Nina Ricci- L'Elixir

So, somewhere between moving back from Spain and now, I managed to lose my beloved Vera Wang Princess Night perfume.I have to admit I'm not a bit perfume person, I tend to stick to one at a time which is why I was gutted when my Vera Wang was no where to be found. Therefore, when I had a fair bit of time to kill in Budapest airport on my way back from Interrailing, I started eyeing up the perfumes. I knew the Nina Ricci perfumes were more up my street than the more traditional perfumes like Chanel and Dior and got sniffing. Nina Ricci L'Elixir is what I settled on.

Much like Vera Wang, it's quite a fruity and sweet fragrance that thankfully isn't too sickly or overpowering. Its top notes are lime and lemon making it a bit more citrus-y than Vera Wang but the familiar sweetness comes from the base notes of apple, jasmine and red berries. The scent settles nicely into your skin and that's when the sweetness come out.

Of course, it is housed in the iconic Nina Ricci apple glass bottle with a darker red at the top than the original Nina perfume, which make it very pretty to look at as it sits on my dressing table.

I snapped it up in the duty free and made use of some left over Euros I had so I'm not sure what price that equates to but it normally retails for around the £40 for  50ml bottle.

Do you have this perfume or something similar?

Send recommendations my way!

xx

Interrailing Part 1- France and Italy

Well, Interrailing was probably one of the best experiences I've had in my life and I'm so glad and grateful I got to spend a month travelling through Europe. It all began in Paris as we shot over on the Eurostar into Paris Gare du Nord. Our hostel was St Christopers Inn right next to the station and despite it being suffocatingly hot due to an A/C unit that just couldn't cope with the heat and 10 bodies generating even more warmth, it was a great hostel with breakfast and was easy to navigate back to. 

Highlights: What you'd expect really! The Eiffel Tower, finally getting into the Louvre after 2 hours in the rain (seriously, book tickets in advance!), Musee d'Orsay and generally soaking up the Parisienne atmosphere and charm. We had some of the best food of our entire trip at La Cantine de Belleville- a 3 course meal of delicious food for only 14 euros, which for Paris is an absolute steal. It's a little bit out of the way but completely worth it and I'd totally recommend!

Our next stop was Marseille which we got to on the TGV high speed train and it only took us three and a half hours which is incredible considering the distance. However neither of us really liked Marseille. Apart from a few beaches along the coast away from the town and the port, where you can drool over dream yachts, there isn't really that much to do and we also found it quite expensive. We quickly discovered it was better to eat your bigger meal of the day at lunch when it was a bit cheaper and that became a habit throughout the whole trip.

Our last stop in France was Nice, which I much more preferred. The beaches were beautifully clean and relaxed and the whole town seemed to have a bit more charm than Marseille including the antiques and craft markets we found in the Cours Saleya. We were only there for two days as it was a stop point before we crossed the border into Italy but it was nice to relax and our hostel was in a great location, close to the train station and a supermarket so we could stop up on supplies before our 8 hours down to Rome!

Rome! It was a horrendously long journey down the coast of Italy to Rome with just one change in Ventimiglia at about 6am. However we had four days to enjoy ourselves so when we finally arrived, we gratefully dumped out bags, took some much needed showers and headed out for the evening.

Highlights: The Colosseum at night was beautifully illuminated and walking around the centre of Rome where many ruins are still exposed including one site that had become a impromptu cat sanctuary. Unfortunately, I was absolutely gutted to find out that the Trevi Fountain was undergoing restoration work and the whole thing was in scaffolding. There was however a walk way going across and up close to the sculpture and we still did the tradition of throwing a coin over your shoulder and making a wish!

A little tip for those of you ever wanting to go to the Colosseum- buy your tickets online first and then pick them up at the entrance to the Forum. The ticket is valid for both the Colosseum and the Forum and the ticket lines are a lot smaller for the Forum and if it's very hot, trust me, you don't want to be standing around in the Rome heat for an hour plus for tickets! Go visit the Forum and skip all the queues for the Colosseum afterwards.

The best places to eat are in the Trastavere region, on the other side of the river. There are plenty of nice restaurants and bars that all come to life in the night time and you can take a nice stroll along the river banks if you need to walk off your meal!

A warning though is mosquitos. I got absolutely eaten alive in Rome, the most being 10 bites, mostly on my legs, all in one night and if you're prone to getting bitten, definitely save yourself the annoyance of a itchy mozzie bite and put repellent on!

And finally, Venice. We only got 2 days here due to a mess up with the hostel bookings that meant we had to leg it to Slovenia a day earlier than expected. However, I loved what I saw. Venice is a truly beautiful and mesmerising place. We stayed in Mestre on the mainland because it was cheaper but only a ten minute bus journey away. Venice is an absolute maze to navigate so get a good map first! You'll think you're going in the right direction until you hit a dead end and have to go all the way back through the winding streets. Venice was a lot cooler than Rome which means you can enjoy strolling around leisurely a bit more and I always prefer being close to water. Despite what the rumours say, it didn't smell! I'd really recommend getting the combined bus and waterbus ticket, which can be valid for up to 72 hours if you're there for a few days because, trust me, sometimes it's easier to hop onto one of the public water buses than try and get around on foot!

One of my absolute highlights was visiting Burano, one of the islands that surrounds Venice. The brightly coloured houses are so eye catching and perfect for a little photo opportunity. There are a few shops and restaurants but everyone seems to come over for the houses themselves and it's totally worth it.

However, remember I mentioned those mosquitoes in Rome, well Venice is even worse! I got the two worst mosquito bite of my life in Venice, both on the ankles, and the whole area swelled up and was sore, itchy and painful for a good two days at least. Not pleasant at all so stock up on mosquito repellent and antihistamines!

Part two will be our stops in Bled, Slovenia and Budapest, Hungary!

Of course, these photos are only a glimpse of our trip and if you want to see more, check out my Instagram

And of course, any questions are welcome but fire them to me on Twitter to get a good solid answer!

xx

Interrailing

Oh Europe, you big beauty. It is with great impatience that I can say I'm off on my Interrailing travels tomorrow! I'm so excited and proud of myself for fitting everything I need for three and a half weeks into one rucksack. Unfortunately, for the sack of weight and space, my beloved Nikon is staying at home, it's just too bulky to take with me and I'm going retro with some disposable cameras that I will get developed when I'm back home. That and my phone so if you are interested in my travels, be sure to check out my Instagram where I'll be uploading the most of my photos.
As for the route we're taking, our first stop is Paris <3 I've been once and it was a school trip in the middle of February, so I'm looking forward to seeing Paris in it all its sunny glory. Then, after that, we're hitting Marseille, Nice, Rome, Venice, Bled and finishing in Budapest so it's an action packed three and a bit weeks!

If you have any recommendations for these place, please let me know they're very welcome!

Apart from that, I'll see you in three weeks!

À bientôt!

x

What I'm Taking Travelling- Cosmetics And Toiletries

Now that the boyfriend has officially graduated, I've started making preparations for our travels throughout the month of August. After mmm-ing and aah-ing about what to do during the summer months, we finally decided on Interrailing through Europe. So with only a trusty 25 litre rucksack, we're going on a big long train journey through France, Italy, Slovenia and Hungary. The real issue, however, is how do you maximise space when you only have a limited amount of space and it all come down to taking the bare minimums and the versatile items.

First off, we have my cosmetics bag, a little yellow print bag that I bought from Boots that is the perfect size for all my little bits and bobs. Inside we have-
1. Lush Grease Lightning- Hot weather, especially in cities, nearly always break me out and I've been lovely this natural remedy recently
2. L'Oreal Millon Lashes Mascara. A necessity, of course.
3. Maybelline BB Cream. I discovered this last year, when after a holiday, I discovered that I didn't match any of my then foundations and this BB cream was light and best shade I could find without breaking the bank for a new foundation that I only use for a month of the year.
4. Nivea Oil Free Moisturiser. My favourite moisturiser. It feels light and keeps your skin hydrated. Perfect for hot weather.
5. Collection 2000 Concealer in Dark. Again, this is used for when I have a tan but on the days when I just want to cover up a few blemishes rather than have a face full of make up.
6. Prestige Eye Shadow Palette. I've had this palette for donkey's year and I'm pretty sure it might not even exist any more. It has 4 neutral eyeshadow colours that you can use if you need to dress up a bit more and saves me taking my huge MAC palette with all my depotted shadows in it.
7. Vaseline. No one likes chapped lips.
8. A good Kohl pencil. The easiest way to do a smokey eye and can be used with the eye shadow palette.
9. NARS Orgasm blusher. My favourite blusher and the packaging has a little mirror which is always useful.
10. MAC Dipdown Gel. Because even my simplest day time make up rocks a good filled in brow.
In addition to this, I will also be taking my stippling brush, gel liner brush, blush brush and one eye shadow brush.

Next we have haircare and toiletries. I cannot live without my holy trio of haircare products so to save space, and the fact that a little really can go a long way, I've filled up little 100ml bottles, which can be picked up for very cheap in either Superdrug or Boots, with my cannot-go-withouts aka TIGI Bedhead Curl Creme and Spray to accompany my Argan Oil Spray. Next are travel friendly sized shower gel and toothpaste which can be thrown away once used and then purchased anew in the country you're in. Then, in the tub, we have a small amount of St. Ives Apricot Scrub which I use regularly on dry patches of skin... and when I'm peeling...

Aaand then a few other essentials. 

Make up wipes just for the sake of easiness but then can also double as a nice refreshing wipe after a hot sweaty day travelling. We then have the LUSH Jungle Solid Conditioner and Trichomania, both of which I've been loving using recently and both of which smells absolutely amazing. In fact, if I have the Jungle one in my bag, my whole bag will smell of it within a day. Might turn out useful in a rucksack...
And finally, ear plugs. An absolute essential if you're travelling on public transport and/or are staying in hostels. I know from past experience that you only need one heavy snorer in your room to ruin a nights sleep, so these are really, really worth it!

These are all things that I would like to have with me at all time. Of course, especially in Europe, you're never going to be too far from a supermarket and can always stock up or refill when you need to. However, for the sake of space and weight, it really is useful to decant favourite products into the 100ml bottles so you can travel with them and you'll be amazed at how far it goes. But most of all, it's about enjoying the travelling experience and at the end of the day, no ones really going to remember the bleary eyed girl with a scruffy top knot trudging through a train station at six in the morning. And you're never going to see them again either so there we go.

Because I love Boots, and let's face it, who doesn't, you can save yourself money a fair ole bit of money by using Voucher Codes so make sure you check out their deals!

Enjoy the sunshine!

xx

Outfit Of The Day- Led Zeppelin

T-Shirt- Second Hand

Denim Shirt- Second Hand

Shorts- H&M

Shoes- Birkenstocks

I apologise for the slightly out of focused nature of these photographs. If anyone has any advice for focusing a SLR on self timer against a white background, I'd gladly listen! 

I think I'll have to keep fiddling with it for now.

Nevertheless, I've just got back from a little holiday with a friend and am feeling rather bronzed. To my delight, when I got back, it was even nice weather here in England, so, with a few errands to run, I needed something casual but cool to wear as I popped into town. The Led Zeppelin shirt is a man's shirt that I found in the Beyond Retro in Brighton. It was naturally enormous so I chopped off the sleeves and the main neckline and then twisted the remaining straps. A quick stitch with some black thread will keep it that way so the t-shirt doesn't look so bulky and is a nice trick for making big, second hand t shirt a bit more feminine.

I bought my Birkenstocks a little while back with the excuse intention that I would need something comfortable to walk around in in hot weather, when I go travelling. However, they ended up straight on my feet the second I bought them and I don't regret it for one minute. They are seriously the most comfortable shoes and I can't stop wearing them. I can see why some people would be put off them as they do make your feet look a bit big but the white leather makes them nice and summery and the comfort makes it totally worth it. If you're thinking of buying a pair, I would recommend buying a size down, as they do come off very big.

I hope you've been having a nice time, either in the sunshine or dodging thunderstorms

xx