#nofilterdublin

Dublin is a beautiful, beautiful city, and one I've been lucky enough to visit several times as it's very accessible from my current location in London. I'm no stranger to snapping away whilst I'm travelling and popping them all on Instagram to make all my friends insta-jealous, but sometimes photos are better with #nofilter.

It's hard to think of a time before Instagram and photo filters existed; when people would simply point their cameras at a scene and click. I'm a firm believer in X Pro II and Valencia improving my selfies, but not all landscape photos need retouching. 

London City Airport and Monica Stott from The Travel Hack are currently running a campaign to show the real beauty of Dublin, behind all of those cleverly contrasted and adjusted brightness images. It's great to read other blogger's posts on this too, to find hidden gems in a city I love exploring.

Here's some of my favourite, unedited shots from my latest trip to the Irish capital:

No trip to Dublin is complete without a visit to Butler's Chocolate Cafe. That's all I'm saying, go seek it out for yourselves, you won't regret it. Promise.

There's an awful lot of beauty in Dublin, if you have been yourself - I would love to read your blog posts on your visit! x

Hand luggage essentials

I wouldn't categorise myself as a frequent flyer but I'm lucky enough to travel more than most. I'm no stranger to getting the travel bug and wanting to book a few days away from the rain and misery of the UK in winter! In 2014, I've visited some amazing cities this year (Milan, Prague and Berlin to name a few), and made some amazng memories in Ibiza and Gran Canaria over the summer.

I'm one of those strange people who LOVE packing. And when I say love, I mean LOVE packing. Give me a Mulberry travel wallet and an itinerary any day; I'll have my bags packed before you can tell me the airport we're flying from.

Okay, so I'll admit this picture was more of an Instagram overshare into my bag than actually showing the practicalities... but I was flying hand luggage only and wanted to make the most of my space ;)

The age old question of what to pack in your hand luggage remains, and despite a few seasonal variations (I like to squeeze a bikini in there for summer vacations in case my suitcase goes missing!), the same staples are always present when I'm zipping up that bag.

1.) Face wipes. These are essential... There's nothing better than taking off your makeup as soon as you're airborne to let your face breathe and stop the cabin pressure pushing make-up into your pores.

2.) Hand lotion. Personally I can't stand the air conditioning on board so I like to regularly slather this all over my hands and arms to keep myself moisturised!

3.) The largest bottle of water Boots will supply. I can't walk through an aiport departure lounge without popping into Boots and buying one or two or the litre bottles of Evian. Is it just me that gets really thirsty on board?

4.) A magazine. My attention span is short, so I need something to occupy me in between obligatory looking out of the window at take off and landing and munching on some overpriced snacks purchased from the air hostesses.

5.) Mini cosmetics. After removing your makeup and possibly napping during the flight, you're going to want to touch up your face upon arrival to ensure you look like Victoria Beckham landing in a new city! Remember all liquids need to be under 100ml to fly in your hand luggage, so buy a cheap plastic decanter set beforehand and save the misery of throwing away your new Chanel foundation at security! For tips on hand luggage allowances, check out Purple Parking's page here... trust me, it's useful!

6.) PASSPORT! Check, check and check again you have this before you leave. I find it best to invest in a travel wallet that will store your boarding passes, any tickets you need upon arrival, passport and money all in once place.

Models Own Pukka Purple

For any girl that works in an office or spends her days at the mercy of a keyboard, you'll be familiar with chipped nails and repainting two or three times a week. This is me, and every third night or so, I'll curl up into bed all ready to turn out the light, and then realise that my nails need a fresh lick of polish. I love Essie and Nails Inc for their pigmentation, as anything that speeds up the process (one coat that looks great?) is a winner with me. However, Models Own are my absolute go to brand for affordable polishes, and their extensive range of beautiful colours always manages to catch my eye when walking into Boots.

Pukka Purple is nothing new to the market, it's part of their neon collection that came out earlier this year. It's just a gorgeous, gorgeous colour, so I thought it was about time I grabbed the camera and wrote up a blog post on it. It dries matte, and you only really need one coat then a good top coat afterwards to keep your talons in check. I don't personally like the matte look, so I use a glossy top coat to make my nails patent again.

In general, Models Own is a brilliant brand, and ticks all the boxes of a drugstore brand that you need in your life. Affordable - check, Diverse range - check, pretty colours - check, good quality - check. A few other favourites that spring to mind are Utopia, Blueberry Muffin and Green Tea, so be sure to check those out too!

Do you own any Models Own polishes? Which is your fave? 

xxx

Summer nails!

Today the sun decided to peek out from behind those pesky dark grey clouds and put a smile on everyone's faces! For once it actually felt like May and not mid-winter. With summer well and truly on it's way, I'm in the middle of decluttering my wardrobe and eBaying gilets, heavy jackets and generally anything that I haven't worn in the last six months. Part of this summer overhaul includes my nails, and I'm keen to start wearing brighter and bolder colours to brighten up my days!

& Other Stories Twill Blue is a gorgeous royal blue shade, not dissimilar to Nails Inc Baker Street. Despite the formula not being amazing (we're talking chips on the second day), the colour is enough to make me love it and for £5 who's complaining? On the other hand, I have always found Jack Wills nail polishes to be amazing quality, and Butter Yellow is a beautiful bright and summery colour. I love how the two clash but "go" so well together, what do you think?

ONE COAT

TWO COATS

xxx

MAC Chatterbox Review

I've been a little under the weather this week and have had two days off work due to food poisoning :(. I'm finally starting to feel better (honestly, I thought I was on the verge of dying!) thanks to my boyfriend nursing me back to health (buying me Grazia and topping up my flask of very diluted Ribena) but sadly it meant I missed my usual "Tuesday Reviewsday" post this week. I didn't want to continue as if nothing had happened, so I've decided to write up a post on my favourite MAC lipstick; Chatterbox.

Chatterbox is a gorgeously pigmented bright pink shade, and is part of the Amplified creme range, which means it has fuller coverage than the cremesheen collection but is not as matte as the matte or glaze finishes. As the range name suggests, Chatterbox has a really creamy texture and doesn't dry out your lips at all. I find the colour lasts around 3 hours before you need to reapply, but as with every pigmented lipstick it does tend to stain your lips a little and doesn't completely fade away throughout the day if you don't have a chance to reapply.

Just like all the other MAC lipsticks, Chatterbox smells gorgeous! This little vanilla scented bullet is one of my favourite lipsticks, and retailing at £14.00 is perfect for those of you who want a higher end lipstick but don't have the disposable income right now to splash out on your YSL's and Lancome's.

If you are just getting started on wearing lipsticks, I would highly recommend watching this video by Lily Pebbles. It has some great tips for preparing your lips for lipsticks and provides a short guide on building up the right finish for you!

xxx

The Great Gatsby

I never thought I would see the day that I actually got excited about re-reading and going to watch a film adaptation of a book that bored me to death at school, and was the bane of my life during year 12. The Great Gatsby is one of the classics, a beautiful love story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, depicting love and the glamour of New York during prohibition, the jazz age and the roaring twenties.

If you haven't read the book but are thinking about going to watch the film, I would strongly, strongly suggest you give it a whirl first. It's very short; it only took me about four hours to read and it's most definitely worth it. The film very closely follows the book; most of the quotes are the same and I don't want to give anything away but the plot is almost identical and in the same order. So, if you have a bit of time on your hands, try it, it makes watching the film so much better when you see just how well Baz Luhrman has portrayed the glitz, glamour and relationship between Daisy and Gatsby.

I went to see the film in 2D, at the late showing on Friday night. As it is 2 and half hours long, I was getting sleepy half way in and despite loving every minute, my bed was calling. My boyfriend and I have decided to go and see it again in 3D tomorrow night... that's how much I loved it!

Oh and just as a final note, the music in the film is exceptional. My personal favourites were Lana Del Rey and Nero, but there are some brilliant pieces in there which really bring Gatsby's legendary parties to life.

Let me know if you have read / seen it also, I would love to hear your thoughts!! 

xxx

Nails on Sunday - Mint Green Confetti

Last Saturday I finally purchased L'Oreal's famous "Confetti" topcoat and a beautiful shale green colour from Topshop. Today's "Nails on Sunday" post combines both of these polishes, and is perfect for brightening up these overcast cloudy days with a bit of spring freshness.

I love both polishes very much, but when combined together I think they're gorgeous! Very unique yet "polished" - excuse the pun - and a wearable look for work, university etc.

What do you think?

xxx