Holidays

I'm off to my favourite place in the world, Italy! I will be back in a couple of weeks, and in the meantime will be sunning myself in this Freya Swim Lindy Hop bikini (sunglasses are by h&m) and several others which I will tell you about when I am back.

Take care x

(I took the bikini for a quick trial in Hampstead Heath!)

Hackney Weekend (Sunday) was...

...EPIC! I saw Pro Green, Plan B, Lana del Rey, Jessie J, Enter Shikari, Tim Westwood, Dizzee Rascal, Florence and the Machine, Rihanna and Jay Z!

 Henna

 Friends

 Festie style

 Hotpants...

 ...more hotpants

 More friends 

 Tipsy-ness

 Awesome line-up

 Bit of rain

Lana in a red dress

A beautiful crowd and a sunny afternoon

How many ear cuffs are too many ear cuffs?

I love ear cuffs so much right now! Got this little set from ASOS.com. LOVE.

Making Life a Ritual

I first came across Rituals when I was given a hand cream sample outside Westfield in Shepherds Bush. It smelt so good; I wanted to buy the scent as a perfume. I was surprised to hear that Rituals offer everything from washing up liquid to loungewear. The brand encourages you to ‘Give special attention to turning everyday routines into meaningful rituals.’

Keen to find out more, I went along to the press day at the Soho Hotel last week. It was so fun, there were manicures and psychic reading and lots of cake! We were given some products to try out. I especially love the Intense Look Mascara and the Serenity Handwash, being pink, fits in a treat into my bathroom. It smells heavenly too.

The make-up range was a highlight; make-up artist Lou Page talked me through it and, with a celeb list that reads longer than your arm (she has made over the Spice Girls and Take That), she really knows her stuff. Lou was impressed with the Rituals face palettes for their separation of shades and flattering tones. She thought they were ‘Great for the festival season.’ I thought the Baked Eye Shadow palettes looked great and I am looking forward to trying out the jewel colours in Uptown Blue. The colours are all limited edition so you have to grab and stockpile when you find one you love! The best part? Rubies, sapphires and amethysts are all used in the cosmetics, as inspired by Cleopatra.

I’m dying to try the sparkly ‘Freezed Fantasy’ nail polish too – it’s a light gold shimmer that I reckon will work a treat on tanned toes. The lovely girls of Beauty Seen PR were telling me how it looked different on all of them, depending on their skin tone.

You can buy Rituals products in shops worldwide, department stores, airlines and hotels.

www.rituals.com

Must-read: Spiritual High

I managed to tear myself away from the 'Fifty Shades' trilogy to read something different; 'Spiritual High' by Lee Cooper.

On the front cover, this book is described as reading ‘Like the bastard love child of Graham Norton & Mystic Meg.’ This is a brilliant and fairly accurate description. Featuring lively characters and an even livelier plot, this is really worth a read. Aside from the humour that runs throughout, there are thoughtful moments and spine-chilling scenes too. You can’t help but get caught up in Cooper’s crazy world which includes midgets, transvestites and psychics. If you’re looking for something light and funny, with a sizzling undercurrent of wickedness, then this is the perfect read for you. 

P&G Summer Party

I went to the P&G Beauty and Grooming summer party last Wednesday with my housemate Laurel. It was held at Altitude 360, a venue near Westminster with incredible views of London. There were lots of beautiful guests in cocktail dresses, yummy sandwiches, canapés and drinks.

Esprit

On Wednesday, I popped along to the relaunch of the Esprit shop on Regent Street. I first became familiar with Esprit back when I lived in Belgium, but at the time, it wasn't really where I shopped (places like C&A and Etam were higher on my list). More recently, I was aware of it from seeing Gisele staring down at me on train platforms, all tousled waves and bronzed limbs. The clothed she wore looked cool, but perhaps not quite my style (I'm usually a bit quirkier and more tailored). 

The new Esprit flagship shop is absolutely massive but instead of having that undesirable warehouse feel of others of it's size, thoughtful additions of sketched point of sale, vintage-looking glassware and mood-setting imagery all made it feel homely and welcoming.

The product seems to have come on too with an impressive denim area (this time overseen by Erin Wasson) and accents of bold colour. I ended up buying a bright orange shift (at a very reasonable £41) and my housemate Laurel got a gorgeous oversized coral shirt. I will be going back for some jersey dresses (relaxed workwear) and more colourful dresses (just my thing). 

The launch party was fun too-along with some fruity cocktails, there were craft stations hosted by the Make Lounge where guests could decorate photo frames, print their own cotton tote or decorate a cupcake (unsurprisingly, the busiest station! Laurel and I had our photo taken and it was printed onto beautiful paper featuring pressed flowers. Natasha Beddingfield performed but unfortunately we couldn't stay to watch her as we had to head to Westminster for the P&G party.

These are tough times for retailers but it looks like Esprit have realised and reacted well, with a considered brand update and a really cool shop event. 

The new Esprit store is here:

178-182 Regent Street,

London

W1B 5AZ

 Lydia Bright with the dress I bought!

 I wore a Reiss dress to the event with New Look shoes

 Laurel bought this shirt

 Possible next purchase

 Great workwear

 Loved this raffia clutch...

 ...and this raffia hat (with a hole cut out of the middle like Kylie's circa the 80s!)

 Cool moodboard behind the till

We couldn't believe this was a vintage year!