Top things to do in London this winter

 

With London being my city and my favourite place I created a quick and easy travel guide for the tourist, shopper or cake enthusiast to point out some of my favourite places in London!

Places to eat/drink:

London is a large place and even with lots of transport systems you find yourself doing a lot of walking which makes your feet ache (I am using any excuse here for a piece of cake!) so here is a selection of quaint cafes, ambient restaurants and lively bars:

Draughts: A café which offers usual foods such as cheese boards and brownies but with an unusual twist! Draughts is a library of over 500 board games where you can sit, eat and drink to your heart’s content whilst challenging a fellow coffee sipper to a game.

Nearest tube station is Haggerton.

Sushi Tetsu: If you are a sushi enthusiast like me then you will love London as it is a sushi hub with a sushi bar around every corner. Sushsi Tetsu is a small sushi bar located near Aylesbury Street. It specialises in sushi and sashimi, the small restaurant creates a contrast the busy rush of the London streets and provides the place to relax and enjoy your dining.

Nearest tube station is Barbican

The Goring Hotel: This is a beautiful hotel which you may have heard of because it is where Kate Middleton was prepared before her wedding to Prince William. I was fortunate enough to indulge in an afternoon tea here which was delicious. If you book in advance you have the whole afternoon to enjoy unlimited teas, sandwiches and cake and to take a leisurely stroll around the gardens perimeter. Afternoon tea is perfect after a morning shop or theatre trip!

Nearest tube station is Victoria

Tanya’s café: If you are looking to stay healthy when in London then try Tanya’s café; a cafe which offers drinks, mains and treats made from raw food. The innovative store will help you feel good on the inside and fuel you for a busy day ahead.

Nearest tube station is Pelham street

The Rainforest café: I remember visiting this restaurant when I was younger. This is designed as a rainforest where you are surrounded by majestic animals and greenery- an amazing atmosphere! Popular foods such as pasta, salads and bbq chicken are served here.

Nearest tube station is Piccadilly circus

Shopping

If you are wanting a shopping trip London is the best place, with a selection of luxury, famous or traditional stores London has an item for every shopper; (even my Dad manages to find something) here are some of my favourite shopping locations:

Harrods: The most famous department store as it is the largest in Europe with over 330 departments. My favourite section is tied between the make-up and the chocolate department! However, the toy department still has a place in my heart as I remember how enchanting it was when I was younger! The Egyptian theme area is also very special due to the mesmerizing decorations.  

Nearest tube station is Knightsbridge

Oxford/Bond/Regent street: The three famous green streets which everyone fights over in Monopoly! These three streets provide the perfect shopping experience with basically every store needed scattered along the streets. Some of my favourite picks are Selfridges and the three floor Lush.

Nearest Tube station is Bond street/Oxford Circus

Covent Garden: If you are looking for a bit of everything Covent Garden is great ranging from older, traditional stores such as Mr Simms Olde sweet shop to more famous brands such as Apple and Mac. Whilst walking around the shops (inside and out) you will be entertained by a number of street artists or you can even take a trip to the Royal Opera house or Transport museum!

Nearest tube station Covent Garden

Camden Market: If you are looking for a different approach to shopping try Camden; these streets are lined with the most creative and unique stores. If you feel your haggling skills are up to date then try to earn a deal in the stalls; or if you’re feeling very brave try a different dish as there is an array of cuisines which are set up in the streets. Camden has one of the quirkiest atmospheres in London and is a great option to try a different style of shopping!

Nearest tube station Camden town

Top Attractions:

The London Eye: I have only been on the London Eye during the day but I have heard the night time experience is even more magical, with majestic views of London illuminated at night.  The eye gives you a 30 minute tour of London and the different angles give you different views of the city. If you are willing to battle the queues then visiting on New Year’s Eve will be truly magical as you can view the scenes whilst watching fireworks and seeing in the new year.

Nearest tube station is Waterloo

London Dungeons: These have been recently renovated and has added many new scenes but also kept some old favourites like the end drop ride. Here you learn about the gruesome history of England under different kings and queens reigns and about the times of Sweeney Todd and Jack the Ripper. The actresses and actors are superb and make the experience extremely realistic.

Nearest tube station is Waterloo

The British Museum: My family and I are currently organising a trip to the British Museum as we have never visited but we have been encouraged after watching the latest night of the museum film. Also, in my travel guide (which I received for Christmas), The British Museum ranks number 15 on places to visit in the World!

 

Nearest tube station is Tottenham Court Road

West End: London provides an excellent range of theatres and there is one to suite everybody, here are a selection of some of my favourites:

·         The Lion King

·         Wicked

·         Mamma Mia

·         Grease

·         Charlie and the chocolate factory

·         The Woman in black

 

 

To organise your trip use Eventbrite where you can manage, customise and sell tickets to your own event.

 

Best Drugstore Concealer Revealed

Over the course of this year I have been swabbing and swapping different concealers from the drugstore (due to many late nights and early mornings) which has lead me to give you advice on the best concealers and the ones which well... are not really worth the money...

No7 Match Made concealer £7.50- One of the good things about this concealer being No7 is that you can t get a match closet to your skin shade. and with 17 shades you are sure to find a match, mine is in the shade calico which is an amazing match  for my skin. However, for me, that is the only positive as I am not a fan of the formula as I find it hard to apply and hard to blend meaning there is a distinct line between my foundation and concealer. Also, the 16 hour lasting power is not essentially true as I find myself having to top up in places every two hours.

Maybelline The Eraser Eye £7.99- I remember there being a massive hype about this concealer around summer time and this even made it into one of my favourites posts; however now it is not such a favourite. It blends well with foundation but that is about it, I think it may partially because I purchased this in the shade nude whereas I now definitely know I am in the shade light! I think having only two shades as option though really does limit this concealer. Also I just don't really get along with the applicator, you have to turn the package for product to come out onto the sponge which only fits under certain parts of your eye and does not fit into the corners!

Rimmel Long Lasting concealer £5.49- This concealer blends really well and I like the applicator which means I can apply it in the corners of my eye and around my nose. I purchased this in the shade soft beige and I do find the colour has a bit of orangey undertones but overall this is a solid concealer.

Collection Lasting perfection £3.99- I have this shade in fair and it is amazing as it brightens underneath my eyes and blends well with my make-up. The applicator means I can apply the concealer in the corners of my eyes and it leaves a seamless finish! This concealer certainly lasts a long time as well as I don't find myself having to top it up at all during the day.



Collection, Rimmel, No7, Maybelline concealers

So overall I would say the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer is the best for value, application and colour but the Rimmel Wake Me Up closely follows, certainly making it into the top two. For me the Maybelline one just doesn't really work, maybe because it is in the wrong colour and because of the applicator. And the No7 match made concealer? Considering it is one of the more pricier concealers it is really not worth it.

Bold metals collection brushes by Real Techniques

Real Techniques brushes are my 'got to' brushes as I already own the eye set of brushes and the powder brushes, however I never quiet found the excuse to splurge £64 on the bold metal brushes; until of course I managed to bargain them for £32 on the Boots website! When I opened the package it was like a light entering the room (cringey I know;) I absolutely adore the gold, rose gold  (I can just hear everyone cheer at the colour of rose gold) and silver colouring of the brushes. One of my favourite parts of the brushes is the sharp edges at the bottom of the brush which then become more rounded nearer the top, this makes it easier to hold the brushes at the correct angle to apply and blend your make-up. The only thing is that now doing my make-up can be a bit of an arm workout as they are quiet heavy brushes, but what can be expected, I mean it says 'metal' in the name (and I do need to tone up my arms after all the Christmas eating!) Here is a run through of the brushes included:

103 Angled powder brush is an exclusive brush to this gift set; as stated in the name this brush is angled so is brilliant to contour your face. I usually use this to apply bronzer in the cheek bone area and to blend powder into my foundation.

300 Tapered brush forms a bit more of a tip, as it is a more smaller head I use this to sweep highlighter across my cheek. The tip allows a more precise application of make-up so you could also use it when highlighting brow bones and the cupids bow.

200 Oval shadow is the most rounded brush and I use it during the eye make-process. I do not use this to apply individual eye shadows but instead at the end to blend the different shadows together for a seamless finish.

How can I forget, included in the pack is also a rose gold and silver coloured real techniques make-up pouch which you can fit your brushes in to take away!

Luxurious gifts for that someone special

We all have those people in our lives who we want to show a bit of appreciation and go a full out splurge on but sometimes it is hard to decide what items are worth spending the cash on. Here is a full blown out list of some items which I think would be great for that extra special somebody.

Hourglass ambient lighting pallet £65

This is the beauty rave of the year and I am sure the majority of beauty lovers would really appreciate opening this on Christmas day; I should know as it is on my list!

Benefit You`re So Party £39.50

This is a great gift set for teenage girls who love Benefit make-up; it contains some of Benfits most popular pieces including: they`re real! mascara, hoola bronzing powder, the POREfessional mini and an ultra plush lip gloss mini in hoola. These items will be great for the upcoming party season!

Clarins Eau Dynamisante Collection - Wake-Up Treats £32

 

I usually find Clarins is a brand which slightly more mature women like as I know my mum is a sucker for Clarins. This gift includes a selection of: The Eau Dynamisante Spray 100ml, The Eau Dynamisante Moisturizing Body Lotion 100ml and The Eau Dynamisante Shower Gel 50ml.

L' Occitane Sparkling Verbena Collection £49

L’Occitane gifts are perfect for those nearest and dearest as they have a selection of beautifully pre-wrapped gifts (to save you the tedious task)! This gift here includes their: eau de toilette, shower gel, body lotion, extra-gentle soap and cooling hand cream gel; it is also in their most recent and my personal favourite scent ‘Verbena’!

Jo Malone Candle  £42

All of Jo Malone's items are luxurious but a candle which really caught my attention was the Almond and macaroon one which I then pointed out to my mum which she then added to her list (great!)

Molton Brown Hand Wash Bauble £11

These must be Molton Brown's best sellers as they are extremely festive: a beautifully packaged bauble with a luxurious hand wash! This year they have released a limited edition fragrance of Elderflower.

My Christmas list

It's that time of year where you are having to send your Christmas wish list off to Father Christmas (your parents are frantically running around departments) and yet it is completely blank. For those of you struggling I thought I would share my little long list with you:

One treasured piece on my wish list is the Chanel Illusion D'ombre Long wear Luminous eye shadow (a bit of a mouthful )which is a beautiful burgundy colour, I spotted this beauty in House of Fraser with my mum and it was a matter of 'who saw it first' on to who got to write it on their Christmas list. In fact I went a bit Chanel crazy (poor parents) and my list also included le crayon yeux precision eye definer in gold and Le vernis nail colour in rouge noir.

I'm not really a massive reader (except of blog posts) and have only actually read one book this year (which is gone girl by Gillian Flynn and I highly recommend it) but I managed to include some books into my list, even if they are not the usual novel. I love the quirky books in Urban Outfitters and I have asked for the 'Lonely Planet Best Place To Be Today' book because as you know I am a bit of a travel junkie. Urban outfitters just about has a book for everyone there whether you are a nutella addict or looking for a joke about cheese, cant guarantee there would be a book for you. Another book I have asked for, which is admittedly is very childish and I am wayyy too embarrassed to go and buy the book myself, is the Diary of a Wimpy Kid 'Old school,' these books make me laugh too much and I was in stiches with the last one. They are probably 10 years below my reading age group but oh well!

Clothes wise I don't really trust anybody with buying me pieces but I have added a pair of top shop's black jeans to my list. I love the Joni style of jeans and (much to my family's disapproval) picked up a pair of the ripped ones a few months ago. I only own two pairs of comfortable jeans so I thought it would be the time to invest in another pair.

Some things which I am way behind the time with and I have finally caught up on and have slipped into my list is the Urban Decay setting spray and Naked 2 pallet. I have never owned a Naked palette and I didn't want to jump straight in with the latest 'Smokey eye' pallet as admittedly I am rubbish at a Smokey eye. I felt the naked 2 best fitted my preference of a nude, goldy toned eye. Another major blogger make-up item is the hourglass blushes, bronzers and ambient lighting edit. I have asked for the mood exposure blush as I think it is a beautiful, subtle, plum colour.

Anyway, that about rounds up the main items on my list, I hope they gave you ideas, moreover, I would love to hear your items which you have asked for Christmas so I can sneakily add some more to mine!