The Summer Edit: Holiday Toiletries

If you are a regular reader and/or follow me on Twitter then you will know that I jetted off to Croatia a few weeks ago and just before, I began my Summer Edit posts. I've decided to run through all things Summer and holiday related to show the sorts of things I pack. I started the series with bikinis, which you can see here and this one is all about the holiday toiletries.

On top of my usual beauty products, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, cleansers and toner etc I always make a trip to Boots before a holiday for those extra Holiday Toiletries. Here's what I plumped for this summer and what I thought!

Sun cream
I purchased two sun creams because you can never have enough and they were also on a deal. First up, I got the Piz Buin Tan Intensifier in Factor 30. I always take a high factor and stick to it when I'm only going away for a week because there's nothing worse than burning to a crisp on day one of your hols! This was a handy spray, smelt good and I didn't burn once, so I would highly recommend it. Also, it didn't weigh a lot, which sounds strange, but some bottles do drag you down on day trips!

The second sun cream I purchased was the Garnier Ambre Solaire Golden Protect in Factor 20. I'm a big fan of Garnier's creams as they always smell fresh and are super moisturizing. I also find their products to be less sticky as opposed to others. This one has a glitter effect in it, so if you're not into literally looking golden, steer clear of this one.

Thirdly, I got the Garnier BB Cream, as I hate putting standard sun creams on my face. I've been using a few different BB creams (future post) recently, so I thought this sounded perfect. However, I don't know if anyone else has tried it, but it's sticky and quite thick? I really didn't like this product, the colour seems to get stuck on parts of your face and not others and it was just not what I expected. Have no fear though! If this happens to you and you need a high factor, but don't want to show your ghost face, simply mix some sun cream with a bit of foundation - works much better!!

After Sun
This HUGE bottle from Garnier was like £3 or something, which I thought was amazing. It's still going strong, goes on well, dries fast and smells fresh - big thumbs up!

Perfume
Due to my bad habits in Boots I had about £50 worth of points to spend and was in desperate need of a perfume. I love love love Chanel Chance, Ralph Lauren Romance, Lady Million and lots the Diptyque ones, but they're all so expensive and you get about 30ml for £40+, which upsets me. If you feel the same way I recommend scouting out the counter with your top perfumes in mind and mentally noting the price vs quantity you get. Hugo Boss's Femme was the best buy this time round and it's such a pretty girlie fragrance, so if you like Ralph Lauren Romance and such I would say check this out.

Hair Products 
I took some Batiste dry shampoo for when my hair needed an extra boost, John Freida's Frizz Ease serum to lock in some moisture and keep my hair from becoming fluffy and some Mark Hill's Holiday Hair products.

I would definitely recommend John Freida's hair serum (read here for review) and the Cover Up by Mark Hill did seem to keep my scalp from getting burnt and my hair from drying out. I don't feel like it's the best out there though, so any recommendations are welcome! I only used the salt spray a few times because I was around a pool and not at the beach, it seemed to work but I don't know, I'm not a huge fan,

Hope you all enjoyed that, head over here if you haven't to see my Croatia snaps. Leave your links and the products you love when you head on your holidays too, as I need to build my Boots points back up! ;)

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Pimms o' clock

Suffering from serious buyers regret as i type this...just spent around £200 online at ASOS and Boots - oops! It's funny how we all get buyers regret when we splurge, yet most of us (including me) are spending our own money that we have earned. I still justify every-single-piece of clothing to my mum and I'm 23 with a full time job, old habits?

Anywayyyy, off topic! This is a random post, but as the sun is shining and the drinks are flowing etc etc I just felt like a montage of Pimms was appropriate. I LOVE Pimms!

All photos weheartit accept hard rock shot, which is my own skills

In case you've never let this sublime drink touch your taste buds or even heard of Pimms o Clock you will need: 

Pimms or Austins (which is the Aldi cheap version and da bomb)

Ice

Cucumber

Apple

Orange

Strawberries

Lemon
I add Lime too (live life on the edge)

Basically, pop some ice at the bottom of the glass or pitcher (you crazy kid), fill with an appropriate amount of Pimms, slice and plonk the fruit in (don't just stand there juggling it), fill up the rest of the glass or pitcher with lemonade and add some torn mint, then garnish with fancy straws, umbrellas etc and enjoy! 

If you're not into strong alcoholic flavors (it is strong though, which I didn't realise!) and are after something that defines summer, this is your drink. On that note, enjoy the sunshine and let me know your fav drinks for summer below (alcoholic and non). 

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My Weekend: The Rolling Stones #BST

The weekend gone, my family + boyfriend made our way to Laaaandon (still can't stop doing that) to meet up with my Dad who currently works and lives there during the week. This wasn't just any ole weekend visiting Papa Carl though, this was The Rolling Stones weekend. We all got tickets a few months ago, with me getting one for my boyfriends birthday - best gf evs. The weather was beyond glorious, so we found ourselves a spot in Hyde Park near the stage, grabbed a cider and settled in...

 Me and my sister
I am wearing:

A hat from Camden Market, H&M top, H&M crochet black shorts, Primark banana socks and grey Converse

The British Summer Time Festival in Hyde Park (or whatever it was called!) had a number of bands playing, including Gary Clark Jr, The Temper Trap and The Vaccines to name a few. Gary Clark Jr was the best in my opinion, man can that guy play the guitar! Also, TRS let him play with them later on, so the boy done good.

The main event however, was incredible. I wouldn't class myself as an epic fan or anything, but even if you just like one song you would agree that they've still got it. Mick Jagger had some serious moves and you just would not believe they are all 70+ years old and still rocking out. I also wanted a lot of the clothing Mick was wearing, especially his embellished jackets!

On the way home from Laaaaandon (see?) after Wimbledon of course! (how good!? Sweaty palms or what!) I heard Keith Richards on the Radio say "You can hurt yourself if you get off a bus that's still moving" and I can confirm that The Rolling Stones didn't seem like they needed to stop - marvelous!

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Croatia: My New Favorite Place

Hi everyone! I'm like a dodgy magician at the moment, one minute I'm here and the next minute I'm gone. I'm back though *clouds of smoke, doves and other magical shiz* and this post is a full of a few snaps from my holiday the other week.

I went away with four friends to Dubrovnik, Croatia and it was a-maze. Honestly, if you get the chance to go then you really should. It's absolutely gorgeous, full of lovely people, great cocktails and some yummy food...

 The gorgeous 'Old City'

 Half way up our daily 200ish steps (ouch)

 My new name

 The girls!

 One of the many many night out photos

 Classic knee shot

 Lokrum Island

 View from the top of the city walls

 Where's the camera?

 So gorgeous!

 By the Onophrian Fountain in the Old City

 View from Cafe Buza 

 The harbor

Dubrovnik

So, you want the low down huh? here we go...

Where to stay:

- We stayed in an apartment just up from the Old City as we wanted a pool to ourselves for the week. If there are a lot of you heading to Croatia then a villa can be a more affordable option. Otherwise there are some great hotels, including a large Hilton that is in a really good location (not as many steps as ours!). 

What to do:

- You have to scale the Old City walls for a breathtaking view of Dubrovnik from every single angle possible

- Eat ice cream, a lot. Not sure if it's because it's so close to Italy, but the ice cream was amazing. Each cone costs about 80p too, so you can try a lot of flavors for pretty much nothing.

- Visit Cafe Buza, a super cool bar which claims to have 'the most beautiful view', not wrong! If you're feeling brave you can also jump off the cliff with fellow brave people (not me!). 

- Drink cocktails! There are loads of places to grab a cocktail no matter what your budget is.

- Soak up the sunshine. It was 35C+ whilst we were there, so make sure you have a high SPF and lots of water, especially when you scale those walls. 

Where to go:

- Lockrum Island: This pretty little island is just a 12min ferry trip from the Dubrovnik Harbour and is basically where people go to dip in the sea. I have to say that the sea is beautiful in Croatia, you feel like you are in paradise. There's a botanical garden (no joke like 5 flowers), lots of restaurants and some bars too. 

- Cafe Buza: Most beautiful view in Dubrovnik, enough said. 

- Art Cafe: Cool, indie, arty bar that makes some amazing cocktails for hardly any money.

- Sky Bar: Top40 playlist? Check. Cocktails in a bucket? Check. Incredibly good looking people from Australia, South Africa and other 'sexy places'? Check. Great atmosphere? Check. More dancing than you can shake a stick at? Check. Croatia certainly isn't your 'let's get wasted' Malia style place, but people do like a good time and the Sky Bar is a good stop on a night out. 

- Glam Cafe: Stop by for a shake, smoothie or juice. Especially good for a hangover!

- City Walls: Get your arse up all those steps and make your way around the city walls

- Club Revelin: This is the biggest and apparently best club in Croatia and where everyone goes on a night out. It's in an old fortress, which is pretty cool and we had some very fun nights in there. Keep an eye out for posters around the Old City to see if anyone is playing, we saw Sebastian Ingrosso and that was one of the best nights out during our holiday. As a warning, skip the evening where it is 'Dream Girls' this is basically where the half naked dancers that are usually in cages 'perform' some kind of strange porno/burlesque thing. 

- Marco Polo: There are loads of amazing places to eat (deffo have a pizza at least once!) and Marco Polo is a great restaurant tucked up down one of the alley ways in the Old City

- Buy some souvenirs: There are loads to buy and some really cute homemade things. My friend got her baby niece this adorable wooden toy and some candles from Candle City (think that's right), which is mental.

There's loads more to do and if i haven't tempted you, it's pretty cheap and just b-e-a-utiful (I mentioned that a little). I had a good time anyways...

Link me up if you've been anywhere recently! I am already looking for my next adventure "The World is a book, and those who do not travel only read a page" Saint Augustine (any excuse!). 

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