5 Tips on Packing For Your Summer Holiday!

I can’t write the words ‘Summer Holiday’ without hearing my Dad singing along to Cliff Richard’s summertime hit, as I sat in the back of a people carrier as he drove my cousins and I to Disneyland Paris, every year. A lot has changed since then, and now that I’m an adult I apparently have to pack for myself and whilst I do go away for the odd weekend, I haven’t been away-away on a proper summer holiday for at least four years and I haven’t been seen on a beach, in a bikini for at least six years, so you understand my panic when my boyfriend invites me for 15 days away in the blissful sunshine of Mallorca, with nothing but hand luggage… 

Here’s what I’ve learned so far on my packing preambles.

1. ‘That’ plastic zip-lock bag.
   
   When you fly hand-luggage only, your friendly airport staff will provide you with a little plastic bag to deposit all your liquids* in.
   *Liquids here mean any creams, pastes or liquids (most make-up items) that must be less than 100ml and must collectively add up to less than 1 litre.
   Even though I don’t leave for another month, when I put my make up on every morning, I stare down in dismay and whittle my collection down in my head to ‘holiday must-haves’. Whilst I don’t want to overpack and be that girl, I’d like to be prepared for most situations.
   We’re flying with EasyJet and while most airlines only provide a 15x15cm plastic baggy - EasyJet go by a 20x20cm rule and my God, will I be glad of the extra room, I’m sure!
   
2. How much space?
   
   Again, when you fly hand-luggage only there are various requirements on the size of your carry on bags. Lucky for me, EasyJet allow two pieces of carry on luggage; one ‘carry on’ bag and one ‘personal bag’ - your ‘personal bag’ is considered to be a handbag, a laptop case etc and should be no bigger than 45x36x20cm (which has to be able to be placed under the seat in front of you) and your ‘carry on’ bag should be no bigger than 56x45x25cm; this piece of luggage is sized according to being able to fit in the overhead storage bins.
   Important as hell to Google your airlines allowances on cabin baggage before you fly - you don’t want to end up caught at the airport with too many bags.
   
   It’s the exact measurements of these bags that lead me onto my next tip…
   
3. Go smaller or solid…
   
   As I’m hoping the weather in Mallorca in the height of Summer will be aptly reflective of the season and be in the late twenties to early thirties (C) this means most of my clothing items will be substantially smaller than my usual attire (much to my panic)
   I’ve also cottoned on to the clever idea of ‘travel sizes/mini’s’ or swapping out products  that would usually be liquid into solids. I’m a panicker that liquids in my luggage mean leaking in my luggage, so now I solid where I can.
   Shampoo and Conditioner - don’t even worry. Lush have got the biggest range of solid haircare that you could possibly imagine so I’ve chosen Seanik and Jason & The Argan Oil for my shampoo options and Big for my conditioner choice.
   Sunscreen? Again, Lush has come to my rescue. I’ve chosen both Sunblock (a solid, in-shower sunscreen) and Powdered Sunshine (a translucent powder) for my trip and will pick up some lotion sunscreen whilst I’m there.
   Deodorants? I’m sure there’s a rule somewhere that you can’t take aerosols on planes, so I picked up a Dove Stick Deodorant; semi-waterproof and much smaller than a can! (Better for the environment too!)
   
4. Communicate!
   
   If you’re flying with someone, then perfect. Talk about who can take what; you both don’t need to take ALL of the toiletries under the sun. Also, if one of you has been there before (true in my case) talk about what is already at your destination; sunscreen, hairdryers, some toiletries, beach towels…
   The more items you can eradicate by communicating (a strange concept for humans, I know) the more space you’ll have in your carry on bag. Winner. 
5. IMPORTANT THINGS!
   
   Please, please, please find your passport and other important travel documents way in advance. Make sure everything is in-date and not about to expire any minute. If you need any Doctor’s notes for customs exemptions for whatever reason, get them sorted way in advance. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you this one - but the panicky person in me, is panicking for you. 

That’s just a select few of the many things running through my mind as I get ready for my trip. Hopefully you’re as prepared as I’d like to be.
Enjoy YOUR trip, I hope you fly safe and have an awesome time. 

(Pictures used in this post are from six years ago. Am well overdue a beach holiday.) 

Supercat Eyeliner Pen - Soap & Glory Review

I’m the girl in the winged eyeliner. I have been for as long as I can remember. I think I started really being committed to winged eyeliner in my first year of University, before that we’d just been on a few dates, but once I’d got the technique down I knew I was ready to commit to the long haul. 

Now, having said that, I’m ashamed to say I’ve never really branched out into the many ways of going about winged eyeliner. I’ve been partial to the 2True (Superdrug’s Own) black liquid eyeliner and after that was discontinued, I switched my allegiances to the Collection (previously Collection 2000) black liquid eyeliner and if I’m honest, which I’m going to be, they’re all pretty much of a muchness. Same-same. 

Up until recently, I’ve been in a fairly happy partnership with my liquid, winged out flick. However, there’s been some squabbling in the ranks and I’ve been watching ALOT of YouTube videos where people have been voicing their love for - hold onto your seats now - pen eyeliners. Like, no pot of paint to stick your brush in and flick on… All of the goodness is sealed up inside your pen and it just trickles out of the nib when you want it to…
This was all news to me. With this revelation in mind and a Boots Birthday Gift Card in hand, I trawled the stands for a pen-nibbed eyeliner that I might take a shine to. After reading reviews and having a good long peruse, I picked up the Soap & Glory Supercat Eyeliner Pen. 

And oh- Good God.
The ease of which this pen glides over your eyelid is insane. The colour payoff may be it’s only downfall, as it could have been more of an opaque black, but going over the product works just as well. There was no drag across the eye and my-oh-my the easiest, quickest flick I’ve ever encountered. 

Sometimes with pure liquids or gel eyeliners, I have to say to myself ‘Now stop, because it looks okay and trying to make it better will just make it worse…’ - that  couldn’t be further from the truth with this beauty! Top ups are easy and the product doesn’t flake away with layering - the flick is simple and the corner of my eye has never been easier. If you want no mess, no fuss, no retouching and above all a quick perfect cat-eye, then look no further. 

This is the story of a Supercat convert. Well done, Soap & Glory. Well done. 

Alice Through The Looking Glass - Urban Decay Palette

#UDThroughTheLookingGlass #UDInWonderland 

After the success of the first Disney & Urban Decay collaboration, it only seemed appropriate that for the release of the new Alice Through The Looking Glass movie, the two fell down the rabbit hole again and hand-in-hand created a brand new, limited edition palette. Packed full of twenty beautiful shades, the palette is a Tim Burton tribute to four of the characters from the new movie (Alice, Mad Hatter, Mirana, Iracebeth and Time) organised in columns to fully immerse yourself into a character - or, pick and choose your own combination. After all, “we’re all mad here…” 

The ‘Alice’ collection of four colours consists of three very wearable colours; light pink matte ‘Looking Glass’ to the slightly deeper shimmer brown of ‘Dormouse’ and one of my favourites ‘Reflection’ which is a warmer pink than ‘Looking Glass’ and also matte. The wildcard for the ‘Alice’ collection is the perfect blue of “Metamorphasis” - think Alice’s dress, but a slightly darker blue flecked with green and blue iridescent shimmer. So unbelievably pretty - I’m determined to find a way to pull this shade off and climb out of my comfort zone. 

“I know who I was when I got up this morning, but i must have changed several times since then…”

Speaking of the comfort zone, the four colours for the ‘Mad Hatter’ collection are the ones that I’ll find the most challenging to wear - although this is definitely a challenge I’m looking forward to.
‘Hatter’ is a pure, summer-grass Green - very reminiscent of Johnny Depp’s coloured contacts as The Mad Hatter in the movie. Of course, all of the ‘Mad Hatter’ shades are shimmery - it just wouldn’t be right other wise. ‘Gone Mad’ is a deep purple shadow with very light flecks of almost red and pink shimmer. ‘Paradox’ is the only shade I’ve worn and felt completely comfortable in out of this four-colour collection and is a warm, peachy pink shimmer that looks almost orange on the skin. Very pretty, and perfect for a sweep along the bottom lash line for added effect. ‘Cake’ is the last shade from ‘Mad Hatter’ and is almost Barbie fuchsia pink that will take a little encouragement for me to wear. 

Calling Lucy, and any other make-up artist friends I have, please can we find a time to sit down so you can show me the best way to use some of these amazing shadows?

“I’m not strange, weird, off, nor crazy. My reality is just different from yours…” 

‘Mirana’ features my most worn colours as they’re so easy for every day wear and not too far from that previously mentioned comfort zone. ‘Lily’ is an absolutely gorgeous opalescent shimmery colour with almost pink-lilac tones to it - I’ve been using this one in the corners of my eyes but this shade would also make an amazing highlight! ‘Duchess’ is a warm peach tone with a light shimmer to it; really lovely and similar to ‘Reflection’ from ‘Alice’ - slightly warmer in peachiness. ‘Kingdom’ is an amazing colour and is a perfect bronze. ‘Chessboard’ is probably my most used out of the whole palette so far, a nice warm brown; perfect for the crease or a nice dramatic sweep under the lower lash line. 

‘Iracebeth’ is quite similar to ‘Mad Hatter’ in terms of colour choices and features some of the best named colours. ‘Heads Will Roll’ - which I can’t say without hearing The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s in my head, is a wonderful turquoise with a light shimmer to it, ‘Bandersnatch’ - told you these names were good, is a much deeper blue than ‘Alice’s ‘Metamorphasis’ but beautiful none the less. ‘Salazen Grum’ is the shade that my eyes were first drawn to when I opened the palette - my brain said “Yes, that is the shade I want to figure out how to wear!” which is a dusky rose - red wine sort of shimmer colour. ‘Royal Flush’ is actually one of my absolute favourites from the palette so far; very light pink and similar to ‘Lily’ but this shade has a much more baby-pink toned shimmer to it, making ‘Lily’ the better shade for highlighting, but ‘Royal Flush’ perfect otherwise. 

Lastly, we have the ‘Time’ collection; definitely the part of the palette that features the darkest colours - make of that what you will. The shade ‘Time’ itself is a beautiful dark blue shade that makes me want to swim in it, with a light shimmer of pink and blue to it. ‘Dream On’ is a heavy-shimmer shade which actually has very light colour payoff which works as there are many other shades that have the darkness you might be looking for. A gunmetal shimmer. What more could a girl want? ‘Chronosphere’ is a lovely dark brown with dark brown shimmer running through, and then last but by no means least is ‘Mirror’ the shade to pair with ‘Dream On’ for all your gunmetal shimmery needs. The shimmer is much lighter in ‘Mirror’ but the colour pigmentation is heavier and it almost has a mauve-lilac tint to it’s predominant gunmetal shade. 

“Didn’t they tell us, don’t rush into things? Didn't you flash your green eyes at me? Didn’t you calm my fears with a Cheshire cat smile? Didn’t it all seem new and exciting, I felt your arms twisting around me - it’s all fun and games till someone loses their mind…” 

As if we needed confirmation that the colours were beautiful; how could they not be when they’re wrapped up inside such amazing packaging? The palette is quite heavy in your hand, which I love, as it feels special and important and so far from the make up that you don't mind rolling around at the bottom of your bag. This palette is my first Urban Decay palette and I couldn’t be happier with it - the brush is great, one end with a shorter bristle and the other end featuring quite long, tapered bristles which are almost paintbrush like. It really completes the image of opening up a box of magic and creating something special and daydreamy on your face. It's almost a right-of-passage feeling, when a girl like me gets their first 'real' make up palette - I'm so glad it was this one. 

My favourite combination of colours at the moment, is; ‘Chessboard’, ‘Reflection’, ‘Royal Flush’ and ‘Duchess’. 

So much time and effort has clearly gone into the design and presentation of this palette - it’s everything an Alice in Wonderland companion should be; heavily detailed, magical and inspiring. 

Thank you so much Sam & Lucy for the gift; you shouldn’t have (but I’m glad you did). 

Alice Through The Looking Glass came out in the UK in early May, so if it’s still around go take a peek. It features Alice, as we know and love, but now returned from her sailing of the seas far and wide - she finds a looking glass and slips back into Underland where the Mad Hatter is seeming madder than usual…

"And in the end, in Wonderland we both went mad..."