Whisked Away

At the beginning of last week Elliot told me to take Friday off. Without hesitation I got it booked off and expected a lovely long weekend with my boyfriend.

He picked me up from work on Thursday and on the journey home told me the most exciting news I've had this year. We were off to Venice. 

He'd planned the entire thing all weekend and in the early hours of Friday morning we were to encounter our first experience with Italy. 

A hop, skip and vaporetto later we were on the Grand Canal, taking in all of the beautiful buildings, boats and greenery that make Venice a truly stunning city to visit.

We were soon on dry land and quickly found our hotel, the Hotel Salut, dropped off our bags and eagerly began exploring. 

Not before experiencing our first taste of Italian Gelato. 

We walked through the little alley ways and streets, walking into galleries and Venetian mask shops as we went along. 

 

The 3 sides of Elliot :P 

We then came across this random little shop dedicated to Andy Warhol and the clothes he wore. Filled with velvet blazers, neon fixtures and some rather racy artwork. 

We then entered an Azerbaijan themed gallery with a room created entirely with this bright and intricate pattern. Even the books were covered (and a rather exciting discover was made once opened)

I decided to get mine and Elliot's visit down in history with a little message in one of the shops. 

We then found ourselves at a Richard Mosse gallery that consisted of a dark, blacked out room with large projectors playing different scenes from an African scouting mission. A rather dark content matter, we decided to promptly leave and continued strolling through the intertwining streets. 

Popping into another gallery called Supernatural that featured a more modern and rather strange collection of pieces. 

By the end of a very long day, we decided to take advantage of the line of restaurants with piers along the Great Canal. Sitting and chatting, drinking Bellinis, beer and Prosecco until we gained a sufficient appetite. 

We took a short walk to the next restaurant, got seated and ordered our first Italian pizza. Elliot opted for a pepperoni and pepper pizza with me enjoying a Quattro Formaggi pizza.

By the end of dinner we headed back to the hotel and quickly found ourselves snoozing off. What an amazing start to our first time in Venice!

Benefit Longwear Powder Shadow

How gorgeous is this trio of Benefit eyeshadows!

Having acquired a rather hefty amount of beauty goodies from the Mid-Summer Meet, I thought that these just had to feature as one of the first blogs on the amazing goody bag I got from the event, as they are probably my favourites of the night. 

Here's a brief description of each shadow;

 

 Quick, Look Busy - A very smokey, dark grey/brown eyeshadow with an immediate matte finish. This Benefit eyeshadow goes on really easy, with a blendable formula that you can build up to get the intensity you want.

It's Complicated - A gorgeous, copper/bronze eyeshadow with a stunning shimmer finish, this is the perfect eyeshadow for summer. I love shades like these because they always look great with blue eyes. This is really wearable during the day or evening so a definite win, win for me. 

Nude Swings - How beautiful is this shade! I love this eyeshadow so much, a marvelous shimmery nude, this is the perfect everyday shadow to instantly brighten your eyes without looking too over the top! I used this across my lid as well as the bottom for some instant brightening power.

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Lip Balm

Wow!

I do love my lip balms at the moment, the weather is getting a little colder and I feel the urge to prepare and protect my lips against chapping. 

The Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Intensive Lip Repair Balm is my new favourite for keeping my lips looking soft and feeling lush. 

I thought it was going to quite a solid balm but it actually goes on more like a gloss. It leave you with a clear finish that slowly starts to tingle your lips. Another bonus if you love that in a balm!

I can't recommend this enough as it looks great and stays on for ages.

Blog Swap Time

So when I started my blog, I came across this amazing idea that lead me to gain a blogger friend that I may not have done before, as well as discovering some amazing new beauty buys I wouldn't have usually gone for. 

The Beauty Blog Swap

Simple concept really. You exchange details with another blogger and agree to spend up to a certain amount on beauty, hair or skin care and send it over to them. With them doing the same for you. 

Once received, you can then blog about the new beauty products your blogger other half bought you, linking back to them as a BIG thank you to them! 

I did this with Zoe from Face Value Beauty and it was so much fun. You can check out how it went here.

So I've decided that I want to do another, as well as connecting some of you girls or guys up with other bloggers to do something similar with them.

If you're interested in taking part. Send me a quick email to bekagough@hotmail.co.uk and I'll either partner up with you or give you another blogger to swap with.

Looking forward to doing this again!

Friday Favourites #13

This week's Friday Favourites features a look that starts with the dress. I spotted this gorgeous floral number when I was on the train home from Darlington reading the latest Glamour. Miranda Kerr was modelling the Mango dress and I just couldn't get it out of my head. It's summery but uses tones that are perfect for autumn. I need this dress in my life!

1. Floral Print Chiffon Dress from Mango
2. ASOS Dance Hall Flatform Trainers
3. Faith Perspex Cross Body Bag
4. Orelia Wishbone Pendant
5. OPI San Francisco nail polish in Dining Al Frisco
6. Daniel Sandler Luxury Gloss in Skinny Dip

The Greatest Scrub Of All

When I first saw this Greatest Scrub Of All from Soap & Glory, I thought that it looked more like a cream than a scrub. Being used to using their sugar scrub, I was expecting a rough and painful experience, but this scrub is amazing. I sometimes get dry skin on my chin and nose, but this scrub gets all of that off without irritating as well as leaving my skin feeling moisturized after.

Really great purchase for those out there with dry skin that needs something gentle but effective to take care of it.

You can get this Soap & Glory scrub from Boots