So you're going inter railing!

I went inter-railing 2 years ago , so I thought I'd give you some tips about the whole experience. 

I had the best time exploring Paris,Amsterdam,Munich,Salzburg, Budapest, Rome and Ibiza!

Using inter-rail was such a simple and stress free way of organising all the journeys and there's something so romantic about travelling by train.  You can fall asleep surrounded by sunny city landscapes and wake up in snow topped mountains. It is definitely a fantastic experience but I thought I would share with you some tips to make your trip that little more easier!

Organise and research !!

If you organise your holiday it really will just make your trip that much easier and hassle free, and I'm not saying plan every single thing your going to be doing every day, because where's the fun in that! What I mean is plan all your train journeys, planes and hostels. Whilst inter-railing you'll be doing a lot of journeys and staying in different places, as long as these fundamentals are in place, you can't go far wrong! Book your seats on the trains as well, some trains can get rather packed and trust me, standing up with your massive rucksack for hours is not fun!

Also make sure you book your trips in a logical order, unfortunately we did not do this which resulted in us having a 20 hour train journey which to be honest was not one of my favourite nights as the majority of it was spent sat up right with florescent lights keeping me awake. If you do a night train, I'd pay the little extra and get a bed on the train!

Be prepared for hostels

I say be prepared as I really was not! I thought I'd be fine sleeping in the same room as 10 other strangers, when in actual  fact I found it quite daunting at first.  The first night travelling was in Paris and we had a communal room of 12, I barely slept that night! The good thing is though, you do get used to hostels and by the end of the trip I instantly fell asleep as I was so tired! You have to think of it as a place to sleep , and that's it, trust me you won't spend long there. Some hostels are better than others, for example the hostel in Paris was very small and cramped ( there were only 2 toilets in the whole hostel) and one night we got woken up by someone in our room being sick on themselves.... not ideal!But then you get other hostels which are so clean and comfortable you just have to do abit of research before you go, as they say it's all part of the experience!

Pack Warm Clothes 

You just can't predict the weather, me and my friends all packed summer clothing but we were not prepared for almost 3 whole weeks of rain! I spend most of the trip in the same outfit... I know gross!It is hard to pack for different weather when you carry everything on your back but I'd say pack a hoodie, some jeans and a rain coat ! I would also invest in a little money belt, we wore these under our clothes the whole trip and kept our euros, passport and any train tickets in there. It's just not the worth the risk, especially if you're going to areas that are highly populated by tourists!

Write a travel journal

Buy a cute little travel diary and log everything you did or any funny things that happened. It's so nice to read back all the memories, because you do actually forget those funny little things that have you in fits of laughter. We used the long train journeys to keep up to date with our dairies, it's a lovely way to document the trip!

Make your last destination a relaxing one 

Inter railing is tiring, the travelling and sight seeing and walking will take it out of you. We made sure our last destination was a sunny one and a relaxing holiday. We went to Ibiza, and no it wasn't a club holiday , we stayed in an all inclusive resort for 5 nights right by a beautiful beach which was just the perfect end to our trip.  We cam home totally relaxed and finally after three weeks of rain we had a week of sun! 

Take a mascot

We took Beaker from the Muppets and tried to take pictures of him at most of the monuments we went to . It's such a fun way of documenting all the places you went to. Beaker often comes along on my holidays as a little mascot, he's currently resting on my book shelf at  the moment though. 

Enjoy It !!

You will have the best time! Make the most of it as it will go so quickly. Take loads of pictures, eat lots, see lots and explore! 

Summer Wish List

So, today I thought I would share with you some products that are currently on my wish list. Items that I will often stare at for a good while online until I finally admit to myself I shouldn't spend anymore this month!

1. Mac Lipstick in the shade - Ravishing 

This is a lovely coral/ peachy shade. I really love coral at the moment, especially for summer .  It's quite a subtle colour to wear in the day time which suits me as I don't tend to wear alot of make up during the day. This is £15.50 from Mac which you can find here: http://www.maccosmetics.co.uk/product/shaded/168/310/Products/Lips/Lipstick/Lipstick/index.tmpl

2. Vunk Wall Sticker- Bird Cage

Vunk is a website dedicated to wall Stickers and there is so much to choose from! It was so hard to pick one to show a picture of as I could choose so many. I love the bird cage sticker, the black and blue together are lush and I can already envisage it on my kitchen wall. There are also stickers with quotes on like, "She believed she could so she did" which is one of my favourite quotes but they also do song lyrics like Taylor Swift and Beyonce. There are so many different degins to choose from which all vary in price, the Bird cage sticker pictured above is £44.99. Check out their site below for a perfect little addition to your home. 

http://www.vunk.co.uk/

3.New Look Sleeveless Duster Coat- shade Camel 

This coat I have been pondering over for a good while now. I really really love it, but I just can't decide if it's something that will suit my shape.  I think this would look great with a white long sleeved top and jeans in Autumn.  I have decided that I'm going to try this on in the store before I buy. This is currently £22.99 in New Look, all the other colours are on sale at the moment apart from the camel which is the only one I want.... typical!

http://www.newlook.com/shop/womens/jackets-and-coats/camel-sleeveless-duster-coat_351402917

4. ASOS- warehouse premium Tote in shade Tan 

I took the decision a few months back to change my everyday bag to a small one, I now want to go back to a large tote! I miss having that extra little space and not having to cram things in and this is the page I want! Okay, I'll admit I don't actually need this as I have plenty of other bags but I love the colour and the shape and I just want it! It's currently £45.00 from ASOS. 

http://www.asos.com/Warehouse/Warehouse-Premium-Bar-Detail-Tote-in-Tan/Prod/pgeproduct.aspx?iid=5285869&cid=8730&Rf-200=26&sh=0&pge=0&pgesize=36&sort=-1&clr=Tan&totalstyles=47&gridsize=3

5.. Maple and Whisky CAndle- Main Street Bakery. 

I was beyond excited when I saw these on instagram. Candles that smell of Disney!?! I need these! This one has the smell of main street and smells of cinnamon rolls and chocolate chip cookies.  I am the biggest fan of Disney world so again it was hard to just pick the one to show on my blog. They also do scents like Mickey Waffles (wow) and ButterBeer from Harry Potter world in Universal. You can find Maple and Whisky on Etsy and this candle is £7.50. 

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/218924823/main-street-bakery-8oz-jar-disney?ref=shop_home_active_8

6.Olympus Pen E-PL7 Compact System Camera

This is such a dreamy little camera, I've had my eye on this for quite a while. It's touch screen and also the screen flips down so you can film/take a selfie! It's got built in Wifi and you can buy additional lenses for it.It's rather expensive at £459.00!!

http://www.johnlewis.com/olympus-pen-e-pl7-compact-system-camera-with-14-42mm-lens-hd-1080p-16-1mp-3-lcd-touch-screen/p1747295?colour=White

Hope you enjoyed my little summer wish List! Let me know yours! 

Le Glossy Box - Juillet

Where has that month gone?

My second Glossy Box arrived and this month it's French themed!

Oh La La!

I much preferred this month's, so I thought I'd give you a sneak peak of what I got inside. 

First off , check out how gorgeous the box is, I am determined to find another use for it, maybe I'll keep my nail varnish in there......

So First up is Noxidoxi- Enchanting Serum Base:/you apply this before your moisturiser and it's super hydrating and tightens your pores. I haven't really used this that much yet but it's nice and light and refreshing on your face, it is a little off putting when you see the consistency  though. It's like a pale yellow runny liquid ......urgh



Next up, Lollipops Lip Balm- I really like this product, the lip balm is really moisturising and gives a lovely shine on the lips. IT also smells of sweeties! 

Teoxane Cosmeceuticals: I love this skin refiner! It makes your skin feel so plump and firm, there's glycolic acid in there which re surfaces the skin and reduces irritation I just love it, glossy box only give you a sample size, so I am using this very sparingly as the price of a full size is £70 !! 

Yves Rochers Eau de Parfum: I'm not so keen on this scent, it's very florally and musky for my liking. THe scent does last for a while which is a plus if you like the scent .

GLossybox exclusive Travel Pouch: This is super cute and perfect for airport security as it's transparent so you acn take all your little essentials on board with you. 

The July Box was way better than the June box in my opinion and again I'm a tad excited for the August edition. Glossy Box have given a little peek at next month's goodies and included is a full size primer, which is perfect as I have just run out!

A July Weekend

After a rainy,cold and miserable start to the week (it may as well of been November!) Wales was blessed with a gloriously sunny weekend!

I thought I'd share with you a collection of photos I snapped away on my Phone.  

This weekend has been a relaxing and chilled sort of weekend.

On Saturday, I actually woke up at 8:30 am to go for a jog. I'm doing the Cardiff Half Marathon in October which is really scaring me, as I do not feel ready to run 13 miles! It's something I've been putting off for a while, and keep telling myself, " oh, I can always start training next week". Well now it's July and I only have about 9 weeks to go! So with this thought in mind I started the day with a 4 mile run, along the way I took a few snaps of Cardiff Bay. 

We went out for some breakfast at this place called Pure Kitchen which is a healthy eating cafe in Cardiff Bay. I went for the Pure Heart Beets juice which had beetroot,apples,carrots,lemon and orange in and also some vanilla protein pancakes with berries, banana, and honey. It was the perfect guilt free breakfast and lovely to enjoy it whilst soaking up the sun. 

This was my outfit on Saturday, I kinda felt like I should be on a yacht in this outfit not sure why.... but anyway the shirt is from H & M, the trousers are from New Look and the necklace is from Brandy Melville. 

Mixed Fruit Kopparberg hits the spot in the summer and went perfectly with some steaks we brought from M & S. We watched Gladiator which somehow I've never seen before, but I thought it was really good!

Sunday we went to the Welsh Proms at St David's Hall to watch the Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra.  They played lots of movie soundtracks like Jurassic Park, Lion King and Star Wars and even the Hanging Tree song from Mocking Jay. 

We took along some minions Haribo which I thought was pretty cool.  I'm so easily swayed with buying special edition products, even though they taste exactly the same, there's something about buying them in the shape of a minion which makes them just that little bit tastier. 

On the way home, of course we picked up a coffee from Starbucks along with a naughty chocolate chip cookie! Tonight I've convinced Joe to watch Mocking Jay , after hearing the Hanging tree song, I cannot get it out of my head!

Hope you all had a good weekend!

A Lush indulgence

Oh lush is a very dangerous shop.

 I did the usual thing where I went in for a 'browse 'whilst my boyfriend stayed outside (he can't stand the smell for some reason) and came out with products I don't need.

I had some help from the lovely assistant and had to tell her not to show me anything else because I will just buy everything. So this was quite a restrained visit to lush although I still came out buying things I never intended to.

Granny takes a Dip

This is such a great bath bomb, it smells amazing and when you drop it into a bath the fizz of different colours is so cool. It's like a rainbow of colours fills the bath, the bomb is a show in itself.  Unfortunately when I spoke to the sales assistant she told me that they are discontinuing this bath bomb and turning it into a bubble bar instead. This was my excuse for buying one, I didn't take much persuasion to be honest.

Salt Spray.

I have needed a good salt spray for a while now and I love this! It gets some volume into your hair and keeps it in place. This product doesn't make my hair feel straw like, which is the main problem I have had with other products. Most of all I love the smell !! It's basically summer in a bottle and reminds me of being on holiday, I love it so much that I could probably wear the scent as a perfume!

Daddyo

The sales assistant went on to show me this shampoo called Daddyo. She told me it is perfect for blonde hair and taking out all the brassy shades. Then she went on to tell me it smells of parma violets. Sold! It smells so good and the shampoo actually comes out purple and foams up in your hair to become a lovely violet colour.  I love this shampoo but it won't be my everyday shampoo , I'll probably only use it once a week as it's a little pricey.

Charity Pot

I also picked up this charity pot body lotion.  It's the charity pot to help prevent the killing of sharks for the use of shark fin soup and jewellery. This is something I do feel quite strongly about so I had to buy this body lotion.  I watched the documentary 'Sharkwater' on a flight to Florida once and I was hooked and also quite shocked at the harsh killing and slaughtering of sharks which we are oblivious to in everyday life.   I would really recommend giving this documentary a watch, if you're not a shark lover, it will definitely change your perception on them . You can check out the information on the link here. http://www.sharkwater.com/

At this point I had let the assistant know that I couldn't look at any more otherwise I would've brought the whole shop. I'm so easily swayed.

What products from Lush have you been loving lately?

Cardiff Food Festival

It's that time of year again.  Cardiff food festival is back down the bay for the weekend !

A whole weekend of fantastic food and drink and this year I live a minutes walk away... this could be very dangerous!

You're spoilt for choice, from cider to brownies to cheese and fudge!It's impossible to wander around and not be tempted to try anything. 

We went for a venison Burger  and Chicken Curry after numerous times of walking around each stand trying to decide. Trust me you will not be able to choose.

The curry is made right in front of you and just smells delicious! Its just £6 for your choice between chicken or veg curry, rice, naan bread and also a little samosa which was so yummy!

And of course we kept room for dessert. The ice cream stall we went to had some really interesting flavours! Jaffa cake, peanut butter and pistachio to name a few. We went for lime cheesecake and white chocolate. These were amazing!

There are loads of different stalls. German Pretzels, scotch eggs and some amazing sausages. ( there is one that has bacon and caramelised onions in it, which is so amazing!) You will be spoilt for choice with balsamic vinegar, cheeses and condiments, and be sure to try the samples if you have the room!

There's also lots and lots of cider, pimms and even a champagne bar to wash down all the food!

There are other stalls apart from food such as jewellery and art stalls.We will be heading back to this lovely herb stall to pick up some mint and thyme. 

There are a lot of fudge stalls, this one caught my eye because of the unusual flavours.   I tried a small piece of vimto fudge which actually tasted really good. They had so many different flavours, chocolate, skittles, liquorice,mint etc. etc. 

We could not leave without stopping at the chocolate brownie company, so many different flavours of gooey chocolate brownie. Peanut butter,mini egg,milk chocolate and mint choc chip.  We opted for a pick and mix box which was only £4. We went for salted caramel,flake,clotted cream,fudge,mint and white chocolate. Wow these are delicious, make sure you try ad-least one!

If you're in the Cardiff area, definitely check out the festival.There's live music,drinks, food (obvs) and a great atmosphere!  

Warning: you will leave feeling very full! 

A Beauty Haul

Every so often, I get into a sort of slump with make up . My everyday products appear boring and lack lustre so I go out and re vamp my make up drawer and buy a few new bits.

Last week I did exactly this. A few hours of retail therapy and a fed up boyfriend later, I came out with these new beauties.

L'oreal Nude Magique Blue cream:

 This is like a mousse texture and you apply it under your foundation and it creates a flawless and smooth effect, evening out any blemishes. I love the texture of this cream, it feels so light on your skin that I will probably start wearing it on it's own.  I hate the feeling of having lots and lots of make up on especially when it's hot!

Ultra Curl Mascara by Bourjois 

The mascara  has a curved brush and the wand itself is longer than normal mascaras which I find makes it a lot easier to apply. Normally I don't stray from my staple mascara Great Lash Mascara by Maybelline but this caught my eye and I am loving it. 

Bronze Glow bronzer by Collection : Love this! Perfect now for summer and achieving a sun kissed Glow.This is a darker colour than what I normally go for, so I am very weary on not applying this too heavy. 

Soap and Glory archery 2 in 1 brow: This is sad, but because of this product I look forward to doing my brows, is that weird?You can shape the brows from the one end and neaten any stray hairs the other, so simple to use with a natural effect.

Real Techniques foundation brush: I treated myself and brought a lovely new foundation brush. This applies a flawless coat of foundation, doesn't leave behind stray hairs, it's streak free and doesn't absorb the product. It's pretty great!

I love getting home from a shopping trip and trying out all the new make up products and these products did not disappoint! I now consider myself fully stocked up on make up ... well for a few weeks anyway. 

What new make up products have you brought lately ? Let me know and that will probably be tempt me to go out and buy more. 

Dinner by Gousto Box

A couple of weeks ago we received quite  a few Gousto vouchers.

Gousto is a new way of food shopping, you pick the meals you want (you have a choice of 10 to pick from ) and they deliver the ingredients with exact portions and recipe cards straight to your door.All the meals are natural and locally sourced too!

This appealed to me as it eliminates the hassle of thinking up new meals for the week and going out to buy it.  The idea of everything measured out also took my fancy, I don't know about anyone else but I love watching cookery programmes, everything is so neatly measured out and right in front of you.  This is what Gousto provides the hassle free way of cooking up great meals, no popping out to the shop last minute because you forgot the stock cubes.

I decided to choose 4 meals for the week and went for:

Potato Cakes and Beans

Chicken Ramen

Chimichurri Patties

Pork and Sesame Meatballs

I was very excited when the box appeared on my doorstep after work.  I opened up the box of goodies and everything was neatly presented.  Even the meat was chilled appropriately and it must've been on our doorstep for quite a few hours but was still chilled when I opened it.  They do this by using sheep's wool and ice packs and it keeps everything super chilled ( does smell quite a bit like a farm though.)

The meals themselves were all pretty tasty, the favourite was the Pork and sesame Meatballs and Chicken Ramen which both tasted like something we could've ordered at a takeaway.

The potato cakes were really yummy and came with bacon and cannelloni beans to make your own spicy baked beans.

The only meal that wasn't such a meat were the patties, it was a bit lack lustre and I felt that it wasn't worth the £4 per portion.

The hassle free approach from Gousto is really good, however I found the meals quite time consuming to make and whilst I enjoy cooking, I would rather not spend an hour in the kitchen after working all day. The meals were really tasty but I'm not sure they're worth the £4 per portion price.  We only paid £15 for our 4 days worth of meals but that's because we had £25 off.  I wouldn't have brought it if we would've had to have paid £40!

Whilst it is quite pricey I can see the idea of Gousto being more suited when you want to organise a dinner party for quite a few people.  I would definitely use it for that, but using it for meals in the week I find a little too pricey.

If you want to check out Gousto visit Here - I think they have discounts still available on the site if like me, you want to give it a go.