Brighton The Great Escape Festival

 Today I was lucky enough to hit the road to Brighton for The Great Escape Festival! I headed down with Sion Russell Jones who played The Loft on Friday's line up. As usual Sion killed it! Our friend Adam Burridge came down to see his set which was lovely. Adam's playing at the festival on Saturday so be sure to see his set! One band I was really pleased to catch live was Nihils, an Indie Pop band from Austria! Their hits are so catchy and I love nothing more than an indie band that throws in a little piano! I will most definitely be buying their album! 

The weather wasn't particularly great so I wore my leather jacket and decided to go girly punk rock to Brighton! The fashion trend in Brighton is very indie, it's quite overwhelming but I like to be a bit different and stand out. One thing I know the beauty bloggers would LOVE about Brighton is the shops down the side streets! They're filled with the best beauty and makeup stores like Kiehl's, MAC, Jo Malone etc. There's a lot of cute home stores and vintage clothing stores too, it's a shoppers paradise! I don't know why but the town had a surreal French vibe to it with its narrow lanes with people dining all over, felt like I was on holiday for the most part! I would definitely recommend a trip to Brighton in the summer if you're ever looking for somewhere to go! 

Make sure you check out: 

Sion Russell Jones

Adam Burridge

Nihils

                                               

Jennaay The Pulse of Fashion                     Sion Russell Jones Music

DIY HOT PANTS / TOPSHOP LILAC HOT PANTS

Top: Zara.com

Belt: Topshop.com

Hot Pants: DIY

Jellies: JUJUJellies.com

We all know how easy it is to stroll into Topshop and impulsively buy something 'just cause' without a second thought to the price of the garment but last time I dropped in I thought enough is enough!! No way was I going to part with £28 for some lilac dyed hot pants that I could easily make from a pair of Dad's ol jeans! And that's exactly what I did, now I'm going to tell you how to do this yourself!

• Firstly, go grab yourself some of ASDA's mens jeans for £5. The design of the crotch on these particular jeans are perfect as they have a long zip allowing you to wear them high waisted. Remember that the size you're looking to buy is of your waist and not your hips! 
• Secondly, buy a good 500ml of bleach, you'll need this to lift the colour of the jeans from that yucky navy to a fresh sky blue. 
• Lastly, choose one of Dylon's fabric dyes, for mine I used Instense Violet costing me a whooping £3.29. Whilst you're in ASDA don't forget to pick up some salt as you'll need it for the colour to grab! 

With regards to bleaching and dying, make sure you do both in warm water, wash immediately after bleaching and dying and wear gloves!! It's to your discretion when you think they're light enough and take to the colour you want! All in all this cost me £10, meaning I could make three pairs of these before hitting Topshop's selling price! I understand that their price does consider how long it takes someone to make them etc but it's most definitely worth investing your time to make your own personalised hot pants, nobody will have a pair like them! I customised mine by sewing on some pastel coloured love hearts and triangular studs in between. I picked both of these up from Hobbycraft.

So, what do you think? Worth the investment or a waste of time?! 

                                               

Jennaay The Pulse of Fashion                     Sion Russell Jones Music

JAIME KING / MET BALL / HART OF DIXIE

Dress from NORDSTORM

DRESS FROM DAVID PECK

 DRESS FROM NANETTE LEPORE

Can we just take a moment to appreciate Jaime King here. I've loved Jaime King for years for her modelling inspiration and amazing acting! Jaime looked absolutely flawless at the Met Ball earlier this week wearing a Topshop satin suit, how awesome! Since Jaime's been the main star on Hart of Dixie I've paid close attention to the model/actress. It's jogged my memory of her starring in season 2 of The O.C. when Seth goes to Spring Break and quirts cream all over her in a contest! She's also starred in one of my favourite bands video; Incubus Wish You Were Here and Lana Del Ray's Summertime Sadness (see above).

Every time I see a photograph of Jaime my heart skips a beat because she's so fresh and stylish! Jaime is the most alternative style setter I've discovered, she's been styled punk to preppy to elegant. She is a true style setter! Jaime was spotted and moved to New York when she was just 15 to model and she had been featured in the fashion magazines Vogue, Mademoiselle, Allure, and Seventeen. At 16 Jaime also graced the pages of Glamour and Harper's Bazaar just to name a few!!! 

Whilst living in New York Jaime went through a lonely spell and suffered an addiction to heroine, she tragically lost her boyfriend Davids Sorrenti to heroine. Shortly after David's death Jaime went to rehab to become sober when she was 19. Jaime is a true inspiration to those who want to turn their lives around, she's now married and expecting her first child with Director Kyle Newman at the age of 34. 

Jaime's best performance for me is Lemon Breeland in Hart of Dixie. She plays a highly strung young woman dedicated to what she wants but is sweet and charming disposition at the same time! Jaime is perfect for this part and has an amazing wardrobe to match! I've shown some of my favourite dresses from the season and have showcased the links to the dresses (see above)! 

                                               

Jennaay The Pulse of Fashion                     Sion Russell Jones Music

CORALISTA VS BELLA BAMBA

CORALISTA                                   BELLA BAMBA

Earlier this week I spoiled myself and bought two Benefit blushers!! I've been wearing Coralista for a number of years now, I find it blends well with my complexion for a natural radiant look. Its coral base really helps to create a fresh look and works great with Coralista's Benefit's Ultra Plush Lipgloss! I'm really impressed with Benefit's blushers, I guess that's why I've never changed my blush for years!! The thing I love most about Coralista and Bella Bamba is they're both shimmery textures, in the light they show a subtle frost which help define your bone cheeks! Oh, and packaging is TO DIE FOR! It really catches my eye with its popping colour and it's easily accessible yet sturdy enough not to break if you drop it!

When I went to Benefit the other day it was really hard to choose a different blusher to try, there's so many!!  I guess if you're stuck a good one to try would either be Hervana or Sugarbomb as they have a combination of blushers in one! After a real hard look I decided to try Bella Bamba which is a lot stronger pigment than I would usually go for.. it's their first ever 3D blush which helps to sculpt and highlight! It's a lot more daring than Coralista but I love it due to its shimmery gold undertones and I can confidently rock this look on nights out and know it'll still be prominent on my cheeks by the end of the night!  

A great tip I've learned with this perfect combo is if you mix some of the powder in with the lipgloss on your hand and then apply it adds a lot more pigment and looks delightful! Make sure to use a cotton bud or something similar to prevent the lipgloss and powder getting mixed up as it can get messy if you're not careful!

Another tip for you, if you choose to try Coralista and Bella Bamba you'll notice that the brushes are different, Bella Bamba is the first to have the new creation of brush that has curved edges and softer bristles to allow different applications of the blush! Use the curved part of the brush for a more delicate look and the middle of the brush for a more define, strong look.

You can buy Benefit's Blusher for £23.50 and their new Ultra Plush Glipglosses for £14.50.

                                               

Jennaay The Pulse of Fashion                     Sion Russell Jones Music

DR MARTENS KILLSWITCH ENGAGE

This week I thought I'd tell you ALL about Dr Martens! I'm a huge lover of Dr Martens, mostly because they're so bold and daring to wear, they're a clear statement of style (especially the bright ones) and as you know, I love to be different! Only problem I face is to own a pair it comes at the expense of my purse!

I find Dr Martens very painful to begin with but the pain is worth it because once you wear them in they literally become your comfiest shoes in the world! They're super durable, I wore my lilac Docs in the snow last winter and they're still perfect! Docs aren't just for Christmas kids, they're for life! 

I really wanted a red pair of Docs to match my hair but you've got to be very careful not to look too clown-like with Docs, it's very easy to get it all wrong and end up looking too masculine or stoopid! When I style my Docs I tend to wear girly outfits to lighten the shoes heavyness. A great thing about the style of Docs is that they're so big compared to your normal pumps that it gives the illusion of you being slimmer! 

Like anything you can buy Dr Martens shoes online, the cheapest places I've found for these particular shoes is Ebay and Cloggs. It's always worth a shop around different websites for Docs as you can get them a lot cheaper than in store! The next ones I got my eyes on are the shimmer dark purple boots, they're so pretty!! I have to have them! I always find it worth waiting for a discount code for Cloggs online to purchase them too! 

Oh and if you're an oldschool fan of Killswitch Engage like I am, you'll be keen to know that they're doing a signing at Cardiff's Dr Martens store TOMORROW, YES THAT'S RIGHT!!! So get on down there!!!!!!!!

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CARDIFF BLOGGER MEET / ST DAVIDS FASHION SHOW

If every weekend was like this weekend I'd be one happy lady! On Friday as you know I attended the Benefit Boutique Event in Swansea and on Saturday I attended the South Wales Bloggers Meet! Unfortunately I had to miss the St David's Fashion Show as I had a wedding to attend in Ross on Wye but you can see the video log here that the lovely Laura made:

As the weather was on our side on Saturday I wore a loud and fun outfit to the meet. Standard.

Sunglasses: HM.com

Shirt: Primark

Skirt: Topshop.com

Vans: Schuh.com

Blogger events are such a great opportunity to meet other bloggers and learn lots, I was really excited to see Karen from MissionStyleUK, I met Karen back at a Bristol blogger event few months back and we've stayed in touch! I'm so blessed to be involved with the blogger world, you can make friends for life and learn more about yourself than you thought possible! You can find Karen's blog post on the event here.

Karen, myself & Nia

I met Nia for the first time on Saturday and found out she's a translator, to be able to translate from one language to another on the spot is an absolute crazy amazing talent!!! You can see Nia's blog post on the bloggers event here.

The blogger event couldn't be complete without my bestie Betti Baudelaire!! Betti was the one who started my obsession with blogging last year and I've never looked back! I really enjoyed introducing her to everyone at the event, she's a true inspiration! 

I managed to book the Brewhouse in Cardiff for the event and used my charm to get us all 241 on cocktails, wine and pizza and boy did they go down a treat! Laura kindly made us all cupcakes as well and they were gorge! 

I was super surprised when we were handed our goodiebags thanks to the lovely Georgina, Laura and Leanne! We also had goodies and a demonstration from Naomi at Lush which was very interesting! I love the fact that all their products are handmade and you can tell it's with love! They're opening spa's all over the country in the next few years, I can't wait til there's one near me!! Will be amazing, like no other I bet! 

My favourite item in the goodiebag had to be this yummy lipgloss from Thomas Sabo! It smells like grapefruit and feels really nice on, lasts for ages too! You can find the Thomas Sabo lipgloss here.

 Here's all the items we had in the goodiebag! Big thanks to Benefit, Birchbox and Crabtree and Evelyn for the hand massages! I hope everyone likes their cross earrings that I made for everyone's goodiebags too!
 
Goodiebag

To end the day, I sneaked off quickly to Dr Martens to say hello to my good friend Sarah who works there and she offered me 65% off ANY pair of shoes I wanted in the store!! I was gobsmacked, I instantly picked up these lush pair of bright pink shoes! They were £90 and I had them for £28! Amazing!

It was great to catch up with everyone and put some names to faces, lush to see the girls from CSIBeautyBlog; the winners of my Sphere of Life Giveaway! 

For all you Cardiff bloggers, please check out Sion Russell Jones, one of our wonderful Welshy talents!

 

Til next time!

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BENEFIT BOUTIQUE SWANSEA EVENT

Hello lovelies! Wow, what a day! I've been away from home all week with Government training but luckily I managed to finish a wee bit early today to make the Benefit Boutique Opening Event in Swansea! 

Lets talk fashion first; Earlier this week I found a "spend £15 get £10 off Next" vouchers so I put it to good use and bought these amazing trousers! They were reduced from £45 to £15 and then I got them delivered to the store costing me a whooping £5!!! What a bargain!! I'm pretty jammy as a rule but I've outdone myself with this one!! Here's what I wore to the Benefit Event.

I must say the best events I've been to have been Benefit! The women who run the events are so so lovely and full of valuable information on makeup! When we arrived at the boutique we were in a cute convention room which can be used by anyone (yes yes YOU) for makeup tutorial parties and events at £10pp! You get spent that £10 on a product of your choice too! We were offered glittery Welsh cakes to nibble on and got to try out the brand new Ultra Plush Lip Glosses! I'm definitely going to get my hands on one of those, they smell amazing and feel great one - the three below were my favourite shades :)

Believe it or not my whole day to day makeup bag is now Benefit! Can you believe that?! From my foundation to blusher to mascara and now my eyebrows too since we were incredibly lucky to take home Brow Zings!! I was overwhelmed once more by Benefits generosity as we took home 'They're Real' and 'The Porefessional' amazing!

If you're as big of a fan of Benefit as I am I would definitely recommend that you head down to the new Boutique in Swansea which has a professional brow section, all body waxing and fake bake tanning! It's so pretty and the women there know their stuff! I think it's good sometimes to pay a little extra and have those kinds of things done professionally than try to do them at home as it can go so so wrong and put you off for life!! You'll be in safe hands with Benefit and best thing about it all, the wax is a shimmery blue colour!! WHAAAAT! See the list of what the Boutique has to offer HERE.

I would like to give a big big thanks to the Benefit Digital Team for inviting me, also much love to Jo & Alyson for hosting the event!

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