Festival Special:

In honour of Glastonbury weekend this is a festival special post!

Unfortunately I'm not going to any festivals this summer and I'm very jealous of all those festival goers so this post is for everyone who will be attending a festival this year or anyone who, like me, wishes they could be going but is stuck at home.

Record that Rocks

Coldplay have been a major force in British music for a decade and they have been headlining festivals for almost that long. Personally I must admit to being a little lukewarm towards them I find that a lot of their music fails to move me but that might be about to change... They have released a song from their forthcoming album and it really is made for festival and stadium audiences, 'Every teardrop is a waterfall' will sound fantastic played at full volume to a massive crowd.

This song manages to capture the wonderful festival feeling in 4 minutes and makes me super jealous of everyone who has tickets to a festival. So I dedicate this song to everyone who will be staying at home this summer: turn the music up, shut the world outside and pretend you are there too!

In the eye of the beholder



Camping and the infamous festival toilets don't exactly provide the ideal environment for a high maintenance look. But the lack of a decent bathroom doesn't have to stop you looking your best!

My first festival must have is a decent mascara. I always feel naked without it on and a quick sweep of a good mascara can do wonders for your look, by attracting attention to your eyes it helps draw attention away from any blemishes that a couple of days of late nights and camping can cause. My current favourite is Maybelline Great Lash Blackest Black mascara. It's a good daily staple, not too heavy and it comes off very easily but if you like a bold, dramatic mascara this might not be the mascara for you. However I love it and I've used mine so much the label has come off and at £5.00 from Tesco its great value. 

Dry shampoo is my second festival essential. I was initially a bit wary of the idea of it but I spent a few months out in India earlier this year and because the showers there weren't always fantastic, dry shampoo became my saviour! I've been converted and now I absolutely love it; mine is Superdrug's own brand. It smells gorgeous and fruity and it works a treat. The 50ml can is £1.00 (The lid got lost somewhere between Delhi and Goa)

My final hot tip for festival beauty is wet wipes, not wanting to get too personal but these have a million uses and you can never have enough of them! These are from Primark there was two packets (50 wipes)  for £1.00. I liked these because they have tea tree oil in them, which is an antiseptic- great for keeping spots away and it smells great too!

Do you have any products that you can't do without? I'd love to know x

Glad Rags

Festival style is fairly simple to achieve there are three staples: demin, wellies and some cute, statement jewelery.

Mud, mud glorious mud! It wouldn't be a festival without it but it does mean that the only footwear to be seen is a pair of Wellies! Mine are the ordinary green boots on the right, they are fine for walking the dogs in winter but for festival fashion I love my sister's gorgeous purple Hunter wellies on the left! Hunters have been seen on fashion icons such as Kate Moss, Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow, so if you'll be sporting them this summer you'll be in good company!

Denim shorts are always a festival must have, personally I don't think I have the legs for them so I'm firmly glued into my skinnies, but if you can carry them off they are part of the ionic festival look seen on the likes of Kate Moss and Alex Chung. They are also practical as they dry much faster than jeans and they can keep you cool in the crowds- it can get surprisingly hot in the middle of all those people! But if like me you'd rather keep those pins covered skinny jeans look just as good with wellies or you can go for a denim skirt. I love the style of this girl from the Way Out West festival in Sweden:

(Picture is from http://www.flickr.com/photos/snbg/2749054123/)

I think this girl's outfit is great, her denim pencil skirt is a good way of bringing denim into your festival wardrobe if you're not quite brave enough to go for the shorts! I had a hunt for a denim skirt like this one but I found it tough to find one that didn't have buttons- I love the simple design of hers if you know where to find one I'd love to know!

A cute piece of statement jewelry is a great way of bringing your outfit together and it can make it look like you've made an effort when really you've just rolled out of your sleeping bag. I saw this necklace on Meganheartmakeup's 'Summer Loves' video in gold and it was love at first sight! It's £5.65 from forever 21 and I think it's got a great tribal/ boho style that would look fantastic at a festival, or at a summer party!

Tacky or Topnotch

Camping at a festival obviously requires a tent and in the endless sea of tents in the campsite it's helpful to have one that stands out but is this tent so bad it's good or is it just plain embarassing? What do you think?

Thanks for reading

♥ you! xox

Big Sleep, Coconut oil, Crop tops and a Sailor Mug!

Hi, welcome to my first post! 

Record that Rocks

In this part of my blog I’m going to share a song or artist that I think rocks- fairly self explanatory really:) 
This week I’d like to show you a band called B I G  S L E E P. They are an awesome band from Manchester I saw then in October last year at the cockpit in Leeds supporting One Night Only. They put on a great show they were originally called drive like i do but they have changed their name. However they are very elusive as they are surprisingly hard to find online but rumour has it that they are planning to release a single soon so fingers crossed! I can’t wait to hear more from this fantastic band! 

This is a song called ghosts its one of there more recent singles. If you like it try some their other songs ‘chocolate’ and ‘sex’ they are both great tunes! (UPDATE- these guys have re-named for a third time to become The Slowdown)

I meant Record that Rocks to feature just one song but it seems that I can going to break my rules before my first post is even finished:) My friend recently sent me a link to the song ‘Another heart calls’ by All American Rejects and the Pierces it’s sweaty and sexy and everything a live performance should be and I love it to bits
so I just had to share it! Hope you love it too!

I’d love to hear what you thought of my Record(s) that Rock please let me know what you thought! xx

In the eye of the beholder

Superdrug’s new loyalty card was the perfect excuse for a splurge at my local store here’s a couple of my favourite purchases:

 

Coral is a major trend in nail polish this season and I like this Barry M shade, it’s quite reddish and I would maybe prefer a slightly more orange shade but it provides good coverage and it’s pretty hard wearing- which is always great! You can see by the amount that has been used out of this bottle that it has been popular with me and my sister so that was defiantly a good buy! 
Rating: ***

This is a product that I absolutely love its a solid coconut oil, the smell of coconut always reminds me of holidays and summer so the scent alone makes this my new favourite hair product! But more practically I’ve been growing my hair out and it getting quite long so I’ve been straightening it much more regularly that I had been and I’ve found that it’s making my hair quite dry and damaged- particularly at the ends and I wanted something to try and improve the situation. I put a bit of this oil on the ends of my hair a few hours before I wash it and it’s worked a treat! My hair is much smoother and softer and it smells like coconut- bonus:) It is quite hard to get the product out of the jar but if you shove it in the microwave for a few seconds it’s much easier and best of all it’s only a couple of pounds a jar- bargain! 
Rating ****

Have you found any products that you think are better that sliced bread? I’d love to hear about them:) xxx

Glad Rags

With the arrival of June me and some friends went for a shopping trip to update our wardrobes in preparation for a summer that will hopefully arrive soon!  So here is a sample of what I bought in Primark:

I love my river island black bag and it’s the perfect size for all my stuff but I found that it was a bit too heavy to wear with summer dresses so I needed an alternative to my black bag for the summer months and I love this cute little bag. The flower detailing is lovely and its big enough to fit my purse, phone and ipod in- which is great! And it was a steal at £4! It’d also be great for festival goers as you defiantly don’t want to have to drag a big bag around when you are in festival crowds:)

As you might be able to tell from the name of my blog I love swallows and I just couldn’t resist this pretty bird brooch, I adore brooches and badges and I think they can add a fantastic point of interest in an outfit and I think this cute little brooch will look great with some of my summer outfits.

Showing a bit of midriff is a big trend this season and crop tops and bra tops have been seen in loads of fashion magazines: (http://www.elleuk.com/starstyle/celebrity-trends/(section)/everyone-s-wearing-cropped-tops)
and celebrities from Rhianna to Daisy Lowe have been spotted wearing them. But flashing inches of tummy may not be everyone’s cup of tea and this top is a great alternative. Its cut quite short so it reveals a bit of flesh but it’s loose style is flattering and it’s a great colour. I’ve seen similar tops in more expensive shops like Topshop and River Island but this one was just £5  and I’ve worn it on a night out with and on a shopping trip dressed down with my leather jacket and I’ve received several compliments. I love this top and I think its’s really easy to wear:) 
Are you a fan of flashing some tummy flesh or are you keeping it well hidden this summer? What do you think of the crop top trend? 

Tacky or Topnotch?

In this, final, section of my blog  I’d like your opinions on something music, beauty, fashion related(- or just something random) that I’ve found but I can’t quite decide if it’s really tacky or so bad its good:)

This is my latest find- 

I’ve started collecting bit and pieces of stuff to take to university with me in September when I found this sailor mug I kind of love it just because it’s so strange but what do you guys think? Should it come with me or should it stay at home with my S Club 7 Cds?
Thanks for reading I can’t wait to hear from you, Love you
xox