed with a pair of denim shorts and sandals this will definitly be my go to easy summer look.

Pineapples at Primark

Heading into H&M saw me snap up a few basic summer dresses. You cant go wrong with a good old stripe in my opinion. 

Finally when I looked at everything I had purchased it was very clear that I like my patterns, The bigger and bolder the better. I especially love the ethnic butterfly pattern on my New Look tee which will look perfect with skinny jeans and wedges.

Holiday Shopping - Done

Wantfeed

I have been following the lovely Hannah Maggs' blog and youtube vlogs for over a year now so when I saw her Husband Stef was about to launch a brand new website I thought I would head over and check it out.

Wantfeed is a brand new social wish list site that allows users to easily create their favourite want/need/must have lists. 

Whenever users see a product they want, they copy the link and paste into their wantfeed and it shows up in your feed. This is then ideal if you have a birthday coming up (like me) and want a site that your friends and family can take a look at and be present inspired. Or you can use it just for fun and lust over those products that you want but you cant afford.

The site is only a few weeks old but I definitly see it growing in popularity especially when it launches its brand new app in a few weeks time. 

Here is a little look at my current wantfeed. So friends and family take note for my birthday :)

You can start to build your very own Wantfeed right here.

Inkkas Shoes

My favourite social media account by far has to be Instagram. I love a good old flick through peoples photos, I think I get that from my Nana. Last week I was having a good old snoop of Fearne Cottons account and came across a pair of shoes that immediately caught my eye.

After a bit of digging I found out she was wearing a pair of Inkkas. Inkkas is a company that was born during a backpacking trip to South America in 2012. Danny Ben-Nun, a designer and an avid traveler, was wandering through the alleyways of Cusco - Peru, when he discovered a pair shoes made from authentic, local fabrics. The shoes were so beautiful that he knew from the moment he laid eyes on them, that he had to help bring the product to the global market. You can follow them on Instagram here - http://instagram.com/inkkasshoes

The company also supports the OneShoeOneTree project which means that for every one pair of shoes sold, one tree is replanted back into the Amazon rainforest in the battle against De-forestation.

So not only are the shoes kick ass in design they are ethical and fair too. Win Win!!! The Shadow pair are definitely on my birthday list.

Hope everyone has had a good weekend (despite England losing). I'm off to spend the afternoon with Papa Saint for Fathers Day. Thanks for reading x

Skydive - Bucket List Challenge No.2

Years and years ago I thought it would be a good idea to make it a well known statement to my friends and family that before I turn 30 I would do a skydive.

Silly me!!

As the big 30 is now looming come September, I finally had to make good on my word and sign up for the challenge. However it did mean that I could tick yet another thing off my Bucket List.

I managed to also rope in my awesome friend Zoe to take part in the challenge, again another reason to ensure I didn't chicken out.

On Saturday 31st May, we arrived at Langar Airfield for 12 o'clock only to be told that flights were currently being suspended due to low cloud.

So we patiently waited for our turn.

Luckily our friends and family who had turned out to support us, kept our minds occupied so we didn't keep thinking about the impending jump. Finally 5 hours later it was our time.

From then on things moved pretty quick. It was time to get in our flight suit, meet our tandem diving instructors, have a quick run through of our descent positions and then it was time to board the plane.

I was paired with the awesome 'Bones' aka Tony and he managed to keep me smiling and laughing despite how nervous I was. He was a real dude!!

My calmness went utterly to shreds once the plane shutters came up and people started to jump. I may have had a scaredy cat tear in my eye at this point too.

What am I doing????!!!

Before I knew it I was hanging out the door and then I was gone. Flying through the air so fast that I had to remember to keep breathing at the same time. My cameraman was poised and ready to catch my reaction and I remembered to smile, give him a wave and a thumbs up to say 'I'm still alive'.

The whole descent lasted about 8-9 minutes and I even got to be in control of the parachute and do some aerial turns.

When I came to land I could see all my family there waiting and shouting for me and I landed straight on my bum. I don't know how to describe the feeling when I landed but it was a mixture of pure relief, happiness and adrenaline.

Phew, back in one piece!!

A big hug from Bones and then I could stand and wait for Zoe to land before making my way over to my family for hugs all around.

Together we raised nearly £800 for the Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire Air Ambulance www.justgiving.com/nicandzoesskydive

Thanks for reading x