EXPLORING COVENT GARDEN IN LONDON

Collaboration post with Hotels.com “The spending money was gifted by Hotels.com, but all views are my own.


Salutations babes! It's been a while, hasn't it? If you follow me on Instagram you'll know I've been busy shooting for many brands such as lotd, hidden fashion, and isawitfirst .

Summer is officially over! And I ended it on a high at Notting Hill Carnival. I love exploring London and especially Covent Garden. If you are looking to stay in Covent Garden, make sure you have a look at these hotels. However, Last week I explored Covent Garden to explore the hidden gems it had to offer with my girl Char.

Covent Garden is known for its markets, Street performers and an abundance of cute restaurants. Located on the Piccadilly line, the area is closely located to popular areas such as Leicester Square, which is literally 5 mins away.

Armed with my gal pal and meme dealer Char, we did what we both love to do eat brunch! Heading over to the coziest restaurant in Covent Garden for brunch, being the Ivy Market grill. It was my first time, but Char is a veteran and highly recommended it. We had all the trimmings!

I opted for two white hot chocolate drinks, which my tongue thanked me for, but my waistline does not. However, it was worth it. Next, I had the best chicken sandwich with fries literally ever. The service was top notch, and I even got a birthday crème Brulee for my 27th and 9-month birthday (my actual birthday is in November) but I needed cheering up after a difficult few weeks and I'm glad the guys were so cute to do this for me.

Next, we explored the famous Covent Garden market, before walking past amazing street performers. Again the markets were full of really unique goodies, so if you're looking for a gift to really mark that you've been to Covent Garden then please head over. We stopped just outside the Moomin store and I met the love of my life with my mini Moomin. Can I get an awe?

Working in the beauty industry has many perks, like getting to play with makeup and skin care goodies on the regular. However, I always have an itch to see the newest make up. Covent Garden is perfect if you're a make up junkie, with an abundance of stores. I headed over to Kiko to see the rest of the jelly jungle range. I had been gifted the lip glosses a few weeks back so I went in to see and buy a few more goodies. Then I headed back to the ordinary to get my coveted foundation. There are only a few in London with another opening in Westfield London.

We spent most of the day in the markets, so didn't get a chance to see Neal's Yard. But if you love to dance, check out Pineapple studio. I've been there before and the bar life is quite good too. Make sure to head up Cafe Pacifico for unusual but tasty cocktails.

SUMMER HAIR CARE TIPS FOR BLACK HAIR

This is a collaboration with HS Hair Clinic

I love summer, I love the good vibes, the festivals. the music and the weather. With a lot of positives, and I mean there are a lot, there are a lot of negatives. Take, for example,  the unbreathable heat, the annoying sweating and the fact I am not on holiday until October. But most importantly, the weather conditions for my hair. As a Naturalista, I have a hair type of 4A, what this means is that my hair is kinky (soft) with tight curls. Black hair requires different hair protection techniques to our Caucasian and Asian counterparts. In a nutshell, our hair is naturally drier, so the lack of moisture this season means that we need to be extra careful with protecting our hair so that we maintain healthy, luscious locks. Here I let you know my healthy hair tips for summer.

Use a protective style- Braid it up.

Hot weather normally leads to muggy conditions, which leads to frizz and general gross hair. In order to protect your hair, I feel protective styles like braids are the best solution to hot weather. I am partial to crochet braids, box braids, Ghana braids and cornrows. Braids are my go-to on holiday or a staycation in the UK. The low manipulation for the weeks I have it in has always helped with my hair growth. Braids will protect your ends, which is crucial if you want to grow your hair out, and protect your hair breaking in the hot weather. 

I am currently rocking a hybrid between box braids ( underneath my hair) and cornrows at the upper part of my hair. Just like a relationship, braids are a commitment, and although they will allow you to be free without a second thought, you must choose your hairstylist with care. Always have a few weeks between your braids, otherwise, your hair will break. This is sadly what has happened to mine. You also need to make sure your stylist doesn't braid your hair too tight, repeated tight braids and back to back braids can lead to traction alopecia. A solution for this is to have a break from braids. If your hair is really damaged, you may need to look into something that can help with regrowing your hair.

FUE hair transplant is a treatment done at Harley Street Clinic. The team are dedicated to performing procedures to ensure that clients get the best hair transplant results.

Moisturise your hair

Just like a plant, Black hair is thirsty for moisture especially during the Summer. What I tend to do is my moisturise and seal routine. I moisturise my hair using a hair lotion and seal with an oil, whether it be argan oil, coconut oil, olive oil and castor oil. I try to do this daily. Now with shampoo and conditioner, I try to do this 1-2 week, alternating between a co-wash and conditioning shampoo. I am a great fan of Shea Moisture products as they include natural products that will enrich your hair. 

Wrap your hair

Whether you are taking a stroll on a summers day, going for a swim or going to bed. Sun rays on the hair are not the one. Try a hat or a head wrap for daily protection, they are very versatile an so good for the hair during this season. Please use a swimming cap on the hair if you love to take a dip in the pool. Chlorine is absolutely terrible to your hair and repeated abuse of it can really damage it. I know it isn't cute, but I'd rather have healthy hair than weak hair. When going to bed, always use a silk scarf or headwrap. This is an all-around tip, for all seasons. The barrier between the headwrap and your cotton cases will reduce the friction which can damage hair. 

So there you go, my tips for summer hair for black hair. What do you do to protect your hair?

FANTASTIC SERVICES REDESIGNS MY GARDEN

What a beautiful summer we're having! I can't believe the British summer is so beautiful at the moment. I love the fact that summer pushes me to be outside more and do more activities. I feel more productive, don't you? My sister and I are working on this major renovation of our home and having a 3 bedroom house are not easy to take care of, it requires a lot of upkeep. Especially the garden! This time we didn't need to worry about the garden so much as we were approached by fantastic services, who opted to clean up our front and back garden and plant flowers to take it to the next stage.

If you're not familiar with fantastic services, they are a one-stop shop for all home services! Let me tell you they are fantastic. After discussing the brief, two garden pros arrived at my home and weeded my back and front garden within an hour. The then proceeded to add weed treatment and dispose to of the rubbish.

Next was making my garden beautiful. The team asked if I wanted flowers and I was really excited as I wasn't expecting it, and I also had no clue of flowers to choose from. I just pointed to the floral dress I was wearing and left it to the pros to choose. The guys went above and beyond and brought in a huge amount of flowers, so colourful and unique. They planted them in a beautiful way to give my garden personality. I can't wait to see them bloom.

Thank you so much to the team at Fantastic Services for helping my garden to look pretty. As we're in a heatwave my garden is looking a bit dry, but hopefully, in a few weeks, you'll be able to see the full potential.

Please note that gardening, planting and clean up is was gifted to me for the review.

HOW TO TRAVEL ON A BUDGET (AD)

I admit it, I have travel envy. I always wondered how my friends and travel blogger peeps were able to whisk away to amazing locations so frequently! Surely it cost a lot, surely you used up all your annual leave? Well after research and actually speaking to my friends I realized it was more realistic than I thought. Below are my tips, that I gained.

Save and invest:

Pretty standard really, I'm not the best at saving to be honest, but having a nest egg for days you want to just book a flight is brilliant. What I have started doing is saving at least 20% of my salary each month. If you can't afford that try 10% or even 5% at first and see how that goes! Do a direct debit each month and you'll be growing before you know it.

Download apps like Monzo to monitor your spend and before you know it, you'll also be sipping Pina Coladas on a beach in Bali.

Hunt for the best deals:
I'm a woman that likes a good deal. What can I say, I love to live boujee on a budget.

I'm not going to go into so much detail about the places I look but you can find them here 

My faves have to be first choice and the tui brand for quickie package holiday deals, as well as my bae travel supermarket.



Borrow now, pay later:

We all need a break, and as such life gets in the way and you may not have enough to get away and you really need to. So you need a little financial help and a mini loan. Cash lady is a good example of this, As a specialist payday loan broker, their service is completely free of charge. They will not charge you anything at any point. Instead, they receive a fee from our lenders once they have successfully funded your loan.

Remember if you go this route, please choose something affordable and choose a realistic timescale to pay off your loan. You can find out more about how this works here. 

So there you go, work out the best option for yourself and enjoy!

sponsored post by Cash Lady