october favourites

October is by far my favourite month! I love Halloween, the leaves changing, days getting shorter its just great. So, I decided to write a post on some things I've been loving this month.

1. Whole Foods

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/values-matter

For those of you not familiar with the wonder that is Whole Foods, it is basically an organic super market chain with shops in US, UK & Canada and it's pretty great.

They sell everything from Fiji water to Angel Cake and have great freshly made products for a reasonable price.

Some Whole Foods stores also have a food hall, which normally has really good sushi and smoothies!

So check if there is a Whole Foods near you and take a trip, you won't regret it!

2. Rose Jaffe

http://rosejaffe.prosite.com/20936/home

Rose Jaffe is an illustrator based in Washington DC. I cannot explain to you how much I love all her work, especially her sketches & mono prints.

Rose has really great ideas and works with many different medias, which I think is really great.

Even if you aren't that keen on art just spend 5 minutes looking at her portfolio (above) and hopefully you'll like her work as much as I do. 

3. BLODWEN - Mamgu's Wild Rose Aromatic Water

www.blodwen.com

Blodwen is a welsh company, with the aim to preserve & revive the traditional rural skills from Wales, the result being a great shop selling beautiful products. One of my favourites being the 'Wild Rose Aromatic Water'.

This water has calming and uplifting qualities which are great if you are feeling stressed or need something to relax your skin. It also has anti-inflammatory properties which preserve the skin.

This item is slightly pricey, but lasts for quite a while and is very easy to apply.

So go try the Rose Water if you'd like, maybe even check out Blodwen while you're at it!

4. Urban Outfitters - Urban Renewal

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/uk/catalog/category.jsp?id=WOMENS-VINTAGE-EU

'Urban Renewal' is a branch of the store Urban Outfitters. Urban Outfitters is essentially a 'bits & bobs' store with shops in the UK, Europe, US and Canada. It sells almost everything, including great clothes, jewellery, novelty gifts and records.

This month, I have been particularly loving 'Urban Renewal'. Urban Renewal specializes in finding great vintage clothing, whether the come from warehouses or  flea markets, Urban Renewal literally has some of the most unique pieces of clothing I've seen.

Recently, I bought a plaid shirt from there and I have not stopped wearing it!

Have a look and see if you find any cool products.

5. Batiste Dry Shampoo - Floral & Fruity Blush

http://www.batistehair.co.uk/

Batiste Dry Shampoo is in general just amazing, it instantly refreshes your hair, and is really good for using if you don't have time to have a proper wash. The shampoo also gives your hair a great shine and scent.

My favourite scent of all the shampoos is the 'Floral & Fruity Blush' it really does smell amazing and does wonders for my hair!

I hope you have enjoyed reading about some of the things I have been enjoying this month!

barcelona

Last week I went to visit Barcelona for the day before travelling to a different part of Spain. It was an absolutely incredible city. The Food was amazing, I ate classic Spanish tapas which were delicious! So here are some pictures from the day, taken on a Canon EOS 60D, with some captions explaining my thoughts on the photos!

BARCELONA ZOO.

To be honest, Barcelona Zoo was one of the best zoos I've ever been to, they had amazing animals and great facilities, which made my experience there thoroughly enjoyable. Here are some highlights! 

PENGUINS. I need around 6 penguins as pets please and thank you.

An especially fabulous picture of a penguin.

The zebras were so super cool, it was incredible to see them in the flesh.

Flamingos are so fascinating, and for the record most of the time they're standing on two legs.

The seals were SO cute, they are very immobile out of water which is hilarious.

The meerkats were were adorable, and very willing posers.

Here's a very sweet wallaby with her baby.

ELEPHANTS. WOW. That is all.

Bison are my favourite animals, so it was extremely exciting to see them in real life for the first time.

SAGRADA FAMILA.

Well wow. The Sagrada Familia is easily one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. It is a large Roman Catholic church designed by Antoni Gaudi, a catalan architect. The church is incomplete, Gaudi dedicated his last years to the project and wow. It was incredible, I can't even find the words to describe the scale of how amazing it was, I was in total and utter awe. So, here are some pictures to try and justify how insanely amazing it was for you

The style of the church is very gothic, I thought the designs looked like child had designed it, the swirling staircases and pillars each made out of a different type of stone really gave off that impression.

For more information on the Sagrada Familia go to: http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/ OR http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia


So yes, overall Barcelona was an amazing city, with lovely people. I had a great time and would love to go back to see more of the city when I'm not on such a tight schedule.

just some cool fashion & beauty shops

one : BLEACH LONDON

bleachlondon.co.uk

bleach london is an urban hair salon selling loads of cool colours of hair dye & hair products. they have awesome ideas about hair styling and are pretty damn cool! my favourite product by bleach is the 'out of the blue' super cool colour dye, its a deep blue colour and i would love to try it soon. their dyes are well priced and good quality.

two : LONDON LOVES LA

londonlovesla.com

london loves la is an amazing clothes shop. they have really great unique designs full of vintage flair, from cool army jackets to cute cropped slogan tops, london loves la has it all. a great product they have is their original 'arrows of love' tee it's got an eye catching yet simple design and I wear mine the whole time! the prices are sensible for the products and I really recommend london loves la.

three : JAWBREAKING

shopjawbreaking.com

jawbreaking is an independent clothing company, they make custom designed clothing with amazing graphic designs and cool slogans. jawbreaking designs are often seen on bands such as 5 seconds of summer and one direction, as well as actresses like emma myles from 'orange is the new black'. one of the products I like the most is their 'live forever young' tank top, its got a great graphic design and goes with almost anything. jawbreaking has sensible prices for their clothing and is easily affordable.

four : SOAP & GLORY

soapandglory.com

i know soap & glory is quite a well known brand, but i absolutely love it! soap & glory sell amazing skincare, bath, body and make up products, they are fantastic for your skin and the make up is great quality. one of their best creations is the 'mighty mouth' super glossy lip balm. it has a goji-berry extract flavour and is packed full of moisture which is great for your lips! again, soap & glory has great prices and is an excellent high street drugstore.

so check out some of those shops! you won't be diappointed!

5 pictures i love

one

i love this picture because of the contrast in surroundings. above the cave you have what looks like a plain of desert, with warm colours, shrubs and more light. but in the cave there is much less light and its full of midnight blues and crystal clear water. basically its just a fascinating picture.

two

this picture is just amazing. there's no sentimental reason why i love this picture it's just too damn cute and who doesn't love a fluffy puppy.

three

the detail on this design is incredible, i love how each swirl stems into something new, and the idea of this is so simple yet extremely eye catching. i also love the girl's nails, the cauliflower blue matches her shorts and the single white nail looks fresh and gives a different angle to the picture.

four

i love this because it's an extremely beautiful picture of my favourite place in the world. london at night is a stunning city, yes new york has the tall skyscrapers and colourful adverts, but when the bridges and the london eye are lit up london looks almost hypnotizing. in this picture you also have the violet sunset which complements the bright lights of the city.

five

just wow. the depth of this picture is incredible, not even just literal depth, but also the thoughts that come to mind. the different shades of blue are captivating and the neon yellow flippers look almost out of place but oddly they blend in with the other colours seen here. my favourite part is the bottom of the tank, how it's so eerily dark and mysterious. imagine being that diver.

so yeah there are some pictures that i really love.

bands

bands are amazing. they can help people loads or can even just make someone smile everyday. most of them have really great music, so here are some of my favourite bands and why.

one direction

one direction were kind of my first love when it came to bands, okay i know these boys aren't for everyone, but to me they have helped me so much and make amazing music. harry, niall, liam, louis and zayn really have written some incredible songs whether you want to admit it or not. my favourite song is from their 3rd album, 'Midnight Memories', it's called 'Happily' and is upbeat, lively and makes me smile. one direction are also amazing live.

5 seconds of summer

5 seconds of summer are another amazing band. michael, ashton, luke and calum are a relatively new band but again have helped me loads and make me really happy. these guys make really great music. my favourite song by them is called '18' it's from their self titled debut album, it has great guitar riffs and is very well written. 5sos are insane live and I have been lucky enough to experience their talent twice now!

paramore

paramore are fantastic. hayley, taylor and jeremy make thought provoking pop punk tracks and are damn cool. the band are actually really really lovely people and i would love to meet them. my favourite song is 'Misery Business' from their album 'Riot!' it has a great contrast between verse and chorus, with great vocals as well as instrumentals. performance wise, paramore always put on a great live show.

all time low

all time low are really very talented. the band write unique songs, heavily guitar influenced and extremely enjoyable to listen to. alex, rian, jack and zach are great people and are pretty funny. my personal favourite song is 'My Only One' from their album 'Dirty Work' it's a different sound to the majority of their songs, it has a fairly slow tempo, but a strong chorus, it's also filled with emotion and amazing instrumentals. all time low are again almost electric live and have a great stage presence.

the 1975

the 1975 are literally incredible. they have a number of different types of songs, ranging from electric syncopated 1 minute instrumental pieces to quick paced alternative songs. matty, ross, george and adam are really talented and have a different fresh collection of songs. my favourite song by the 1975 is 'She Way Out' from their self titled album, it's a really upbeat track with a great guitar sound. the 1975 have a unique stage presence, and put on a energetic live show.

so yeah, those are some of my favourite bands.