Travel Journal | The French Adventure

Last week myself and some of my family made the fourteen hour car trip down to South West France. This has become something of a tradition and most summers we embark on the same kind of adventure, just slightly varying up the area that we stay. 

We rented out the most spectacular home to stay in during our time there. It sat alone at the top of a hill, providing us with 360" views of the most beautiful scenery. It was by far one of the best places we have rented when travelling down to France. 

The home itself is owned by a famous pianist, Louis Van Dijk, and throughout the entire place beautiful art and inspiration fill the rooms. It really is a wonderful place and I feel truly blessed to have had the opportunity to stay somewhere so beautiful. 

Enough of my ramblings, let me show you what we got up to.. 

The 360" views from the top of the hill enabled us to watch both the sun rise and the sun set. This is the one of the many stunning sunsets we watched from the front terrace. Of course accompanied by a bottle of the local rose´. 

Watching the evening sun wasn't the only natural beauty we were blessed with. For the first couple of days we watched numerous storms roll in from behind the hills of the valley. 

The grounds of the villa were filled with spectacular flower displays. Another joy of visiting European countries is the wide array of flowers & the predominant scent that accompanies them. 

Once the storms of the first days cleared, we travelled up to the small town of Duras where this breathtaking castle is situated. It's propped on the edge of the hill giving more breathtaking views. We payed to tour around the inside of the castle which was lovely. A lot of restoration has taken place to keep it in it's former glory. Some of our party took the scarily narrow, twisted, stone staircase up to the top of the tower where I took the above photo looking over the town of Duras. 

Hettie waiting outside the doors of the castle, ready to take the grand tour. 

As our time in France went on, the weather began to improve so we decided to take the drive across to Bordeaux and visit Dune Du Pilat. Europe's tallest sand dune. It wasn't the first time I had been to the Dune du Pilat as I had visited before on a residential trip when I was in school. It was still really exciting to go back and I felt a great sense of nostalgia. 

The dune itself is a hundred metres tall and the photos really don't do it any justice. It's phenomenally high. There are two routes up, the easier of the two being the wooden stairs directly up or if you're feeling more daring you can go freestyle and climb up the sandy side. Both times I've visited I've gone for the harder option and climbed up without the use of the stairs. Something I'm quite proud of as my fitness levels are really nothing to be proud of at all! 

The atmosphere once you've reached the top of the dune is incredible. There's a buzz from everyone and a great sense of achievement. Not forgetting the absolutely spectacular views. They really are breathtaking, from the front of the dune you look over miles and miles of forest and tree tops, as well as being able to look over fabulous blue ocean on the far side. 

We opted to continue right over the top of the dune and head down the other side where we reached a beautiful, quaint beach. We set up for a few hours of relaxation on the sand and made the most of the high temperatures. 

At the end of the day we opted out of hiking back up the sand dune and down the other side to the car, and took a locals advice on walking around the side of it back towards the car park. Although a lot less strenuous, it took a lot longer. We actually ended up getting lost and walked four miles out of our way by accident. Although not so fun at the time when we were trekking along with all our beach gear in 35 degree heat, we all laugh looking back now.  

Of course, the whole holiday wasn't spent out and about visiting various tourist attractions. We spent a considerable amount of time just enjoying each others company, the beautiful surroundings and the pool (of course). 

Paige x 

The Products | Nars Sheer Glow

After reading uncountable reviews and seeing this product crop up almost weekly on one blog or another, I had a good idea of what to expect from it - a best of both worlds kind of foundation, having the coverage of something like Armani Luminous silk, with the dewy, natural look of Chanel Vitalumier Aqua. Ticking every box when it comes to foundation must have qualities! I had my heart set on it and so when I got to the point last month when 

I felt almost 'stuck in a rut' with my current foundation routine, I decided that enough was enough. I took the plunge and splurged a mighty £31.00 on a pumpless bottle of the stuff! 

I do think the price is slightly cheeky considering the lack of pump. 

I don't feel like I've given it a thorough testing as of yet so I'm going to hold off on a full review until it's played a roll in my makeup bag for a good month, so watch this space for my thoughts on sheer glow and some more pictures of it in use! 

If you've read enough, and can't wait to give it ago pick it up from Space NK here!

A Personal Post | I Want To Be Friends

When creating my blog I had to decide whether I wanted to incorporate it within my already existing social life or whether I felt better keeping it private. I opted for the latter and set up a new twitter account which I linked to my blog/bloglovin etc. 

I know a lot of people will think that it was a really ridiculous idea and possibly accuse me of being fake because my 'blog' life is totally separated from my 'usual/old' life. However this really isn't the case. My blog and my new twitter account completely reflect my true personality and character and the real reason I decided to keep my blog separate was because I was worried about how people I know from school etc. may actually judge or criticise my blog. Again I'm sure people will take this the wrong way and say that I should be proud of my blog and not take any notice of those that want to judge or criticise and that is completely right. I am so proud of my blog and I grow to love blogging more and more every time I publish a new post, however the very sad truth is that I just didn't have the courage to overcome my insecurities and publish my blog all over my personal twitter account. 

Anyway, sob story over, I just wanted to say to all of you that I do have a twitter account and I'd be so grateful if you could head on over to it and give it a follow. I feel like twitter is by far the easiest way to keep in touch with fellow bloggers and followers and hardly any of my lovely blog followers actually follow me on twitter which makes it really hard to communicate with you guys! 

I don't want my blog to just be something other people can browse around and read, I want it to become a very social aspect of my life and would love nothing more than to be able to become closer with my followers and readers from the blogging world! Eventually I hope to actually shut down my personal twitter and incorporate it all onto this account, which is the one linked to my blog, however that's for the future! 

Thanks so much everyone! 

Paige x 

Follow me here!

The Review | Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder

I'm slightly late jumping on the bandwagon with this one. Most of you will know Hourglass released their Ambient Lighting Powders last year and it turned out to be one of the biggest beauty launches of 2013.. however it has taken till now for me to revvy up a full review. 

The concept of these powders is amazing, with nothing else like them on the market. The idea is that once applied, they reflect light off of the skin in a much more flattering way. There are six shades within the collection and each one is designed to reflect light in a way that would naturally occur in certain situation. I have Diffused Light, a soft yellow shade, designed to imitate the way natural morning sunlight would reflect off of the skin. It's a very flattering shade which manages to highlight the face with no sign of shimmer, as well as reduce the appearance of redness. 

I purchased mine whey back in January and I haven't stopped using it since. It's perfect for setting any daytime make up, as well as for applying over the top of evening makeup to create a super glowy, fresh look. 

Pick it up at Space NK for £38.00 

The Weekly Album |

 I teamed my brushstroke trousers & crocodile print skaters for a fun monochrome look 

I went to a local steakhouse and opted for the Kangaroo burger! 

I spent a day at Jimmy's Farm with my Godchildren

I made a super yummy, super healthy vegetable stir fry

Our family extended by two when we picked up these two handsome boys!

 I slurped a super green juice at Bill's.. 

.. & I devoured a perfectly cooked steak too! 

The Brand Focus | Percy & Reed

Recently I've been trying out both the It's So Cool Heat Protectant Styling Mist and Abundantly Bouncy Volumising Mousse from the Percy & Reed styling range. 

For those of you that are not aware of the Percy & Reed brand let me fill you in..

The brand itself was established by two very wonderful hair stylists, Paul Percival and Adam Reed. Both of whom wanted the same thing, to broaden the body of people that their skill and knowledge were available to. Meaning that it would no longer be just for the rich and famous. Hooray for the rest of us! 

They teamed up and achieved exactly what they had set out to do and so next came their product range which leads me on to these two products..

It's So Cool Heat Protectant Styling Mist

This was the initial product I set out trying from the range. I had been specifically keeping an eye out for a heat protectant that I thought would be both effective and budget friendly. 

It's hard to give an accurate account of a heat protectants effectiveness unless you've been using it for a large amount of time. That being said I've been using the mist for 6 weeks and  I'm going to try give you as close to accurate review of it as I can. 

The packaging, like with all Percy & Reed products, is very simple and minimalistic whilst remaining playful and girly. The monochrome colours used throughout the product range is really chic and it all looks very dreamy sat on your dressing table! 

Of course it's not all about the packaging. 

The product itself sprays out as a beautifully distributed mist meaning you're not going to end up with product build up among one section of hair. The scent is lovely and light leaving a fresh odour following you around all day which is a win from me as heat styling tools can often leave quit an 'off' scent to your hair. 

It's not at all heavy in the hair and if you weren't left with a silky soft feeling and the light scent give off, you wouldn't remember you had your entire barnet spritzed with the stuff! 

Abundantly Bouncy Volumising Mousse 

After trying the heat protectant mist from the range and loving it, I decided to broaden my horizons and try something I wouldn't normally go for. A mousse. I don't know why I tend to ignore mouses and all they have to offer. I just seem to instinctively reach for spray products instead. 

The volumising mousse from Percy & Reed is exactly as decribed. A mousse that adds fabulous volume without the sticky, crispy texture. Another wonderful product without any downfalls and one I am very glad I picked up. 

Again it holds the same light, fresh scent as the mist which lingers all day without being overpowering. 

Another bonus with all Percy & Reed products is the insiders tips, printed on to the back of the packaging. What more could you ask for? 

Pick up the products: 

It's So Cool Heat Protectant Stylist Mist 

Abundantly Bouncy Volumising Mousse

Be sure to check out the Percy & Reed YouTube channel here, for numerous style tutorials and 'how to use' product videos! 

New Puppies! |

Cuteness overload. I know. 

As a family we have been discussing getting another dog for a while. We live in the country and long afternoon walks are kind of our thing, meaning a dogs life will be pretty content being apart of our family. Although the idea of getting a new puppy had been tossed around our household for a while now, we had no official plans to actually get one. SO, when my dad came home from work on Tuesday evening and surprised us all with the news of our new puppy you can imagine all of the excitement. 

We popped by to visit our new family member the next morning and whilst there my mum and I spotted a second puppy.. 

Skip forward 12 hours and we now have two beautiful Labrador brothers. 

Sid, the golden of the two, sitting patiently next to Hettie and Manny, featured above in my Gran's arms.