Motivational monday #5 10 little things you can do to de-stress your life

Sometimes when everything gets a bit overwhelming, it can be hard to know what to do to improve your state of mind. Luckily, I've come up with 10 tips to instantly make life a bit less stressful.

1- Turn off social media notifications on your phone
2- Write a short term to-do list
3- cull your wardrobe
4- unsubscribe from all email marketing
5- get rid of five items you no longer use
6- unfriend and unfollow everyone on social media you don't actually like
7- downsize your beauty collection
8- sort out your email inbox
9- reply to five messages
10- throw out odd socks.

5 ways to celebrate the summer solstice

This summer solstice is a pretty important one as there is also a full moon so it would be a waste not to celebrate it, but it can be overwhelming knowing what to do so I've put together a list of simple and easy ideas below.

1:  Create an altar. you could use candles, oranges bright flowers and also add some crystals if you have them to charge them full of energy.

2: Collect tools and potion materials, it is said that herbs collected on the solstice are more powerful than those that are not, and traditionally the solstice is a day to gather herbs for the winter, you could also gather rain water and other 

3: Light a fire, whether you have a big bonfire or simply light some candles, fire is an excellent method of cleansing and you could also write down some wishes to burn or add herbs to the flames

4: Remove negative energy from your home, being at home on the solstice isn't a bad thing and you could either cleanse by burning dried herbs around your home or cleanse with wet herbs by bundling sage and lavender together, dipping the tips in water (or rain water) and sprinkle about your home. 

5: Leave gifts and offerings, this year I will be leaving gifts for the faeries but you could make an offering to any deity or spirit you like. 

Motivational Monday #3

One of the biggest contributions to my insecurity has always been comparing myself to others but as I've gotten older I've realized that there are so many different types of beautiful and that there is so many beautiful people in the world, but their beauty doesn't make me any less beautiful, even if I am nothing like them, and changing myself to be like someone considered beautiful simply takes away from my unique beauty.
I think a lot of this comparison based insecurity is because society constantly pits women against each other in order to sell us things, from magazines comparing which celebrity wore the best dress rather than acknowledging how beautiful they both looked to telling us that buying from certain brands will make us more like the model in the advert and therefore make us more beautiful.
Disregard the idea that being like someone else will make you more beautiful, the thing that makes you the most beautiful is your individuality.

Motivational monday #2

I am a person who doesn't deal very well with stress and has a tendency to make problems bigger than they are but if I have learnt anything in the last year or so it's that a cup of tea and a biscuit solves everything. 

It may not solve the problem itself, but it gives you the time to step back from a stressful situation and focus on liquidy goodness in the form of tea, and since having this epiphany I have become a lot calmer and happier. Sometimes a cup of tea is all you need to think logically about a situation or mull the situation over with someone. No problem is too big to contemplate over a cup of tea, and no problem is too pressing that you can't escape from it with tea. 

Go and grab a cuppa and click these links to find tea related joy from Twinings (not sponsored, I just love their tea) 

Salted caramel green tea 

Lady Grey

Winter spice tea 

Download festival makeup bag

I'm off to Download festival pretty soon and this post will be going up while I'm there, but I thought it would be really interesting for you to see what makeup I'm taking.

 I know some people wouldn't really take makeup to a festival but I like to have the option of putting on makeup, that said, I didn't want to take too much so I've narrowed it down to this!

Maybelline 'matte maker mattifying powder' // MAC 'Coppertone' blush

 Revolution makeup 'mermaids vs unicorns' palette // Collection lasting perfection concealer

Collection extreme liner // Urban decay de-slick spray (travel size)

MAC smoke and mirrors palette

Download festival doesn't allow glass bottles, and while I'm sure they mean alcohol bottles. I didn't want to risk taking a foundation so I've opted for concealer as a lighter and more practical option, I want my makeup to stay in place so I have taken my usual setting spray and powder, the setting spray will hopefully be nice and refreshing if I need to top up. I also wanted to take products in sturdy packaging, so I'm hoping my MAC products are up to the test, the Coppertone blush can serve as a blush and contour shade and also looks amazing on the eyes and the MAC palette has everything I need in for eyes and eyebrows which is a great bonus. For some variety I'm taking my Revolution mermaids vs unicorns palette as I enjoy doing colourful festival makeup, the pigmentation isn't the best but the colour selection is good and I didn't want to risk my beloved urban decay shadow box.

I'm also taking some adhesive gems, but I wanted to take as little as possible.

What would be in your festival makeup bag? 

Top 5 tips for festival fashion

As a seasoned festival goer I thought I would share my top 5 tips for festival wear that I've learned over trial and an awful lot of error!

1- don't take anything fancy Obviously 'fancy' means different things to everyone but basically don't take anything expensive, hard to wash, easily damageable or that you care a lot about, because it will be muddy and some asshole will probably throw his drink. 2- take versatile clothing. You don't really want to take a ton of stuff so take things that look good with multiple different things and that can be worn in all weathers, for example take a pair of shorts that go with all your tops and a pair of jeans that go with the same tops. 3- be prepared for all weathers Even if it's predicted to be perfect weather, take warm clothing just in case. take something waterproof but also take some things you can wear if it's really hot. Have multiple warm things that you can stack on at night. 4- focus on footwear Footwear is pretty important because festivals put a bit of trauma on your shoes, take a pair that can survive mud and that aren't going to start hurting after an hour or so, bear in mind you will be on grass and mud and people may step on your feet. I would also take shoes you don't mind potentially ruining, and another tip is to take foam flipflops if you plan on showering as the floors can be gross. 5- layer Given that the weather is so unpredictable I suggest taking clothing you can layer so that you can remove or put on layers as the weather changes, things like kimonos/wraps are perfect.


Let me know if these tips helped you and what your top tips for festival fashion are!

Mini makeup haul

Recently I went and had a little browse in debenhams and boots and ended up buying a few little bits! Urban Decay Oil Slick Setting spray, I've wanted to try an urban decay setting spray for absolutely ages and they didn't have the all nigher spray in a travel size so I opted for this and will have a review up later this month when I've used it more as I'm unsure about it Collection lasting perfection concealerr, this is a staple product with me but I go through it ridiculously quickly! I'm shade 4 (the darkest shade) Natural collection loose powder I have never tried a loose powder before so thought I'd get a cheap one to try out. Maybelline matte maker powder , as my laval powder has run out I have the perfect excuse to resume my search for the perfect powder

May Favourites 2016

This month has been pretty uneventful and there haven't been too many new things but definitely some firm favorites in the mix! 

Films/ TV and books! 
I've been really obsessed with the 'alien' films this month, they terrify me but I love them! I've also watched 'Star Wars: the force awakens' far too much! 
As for television and books, I have been loving the new game of thrones series and have began reading the books which are incredible. 

Skincare:
I've developed a love for coconut oil, I know everyone raves about it but it's made the condition of my skin so much better! I've also been using the Body shop cashmere cleansing oil which is absolutely divine and makes my skin feel so soft and moisturized

Makeup:
I have a love/hate relationship with Urban Decay Oil slick setting spray but I definitely love  Lime Crime 'black velvet' velvetine liquid lipstick, I purchased this second hand but unused just to try it out and I absolutely love the formula! 

Fashion:
I have been glued to my necessary evil coat from Kate's clothing ever since I got it because it's so warm and soft! I'm planning a full review and some outfit posts of this soon.