I then went on to watch a short fashion talk from the man himself JP Hevey and it was actually really useful. I am by no means a fashion guru and don't touch upon fashion much here on KatieLewLa, however I do love to shop and keep up with the latest trends (providing they tickle my fancy). All of the items included in the discussion were from Matalan and Next and I have to say that Matalan came up trumps for me. I especially loved the Victoria fashion section. This was filled with pretty victorian style long sleeved shirts with frills and ruffles, so pretty for underneath a cute pinafore or teamed with a skirt and tights. It was inspiring to see so many patterns and textures teamed together to create layers and different dynamics to an outfit, I will certainly be experimenting with this. JP definitely knew his stuff and he was so friendly, approachable and happy to chat about what might work for you.

(Just look at that beautiful autumnal pinafore) 

Now here was my favourite part of the day. Getting my makeup done by the wonderful Stacey Lincoln. Stacey asked if I would be her model for the Beauty chat and she took my natural makeup look from daytime to nighttime with a couple of nifty tricks. When she showed me the colours that she was going to use for my ombre lip look I was pretty damn terrified, as I'm not very daring with my choice in lip shades. The first shade was Mac Rebel and the second (unfortunately I can't remember the name) was a dark purple that almost looked black. She began by applying the Mac Rebel all over my lips without lip liner. She then went in with the second shade. Stacey applied this to the inner corners and also in the middle to create a fuller looking lip. the texture that she managed to achieve was insanely good and is something that I've never attempted to do myself. Afterwards she applied a lip liner and cleaned up round my lips with a small foundation brush and some concealer to finish them off and really make them pop. She smudged some kohl eyeliner underneath my bottom lashes to frame my eye and give them more of a smokey look - appropriate for evenings - and then added some highlighter to my cheekbones and cupids bow to define my face. Stacey only changed three things with my makeup but it was so cleverly done and my look went from very subtle and natural to a bold and vampy evening look. I surprisingly loved it and will definitely be purchasing some darker lip colours for autumn/winter.

Take a look at Stacey's Instagram to see more of her beautiful makeup looks, or check out her website www.staceylincoln.com

As if I hadn't been pampered enough already, I then hopped aboard the Street Style Bus to receive some mini treatments. The lovely Christina Kossa gave me a nice relaxing mini hand massage which left my hands and nails prepped and moisturised to go on for a mini manicure. I was lucky enough to have my nails done by perfectionist Gina, who took her time to make sure my nails were looking fabulous. She used all OPI products which obviously made me very happy and the colour I chose was beautiful. The shade was OPI - Ink (which can be found here on amazon) and I will almost certainly be purchasing it. The photo below doesn't do it justice because the lighting on the street style bus wasn't fantastic but the colour was a dark purple with a really fine purple and blue shimmer (think galaxy nails), love love love.

Overall the day was so laid back, everyone I met was super friendly and couldn't do enough to make me feel beautiful inside and out. Any anxieties I had about what was expected of me as a blogger disappeared the moment that I met Ishta and the rest of the team - I almost wished I could jump on board the funky street style bus and travel with them to their next destination as there is so much to learn from this lovely bunch of professionals.

The street style bus will be stopping next at; 

Mayflower – 15^th & 16^th October - http://www.mayflowershopping.co.uk/ 

and

Nugent – 22^nd & 23^rd October - http://www.nugentshopping.co.uk/

If you're around those areas then I'd strongly recommend taking a trip to meet the lovely team for some top tips, trends, pampering and of course Yummy cakes!

I went on home to enjoy a feast of Wilma's Cupcakes with my friend who came along to the event with me for support and pampering. Boy were they tasty. Of all the flavours, I think my favourite had to be Nutella. My love affair with Nutella is not one to be meddled with, although the strawberry bon bon and candy floss cupcakes were also very sweet and delicious. The cupcake coma I was in afterwards was delightfully fulfilling haha!

Have you been to one of the Street Style Events near you? 

Let me know how your day was and send me links in the comments, I'd love to see your photos and hear about your experience.

I had a very enjoyable day and I hope the Street Style Bus will be returning to Doncaster again in the future. Pleeeeeease!

Thanks for reading! Hope this was useful.

Don't forget to follow me on social media to keep up with KatieLewLa behind the scenes.

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Stepping into unknown territory is crazy scary, especially for someone like myself who finds risk taking intensely intimidating. I’ve taken to the Internet to research everything there is to know about backpacking in Southeast Asia. I’ve found it particularly useful to read other bloggers perspectives on backpacking and their personal experiences of Southeast Asia. Its four months until me and my partner go on our way to adventure but I thought it would be useful to share my planning process so far. This might be helpful for anyone that is thinking of travelling or are in the early stages of planning for a backpacking trip.

Dry Shampoo is something that I literally cannot imagine my life without. How did I ever live before it existed? I have no clue! I love it for so many reasons, those of which I will briefly share with you in this post. For so long I have used Batiste Dry Shampoo and I have occasionally strayed from it to try out other products, but I have always been disappointed and gone straight back to using my trusty Batiste.

UNTIL NOW!

I only usually pick up Batiste Dry Shampoo when it's on offer, because I go through it so fast that I hardly find it worth buying at full price. I tend to hoard it when it's on 3 for 2 or half price to keep my stock up. Last time I went into Boots, none of the Batiste varieties were on offer and then I saw Boots own version 2 for £3 which is amazing value. It took me a while to convince myself to try it (creature of habit) because usually when I stray too far from Batiste I wind up going straight back to it but I gave boots the benefit of the doubt. 

Boy am I glad I did! 

The two I chose were Original and Paradise Island. Let's talk about the scent first because we all know how important that is for me. I picked Paradise Island because it sounded summery and I wondered if it would have a coconut scent similar to the Batiste Tropical scent, and Original was a safe option in case I didn't like Paradise Island. What has surprised me the most is that I've loved the original scent sooooo much that I've barely used Paradise Island. The Original Dry Shampoo makes me think of Summer Holidays and the lovely coconut scents that come with them. It honestly smells out of this world and it really lingers so I can smell it all the time - this obviously makes me very happy. Paradise Island does still have a hint of coconut but it's more fruity than the Original.

Now the important part is over (hahaha) lets get down to the more serious part of the review.

I have actually found that the Boots Dry Shampoo distributes better than Batiste. I didn't know this could be possible if I'm honest. Do you ever have the experience when something satisfies your needs so much that you can't imagine anything to be better? Well this just is! I'm not in any way slating Batiste Dry Shampoo because it really is amazing stuff but the Boots version just takes it that bit further for me. Sometimes when I'm getting to the bottom of a bottle of Batiste I can find that it no longer sprays any powder on to my hair and therefore loses it's effectiveness which disappoints me. The boots version literally keeps on giving right until it's very last spray and I don't find I have to shake the can as vigorously as Batiste. It distributes perfectly and is really easy to rub in.

If you follow my blog and social media you'll know that recently I have gone silver blonde and I've been experimenting with pastel colours. Anyone who has done/is doing the same will know that washing your hair too often is killer. For the condition of your hair and for maintaining the colour. Now this might gross some people out, but since making the switch to Boots Dry Shampoo I have literally only been washing my hair once a week. This means I can maintain my pastel colours for longer and also keep my hair in tip top condition after having it bleached numerous times. Some of you might be thinking "how on earth can you go a week without washing your hair, it must feel horrible and greasy" but I promise you it doesn't at all. I can't stand my hair feeling greasy, but a few sprays of this to my hair gives it that just washed fresh feeling for another few days without having to reapply it. It really is a wonderful bargain product and I am now completely converted. No excessive build up, no grease in sight, no problems shaking it up, a lovely coconutty scent in your hair = sheer perfection. What is not to love? Seriously!

I still love Batiste Dry Shampoo and if it's on offer I will definitely pick it up, but when a 200ml bottle of Batiste is £3.99 for one and I can pick these up at 2 for £3 it goes without saying which one I am going to choose. If you're anything like me and can't live without Dry Shampoo then I absolutely urge you to try these because they're such good value for money and the quality is higher than its pricier competitors. Share the love for Boots and try their Dry Shampoo and please let me know what you think if you do.

I hope this post has been helpful. I dared to try a product out of my comfort zone and it paid off so I'm encouraging you to do the same. Try something new!

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Here in the UK we've seen an ungenerous preview of Spring/Summer weather but no matter how few and far between those days are, no one hesitates to whip out the summer clothing and get outside whilst they can. Summer days aren't a regular occurrence for us so we simply must make the most of those days we get. As a Beauty Blogger, one thing I love most about summer is changing my shades of makeup to more shimmery, pastel tones to suit my bronzed, freckly skin and that starts today with Blushers.

There are 4 shimmery blushers that I have been loving over the past few weeks so I thought I'd share the love for them with you. 

Accessorize Merged Baked Blusher

The first is one I've had for a while and although it's not too common amongst the blogosphere I absolutely love it. Whats more, it never seems to go down (I wonder if it will ever come to an end). That is the Accessorize Merged Baked Blusher in Sensation. I apologise in advance if this product is no longer available but I wanted to give it some credit. I only own a couple of Accessorize Makeup Products but actually they're really nice and this Blusher is perfect for Summer. It has an amazing amount of subtle peachy pink shimmer which makes it perfect to double up as a Blusher and Highlighter in one. I usually lean towards shades that are suited to warmer skin tones but I honestly think this product would suit both as it's a mixture of pink and peach tones. A little goes such a long way because this products lifts onto my Blush brush so well and applies like a dream. I love it and I'll be pretty sad when/if it ever ends.

Soap and Glory Peach Party

I absolutely adore using peachy shades in the Summer and I also love multipurpose products which this is. Peach Party doubles up as a Blusher and Highlighter but it also has a darker shade in there that works nicely to bronze your cheeks. I tend to apply this instead of a bronzer, blusher and highlighter trio when I'm in a rush or on days when I'm going very minimal because it's so easy to use and ticks many boxes. I would say that this product has more golden undertones so might suit warmer skin tones more so than cool, but again it's quite subtle and not blatantly golden. It has a range of 4 different peach tones ranging from a really light pinky peach, to a dark bronze peach (sorry if my descriptions aren't great, the colours are difficult to describe). I tend to take my brush, swirl it around the entire palette and enjoy the mixture of colours as a multi tasking bronzer/highlighter/blusher as mentioned. However, if you preferred I'm sure you could take a smaller brush and choose specific shades to use as a highlighter or blush if you want to utilise the specific shades. I don't feel it lifts onto my brush as easily as the Accessorize Merged Baked Blusher, but then it's a darker shade so that's probably a positive thing. You wouldn't want to over do it.

All 4 of these Blusher shades are perfect for summer as they're light, peachy and shimmery. They would be great to give a subtle glow to bronzed skin, making them perfect for holidays or the warmer months. You'll notice on many of my Instagram photos recently that I have shimmery cheeks and that is thanks to these lovely products.

Do you have any favourite shimmery blushers? I'd love to hear about them.

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