Leeds Castle and Recent Buys (pic heavy)

It's June, which means officially now, we can say it's summer! My absolute favourite time of year, I love going on day trips and being outside so this past bank holiday Monday was a great day for me to get some fresh Kent air when me and some friends took a trip to Leeds Castle. It was a great day, turned in to evening round our flat and just the perfect start to Summer. I didn't know what to expect from Leeds castle, I've never been before, all I knew was it wasn't in Leeds! I'm sure a lot of people expect beauty bloggers to not have a lot of substance to them, but I know I'm not alone in enjoying soaking up a bit of culture every now and then and that's why I like to post on a different topic every now and then.

So the first thing we were met with inside the castle grounds were peacocks, lots of them! They're so beautiful and impressive, and not a little bit scared of humans, this one came so close to me.

What a showoff!

An albino peacock!

The castle itself was really impressive. It's gone through a lot in it's history and belonged to a lot of different families so there is no real theme. Every room is completely different which made it quite interesting. I loved this bathroom.Loving the Japanese themed ornaments in this room.

Today was another stunning day. I've been ill most of this week with what I believe might be laryngitis, although I never see a doctor or pay that much attention to my symptoms so it could be a number of things! Anyway I don't like to stay inside and waste my holiday time off from work so I ventured over to West London today, I went to Kensington, primarily to visit the Saatchi gallery. If you're not familiar with the place, it's a gallery that has contemporary art from around the world. I went about a month ago and it was contemporary Indian and other Asian art. It's recently changed to British artists now. It is interesting, it's the kind of art where if you're not clued up on art history you find yourself questioning whether a lot of it is really art. I know I did myself. But there's no questioning some of the art in there, it's extremely talented, I definitely think there's something for everyone in there. The first couple of rooms are always really out there, and a lot of people give up and don't carry on to the top, but both times I've gone, it's got better as I've got towards the top. Saatchi gallery is on King's Road, admission is free and they regularly change the exhibition, so it might be worth a look if you're visiting the area.

I couldn't be on King's Road without popping into MAC, I just don't think it's possible. I bought a 4 pan palette and two eyeshadows, Jest and Retrospeck. They are both gorgeous neutral colours which I really thought my palette was missing. I intended my 15 palette to be a neutrals one. Since MAC eyeshadows are expensive, I wanted ones I would reach for everyday, but then that branched out to colours that were unique and I didn't own anything like them. The idea was I had some everyday colours, and some shadows to create a pink eye, and a green eye when I wanted some colour, since they are the two colours I always go for. I found that even though I had gorgeous colours in there like Tempting and Woodwinked, I wasn't reaching for them, but always went for the same suspects; All That Glitters, Patina, and Satin Taupe for a smokey, seductive eye. So now I have some more neutrals. I always seem to find a way to justify my addiction anyway! I figured also, now I have a palette for if I go away overnight, and only want to take enough eyeshadow to create one look. Now of course I need to buy two more to fill it! I think I'll be swapping them around quite a bit, but that's the great thing about the pans, they're designed exactly for that.

I think it was Liparazzi who drew my attention to these two colours. They are often overlooked, or maybe it's because everyone owns them so doesn't mention them either way I'm glad I have them now, I can see me reaching for these a lot. In the picture below Jest is on top, Retrospeck underneath. Jest gives your eyelids like a glow. I find it hard to describe the colour as it's not anything specific, it's not really golden, or pearl, but somewhere between the two. It's very pretty, and really makes your eyes look healthy and alive!Retrospeck is similar to All That Glitters, but slightly more golden and with more chunks of glitter in. It's not fall out city though, so don't panic. Below, I have put Jest next to Hush for comparison. When I bought Hush I made the mistake of not looking at the colour in natural daylight, but only what I saw in the MAC store. Under the shop lights, I saw a neutral colour that I could wear on my lid. Reality, Hush is very much on the light pink side, it doesn't look all that pink, but when swatched it has a real pink tone to it. It's pretty, and works great as a highlight for a pink eyeshadow look, but it's just not what I intended to buy. What I did want was what I found with Jest, it looks kind of pink in the pan, but it's really not an over the top pink, it's almost colourless, I guess peachy is a better word. Not too light, just the perfect tone for a wash over the lid. Here they are swatched, Hush is above and jest is below, as you can see, quite different. I also went in to Accessorize today, I bought a couple of flower hair clips. I think they're nice and summery, and look pretty and girly with a summer dress. I have an obsession with Japanese culture, so couldn't resist this cute necklace with a Japanese doll. It hangs quite high on the neck so will look good with other chains of different lengths.

An essential I had to buy! Summertime means getting the feet out. I'll be the first person to put my flip flops on at even a hint of sunshine in Spring, I'm a wishful thinker! But of course I want nice feet so pumice is an essential part of that. I love the fact it's shaped like a foot too, a slight novelty factor.Not related to this shopping trip, but thought I'd throw this in anyway, I bought these a couple of weeks ago with a half price sunglasses voucher from Boots. They're by French Connection and were originally £52, which I was prepared to pay before I got the voucher. I was toying with the idea of getting these, or a pair of Chanel ones. I'm glad I was so indecisive because then I got the voucher, and the decision was made for me! Chanel can wait til I earn a better wage!

They are ridiculously too large for me, and I look like a kid wearing my Mum's sunglasses, but hell I like them.

I also filmed a Youtube video to accompany this but I'm too tired to edit right now, hopefully that will be up tomorrow. I'm such an amateur. xXx