Summer Favourites

Hi everyone!
 
With summer coming to an end, I thought I would do a 'Summer Favourites' post to show you what I've loved this season. We've had a great summer here in the UK (how's it been everywhere else?) so that has been lovely!
 
Firstly, my Sleek pallet. I bought this right at the start of summer (around June) from Superdrug for £7.99 - I got it online and it had free delivery at the time which was a bonus.
 


 

1 - shimmery bronze | 2 - shimmery light gold | 3 - neutral | 4 - shimmery gold | 5 - shimmery rose gold | 6 - shimmery burgundy | 7 - shimmery dark brown | 8 - shimmery blue-grey | 9 - shimmery forest green | 10 - shimmery navy | 11 - dark brown | 12 - black

I've numbered the different colours to give you a better idea of the colours as they haven't come out very well in the photo. The pallet I chose was the 'I-Divine Storm 578'. It is mineral based and really pigmented. For a neutral look, I use number 2 for a base, and then 6 in the crease. Sometimes I will use a light coat of number 5 over this. When wearing liquid eyeliner, I will often just use number 2 underneath as this brightens your eyes and draws attention to the cat flicks!
 
Next, I have these three books by Ann Turnbull. They are aimed at teenagers and are based in the 1600s, the time when Quakers were prosecuted for meeting. It follows a young Quaker girl who has left home to get work and a young man who has to make a choice between his family and new Quaker beliefs. They are beautifully written stories of bravery, fear and romance and I would highly recommend them to anyone who loves a good historic novel.
 

 

This summer, as you may know from my previous post, I went to France. I decided to bring a watercolour paint box with me so I had something to do in the afternoons.
 

 
These are from WHSmith's and are really good quality: it comes with a small brush and the lid doubles up as a pallet so it's nice and compact - perfect to slip into a nearly full suitcase!
 
I also used this Uni-Ball pen with the paints to make cards. A lot of my friends have birthdays in the summer so I used the pen and watercolours to make their cards as I prefer to make them than buy them - it makes them more special. The pen is also lovely and smooth to write with, so I have used it in my art and when I need to write anything in neat, so it is a huge favourite of mine!
 

 
I've loved my jewellery this Summer, too. These earrings from Accessorize are my favourite - they seem to go with just about every outfit, whether it be smart or casual - I am constantly wearing them! The turquoise colour is gorgeous and very 'in' at the moment, and I love the kind of distressed metal around the edge - it adds an antique-y look to it which I love.
 

 

Again, with the blue theme, I have been wearing this lovely blue nail varnish from Rimmel London (420 Aqua Cool). Although it is a little bit watery (I don't know if that is the case with all of them or just mine), once you paint on about three layers you get a gorgeous, vivid aqua colour which is super summery, so perfect for this season!
 

 
Finally, THESE SHOES!!! I love them ever so much! I bought these for the end-of-year ball to go with my dress (shown below) and I can't wait to wear them again!
 

 

 

I bought them from Next for £28. Next was the first shop I went into and I fell in love with them straight away! They are sling-backs with a sparkly, textured material covering them - almost like netting. I like the fact that they are not too high (8cm) so I was able to wear them for the whole night. I haven't worn them since the ball (at the start of July) but I think they would look lovely with black skinny jeans and a pretty top for a party.
 
So these were my favourite things from this Summer. I hope you enjoyed this post - comment below anything that you've loved this season.
 
Helen xx

France 2013

Hi guys!
 
This year, I went to Fréjus in the South of France with my family. I love it there as there are beautiful views, scrummy food, and gorgeous weather (although a little too hot at times - it reached 42C one day)!


A lovely sunset

 It was a long drive down so we split it between two days by staying in a hotel near Beaune which was a beautiful barn conversion. The gardens were really gorgeous and the inside of the hotel was typically French. The rooms had air-conditioning, too, which was much appreciated!! 


I love the flowers on these steps - so pretty!

 

 

 
We stayed for just over two weeks so we had a lovely, relaxing time. I did a lot of reading, painting and swimming - a nice change from the stress of exams.
 
On the first night in Fréjus, we had some unwelcome visitors on the driveway: wild boar! There was a 'Daddy', 'Mummy', and 'Baby' - they appeared out of the bushes whilst we were relaxing in hammocks and we found it a bit frightening (but the Baby boar was quite cute)! Then a week later we had an enormous thunderstorm at 6am - it lasted an hour and there was a lightening strike just across the road. It lit up the room bright orange and the thunder crack was earsplittingly loud!

 

As it was so hot we weren't able to go out to the surrounding towns and villages every day, but the ones we went to were gorgeous. Mons was a beautiful medieval village that we went to. There were little shops, like bakeries, jewellery and pottery shops. The views were incredible: it is situated right in the hills, so we were very high up!

 

 

 

 

After Mons, we drove down one of the very precarious, narrow roads on the mountain-side (in places there were no barriers - it was very scary at times) and we found a river at the bottom of the valley. Here we had a picnic on the rocks and paddled in the cool, refreshing water. There were many dragonflies (and wasps, unfortunately) that were shimmery blue with striking black wings.

So that was my holiday this year. I hope you liked this post!

Helen xx