A walk on the East Side!

I have always loved photography but ever since I got my DSLR two years ago my appreciation of photography grew into more of a personal hobby. I definitely do not claim to be a professional of any kind but I just really enjoy taking pictures! I have done a couple of photography workshops in the last year to try to learn some tricks of the trade, how to use my DSLR camera properly and also to get creative inspiration for simply taking better photos. I have to say that through photography I have learned to ‘open my eyes’ more when walking around and seeing the beauty in things, people and my surroundings. It can sometimes be as simple as just turning around to see what’s behind you because you could be missing the most beautiful or interesting photo opportunity!

There are so many different styles of photography but I have learned that I personally most enjoy taking photos of cities, streets, people, shops and my surroundings which means it’s more of a travel/documentary style. You’ve probably seen quite a few examples of these kind of photos in my holiday/travel photos which I have posted on this website. I also love taking portrait or casual photos of people. I get such joy from taking a beautiful picture of someone that for example usually hates themselves photos and I think a great photo can boost someone’s confidence and make them smile, which is such a lovely and free gift to provide to people! I like making people feel at ease and then trying to get a photo of them that’s not too posed but that shows a true smile or emotion.

This weekend I took part in a ‘Street Photography’ workshop in East London so I thought I’d show you a selection of my favourite photos I took that day. The course was all about ‘capturing’ the streets, the people and vibe and I feel these pictures definitely scream East London to me! So let’s take a walk on the East Side shall we?

I really enjoyed the course and am quite happy with the end result of my photos!

Life is like a camera.

Just focus on what's important, Capture the good times,

Develop from the negatives, and if things don't work out...

Just take another shot!

Happy Hump Day everyone :) xoxo

ZARA sales bargains!

It was a gorgeous sunny day in London on Saturday which meant shorts and singlet weather! I picked up this gorgeous emerald blue silk top in the ZARA sale a few weeks back so I thought I’d quickly show you a picture of my outfit of that day wearing my new top. This singlet was hiding in a jam-packed sales rack and I was stoked to find it was my perfect size and only £4!

Silk top: ZARA

Denim shorts: VERA MODA

Gold greek style sandals: ZARA

Gold and Turquoise earrings: H&M

Aviator sunglasses: RAYBAYS

Such a great colour!

I actually managed to control myself in the ZARA sale this year; the only other item I got was this silky black and white printed dress for onlu £16. It's perfect for work or going out for dinner or a few drinks on a weeknight.

Did you find any great bargains in the sales this summer? xoxo

Healthy Sun with UNE BB Cream Bronzer

We all want a bronzer that is going to give us a natural looking healthy holiday glow and recently I have been loving UNE's BB Cream bronzer to give me just that!

In June UNE released a new addition to their cosmetics foundations range in the form of a BB cream bronzer. Their Healthy-Sun BB cream bronzer is the first compact 'BB' bronzer on the market. For more information about BB creams and their benefits, you can read an older post about that here. 

The BB cream bronzer comes in a re-fillable compact and like other UNE products it has 100% natural ingredients and the packaging is made with recyclable materials. I also love that the front of the compact (after removing the top sticker) is a mirror!

The BB cream bronzer is available in 2 shades: Golden (S05) and Coppery (S07)

The BB cream bronzer has a unique cream-to-powder formula that is blend able, water-resistant and provides you with a long lasting, natural tan that is actually good for your skin!

Some of the ingredients that make this happen:
Organic Shea butter to nourish and hydrate the skin.
Organic beeswax which lends softness and glide to the formula.
Jojoba seed oil to protect the skin and to help it maintain its natural moisturisation.

The BB bronzer swatched (quite heavily) on my hand.

The BB cream is creamy yet non-oily and it just feels incredibly light and comfortable on my skin. It has such a soft texture which means you can easily apply it with your fingers; in warm touches on the cheeks, forehead, bridge of the nose and chin, for that 'after-a-stroll-on-the-beach-healthy glow"

However for an even more fully tanned look I love sweeping the BB cream bronzer all over my face and neck with my favourite Ecotools Kabuki brush (link)!

Other products used for this FOTD:

VICHY Dermablend Ultra-Corrective Stick (review here)

Estee Lauder Invisible Fluid Foundation (review here)

Topshop Neon Rose cream blush (link)

Estee Lauder Bronzed Dunes Eye Palette (review here)

Bourjois 3D Effet Lipgloss in Corail artistic (53) 

The UNE BB Cream Bronzer is available now at your local Boots or Superdrug for £14.49. What are you loving to give you that perfect summer bronzed glow at the moment?

VICHY Dermablend Ultra-Corrective Stick

One of the items that was in my June GlossyBox was a small starter kit for the VICHY Dermablend Ultra-Corrective Foundation Cream stick.  The handy little kit contained 6 sample shades so you could find out what shade would provide you with perfect coverage.

The VICHY Dermablend stick is marketed as a ‘corrective foundation’ to provide the most complete, natural looking coverage for face and body imperfections. It contains 40% pigment concentration which makes it ideal for camouflage of skin concerns such as dark circles, acne marks, scarring, bruising, redness and dark spots. It promises to be long lasting (up to eight hours) and it is fragrance-free, waterproof and smudge resistant.

I think this would be a great foundation for someone with problem skin or if you prefer quite heavy coverage to block out any redness or pigmentation on your face. However for my complexion it seemed a little too heavy and creamy to apply all over my face so I decided to start using it as a concealer instead. And boy am I glad I did, this immediately became my favourite concealer! After trying a few of the shades I found that Nude (14) and Light (13) were most suited for me as a concealer to cover under eyes dark circles, spots and pigmentation; which I (unfortunately) get a lot more of during summer time.

So once my sample kit started running low I decided to buy the full VICHY Dermablend Ultra-Corrective Foundation Cream stick in Nude. It retails for £19 which is a bit more expensive than my usual MAC Studio Finish concealer (£14.50) but the Vichy stick is 12grams in comparison to 7grams for the MAC one so it will last me a lot longer!

It retails for £19 which is a bit more expensive than my usual MAC Studio Finish concealer (£14.50) but the Vichy stick is 12grams in comparison to 7grams for the MAC one so it will last me a lot longer!

Swatched and below blended out on my hand...

I normally just glide the stick under my eye and dab it in gently with my finger (you should never rub too much on the delicate skin area under your eyes) plus I apply it to any other small spots I might have and around the side of my nostrils. I am really happy I found this product so this does show the benefit of beauty box subscriptions like GlossyBox because otherwise I probably would never have tried the VICHY Dermablend Ultra-Corrective Stick.

VICHY products are available online here or you can find it at your local Boots store or Boots.com.
If you want to try the sample kit first to play with the product and to find your perfect shade you can actually buy the little starter kit for £4.99 online, which I think is super handy! (link).

Have you ever tried any other VICHY products that you'd recommend?