Travel | Top 5 Things To Do In Munich

Hey lovely people!

I just recently got back from a weekend trip to the beautiful city of Munich, Germany, and thought I'd share with you my top 5 things to do if you ever visit, as well of a quick style diary of what I wore.

Day wear look #1

Blue Paisley Maxi Skirt - £30 Miss Selfridge / White Crop Top - Boohoo / Brown Suede Jacket - £59.99 Mango / Brown Mini Bag - Accessorize / Gold Statement Necklace - New Look / Brown Clog Shoes - £56 Topshop

For the first day of exploring Munich I opted for a comfy paisley maxi skirt, a simple white crop top, & my new dreamy suede Mango jacket. I accessorised with a gold statement necklace, a mini brown bag and my Topshop brown clog-like shoes (which I'm a little obsessed with!). Probably the most boho look I've ever worn! 

Saturday Night Styling

Black & White Striped Bandage Dress - £42 Rare at Topshop / Black Bag - Accessorize / Black Heels - £19.99 New Look

So here's a heads up about going out in Munich - they DON'T DRESS UP! So, don't look like like a complete numpty like I did turning up at a cocktail bar in a cocktail dress (god forbid!) when everyone else is in jeans and a top! They like to keep it casual on nights out, but that doesn't mean they don't know how to have a good time - Munich is a fantastic night out!! 

Regardless of my fashion fail, I still loved wearing this pretty striped number from Topshop. It's nice to feel glam sometimes (even nicer when you're not getting looks like you've just walked into Tesco in a ball gown!).  :)  

Day wear look #2

Band of Gypsies dress - £40 Topshop / Brown Suede Jacket - £59.99 Mango / Black Boots - River Island / Red Bag - Ark Clothing / Dark Red Hat - River Island

More boho styling for the second day of the trip, I felt very Stevie Nicks in this pretty black and red floral piece from Topshop, teamed with my trusty River Island boots! :) And yessss I was pretty drunk by the last photo lol!

Top 5 Things To Do In Munich

When we got back I had the standard hundreds of photos from the trip, being such a snap happy camera keeno that I am, so instead of bombarding you with loads I've cut them down into the following collages for my Top 5 things to do in Munich!

1. Hit the shops!

I was super impressed with the shops in Munich, they have some amazing high end brands such as Valentino and Gucci! They also have the cutest little boutique shops such as the truffle shop where we bought a selection of goodies to eat on our way round exploring, and the adorable tea shop that stocked teas I didn't even know existed! We got some english caramel tea which I can't wait to try! When we we're paying my boyfriend decided to embarrass us both by accidentally answering the german man with "Si Si".... yeah we're not in spain DOH.

2. Explore Munich's Old Town 

Old town Munich is so beautiful, I think I found how I'd like my dream house to look at one point! (See pic above!). It's definitely worth a look round, and if it's a nice day there are plenty of bike tours where you could cycle round the town and find out the history of the beautiful buildings! We didn't because, I only packed skirts oops. If you get chance you should also visit Marienplatz square, where the New City Hall has a glockenspiel clock which chimes and has a little figurine show complete with knights and jokers - so cute! 

3. Visit a Bavarian Beer Hall

Of course you can't visit Germany without hitting up a few of their famous beer halls! Our hotel was just over the road from one of the most famous ones, the Hofbrauhaus Munchen, where they have a fantastic live oompah band and some very nice german grub! It's all meat and potatoes (good luck finding any veg!) but it's actually just what you need after a day of drinking. Also, remember never ask to see the cocktail menu in a beer hall like I stupidly did. "COCKTAILS? WE SERVE BEEEEEEEEEEER". I ended having stein after stein of wine (not a beer fan myself) which was kinda deadly but fun ha!

4. Explore the Viktualienmarkt market

I already love a good market because it's basically an excuse to eat lots of food, and this one didn't disappoint! There were loads of different food stalls to sample from and even some cute craft and gift stalls. In the middle we found a big beer garden which was great for chilling out in and people watching! :) 

5. Visit the English Gardens

Our last day in Munich was spent in one of the most beautiful parks I've ever been in! We started the day by having a picnic breakfast with pastries from a local bakery, sitting in the sunshine overlooking the river which was lovely. Then we wandered further into the park and found yet another beer garden, where people had already started on the steins by 10am! Before we joined them (and ate even more german hot dogs!), we decided to rent out a boat for a lovely little ride on the river which was very fun. I even managed to secretly not peddle for a good half of the ride before the boyfriend cottoned on ha!

What about you guys, have you ever been to lovely Munich? I'd love to know what you thought of the city! 

Have a lovely week :) 

Gabby xo

Beauty | Body Shop Bloggers Event & Best Products For Oily Skin

Hey guys,

Today I wanted to share with you what I got up to last Friday night at the Body Shop VIP bloggers event, and some reviews of the products I've tried over the weekend. This includes my first experience of a tea bath and my first clay mask (scary gremlin picture included!). Hope you enjoy!

Body Shop Bloggers Event

We were kindly invited down to the Body Shop at the White Rose Centre in Leeds (my regular shopping hangout since I only live round the corner!) to preview some of their brand new ranges launching this spring, and also to preview some of their recently launched products.

One of the most fun things I think about being at a blogger events is that you can feel completely normal about pulling out the camera at every given opportunity, clicking away like a mad woman  without anyone batting an eyelid (cos everyone's doing the same!). Not to mention how friendly most bloggers are (especially the local Leeds girls!), I love how everyone's just excited to be there and chat - it makes for such a fun atmosphere.

Before the event kicked off I had a mooch round the store with fellow bloggers Rhianna (Robowecop Blog) and Kayleigh (Very Berry Cosmo Blog). Gotta love Rhianna's reaction to finding the bath tea product!! 

The event began with demonstrations of how to use/apply products from the brand new Fuji Green Tea range. They smelt bloody amazing! And I was excited to get to see how to use this Green Tea Strainer that we'd spotted earlier. We were shown how you simply fill the tea strainer with the green tea bath salts, then run hot water over it in order to get the infused silky water and release those amazing green tea scents. Just imagine all that antioxidant goodness on your skin! I had to make a purchase - keep reading for my review!

We also got to sample products from the equally as heavenly smelling Virgin Mojito range - which is due to be out next month.  The range included body butter, body scrub, shower gel, body sorbet and my personal fave the "body splash" - it smelt so fresh! 

After the demonstrations I was keen to find out what the best products for oily skin were, so I got chatting with the lovely skin expert Shannon and she kindly took me through some of the best options. She highly recommended the Seaweed Skin Care range, which is specially designed to control excess oils. In the end I decided to try 3 products from the range: the Pore Cleansing Exfoliator, the Ionic Clay Mask & the Day Cream Moisturiser. Here they are looking all snazzy next to a white orchid:

The Reviews

So, whilst I'm definitely no expert when it comes to reviewing beauty products, I still thought I'd share my honest opinions of the products I bought.. here goes nothing!

Fuji Green Tea Bath Tea & Strainer  - 4/5

I was extremely excited to try this (mainly because I liked the idea of jumping into a giant cup of tea!), but also because it smelt so lovely in the demonstration I couldn't wait to fill my nose with it again. On first attempt I ended up not putting enough of the tea salts in - i'd only filled it a quarter of the way and not a lot was happening, so I threw a couple more handfuls in until the infuser was half full which seemed to do the trick!

There was a little issue in the fact that the actual strainer chain wasn't long enough to touch the water at first, so I had to hold it there and let it infuse away until the water got a little higher and I could hang it. Not a huge issue, but I am kinda lazy and prefer being able to leave the bath doing it's thang.

Anyway, before long it was time to jump in and ahhh wow the smell was so gorgeous, and I loved how the water had a lovely silkiness to it. I felt super relaxed and enjoyed having a good ol soak. The only thing that was missing was my usual abundance of bubbles, no bubble beard for me this time!

Pros: Made the water quite silky, amazing smell. Natural product. Skin felt soft afterwards.
Cons: I missed my bubbles! And strainer chain not quite long enough.

Seaweed Day Cream Moisturiser - 2/5

I really wanted to like this. My current moisturiser from Olay is far too thick and heavy - not great for oily skin like mine at all, so when I tried this one on my hand in the shop it seemed like everything I was looking for - a really light feel and not too scented. I was sold. Sadly however, when the day came to try it I was really disappointed. I went through my usual Liz Earle cleanse and polish routine, then applied this afterwards. Now I wouldn't have ever considered myself to have sensitive skin - but as soon as this touched my face it tingled. Not so much a burn but just an unpleasant warm tingle. My Olay may be a bit thick but at least my skin doesn't tell me noo when I put it on, so for this reason I won't be using the product again. (Boo! The search continues..).

Pros: Really light, nice subtle fragrance.
Cons: My skin was too sensitive for it, darn.

Seaweed Ionic Clay Mask - 5/5 Warning! Gremlin picture ahead.

Ok. It's not often I come across a beauty product that really really impresses me, but this clay mask was an absolute gem of a find!

I'd never delved into the world of face masks much before (maybe once when I was 14 and got a gel one all caught in my eyebrows but lets not go into that painful memory!), so didn't entirely know what to expect with this. It's best to let your pores open a little before you apply, so I decided to try it right after a good soak in my Fuji Tea bath. I dried my face then with clean dry hands applied a thin layer of the mask around my face, avoiding the eye and lip areas (but apparently not my eyebrows again oops!). Despite being a little nervous about my face becoming quite stiff, I left it on for the recommended 10 minutes, then gently washed it off with warm water.

WOW. I mean, I didn't expect to see any improvements with my skin at all let alone straight away, but low and behold when I examined my face, the blackhead regulars on my nose were hugely reduced! Hurrayyyy!

Pros: Blackheads/pores on nose were noticeable reduced, skin felt GOOD!
Cons: Nothing - absolutely loved this product!!

The Seaweed Exfoliator mentioned earlier I've actually yet to try, but I will be updating this blog post in the next week or so with my review of it if you're interested! :) 

I really had a great time at the event - thank you to Leah for letting me come along, and overall I'm pleased with the products I purchased. The gremlin clay mask will defintely now be a weekly occurrence for me! 

See you soon

Gabby xo