You might have already read my Whittlebury Hall Spa review I posted last week (If not you can find it here) but today I wanted to talk about the hotel itself and the rooms we slept in. I don't think I've ever written a thorough in detail hotel review on my blog before so let me know if its something you'd like to see more of!


I've never stayed at Whittlebury Hall before and come to think of it I don't think I've ever stayed at a Spa Hotel before so this was a new but very exciting experience for me! Like I explained last week, we spent the first day in the actual spa only heading to our hotel room at around 7pm. When we finally got to our rooms, our bags had been placed inside which saved us lugging them around. Not many hotels I've been to offer this service so either I've stayed at rubbish hotels or this is a nice extra touch. 

 I thought the rooms were very spacious. Unlike previous rooms I've stayed in there was plenty of space and the dressing table was long enough for 2 people to use which was great considering I was staying with my sister. There were also two sinks, one for us to use and one for us to leave our soggy bikinis to drain overnight (and almost forget the next morning). The wardrobe was also huge and contained a safe, an iron and board and all the drink making facilities and biscuits we could want. We were spoilt rotten for space in this room so it really was a shame we were only staying one night. I also thought our rooms were really nicely decorated. I can only speak for our section of the hotel but everything in our rooms was really modern and aesthetically pleasing.


When staying in a hotel room there are a few things that are an absolute must for me; a comfortable bed - check, a full length mirror - check, a plug socket by the bed - check, freebie toiletries - check, a hot shower with good water pressure - check, a well lit dressing table - nope. For the most part our rooms had everything we could ask for but the only thing that let it down was not having decent lighting at the dressing table. Although the bathroom had perfect lighting to do our make up in we had to wait until both of us had showered and the steam cleared before we could even attempt to get ready, and even then the mirror was quite far away so I was difficult to see properly. It was just such a shame that they had installed such a gorgeous dressing table set up for it to have literally zero lighting by it.



We didn't really get chance to explore all of the hotel but the rooms I did get chance to see were really nice. The reception area was very large with more than enough sofas for guests to relax on whilst they were checking in or out. All of the dinning areas were also very nicely decorated and clearly kept clean by the staff. Although we never drank in the bar area it seemed decent enough with sporting memorabilia and TV's dotted around the walls for the guests to enjoy. Not one bit of the hotel looked unkept and both days we were there I spotted staff dusting and polishing the wooden furnishings. 

So would I stay at the hotel again? Yes, although it would have to be as part of the spa break package again as its not exactly close to anywhere I would like to visit (Silverstone racetrack just doesn't do it for me). Its the perfect country retreat for relaxing and ignoring the outside world, however there is free wifi throughout the hotel if you would still like to be connected!

 Have any of you ever stayed here before? I've love to hear your thoughts!


Thanks for reading!

xxx

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Whittlebury Hall - The Hotel

So I've been on the hunt for some gold and silver lipsticks for ages. I know MAC released some a while back but I haven't had any lucky finding them. I have spotted a few others online but they always seem to be from high end makeup brands which means they are really pricey and I couldn't bare to pay over £15 for one lipstick right now! I'd all but given up on finding my dream metallic lippies when I came across this set in Superdrug...


The Freedom Far Away Collection retails at just £5 and features a gorgeous gold and shimmery silver lipstick as well as three other shades. I don't know if I will actually ever use the blue, black or white but for just £5 I couldn't really care less. They are definitely more 'out there' shades that alternative beauty lovers would probably appreciate more then me.

The lipstick names are all Star Wars related which doesn't particularly impress me but for Sci Fi fans this would be such a great collection to own! Sean, being the beautiful little geek he is actually got quite excited when I showed him this collection even though he doesn't care at all for makeup.


Honestly I haven't even had chance to use any of these pretty lippies yet and I know I really should have swatched them for this post but so far they seem to be pretty good quality. They work out to just £1 each so I know they aren't going to come close to any of my MAC products but I'm really happy I picked them up.

I promise I'll do another post about them when I've actually had time to try them out and review them, I just really wanted to blog about them and show you that affordable metallic lipsticks do exist! 

I'd love to know if any of you have tried this collection or anything from Freedom before! Let me know what you thought!


Thanks for reading!

xxx


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The Freedom Far Away Collection

  
Green Top from H&M (Similar Here)  |  Black Jeans from Matalan (Here)  |  New Balence Trainers from Asos (Similar Here)  |  Zatchels Bag

Sunday was such a gorgeous day, it was really sunny and fairly warm too. Me and Sean decided to go for a walk around one of our local lakes as the weather was so nice! We used to walk a lot last summer, especially along the canals near my house but we haven't really been since Autumn as its just been so cold. 

So this is what I wore for our little adventure. I've been trying (and usually failing) to style these black New Balance trainers up for months now but I finally think I've found something that works. They are super comfy and they weren't the cheapest either so I really want to start getting more use out of them.

The rest of my outfit was pretty basic. I picked this green top up a few weeks back from H&M, it was only £8 and I knew I could style it up with lots so got 2 more in black and burnt orange! The silver messenger bag is one of my absolute favourites and I'm sure its made an appearance on my blog before. Although I can't find the exact colour on the website anymore I have linked a slightly shimmery black shade for you guys. 

I'd really like to get your opinions on the trainer situation. Do they work with this outfit? What else would you wear them with?

Thanks for reading!

xxx

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OOTD | Earlswood

As you may know if you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, I visited Whittlebury Hall Hotel & Spa for a mini spa break with my mom, sister and aunty. We managed to get a fantastic deal on our spa treatment and over night stay and I really wanted to review the whole experience as it was my first time at a spa! There really is a lot to talk about so I've decided to spilt the review into three parts - the first being The Spa. I will also be talking about The Hotel and The Food in two other separate posts.

We arrived just after 10am and were promptly checked in at the hotel. We left our luggage in reception to be taken to our rooms and headed off to the spa area. Again we were quickly booked in and given our personalised schedule sheet which noted our lunch time slot and our treatment time as well as other useful information. We were also given our locker key which came in the form of an electronic rubber bracelet. The bracelet could also be used to access the locker rooms and spa area which was locked.


We soon changed into our swimwear, packed our belongings into our lockers, slipped into our robes and walked to the main spa area. Once you arrive in the spa there is a hydrotherapy pool with fountains and jacuzzi bubbles around the outsides. There were also 2 warm beds, a warm bench, 2 foot baths, a water fountain and cups, flannels, and numerous showers, saunas and steam rooms.

We tried everything in this area apart from the 'Shower Experience' Which featrued two showers that each produced very hot and very cold water. There are 3 steam rooms to choose from; The Caldarium, The Crystal steam room and The Salt steam room. The Caldarium is the coolest of the 3 and in my opinion the most comfortable. I found the crystal steam room incredibly hot and couldnt bare to be in there for more than 30 seconds whereas this was my sisters favourite room to sit in! 


After some time in the steam rooms we moved onto the saunas. We had the choice of 2 saunas; The Sanarium and the Crystal Sauna. These were both very hot but as it was a dry heat I much preferred this and could easily spend 10 minutes in the crystal sauna. 

We had spent plenty of time in the heat so we then moved onto the 'ice experience'. Next to the saunas there is an ice cave where fresh ice spills into a basin for guests to rub over themselves. This is not as torturous as it sounds and is actually very relaxing after spending so much time in the heat. I also thoroughly enjoyed the ice cold showers but only for a few seconds at a time. One thing I didn't particularly love was the ice cold bucket of water which is positioned in its own area for us to pour over ourselves or each other. 


After a couple of hours in this area we started to get peckish so headed out for some complimentary ice water and fruit. There are a few stations all over the spa where guests can help them selves to several types of fruit and different flavoured water. There is also a bar in the spa area where you can buy hot drinks, smoothes and light meals.

We then moved onto the larger pool area which also features a sauna, steam room and jacuzzi although the jacuzzi was unfortunately closed the weekend we stayed. This pool is cooler than we other one which came as quite a shock at first but didn't take much time at all to get used to. I'm pretty sure this area is included with a regular stay as the hotel and we didn't spent too much time here as we wanted to spend as much time as possible relaxing in the spa area. 

There was much more to the spa than we first realised. After lunch time (which I will talk about in detail in my food post) we decided to have a look around. We soon found another relaxing area with tables and chairs and complimentary magazines. From this area guests can access the sleeping room, the whisper area which has water beds, the shop and the treatment rooms. 


The shop was quite large with multiple testers on display for us to try everything out. There were several brands for sale, some of which I'd never heard of before and there were also some very affordable products for sale which surprised me. Although I didn't purchase anything there was always a sales assistant on hand to help.

From here we explored the dark sleep room which features several single beds with duvets and the whisper area which boasts waterbeds and birdcage chairs. We didn't really spend too long in these areas either as we were keen to get back into the spa but I couldn't recommend testing out the water beds enough as they were just so comfortable!

After a little while longer in the spa it was time to head up for our treatments. We picked the treatments a few weeks before and we had all opted for the back, neck and shoulder massage. We were each promptly called for our treatments and shown to our rooms by our masseuses. I was actually a bit underwhelmed by my treatment room. I've never had a massage before so I wasn't really sure what to expect but I thought it was quite a drab space that almost resembled a hospital room. Once I was comfortable my masseuses asked if I would like the relaxing oil or the invigorating oil. She explained some of the ingredients and what each oil smelled like to help me chose which I wanted, I opted for the relaxing oil.


The massage itself was incredible. Although I have nothing else to compare it to I thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely go for one again. The treatment lasted around 25 minutes and honestly flew by. Throughout the massage I was given the option for the masseuse to increase or decrease the pressure which was a nice touch as I can see how it might be painful for some people. 

This was the end of our spa day and it was now time to go back to our rooms to get ready for dinner. Although we chose to leave the spa before 7pm its actually open until 8:30pm weeknights and 6:30pm on weekends and bank holidays.

Overall I really enjoyed the whole experience. Everywhere seemed very clean and refreshments were constantly repalced. Although I wasn't impressed with my treatment room, the massage itself was incredibly relaxing. If we were to see a similar deal I would not hesitate to return to Whittlebury Hall for a spa day!

Have you ever been to Whittlebury Hall or another spa hotel? I'd love to hear about your experiences!


Thanks for reading!

xxx


Whittlebury Hall - The Spa

Last year I wrote a post about some of my all time favourite lipsticks and it went down really well. Since then I have tried out many new lipsticks and discovered MAC cosmetics which now takes over quite a bit of my dressing table. As its been so long I thought I would write it again with my updated favourites for 2016! If you'd like to see last years post you can find it here.


Maybelline Colour Sensational Lipstick in Iced Caramel - I've actually written a full review of this lipstick before which you can read here. I picked up this shade on a whim whilst coming home from Amsterdam last year, little did I know it was about to start my obsession with nude lipsticks. Its a king of orange/ pink that I'd never tried before but suited my skin colour really well and applied like a dream. I've tried to hunt this lippy down several times so I can buy a backup for when this run out but I cant find it anywhere, if you know where I can get it give me a shout! 

MAC Cosmetics Velvet Teddy - I've spoken about this little beauty plenty of times on the blog before (herehere & here) but I think it deserves another mention. Most bloggers have jumped on the Velvet Teddy bandwagon by now and honestly if you haven't, you really need too. I purchased my first Velvet Teddy back in August and it was actually the first MAC lipstick I ever owned. I was amazed by the quality, impressed by the staying power and completely in love with the colour itself. Although MAC lippys can be quite pricey, this one is definitely worth forking out for.


MAC Cosmetics Faux - This little beauty has actually taken over from Velvet Teddy as my new every day lipstick. Its quite a bit more pink than Velvet Teddy and its not matte but I adore it. I've never really been a fan of pink lipsticks but this strikes a nice balance between a girly pink and a nude. I also feel like it applies more evenly and smooth compared to my matte lipsticks which I really like.

MAC Cosmetics Men Love Mystery - I know I know, another MAC lipstick but this one is completely different to anything else I have ever owned. Back when I bought this, I had grey/ lilac hair and this shade complimented that beautifully. Although my purple locks had faded and this lippy has taken a back seat I thought it deserved a place in my favourites as I always feel amazing when I wear it. I know I sometimes get funny looks when I wear this shade but I can honestly say it doesn't faze me and my confidence increases so much after a few hours of sporting a purple lip. The staying power of this is also incredible and well worth the £15 or so I paid!


Topshop Lipstick in Armour - This little lippy is the only Topshop lipstick I've ever worn and I'm not really sure why because I was genuinely impressed with the quality. I have talked about this lipstick before (here & here) but I still wear it fairly often, especially when I fancy a change from my regular matte nudes. I'm pretty sure the Topshop lipsticks retail at around £8 and while I few people I've spoken to think thats quite pricey, I was very happy they price I paid for the gorgeous shade I received. Although it can sometimes be a little dry on the lips it lasts for hours and I just love the stripy packaging.

So those were my current favourite lipsticks. No doubt I'll change it up again in another year or so and I might do a similar post about my eyeshadows or nail varnishes too! 

I'd love to hear what you thought of these lipsticks, have you tried any of them out before?

Thanks for reading!

xxx


My Favourite Lipsticks - Updated for 2016


I have so much jewellery, like I mean A LOT. Every time I go shopping I come back with a new ring or bracelet and its honestly getting a little but ridiculous now. How do I store all this stuff?! 

Jewellery Boxes don't do it for me, I've had plenty in the past but I'm a proper little hoarder and I like to be able to see what I've got. I like to keep it all on display in my room, like a little museum of all of crap I've accumulated. So how do I store all of my rings and things? Heres how...

Ikea Jars - Although I didn't show them here ( They aren't photogenic at all ) I have a couple of small clear glass jars form Ikea that I keep a lot of jewellery in. I have a gold jewellery jar and a silver jewellery jar so I can easily find the colour I'm looking for. These little jars cost about 80p and are an absolute godsend, I have other jars full of single eyeshadows, cotton buds and cotton pads all in my room.


Soap Dishes - Bare with me here, I know it sounds silly but like I said I like to keep everything on display and you can get some seriously cute soap dishes! You see that gorgeous iridescent shell in the last photo? Yep that is a soap dish and it only cost around £4 too!

Ring Holders - I know this is an obvious one but I have a couple of amazing little ring holders that sit pretty on my desk and I just needed to show them to you. Both were presents from Sean and both are adorable. I hang rings, hair bobbles, bracelets and anything else I fancy off these little trinkets and they still look cute. I can also put hair grips, earrings and other things in the dish at the bottom of the stands.


Biscuit Tins - Yay for recycling! I know I said before that I like to have everything on display, well that is true but I have some pieces that I don't wear so often. I like to keep these pieces safe but I still want easy access to them so I keep them in an old Shortbread Biscuit tin that I've had for ages. 

Small Bowls - A lot of places sell teeny tiny bowls for things like olives or dips. These little bowls are usually very pretty as they are designed to come out at parties and they are also usually pretty cheap as people tend to buy a few. That little blue dish is a little dip bowl from Tesco's that cost me just £1! You can easily pay £6 or £7 for something like this in Urban Outfitters!

So thats how I like to store my jewellery. Hope you guys got a few ideas form that!

How do you keep your jewellery organised?

Thanks for reading!

xxx

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Jewellery Storage Ideas



My monthly beauty favourites are looking a little slim this month. I haven't really had a lot of time or money to try out anything new which is shame really. I'll be hopefully going back to work next month though so although I'll have even less time hopefully I'll be able to afford a new new treats! So this is what I've been loving this month...

Mac Lipstick in Faux - I've been using this lippy for nearly the whole month and I've completely fallen in love. Its such a gorgeous pink shade that I think really suits my skin tone. I've been really into nude lipsticks for a while and although this is a bit more peachy it still works with pretty much everything I wear. The consistency is also really creamy which makes a nice change compared to my Velvet Teddy which can be a little bit dry.

Lush Charity Pot - My sister gave me this after she found it too greasy but it was perfect for me! This little tub is only £3.50 and all of the money minus taxes goes towards small charities. The lotion smells amazing and has some really great ingredients in it. I've found this product really good for sensitive skin as it contains several different oils, Shea Butter and Cocoa Butter.

So those were this months beauty favourites. I've love to hear what you can't get enough of lately!

Thanks for reading!

xxx

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February Beauty Favourites

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