The Sunday Post: Easter Weekend At The Spa

Last weekend, what with it being Easter & all that, my mum surprised me with a weekend away to the spa! We traveled quite a distance as mum had heard good reviews, the hotel was Hilton Puckrup Hall Spa & Golf Club Hotel located in Tewkesbury, Gloucester. Traffic wasn't so good on the Saturday and it ended up taking us nearly 3 hours to get there which was quite annoying. When we arrived we were speechless, it was tucked away down a little country lane and just sat amongst miles and miles of fields in every direction.

We checked in & went up to the room which had two single beds and was relatively nice. We had afternoon tea booked which you can see in the top picture. The fruits added that little extra something, it looked amazing & it tasted delicious. Obviously there is always time for a selfie...

We finished our afternoon tea a bit earlier than expected so we ventured round the hotel to see what was going on. When mum booked the hotel we also got to have a free treatment at the spa so obviously we chose massages! We also booked in pedicures but unfortunately they didn't book them in properly so we missed out on that :( we were not happy bunnies! The massage on the other hand was incredible. Omg, I've never had a massage before and I was a bit scared about taking my clothes off and all that malarky but it was so relaxing. When the lady turned the lights back on I felt like I'd been disturbed from the worlds best nap! Missing out on the pedicures meant that the owner gave us a complementary eyebrow wax which is always a good thing. I don't think I have ever had my eyebrows waxed so well... everything was just on point with the spa (except the pedicure scenario...)

After we had our massages we changed into our cozzies and dived right into the pool (which was actually very cold...) for a little swim before dinner. They also had an amazing jacuzzi which we spent about 80% of the time in. The bubbles were aggressive & I could feel them battling away my cellulite!

A swim & a jacuzzi tired us out a little bit so we got dry & headed back up to the hotel room to lay down & watch BGT! For dinner I wore my Warehouse Peplum Top, Topshop Midi Skirt & Chockers Shoes Heels which were a complete bargain at just £15! They're not all that comfortable though because I am much more used to a platform so it feels a bit strange wearing strappy sandals. Half an hour before dinner we went down to the bar to have a cocktail, I ordered a strawberry daiquiri and it was delicious. I could've definitely drunk about 10 of them. I had tomato soup for starter which I didn't photograph - it was lovely but everyone knows what soup looks like? For my main I ordered a steak with hand cut chips, a mushroom & a tomato in a red wine sauce and it was sooo nice! We started eating quite late so as soon as we were finished we headed back up to the room to snuggle down for the night!

Sunday morning saw us jumping out of bed at half past 9 to get down & have breakfast! They had everything you could think of from bacon & eggs to weetabix & fruit! There was a variety of juices & the option of tea or coffee. As you can see I obviously went for a full English & some fried bread, my eyes were definitely bigger than my belly because I couldn't finish it all unfortunately. Soon after breakfast we checked out of the room & headed home - which only took us 2 hours win! 

If you live around the Gloucester area I 100% recommend this hotel & it has just made me want to go to the spa every weekend!

Lots of love,

The Sunday Post: Afternoon Tea

Last weekend for Mothers Day, me and my mum ventured over to Chiswick for Afternoon Tea at Bills. If you know me then you know how much I love Bills. The food is beyond amazing and I just love the decor & weirdness of the whole restaurant. The service isn't all that great because it is always so busy but who cares when the food is delicious? I certainly don't... Anyways, I took a few snaps on my iPhone of our Afternoon Tea and I just thought I would share. If you have never been to a Bills before I 100% recommend! It is by far one of my favourite places to eat! 

 We chose English Breakfast Tea and the pot it came in was ginormous! Lovely tea though.

 We had scones with clotted cream & jam, two pieces of chocolate cake (which was delicious!) and a strange sort of oat & raisin cake which I didn't even try...

 Sandwiches were cream cheese & cucumber, salmon, egg mayonaise & ham & tomato.

It was so lovely. I will be going back there at some point to have it again because it was just too scrumptious to only have once!

Hope you all had a lovely Mothers Day and spoiled your mother, or got spoilt if you are a mother! :)

 

The Sunday Post: 'No Make-up' Make-up

This was a make up look I wore last week and I didn't realise straight away that it was one of those 'no make-up' make-up looks. I thought I should share with you which products I used, all are affordable and really good! 

After cleansing & moisturizing I applied Rimmel London's Match Perfection Foundation in Classic Ivory all over my face with a Real Techniques Buffing Brush. I am in love with this brush as it is literally the best thing to apply your foundation with, you can really buff it into your skin and it just makes your complexion look flawless. Next, I used Rimmel London's Clear Complexion Clarifying Powder in Transparent just over my t-zone to control any shininess. I really love transparent powders because you know they're not going to affect the shade of your foundation and make your colour look a bit funny. This one is really good and definitely controls shine for a good few hours. Rimmel London's Scandaleyes Micro Eyeliner is my eyeliner of choice at the moment (a full review of this is coming soon!) because the felt tip-like end is so easy to draw super thin lines with or you can really build up a big cat flick. I will also be reviewing Bourjois Paris Dark Kohl Mascara soon as well but this mascara is pretty good. The wand has basically two balls on it with spikes on the end so you can get those tiny hairs... I didn't use much of it in this look but you can really go for a few coats and it volumises & curls really well. Lastly, the Seventeen Phwoarr Paint Concealer is one of the best concealers I have ever tried, you can read my full review here. It is literally amazing at covering my under eye bags and I even apply it on to any blemishes I have. When I first bought this I was just applying it with my finger but I recently heard about using the Real Techniques Foundation Brush to apply concealer in little pots like this... I don't like using Foundation Brushes to apply Foundation but concealer on the other hand, it's like a match made in heaven!

What are your make up choices for a 'no make-up' make-up look?

Lots of love,

The Sunday Post: Byron Burger at Westfields

 

 

Yesterday, me & mum decided on a little shopping spree to Westfields... and yes we did shop a little too hard! We decided to eat lunch before we started shopping so we decided on Byron. I had never been before and heard very good things about their burgers! Boy oh boy was it good. I just had a relatively simple cheddar cheese burger which was piled high with salad (yuck) that I quickly removed. They also did a plain burger; the Byron burger which had everything but the kitchen sink in it and a Bacon and cheese medley. Not only that but they had the nicest french fries I have ever tasted. Mum ordered a chicken caesar salad and the sauce was delicious... I may have pinched some to taste!

Being Saturday lunch time it was rather busy so we was told the only place to sit was at the bar... not a problem with me! It was such fun watching the chefs busying about, flipping burgers & throwing cheese around! The atmosphere was really good and there was plenty of staff bustling about tending to the customers which i love. I cannot stand it in a restaurant where there is only 2 or 3 waiters hanging around. 

After being filled up on burgers, fries, chicken & lettuce we ventured down to the shops. We took advantage of Boots 3 for 2 offer and I did some damage in Urban Outfitters... it was a very lovely Saturday :)

Hope you've had a good weekend!

Lots of love,

The Sunday Post: Beauty Wishlist

What better thing to post on a Sunday evening than a wishlist? Usually my wishlists are very fashion related but recently I have been eyeing up some beauty & skincare bits which I thought I could share!

I'm not a massive eyeshadow wearer as I think it doesn't really suit me that much. However, I love the look of the Sleek palettes and this Au Natural Palette would be a good place to start I think; lots of nice neutral shades! After reading many reviews on them, it seems they are a good buy. I have been wanting to buy some new eyeliner for a while but I am just too fussy, I always seem to be browsing the e.l.f website and for less than £4 you cannot really go wrong with this Cream Eyeliner. I definitely think that creamy gel like consistencies in eyeliner always seem to apply better on the eyelid and last much longer than liquid eyeliners so I will be trying this. Next up is something I have heard many rave about, the Lush Cupcake Face Mask - I don't usually do face masks because of a bad allergic reaction when I was younger. However, Lush are known for their fresh & organic products... plus, this is meant to smell exactly like chocolate and I love chocolate? So, win win! I am a massive fan of the Real Techniques brushes and next on my list is the Real Techniques Powder Brush - at the moment I am using a retractable multi-use face brush to apply my powder and I would just love something that is actually meant for powder rather than something I also use to apply blush & bronzer. I have also added the Real Techniques Eye Starter Kit to the list because I think it has a lot of good brushes included! The angled brush could also be used for eyebrows as well as eyeliner and the two eyeshadow brushes could be used to blend concealer! I have already purchased one of the Rimmel London Moisture Renew Lipsticks in 'Glam Plum Fulham' but I have 'Let's Get Naked' on my list as it is such a nice peachy nude colour which is just so wearable for everyday. Simple is one my favourite skin care brands; its affordable & it does the job. I have thought about trying their Kind to Skin Eye Make-up Remover for a while now but I have always just re-purchased Bioderma to be safe. I haven't read any bad reviews on this so it may have to be bought when I run out of my Bioderma cleanser. Lastly, is the L'Oreal Elvive Anti Frizz Serum - I have been looking for something like this for a while; my hair gets super frizzy in any weather and this would be perfect to apply after I have blow dryed or straightened just to stop any frizzyness! I'm not sure if this is any good so if anyone has tried this please let me know your thoughts??

Hope you have had a lovely weekend :)

The Sunday Post: Sale Shopping & Ed's Diner

 

 

Yesterday me & mum ventured on over to Lakeside Shopping Center in Essex to brave the sales and get some lunch. We didn't manage well in the sales area - I found a beaut coat in Forever 21 but decided against it; instead we went crazy in Primark buying underwear & pyjamas! 

For lunch we were torn on what to eat. Jacket potatoes, Italian, or Ed's Diner... I guess you see who won. Ed's Diner is like an American themed diner and their food is delicious. We both ordered burgers; mums being plain, mine being cheesy. Look how big they are! I decided on cheesy chips which were just incredible. As for that chocolate milkshake you can see. ohmygod the best milkshake I have ever had. For £4 you got the milkshake in that stainless steel jug and you just kept refilling it yourself! So in reality I had about 3 chocolate milkshakes!

We then braved the shops. It was too busy to properly look at the sales, except Forever 21 - I am still dreaming about this jacket... what do you think? Should I have bought it?? Anyways, we mooched along trying not to bump into crazy sale shoppers! I had a quick peek into Topshop but it was too busy for me! I don't know what it is but ever since I stopped working in retail I just hate sales; they make me feel claustrophobic and anxious! So we ventured to Primark... which was busy but its such a massive store so didn't feel too hectic! I picked up lots of new underwear & mum bought some pyjamas! We only queued for about 5 minutes which really wasnt too bad! Then we decided to call it a day. My feet were hurting and we were tired. Home was calling...

Sorry about the poor picture quality, they were taken on my phone!

 

The Sunday Post: Monochrome & Leopard

Just a quick one but voila my outfit from last night. I'm not sure if you can get these items now as they're last season; maybe in the sale! Also, sorry about the rubbish quality this picture was taken on my phone! My lace top & floral textured trousers are both from Topshop and my leopard print Jeffrey Campbell dupe shoe boots are actually from SoYouShoes. I got them for Christmas a couple of years ago and I still love them! My lipstick is Gothic Glam 2 by Collection and I think its amazing; makes me look quite pale but its such a nice colour.