Festival Necessities.

With Glasto behind us and many more festivals yet to come, here are my essentials for survival and style.

1. Glitter.

Love it. Embrace it. Become one with it.

2. Hair Chalk.

Like the glitter, this allows you to temporarily go crazy with your look...and then wash it away when the festival is over.

3. Statement Sunglasses.

In general, sunglasses are a wardrobe staple for me and for festivals, they're even more important. You're outside, possibly hungover and it's hopefully going to be sunny. Necessity. Then, when you're trying to pack light, they can be a great way of taking an outfit to the next level.

4. Docs.

Docs have taken me through many a festival and gig. They're better and more durable than wellies and you'll feel it less if someone stand on your foot.

5. Hair accessories.

Because second day hair is great, third day is...less so. Everyone and their aunt is over flower crowns but I think cute alicebands are a sweet, playful alternative to suit any look.

6. A coat.

If you're in Ireland or the UK, you're probably going to need one. Be honest with yourself, be realistic, be dry. Ones that can pack away or are light are your best bets.

7. Light layers.

Leggings, tanks, baggy sweaters - these things will be essential for temperature and weather changes. Build up your outfit starting lightest layers first and leave yourself the opportunity to add or lose more. A festival is shit when you're cold or damp...but then, maybe I'm getting old.

8. A flannel shirt.

Following on from above, flannel shirts are an easy layer to add warmth which can be easily worn around the waist when unnecessary and can double up as a waist-belt.

9. A towel.

Look, you'll probably get wet at some point, this is just so key I barely need to say it. Do I?

10. Baby wipes.

To bathe, to remove all that glitter, to wipe at drink stains when someone in a pit spills on you...it's obvious but it's a major essential.

What are your festival necessities?

Carven out a piece of my heart.

Carven SS15. There's lots here that's already been seen. But that's most things, is it not? True originality does not exist. Ingenuity is a different beast altogether. It's the thing that makes this blazer more desirable than that. The styling, the feeling, the energy of a collection. Almost more than the clothes themselves. It's what makes buyers and admirers alike sit up.

But the clothes are important too.

People sometimes say our age is inelegant. I say it. I'm guilty of this naivety. Style seemed commonplace decades ago but nostalgia is wont to paint all in pretty hues. Our age can be inelegant. Any age can. Elegance isn't easy and it isn't always fresh or exciting. But Carven elegance is modern, now. It is cool and urban. It's the guy sitting in the coffee shop reading McCarthy or carrying a cello case on the bus. The dude skateboarding to work.

The clothes are sharp, a little fifties in silhouette. One part normcore, one part investment pieces. A touch of adventure. Even a bit of kink. A sportswear inspired waistband or stripe down the leg here, a bondage-like harness-like effect there. Some print. Not too much. He likes to look cool but he doesn't take himself too seriously on the whole. And he plays with his clothes. He's multi-faceted. He's Carven's guy.

(Images from vogue.co.uk)

I thought my show reviews seemed so ode-like that I decided to play with form in those I put on the blog. What do y'all think?

Wide-Eyed and Blind Playlist XVIII

An effing gamut of emotions. A gamut, I tells ya.

Ren's One Minute Facial.

When Ren promised a new product which gives the results of a facial in one minute in a press release, I was excited to try it. I won't lie. Who has the time or money for a facial on the reg? Not I.

(Accidental rhyming.)

The Flash Rinse 1 Minute Facial doesn't actually hit shops until September but it's well worth the wait. As chic and sleek as the rest of the Ren line, the packaging is done in shades of white and silver. The tube makes the product easy to transport and it can be thrown into a handbag or luggage for use at home, on the go or on holidays. It's kind of the perfect product for the busy, jetsetting city gal on the run and provides relief to a life full of stress and urban grime. The high concentration of Vitamin C is exactly what your skin needs to brighten and refresh.

The texture upon squirting some of the product out onto the back of the hand is somewhat unusual - a watery gel that has a slight exfoliating grain to it. It's lightly scented and is quite sweet, almost like actual candy, with a soapy undertone.

This is applied to the face, neck and décolletage in this form and massaged into the skin with circular motions. Then the fingers are dampened and the gel is worked again. This transforms the texture of the product, making it glide over the skin. Think the texture of Benefit's The Porefessional. At this point, the product is allowed rest on the skin for at least a minute and then rinsed thoroughly with cool water.

Immediately noticeable is a brightening of the skin after use. And it's soothing as hell. The product can be used every three days and is suitable to most skin types except the most sensitive. 

It'll retail at €38, so it's a good deal cheaper than a facial in a salon or spa and you'll get multiple uses out of it. I'm a major fan of luxury skincare at a reasonable price and this is well worth the price.

Excuse me while I go use it again...

Before

After

You excited to try it?

Jessica Nails In Bloom

(I think immediately of the Nirvana song)

On Thursday, I popped along to the Jessica Nails In Bloom event. They've quickly taken over my heart lately and overtaken all other brands to undoubtedly be my favourite nail line. Big claim, I know. But there are two reasons: the richness of their colours and the fact that they're all about care as well as appearance. The new line of colours is just as gorgeous as the last and I'm utterly in love.

On the night I chose a blue that looks as though a powdery and pastel shade had a baby together. I mean, how divine and lovely is it? Part of the new line, it's called Enchanting and had people complimenting me and asking what it was all day. The new range also includes a darker, cobalt blue, a mint, two lilac shades and a red - mostly a pastel line but more interesting than just any other pastel line and so perfect for summer and beyond. Honestly, every single one is a winner and I'm impressed by the size of the bottles and quality. It helps that the lady who did my nails told me a bit about their founder who sounds like an absolute legend! Love me a female business powerhouse.

Anyway, I've been blabbing for a bit now. Have a gawk at my images from the night and let me know what colour you like best!

Injured my lovely nails while wrestling my camera from my bag...

So, the lovely ladies from Jessica patched me up!

#jessicainbloom

Space NK hits Grafton Street.

I was finishing up my first chapter of my dissertation (due this morning) in the library when I had to run off for two events, after which I returned to my work - my life is ridiculous. I'll post on the first event, which was with Jessica Nails, tomorrow but for today I'm gonna give you guys a glimpse of the opening of the new Space NK on Grafton St.

Have to say, I was pretty excited for this one as I wanted easier access to the store that I've heard UK bloggers raving about for years! Now our turn! A Space NK is already in the Harvey Nichols in Dundrum but the new location means easier access...potentially dangerous...

To launch the new store there was a wee preview and in-house party for press. Vogue Williams was on the decks and the place was SO BUSY. Peeps are obviously just as excited as I.

The store stocks luxury skincare, hair products and cosmetics and brings with it brands that are normally quite difficult to source. I'm most excited for the Lipstick Queen and Eyeko (LOVING it at the moment) makeup ranges. The Bumble and Bumble stuff also caught my eye as I know it's stocked here in a few places but never so extensively. Ren and Eve Lom are two other brands I love that are outstandingly represented by the store.

My one purchase of the evening was a good'un. The Eve Lom Kiss Mix which is amazing and so luxurious. More on that some other time!

That's all for now! Expect a bunch of posts over the weekend as I'm done with dissertation stuff for a day or two...then back to the libo.

Anyone else planning to hit up Space NK soon?