LIFESTYLE || LOOKING AND FEELING YOUR BEST THIS SUMMER

Summer is finally here, well the season is definitely here if not the weather. With Summer comes the idea of getting into healthier habits, whether that means exercising more or eating better I will share with you my top tips for feeling your best this Summer.

There is no hiding the fact that we all like to look our best, we just all have different versions of that. However, health doesn't always have to do anything with the appearance and has much more to do with how you feel on the inside. We often neglect the time to take care of ourselves the way we used to when we had fewer commitments and more time to ourselves. Sadly, the days where we would soak in a hot bath for hours, relax with a face mask and take our time to get ready are gone. Nowadays we might be lucky enough to have an extra 5 minutes to ourselves other than being in the bathroom! Although I do not have any children yet, I can only imagine what it must be like for parents or carers having to sacrifice every minute of their day to other people! But all those things don't mean that we can't all be a little more health-conscious and use the Summer as the ideal time to focus on our physical and mental well-being. With that in mind, here are some of the small changes that can make a huge difference in how you look and feel this Summer.

TRAVEL || GETTING THE MOST OUT OF THE SUN IN BEAUTIFUL MARBELLA - AD

*This image was sourced from Pixabay.

When it comes to the sun, sea and sand I think we can all agree that one of our favourite destinations in Europe is Spain. And what's a better destination than Costa del Sol in the south coast of mainland Spain, or to narrow it down even more - the very glam and popular area of Marbella. An ample share of beaches, villas, parks, and history make it a must-see city. Here are a few tips for you to consider before making your way to beautiful Marbella.

SS20 || BEST AFFORDABLE DRESSES YOU NEED THIS SPRING - SUMMER

It's so easy to decide on an outfit based on what the weather is like, but have you ever thought of a gorgeous outfit and then got annoyed when you couldn't find anything remotely similar in your wardrobe? I'm definitely one of those girls and try to really control my spending and up-cycle what I already own. In this post, I wanted to share with you my top picks of high-street dresses that are mainly under £35 (I tried to find the best and most affordable dresses across 8 different online retailers).

One of my favourite stores to shop for holiday/Summer outfits has to be River Island as they never fail to bring out gorgeous prints which I always keep in my Summer wardrobe ready for my next holiday. I particularly love this White Polka Dot Dress as you can wear it anywhere in the world either during the day or night and look super fabulous! For £36 I think it's a great bargain and that everyone should own a dress like this in their wardrobe.

I think that this White Leaf Print Beach Dress (also from River Island) is super cute and would be very flattering for all body shapes. The cut-out detail and the belt are nice additions to this dress, and for only £25 I think it's a great steal! It also comes in khaki.

I love H&M all year round, but I feel like they always up their game around Summertime. Neon has been a huge hit for the past couple of years, especially in the Summer, so it's not a surprise to see bright and colourful dresses making an appearance on the H&M website. This Smocked Mesh Dress is only £9.99 and is a part of a collaboration with the movie 'To All the Boys I've Loved Before Part 2'.

Another great bargain from H&M is this beautiful Polka Dot Lyocell Dress for only £19.99! This would make a great wedding guest or baby shower outfit.

Now, this dress is absolutely stunning. It's a gorgeous colour and a trendy print and style - what else could we ask for?! This Warehouse Satin Jacquard Midi Tea Dress is in the sale for only £25 and would make a great summer outfit.

Missguided is one of my go-to online stores for Summer clothing, and let me tell you when I say I found some amazing gems that I am not lying! For instance, this beautiful little White Satin Crochet Dress is currently in the sale for £17.60! It's everything you could ask for in a summer dress, especially for exciting cocktails with the girls once it's safe to go out!

I love this dress so much! It's super cute and flattering, and only £28! This Pink Floral Midi Dress is perfect to wear on a cold-ish Summer night and would look great paired up with little sandals.

So, these are my top dresses for this Summer and I really hope that we will all get a chance to have a proper Summer this year. This is a very difficult time that we are going through right now and I'm sending everyone my love and lots of positive thoughts.

*This post does not include affiliate links and is not sponsored. The images used for this post are not mine and have been saved from the retailers' websites.

Lots of love,

Maya xo

WHAT TO DO IN THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS IF YOU'RE STAYING IN THE UK

I must say that the past few days this month and a few days last month have been absolutely amazing and the heat has made me very excited for my holiday this year!
For those who are staying local for the Summer but not sure on what to do to make the most out of it - here's a few tips:

1. Have a picnic with friends and/or family

I love having picnics, it's one of my most favourite things to do during hot summer days (other than BBQ's). I always message my friends or just turn around to Kieran and say 'let's have a picnic' and off we go to a lovely park for a few hours and enjoy our own company with no social media (minus taking lots and lots of photos haha).

2. Have a BBQ

I feel like this one is so obvious to those who live in houses and have their own gardens, but what should you do when you want a BBQ but live in a flat? Well, what I like to do is buy one of those BBQ Oven inserts and make my and Kieran's favourite on those! We usually have burgers, sausages, chicken skewers/fillets, and lots of veggies! Then, all that you need now are cold drinks and a big fan for an illusion of the wind!

3. Rent a Camper Van

I used to have an obsession with camper vans when I was younger, so when I heard that you can hire a camper van I was over the moon! Now I'm just waiting to get my driver's license so I can cruise around in my very own Fillmore (excuse the Cars reference, it's one of my first memories of falling in love with camper vans). The best camper vans and closest to my area are the Cozy Camper Hire in Manchester. I think they're great and are something I would definitely be interested in as I hate camping out in a tent! If you're a lover of festivals and can drive then maybe this would be a great option if you don't like sleeping on the floor!

4. Go down to the seaside

I love the sea. I find it so relaxing being at the beach and reading or listening to music. Unfortunately, the closest beach to me is around 2 hours away so I only go when it's planned out well and knowing that I haven't got a lot of work to come back to.

5. Have brunch/lunch outside

One of the things I love to do the most all year around is eating hahaha. I love going out for afternoon tea, and yummy lunch, but the best thing about this weather is that you can eat out on the terrace in restaurants or even go to a rooftop bar for midday drinks - yummy!

*This post is a collaboration with Cozy Camper and does not include affiliate links nor is it sponsored. All opinions are always my own.

What are your plans for this Summer? Are you going away or staying local?

Lots of love,

Maya xo

WISHLIST || CASUAL SPORTY LATE SUMMER/AUTUMN OUTFIT FT H&M

Who doesn't love a comfy casual, yet glam outfit? Especially, in those cold Summer nights and upcoming Autumn. Oh, how I love Autumn! I cannot wait for the long walks at the park in the beautiful orange and brown colours, big cups of hot chocolate, Yankee candles and Halloween of course!

H&M has been one of my favourite shops for quite some time now and I've been loving their new Autumn range. the burgundies, greys and powder pinks are coming back - but then again, have they ever left?

I've put this one outfit together as I thought it was absolutely gorgeous and so on trend right now that it'd be a crime not to share it with you all!

Bomber Jacket £24.99, High Waisted Jeans £7.99, Trainers £19.99, T-shirt £9.99, Sunglasses £6.99

What do you think of this outfit? What's your favourite piece? Would you like to see me wear something similar?

Lots of love,

Maya xo

REVIEW || NATURAL COLLECTION HIGHLIGHTING STICK IN SHADE ROSE GLOW

The obsession over testing out one brand at a time has taken over the blogging world, and I couldn't help but notice that Natural Collection has come out with a new line of products. Obviously, I got the new products, but the one I want to focus on today is their highlighting stick!

I'm no stranger when it comes to strobing and highlighting, I honestly go all out! I'm currently obsessed with the Makeup Revolution highlighters - they're seriously so good.

I got the shade "Rose Glow" which I think is the perfect shade for my skin tone as I've got warm pink undertones. The packaging is quite basic, I don't like it very much and it's a lot like the ELF all rounder stick. However, it only cost £1.99 so I didn't expect much. I was hoping for it to have more product though as it is quite small.

As you can see the colour is very pinky gold, kind of like champagne pop by Becca. I do love this colour, I think it'll suit all skin tones as it's not too light and not too dark - quite universal.

This swatch just proves my point, look at the pigment! It's absolutely beautiful and easy to blend. The only issue I did have with it is that too much product applies with the lightest swatch! So it's best to apply it with a brush or a beauty blender.

Here's a swatch of the highlighter blended into my skin, so you can see that it's quite warm but still very shiny - yes please! I do want to try the other shades from the collection, but I need to get more wear out of this one first! 

Have you tried Natural Collection's new highlighters? If so, which one did you pick up?

Lots of love,

Maya xo

REVIEW || HONEST OPINION OF THE NYX LIP LINGERIE LIQUID LIPSTICK IN SHADE EMBELLISHMENT - FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND REVIEW

Hi Everyone!

Who doesn't own a NYX liquid lipstick yet? Either if it's a Soft Matte Lip Cream or the Lip Lingerie, it doesn't matter - NYX has been raved about for quite some time in the UK now and I've finally joined the bandwagon once I heard that my local Boots store opened up a NYX counter.

It wasn't long until I grabbed a few items including this gorgeous shade from the Lingerie collection. I really wanted to get more shades but the ones they had left weren't my cup of tea as many were sold out almost immediately...

First of all, the packaging is gorgeous. It looks a lot like the Kylie Jenner Lip Kit but for a fraction of the price, haha! It feels quite heavy and expensive to be honest, I actually thought it'd be quite flimsy and light but I'm glad it's not - this will make a great present for a friend or family member.

It took me forever to try and find the name of the shade ha ha, how embarrassing! I actually thought that this was a collection rather than the shade!

As you can see, the wand is really flat which makes it quite easy to apply. However, I do prefer Jeffree Star's wands as they are shaped to hug lips for better application, on the other hand I feel like NYX could have improved their wands as it's quite hard to get in the corners of the mouth and it always feels like I go out of line when applying this onto my lips.

So, not only is the wand flat but it's quite thick so it makes it even harder to apply! I think this would be easier to use with a lip brush however, I just slap on a bit of lipliner and go over with this lippy and have the perfect untouched lip for at least 5 hours!

Here's a swatch with the flash on, and the one below is a swatch with the flash off.
It actually looks a lot warmer and brown on my arm than it does on my lips as I feel like it's more of a nudish purple shade.

Overall, I was really impressed with the pigment of this lipstick and loved the colour when I swatched it on my arm, but because it shows up purple on my lips it slightly disappointed me and I wish I chose a different shade, as well as the wand isn't very up my street. But hey ho! What can you do? It was only £6.50 and the formula is great so I can't complain!

I will definitely add more of these to my collection, next on the list is Ruffle Trim!

Have you tried any of the NYX lip products? Which ones did you like best?

Lots of love,

Maya xo

Review || Benefit Ultra Plush Lipgloss In Poutrageous! & Kiss You

Hello Beauties!

On my recent trip to Rhodes (You can read my post here), I went into Sephora hoping to pick up some Anastasia Beverly Hills products, however to my disappointment the store was very messy and disorganised with only a few things stacked up on the ABH shelf and all of them in unwanted shades.

However, they did have an amazing offer on these Benefit Lipglosses which I had my eyes on for quite some time now - they were 50% off! I bought the two for €10 each which is around £8! Woo Hoo go me.

I picked up the shades Kiss You and Poutragous!

Kiss You is a purple fuchsia shade which will look amazing on top of MAC's Up The Amp, or on its own as it's really pigmented.

Poutragous! Is a very lovely bright coral shade which is perfect for the summer. 

Both of these smell amazing and don't feel sticky at all. I feel like I could wear these all year long as the colours are so versatile, however, I do find it hard to wear lipgloss when it's windy as my hair gets stuck to my lips! :( 

Overall, I love the colours of these glosses, the consistency and the scent. These are a definite 9/10 

and I recommend them to all of you! 

If any of you have any tips on how to wear gloss in the summer please let me know! 

Lots of love,

Maya xo

TRAVEL || WHAT TO DO IN RHODES, GREECE?

Hey Everyone!

I've been battling with post holiday blues for two weeks now and I couldn't be more upset about not being out and about in the sunshine with my second half. However, I do have a few things to look forward to now that I'm back home, such as more time for blogging, working overtime to save up for the next holiday, and also planning a garden party!

In this post, I will share with you the places I visited while in Rhodes and what to do when you get there.

This picture looks so spontaneous but I actually knew Kieran was snapping a pic as he told me not to move! Oops! This was taken at the beautiful Oasis beach in Calithea. There are three beaches there that you just HAVE to visit - do it, you won't regret it.

We also went to the Butterfly Valley (Peta Loudhes) which was a m a z i n g. Even though I was very timid the whole time I was there, it was a wonderful experience as I had never seen so many butterflies in one place. You probably won't believe this, but as I walked down the hill in my big floppy hat, I must have touched the wall where the little creatures were resting AND THEY ALL FLEW INTO ME! I am not joking - there must have been hundreds of Red Admiral butterflies around me and I screamed and ran off. Yup, I ran off because I'm a scaredy cat and don't like no bugs near me!! I'll add pictures of the little ones in an upcoming post, so stay tuned!

We visited the famous 'Seven Springs' which is a beautiful forest on a mountain with 7 streams with drinkable water. This is perfect for those without children as you have to climb up quite high in order to see all streams and the animals that live up the mountains. We saw goats, ducks, swans and peacocks. I think the peacocks made me the most excited about the whole trip! The bus there and back only cost us 5 euros each, which is an amazing bargain.

Another beautiful place to visit is Calithea Springs - an old spa with cute little fountains everywhere. It's around 3 euros each way to get there and another 3 to get in, so it is best if you go there for a whole day as the city of Calithea has 3 beautiful beaches that Kieran and I had also visited.

You cannot go to Rhodes and not go on a boat trip to Lindos - it'll be just like committing a crime! We paid 25 euros each for the trip there and back, unfortunately[ snacks and drinks weren't included in the price so I suggest you bring your own with you as the products sold on the boat were quite pricey! Thankfully we brought our cooler bag with us and packed it with sandwiches, snacks, and drinks! 

Another important point I have to make about Lindos is that it looks exactly like Santorini!! I couldn't believe my eyes when we finally got there, it was so beautiful and I cannot wait to go back there again.

The gorgeous boats by the Lindos bay looked so cute I had to take a picture. What is a holiday without going on one of these and just keep swimming! 

 

Make sure you go for a long walk down the strips and visit all the shops so you can find the best deal on souvenirs. I walked around every single shop at least twice before making my mind up on what to get for everyone! You can call me crazy, but I had to save money somehow!

Are you planning on going abroad this year? If so, where are you off to? Let me know in the comments down below!

Lots of love,

Maya xo

Massive Drugstore Haul

Good Morning Everyone!

I hope you're all looking forward to the weekend! I'm busy working and exercising, trying to get fitter before my holiday. Shall I do a post about my progress?

Anyway, I have recently splurged a LOT on makeup, both high-end and drugstore, but today I will share with you my drugstore buys.

I will link all products down below for you guys, and I won't go into much detail as I'd like to do full reviews, so if you'd like a review of a particular product then let me know down below in the comments section!

Let's get started!

Makeup Revolution Lipsticks in a pack of five £4.

Natural Collection Lipsticks and Eyeshadows, £1.99 each.

Shades: Hazelnut and Fig Leaf. 

Shades: Crushed Walnut, Willow and Milk Chocolate. (I have since then purchased another shade called Barley which is a warm gold colour)

Rose Gold Balmi, raspberry flavour. This was around £4 I believe as it was on offer.

Real Techniques Deluxe Gift Set, £19.99.

Primark and Sleek lipliners, and Essence waterline pencil.

Makeup Revolution Rose Gold Lipsticks £3 each, in shades: Girls Best Friend, Diamond Life, Private Members Club and Red Carpet. Unfortunately, I couldn't get my hands on the nude shade, but hopefully, I'll add it to my collection soon!

Ultra Strobe Cream £8

Pro Go Brush Set £4.95

Primark Matte Lipstick £1.50

Concealer/Contour Palette £3.45 including a brush

Morphe Magnetic Palette with 7 inserts in shades: Creme Brûlée, Pretty in Pink, Breakfast at Tifanneez, Caffee Mochiato, Glow for Me, Toasted Hazelnut, and Rosewood.

Makeup Revolution Fortune Favours The Brave Palette £10

Mermaids Forever Palette £8

Makeup Revolution I Heart Chocolate, Salted Caramel, and Pink Fizz Palettes. £8 each

The Make-up Revolution Chocolate Palettes have been on my wishlist for months now! I've been lusting over the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette but have settled for the cheaper alternative. you can never go wrong with Make-up Revolution 

Do you own any of the products mentioned above? Are any of them on your wishlist?

Lots of love,

Maya xo