My Summer Favourites!

~ The Summertime Ball 2013 ~

Last week, the UK was lucky enough to experience a week long heatwave (that's long for us ok!) Even though the sunny weather is over now and we're back to the wind and the rain, the short burst of warm weather reminded me of everything I love about summer. So other than the beautiful weather, being able to explore the great outdoors and of course, eating ice cream, these are my personal 'summer favourites' of 2013!

For two years in a row now, I've been lucky enough to go to Capital FM's 'Summertime Ball' (previous blog post is all about it) and lets just say, I'm already saving up for next year! I thoroughly enjoyed it both times I went and still feeling teary eyed after seeing Taylor Swift live - one of the best moments of my life!! Not forgetting the moment when Nathan Sykes (of The Wanted) came out from the stage and did the most epic comeback after months off, following his throat surgery - I don't think I'm ever gonna stop fangirling!

~ River Island - £2.00 ~

Another thing I love about the summer is the flowers, especially daisies which I believe are the prettiest flowers in existence.  When I found these daisy earrings, I picked them up and ran straight to the till to buy them and I've barely taken them out since! I've seen them in a few other shops as well as River Island such as Accessorize but these are by far the best ones I've seen!

~ Superdrug - £2.49 ~

As I wrote about in a previous post, being as pale as I am in summer is not fun, so I've been using Garnier's summerbody lotion for the past 2 summers, just on my arms and legs. I find it so easy to apply and it lasts for ages too, which is great cause I'd be too lazy to keep on reapplying. I've never tried any other tanning moisturiser so I can't really compare, but I do love this product and I've repurchased it a few times.
You can choose between a lighter or darker version and I've tried both, however I definately prefer the darker one just because you only need one or two layers to turn white skin to the attractive brown shade whereas the lighter version requires quite a few layers. Although the smell of the lotion isn't exactly repulsive, it's not particularly enthralling either. But putting up with the slightly biscuity smell is worth it for the non-streaky, light brown colour your skin turns in a matter of hours!

~ Schuh - £44.99 ~

~ Superdrug - £4.09 ~

~ TU (Sainsburys) - £3.50 ~

~ Gilly Hicks - £10 ~

 I know you're probably thinking 'Mint green? But that's a spring colour!' I agree that it is popular in spring, but seeing as we barely had a spring in the UK this year, mint green has become my favourite summer colour too!
I've become totally obsessed with this colour recently and am constantly looking for new mint green products I can buy. Converse and nail varnish are my favourites so far!
Another product which recently caught my eye was this 'Apple Blossom and Lotus Room Spray.' Something about the smell just reminds me of summer, so my bedroom now constantly has a summery aroma about it, which I love!



Similarly to the tanning moisturiser, another product which I am using for the 3rd summer in a row is Gilly Hicks' Apple Orchid body lotion. My extensive love for this product has caused me to keep on buying; it smells amazing and leaves your skin well moisturised - perfect! They also sell a body spray in this delightful scent which I recently purchased, although the body lotion will forever be my favourite!
I also buy many of my summer clothes from Gilly Hicks and it's American partner, Hollister, as the clothes are always so summery!
Even though the chains owned by A&F have a bad reputation - the non-existent lighting, the booming music and the overpriced clothes - I really love the summer vibes these shops have. I also love the fact that they are so different to all other fashion retailers. Even if you can't afford to buy anything from there, it's still worth peeking inside just because of how amazing the shops smell! They are sprayed with the very distinct A&F aroma and everything inside contains the strong scent too. Although the smell is wonderful, it still doesn't compare to the Apple Orchid body lotion which is definately worth the money and will continue to be my summer must-have for years to come!

~ MOTO (Topshop) - £28 ~

 As well as Gilly Hicks and Hollister, I also like to buy my summer clothes from my usual favourite shop, which - much like every other British teenage girl - is of course Topshop! After getting a lot of wear out of a pair of Topshop's 'MOTO' shorts I bought last year, as soon as the heatwave hit, I was on my way to Topshop in search of some more. I picked up these shorts which were £28 (cheap for Topshop!) and even though I haven't had them long, they've already been worn a lot and are definately my favourite summer clothing item of 2013!










Lastly but by no means leastly, the final of my summer necessities is anklets. I've always loved anklets because unlike necklaces and bracelets, they don't get in your way. Theres never much point in wearing them in the cold months though as they won't be seen, so I always look forward to summer when they can finally be worn! I usually buy them from markets when I go on holiday and the two pictured below are from Lanzarote and Barcelona. My anklet collection is quickly growing but these two are my current favourites.

~ Bought from markets abroad - (usually around £2 each) ~

Although everything I have spoken about are not vital items - sun cream, water etc - they are things which remind me of summer and I enjoy about summer year after year. So let me know what your 'summer favourites' are; anything similar to mine or anything completely different? Theres probably things I've completely forgotten about, so comment letting me know about what makes your summer enjoyable!

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