March Favourites

Hi everyone! I say this every time I post a new monthly favourites but I seriously can't believe we are at the end of March already, this year is going so fast it's scary! When you're in the final year of university I feel like time goes by even faster and before I know it I won't be a student anymore and I will have to be a proper adult (honestly the scariest thought ever). Anyway I absolutely love writing these posts and seeing a little round up of all the products I've been loving the past month, and March has been no different. I can't wait for next month when I will be writing about my April favourites because that means we are so much closer to Summer! 

- Maybelline Brow Drama in medium brown (£4.99). I'm really not high maintenance when it comes to my brows at all, I sort of wish I was and that I was bothered to put more effort in but I'm really not that fussed on them. I just like really natural products that will thicken and set my brows because I don't actually mind the natural shape of my brows. I ran out of Benefit's Gimme Brow and I honestly couldn't bare the expensive repurchase so I picked up this Maybelline product from Boots and I've really been liking it! It's definitely not as thickening as Gimme Brow but it's so affordable, the colour is perfect and it's so easy to use. If you just go for quick and easy eyebrows like me then this one is definitely worth buying.

- Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum (£10.99). I'd actually been using Bourjois' new City Radiance foundation a lot however one day I thought I'd pick this one up again and it reminded me of how much I love it! It gives such a lovely natural finish, plus I really love the scent. It's definitely the type of foundation I will be reaching for a lot as the weather changes, and it's so affordable so when I run out I won't mind buying it again at all. Mine is in the shade 52 Vanilla if anyone wants to know.

- Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G lipstick in Penelope Pink (£23). I've said this so many times before but these CT lipsticks are by far my favourite formula of a lipstick I've ever used! They're so moisturising and pigmented, I never really go for matte so if you aren't fussed on matte either you will love these. Penelope Pink is such a gorgeous pinky nude, I actually had a mini size of if from a CT Christmas gift but I had to buy the full sized, I was a bit reluctant because it is expensive however it's just so gorgeous I couldn't resist!

- Pixi Hydrating Milky Mist (£18). This was a completely random purchase when I was in M&S, I've used Pixi before and I absolutely love the brand so I thought I'd try this too because I love moisture sprays and this one is so nice! It's probably the most refreshing one I've used and it's so light. It definitely doesn't completely hydrate the face as much as a cream product would however I love light moisturisers before makeup, anything too heavy in the morning puts me off so this is so good to apply before you prime your skin. 

- Bubble T Summer Fruits Tea Body Spray (£2,99). I recently did a post on how much I've been loving this brand and this body spray has definitely been getting used a lot since I bought it! I never really go for body sprays however the scent of this is SO gorgeous, it's a blend of raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and white tea, I love fruity scents so this is so perfect for me. It's just really good for keeping in your handbag plus it's so cheap.

- Hey Honey Good Morning Honey Silk Facial Serum (full size £28.81). I actually received this in my Glossybox, it's honestly a travel size product however I've been so obsessed with it! I apply this after I've used a toner and before I put on my moisturiser, it's so refreshing and it smells so gorgeous! It's infused with honey and propolis to leave your skin with a glowing complexion and I really do see the difference when I use it. I'm definitely almost at the end of my little sample size and I'm quite sad because I think you can only get this if you get it sent over from America, so not going to lie a little annoyed at Glossybox for sending a product that I love but it not really being accessible for me to buy once I've used the travel size!

- The Body Shop Drops Of Youth Bouncy Sleeping Mask (£24). I've also recently done a post on this product and it is by far my favourite product of March! It give your skin the nicest supple texture and you really can see a noticeable difference in the morning after using it. It's not the cheapest product however it will last you ages and it really does work so I think it is good value for money. The smell is also gorgeous and it leaves your skin feeling so refreshed straight after you've applied it, I'd definitely recommend this if you have dry dull skin like me! 

- Topshop cateye sunglasses (£16). I'd never normally add anything like this to my favourites however I just recently bought these and I am OBSESSED. You can find them here if you're interested, I have been after some cateye sunglasses for so long however I've got a really small face so the majority that I liked made me look so silly but these are a really good size, so if you have a small face like me you should definitely try them. I actually wanted to treat myself to a designer pair of sunglasses for Summer, however the pair I love I can only find online and I have to try them on before I buy them because of the small face situation but I really love these and I don't feel the need to splurge on really expensive ones now I've found a pair I love. I love the mirrored lenses too so I can look where I want without people noticing, I hope other people feel like that about mirrored glasses too haha? Can't wait for all the trips I've got planned this Summer to wear these, especially Madrid in July!

It's definitely a mixed bag of favourites this month but there is a few random ones I really want to share as well. I don't know if anyone has been watching The People VS OJ Simpson on BBC2 on a Monday night, but I am absolutely hooked on it! I always found the trial really interesting when I heard about it so when they made the show I was so excited. Also after BBC3 went online they created a drama called Thirteen about a girl who was abducted for thirteen years and has just escaped, it has just finished now however it's still online and there is only five episodes so it won't take up too much time to watch. It's so good I couldn't wait for a new episode everywhere, there was some moments when I felt to tense and paranoid watching it! Another really random favourite is definitely Papa John's pizza, me and Matty always have takeaway Saturday which is quite naughty to be honest but we just see it as a treat and after we had one of their pizzas we now just get that every Saturday instead and it's honestly SO nice, definitely my favourite place to get pizza from. That's basically all the stuff I've been loving in March, I feel like there has been so much this month! Let me know in the comments what you've been loving and if you've tried any of the products in this post!

Spring Makeup

Hi everyone! I can't believe Spring is finally here, honestly feel like I've been living in an eternal Winter it seems to have gone on for that long! We've had a few nice days in the North East since Spring officially started, but I'm waiting for the weather to fully catch up because it's still pretty dull, however now that Spring is here I feel so excited that I can finally change up my makeup. In Winter I'm so cold and tired that I don't really put any effort in at all, to be honest I just go for makeup that does the job, typically more matte and long-wearing looks because I've had a lot of long days at uni and work but now that Spring is here and I will be doing lots more fun things and wanting that kind of Spring look so I've totally changed up my makeup products and I thought I'd share a few of my favourite things!

- Bourjois City Radiance foundation (£9.99). I'm definitely all about glowy skin in Spring/Summer, it's by far my favourite base so as soon as I was done with the cold weather and just wanting foundation that stayed on all day I definitely wanted to go for a nice light coverage glowy foundation. I think I go for light coverage a lot more around this time of year because my skin definitely does improve, in Winter my skin is just a mess plus I've upped my skincare routine so I feel like now I am a bit happier with my skin and can go for lighter coverage. I really love this Bourjois foundation, it gives such a lovely glow and you look so healthy when you wear it, I reviewed it this month so if you want to read more about it then have a look here.

- Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer (£5.49). Again I'm a bit happier with my skin now and I tend to get a lot less spots, plus I feel so much more awake because of the light mornings so my under eye circles are no where near as bag so I tend to go for a more creamy lightweight concealer and I love this Rimmel one. It's not really heavy duty but I like that because I've got less to cover up and I really want to stay away from any cakiness! 

- Too Faced Hangover primer (£27). This primer definitely isn't cheap but I'm so obsessed with it! It's just a really lovely lightweight moisturising primer that wakes up dull skin and gives me the glowy base that I'm after. Plus it has the nicest coconut scent ever that is so refreshing and the packaging is so cute! There will definitely be cheaper alternatives to this, but this is definitely my favourite moisturising primer.

- Benefit Roller Lash mascara (£19.50). In Spring I really like to have a nice natural makeup look and I really love Roller Lash for nice fluttery eye lashes, I don't really like clumpy mascaras anytime of the year so I will usually avoid however I think this is extra light and fluttery so I will particularly use this in Spring. I just really wish it was cheaper because I can't bear the thought of an expensive repurchase just for a mascara so I'll just have to grin and bear it!

- Maybelline 40 Pink Amber blush (£4.49). I seriously am obsessed with this shade I feel like it's the perfect light pink for Spring! All my blushes are a bit of a brighter pink so I was recently on the hunt for something a bit more pastel and muted and I found this one at the Maybelline counter at my local Boots and fell in love with it! You can see it swatched below, only thing is I can't find this on the Boots website at all for some reason so if you are interested you might have to go into Boots and try and find it.

- Topshop Glow highlighter in Gleam (£9). I'm far more into my cream products in Spring while the weather isn't too warm so they don't melt off everywhere but also so you can still get the really glowy look that I go for and I am so in love with the Topshop highlighters! I've got mine in the shade Gleam which is a very golden highlighter, in the swatch it looks really intense and more of a summer highlight but if don't apply too much you get such a pretty glow without it being too full on! I actually really want to try more Topshop makeup products, so if you've got any recommendations please let me know in the comments.

- Maybelline Color Tattoo cream eye shadow in Pink Gold (£4.99). Another cream product that I really love for Spring, I am so in love with this colour it's honestly the nicest rose gold shade ever! I really love light pinks in Spring so for me this is perfect and I think they're so easy to apply, I just apply to the lid and blend out with a crease colour. It's honestly so pretty, I really want to try more of these because I only own this shade so I will definitely have to pick some more up soon.

- MAC Cremesheen lipstick in Creme Cup (£15.50). This is definitely one of my favourite MAC lipsticks and another pink that is so perfect for Spring, it is such a pretty pinky nude. I really love moisturising lipsticks for Spring, I will hardly ever wear a matte lipstick at this time of year and the formula for this one is so nice. If you don't own a lot of MAC lipsticks this in my opinion is definitely one of the staples that you should get first!

- Rimmel Lasting Finish lipstick by Kate Moss in 38 (£5.49). I thought I'd do two lipsticks one high end and one drugstore, both which I think are perfect for this time of year. This is the only Rimmel lipstick I actually own but it's such a gorgeous pink shade and again another moisturising formula which I love. 

Left to right: Rimmel lipstick in 38, Maybelline blush in 40 Pink Amber, Topshop Glow highlighter in Gleam, Maybelline Color Tattoo in Pink Gold, MAC Creme Cup

You can definitely tell I love glowy skin and pastel pinks in Spring, not the most adventurous look ever but it's definitely my go to and these are some of my favourite products to achieve it! I actually had a really stereotypical Spring day yesterday, the weather was lovely so I went with my boyfriend to this place we love called Hall Hill Farm where you get to see all the farm animals and most of them have just had babies so they're all so cute! Days like that make me so excited to be able to actually do fun things outside and not freeze so I'm really hoping for nicer weather soon! Let me know in the comments if you've tried any of these products and what you think!

Bubble T Summer Fruits Tea Bath Range

Hi everyone! If you've read some of my previous posts you will have probably realised by now I am such a bath girl, I spend so much time in the bath and my collection of bath products is always growing because I love buying them, in fact the bathroom shelf in my house basically consists of all my stuff! To be honest apart from Lush products, when it comes to bath products I very rarely find something that I absolutely love, I can find products that I like and will use but I hardly get really excited about finding a new bath product that I'm obsessed with. So happy to say though that it's finally happened and on the plus side it's such an affordable brand! I was having a little browse in Superdrug recently and saw a Bubble T display, I'd never actually heard of this brand before but the packaging looked really cool and all their products were also 1/3 off so I thought I'd have a look. I'm one of those people that smells the products in the shop before I buy them, don't really know if that's weird or not I'm hoping other people do that too? But oh my god I have NEVER liked the scent of a bath product as much as I liked this one! Absolutely fell in love with the scent and bought a few of the products that stood out to me, plus they were on offer so another bonus.

I had a little look online after I bought them and I think they do have other scents and products as well but in Superdrug they only had the summer fruits tea range but I'm really not complaining because it's so nice. I'm guessing their whole concept is based around flavoured tea, I'm not a tea drinker by the way I really don't like it so don't worry if you don't like tea either it just has a nice fruity scent! All the products in this range are infused with a summer fruits blend of raspberries, strawberries and blackberries with a twist of white tea, I'm obsessed with any fruity scent so this is absolutely perfect for me but this is so good you actually want to eat it so I can understand why there is a "don't drink me" message on some of their products! I picked up four of their products from this range, there was a couple I didn't get but I will talk about them later. Also I bought these while they were on offer and on the Superdrug website they are still on offer so I will put the original price and the offer price for anyone wondering.

- Shower gel (£2.99 on offer for £1.99). This is probably my favourite out of all the products I've got, basically just an essential that everyone needs however I just can't get over now nice it smells, you get 200ml so it's a really good size plus it's so affordable, so I will definitely be repurchasing this once I've used it all.

- Bath Fizzies (£6.00 on offer for £4.00). I thought these were so cute, I'm such a sucker for bath bombs and things like that so I knew I'd love these, they're only small so I put two in the bath at a time and while they don't change the colour or create bubbles they leave a really lovely scent so nice for a quick bath where you just want to make it smell really nice.

- Bath & shower jelly (£4.00 on offer for £2.66). This is another that I really love, I never usually go for shower jellys however the smell of this one is far stronger than any of the other products, it's still the same scent but stronger, not in a bad way though I just think it will leave you smelling really amazing rather than not leaving a scent on the skin! I'll put a picture down below so you can see the texture of it. It's such a good travel product as well if you're going anywhere rather than bringing a big shower gel so I will definitely be using this when I go away this year!

- Body spray (£2.99 on offer for £1.99). I never normally go for body sprays unless they have a really nice scent, and I think you can tell by now I love this one! I like body sprays for just keeping in your handbag and this one is the perfect size, plus I think the scent on some body sprays doesn't last at all but this one stays on which is really good.

I feel like it sounds so daft that I'm this excited over bath products but I just really love findings new products that I'm obsessed with, if you get the chance to smell this then you will completely understand me! Also they're just so affordable so I won't feel guilty about repurchasing at all and I can get them from my local Superdrug which just makes life easier anyway. There was a few more products which I didn't buy which were the bath pearls and the bath T-Bags which I would love to try because they sound really interesting. I had a look on the website and the summer fruits tea range is exclusive to Superdrug, so I really hope Bubble T stock some more of their products in there soon so I can try them because I've absolutely fallen in love with this range! I also feel like this scent is perfect for spring/summer so I definitely found it at the right time of year, let me know in the comments if you've tried this brand and what you think!

The Body Shop Drops Of Youth Bouncy Sleeping Mask

Hi everyone! Honestly so excited to write this post, absolutely love buying things I've had my eyes on for ages and sharing my thoughts on them with you! I've basically been on a mission this year to improve my skin because it's so problematic, I don't suffer with acne or anything like that but it honestly is so dull and dry and tired looking that I was finally like "I need to do something about this" so I've been trying out a few different products and a few different skincare routines and I've finally found one that I love! I saw The Body Shop's Bouncy Sleeping Mask from their Drops Of Youth range in one of Zoella's favourites videos and instantly I really wanted it, it looked so fascinating however I was put off by the price. I was just unwilling to spend £24 on a face product (sounds daft when I was previously using a Kiehl's moisturiser) however on my birthday I got sent a £5 voucher for The Body Shop since I'm a member there so I finally caved this month, £19 is still a lot don't get me wrong but I wanted to use my voucher somehow plus I've been desperate to try this product for ages!

This is a mask designed to be left on overnight and it claims to have a youth-enhancing formula for bouncier looking skin, a unique bouncy memory shape texture and is enriched with Edelweiss stem cells. I'm not really that fussed about anti-aging products at the minute, I'm more concentrating on getting a nicer skin texture however I love the thought of my skin looking bouncy and youthful so the description had me sold! I was really reluctant to spend £24 on this however you really get value for money, there is 90ml of product but you only need to use the tiniest amount so I already know this will last me ages.

The texture is definitely one of the most interesting things about this, it is very thick in the pot and it kind of does have a memory foam like feel, if you press your finger onto it, rather than completely sinking in it just leaves a little dent and then it returns back to normal, you get a spatula with this to scoop product out so you don't have to try and shovel it out with your finger. Thankfully though it doesn't feel heavy or thick on the skin at all, I know it's for wearing during the night but I really hate feeling like I have a heavy mask on when I want to go to sleep.

I can honestly say that I have fallen in love with this! I thought I'd like it anyway because it was really cool but finally I have started to notice a difference in my skin after using this. When I apply it my skin feels so refreshed and cooled down instantly but the biggest thing is that when I wake up my skin really does look bouncier and more glowy, it sounds so ridiculous to say your skin looks bouncy but if you try it you'll get what I mean! I feel like finally makeup is starting to sit nicer on my skin, and it really does look more youthful. Another thing I love about this is that it smells so gorgeous! It's a scent I really can't describe, you'd have to just smell it to see so that's another bonus. I'm just so happy I've finally found a product where I can wake up in the morning and see a visible difference and I haven't even been using it that long. In terms of tackling my dry skin it definitely does help, my dry patches are basically non-existent now and my skin just feels so much more supple and refreshed. I can't really comment on how it would work on those with oily skin but if you are normal to dry then you would definitely love this. So glad I splurged and bought this because I'm so in love with it, it's definitely my favourite skin care product at the moment, let me know in the comments if you've tried this and what you think!

Bourjois City Radiance Foundation

Hi everyone! It's honestly been far too long since I posted a foundation review I absolutely love doing them because I'm foundation obsessed! I was working my way through my little stockpile though and started to come to the end of most of my favourites, and to be honest, I'm a bit of a foundation snob. I really shouldn't be but I will always go for higher end foundations however when you run out of all your favourites basically at the same time, I do not have the funds to be repurchasing all of them! So I set out to find some drugstore foundations that I liked so repurchasing didn't completely wipe out my bank account and a lot of reviews led me to Bourjois foundations. I actually bought the Healthy Mix Serum not that long ago and liked that but it was just okay for me, I did like it but it didn't blow me away. Then I saw Bourjois had released a new foundation, their City Radiance foundation and after reading a few reviews I thought I'd give it a go.

I bought it for £9.99 from Boots which I think is such a good price and mine is in the shade 02 Vanilla. I am the same shade in the Healthy Mix Serum so I picked that one and I think it's the perfect shade for me so if you're stuck and have tried a Bourjois foundation before I'd just go for a shade similar to the one you have already tried. The big downside of this foundation is that it only has six shades which isn't ideal if you struggle to find a shade match for you anyway. 

The product claims to be a skin protecting foundation with a brightening effect to leave a fresh and even complexion. It has an anti-pollution screen, SPF30 which is very high so great for summer although I will definitely not be wearing it for a night out as the flashback would not be good, and radiance boosting pigments. The description kind of sells itself to me, I'm always more likely to opt for a radiant glowy finish and it's actually been a while since I wore a foundation like this so it was lovely to wear it and have that finish again.

The packaging is pretty typical Bourjois, very feminine and girly. It comes in a squeezy bottle with 30ml of product, it isn't the most luxurious packaging however I love these squeeze bottles because they are so much more practical than a pump foundation and far better for travelling, so I would definitely reach for this if I needed to fit some products in my make up bag to travel. Also I just feel like you are able to use every last drop of product with this packaging, so it's definitely a winner for me despite not being the most luxurious!

The formula is kind of like a gel, I am a bit wary of foundations that are gel though because I think they can often go cakey, but this one isn't full on gel and it blends so nicely! It gives a light to medium coverage but I was able to build it up a bit on areas where I need more coverage, however it doesn't cover blemishes that well so I need to use concealer when I wear this. The radiant finish description is definitely accurate! I have dry skin, however I've kind of upped my skincare routine a bit so I am actually getting a little oily on my cheeks and nose throughout the day so I will set these areas with powder when I wear this but I will never set my full face. I've seen a lot of comments comparing this to Nars Sheer Glow and I can definitely see that however I feel like this foundation is a tiny bit heavier than Nars Sheer Glow. I don't think though that you feel like you are wearing make up which is a bonus.

The wear of this is surprisingly good as well, even though you have the glowy finish it doesn't rub off or move around straight away so you can get a fairly decent wear out of this. The thing I love the most about this product is just how healthy and fresh your skin looks when you use it, I get scared that I will look too shiny with products like these but I don't find that with this at all, I do get a touch shiny on the areas where I can get oily like my nose but once I set it with powder it's absolutely fine. To be honest I was actually surprised at how much I love this! I've been reaching for it everyday since I bought it and now that Spring is rolling around I think it's perfect for this time of year. For £9.99 as well it's definitely steered me away from the thought that I will only like high end foundations, I mentioned before that I've also got the Healthy Mix Serum however I prefer the City Radiance foundation by far so I would definitely suggest trying it! Let me know in the comments if you have tried this product and what you think!

NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams VS Collection Cream Puff Lip Creams

Hi everyone! Now that March has rolled around and Spring is upon us I've been getting a lot more into lip products, I know it sounds daft but when it's freezing cold in Winter I can never be bothered to put anything on my lips apart from lip balm because I need as much moisture as possible! However when the weather starts to change (it's still really cold in the North East don't get me wrong) I love going through my collection of lip products and wearing some old favourites again. I've seen the Collection Cream Puff Lip Creams being said to be dupe for the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams for ages, and since I have both I thought I'd do a little post on my thoughts as I've been reaching for both these products a bit more recently. 

I just want to point out that I'm really not a liquid lipstick person, I've tried them and they just aren't for me, however I absolutely love lip creams like these, they aren't drying and they apply really well but I think you still get the pigmentation of a liquid lipstick without them being too matte. So if you're like me then I'd definitely recommend both of these products as an alternative to a full on liquid lipstick.

There are so many ways in which these products are really similar to each other, packaging wise they are basically the same, I actually think I prefer the packaging on the Collection product because I like the cute little illustration and the font, that sounds so daft but I just think it's cute! Another way they are really similar is the scent, both have the same very sweet vanilla scent. I personally love the scent but for those of you who aren't too keen on heavily scented products you might not like it, however once applied on the lips I don't think you can smell it at all. The NYX product however is 8ml compared to the Collection product being 5ml but I think this is reflected in the price anyway. The Collection Cream Puff Lip Creams are priced at £2.99 from Boots which is so good, I think it's such an affordable product considering the quality is also really good. I think these are actually up there with my favourite drug store products, the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams are £5.50 from Boots so it's also a really affordable product. I never really like to say that the Collection lip creams are a dupe for the NYX lip creams as they are both so similar in price, both good quality and very affordable, so I don't necessarily think that the NYX products require a dupe if that makes sense? 

NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams: Antwerp, Stockholm, Athens

Collection Cream Puff Lip Creams: Fairy Cake, Cotton Candy

In terms of formula again I think they are both very similar, they both aren't drying on the lips and they apply really easily, I love the mousse like formula because I think when products like these are too thin they can be really messy and hard to apply. The main difference I think is that the NYX lip creams are slightly more pigmented, and require a bit less product whereas you need to apply a bit more with the Collection lip creams. I also think the NYX lip creams have a little bit more staying power. Don't get me wrong though I absolutely love the formulas of both of these and would completely recommend them both! I just think the formula of the NYX lip cream trumps the Collection lip cream a little bit, a big thing for me though is accessibility of the products, it's so easy for me to go out to my local Boots which has a Collection stand and pick up their lip creams, whereas there isn't a NYX anywhere near me so I have to order online, I had to do this for all the shades I own and I can't swatch them beforehand to tell if I really like the shade. I think I'm more likely to repurchase the Collection lip creams because of this as they are so easy for me to get hold of.

An issue I have with the Collection lip creams is the very small shade range, there are only four shades and the other two that I don't have didn't really appeal to me so the two shades that I own are basically all I am ever going to own unless they release more shades which I really hope they do! The NYX lip creams have such a big shade range that there is definitely something for everyone. Out of the shades I own my favourite from the Collection range is Fairy Cake, I absolutely love this for Summer I can't wait to wear this for Summer days out! From the NYX range my favourite is Stockholm, I actually think it is very similar to Velvet Teddy by MAC so anyone who likes this shade would love that one.

I don't necessarily think that one of these products is better than the other, they are both different but similar at the same time and I actually recommend owning both of these because they are so affordable and so good for your makeup bag! The quality of both is so good considering they are drugstore and I'm really glad that I own the two because they are both as good as each other. Let me know in the comments if you've tried either of these products and what you think!

Holiday Reminiscing

Hi everyone! I thought I'd do something a bit different today, I did have a beauty post lined up however I just felt like writing a chatty post and I actually found a lot of old photos on my laptop recently taken over the past few years and it made me feel very nostalgic! I'm also feeling very glum at this point that it's still absolutely freezing and I'm not going away till the Summer and my actual big holiday isn't until November so when I was looking through all my old holiday photos it made me want to share some with you and maybe inspire you to want to visit some of these lovely places! Bearing in mind a lot of these photos aren't the best quality because they were just taken on my phone before I was even interested in buying a camera. Also before 2013 I hadn't been on a holiday in about 9 years, it wasn't until I got together with my boyfriend I was able to go away so I will just start from then.

2013

I had already been with my boyfriend about two years at this point and his family at the time were going away to an apartment in Los Cristianos, Tenerife every year so in 2013 when we were 18 he invited me to go with them. This was before I had done all inclusive hotels, but I had never done self-catering before either it was always half board so it was actually a really fun experience and it kind of introduced me to a completely different kind of holiday. Los Cristianos is an amazing place though, I think if you aren't bothered about doing all inclusive and want to get out of your hotel, or if you are looking for an apartment this is honestly the perfect place! I get so nostalgic thinking about this holiday because it was mine and Matty's first time away together and we seriously had so much fun. The apartment was in a little complex of them, all privately owned, they rented this one off someone they knew from home for two weeks and it was slap bang in the centre of Los Cristianos. You would walk out of the apartment and about 1 minute away was all the restaurants, and about 3 minutes away was the beach it was actually the perfect location. 

We went to Siam Park while we were there which is the big water park in Tenerife and if you ever go there then this is seriously a must! It's such a good day and the wave pool has the biggest artificial waves in the world I believe? I'm going to quickly check that by the way...yeah that's right haha! They are absolutely massive, definitely hold on to your bikini if you swim in deep because there's a chance that you will lose your top, I'm always so scared that this will happen to me! The thing about Los Cristianos as well even if you do go self-catering is that everything is so cheap, all the food and trips over there are really affordable, it's a go out to eat every night kind of holiday which I love! What's a holiday if you don't spend the majority of the time eating? It's got everything you need really, lots of bars, restaurants, two beaches, lots of trips you can go on. I don't know if I'd be interested in doing a hotel if we ever went back there just because the apartment was so good, but the hotels do look lovely so if you were wanting to go they are worth a look. I basically spent the whole holiday sunbathing and doing lots of fun things, there's a monkey park you can visit which is so fun and you get to feed all the chimps and other monkeys so I'd also recommend that. Writing this is making me want to go back so much it's making me sad! 

It was honestly the perfect chilled out holiday but it had the balance between having the chance to do nothing and the chance to do lots of fun activities as well, even though I absolutely love all inclusive now, at the same time having the freedom to do whatever you want when you go self-catering when you are in a destination where this is so much to do is just as good! I cried when I had to come home because I'd had such an amazing time, plus after two weeks in gorgeous weather who really wants to come home and go back to work?! 

2014

Matty's family were going back to Tenerife this year and we always had the option to go back but by this time we kind of knew that it was our turn to go off on our own and have our own experience which meant planning the whole trip by ourselves. It took a while to figure out where we wanted to go, I was at university now and I had the help of my student loan plus my part time wage and Matty was now working full time so we had more money to do something a bit more extravagant. Matty had his heart set on Mexico but I was a bit unsure because it was so far and it wasn't cheap at all but he finally convinced me! I'm definitely the planner out of the two of us, I organise everything and he's really laid back and chilled out so he just lets me do what I want so I did loads of research because there is SO many places to stay in Mexico, we knew we were going all inclusive because neither of had never done this before plus that's all you really can do in Mexico. I wasn't too bothered about staying in Cancun because it's a bit too party central for me and we are both quite boring and don't care about drinking and partying so we ended up going for Riveria Maya which is really close to Cancun so we had the option of not being far from all the excursions and we picked a hotel called Grand Sirenis. We booked this with Thomson who were so good, it was so nice having everything sorted for you all at once and even though I am organised, the thought of planning my first holiday without proper adults was really scary haha! 

The thing about Mexico is that it's definitely not a holiday for you if you don't like flying! The flight there was about 10 hours, I actually didn't find the flight there that bad I just kept falling asleep for intervals the whole time and before I knew it we were there! The memory of walking round the corner and seeing the customs queue though stands out in my head so much, it was the longest wait in a queue ever after a 10 hour flight plus the heat was insane! Thankfully we had done our VISA on the flight so you don't have to wait as long but by the time I got out of that queue all I wanted to do was go to sleep! Because of the time difference we had been awake about 20 hours by the time we got on the coach to the hotel, another distinct memory is walking out the doors of the airport and the heat and humidity just hitting me in the face, it's so hot! The hotel was absolutely gorgeous when we got there though and they gave you this really nice fruit drink while you were waiting at the check in line, you got on a little golf cart after that and they took you to your room. This was honestly such different holiday compared to when we went to Tenerife before, all inclusive was a massive difference and I'd never done it before but I absolutely loved it! So nice not having to worry about money while you're there, tipping is expected though which kind of bugs me because I always tip anyway but I don't like the expectation that you HAVE to. This holiday consisted of basically chilling by the pool the whole time listening to music and drinking frozen strawberry daiquiris which I definitely miss! We went swimming with dolphins while we were here which was the only excursion we did however looking back I wish we had done more because Mexico honestly has the best excursions, there is so many amazing trips you can go on. We did do the spa though which was amazing, you had to pay more but it was the most relaxing experience, we did the hydrotherapy and the couples massage and we both left in that little chilled out bubble you go into!

I also got horrendously sunburnt right at the start of this holiday, we both did actually however mine went really quickly but Matty's was there for a bit longer. We always laugh about this now because he kept me awake ALL night one time lying in bed making though noises where you sound like you are saying "sssss ow" and even though I felt bad for him I was so tired and I got really annoyed, which looking back now we just laugh at because we were so daft getting that burnt, I actually have a picture of mine which shows how bad it is but I don't want to put it on because it's just embarassing! I would like to go to Mexico again, in a different hotel this time just to try something new because there is so much choice, but the long flight and the jet lag is definitely something to take into consideration!

2015

We had a really hard time choosing a holiday this year because we loved Mexico but didn't want to go back because we wanted to try somewhere new and we honestly had no idea. We knew we wanted to do all inclusive again and we had looked at places like Greece but they were so expensive. My Aunty had actually told us about a place she had been to called Cape Verde where there isn't really anything to do except chill out, and this is fine with us because we are boring on holiday and like to do nothing! We ended up booking there with Thomson again in a hotel called the Riu Touareg and I was SO excited in the run up to this holiday because the whole place looked like a giant sandcastle. This holiday really didn't disappoint, this is where Matty really wants to go back to, Cape Verde is called the 'island of no stress' and it's so true, it's such a relaxing place with gorgeous weather and it basically never rains there which is always a bonus!

This was another place where we just sunbathed and ate lots of lovely food, I didn't get burnt this year either which is good to know I learnt my lesson from the year before. I actually got the most tanned I've ever been when I came back home, which is an accomplishment for me because I am on a mission to get tanned on holiday! We did do one excursion which at the time we were just in shock about how weird the night was, but now we laugh about this so much. It was a beach night at this beach restaurant place however it was just really odd. There was a couple from Newcastle there trying to turn it into a Geordie Shore night out, I'm really not joking when I say that! I remember him filming me on his iPad which I found really strange and me and Matty were just like 'what is going on here', then his girlfriend actually had too much to drink and passed out and had to get a taxi ordered for her back to her hotel, THEN Matty was eating his steak and chipped half of his tooth off and got in a really bad mood and THEN the African drummers started playing which was good but there was a group of French people there who looked like they were on a gap year and one of them got these light up orbs on a stretchy string out of his pocket and stood up swinging them around to the African drummers, so it was just a very strange night! However other than that we had a lovely time haha! I did get a bit ready for home by the end of the two weeks, not because I was bored, I was loving life chilling on the beach everyday (honestly the most amazing beach by the way, the hotel has it's own private beach which stretches for about 16 miles with the softest sand ever and massive waves) but I was a bit tired of the all inclusive life, just eating in the same places everyday and not having any private time really. 

Looking back even though I was a bit ready for home I'd absolutely love to go back here, we just chilled out and had so much fun together, it was just my ideal holiday really! Plus the food was gorgeous and they would always have this massive table of different cheeses and crackers every night, so if you're a cheese addict like me then you would be in heaven!

If you read through all of this post then you definitely deserve a medal because it was a long one! It's honestly made me so nostalgic though and desperate for a holiday now! We have two abroad trips booked for this year now, in July we are off to Madrid for three nights just a for a nice hot city break, the reason we are doing this is because we aren't doing are usually summer holiday this year, we are off to Florida in November, so Madrid is going to tide us over till then! I can't wait for both these trips though especially Florida! We are still looking for a villa so if you have any tips on any nice ones then I'd love to know, let me know in the comments where you are off to this year!