L'occitane & My Little Box

L'occitane is a brand I have been a fan of for a while now, especially their Bonne Mere range which I believe is highly under rated, My Grandma actually introduced it to me last christmas with a selection of the range.
I attended the event in which they had collaborated with the french company 'My Little Box', based in Paris it's a monthly lifestyle box subscription service which is a favourite amongst bloggers for its selection of items it sends each month. I personally like that they do something different not just the standard 5 or so beauty products.
I have to say I had kind of forgotten about L'occitane until this event, but I am very glad I was reminded of its presence! It has some absolute corker's in the range, there are obviously the cult classics such as the almond shower oil but the fragrance range has some hidden gems, my friend obsesses over the fig fragrance she blogged about it here.
The event was based in the beautiful little Covent garden store, which is well worth a visit if your around that area.

P x

Autumn Base...

So as the weather changes so does our skin, and generally we start to reach toward a heavier creamier base for the winter months.

I however have stuck with the cream but strayed from the heavier coverage in my desperate bid to let my skin breathe, and granted this is tricky when the air its breathing is heavily polluted.

After scouring the internet I decided on the hugely hyped Nars tinted moisturizer and creamy concealer, the tinted moisturizer is in my book the best of both worlds, a lovely glow-y base with decent coverage whilst maintaining a weightless feel. Only downside is that I do find primer essential with this products otherwise it did slip throughout the day.

The concealer is also a cracker, it covers but without looking matte and cakey. You can also use it as a slight highlight on the tops of the cheekbones for a 'I woke up like this' glow.

Ahhh Nars, you've done it again.
- P x

St Ives #brightskin

On wednesday this babe invited me to come with her to attend a St Ives skin care event. St Ives are predominantly known for their amazing and affordable facial scrubs, but the event placed emphasis on how important it was to keep chemicals and free radicals out of your skin care regime and to only put ingredients on your face that you would put in your body such as oats and apricots. 

Julie Montagu AKA The flexi foodie did a great talk on how to maintain great skin on the inside and the outside through eating well and incorporating natural  skin care. 

We made our own avocado face masks which consisted of one part Avo, one part hunny and a teaspoon of coconut oil, super easy to re-create at home.

I also couldn't keep my eyes off this purse, It's from whistles and the lovely Ashumi had it monogrammed. Definatly an idea I want to steal until I can afford This baby, she also has a beautiful blog! 

I also met Claudia who runs a blog, a lovely lady with the most flawless skin!

The evening was rounded off with a sketch of yourself by a very talented Zarina Liew.

It was lovely to meet so many beautiful and talented women whilst learning about skin care in the process!

P x

Holiday beauty essentials.

Hoola- My favourite bronzer. It's matte, it suits almost any skintone and lasts forever.

Watts up - A champagne highlighter to add a glow to the complexion

Mac studio fix powder - Evens out skintone and sets everything in place. 

Porefessional - Blurs the skin, minimises pores and helps stop my makeup from melting off.

SPF- I generally use 50 on my face but this was under 100 mil so it came with me.

Body shop coconut lip butter- Great for soothing chapped lips. 

Urban decay chill setting spray - Just fixes everything on your face, a complete hero product. 

P20 - The best goddamn suncream you will ever own.

Dream screen - Lightwieght silky SPF 45. 

Clarins exfoliator - Does what it says on the tin!

Clarins matte moisturizer and Waterproof eye makeup remover. 

Chloe fragrance. 

I really dont wear a lot of makeup on holiday as I like to let my skin breathe for a bit, but these are my 'just in case products' 

Px 

Stumbling through Sao Bras

Food is a huge love of mine, especially desserts. But when we stumbled across a little resteraunt in the back streets of Sao Bras on our little explore we knew we had to return, it was a little rustic building with exposed brick work with one wall lined with wine bottles and tables dotted around. But before we get to that we clambered up on our roof terrace of the villa to enjoy the sunset before our feast!

We couldn't remain serious for long though. 

After admiring the view we started to walk down to the resteraunt stopping for a few pictures along the way. 

When we arrived we where directed to our table, a little secluded set up outside with some sofa's opposite. We took our seats and were soon presented with bread, garlic butter and some Portuguese humous. 

The girls went for starters and main, I went for main and dessert. 

To start Ellie had chicken and veg spring rolls with a garlic sweet and sour sauce, rich and tangy at the same time definatly a thumbs up. 

Chloe went for fish cakes, the verdict was a " this is soooo good " through mumbled mouthfuls. 

Wine wise, they went for white as thier main was seafood and I want for red as I plumped for the more meaty option. 

Anyway, on to the main event. 

For el, a mountain of fat shrimps with garlic dipping sauce, rice and salad. 

For me a juicy rump steak, medium rare with creamy potatoes. Sorry about the shoddy pictures the lighting was minimal and my camera kept playing up. 

C went for a seafood lasagne. 

All food was exceptional with huge portions aswell! El and chlo couldn't hack a pudding after so they went strictly liquid. 

Myself on the other hand had been eyeing up the chocolate fondant ever since I arrived, and it didnt dissapoint. 

From here we retired to the sofa's whilst E & C finished thier cocktails and I fell into a chocolate comba.

We started to make our way back to the villa admiring the rustic streets along the way. 

And from here it all just gets a little blurry... 

Ellie - Urban outfitters shorts - Topshop fedora - Topshop scalloped crop - new look sandals. 

Phoebe - Top shop shirt - Miss selfrige shorts - Primark sandals.

Chloe- Playsuit Oasis - Primark sandals.

P x