MAKING OVER MINI ME.

Millie, 12 : Swindon 

This is just a little bit of fun between cousins, before I get any ranty comments about making over a 12 year old. We got bored and decided to play with some makeup. I'm calling her my mini me for this makeover because we look similar and this is one of my go to looks! 

For the base we went for a very glowy foundation Dior Forever in shade 11, paired with plenty of liquid highlight by Becca and a bronzed glow with my Revolution bronzer. Eyebrows were filled in at the from with MACs eyebrow pencil in the shade Delineated and filled out further with MACs brow cream in ash blonde, the tail was then filled in with ABH dip brow in taupe. Eyes were created with the ABH modern Renaissance palette. Warm taupe was added to the crease and then blended out with the shades burnt orange and raw sienna. Finally I applied Primavera all over the lid and added the Kat Von D liquid eyeliner. To finish it off we added Marc Jacobs hi-shine lipgloss in skin deep. 

STAYIN' DOWN SOUTH

I don't often do day to day posts on my blog purely because I don't often do anything note worthy. But I'm staying with family in the south which isn't something that is a regular occurrence, so I thought why not blog about it.  This trip has already taught me that I should not be allowed to book train tickets... I'm travelling with my grandad and although he lives in Durham and we are travelling south, I booked the tickets from Newcastle... So we essentially travelled north to go south. When we got to Newcastle on Sunday and picked up our tickets we realised that we did not have any seats booked, which meant that my 83 year old grandad and I had to fight our way to the front of the queue and scour cabins for spare seats. We finally found some free seats together; but I'm not gonna lie it was like a military operation securing those seats, I felt a little bit flustered. The rest of the journey went without a hitch and we arrived in Cheltenham and were greeted by my auntie and cousin. We had a quiet night on Sunday, drank some vino and reminisced.

Today we went to the Outlet village in Swindon, mainly because I wanted to go to the Cosmetic Company and stock up on some makeup. Keep an eye out for a blog post on my purchases. We did some light shopping and had a bite to eat at Giraffe. I really enjoyed my Katsu Noodles and I have a soft spot for any drink served in a mason jar, they will forever be cute. My grandad however was not so fussed with his steak and chips. In his opinion proper chips are not thin and they should have spent less time on the fancy menu and more time making the food taste better. The verdict on the food created a small momentary divide in the family, but then as you do became the running joke of the day. Differing palettes aside we had a pleasant day of chit chat and I picked up some real bargains.

Plans for tomorrow I think are the beach so hopefully the weather is good and I'll document the entire thing. I'm just going to leave you with a photo of my family, because I'm running out of things to say and I need sleep. < Mainly because a house alarm went off from 6am - 12am  yesterday and disturbed my slumber. Stay tuned for more information on the comedy of errors that is my life!

HOTEL DU VIN NEWCASTLE

The other half and I had a few weeks off work together recently and we basically made it our duty to to do as much as possible together. We value our alone time as it's not often something we get. This time off included, a weekend in Rome, cinema dates, netflix binge's, meals out together and a romantic mid week stay in the toon. I was so impressed with the hotel in Newcastle that we stayed in, I wanted to share it with you guys. If you are looking for a lovers getaway in a swanky hotel then look no further than Hotel Du Vin. 

We booked a superior double room, this came with a Queen sized bed, chaise lounge, rain fall shower and free standing bath. If a chaise lounge and a free standing bath IN your bedroom doesn't have sex appeal I don't know what does.  I kid you not I felt like we were in an apartment not a hotel room. I've stayed in some swanky hotels and honestly most rooms you can barely swing a cat in. I hate that phrase but it gets the point across. I could swing a giraffe around in this room. Scouts honour. Not only that but the room was so tastefully decorated, the bare brick walls are so up my street that I seriously want them as a design feature in my own home. The colour scheme is so sophisticated, it almost seems to have a mood of its own. 

But lets talk about my favourite part; The bath. I confess that this was the lure to this hotel, I always judge a hotel on the quality of it's bathroom and it's toiletries. ps the toiletries were divine, sorry for stealing them. I love a good bath, I love a freestanding bath more. This is honestly such a romantic touch, a glass of champers and a soak together in here wouldn't go a miss. As you can tell I brought a little something from lush with me to make it all bubbly. It would be an unjust to this bath not to prepare it to it's full potential. So I spent a portion of the night soaking it up and pampering myself before a night on the tiles with my other half. The only disappointing part of this room was the lack of facility to do my makeup. There was one long mirror but no lighting around it, and I had to get ready in the bathroom which isn't great when its very humid in there. Just food for thought. However I was impressed that there was aircon, very few british hotels have it and it was a welcomed extra. 

The hotel itself is also very beautifully decorated, with lovely touches like log burners and outside the smoking area has a hut named the cigar shack. It also had an onsite restaurant that I hear is highly rated and not too badly priced, although we did not eat in, the dining area looked beautiful and elegant. I also passed a couple having afternoon tea and it contained candy floss... This place just has the perfect mixture of sophistication, good taste and quirkiness. Each member of staff we encountered were wonderful from the gentleman who checked us in who was pleasant and funny, to the bar man who kept us chatting till late into the evening. I can not sing this places praises enough, we will be returning hopefully for bank holiday weekend and I urge you to check it out too.  If your interested heres the link to there site, there are other locations although I highly recommend Newcastle! https://www.hotelduvin.com

LADUREE PARIS

The last time I was in Paris I was thirteen and I had no appreciation for anything fancy and had no idea what a macaron was. The nearest store is in London and seen as though I live up north and its a good six hour drive it doesn't seem quite worth a trip. So when I stumbled upon a Laduree whilst walking to the Spanish steps in Rome, I jumped at the opportunity to purchase some famous macarons.

Can we just appreciate how beautiful the window display is. The colour palette is right up my street, and I guess you could say that this is one of my attractions to this brand. I am a sucker for packaging, yes I wanted the delicious treats but I also wanted to keep the beautiful box and bag. 

I only purchased a small box that fits two macarons in. Mainly because I wanted to eat them straight away and I was pretty sure they wouldn't survive the journey home. I chose this gorgeous pink box with the beautiful gold Laduree logo on the front. I will proudly be placing this on my dresser along with the gorgeous pea green bag. Choosing a flavour was very daunting mainly because there were so many and that they all looked so good. Finally I settled on Champagne and strawberry candy, I have too say that they were as tasty as they looked. I am hoping that on my trip to London in a few weeks time I can get a bigger box and try more of the flavours! I'm a little sad that I didn't get a salted caramel one because it looked to yummy! So keep your eyes peeled for more Laduree posts and if you have any flavour suggestions please let me know!

SUPER AFFORDABLE MAKEUP HAUL

Now and then I have brief moments where I decide not to be a makeup snob and try some affordable makeup. I am under no illusions, I know that drugstore makeup can be equally as good (sometimes better) than high end. The only reason I often don't buy it, is because I like to feel like I'm treating myself when I buy cosmetics. Basically pretty packaging and designer names get the better of me. Secondly I am a creature of habit and when I find a brand that works for me I gravitate towards it. Thirdly I sometimes forget how much the drugstore makeup world has progressed. In the last couple of years the drugstore just seems to be going from strength to strength in terms of innovation and quality. I certainly think there are some great stuff on the shelves comparable to high end labels, if not giving them a run for their money.    

I was in superdrug picking up some toiletries for my holiday and I ended up browsing the makeup isle. If I dare say it, Superdrug isn't somewhere I often shop, so I was rather curious about the brands they stocked. Obviously I am no stranger to Makeup Revolution, I haven't been living under a rock. In the past I have always been impressed by their powders, I own a few of their palettes and one of their dare I say it 'knock off' TooFaced shimmery bronzers. I happened to be in the market for a new matte bronzer as my TooFaced one has hit pan. I was no where near a TooFaced stockist so I decided to just five the Makeup revolution ultra bronze a go. Mainly because it was three quid, so I didn't have much too loose. So far I'm pleasantly surprised, it's definitely worth the three pound that's for sure. I find it apply's well, no patchiness and I don't mind the colour it's not too orange. I do wish it was a little bit more cool toned but I can live with it. Worth every penny and I'm totally going to repurchase. Side note I think its perfect for going on holiday because you wouldn't have to worry about whether its going to get damaged and its very complimentary to a tan.

The Next product I was sceptical about because I haven't heard of the brand and the price point was very cheap. #ProArtist had a range of products from primers, contour, bronzers and eye makeup. I ended up just picking up an eyeshadow that was two quid. I liked this product because I would slip straight into my palette and of course because it was outrageously cheap. Expectations were not ridiculously high on this product but I was actually shocked on how creamy these were. I found the consistency really impressive for the price point. When i swatched the shadow it really clung to the skin and had great longevity. The colour pay off is more on the sheer side, but on a holiday this would be a great all over the lid, quick makeup eyeshadow. I really loved the shimmer on this shade and will be popping back to pick up a few more colours and see if they follow suit. 

 I have had my beady little eyes on these since they launched. I swatched just about all the colours and left them for a good 7 hours. I then got in the shower and I scrubbed the shit out of my hands, and all I have to say is that the Rimmel stay Matter liquid lip colour is industrial. Girls if you're going for cocktails and will possibly be too intoxicated to do a touch up, don't worry Rimmel's gotcha back. I picked up Latte to Go and Mocha. I'm a bit concerned that Latte to Go is gonna be a little light on my skin tone, but I love the shades. To combat the paleness of latte to go I picked up a lip liner from Nyx in the shade sandstorm because I think it will compliment it very well, but only time will tell. These retail for around £6.00 and at the moment at boots they are buy one get one half price (offer was available on the 5.8.17). I plan to basically get every shade of these, I have fallen in love with them from first swatch. Is that a thing.. love at first swatch. The only shade I'm hesitant on is the grey shade... I think its amazing but I'm not sure I have the balls to rock it or pull it off. I've put in a couple swatches below, first is Latte to go and the last Mocha. Would love to here if you guy's like these as much as me or if you have any other liquid lips recommendations!

VILLA BORGHESE - A SMALL PIECE OF PARADISE

I teased about this beautiful place in my last post and I'm sure that now you can see why I have waited to dedicate an entire post to Villa Borghese. It's hard to imagine that within the bustling city there is this little piece of peace and tranquillity. The moment we booked Rome, I began my research and stumbled on a pinterest post about a romantic lake hidden in the city. On our last day it was our mission to walk here and find the lake within the villa Borghese gardens. We walked around the park itself for almost two hours until we finally arrived here, but in all honesty there was so much more too see we only scratched the surface.

The city had been an exciting adventure but as a true country girl I really longed for a quiet moment and a peaceful stroll away from bumping shoulders with strangers and people standing  on my toes. So far Rome had its moments of romance but most of the time it was map reading, busy traffic and trying to figure out crossing the road without being flattened. Walking for multiple hours in the heat does bring the occasional crossed word and the fact that neither of us knew how to really navigate a map did not help with tension. So strolling through the park hand in hand just having a chance to chat and reflect was just what the doctor ordered. As I looked around the few people that were here also seemed to have been charmed by its romantic scenery, it was definitely a place for a lovers stroll.

After admiring the beauty and taking a couple snaps we decided to take a boat ride which was only a few euro each. I was rather excited that the little lake was full of turtles, Rome had not provided me with any animals to coo over so this was a good opportunity. It was very relaxing just basking in the sun having a chin wag and taking some photos in the idyllic setting. We had almost forgot where we were, it was such a contrast from the bustling streets. I feel so fortunate that we got to spend a beautiful day here together, I think its something I will never forget. A definite must if you visit Rome and just want a little break from the hustle and bustle, it takes a little finding but its a manageable walk from the city centre. I honestly don't think its something you should miss.

WELCOME TO ROMA

No guesses regarding the content of this post, we've been sunning it up in Rome for the past few days! Trying to fit in a long weekend in Rome in one blog post seems somewhat impossible, so I think the best approach is to maybe spread it out over a few. It's no secret that I love travelling. I am obsessed with discovering new places, but unfortunately we don't often get a chance due to work commitments and conflicting shift work. We've been trying to fit in a few more city breaks in an effort to see as much as possible; so clearly Rome was our travel conquest of choice. 

In an attempt not to make this post incredibly long I'm quickly going to summarise the main attractions that we want to see and then break it down from there.

Piazza Venezia: This is where we started our journey just about every day. The square is the central hub of the city and a great starting point to walk to any of the attractions, most of which are only a 15 - 20 minuet walk from here. Right in the square is Altare della patria which is a beautiful monument which has some incredible views over the city picture below. 

The forum: Just a short walk from Altare della patria, the forum is like walking into a movie scene. The sheer vast landscape filled with ruins is just hard to take in. This was very much at the centre of roman lives, they held public speeches, criminal trials and even gladiatorial matches here. It's incredible to walk through such a bustling and modern city that also is just dripping in history and character. It shouldn't work but it just does.  

Trevi Fountain: Firstly apologies for the poor quality I couldn't even get my camera out of my bag this place was so busy. It's clear to see that the Trevi fountain is a beauty, unfortunately its beauty is undermined by the sheer amount of people that gather too see it. I would love to go there out of season when everyone is not pushing for a spot at the front.  Despite that you can not deny the craftsmanship of this beautiful fountain and even though you may struggle to get a nice holiday selfie with it, without other peoples heads or selfie sticks its very much worth seeing. 

The Spanish Steps: This attraction was probably the most disappointing for me, as you can see another very popular destination which means a LOT of people.  I visited it because I suppose you have to, however although I can appreciate its uniqueness and beauty, in comparison to all the other beautiful architecture it was somewhat underwhelming. The Spanish steps is however in a beautiful area of Rome. Especially if you love a bit of shopping, this area is drenched in beautiful restaurants and designer shops. 

We visited Villa Borghese which is my absolute favourite place in Rome but I'm keeping this under wraps until my next post because it's just too beautiful to gloss over in a sentence or so. Lastly I just want to share some street shots I took whilst I was wandering around because too me thats the best part about travel just getting lost in pretty streets. Im sure you will agree that no matter where you are in Rome, its all beautiful.