Lovebox Festival 2016

Lovebox 2016 15th July - the Friday

Last summer was our first time at this festival and we really didn't know what to expect seeing as it is in London but it was so easy to get to and absolutely no hassle at the gates. The park is very big which is great because you don't feel like you're in the city but at the same time expect to walk a LOT between stages and performances as they are very spread out. One major plus for Lovebox is there is plenty of seating, which is an absolute godsend for when you need a rest from all the dancing you'll be doing or when you're trying to regroup with lost members of the group. Standard!

There is also entertainment aside from just music - eg. there was a roller disco not far from the entrance on the Friday which looked like a lot of fun if you're actually brave enough to try and skate after several drinks...

On route!

I didn't really eat much at Lovebox but if I did want to there was plenty of options from fancy fish and chips to gorgeous oriental food - noodles looked amazing!

Toilets

These were so so lush - like a cabin, hardly any queues but of course like any festival BRING TOILET PAPER or be even more classy and shove tissues in your pockets.
Lorraine and I happened to stumble on an upcoming artist named Zac Abel and fell in love with his voice straight away. He's featured on a few songs that we have heard (Impossible by Gorgon City is an absolute tune!) but we had never seen him as a solo artist. After the festival we did a cheeky stalk of some of his other songs and I'd sum up his style of signing as Modem soul/Pop. Definitely give him a listen if this is your type of genre!

Stages
My favourite part was ELROW - now if you aren't really into house then you may not have heard of this group but since last summer they are fast becoming one of the biggest house hold names (no pun intended) and gaining a massive reputation for a brilliant night. The visuals are insane: bright, colourful and vibrant. Elrow has various themes depending on the venue and occasion but at Lovebox it was a tropical theme with a ceiling full of leaves, parrots etc. It stood out more than any other tent for us. We didn't necessarily know all the djs but I felt as though the atmosphere was that intense you didn't really need to.

Where I'd take a miss - fabric tent The music inside can not be faulted and I feel as though if it wasn't the mid of summer the temperature inside or the tent would have been bearable but it was NOT. We could barely breathe and there was no air machines meaning no way of circulating cold air into the enclosed space.

Okay now when it comes to the final act just like any festival it's going to be a BIG act. If you want to be anywhere near the front or even reasonably close to the main stage, leave whichever tent you are currently having the time of your life in and make sure you are at main stage at least 30 minutes before! Diplo was a smudge from where we were standing and I'm talking about on the screens!

Overall Lovebox was a lot of fun and this year sees the likes of Frank Ocean, Chase and Status and Annie Mac so if you're up for a whole day of dancing you must must go! Nearest tube - Mile End (District & Central Lines) 13 mins/ or Bethnal Green (Central Line) 15 mins

Festival Season...

Festival Season aka the real 'most wonderful time of the year' is fast approaching. Amy and I have a genuine addiction problem when it comes to a summer festival. Honestly, we don't even have to see the line-ups anymore we just buy tickets and then do that mid panic when it's 1st May and you are utterly unprepared: body, outfit, flights, tent ectera ecetera

Anyhoo we have been to a fair few between us and have decided over the next coming weeks we will give a run down of our experience and tips!

V festival

WEAREFSTVL

Benicassim

WILDLIFE

Lovebox

Reading

and the festivals we will be going to for the first time:

AMP Lost and Found

Hideout 

Boomtown

Please feel free to give us tips too or recommend any festivals we're yet to try!

xxx

Sanctuary Spa Products Review: Mini Haul

On the same theme as our Covent Garden day out, we decided to go a tad wild in Boots and buy lots of little treats from Sanctuary Spa!


Plus gals if you do want to try any of the products mentioned below out, Boots are currently doing an offer on this brand: Free gift when you buy 2 selected Sanctuary products!

5 Minute Thermal Detox Mask

Oh ma gawwwd where do we start with this face mask. Now we all went through puberty and I'm sure you all tried every single product there is out there to try and achieve beautiful acne free skin but this out of every face mask I've ever tried left my face feeling the most fresh.

It contains charcoal and kaolin clay, self-heats and opens your pores leaving your face feeling so so smooth even without having scrubbed it.

Radiance Exfoliator

It does leave your skin feeling fresh however we found it wasn't gritty enough to be an exfoliator we'd use in future. We prefer our facial exfoliators to be as rough as those for this body #sandpaper 

Our favourite aspect of this product is that it is suitable for ALL SKIN TYPES. 

Intensive Heel Balm

This balm smells lush! Probably due to the fact it contains: Shea butter, Rosehip oil, Vitamin E, Lavender, Tea tree.

We recommend using this product straight after a shower or bath and lathering this on heels THEN putting socks on to proper lock in the moisture - it will feel a little odd at first but trust us it will do your paws a world of good.

Cleansing Burst Body Wash

If any of you have previously used Sanctuary products you will know that this brand has a specific scent, especially on the originals and this body wash definitely has it.

Not only is the smell lovely and lingers on your skin, it lathers really well.
The only downfall (its a tiny one!) is the bottle itself is a little impractical when trying to get the wash out because you have to squeeze it and the bottle is hard. In short we like quick showers and we are lazy.

Foaming Creamy Bath Soak

Pretty much does what it says on the tin. Smells like your typical Sanctuary products and makes your bath foamy and you feeling like a mermaid who will never leave the water.


Green Lemon & Orange Blossom Body Wash
White Lily & Damask Rose Body Wash
Both of these smell glorious and lather so easily on damp skin. The little beads burst to add extra moisture and our fave aspect of these two body washes is their fresh scent actually sticks to your skin so you smell like you have perfume on even after the shower.

The yellow version smells fresh and citrus based whilst the pink wash is very light and floral. Most definitely recommend!

Luxurious Body Butter
Now this moisturiser has been apart of mine and Amy's lives since we were little - genuinely it is our mum's absolute go to!

Lorraine's must have is Palmer's Cocoa Butter but this comes a close second! It is like a more sophisticated perfumed version if you don't plan on actually smelling like a chocolate bar.

This contains: Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, Sweet Almond Oil, Macadamia Oil and Vitamin E. Pleeeeaaaassseeee try this before dinner/drinks/nightout and I can guarantee you will be complemented.

All of the products mentioned above come in large and sample sizes so please give them a go and let us know in the comments whether you fell in love too!!

Sticks'n'Sushi

Well it's Saturday again and that can only mean we found ourselves on route to the Capital once more... whooops!

This time we went on a scavenge hunt around the beautiful location of Covent Garden to find some cocktails but I mean who in their right mind could refuse sushi when it is also on the menu?!!!

Cocktails are which way?!

Stick'n'Sushi is literally like heaven for those of you out there that adore sushi but are also inclined to the odd delicious fruity beverage or two! It is a Copenhagen-based restaurant that is based literally just off the square in Covent Garden - Henrietta Street to be exact. 

The esthetique of the restaurant if upper market and thankfully Amy and I had dressed up a bit (no heels mind you!), the staff are lovely and very attentive but our favourite part was the menu. It is very visually appealing with clear high definition photos of each individual dish - plus the waiter will go on to explain in excellent detail any dish you would like to know more about.

So what did we eat I hear you ask?! Our cocktails were obviously individual but we decided to share our main as it was that odd time in the day when the lunch ship has sailed, it's too early for dinner but you are starting to get a little too merry on the cocktails lol 

HELL’S KITCHEN Tempura shrimp, avocado, tuna & barbecue sauce
CRISPY EBI Tempura shrimp, avocado, spicy sauce & sesame 

Cocktails: HOTARU Light rum, apple, passion fruit, orgeat & citrus all shaken up 

ROZU Gin shaken with raspberries, lychee & orange blossom 

Price wise we thought this restaurant was reasonable, it is high grade and the service is brilliant so obviously you are going to pay a bit more than the average establishment. Cocktails were all under £10 and our bill came to just over £60 so if you are super hungry just be prepared to pay a lot but the food is divine so it is totally worth it!

Closest tube station: Covent Garden

BOXPARK Shoreditch/Softserve Society

Soo on Friday Amy and I ended up trekking to the edgy yet fabulous location of Shoreditch.

As well as falling in love about 5 times we stumbled across a gorgeous ice-cream shop which we are so in love with we actually got loyalty cards even though we live in Hampshire?! lol

The ice-cream shop is called Softserve society and is located in a type of pop up shopping centre called BOXPARK.

BOXPARK contains different units ranging from street food, desserts all the way to edgy upcoming clothing labels.

Okay back to the goooood stuff - Softserve society
This unique ice cream can be served in a cone, sundae or freakshake

Amy ordered Cloud 9

Lorraine ordered Espresso Yourself

The menu is straightforward but the options and variations are in large supply

Closest tube: Shoreditch High Street - literally as you come out of the station you'll see the monochrome shipping container that is BOXPARK - soft serve can be found on the ground floor and it's literally 3/4 shops down from the entrance. You cannot miss it people!

Azulito

Azulito is a tequila themed bar in the heart of Central London SOHO - Wardour Street

Azulito can be found in the basement of Wahaca, literally enter, turn left down the stairs left again and boom you are in a colourful tequila paradise!

This bar is very playful not just the cocktail flavours but also the decor: Woven eggs, fussball table, vibrant colours, low lighting.

Our favourite thing about this bar other than the copious amounts of tequila is the chilled vibe.

This bar serves up to 80 different types of tequila which you can have as a shot (yaas queen!) or mixed into adaptions of your favourite cocktails. If you're a sucker for sweet cocktails I really recommend the Vanilla Passionfruit mojito!

Closest tube station: Leicester Square (7 minute walk)

4 places you must visit in Genoa

1. Piazza De Ferrari Fountain

Right in the centre of Genoa is a square called Piazza De Ferrari, which full of beautiful stone buildings and right in the middle of the main square is a fountain. It is so picturesque and at night coloured lights are displayed within the water. Although this is a tourist spot it is not too crowded. We went both in the day and evening and everyone that sits around the square is a mixture of locals and tourists enjoying a chat and majority eating the gorgeous gelato.

Lorraine sat outside the fountain trying to take 'edgy' snapchats

Nearest metro stop: De Ferrari


2. Profumo di Rosa

On the topic of gelato you MUST MUST MUST visit Profumo di Rosa. Now we're not trying to brag but we consider ourselves gelato connoisseurs at the minimum - we've been blessed to try gelato in Venice, Lake Gada, Verona, Barcelona, London, Milan but this gelato parlour trumped them all!!

The lady is sooo lovely and gave us a ridiculous amount of free samples on a little spoon until both Amy and I finally made our minds up.

Nearest metro stop: De Ferrari