HEAT WAVE HEROES

Inspired by Kat from Tales of a Pale Face, I have decided to share with you my heat wave hero beauty products. If you read my Marrakech Photo Diary blog post you will of seen I have just been away to Morocco and when this post goes up I will be in Berlin, followed by Barcelona. As I will be spending weeks in the sun, I needed to find a good selection of beauty products which work well in the heat and these are the top four which I have picked.

I bought the Mitchum for men advanced anti-perspirant deodorant on a bit of a whim whilst in the supermarket a couple of weeks ago, and I now own three as it's that good! I figured that as it was for men it would be extra strong and I already knew Mitchum deodorants were good anyway which is why I bought it, and I'm glad I did. This is probably TMI but this is the best anti-perspirant I have ever used, it really stops any odour and lasts all day and I can't see myself using anything different now! It does smell slightly manly but not in a bad way, so I'd say it was definitely suitable for women too.

After doing extensive research and endless blog post reading to find the the best facial SPF50 suncream, I ended up buying the La Roche Posay Anthelios XL SPF50. I have problem skin so was skeptical at first about using this, however I had no problems at all. It just feels like a light weight moisturiser and sinks in to the skin almost instantly leaving no residue and acting as a great base for the rest of your makeup. It is lightweight enough to wear every day if you live in a sunny country or if you are just on holiday. I didn't need to touch up at all throughout the day and it really helped prevent me from getting even slightly sunburnt throughout the day whilst I was away.

The Vichy Eau Thermale mineral water facial spray is pretty much a life saver for me. It is just an aerosol can filled with mineral water but it acts as an instant refresher for using throughout the day. It is so cooling and Kat had a great tip of popping it in the fridge to keep it even cooler which I will be doing!

Last but not least is the Garnier dry mist aerosol SPF50 sun cream. This is probably the best sun cream I have ever used. It is so quick and easy to apply as it just sprays on and is very quick to rub in to your skin. The tempereature reached 47 degrees in Morocco and I didn't get even a single patch of sun burn and it's all down to this sun cream! I only applied it once in the morning each day and it helped to keep my skin protected all day long which is pretty impressive considering the intense heat which I was outside in for around ten hours each day. 

All of these products are available in Boots or your favourite drugstore and I highly recommend them if you are off anywhere this summer, or if you are staying in England in this mini heat wave we've been having! Let me know what your heat wave hero beauty products are!

SOUK CUISINE, MARRAKECH

Whilst in Marrakech, myself and Carissa went to an authentic cooking course at Souk Cuisine organised by Gemma who is a Dutch lady who moved to Morocco eight years ago to set up her own cooking class business in her Riad. The day was split up in to visiting the Souk markets to collect and buy the fresh ingredients (so fresh that the chicken was in fact killed in front of us...), learning how to cook the different dishes and then sitting down to eat it all. We did the course with four other people who were all lovely and helped to make it the highlight of our trip!

Whilst on the tour of the Souks, we met with different stall owners who taught us about the spices, vegetables and meats which are used in traditional Moroccan cooking. The dishes we made were a combination of salads, tagjines and biscuits along with fresh mint tea and Moroccan wine. I love how community focused the area is, you can pay the local bread bakery to use their stone oven and this is where we cooked our Sardines so that they were slow baked. Of all the dishes we made, the Zaahlouk which is I can only describe as an aubergine version of a guacamole was my favourite, and I can't wait to make it at home as I have the recipe!

We highly enjoyed out trip to the Souk Cuisine, and I would very much recommend it if you are in the area!

CO-ORD WISHLIST

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Despite sometimes verging on looking like a pair of pjs which you forgot to get changed from when leaving the house, I do really like the co-ord trend - especially for summer! They have been all over the magazines and top fashion blogs all summer and I don't think I can scroll down my Instagram news feed without seeing an outfit snap of someone wearing one! ARK Clothing have a wide selection of co-ords and these are my favourite five which I have picked out to show you (click on the links above to take you to the individual items). Depending on the pattern, I think they look great with either summery sandals, heels or boots and you can easily dress them up with a chunky statement necklace if you wanted to wear it out in the evening for a few drinks or to go for dinner. 

Check out ARK Clothing for their wide selection of  affordable co-ords

* I received compensation from ARK for this blog post, however all words are my own

YSL GARDENS OOTD

 

 

My outfit:
Watermelon cami top: American Apparel
Black shorts: New Look
Trainers: Nike
Sunglasses: RayBan

Carissa's Outfit:
Black crop top: Topshop
Lemon skort: Topshop
Flipflops: Haviana
Black straw hat: H&M

We went to the YSL Gardens (Jardin Majorelle) whilst in Marrakech last week and managed to get some outfit photos whilst we were there with the handy help of a camera remote, tripod and reflector (which seemed to provide great interest to other tourists - we actually had people taking photos of our camera set up and a lady said we were "very dedicated to getting some good holiday snaps..."). Posing for outfit photos with a crowd of tourists around you is always fun!

The gardens themselves were absolutely beautiful, it was full of cobalt blue which is one of my favourite colours and their cacti collection was amazing too. Despite being in the middle of the city it was very tranquil and relaxing which is a nice break to the busy town. We had done a lot of research in to the culture when booking the holiday and ensured that we wore a maxi kimono each when walking through the city to ensure our shoulders and knees were covered, however these were the outfits which we wore underneath. Whilst at the Majorelle Gardens we even bumped into the lady I was sat next to on the plane in the gardens which was a weird coincidence!

Don't forget to check out Carissa's blog Carissa Avellana