11 Things about me- The Travel Tag

Well its been a while hasn't it.....

After a few tough months I had a bit of a blogging break but I am back writing away, I have lots of posts planned, some quite personal, some just my usual rambles, but usual and regular posts will soon commence....

So one of my bestie's Sam at Coco Butter Blog has tagged me in her 11 Things you didn't know about me- The Travel Tag and well one of my favourite things is travelling to new places and going on new adventures so it seemed like the perfect welcome back post.


1. What’s the best place you’ve ever been to?
First question and I am already struggling, I am very fortunate I have been to some amazing places throughout my life, but  a recent trip to Disney Land Paris with my sister  holds some very special memories, we had an amazing time together and its such a magical place so that is one of my favourites, I also had an amazing time in Las Vegas with my family and my Dad lives in Dubai and I love it there.....okay so I have majority cheated here, I just can't choose. 

2. Do you prefer going abroad or a staycation?
I love visiting places within the UK as there are some great cities to explore, London, Edinburgh and York being my particular places, but I do prefer going abroad, there is just so much of the world I want to see so I love travelling to new countries and experiencing a whole new place. 

3. What are your fashion holiday essentials?
A black maxi dress....great for day and night so I always take this essential with me. 

4. Who’s your favourite person to go travelling with?
I love family holidays and most of my holiday memories include my sister Laura.....we have so many travel plans together so it has to be her. 

5. What’s your favourite holiday memory?
When we were younger we always used to go on family holidays with my cousins, we didn't grow up living close by one another so these holidays were always a great time to spend time together and I have such amazing memories. One of my personal favourites was when we were in Majorca at a seafood restaurant whilst someone was picking a lobster out of the tank (this always horrified me a little bit) but the lobster got selected and rather than accepting his fate he bit the waiter, who dropped him and the lobster escaped back into the sea......the whole restaurant was clapping and cheering, that memory has always stayed with me. 

6. If you could only go on holiday to one place for the rest of your life, where would you choose?
As long as my dad still lived there I would go to Dubai, its the perfect combination of a city break with shopping and sightseeing but its also got fantastic weather and beautiful beaches....what more could you want. 

7. Is there anywhere you’d avoid going?
I am not sure really, there is no where really I would want to avoid, I suppose I am not a huge fan of roughing it so to speak so as long as I can stay in a hotel I am a happy girl.

8. Where was your first holiday?
I think my first holiday was greece but I don't remember it, the first one I remember is Majorca. 

9. Do you prefer relaxing or doing things on holiday?
Again I can't pick just one so I like a combination of relaxation and exploring. However I can't sit still relaxing I need a good book or some music to keep me occupied. 

10. What are your beach bag essentials?
As I mentioned above I like to have a good book to keep me occupied or some music to listen to, in addition to that I need some lip balm because my lips get so dry, sun cream for my very pale skin and my ray bans.

11. Where are you travelling to next?
I have a few holidays coming up in the next few months such a jet setter, I am off to Durham with the girls for a long weekend, which will be a nice relaxing few days away from home, I also have a long weekend in Ibiza booked with one of my friends, it was a spur of the moment booking in a moment of madness and I can't wait and finally I am going to Dubai to visit my dad later on in the weekend.

So there you go you now know 11 things about me and my travels I hope you have enjoyed this post and I shall be posting again very soon. Have a great weekend. 

Princesses and pretty things

I hope you are having a lovely week. I am just loveling the spring evenings it's so nice that the nights are staying so light at the moment, makes me much more productive. 

My sister and I are going to Disneyland Paris in about 6 weeks, so the count down is really on. Growing up we were both disney princess fanatics, who loved singing along to any disney film. After a tough few months we decided we needed a trip together so we are going for five days to 'the happiest place on earth' with a day trip to Paris squeezed in,  we have treated ourselves and have decided to stay in the main disney hotel, somewhere I have always dreamed of staying, so I really cannot wait. 

Sticking with the Disney theme, Jimmy Choo have realised thier very own glass slipper shoes, inspired by the new Cinderella movie, if you haven't seen it yet, go it's so magical and really took me back to my childhood. I think these shoes would go perfectly in my walk in wardrobe, but I am not sure how my bank balance would feel about it. 

I got a brand new IPhone 6 this week, of course I had to have the pretty gold one. It's seems very much like my IPhone 5 but I do prefer the bigger screen and the camera is much better, I will keep having a play around. 

I have far too many of these shabby chic drink me paper straws dotted around the house, and this pretty little jar is the perfect little place for some of them. I just think every drink looks better with a pink pinstripe straw. 

I was so proud of myself this week, I put up my vintage inspired door knobs from Dubelm all myself. I gave up waiting for Gary to do it so I whipped out his tools and did it myself. I am impressed with how good they look, I just need some pretty things to hang on them....good excuse to buy more things I think. 

Happy Easter

Happy Easter beautiful readers, I love Easter and spring time, the pastel colours, beautiful spring time blooms and all the chocolate....any day that promotes the eating of chocolate all day is a good day in my dairy. 

I thought I would share with some of Easter snaps. 

I have been making chocolate filled hampers for my family this Easter. The shabby chic baskets are from Home bargains. I picked up the chocolate gradually from a few supermarkets when I saw things were on offer, I have been super organised this year. 

Any excuse for milk and cookies, I would like to say I made this cute little bunny cookies but that would be a lie. 

I picked up this adorable little chick shaped mug from Sainsbury's, I love it so much it's so cutee. 

I have been filling up for hot cross buns for breakfast, what better way to start the day. 

These lavender filled hares are from Clarabelle Interiors are beautifully handmade and are giving my living room a little spring time spruce. 

My flower obsession is getting out of hand, my home is filled with lots of 

beautiful blooms, but they look pretty and smell nice so that's ok..right? 

Well that's it from me lovelies, I hope you all have a lovely Easter and eat lots of chocolate, one day off healthy eating is acceptable. 

A little Boots haul

So I had one of those shopping trips, that was never meant to be a shopping trip. I had planned to go into town purely to go to the bank. All of a sudden I found myself in the make up aisle in boots and things just seemed to magically appear in my basket. Has this ever happened to you? 

In my defence I hadn't been make up shopping in a very long time so a little splurge now and again is acceptable. I may have also made a sneaky little Mac order too, but we will talk about that about her day. Want to see what I bought? 

When Real Techniques announced their new brush range this contour brush caught my eye instantly. I love a strong contour and this flat top brush looked like the perfect tool to help create a good contour. It's a very similar shape to the Nars contour brush which has been very hyped up in blogger world. I tried this brush last night and I happy to say it lived  up to it's expectations, it created a strong defined contour on the cheek and really worked my bronzer into the gallows of my cheek. I think this may be my new favourite brush. 

Then I picked up this 'kick ass' instant retouch powder from Soap and Glory for £12. I have a confession to make I have never bought any make up from soap and glory, I have always loved the shower gels ect, but I just haven't sampled any of the cosmetics, so this is my first. This yellow based finishing powder was on my list to try because I had seen a few bloggers made comparisons between this and the Ben Nye powder Kim K is famous for using, and this was is a fraction of the price. I love a good highlight so I am looking forward to see if this is any good and at locking my highlighter in place. 

Next up I bought a few lip bits from Rimmel. I have always been a pink, nude lip kind of gal, but then Kylie Jenner changed all that, ok forget the size of her lips and lets concentrate on the brown nude lip colour, oh it's so pretty. So I was on the hunt for some products to recreate this look. So I picked up this lasting finish lipstick for £4.99 (bargain) in coffee shimmer, it's a warm neutral brown shade, that has a hint of shimmer, I love this shade and can't wait to wear it. I also picked up two lip pencils, first is from the exaggerated lip range in the shade obsession for £3.99 and then I picked up the lasting finish, 1000 kisses liner in tiramisu, for £2.99. Obsession is a deep muted red berry shade and tiramisu is a dark brown nude with pink tones. I can't wait to try both of these. 

I also picked up a Rimmel natural bronzer for £5.99 in shade 22 sun bronze. I have had a few of these in the past and think it's a great matte bronzer for an everyday glow. 

Finally a collection lasting finish concealer made it in to my basket. If you haven't hear of this concealer, where have you been hiding may I ask? This concealer is amazing for covering blemishes and imperfections and it's so cheap, every blogger and their blog has raved about this little beauty and for £2.99 can you blame them? 

So that's everything I picked up, I can't wait to start trying them all. Thanks for reading. 

Dreaming of

So its another cold night, I am wrapped on the sofa in some fleecy pjs, wrapped up my favourite faux fur blanket and sipping on hot chocolate and it seems like the perfect oppertunity to get back to some blogging.

My thoughts are still a little bit all over the place, my mind wanders and  I day dream more often then usual and that is saying something, which brings me onto this post.....a little wish list for you all, here are some of the pretty things I like to purchase and with pay day around the corner I have a feeling someone of these little things may mysteriously get delievered to my door, but time will tell.

So lets have a cheeky look then....

Dreaming of by emma-louise1402 featuring a peony candle

1. Stereotypical blogger- there has to be a candle on my wish list and I have been lusting after one of these pretty, sweet smelling Jo Malone candles for so long, not sure how much longer I can resist.

2. The whole world of beauty bloggers are raving about the Real Techniques bold metals, as a proud owner of almost the whole range of Real Technique brushes, I have a real urge to try these in particular the contour brush.

3. You can never have too much neutral eye shadows and this little palette looks like the perfect combination of everyday shadows.

4. I love a good bubble bath, and when it comes to a good relaxing bubble bath you don't get better than a Lush bubble bar and this little heart from the Valentines collection is so cute.

5. I definitely don't need another bag, but can you ever have too many? Yes Emma you can....still have a bad feeling I will sporting this tan satchel bag pretty soon. Stay tuned.

6. Thanks to every YouTuber including this little 'Dip Brow' pot from Anastasia Beverly Hills I have now convinced myself I need this product to help me on my never ending quest to perfect my brows, I promise as soon as I successfully make them look perfectly symmetrical  I shall let you know.

7. Thanks to Kylie Jenner we all want dark lips and Velvet teddy lipstick by Mac is currently top of my list to help me achieve this natural dark lip.

8. Finally we come to Nar's radiant creamy concealer, this is down to one of my favourite youtubers, Nicole Guerriero, she uses this concealer along with Mac light boost to highlight under the eyes. As a girl who loves to highlight and contour ala Kimmy K I would love to try this little product and see if it lives up to the hype.

So thats it from me tonight, I hope you have enjoyed this little wish list. I shall be back soon with more ramblings.

What's in my August make up bag

I am feeling the need to write some beauty babble, it's been far too long since I swooned over lipstick and rambled about blush. 

So today I thought I would share with you what's currently in my little on the go make up bag. 

Now you will notice there is no lipstick in this bag....I am going to have to come clean! I have a separate lip product 'on the go' bag so now you know, I am crazy lipstick lady. So that will be my next post. 

So enough chit chat, I know you what to see what's inside. 

Lets take a closer look. 

First inside my bag of tricks is my baby skin instant pore eraser from Maybeline. This is a lovely little silicone based product that minimises pores and primes the skin ready for a full face of make up. You only need a very thin layer of this gel to get the right results. I have to admit I prefer Porefessional from benefit, but this cutely packaged version from Maybeline is much more affordable, so until I can justify repurchasing porefessional, baby skin will do nicely. 

I am really enjoying the bronzing primer from Bourjois it's a great product to give you skin a bronzed glow, it can be used under foundation but I personally like to use this for a subtle contour as it gives you a very natural bronzed finish. It also smells like chocolate so no complaints from me. 

If your a regular reader here at Emma Louise Dreams you are probably well aware I adore Maybeline the falsies mascara, I have tried so many others but no other mascara gives my lashes the volume like this little beauty. I think it will forever more be part of my make up collection. 

Then there is Mac prep and prime in light boast, this a fantastic product for highlighting the face, a la Kim Kardashian. This one of my few holy grail products in my collection, I hate applying a full face without this product. 

Healthy balance radiance powder from Bourjois is my current favourite finishing powder, it gives you a natural radiant finish but still eliminates any shine with great lasting power. I love the size too, you get a good amount of product and a very good sized compact mirror. 

Another Mac product hidden in here is my mineralise skin finish in soft and gentle, this gives the skin a beautiful golden glow and highlight. I like to use this on my cheek bones, above the Cupid bow and for under brow highlight. It's such a beautiful shimmery shade it's perfect for a full glam look. 

Then for my eye shadow I have been enjoying these golds and bronze shimmering shades from the Ri Ri Mac quad, this was limited edition so I am not sure if this is still available. I have loved using mixing these shades for a bronzed smoked eye recently. 

The little blush pot in rose tea is the perfect plum rose shade that gives your cheeks the perfect rosey matte finish. 

Finally I have rediscovered an old favourite in my Mac studio fix fluid. I used to be obsessed with this foundation a few years ago, but swapped this formula for lighter coverage foundations. However I have fallen back in love with this, mainly thanks to its amazing lasting power, it really does stay put all day and it's been my go to foundation this month, I used this when I was a bridesmaid last week and it was the perfect all day coverage for a warm summers day. 

So I think that's everything that's made it in to my make up bag this month, stayed tuned for the lipstick edition coming next.

Hope your all having a fun filler weekend. 

Bridesmaid duties- My best friends Hen do

I have not been the only ‘blushing bride’ this summer, my best friend Samantha is also tying the knot, not only that we are both each other’s bridesmaid.  It’s been amazing sharing the wedding planning experience with someone else I am so close too, we have helped each other out with hints and tips as well as understanding the stress the other person is going through, while others may have thought we had gone bridezilla, we both understood the stress of running out of ribbon at that crucial moment, chasing up RSVP’s because the venue need to know your final meal choices and don’t even get me started on the table plan!

Now that my big day has passed, it’s is now time for me to focus on my bridesmaid duties. Last weekend it was Sam’s Hen party and I got my creative head on and filled the wedding planning hole with planning a few bits and bobs for the hen party.

Sam’s instructions were ‘nothing trashy’ so I knew from the start any inflatables, head gear or wings were completely out of the question.

Sam is probably the only person I know who is more girly than me, she loves anything sparkly, flowery or pink so I decided to go down this route. 

I searched high and low for ‘Classy Hen do’ accessories which is when I came across Danni_Humber on Instagram she has a beautiful vintage wedding supply shop on Etsy, its filled with beautiful vintage style one of a kind wedding pieces, (I really wish I had found this shop before our wedding, however I may have spent a small fortune). This is when I came across her vintage, shabby chic style 'bride to be' accessories and I knew straight away I needed to get these for Sam’s hen party.

The beautifully package gift set arrived very quickly and I was so impressed by the quality and finish. Inside there was a pastel pink ‘Bride to be’ Wand, ‘Bride to be’ rosette and finally a very cute L Plate, nothing trashy here.

I then decided to make some ‘Hen party Survival bags’ for the all the hen’s. Inside the little pink pin striped bags were all the essentials for a night out and the morning after, including sweets, plasters, Hair ties, tissues and a cute candy striped straw, so no one ruined their lipstick.

I hold my hands up I am a total perfectionist and I always try and think of little bits and bobs to make things extra special, so I loved putting the bags together and finding ‘Bride to be’ accessories and it was lot of fun getting my creative head back on and fill my wedding planning hole, if you haven’t noticed I loved planning my wedding (well 99% of the time) so it’s lovely being a part of someone else’s big day. 

We had a great night out for Sam's hen do. We have a lovely meal at Jamie's Italian, I particularly enjoyed the 'posh chips', chips in truffle oil and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. 

It was lovely have a chance sit down with all the girls and we chatted excitedly about Sam's wedding, I also put together (with the help of her husband to be) a how well do you know the groom quiz, which had us all in giggles. 

Then we heading to some bars where the bride drank too much and we all danced so much that we went home with aching feet, a sign of a good night I think.

 

Isn't she a beautiful bride to be!!