What am I taking to Spain?- Look inside my suitcase

As I write this post I'll be getting up in about 2 hours to go to the airport to catch our flight to Spain! But just before I depart I thought I'd show you some of what I am taking on holiday. I haven't included everything because I highly doubt you'd want to see hair dryers, chargers and underwear! So I tried to include all the fashion and beauty bits. Hope you enjoy, and maybe it will give you a little inspiration for your Summer suitcase? 

Staring with bottoms I'm taking 3 skirts with me, 2 maxi skirts and 1 regular skirt. For me a black maxi skirt is a staple, as it is so versatile and great to wear in hot weather. 

From left to right skirt is from- Primark, Boohoo and New Look

Then of course other essential bottoms in hot weather are shorts. I've brought a mixture of styles and materials, I have a denim pair, linen pair, then softer cotton-like material pairs.  

Black Linen shorts- River Island
Floral and purple white spotty- Primark
Denim shorts- Bay
Navy and navy and pink striped pairs- Jack Wills

I've brought 1 pair of long trousers to wear, potentially to wear in the evenings when its a bit cooler, and also this lovely skort, which is high waisted so I can wear bikini tops with them. 

Floral trousers- Miss Selfridges
Skort-  Primark 

Another fashion favourite of mine to wear in hot weather is play-suits and jumpsuits, since they are so easy to just throw on and are nice and cool to wear. Plus this jumpsuit could be worn in the day time, then dressed up for the evening. 

Both are from Forever 21 

Crop tops are a must in hot weather, and I love these ones as they aren't too short on me so I feel nice and confident, without having to wear loads of layers. 

From left to right tops are from-
H&M, Topshop and New Look 

Then I've brought a couple of strappy tops to wear with my black maxi skirt, or even some of my shorts. 

Blue flower top from Primark, and cream rose bud top from Forever 21

Another essential is bikini cover ups and just general loose vest tops. These will be perfect for throwing over a bikini while you have a spot of lunch or go and grab an ice cream. 

Two white tops are from Topshop, and the orange and
 white stripe top is from Jack Wills

Kimonos are also amazing bikini cover-ups, but can also be worn as an outfit staple or in the evening. I picked up this palm tree one recently and I love it. 

Kimonos- both from New Look 

Dresses, dresses and more dresses. I could live and die in dresses, and I especially like wearing ones like this in the hot weather. 

Dresses- all from Primark

I love this blue sparkly dress and think it will be perfect for the evening if we go out to dinner as its simplistic. but the glitter and simmer in the fabric adds an extra something. Plus it caught my eye as t reminded me a ting bit of Queen Elsa's dress from Frozen. 

Blue sparkly dress- Primark
Orange dress- Topshop
Black maxi dress- Boohoo

I've also packed more basics like plain black and white vests and tops, as well as pyjamas and a cardigan and denim gilet to wear in the evenings. But moving onto accessories;  

After taking this picture I decided against bringing the yellow straw hat as I didn't think I needed it if I was bringing my white one. But hats are great for when you're on the beach reading your book or magazine, and I'm in love with my oversized black one, since it was so inexpensive. 

White straw hat- Primark
Black floppy hat- Ebay

I've then brought a variety of hair accessories ranging from scrunchies, to a flower crown  and a scarf to wear in my hair. 

I've not brought much jewellery as in all honesty I don't know when I'll wear it since we will be on the beach, and plus when I get quite hot I never like to wear too much jewellery anyway.  

Then of course you need a handy bag to carry the essentials when you're on the move, like purse, camera and phone. 

Bag is from New Look

Obviously I'll be needing swimwear of some sort, so  I'm taking these lovely gingham ones and some other ones as well. I don't have any matching bottoms for the green gingham top, so I'll either wear it with one of my skirts or maybe buy some bottoms while I'm out there. 

Gingham swimwear- River Island

Then finally to complete my Summer suitcase I need some sandals and flip flops. I've got some nice ones that I can wear around during the day, then some cheaper ones I can put on while I'm at the beach or pool. 

All shoes from Primark, apart from the pink and blue flip flops
which are from the make Havaianas.  

 I've also brought two wedge like heeled shoes to wear in the evening, these would be great with my black maxi skirt or dress. 

Shoes- both from New Look

Here are some of my beauty bits I'm taking to help me survive the hot weather. I have my tangle teaser for those pesky sea knots. My new mango body sorbet from the Body Shop, and my Soap and Glory Righteous Butter are to help revive and hydrate my skin after hours in the sun. I have a mini dry shampoo and a Mark Hill anti humidity spray for my hair, and lastly two Body Shop body sprays, in peach and raspberry.   

Then of course I have my other toiletries like tooth brush and body wash, and not forgetting sun cream and after sun. 

I do also have a whole Ted Baker make-up bag full of all my make-up but I didn't want this post to be endless! 

In my bag I'm taking to the airport I have my iPod, book (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), my Lady Killers script (going to do some line learning while I'm away), purse and things like hand gel and pens. 

But let me stop before this becomes mega long! When I'm back I'm planning on doing a Look Book of all the outfits I wore on holiday, so look for that when I'm back! 

Hope you liked this insight into my suitcase, and I will be back with another post in a couple of weeks! 

Cheerio!

Hannah

'One man's trash is another man's treasure'- Recent Charity Shop Gems and Tips

So for anyone who didn't know I am a massive lover of Charity Shops, I think that not only are they a good cause, but you can also find some hidden gems in them as well. So I thought I'd share some bits that I've picked up recently, and also some tips that I find useful when I shop around as well. 

Tip 1- You need to have an open mind! Don't go in there thinking 'oh everything in here is old and smelly, I won't like it', because a lot of the time they do have some really quite modern stuff from places like Primark, River Island, New Look and Topshop! I've even brought things before and they have still had tags on. Plus what you can think is that you will wash it before you wear it yourself. 

Speaking of modern makes I got these two Summer tops recently, the mint green top which has Seagulls and boats on is from a make called 'Limited Collection' which I believe is from Marks & Spencers, but correct me if I'm wrong. It's such a lovely colour and perfect for the Summer. Then I also found this Summer vest top, which was originally from H&M. It is navy with Daisies all over it, and it has hook and eye fastenings down the front, which was a different look, rather than buttons. 

Mint Green tie up top from Havens Hospice- £3.50
Daisy print top from pdsa- £2.99

This next top I got by a complete stroke of luck, because where the staff in the shop put clothes out throughout the day my Mum caught sight of this top just as a lady had put it out on one of the rails, so she snapped it up quickly as she thought it would be perfect for a character I'm playing in a show in September. The character is Mrs Wilberforce from the show The Ladykillers, and the lace detail on the neck is so fitting its fabulous. But I'll wear this in and out of character as I think its a lovely top. This top sadly doesn't have a label in so I don't even know where its originally from, but I think that sometimes makes it even more special and unique. 

Lace top from Havens Hospice- £4

Tip 2- Don't always just look in your size. What I tend to do is look in all the sizes, depending how much time I have, as you can sometimes find some really lovely bits in sizes a couple of sizes bigger than your actual size. As where different shops have different sizing systems its always good to look.

For instance the other day I was looking at all the sizes and came across this adorable Elephant printed shirt. It was in the XL section but when I tried it on its no bigger than a size 14, which suits me as I like my tops a little roomier for my bust at times haha. It's just a long sleeved sheer shirt with silver buttons all the way down, and little round silver studs on the collar tips. Again this doesn't have a make inside, but I can imagine it coming from a little clothes boutique that isn't well known, since I've not seen this print before. 

Elephant shirt from pdsa- £3.99

 When I saw this in the shop I imagined wearing this tucked into a black skater skirt, or a pair of chinos, or something high waisted, so as to define a waist as the shirt is quite loose fitting. 

The print is just so adorable! 

Tip 3- Look everywhere! Yep that's right, everywhere. In all the little cubby holes and shelves, you never know what you may find. 

I found this lovely Vintage looking tapestry clutch bag, it was hidden among lots of other bags but I spotted it and knew I needed it! I think its so beautiful and once again where it probably is Vintage I bet no one else will have it. 

Clutch bag- £3.99

Then when I was rummaging through a basket of bits I found this actual Cath Kidston shopper bag! I couldn't believe my luck. Its only made of thin material, so not the well known shiny oil cloth Cath Kidston  bags, but this would probably retail for around £4, and I got it for 50p! Bargain or what? Plus it meant I could carry the rest of my bargains in it, rather than use a plastic bag. Nice and eco-friendly.

Cath Kidston bag from Havens Hospice- 50p

Tip 4- Don't underestimate the shoes. Being a shoe lover I always look at the shoes, but very rarely do I buy any, one because they never usually have and in my size, and two I'm a little funny when it comes to shoes, because with clothes you can wash them and you know they are totally clean, where as shoes are very hard to get, in my words 'completely fresh' haha. But in this case I found some very cute shoes, and what do you know they were brand new! They were from H&M and they still had the labels on and you can tell they hadn't been worn at all. They are just some lovely nude/pink lace up brogue styled shoes. I also got this pretty navy and white striped scarf, as I'm really into the whole Nautical style again and thought this would be perfect for that style. Its from the brand TU, which is the clothing brand at the super market Sainsburys.

Shoes- £5
Scarf- £1.50

Then the last thing I got was this beautiful Vintage broach, with a rose in the middle and then an almost gold frame around it. I thought this would look cute on a blazer pocket, or even on a shirt collar.

Broach- 75p

So there are some things I've picked up recently, so my final and 5th tip for Charity shop hunting is to have fun and don't expect to find amazing things every time you go in one, because sometimes you won't find anything, then sometimes you'll find tons of stuff, its literally just pot luck and is like a treasure hunt. But that is the fun of it after all, buying little gems at super good prices and also doing your bit for charity, what could be better?

I'm off to Spain in two days, so I'll be uploading my 'What's in my holiday bag' post tomorrow, but till then...

Cheerio!

Hannah

'A very merry Unbirthday to you!'- Some birthday bits

So as I've mentioned previously my Birthday was back in June and I just wanted to share some of the lovely bits I got. Just as a disclaimer I am not bragging in any way, I am sooo grateful for all the lovely things I got. Plus I really enjoy reading and watching people do posts and videos about what they got for their Birthday, so I thought I would give it a shot. 

I've only included Fashion, Beauty and Disney bits as I feel that's most relevant to my Blog.

I'll start with my favourite present, which is the Blue Fuji Instax Mini 8 Polaroid camera. I have wanted to get one of these for ageeesss, so I was super happy when I opened this. It came with 4 packs of 10 Instax film, and a wrist strap. Its just so cute! 

Moving onto clothes, Mumma Drake was so on point (as usual) and got me some gorgeous garments from Topshop, New Look and Miss Selfridge. 

Starting with Topshop I got this beautiful powder pink crop overlay lace dress;

It looks so 60's inspired, which I love!

I got this lovely orange and lilac patterned print folklore shift dress. It has two pockets on the front of the skirt which is super handy, and I think that because of the colours it can be worn in Summer, and then you can add layers over it for the Autumn as well.  

I wore this dress to my Birthday meal at TGI Fridays

This is the last dress from Topshop and its this lovely pocket overlay tunic dress in an orange colour. Its made from such a lovely fabric, and I've saved this dress for when I go to Spain in a week! Eeeeeppp

Then to accessorize the dress, my Mum matched this gorgeous Tribal inspired necklace and cute multi coloured scrunchie with it. 

It all looks so good together, Mumma Drake the fashionista!

From New Look I got this amazing cream lace Kimono, with a fringed hem. What I really like about this is that the sleeves aren't too long. So they don't get in the way.  

Kimonos are such a Summer staple at the mo! 

Also from New Look I got these fabulous black chunky heel caged sandals, with gold buckles. My Mum originally got me a size 4 (which is my normal size) but since this style of sandal are so enclosed they didn't fit, so I had to get a size 5, so they actually fit now! They are soo super comfy, and I think they look cool with cute ankle socks, or just on their own. 

Last clothing item I got were these amazing pink floral printed trousers from Miss Selfridge. I spotted these ages ago with Mum, and once again I've saved them for my holiday. Does anyone else do that? Save clothes purely so you have new clothes to wear on holiday? Or is that just me? Haha.

No Birthday is complete for me without getting socks, some of these are from my Mum, then the rest are from two of my friends. 

Both Pug pairs are from Topshop
Black Pomeranian pair is from River Island
Then the two frilly pairs are from Dorothy Perkins

From some of my friends I got some lovely beauty bits, mainly from The Body Shop as that's my fav. 

I got a Strawberry girft set from my friend Hannah, which included a mini body mop, shower gel, body butter and body polish. 

My friend Elise got me a selection of Bodyshop bits, one being this Passion Fruit Body Butter, which smells delicious. Plus the colour is fab 

Lauren got me a Barry M nail varnish, which is a sparkly pink colour, and a little body lotion. Then I got 4 lip balms from the Bodyshop which were, Watermelon, Strawberry, Raspberry and Passionberry. Once again they all smell delicious. 

Then between Grace and Lauren I got several mini Soap ad Glory products, which I love as they smell so good and make your skin feel so nice. I did steer away from Soap and Glory products as I wasn't sure if they tested on animals or not, but after doing some research I found that they don't! So I can now stock up on Soap and Glory! Woooo

I love the packaging of Soap and Glory products. 

Now to end on a bit of Disney. I entered the 21 Century back in May and got an iPhone so my Mum brought me a couple of cute Disney cases, so I can swap between them. 

I love them both so much.  

As you can see I have the Princess one on my phone at the moment, I just think its brilliant. 

So there is a few of the lovely bits I got for my birthday. Once again I'm not bragging, I just know how much I enjoy reading and watching things like this and thought I'd have a go, I'm so thankful for everything I got! 

Anywho I'll be uploading my 'What am I taking to Spain' post in a few days, so look out for that! 

Cheerio! 

Hannah  

'A few of my favourite things'- June Favourites

This year is going by so fast its unreal! But anywho here are my June favourites. 

I'm going to start off with something that wasn't technically in June, it was at the end of May. But since I jumped the gun last month and did my favourites a bit early, this was too amazing not to put in a monthly favourites, and this was... 

GOING TO SEE KATY PERRY! Ahhhhh she was just so amazing I can't even describe it. My sister got me the ticket for Christmas, so  went with her, my brother and two of my nieces. 

Me and my niece Charlotte, after  buying t-shirts.

The gang! 

The seats we had were amazing! We were right in front of the
centre of the stage and had such and amazing view 

Icona Pop was her support act, and they were really good, but obviously Katy Perry stole the show, it was the Prismatic World tour, so she mainly sung songs from her most recent album 'Prism'. But she did also sing some of her other hits like, 'I Kissed a Girl', 'Thinking of You', and then my favourite 'Teenage Dream'. But the final song 'Firework' was amazing, and she had some of the most amazing costumes I have ever seen! 

But keeping with the Katy theme, my next June favourite has been her album Prism. I have not stopped listening to it! Some of my favourites are 'By the Grace of God', 'This Moment', 'Love Me'. Then of course the more well known ones like 'Roar', 'Dark Horse' and 'Birthday'. 

The song 'Birthday' was very topical this month as it was my birthday! I turned 19 (scary, my last year of being a teen!) and I celebrated it by going out to a meal with my family to T G I Fridays, one of my favourite restaurants. 

Me with a birthday cocktail

No birthday is complete without a balloon hat!
My Mum also looks terrified haha! 

I had a lovely day and got some lovely presents. I am planning on doing a birthday look book/ what I got for my birthday, sine my mum brought me some lovely clothes and bits. 

Since it was my birthday I also had a night out with friends to celebrate and I had such a good night;

Me and my friend Lauren

Meg, myself, Lauren and Elise

I was clearly loving life. 

Another big thing that happened in June was that a I brought a car! I may not have passed my test yet, but I am so close I just need further practise driving around Then with any luck my licence will be turning pink soon! 

I have a purple KA, and she is called Betty. I love her.
Also the outfit match was a coincidence. 

I'm finished with the life favourites, lets move on to beauty, fashion and film. I have loved three films this month one of them being the new Disney film Maleficent, I went and saw it at the cinema with my Mum and I thought it was amazing. I could not fault Angelina Jolie's performance as Maleficent, I thought she was fantastic, she was so sassy it was wonderful. 

The other two films, one of them being Disney, have also been movie of the month for me. The first one is The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, I saw this in the cinema earlier this year and just thought it was hilarious, both Leonardo and Jonah Hill are hilarious in it. Then the final film I've loved this week has been Saving Mr Banks, starring Tom Hanks, and Emma Thompson. It tells the story of how the film Mary Poppins was created, and Tom Hanks plays Walt Disney, which to me personally was fantastic as Tom Hanks is my favourite actor of all time (with Leonardo DiCaprio and a close second). 

 Food favourite this month has been Nature Valley Oats and Honey bars. This month especially I've been trying to eat better, now I'm not under the illusion that these are super food for you, since they do contain a lot of sugar, but they are better for you than say a chocolate bar, plus they are super yummy.

Make-up favourites have been the Honey Bronzer from The Body Shop, this is a re-purchase as I love it so much and its just a lovely bronzer. Then also this fairly new product from The Body Shop, which is the Tea Tree Flawless BB Cream, which is almost like a foundation, but you could also use it as a base. Personally I find that on its own its fine, but I do put some powder over the top just to set it completely. I find its really lovely on the skin and as its Tea Tree it may be better for your skin as well. 

Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder in 03 Medium Matte- £13
BB Cream in 01 Light- £8

 Then finally my fashion favourite this month has been patterned harem trousers, they are such a fashion staple at the moment, so good for the Summer, and so nice to style. I'm thinking of doing a post on how I personally style harem trousers, what do you think?

From left to right trousers are from- Camden, Primark, and New Look

That's all the things I was loving in the month of June, what have you been loving this month? Let me know down below!

Cheerio! 

Hannah