IN PHOTOGRAPHS | A WEEKEND IN LONDON

London is my favourite place in the world, and somewhere I was lucky enough to call home for a few years. Nothing sets my heart on fire like the beautiful city streets, the architecture, the sense of adventure that came with every morning, the anticipation of what was to come. All the different people, the hustle and bustle of the underground, the incredibly diverse array of food, drink, places to go and things to do. I loved people watching, running to catch the tube, sitting in a beer garden or taking myself on a little day out. One of my favourite things was taking a stroll to Greenwich Park, just 10 minutes from my flat. Or catching the bus to the O2 and treating myself to lunch. I’ve a very complicated relationship with my former home; I’m constantly toing and froing within my own mind about moving back there – about what it would cost and what it would mean – in the bigger sense of the word. So, to be honest, I try to push it to the back of my mind. For now, my priorities are elsewhere. And while I always like to think that someday I’ll win the lottery and buy a home in South East London, for the time being, all I can do is visit and admire my city from afar.

Back in April, I visited for the weekend with my family and had a fantastic time. We stayed in an old converted Victorian house in Knightsbridge where the photo opportunities are on every street corner. We enjoyed a lunch of Spanish tapas and my first ever visit to the incredible V&A Museum. We followed this with an amazing evening at Proud Cabaret on Embankment – a five course meal and drinks, served with a backdrop of the most spectacular burlesque, circus and dance performances (something I never thought would be my thing, but I had one of the most incredible evenings of my life!). We then followed up with a walk around Central London, a picnic lunch in Trafalgar Square, and finishing up in Soho before heading home to Bristol. Of course I roped my sister into taking some outfit photos for me too! I had such a memorable and special weekend, and took the opportunity to snap as many photos as I could. What I love about London is that it really speaks for itself in all its majesty. I hope you like my photos from my fabulous weekend in the most fantastic city on earth. 

THE ORDINARY COVERAGE FOUNDATION | REVIEW + SWATCHES (1.2N)

If you’re like me, you’ve got two very defined stashes of makeup. One stash is comprised of exquisitely packaged, masterfully formulated and, not to mention, extortionately priced products. These are the products we save for special occasions; my face of makeup for my graduation, family members’ weddings, date nights and Christmas Days must’ve been worth an absolute fortune. Between my lavish and treasured collection of NARS, Charlotte Tilbury and Fenty Beauty, I dread to think what I must have spent over the years. The other is our everyday collection; the Monday to Friday in the office, the Sunday morning coffee-run, and the odd schlep to Aldi…if I can be bothered. And I simply cannot bring myself to waste my Estee Lauder Double Wear (at £32 a bottle, no less!) for a casual trip out. The pang of fear I get when I’m squirting out my boujie foundation – even when I am using it for a special occasion! – at the thought of washing it off in a mere few hours’ time is a reminder of my new-found frugality. And frugality is going to help me buy a house one day!

But where on earth am I going with all this? Well, I am a firm believer that just because you’re using a cheaper foundation and being a frugal queen does NOT MEAN  you need to resign yourself to a poor-quality orange cake face for all your days in the office. If you do anything for yourself this month, then you need to buy The Ordinary Coverage Foundation. I’m sure this won’t be the first time this foundation has made its way onto your internet browser, Instagram feed or YouTube ads; it was so incredibly popular and hyped around the time I was getting super in to makeup. It really was the wonder-product. Despite it creeping up slightly in price since back then, the consistent four-to-five star review holds true, and it’s been a staple in my makeup bag for around 4 years now. The undisputed ‘foundation’…get it?...of my casual makeup collection.