My week in Crete in photos

Hello there! 

I recently returned from a last minute holiday to Crete with my lovely other half, the weather was incredible, Crete was beautiful and I came back feeling very relaxed!

Unfortunately, I am now bored out of mind - the excitement of a 3 month summer holiday quickly fades when you realize you have no money to do anything!

Hopefully the lack of excitement in my life will lead to more blogging - I haven't been as committed as I vowed to be...

Hibernation mode!

My life revolves around revision right now, only one more exam of second year left and then I'm free, free, free to enjoy a lovely long summer! In the mean time, opportunities to shop/go out/get dressed up have been very scarce. However, I do have my lovely new Urban Outfitters playsuit to show you all! It was on sale for £35 but only had a size medium left so I had to resort to a belt and baggy look rather than the sleek silhouette I was hoping for - I think it works though, and the pattern and fabric was so beautiful that I was complimented on it all night. I apologize for the very unflattering photo (Beach body work out starts again tomorrow!!) and the odd shape of the photo - note to self, must do better on the photo front!

Such a bad photo...

That's all for now, I'm going to devote much more time to this blog over summer, I promise! Good luck to everyone else facing the dreaded exams right now, and I hope you're all enjoying the beautiful weather today! Its currently beckoning me away from my mountains of books...

The Festival survival guide

Coachella is upon us once more to kick off the Festival season! It really is my favourite time of year - I love the atmosphere of seeing the bands you love surrounded by fellow fans. Everyone is there for a good time, and more importantly, everyone looks amazing. Festivals really are the place to let go of those style inhibitions and try outfits you wouldn't usually wear in the mundane 'real world'. But whilst I embrace the dirt, the rain and the inexplicable and unavoidable cups of urine flying over head, I know that many people shudder at the thought of camping down in a stinky field for 3 days with no showers and overflowing toilets. But good news. There really is a festival for everyone!

Here's the lowdown on the variety of festivals you could give a go this summer, as well as a outfit idea, because every festival has a different vibe.

Glastonbury. 
It's every music moguls dream to head off to the most prestigious festival known to man. This year sees a drool-worthy line up of some of the biggest and best bands including The Arctic Monkeys, The Rolling Stones, Foals, the XX, and Portishead. The festival takes place at Worthy Farm, Pilton from the 26th-30th June this year and some tickets are up for resale on the 21st of April for an expensive, but worthy, £205 + £5 booking per person, plus £6 postage per order. To be eligible for the resale, you must register beforehand. Glastonbury attracts an eclectic group of all ages and lifestyles, all of who share one common passion - music. 

This is the festival to really embrace your inner boho. And be warned, no matter how optimistic you're feeling, wellies are a must! All details for Glastonbury can be found here: http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/

Sunglasses - Urban Outfitters, £140
Hat - Urban Outfitters, £20
Ring/Bracelet - Boohoo, £5
Dress, ASOS, £25

Benicassim.
This is one for all you sun worshipers! Set in Costa Azahar, close to Valenicia and Barcelona and taking place mid July (18th - 21st July), you're guaranteed it will be HOT HOT HOT - definitely one to tone up that beach bod for! Headliners are Arctic Monkeys, The Killers and the incredible Queens of The Stone Age.Tickets can be bought for the incredible price of £140, but be warned - Flights can be VERY pricey! Another benefit of this incredible festival is the option to camp for a full 8 days, incase you feel like you haven't soaked up enough sun yet!

Weather can be a bit of a nightmare fort his festival, making it TOO hot to sleep at night which may account for the acts performing at night time, (headliners can be expected to perform at about midnight,with smaller acts continuing onto about 3am), so make sure you pack that suncream! More details can be found here: http://fiberfib.com/index.php/en/

Bikini - Miss Selfridge, £26
Platforms - Miss Selfridge, £39
Shorts - Topshop, £32
Bumbag - Topshop, £25

Reading/Leeds.
For me, this festival is the epitome of cool. Slightly edgier than Glastonbury, and more of a smaller age group - typically for 16-25 year olds really. This festival takes place over 23-25 August and although the festivals share acts, they operate in two locations - Leeds and Reading, obviously. So the acts play at one location and then travel to the next to perform the next day. This years line up is a huge let down for me and seems to have veered off the 'indie-rock' path that I previously loved. This year the headliners are Eminem, Green Day, and Biffy Clyro. I'd say this is a festival for the more brave among you - the crowd tends to get a bit more aggressive than you'd see at one of the more family friendly festivals.

Leeds was my very first festival, so this festival holds strong feelings from me, and by the time we left, those fields felt like home! Tickets are £202 and an £8 booking fee (Rather expensive this year!) and information can be found here: http://www.leedsfestival.com/  and here: http://www.readingfestival.com/

Tassled leather Jacket - Missguided, £44.99
Satchel - Cow Vintage, £36
Dress - Cow Vintage, £18
pack of 3 Hair Bows - New Look, £3.99

Creamfields.
For all of yo who love to get down to the loudest and latest dance anthems, Creamfields is perfect for you. The notorious flooding issue last year might leave you cold at the thought, but with huge artists such as Zane Low, Avicii, The Prodigy and Nicky Romero, are you really going to let a little bit of rain stop you?! The festival takes place August bank holiday (Friday 23rd - Sunday 25th) at Cheshire and is guaranteed to get the crowds dancing.

I'm not hugely informed on this festival, being more of an indie lover myself, but from what I have seen, it's pretty much like a huge rave, which sounds like an amazing experience to get involved in. Tickets are £160. More information can be found here: http://www.creamfields.com/

Dungaree dress - Tosphop, £36
Tie Dye crop top - Amazon, £4.99
Backpack - Urban Outiftters, £48

 Kendal Calling.
Finally, for those of you who are timid about attending huge festivals, Kendal Calling is a smaller and more intimate venue, and has been awarded the best small festival award. Set in the beautiful Lake District (my home area!), the views really are amazing, although you southerners might find it a bit too cold!  26th - 28th July with a line up including Primal Scream, Johnny Marr and The Charlatans, this festival provides a much more relaxed festival atmosphere - plus, less people means smaller cues for the toilets, score!

Tickets are a meager £115 and more information can be found here: http://www.kendalcalling.co.uk/

White top - Zara, £19.99
Necklace - H&M, £9.99
Disco Leggings - American Apparel, £74
Jscket - Missguided,  £29.99

That's all for now and I haven't even begun to scratch the surface on the immense amount of festivals there are out there, but hopefully this has given some of you 'on the fence' readers enough inspiration to look more into festivals - always such an amazing experience! Oh, and don't forget to pack that face paint...

Fairy Dust!

Hi guys!
Just a quick little post to share my outfit of the week with you all...

Left: Milly as Glinda (Wizard of Oz and Wicked)
Middle left: Chelsea as Dorothy (Wizard of Oz)
Middle right: Me as Tinkerbell (Peter Pan)
Right: Jess as Ash (Pokemon)

Yes, fancy dress stole my heart this week! You wouldn't have guessed it from this photo but the theme for a friend's birthday was 'Heroes and Villains', but hey, it's all relative right? In my eyes, Tinkerbell will always be a villain for trying to kill poor Wendy...

Glinda certainly claimed the award for the most effort in a costume - I mean, not many people rocked up in a full length (and HIDEOUS) bright pink ball gown!

I loved being dressed as Tinkerbell, although I poked a few eyes out with those huge wings, it's not very often you can rock up to a nightclub wearing wings!

For those of you interested, all outfits can be purchased at LOVEYABABES for less than £20, and they offer student discount, so it's definitely a winner for students.

Also, I apologize for the squinty photo, I'm one of those unfortunate people that always seem to be caught mid blink, snort or sneeze in photos!

Finally, with regards to all the GFC nonsense, I'd love if you could all give me a follow on Bloglovin, I've added a follow button in the top right to make it a little easier for you all.

Bye for now,
Tinkerbell

xoxo

That Time of Year Again...

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The coldest months have passed, and it finally begins to feel like maybe Summer is upon us. But whilst we're all daydreaming of short flowy skirts, bikinis, sandals and tanned skin, Mother Nature had other ideas...

                                                                 Enter, the snowstorm.

Still, my summer purchases are accumulating - as are my wishlists. So, I thought I'd lighten the dull, dreary and cold day by showing you all my summer time essentials!

I snapped this Urban Outfitters dress up in the recent sale, reduced from £48 to £10, plus student discount made it £8. Bit of an impulse buy, but at that price, who can resist? Especially when the last dress in stock happens to be your size! The picture really does it no justice, it's such high quality, the purple detail at the top of the dress is all embroidered, it's a very light, flowing fabric with a keyhole slit at the back. Very simple to wear and can be dressed up or down.

Urban Outfitters, £48, SOLD OUT

River Island, £12

Topshop, £42

 Another recent purchase, the sunglasses! (I know right, I think I cursed the weather!) I love the vintage shape to them and the tortoiseshell design. I find it hard to find sunglasses that don't swamp my tiny face, but these fit perfectly and look very quirky. The dress, I love. Again, can be dressed up or down depending on your style. I'm more likely to relegate this to a strictly night time look - I'm not a fan of cut out's worn though the day, no matter what the weather! Very sophisticated shape, and loose enough to flatter my pear shape body.

White Canvas flatforms, Dorothy Perkins, £20

A revival of the classic white pumps look, with added height. What's not to love? These are so versatile and can dress down any outfit. They look super cool on and are such a simple style that you could re-wear them all summer long.

Motel Rocks, £35

Loose fitting and short, perfect to throw over a bikini at the beach! Looks comfortable, cool and stylish. I love the faded out pattern toward the bottom, and the baggy style means that any wobbly belly's that aren't quite beach ready can retreat for cover.

A quick check of the temperature assures me that these items aren't going to be appearing in my day-to-day life just yet, but watch this space...

Elizabeth Arden Flawless Finish Mousse Make-up, Bargain price!

Elizabeth Arden Flawless Finish, shade: Sparkling  Blush 001
TK Maxx, £8, RRP £23-28

I went for an impromptu shopping spree this week, and couldn't believe my luck when I came across this in TK Maxx for the bargain price of £8! The bottle is beautiful, it just screams 'quality makeup!' It's so lightweight that I was worried there wouldn't be much foundation inside, but when you squeeze the pump, the  mouse expands and bubbles...

It feels a bit weird, I'll admit, but it makes it last a whole lot longer than your average foundation. It smells flowery and a bit like talcum powder which personally, I like, but I can imagine it would put a lot of younger people off.

The mousse is silky smooth to touch and doesn't feel heavy on your skin - it's actually very light and gives a translucent coverage, which you can build up to give a full coverage. I like this foundation because it doesn't clog the pours or cause break outs, (especially on MY skin which is very prone to break-outs!) and it doesn't dry out the skin. It's just very natural and perfect for hot summery days - I can guarantee it wont slide when you sweat!

left hand - with foundation

right hand - without.

 You can see in these pictures just how smooth the coverage is - the red and purple veins in my left hand were easily covered with one pump of the mousse and my skin tone just looks so much more even than my right hand.

A lot of people could be put off by the RRP price - especially broke students like myself - but after a few uses of this, I cannot go back to your run off the mill drug-store foundations - the difference in quality is amazing. So, if you are considering a splurge this week, I'd give this a go.

Oh, and here's a few other bits I bought this week, I won't go into much detail, I can imagine I'll be blogging about these very soon...

coral skirt - TK Maxx, £10
sleeveless shirt - Republic vintage, £22
Aloe Vera Vaseline - Primark, £1.20
Studded boots - Primark,  £20
White canvas flatforms - Dorothy Perkins, £20

Rimmel Coral Lipstick & Lash Accelerator Mascara

Rimmel Lasting colour Lipstick, Shade: Coral in Gold. £4.98
Rimmel Lash accelerator Endless, Shade: 001 Black.  £8.98

       

I bought these Rimmel goodies spur of the moment to replace products I knew I was running low on. The lipstick is beautiful, it smells gorgeous and fruity and applies softly - you can tell it's full of moisture and wont damage your lips. Also, it doesn't leave that vile stain when you remove it. The shade is a brave for me - I usually stick to the classic red lips, but I really like this colour - it's very summer and is definitely brightening up these cold winter days for me!

I really like the shine to this lipstick, it's almost glittery - but not in the '7-year-old girl lipgloss' way. It's very chic and sophisticated.

If I had to criticise this lipstick, I would say it doesn't live up to it's name of 'lasting colour' as well as I'd like. Although it doesn't rub off on glasses, cutlery, etc. it fades after 4 or 5 hours with literally no remnants of any lipstick left. So, just remember to keep topping up! Also, if you're very pale, I'd say this would be a colour to avoid - it has the potential to make you look ill and drawn out if applied against the wrong skin tone.Overall, I'd give it an 8/10 and would definitely recommend you try it out. 

Although I loved the design of this, I was a bit sceptical about the Lash Accelerator when I saw the brush - it seemed flimsy and like it wouldn't be able to supply the full and thick lashes I like to have. I was pleasantly surprised.

Although thin and little, it separates the lashes beautifully and extends them all separately, pretty much guaranteed lump-free lashes!

The mascara is dark and an even consistency, it doesn't flake off and cover your under eyes with the dreaded black flecks, and it doesn't rub off against your lids. Also, the lasting power is amazing. Your lashes look full and long all day/night with no need to top up and no eyelash drooping, fairly waterproof, yet can still be removed pretty efficiently. I love this mascara, it'll be staying in my make-up bag for the foreseeable future! 9/10.