Holidays & Breaks | The Magnolia Resort Review and Photos, Kefalonia June 2013

If you follow me on twitter/instagram you will know that I have just been on holiday for a week to the Greek Island of Kefalonia. Famous for it's part in the filming of 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin', Kefalonia is known for being one of the more beautiful Greek Islands with some fabulously different beaches, quiet secluded coves and food to die for. We stayed in the Magnolia Resort in Katelios (in the Southern part of the island), a 4 star hotel with the option of being either half board or bed and breakfast. We stayed bed and breakfast for the simple reason that we like to try different Tavernas for our evening meal.

 The pool view from the front of our room, this hotel doesn't have long stuffy corridors with rooms on either side, they have open air 'corridors' and every room faces outwards with the front doors on the inside of the hotel. The pool area got sun right until the last minute which is great for those who like to soak up as much as possible. 

The pool area, beautifully designed with plenty of beds without being too crammed in next to each other. The hotel also provided us with fluffy pool towels so we didn't have to worry about using our sandy beach towels. The pool has an 'infinity' design which I absolutely love, it was more than big enough and although a little bit of a shock to the system when you first get in it's a welcome relief from the sun!

The view room the balcony wasn't the best I've ever had at a hotel, it was all greenery and we could only just see the sea, nevertheless it was a lovely place to relax on an evening as it caught the last of the days sun every day. I loved sitting listening to music and later on if you kept the light off the insects stayed away!! I could also get the WiFi from the restaurant across the road on here so even more of a reason to sit out here. The hotel did have WiFi but due to the 'earthquake proof' walls, it didn't work for me in our room. 

The room itself was so clean and tastefully designed, it had a shabby chic feel to it which I absolutely loved. The bed had crisp clean linen on, changed every other day and a thicker cover in case it got a little chilly on a night. There's nothing 'plain' about the rooms, they are designed in a boutique hotel style, the bathroom is spacious with a lovely big powerful shower with constant hot water and there was a fridge big enough to keep any bottles of water and other bits you might like to keep cool. 

It had a TV with the usual BBC news channel on it but having a premium room meant that we also got a DVD player & an iPod docking station. they had a selection of DVD's in the foyer but if I'd have known there was a DVD player I would have taken some of my own. I did get to watch The Devil Wears Prada though which I absolutely loved!

One of the best touches in this room was the electronic metal shutter which went down over the patio door to the balcony, meaning that the the sun didn't disturb your sleep if you didn't want it to and there was also a mosquito screen which kept all creepy crawlies out. I never saw one insect in our room all the time we were there!

For a Greek hotel this really was absolute luxury, I know hotels on most Greek Islands have a bit of a bad reputation of being very basic but this was as far away from basic as you could be. You could even flush your loo roll down the toilet which was amazing (usually the drainage systems cannot cope with paper so you have to put it in the bin, ergh). The Magnolia Resort also had a spa which we didn't use but could be hired privately for 30 Euros per hour.

If you enjoy peace and quiet on your holiday and you're not keen on raving music etc. then Kefalonia is definitely for you. The Magnolia resort is an 'adults only' hotel so no children under the age of 12 are allowed, making it doubly quiet and serene around the pool. The only thing I will say is that drinks were quite expensive in the hotel; 2.70 Euros for a can of fizzy drink which I think is a bit much as the average resort price was around 1.80 Euro. We were bed and breakfast and although the selection of food was basic, it was enough for us as we don't like to eat much at breakfast; there was scrambled eggs, streaky bacon, beans, cereal, fruit, greek yoghurt, toast, tea and coffee. One tip I will give you is to try their Tzatziki, it absolutely to die for!! I ate so much during the week!

Booking through Travel Republic it cost us £592.00 for 1 week bed & breakfast in a premium room, working out at £84 per room per night which I don't think is bad at all considering the standard of the hotel. I know you can get places which are a lot cheaper, all inclusive but I don't think the standard would be as high as this was.

I'm also going to do another post about what I did while in Kefalonia but I decided that it would make this post way too long to include it in here.

What is the best Hotel you've ever been to? 

Perfume | Stella by Stella McCartney

I have literally just got back from my holiday, I haven't touched the cases or even attempted to open the mail a. because I'm still in 'holiday mode' and b. because I really wanted to blog just to show you all that I haven't forgotten!!

I flew from Manchester Airport last week to Kefalonia and obviously I had a little look in the duty free shop before we boarded. I know some people go totally mental in the duty free because of the savings you can make but I had decided beforehand that I was only going to buy one bottle of perfume and that would be it as I'm at IMATS this weekend so I wanted to save my money for then. 

After sniffing lots of different perfumes I finally settled on Stella McCartney's fragrance in a limited edition 'Print Collection' bottle. 

I have actually had Stella before, someone bought me it as a Christmas present, normally I probably wouldn't give such perfumes a second look but I really fell in love with this and I haven't had it for a while. I'm a real lover of musky and spicy kinds of scents, this is actually described as a 'floral' scent but that kind of conjures up an inaccurate picture for me of what this really smells like. It's certainly a little more feminine that what I would normally wear, and although the scent is strong it isn't overpowering so it is perfectly fine to wear on a day to day basis.

To be honest this kind of 'floral' is similar to that of 'Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb' in that its quite sensual at the same time. 

Anyway I've described this gorgeous scent badly enough without continuing further! I just wanted to show you what I bought in the duty free really. This cost me around £31 for 30ml, this is usually £40 in Debenhams but you can get this for £33 on Fragrance Direct at the moment!

What would you buy at Duty Free at the moment? What products do you have your eye on?

Guest Post | 'My Summer Makeup'

Hello lovelies! I'm Megan from Thumbelina Lillie and today I'll be sharing what make-up I love using in these warmer months. A big thank you to Jade for asking me to guest post on her fabulous blog... Summer is definitely my favourite season; Not only because the sun brings a big smile to everyone's faces and I get the chance to wear some of my favourite pieces but because you can wear simple, easy and quick-to-apply make-up...

It's really important to wear some form of SPF on your face, especially in Summer! You need to protect your skin against the sun, even when it's not evident in the sky. For a base I use Benefit's 'You Rebel Lite'; An amazing tinted moisturiser with SPF 15 that gives a light coverage but still makes me feel comfortable. If you have oily skin or just get a tad oily in the summer like me, it's well worth using a powder to help reduce those oils. For this I use one of my favourite products, MAC's Mineralize Skinfinish Natural which also adds a tiny bit more coverage.

A waterproof mascara is ideal if you'll be splashing about in a pool, and if you are then I am well and truly jealous! I've recently found a love for Maybelline's 'The Falsies' as it creates great length and curl without giving you clumpy lashes. To add colour to your face I suggest using a cream blush as they give you a subtle and natural finish. I've been testing out some cream blushes and have loved using Revlon Photoready in 'Pinched', a beautiful coral shade. Because my face is simple, I love adding a bright lip. I know this may not be for everyone, but I feel my look is complete when wearing lipstick. MAC's 'Impassioned' has been my go-to recently due to it's vibrancy. 

Well there we have it folks! I'd love to know what make-up you wear in the Summer, so make sure you leave a comment below. Thanks again to Jade for this wonderful opportunity to guest post on her blog, I hope you enjoyed reading.

Megan xxx

Guest Post | The Speckled Nail Trend

Hi, I’m Sarah from Knickers and Nail Polish and I adore the speckled nail trend, it’s so easy to throw it on over the top of most colours to update the look of your nails.

The next polish to jump on the bandwagon is Maybelline who have brought out 3 colours are part of their Colour Show collection. The Maybelline Colour Show range is made of up loads of really vibrant colours, and now they have the top coats to go with, a pink, a blue and a green.

I picked up the blue in Shooting Stars – I’m a sucker for anything star & space related. Shooting Star is a beautiful blue jelly based speckled nail polish. Suspended within the polish is a range of black & white glitter pieces in various sizes.

Worn on its own, this layers to a turquoise blue with the glittery stars sprinkled across the nail easily – its nice to be able to place them where I want. On my ring finger I wore two coats over a clear base. On the other fingers I layered it over a navy blue from Models Own, really this was too dark for the black glitter and a brighter blue would have been better but it still looked really unusual.

It lasted about 3 full days, which is fairly good. It does give a textured feel if you like that, however a topcoat will smooth it out fully.

Over all, a lovely nail polish, a bigger bottle then the L’Oreal Confetti Topcoat, plus its only £2.99!! I can see me using this loads over the summer, I plan to pick up the other colours as soon as I can (my sister picked up the pink and that looked so sweet!)

What do you think? Do you love the Polka-Dot/Speckled Nail?

Jade: Well I for one think that this combination looks gorgeous on, I wouldn't normally go for blue shades of polish but I love this look! Thank you so much to Sarah for taking the time to write a guest post for me, if you love nail polish you have to have a look at Knickers and Nails

Skincare & Haircare | Pre-Holiday Essentials

Seeing as I'm jetting off to the sunny island of Kefalonia soon, I thought I'd do a little post on what I consider to be 'essential' pre holiday products. Love it or hate it, preparing your body for a holiday is pretty much essential, from losing a bloated stomach to making sure your toes look pristine... there are parts of your body which come out on holiday that would otherwise be well and truly covered up in the UK!

I think a pre-holiday pamper night is all part of going on holiday; I always set aside a couple of hours the day before I go just to sort myself out and make sure I'm as ready as I'm gonna be to put myself out there in a bikini.

The first thing I do is get in the shower and take a scoop of Soap & Glory Flake Away and scrub it over the whole of my body, concentrating on the usual dry areas around the elbows and knees to ensure that I get rid of any dead skin cells to give me the best change of getting an even tan. The reason why I love Flake Away so much is because I love the smell and the consistency of the scrub means that it leaves my skin feeling totally smooth and doesn't leave a gritty residue on my skin afterwards. 

 My next step is to pop some Escentially Smooth Hair Removal Cream on my legs, bikini line and under my arms. Using a hair removal cream rather than shaving means that the hair doesn't grow back as quick, it gives me a smoother finish than a razor and it means that I don't have to worry about getting an embaressing shaving rash! Removing hair is one of those taboo subjects I think, but at the end of the day most people do it! 

Once I've showered the hair removal cream off thoroughly I then start on the hair on my head (nobody wants to get these two steps mixed up haha!). I warm some coconut oil up in a sink of hot water, take a scoop out and massage it in to the ends of my dry hair. I then pop my hair up in a bobble and leave it while I apply the Skinceuticals Clarifying Clay Mask. I try and leave the coconut oil on my hair for as long as possible even if I have to wash the mask off before hand as I think the longer the oil is left the better it is really. You could sleep in it if you thought it would help but I prefer not to. 

The final step before I go to bed is to apply some Hemp foot protector on my feet to try and soften up the dry skin on my heels which can be pretty unsightly if left untreated. I tend to put a pair of socks on over my feet when I have this on so I can leave it on all night and rinse any remaining product off the next morning. 

Is there anything else you do as part of a pre-holiday ritual?

Make Up | Bare Minerals Starter Kit

Bare Minerals has been a brand I've been very much aware of for a fair few years now but I've never actually taken the plunge and tried anything from the range because I've always been under the impression that the coverage just wouldn't be enough for what my blemished skin needs even though it does claim to be able to over acne up. You may or may not remember that Zoe did me a guest post back in January; she swears by Bare Minerals as her day to day base makeup so I was really quite looking forward to trying it. 

Bare Minerals Starter Kit £38.95 Chemist Direct*

With the 9 piece starter kit you literally get everything you need to use Bare Minerals products to their full potential. You get 3 brushes; flawless face Brush, full flawless face brush and concealer brush... these alone would cost you in excess of £55 so already you've more than got your moneys worth in just the three brushes. I figure that with products like Bare Minerals it's best to use the brushes made by them so you know you're using the products to their full potential. I dare say you could use any brush with the mineral powders but I think it's always best to use what they recommend. The brushes are really soft and nice to use, they work perfectly with the mineral powders. 

You also receive a 15ml sample of the much raved about 'Prime Time' primer. I don't normally use a primer before my base makeup, I usually just use moisturiser and that's it but this primer is really like a barely there kind of product, it just glides onto the skin effortlessly and what I like about it is that it doesn't feel as powdery and cloggy as The Porefessional which I have used as a primer in the past. I do think that this primer helps give the mineral powder something to 'stick' to but I reckon you could go without it providing you moisturised first. 

Then of course there are the 'core products' to this starter kit, you get; Original SPF Foundation in Light and Fairly Light, Original Mineral Veil and Warmth All Over face colour. Each and every one of the little pots has their new 'click, lock and go' sifter lid so you don't risk spilling any or losing any if you're using this while travelling. 

Like Zoe said in her guest post, the application method of 'swirl, tap and buff' does take a little bit of getting used to but everything is fully explained in the DVD which comes with the kit, so if you're not confident with makeup application or application of mineral powders the DVD gives you some really good pointers. 

I used to think that I'd only get good enough coverage if I used liquid foundations and layered those with plenty of concealer but Bare Minerals has really surprised me in terms of coverage and I didn't have to stand there for half an hour putting layer upon layer on my face. I used the products exactly how it tells you to and I was quite impressed with the results. The formula isn't chalky or talcy and it feels very light which is a change for me as I'm used to wearing quite heavy base products in an attempt to cover the imperfections. 

As you can see it has caked a little bit around dry areas of my face and I'd say that if you have dry skin that is what you'd have to watch out for but I have an oily t-zone and the powder meant that I didn't have any oil break through for over 4 hours which is really good going for me. It's not the best coverage I've tried and it wouldn't be enough for really bad skin days but these products are perfect for summer and holiday use. I'll definitely be taking these to Greece when I go as I tend to get a lot of oil breakthrough when I use liquids abroad in the humidity. 

If you fancy trying this you can get the Bare Minerals Starter Kit* from Chemist Direct for £38.95; a fraction of the price of what it would cost you if you bought all the products individually!

Is Bare Minerals something you'd like to try?

Glossybox | June 2013 'Summer Looks' Box

This is the last Glossybox in my 3 months subscription that I treat myself to, and to be honest due to the contents of this box I'm quite pleased that it's my last one. I saw Sailor Jennie's box and was quite looking forward to receiving mine but unfortunately it hasn't lived up to my expectations. Every box has a theme, this month it's 'Summer Looks.'

What I got:

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse 10ml sample - I've never tried Nuxe as a brand before, and I've always fancied trying their lip balm but dry oil is something I'm quite bored of now, last month I got Caudalie Divine Oil and this month another oil? It might be nice when I'm on holiday to put on at night time but I would really have rather not had this in my box.

Figs and Rouge Coco Rose Lip Balm - FULL SIZE worth £5 - I don't mind that I got this because I've never tried Figs and Rouge and I like the look of the packaging, the product is pretty standard for a lip balm and smells like turkish delight. I did get a lip balm in April so I do think it's a bit soon to be giving me another?

MeMeMe Nail Polish - FULL SIZE worth £5 - Another MeMeMe nail polish? Really Glossybox? I thought the whole point of receiving these boxes was to discover new brands? Do you not take note of what you've sent me before? Not happy, such a 'meh' colour as well.

Monu Hydrating Moisturiser- 30ml Sample - Yet again, I've had Monu before from Glossybox. Won't be using this, will either be given away or be going straight in the bin. 

Helen E Cosmetics Shimmer Eye Powder - A new brand to Glossybox Boxes finally but unfortunately It's another product that will be given away or binned, I don't like shimmer powders on my eyes and I've had countless products like this before from Glossybox

Am I being too harsh, or was this a really rubbish box? Especially in comparison to Jennie's, I would have loved the GOSH eyelash growth stuff. I know you can't choose and the whole point of these boxes is to discover, but I'm not discovering anything when they're sending me the same brands over again! I will not be continuing my subscription with Glossybox, probably ever again, this was their second chance and I still don't like it enough to pay over £12 for the service per month. I'm undecided about whether to try a few Birch Boxes or whether to save £12 every month and buy something I really need/want.

What do you think of this box? And of subscription boxes in general?