Summer Essentials: Let's Talk Blog Challenge.

Time for week 2 of the gorgeous Sarah Hamersley’s blog challenge! I loved last week’s intro, everyone was so supportive and I found lots of new blogs, which is always good. This week’s topic is Summer Essentials, so now you can have a little insight to what completes my summer.

1. Holiday/Festival.

Okay, so I know this isn’t really ‘essential’ but one of the reasons I love summer so much is because there are so many opportunities to do fun things! Nothing perks me up like a but of sunshine. Or if like me you’re big into your music hitting up a festival does the trick too. It doesn’t have to be a big ordeal like Glasto/Oxegen, even just one day of live music in the sun with a cider in hand can give you a lift! Even better if it’s local and there’s a real atmosphere and buzz about the place. Last year I was lucky enough to go to Portugal and the Boardmasters festival in Newquay, so this year I’m going to try keep it local and support home-grown talent!

Albufiera, Portugal.

Boardmasters.

 2. Books! (Yes multiple)

This one may be a given but I personally could not go a whole summer without reading at-least 3 books. I enjoy nothing more than my back garden, the sun and a good read. It’s definitely one of the most relaxing places to be!

3. Music.

Whilst in my garden with my book and the sun I just have to have some tunes playing! Now, when I say tunes I don’t mean Calvin Harris/Tiesto/Martin Garrix, those songs are just not me, I’m an indie gal! (Hate saying that – cringe). Chilled out folksy music is a dream in the warm weather, think The XX, Maccabees, Alt – J. Obviously music choice is personal but these are just my ideal summer listening!

4. SPF/Tanning Moisturiser.

Bit of a boring one now but SPF is absolutely vital for me in the summer months! Having Irish skin means I burn within 10 minutes of being in the sun, so one of the first things I do is pile on the factor 30! This unfortunately means I barely get any colour when the suns out and is why fake tan is shamefully on my list. Not proper fake tan, just Dove Summer Body. This gives me just enough of a glow to look sunkissed and not orange. Everyone needs a little help sometimes! (Or all the time in my case..)

5. Lipstick.

Lipstick has got to be every girl’s best friend no? In summer I love rocking a natural eye look and wearing a really vibrant lippy to dress it up! I like to have a selection of colours to get me through the summer months as I feel lipstick is the one thing that can completely change your look using just one colour. You can go from girly to vamp in one coat and I love that. I do need to invest in a few more brighter colours, I'm gonna find it hard to stray from the purple!

 6. Friends

Summer is all about having fun, and to do this you usually need a few friends around. It’s the perfect time of year to make memories and have a laugh, be it at a festival or just in your garden. So make the most of it and round everyone up even if you haven’t seen them in ages! (My friends and I are currently organising a sports-day even and I am so excited).

So there we have it, my summer essentials. Now you know my must-haves for the glorious season! Although to be honest I probably should have included an umbrella, I do live in Ireland after all! Don’t forget to check Sarah out over here; her blog is amazing! And I’ll see you all next week. xo