Sephora Facial Mist/Water

Sephora Facial Mist/Water

Monday, 21 September 2015

Well hello there! 

Its been rather quiet over here at Tea and Blush recently... thats because Ive been away on holiday! I'm sure, if you follow me on Instagram (@hollylucyhp) or Twitter (@teaandblush) will have seen all my excitable tweets and photos- there's more to come about that over the next few weeks on my blog of course. But for now, I just thought I'd do a quick post on one of the items I picked up in Sephora whilst on a shopping trip in Barcelona.

Before Barcelona I was a Sephora virgin; I'd seen all the US bloggers/youtubers talking about how amazing the stores are so I knew it was something I wanted to do when in the city; forget Gaudi.. lets get some beauty stuff eh!

The store in Barcelona is luxurious and a thing of a beauty addicts dreams; tons of high end brands all in one place for you to lust over. Of course, some of the bits they stock are rather pricey but I'd budgeted a little bit specifically to spend in-store- its all in the name of beauty research yeah? 

I was familiar with a lot of the brands they stocked so wanted to try some of Sephora's own range as I knew I wouldn't be able to get my hands on it in the UK, so I went for the Sephora  Moisturizing & Energizing Water- Mood Enhancer. 

I've come to love spritz type products recently as they can be easily slipped into my beauty routine without taking up too much time. I also sometimes use these types of sprays instead of moisturisers just to mix things up a bit.

The mist comes in a tennis ball sized round bottle with a pump already attached. I like that there is a lock function on the pump as it meant I could pop it into my luggage whilst away without worrying about it leaking over everything.

I find the best time to use the spray is just after I've had a shower or once I've taken all my makeup off before bedtime (excuse the awkward face here).All you do is spritz the water over your face (try to do it without screwing your face up in anticipation I dare you!) and then let the water settle into your skin. 

The water is grapefruit scented and OHH its divine- very tropical but not too overpowering.  It doesn't leave any stickiness at all once its settled. I found it a really nice treat to use on holiday in the warm weather too! 

When it comes to effectiveness its hard to say whether its living up to the name-

 Moisturising- I use a good cleanser and moisturiser on my face anyway so I don't think I'd see the effects from just this product.

Energising- because of the cold spritz it does definitely give you a bit of an energising kick of coldness on your face- maybe once I'm back at work having to get up early I'll use this first thing to help drag me into the world of the living!

Nevertheless I do like having a new product in my skincare routine, it leaves me feeling fresh,smelling yummy and the packaging is pretty cute too!

Annoyingly I can't find this water on the US or Spanish Sephora site, only on the French site here.  It set me back  €12.95.

There are some other spritz/facial mists/waters I've tried out in the past that I like too-

The BodyShop Vitamin C Energising Face Spritz (£11.00)- love this orange scented spritz; over the summer I kept this in the fridge just incase I needed to cool down on the very few warm days we had here in the UK. This one is slightly sticky so not one I'd use over makeup.

Benefit Ultra Radiance Facial Re-Hydrating Mist (£20.50)- I've pretty much tried every product in the Benefit skincare range and this is one I'd repurchase for sure- it has a light scent of cucumber and can be used to add a dewy finish over your makeup too!

Superdrug Vitamin E Toning Facial Mist (£2.99)- Love this one too! Cheaper but I think its just as good as the more expensive ones- maybe this would be a good one to start with if you haven't used a facial mist before to see whether it fits into your routine!?

Although its autumn/winter season now I still think mist products have a place in our beauty routines, they provide moisture to dry skin and give that extra bit of glow when sprayed over your makeup!

Have you tried any of these mists?

Whats your fave Sephora Collection product?

XOXO

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Holiday mini #OOTD

Holiday mini #OOTD

Friday, 11 September 2015

Hello lovelies!

Im currently away on holiday in Spain, right near Barcelona! Although I don't have internet access a lot of the time I just wanted to post a quick OOTD.

We went out for dinner last night in the local town (more to come on all that once i'm back in the UK) and decided to wear one of my new outfits.

V neck cami from River island £16- I really like this cami as its double layered at the front. I tend to avoid white and light coloured tops usually as I hate it when you can see your bra though it but the double layering on this one covers it up completely!

Black Belted culottes from River Island £35- totally in love with these culottes! They fit so well and I'm loving that they are slightly high waisted as it makes them feel a lot more flattering. They also come with a little gold detailing belt. 

Miss KG 2 part heels approx £25- I haven't been able to find these exact ones- they were such a bargain I think they may have sold out but here are some similar ones by Miss KG.

H&M shopper bag £19.99- okay you can't see it too much in this picture but its the ideal bag for holiday! Going to Barcelona I was worried about using a backpack to keep my money,camera and everything else in so wanted a zip up shopper to keep everything safe. I also used it for my carry on bag for the flight and it comfortably fit my Macbook,camera and a massive Elle magazine in!

As you can see from the photo I haven't massively caught the sun whilst here yet.. but I do keep thinking pale skin equals no sun damage or peeling in a few weeks!

Anyho.. best get back to relaxing and enjoying our last weekend away. Tomorrow we are going back to Barcelona again and doing the proper touristy sightseeing bus. It costs 27 Euros for the whole day and it means we get to see all the amazing sights around the beautiful city!

XOXOX

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#HolidayHighlights with Eurocamp

#HolidayHighlights with Eurocamp

Tuesday, 1 September 2015

Later this week me and the Mr are off on holiday. 

We sat down on rainy sunday afternoon a month ago and had a think about what type of holiday we'd like. We came to the conclusion that although there are huge benefits for all inclusive type holidays it just isn’t us.What we really want is freedom to do whatever we fancy,eat whatever we want and come and go as we please.

I think my expectations of holidays are massively built around what we did as a family when I was younger and the experiences and memories those holidays have left me with. The majority of my family holidays were spent in either France, Spain or Italy, exploring the local towns,eating divine food and generally just having a brilliant time.

Part of what made those holidays so brilliant was that we holidayed each year with Eurocamp. If you don’t know Eurocamp.. you should. They have been running for years and offer reasonably priced stays at their sites across Europe- they offer a variety of accommodation types from mobile homes, impressive canvas tents, safari tents,tree houses and more!

Eurocamp holidays tend to mean you experience so much more than you would on an all inclusive holiday in my opinion; although you are based on a campsite much like an all inclusive resort, their sites are placed in areas that have a lot going on in the surrounding towns/villages. It means that you aren't restricted to just staying on the site and you get to experience  the country you visit much like the locals would do! 

Your going to be hearing a lot more about Eurocamp on my blog and social media over the next few weeks so I thought I’d do a little intro to run alongside their #holidayhighlights social media campaign! 

I can’t even remember the first time we went to Eurocamp, which site we stayed at and how old I was, but the reason behind this is because we’ve had SO many amazing holidays over the years with Eurocamp they all merge into a bundle of happy memories- I want to share some of those #holidayhighlights with you all!

#Holidayhighlight number 1-Family time

We loved that when you arrive at a Eurocamp site its like disconnecting from the rest of the world for a bit. Of course back in the days when I was a little one the internet wasn't a huge important thing in my life so it wasn't so much getting away from technology, it was just about getting to spend some quality time with my parents. Nowadays I can imagine taking kids to a Eurocamp site is very much about disconnecting from the internet,computer games and social media. Getting them back into exploring their surroundings and enjoying the more simple things in life like playing! I'm looking forward to this element of our  upcoming holiday strangely- being uncontactable for 10 days unless I choose to go to the bar to use wifi is going to be quite strange but at the same time quite relaxing. 

I also love looking back on the evenings when we used to sit outside our tent playing Uno with my mum and dad.  Those games used to get really competitive! Oh and I loved that each night we would have a BBQ just because we could... you don't get that on every holiday do you?!

#HolidayHighlight number 2- Doing something different for less....

Eurocamp has been so flexible for us as a family-  on your standard package holidays you normally pay a price per person but with Eurocamp you pay for the accommodation you stay in. This meant that me and my brother got to take friends away with us without making it more expensive for my parents! We also, on a number of our holidays arranged for our cousins, aunties and uncles to come to the same site and have a Eurocamp tent near us. This meant we could all have a big family holiday without the huge expense of an all inclusive type package!

On all of our Eurocamp trips over the years we've always opted for the tents- the classic tents sleep 6 (4 adults max) and is SO much fun. Yeah,its camping but you still have the luxury of electricity, a fridge, cooker and most importantly a comfy bed! 

Look at me and my little brother.. aren't we cute!!

#Holidayhighlight number 3- Freedom

As a kid I remember arriving at the chosen campsite and having that feeling of freedom. The freedom to find the best tree to climb,pool to swim in and snack to buy from the onsite shop. Me and my brother loved being able to go out on our bikes without our parents worrying too much about us as they knew we wouldn't leave the site and that we'd look out for each other.   We also used to love taking advantage of the onsite kids clubs that Eurocamp put on for the little ones!

We had huge freedom about our holiday planning; on a number of occasions stayed one week at a site then move to another site in a different area. Obviously when I was little I had no idea how all this stuff worked but my mum has reported that the Eurocamp team have always been so helpful when wanting to spread your holiday over 2 or more sites, they do all the booking and organising, you just turn up!

One year our tent got flooded so Eurocamp put us up in one of their mobile homes!

 As a family we also loved the element of freedom Eurocamp holidays give you in terms of exploring. We have stayed on so many sites over the years and every one has been so well positioned to towns,shopping facilities,beaches and generally just good stuff for families to do on a holiday. We've always tended to take the car with us as it means you can get about more but Eurocamp do say that some of their sites are so well positioned you can go for a car-free holiday if you like.

#Holidayhighlight number 4- All the fun things....

Wow look at that outfit I'm rockin! One year we stayed at a Eurocamp site near Paris and of course we had to pay a visit to Disneyland.  I remember being SO excited about the theme park and also that we were staying so close by. It meant we didn't have the awfully long drive home afterwards and we could go back another day to make sure we saw the whole theme park and not have to cram it all into one day. 

Other fun things I remember from our Eurocamp holidays are the times we did fishing at the local lakes and then cooked and ate our catch and the huge coincidence of meeting one of my school friends on a site in the south of France. 

#Holidayhightlight number 5- Getting there

Part of the whole Eurocamp adventure is the getting to the site.  We have been on all sorts of epic car journeys over the years; we once drove all the way through France to get to a site in Spain! My mum was always so prepared for these journeys, I remember so well the holiday goody bags she used to make for us to keep us entertained and quiet whilst she tackled a map. Of course these days you can take iPads and all sorts of gadgets to keep kids quiet in the back but I loved just reading a good book whilst we travelled. 

Looking through the old photos from our trips has got me even more excited about our holiday! I can't wait for the Mr to experience  Eurocamp holiday and to see what its like going back as an adult. Oh and even more exciting news... I'm actually working with Eurocamp on a project whilst away so I will be publishing more posts on my blog about my experience and also on their website blog when I get back!

Have you ever been away with Eurocamp?

What are your fave holiday memories?

XOXOX

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