SUMMER HYDRATION HEROS

With a mixture of sunny, humid days and cold rainy days, my skin's been feeling quite dry and dehydrated. In summer, I find that my skin battles with sweltering hot days, shaving more frequently and salty beach air. Other than ensuring to drink more water, here are a few products that I like to use to keep my skin, hair and nails hydrated.

Hair: To tame dry tresses and to banish frizzy hair days (humidity = serious Monica Geller hair!) Morrocon Oil Treatment comes to the rescue for me every time. Although the vitamin, protein and omega-3 enriched argan oil treatment can weigh down your hair a little, just a small amount of this conditioning oil worked through the ends of your hair keeps it silky soft and helps to diminish frizz.

Lips: EOS Sweet Mint is a natural, 95% Organic, refreshing lip balm that contains vitamin e, jojoba oil and shea butter to keep lips soft and hydrated. Maybelline Baby Lips in Hydrate is great for summer as it contains SPF20, it also has shea butter and honey to keep lips smooth and supple.

Nails: A nourishing oil like Essie Nail Treatment Apricot Cuticle oil will keep your cuticles soft and supple thanks to the mixture of hydrating oils. With it's nail polish style bottle, it's so easy to brush on the product and using it frequently helps keep your nails and cuticles strong and in good condition.

Skincare: A lightweight moisturiser like Origins Ginzing Energy Boosting Moisturiser gives you a boost of radiance whilst also leaving your skin soft and hydrated. It contains natural and organic ingredients, the gel like texture is great for summer and means that a little really goes a long way.
Throughout the day, a cooling face mist like Caudaile Beauty Elixir helps to keep skin hydrated. It contains orange blossom, organic balm mint, rosemary, grape and rose to smooth the skin and give a burst of radiance.

Bodycare: In summer, rather than reaching for rich, creamy body lotions, I like to use moisturising products in the shower to keep my skin soft and smooth. Soap and Glory Flake away is an incredible body scrub that's full of sweet almond oil, shea butter, polishing sea salt, sugar and peach seed to gently exfoliate and keep skin radiant and unbelievably soft. Lush It's Raining Men is a sweet toffee scented shower gel that contains rosehip and honey to leave your skin feeling silky soft and moisturised. If I do feel like I need to use a body moisturiser, Soap and Glory the Righteous Butter contains aloe vera and shea butter and so is great to apply to your legs after shaving or after a day in the sun.

What are your favourite hydrating products for summer?

SUMMER BLUSHERS

Now that summer's in full swing, I've pulled out a mixture of warm pink, peach and coral blushers. These are the ones that I've added to my make up bag for summer:

Nars Orgasm: Similar to Sleek Rose Gold, this beautiful blusher leans slightly more on the pink side than it's highstreet dupe. It's a warm pink with peach tones and has a beautiful gold sheen that brings light and warmth to the skin, see me wearing it here.

Mac Mineralize Blush Warm Soul: This pretty, beige pink blusher has golden shimmer running through it to give warmth and radiance to the complexion. It instantly gives you that Victoria's Secret glow and is great for summer and the transition into autumn, see me wearing it here.

Sleek Rose Gold: My most loved and most worn blusher, Sleek Rose Gold is a dreamy coral pink blush with flecks of gold running through it. It really brightens the complexion and gives the skin a  radiant glow. You only need to use such a small amount and the soft, pigmented formula blends so seamlessly onto the skin. See it swatched here.

Topshop Flush: I love the soft, blendable formula of these Topshop cream to powder blushers. Flush is a creamy warm pink with a hint of coral and such a great blusher for Summer. You only need a tiny amount of this pigmented blusher to give you flushed cheeks. See it swatched here.

Benefit Coralista: This coral peach blusher really perks up your skin and gives a beautiful flush of colour to your cheeks. It's quite a sheer blush for me but I like to build it up to intensify the colour, it has golden micro shimmer running through it to make the skin look radiant and glowing

What are your favourite blushers for summer?

A LITTLE RIFLE PAPER CO HAUL

Whilst browsing the Paperchase sale I spotted a few things from Rifle Paper Co, their dreamy designs and high quality feel really set them apart and I'm building up quite a collection of cards and notebooks to display and use around my home!

The cute dachshund card was half price at just £1.25, I bought it with the intention of giving it to Alex's mum as she has three (incredibly cute!) wire-haired dachshunds but it's so sweet I might have to go back and get one for myself to hang up on my wall!

The mermaid card was also half price, the gold detailing and scalloped edges are so pretty, something about this beautiful vintage mermaid card reminds me of Harry Potter, I'm not sure why! Alex bought this to give me on my birthday, even though it's not till November, it's the perfect birthday card!

I picked up the Many Thanks card even though it wasn't in the sale, I thought that this one would be great to stick up on my wall, the gold foiled writing on a burgundy background looks almost autumnal, it's a good reminder to be grateful and thankful for things!

Lastly, the botanical journal was a steal at just £4 (normally £14!) I've wanted a new notebook for a while now and this is the perfect size for noting down lists and ideas.

I've built up quite a collection now, the other cards I own are the 'always and forever' print (which I bought recently after getting engaged!) and the assorted botanical set. I purchased them both from Waterstones.

Next on my list to buy is this beautiful 'To do' Floral Notebook, I also love this Notebook set!

HEATPROOF SUMMER MAKEUP

After temperatures soared last week and with another heatwave expected to return at the end of July, I've pulled out a few products that can withstand the heat. I try to wear a little less make up when it's hot, opting for a light summery look in the day before popping on a bright lipstick for breezy summer evenings. These are a few tips to keep make up fresh on hot summer days:

Prep & Prime:
- Invest in a good SPF to use before priming, Soap and Glory Make Yourself Youthful Sunshield Superfluid SPF50+ is great cream for your face and neck that contains vitamin C, E and oil absorbing powders.

- Applying a primer to your skin before foundation helps to create a smooth, long lasting base. I always tend to go for a radiant, illuminating primer like L'Oreal Lumi Magique Primer, it's a beautiful pearlescent primer that really lifts and brightens the skin. A smoothing and slightly mattifying primer like Benefit the Porefessional is also a great option for summer!

Eyes:
- Opt for waterproof liquid eyeliners and mascaras to stop them melting and flaking in the heat.

- Cream eyeshadows are a great summer staple as they give you fuss free colour that lasts for hours. Maybelline Color Tattoos in Eternal Gold and Pink Gold are two of my favourite shades, they're easily applied with your ring finger for a wash of shimmery colour over the lids, see swatches here.

Face:
- Try wearing a lighter base, I love Maybelline BB cream as it smooths imperfections, gives me a little coverage and contains SPF30!

- A cheek stain like Benefit Posietint is great for hot summer days, it gives a long lasting, buildable pretty pink stain to your cheeks.

- Use a mattifying powder like Rimmel Stay Matte, just a light dusting around the t-zone keeps your base shine free.

- Carry a cooling face mist around with you, I make sure to keep a bottle of Caudalie Beauty Elixir in the fridge at all times throughout summer. Just a couple of cooling spritzes can revitalise your make up and help to keep you feeling fresh.

- Utilise your fridge, it's great for storing face mists, toners and eye creams!

Lips:
- Choose a lip balm that also contains SPF, Maybelline Babylips in Hydrate is an affordable balm that contains SPF20, it's great to pop in your bag to wear everyday and it contains shea butter and honey to keep lips soft.

- For bold lips, Sleek Matte Me Liquid Lipsticks* are the longest lasting lip products that I've tried. The shade range is beautiful, they dry to a velvet finish and last for hours on the lips without budging.

What are your tips for heatproof make up?

MERMAID MAKE UP

There are a few products that I own that are either sparkly, shimmery, aqua toned, chameleon, duo chromed, or pastel toned. Theres something quite ethereal and mermaid-esqe about them, like they wouldn't be out of place in a Disney film or in a fairy tale. I love make up like this, mermaid make up, and I own quite a lot of it!

Although it's not always the most wearable type of make up, I love adding hints to my normal make up routine. Barry M Dazzle Dusts are shimmery little pigmented pots of colour that look beautiful smudged under the lower lash line for a hint of colour to the eyes. Natural Collection have some great  pastels for a wash of colour over the eyes, Nars Outer Limits, a shimmery rose gold eyeshadow (dupe here) looks so pretty when patted onto the lids and Maybelline Colour Tattoos have glimmering aquas and golds for long lasting cream colour on the eyes (see my collection here).

For nails, Topshop & Barry M win every time with their dreamy glitter shades. Barry M glitter polishes like Amethyst Glitter or their amazing mermaid-esque Aquarium Collection are perfect painted on toes. Topshop Glitter Nail Polishes distribute a sprinkling of multi toned sparkles making them a little more suited for a wash of colour over your nails.

Fuchsia pinks like MAC Show Orchid or it's similar highstreet dupe Revlon Wild Orchid are so pretty on the lips, they have pink and blue micro glitter running through them to give a lustre sheen. Cool toned bubblegum pinks like Revlon Showy work so well with winged liner and matte eyeshadows.

Mac Mineralised Skinfinish powders give the skin a glowing, illuminated touch that catch light as you move, Mac Redhead (pictured above), Soft & Gentle and Lightscapade are a few of my favourites. Sleek Rose Gold blusher also gives a similar illuminating effect, it's a beautiful coral pink toned blusher with flecks of gold glitter running through it.

Lastly, my favourite mermaid product is Illamasqua Pure Pigment Powder in Static. It can be used as an eyeshadow and highlighter, It looks so pretty if paired with pinks or dabbed onto the centre of a glossy lip or quite edgy if paired with matte blacks and purples. It's a divine, iridescent pearl pigment with violet and pink micro glitter running through it (swatched here).

Do you own any mermaid make up?

A NEW HOBBY - MODERN CALLIGRAPHY

One day during a particularly boring maths class at secondary school, I decided to change my handwriting. I practised new styles and gave my y's, n's and m's long straight tails. It's now become the way that I naturally write, i've always been really interested in handwriting and calligraphy and so now that courses are so widely available, I thought that it would be the perfect time to give it a go!

I decided that I wanted to learn Modern Calligraphy, Carrie's beautiful instagram photos inspired me to try to learn this specific style of calligraphy but there are plenty of different fonts/styles to learn.

To be completely honest, I don't find it easy at all. It turns out that teaching myself to write differently means that I hold the pen really tightly and low down, which is natural to me now, but doesn't seem that helpful when it comes to calligraphy. Part of me really likes the fact that I have to put my all into it and practice a lot. It helps me to take my mind off everything else and I love taking out an hour every now and then just to practice writing. 

I originally wanted to book a course through Quill London (their beginners class is £44) after seeing great reviews on blogs but after trialling Scarlet and Gold's free webinar (which was so fun to do!), they gave a promotional code at the end of the trial to get the full calligraphy bundle for a great discount, I think it worked out in the end to be around £45.

I bought my pen, nib and ink from Quill London when it was 20% off too, so all in all it wasn't too expensive. Doing it this way round worked out to be a lot less than a ticket to London for a 2 and a half hour course in the city. It means that I can look back on the videos and watch them as many times as I like and I love the flexibility doing it at home too.

I think that calligraphy is great hobby to take up, there's something quite romantic about being able to beautifully hand write something and it will come in handy (if I ever master it!) for writing gift tags, wedding invites, place cards and Christmas envelopes!

Have you tried calligraphy?

JUNE'S GREEN FAVOURITES

I can't believe that we're over half way through the year already! 

June's humid days and thunderstorms kept me on my toes, windows were thrown open in an attempt to catch a breeze before quickly slamming them shut as thunder rolled over and rain and hail suddenly battered against the window pains.

Gardening definitely doesn't come naturally to me and I've never really been green fingered but throughout June I re-potted my poinsettia (which is now completely green and resembles a small tree!) and have an array of herbs and flowering plants sitting on my windowsill. I've also fallen completely in love with peonies again and realised how much I had missed them over the winter. I've been buying them as often as possible, they're such a pretty flower and they smell incredible. I've decided that I definitely want them in my wedding bouquet.

Beauty:

Lush Avobath: The uplifting scent of lemongrass and bergamot in avobath is almost like sherbet which leaves the whole house smelling amazing. It's a great bath bomb for the warmer months as it's fresh, light and invigorating, it's also incredibly moisturising, thanks to the fresh avocado and extra virgin olive oil.

Denman Tangle Tamer*: My professional hair/make up kit is full of Denman hairbrushes, they're recommended by industry experts and I love using them in my personal collection too. I've been using the Denman Tangle Tamer after washing my hair, it's soft, nylon bristles glide so easily through my wet hair removing any knots and tangles painlessly.

Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask: This rich, nourishing mask really helps to keep my skin plump and hydrated. I use a little less in the summer (I like to layer it on quite thickly in the winter) to give my skin a boost of hydration, it repairs the skins barrier and helps to prevent future dehydration.

Bdellium 716 Smoky Eyeliner Brush: Probably the softest brush I own, it's perfect for applying inner corner highlighter, smudging out eyeliner or blending eyeshadows under the lower lash line.

Natural Collection Eyeshadow in Moss Shimmer: This golden olive eyeshadow looks so beautiful as a wash of colour all over the lids and smudged under the lower lashes. It's so affordable and supposedly a dupe for MAC Sumptious Olive, see me wearing it here.

Simple Face Wipes - Although face wipes are being replaced in the blogging world with creamy cleansers and primark face cloths, I find them so easy to remove the bulk of my make up before I cleanse, tone and moisturise. I've used Simple face wipes for a while now after spotting them backstage at fashion shows, they work well with my skin and take most of my make up off so that I can use my creamy cleansers afterwards!

What were your favourite products in June?