Reading Festival: Dos and Don'ts

It's almost June, which means Festival Season is fast approaching (if not already begun), so I thought I'd share with you a few tips that enhanced my Reading Festival experience last year. Most of these tips are general to all festivals, so whatever one you are attending, this post is definitely worth a read.

DO: Watch new bands. My friends and I discovered The Wombats for the very first time at Reading and we're now obsessed with them. This leads on to my next tip...

DO: Download the app. The Reading Fest app helped us so much over the weekend and I think it was free, compared to £15 for the guide lanyard. Make sure you check which acts clash with each other so you can plan ahead, and which new artists you'd like to watch if you feel like getting into some new music.

DON'T: Pack heavy. This is something I will be doing much different the next time I attend a festival. Chances are, you'll be walking for at least 45 minutes from where you park or get dropped off to where you decide to camp, so you want to pack light. I'd recommend a pair of trainers, wellies, 1 pair of shorts, 2 t-shirts, 1 playsuit, 1 jumper and 1 rain-jacket. As well as underwear and your beauty bits/toiletries (I didn't take any makeup but it's personal preference). A complete regret of ours was packing lots of food because by the end of the weekend we were fed up of eating dry food that we felt we had to eat because we brought it with us. Also it was such a hassle to carry to the campsite. There's a Tesco Extra about a 25 minute walk away so I'd recommend just getting all your food there once you've set up your tent. 

DO: Take toilet roll. We took a pack of 20 and ended up giving them to strangers because not a lot of people thought of it, funnily enough. And the campsite shop sold out fairly quickly. I don't know what we would've done without it.

DO: Make friends with surrounding campers. We had a little community of friends around us and we would hang out at night if we were at our tents.

DO: Take battery-powered fairy lights and hang them up in your tent. This spread light around our tent instead of using a torch which just lit up things in one direction. Lanterns are a good idea too but, let's face it, fairy lights are prettier.

DO: Take a pillow. It's often forgotten but definitely necessary.

DO: Take insect repellent for your tent.

DON'T: Bother with a portable charger. You can buy one there for around £20 and when it runs out you can take it back and they give you a fully charged one. You can do this as many times as you like, and at the end of the weekend it's yours to take home and re-use

DO: Practice putting your tent up before you go. We practised a few days beforehand and it took about 2 hours, compared to only about half an hour when we got there. In the dark. And the pouring rain. Imagine if we hadn't practised.

DO: Take and apply sun-cream.

I can honestly say that Reading Festival was one of the best experiences of my life, and I can't wait to go again in the future. I would totally recommend this festival to everybody, even if you're only drawn to a few acts in the line-up, as the music was only a fraction of the fun.

Are you going to any festivals this year or have been in the past? What are your tips?

Libby

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MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot

I am super excited to write this post not only because I love this product so much but also because I just purchased a new camera so my pictures look 1000000x cooler, in my opinion.

I haven't explored MAC in depth - I've only ever bought 3 products from them, but each of these I deeply love so I feel intrigued about the rest of their makeup range.

I purchased this eye primer about 2 years ago and used it on-and-off, but for the past year or so I've applied it almost every day as an eyeshadow primer. This is the only eye primer I've ever used but I'm so scared to try a new one just because it is SO GOOD and so I'll be a tough critic towards future eye primers that come my way.

I apply it with my finger (I've tried using a brush and it just makes the bristles stick together and doesn't blend well) all over my lid and set it with a nude/pastel yellow shadow, then apply my chosen shadow look for the day on top. The shade that I bought is Painterly which is such a pleasant shade for an eyeshadow base as I've tried it with so many different shadow colours (brown, orange, pink, nude) and it just goes so well with all of them. I sometimes even wear it on its own for a subtle colour to my eye if I want to go for a 'natural, no makeup, makeup' look. 

I'm all for anything that increases the staying-power of my makeup and this producct definitely does this. It keeps my eye makeup in place for at least 8 hours, and even after 10 hours it's still clinging on. I did trial this against using no primer at all (just a nude base shadow) and using concealer as primer, and neither of these methods worked as well. I also noticed that shadows applied on top of the Paint Pot were more pigmented than applied over just a nude powdered shadow, or concealer.

Not even the price of this MAC product makes me go bleurgh, as for £16 from MAC's official website, it will last you a hefty amount of time.

Can you recommend any amazing eyeshadow primers that might measure up to this one?

P.S. If any of you reading this has a Canon DSLR and is willing to give advice and tips on the buttons/settings, I would greatly appreciate it if you contacted me (info on 'Contact' page). Thanks!

Libby

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Zoella Beauty: Sweet Inspirations

If you're reading this, chances are you already know who Zoella is. If you don't, she's a beauty YouTuber and blogger who now has her own beauty and lifestyle product range. I've been watching Zoë's videos and reading her blog for about 4 years now and I love her taste in makeup/beauty and her attitude towards life.

I'm going to be honest with you; when I first saw the release of her Classic Collection I thought it was more suitable for her younger audience as I think it is based around fruity and young scents and therefore I wasn't sure whether to buy it myself or not. Then the update to the Classic Collection came along which I started to warm to a bit more, and now we have the Sweet Inspirations Collection which I think is the most Zoë out of all the collections, which made me want to buy it because I consider Zoë and myself quite similar in terms of makeup, skincare and general beauty product choice. I love Zoë and I'm so proud of her for releasing this amazing range of products.

I only bought 2 out of the 8 products from this collection as I wanted to try them out first before going all out but I love them so much I will definitely be going back to get the rest... And to re-purchase these ones once they run out. Hehe.

Firstly, let's talk about the packaging. Words that have been circulating in blogger reviews and Zoë's videos herself are 'French pâtisserie', '1920s' and 'sweetshop decor' and these are words I would definitely use to describe the beautiful packaging. The 'Bath Latte' is designed like a milk bottle, with a metallic gold lid and divine pastel blue and metallic gold wrapping and the product inside even looks like milk. It all fits together so perfectly and I can already tell this collection was so well thought out. 'Le Fizz' is a fizz-bar that is clearly inspired by a chocolate bar. The packaging is also metallic gold with some pastel pink and the actual bar comes in little cubes like a bar of chocolate.

I would describe the main scent of these products as sweet, milky and even slightly musky. The fizz-bar is described as 'macaron scented' and it is definitely sweeter than the Bath Latte which is 'enriched with nourishing sweet almond, cacao and honey'. You can wear this scent all year-round because even though it fits perfectly into Summer thanks to its sweetness and its similarity to a moisturiser you would use on holiday, it's also slightly musky - perfect for Winter. You definitely have to go to your nearest Superdrug to have a sniff of this because my adjectives don't do the scent justice. 

To see if the actual use of these products was as beautiful as their appearance, I ran a bath and tried them out. When the bath had finished running, I turned off the tap and put 3 fizz cubes in (the recommendation is 4 but it comes in rows of 3 and I didn't want to be left with an odd amount at the end). They fizzed a lot for their size, and left the water smelling splendid. These would be perfect for a calming pamper night when you don't want any huge bubbles, just a nice-smelling, relaxing bath. However, I did want some bubbles and was desperate to try out the Bath Latte so I went ahead and turned the tap back on and poured some under the running water and the result was divine: big, fluffly, nourishing bubbles that left my skin feeling super soft. When I got out of the bath, dried myself off and got my smoooooth body into some PJs, the scent lingered for a while which is great as it shows you're definitely getting your money's worth.

These products are so up my street and I honestly can't recommend them enough. They're perfect for a pamper night or a gift for your best friend, and they're not pricey at all (Bath Latte, £6; Le Fizz, £5.50). I can tell Zoë had a lot of input into their creation as they're so her - elegant, girly, sweet and beautiful and I'm so excited to return to Superdrug soon to spend my pennies on more Zoella Beauty products and also see what else they release in the future!

What's your favourite Zoella Beauty product? 

Libby

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6 Small Things To Start Doing To Improve Your Life

Recently I've been feeling very unmotivated about everything. I've felt a lack of inspiration for blog posts, and some parts of my everyday life including my outfits, bedroom setup and interaction with people. However, I've been trying hard to combat this and I'd like to share with you some things that I feel have been working well to aid me on my way back up. It's a new month which means a new beginning, so here are 6 tips that will hopefully make you feel happier within yourself and your life. 

1. Light candles. This is such a simple ritual but it's just nice. I light candles in my bedroom in the evening as I find it relaxing to come up to bed to a nice-smelling, flickering room. Who agrees with me? They're also essential for bath-time and pamper nights. I always buy sweet-scented candles such as 'sweet vanilla', 'salted caramel', or clean scents like 'fresh cotton'. I don't buy my candles from any particular place, just shops I happen to find them in.

2. Switch up your makeup routine. This can include something as simple as wearing a different eyeshadow colour to the day before, or wearing lipgloss instead of your usual matt lipstick. It will take you a little bit out of your comfort zone and make you feel more confident. It's so much fun to watch makeup tutorials on YouTube and then trying them out. This tip will also make your morning routines so much more exciting.

3. Read a chapter a day. I haven't read a full book since middle school but a few weeks ago I purchased 4 books from Zoella's WHSmith Book Club in attempt to start reading more. Whether it's a motivational book or a fictional novel, reading is reading and it will benefit your brain in more ways than one (it expands your vocabulary and has been proven to make you smarter). If you don't currently read at all, the rule of reading a chapter a day is definitely an achievable place to start and it'll give you some quiet time to yourself, preferably before bed, to relax.

4. Take care of your skin. I'm 100% guilty of not sticking to my skincare routine. No, I probably don't wash my makeup off properly every day and I definitely do not apply my face cream every night. However, I know that when I'm consistent with my skincare routine it makes me feel a whole lot better about myself because *believe it or not* your skin will improve if you stick to these rituals. Make your own skincare routine that is adapted to your lifestyle so you can easily be consistent with it.

5. Get things done. Procrastination is the route of all evil.  I find I'm most productive when I make to-do lists every couple of days to ensure I stay on track of tasks I need to keep up with such as cluttering my bedroom, going to the bank, getting my car cleaned, changing my bed sheets and writing blog posts.

6. Interact. Talk to your family. Instead of scrolling through your phone, sit down in your living room and spend time together; call your grandparents whom you haven't spoken to in a week and ask them about their day; get dressed up and go to dinner with your partner and talk non-stop; make that extra effort with a customer at work by asking them what they're up to that day; meet up with those friends whom you can never manage to make solid plans with. Most of my inspiration comes from talking with other people and this definitely makes me a happier and more outgoing person.

There are so many more things tips I can share with you, but essentially just live your life and do what makes you happy (generic, I know, but so true). We all have those little habits that cheer us up on a bad day or routines that if we break out of, we just don't feel ourselves. I'd love to know what yours are!

Libby
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