Work Travels | Lifestyle

If you have been following my blog a little while now or even if you follow me on Twitter you will notice that I travel a lot for work! I mean, 6 months into this year and I have been to 5 countries and 6 cities. I never really envisioned my life taking this sort of adventure but I can honestly say I love it.

Right from the start of the year I made sure I shared with you guys each new city I went to because it was something I personally would like to write about and kinda felt like most of you guys might like to read about.  Recently though I haven't written about my two last trips, LA and Madeira. I feel like these two trips were actually very hard to put in words what it was like because I actually didn't get a lot of opportunity to be a tourist and that's the catch when you travel for work, I'm still very much working.

When we went to LA I was told quite last minute but I was so excited I mean, LA everyone knows where it is and everyone wants to go there at some point in their lives. The thing was with this trip though was that we landed on Thursday and flew home on Monday, it was basically a long weekend, which is a 13 hour flight, plus a little extra because there are no direct flights from Florence, it's pretty exhausting. My company was there for an event on Saturday, but we still had to set up our booth on Friday. We did get some free time but the thing with downtown LA is, it isn't all that safe, you have to get Ubers everywhere and for me I prefer to walk. On Monday before heading the airport we had to sort out shipping of the items to go back to Italy which is always a bit of a headache. I did like LA but I just didn't have enough material to write a post.

Moving onto Madeira, this was a bit of an odd one, whilst it was definitely for work it was also a sort of get away that our partner wanted to do for us, which was lovely but can you imagine going up a mountain side whilst checking your phone for emails? On the one hand breathtakingly beautiful but on the other hand not very relaxing. I definitely got a lot more down time than in LA because I stayed and extra day and the whole set up was a little different but I got a little lonely! I stayed out there for an extra 2 nights which isn't long at all but when you are by yourself it's a little boring plus the average age of Madeira is like 55 so the night life isn't exactly buzzing.

I am so lucky to be able to visit all these wonderful places but sometimes I do miss being a tourist and seeing a city from a different perspective.

Do you travel for work?

Kiko Shade Fusion Trio Blush | Beauty

I have literally only just discovered the brand Kiko and boy am I in love. Today I thought I would share with you this wonderful little blusher which is in the Shade Fusion range and is 01. I kinda dislike that the things I have bought from Kiko don’t have some cheeky little name but still, I guess I’ll just have to work with it.

This purchase was actually something I picked up as I was waiting in the queue to buy my foundation (which turns out wasn't a good shade match) but as I was waiting I was rather intrigued by these little trios. When it comes to blusher, I’ve never been a massive fan just because I’m pretty pasty and some pinks look really bad, that being said, I love a blush/highlight like the beautiful Max Factor Blush or the Blushing Hearts blush. From what I remember they had 4 different shades ranging from this rather neutral tone to very pink. At first, I went for a pink trio but when I saw 01 I actually thought it wasn’t like anything I have so I should try something new, not only that but because I am pale I thought that this could add a natural flush of colour to my cheeks.

I really liked that this trio had a very pale shade, because I could actually use this to highlight my brow bone but also it is very contrasting to the deeper reddish pink shade at the bottom so they can balance each other out very well. When I first saw the pan I really liked the fact it wasn't shimmery at all, very different from what I am used to. However when I got home I noticed, when looking very closely at the palest shade, just a hint of shimmer but you know it’s so minimal I’m not bothered.  

As you can see the pan is pretty small so I don’t think you’d be able to use each shade individually for blusher but I imagine that some of these shades (if not all of them) would make a great crease colour for your eyes. I use the Real Techniques blush brush for all of my blushers, unless I am actually highlighting, I just like the shape of the brush and I just give it a quick swirl in the pan, tap off excess on the edge and apply to the apples of my cheeks and brushing a little up under my cheek bone. When I first tried it I was so in love,  the mixtures of all of the colours is just so pretty it really does give a very natural amount of colour to my cheeks and also adds a bit of warmth.

I have been using this product literally every day, It’s very easy to go a little OTT with though so I do have to be a bit careful but it’s really nice. I use this product for when I’m not really going contour crazy or when I’m not using any bronzer, just this and a little bit of highlighter and I am good to go.

What is your favourite blusher?

Summer Holiday Essentials | Lifestyle

Today I really wanted to talk about the essential products you should definitely take away with you this summer when you go on holiday! Before I start going into things, I just want to point out that this post isn't sponsored, I went away on a work trip and this was like a little gift that was in my hotel and I just thought everything was perfect so I wanted to share with you guys. 

I did actually do a similar post last year which can be found here but this time I really wanted to focus on the products. So let's jump right in with the obvious but probably most important, sun cream! I mean, I have an incredibly fair complexion which means I can burn pretty easily so this one is a must and it's factor 30 or up, don't you even think about coming at me with anything lower! Which means you have to follow up with an after sun, the one I got was the Burt's Bees  version, I'm a pretty big fan of the brand but didn't even realise they did after sun

And if you're protecting your skin then you have to protect your lips too! There are a lot of good lip balms out there with SPF and this Korres Mandarin Lip Butter smells amazing but it also adds a little bit of colour to the lips too, so it's a handy little product to have in your bag. Something I always forget but alway end up needing are blister pads, it's because your feet aren't used to the new sandals yet and i literally blister all the time, in fact when I went to Budapest recently I ended up going home with 3 cuts on my feet, rather dramatic! Compeed Blister pads are something I've never tried before but I definitely think they are a great idea!

I think you should always take some treats on holiday such as a Clay mask and Vita Coconut Oil! Let's face it when you go on holiday you have absolutely loads of time to just relax and because you're in the sun all day a little 10 minute face mask would be perfect on your skin to draw out any impurities. I think every beauty blogger knows the benefits of coconut oil but I definitely think this would be a perfect treat for your hair because it will dry out so this will nourish it and the coconut scent is perfect for a holiday.

No holiday would be complete without a Tote bag, flip flops and a good magazine to read by the pool, I do carry mints around with me for obvious reasons but I also think that paracetamol Nuerophen tablets are handy too, ya know just in case you've had one too many the night before.

What are your holiday essentials?

That Instagram Life | Lifestyle

Oh yes, another post about Instagram,  I don't know why I just love it. I think for me it's how quickly you can look at and absorb the images you are seeing, they are literally gone in an instant and if you follow people from different time zones you always have fresh creative to look at whenever, I love it.

I do think it's interesting to see how much Instagram and taking pictures has become such an important thing in our lives, especially bloggers, I mean really think about it. I started my blog as a beauty blog and I basically took a picture of any beauty product and it would get so many likes just because it was popular at the time or I used the right hashtags and it's literally just a picture of a lipstick, not ground breaking stuff but I loved it regardless. I know that I have definitely become that person who walks down the street and can't help but think "Ooo that would be a good insta shot" or "This food looks amazing I must photograph it". The thing is I know that people get annoyed by it, having to wait for someone to take a picture of something random might be boring but I think it's all about perspective.

I was recently on a work trip and we managed to get a bit of free time, I spend the majority of my time wandering around with my head in the clouds and I kept finding myself getting behind the others I was with simply because I was taking the odd picture here and there. Of course I got the standard eye roll and the insta joke but you know what I think you can miss some beautiful things by not looking and just focusing on getting from a to b, don't get me wrong if you're totally engrossed in a conversation then you aren't gonna be looking for insta opportunities but I am a massive believer in just taking a moment to really look at your surroundings.

Though this being said I do realise that there are times when the real life moments blur with the have to be perfect moments. I think that's one thing I struggle with a little is that sometimes people's feeds just look too perfect. I know many people who will take like 50 pictures just to get that one perfect picture, whereas I might take one or two shots and hope for the best which is why I think I have moved onto more travel shots as opposed to beauty products and food shots because let's face it unless you have a marble background and pastel shades no one cares.

The one thing I really love about Instagram is that I can look back on my feed and think of all these wonderful times and opportunities that come up in my life. People don't keep photo albums any more, they rarely use picture frames so I guess for me Instagram is just modern day version of those. Also, because I am in a different country and travel quite a lot for work quite a few of my pals have said they follow me on Instagram just so they can keep up with what I am doing, which is a really nice thought.

What is it about Instagram that you love or can you just not be bothered?

5 things to do in Budapest | Travel

I've written a few travel blog posts but I think they often waffle on a lot and let's face it people can't be bothered to actually read them so this time I'm gonna try something shorter with giving you guys just 5 things you MUST do if you visit budapest.

Let's jump in with something you guys know I love, food...

Hungarian food
This kinda seems like an obvious one but I have got to say that street food is definitely something they specialise in, I think if you like quick and flavoursome food then you need to visit one of the many food markets. The kind of things you'll find are langos which is basically a pizza with sour cream base instead of tomato and cheese on top or this hot dog thingy which is basically a bread cone with sausages, melted cheese and fried onions on top and of course a vast range of burgers and goulash. There is a fantastic Street food market called Karaván not far from a great ruin bar which moves me onto my next point

Ruin bars
So if you love quirky bars with a chilled out vibe full of thousands of things to look at then Budapest definitely has something for you. Essentially the ruin bars started a few years ago it was kind of a way to dress up the bar using things available such as bikes, computers, street signs, hundreds of lights it's a really great idea. The one that I loved the most was Szimpla Bar, it's probably one of the most popular but it's pretty big and has a bit of something for everyone with the various different rooms to discover. There are a lot to discover though so I would definitely suggest that you go on a ruin bar crawl.

Sightseeing
Yeah yeah I know this is obvious but there is a LOT to see in Budapest, depends on how you want to spend your time but there are many ways to see the city. Fun fact : Budapest is actual split into 2, Buda on one side of the river and Pest on the other. Pest is pretty flat and Buda is the hilly part so go to Buda for the best views. Places like the Citadella and Fisherman's Bastion are pretty bloody high but you can totally walk up to both view points if you like a walk like I do. There are also pretty cheap boat tours that run down the Danube to Margaret Island and back which takes just over an hour, it's great because you get to see some of the sights and learn about the history.

Zoo
This one is a bit of a marmite choice like I get it, the whole animals in captivity argument is one that always gives me a little bit of a moral dilemma especially with the larger animals. However I can't help but love being able to see all these amazing creatures so close to me. I have to point out that personally I think this is one of the best zoo's I have visited in years! They have everything from Kolwalas to grizzly bears to orangutans so amazing. Also I have to mention the little ice cream treats, you can buy this cup of tiny little ice cream balls that are so bloody yummy. The zoo can be found in Pest in the City Park Városliget with loads of other interesting things...

Thermal baths
...like Szécgenyi baths! There are a lot of baths dotted around Budapest but I think this bath house is probably the most popular and isn't it just bloody beautiful, think about the Roman baths in Bath but this is far more modern and you can actually just chill out in them! It's a super busy place but I think if you want to do something a little different you should visit here. There are two main baths in this complex on is about 30° and the other is 37° which is actually pretty damn hot when you get in! I would definitely say get a cabin instead of a locker, it just gives you space to get changed and sort your life out in your own privacy.

I also thought I would share some key things to note as well

Top Tips

• Budapest does accept Euros but it's far easier to pay in HUF (Hungarian Forints) 
• To drink spirits and sodas/tonics is far more expensive than drinking the local beers so definitely try those out instead
• Don't expect amazing customer service, in most places, it's not bad but it's something where small talk isn't really encouraged but I think it's more of a cultural thing 
• Use the tube, it's cheap and really easy to use
• Prices vary in quite a big way, you can get a beer for 550 Forints in one place and then the same beer for 990 in another so make sure you are aware of the prices, don't assume it's all the same

Have you been on holiday this year?