Beach Days, fashion and a fab Tarte offer

Hi there, thank you for stopping by to read my latest blog. I hope you are all doing ok? I know many of you are still having to shield to look after yourselves or family members, so I am sending you some extra love this week, as it’s been a particularly long year so far for so many.

Me, Fred and the girls are doing ok, thankfully it’s been a lot easier since home schooling took a break for summer. Now we can just concentrate on enjoying the weather and trying to get out to enjoy ourselves the best we can. We spend a lot of time at the beach on the quieter days, as thankfully our local stretch of beach isn’t a hot spot most of the time. That being said, others are finding it due to sheer volume of people. We often avoid it at weekends as it can get out of hand!

I adore beach days, I love the feel of warm sand and splashing about in the sea. I love to watch the girls get more and more confident in the water. I bought them both a novelty set of mermaid feet and face masks the other week, which turned out to be a complete waste of money. Neither mask sat flush to the face so let water in and the plastic was too cheap and snapped. It ended up being a bit of a disaster but it was worth it for the picture and also to watch Ivy hop all the way from our spot to the water’s edge wearing the flippers, refusing any help at all. Wrapping them up in sun-warmed towels for cuddles is another favourite part of beach a day. Getting them changed out of sandy wet swimsuits and wetsuits, however, is never any fun!!

Thanks to those wishing us luck on the house move. No news yet, apart from the house that we loved has now been taken off the market, which is such a shame, but I believe that the right house for us is still out there. Keeping fingers crossed.

What I’ve been wearing

I ordered a few new pieces recently and wanted to share a few favourites. Firstly, a really soft comfortable denim shirt from Ruth Langsford, which I have worn at least four times since I got it. At home, I’m going double denim with shorts and it is the easiest shirt to wear because it’s 98% cotton and 2% elastane, so it’s got stretch. Often denim shirts can feel really restrictive, but not this one and it tucks in really well to whatever you are wearing, plus it’s a great length so works well untucked too. (I am size 12 and I have the size 12 – so true to size).

On air, I paired it with the new Du Jour faux leather skirt, which I simply adore!!! I will be wearing this a lot, as it turns even the plainest of tops into a more edgy look. It’s ever so slightly longer at the back, which adds to a more interesting look. It’s an elasticated waist and no zips or buttons, so really easy and it’s even machine washable. It’s even got pockets, definitely my new favourite! The shoes are Vionic and even with the decent heel, they are ridiculously comfortable, even though they might not look it. I have worn them a lot for my shows and I haven’t once wanted to take them off in between. I wear a size 8 for Vionic as it is a proper true 8, or EU 42.

Beauty offers – Tarte Today’s Special Value – Available on Pre-Sell now 

We have got a fantastic beauty Today’s Special Value for you next week and it’s available now on Pre-Sell!! It’s from Tarte and it’s a full face of make-up. I have been having a go with this recently and so far, I really like it. It already includes one of my favourite mascaras, ‘Lights Camera Lashes’, but also has an outstanding range of colours in the eye palette. Excitingly, you have some new launches in here too. The Marajuca Juicy Lip, which leaves your lips looking super hydrated and glossy and not sticky at all. The brand-New Big Ego Brow Pencil is really easy to use and helps to shape beautifully, along with a double end for brow gel to set them. The brush for the foundation is also new, and helps give a perfect finish and to help build the foundation where you need it. Now as a CC fan, I wondered if I would like this foundation, as I thought it would be too heavy, but I was mistaken, you can get a lighter coverage too.

Here’s the official breakdown of what you get, and you can find out even more over on the website by clicking here.

1 x Limited Edition for QVC 16-Pan Eyeshadow Palette (111g) – with 16 gorgeous matte and shimmer, longwearing, blendable and highly pigmented shades, infused with Amazonian clay

1 x NEW Big Ego Brow Pencil (pencil: 0.2g; gel: 2ml) – in a universal shade with clear gel. A 2-in-1 brow tech tool featuring an ultra-slim brow pencil with a micro tip that fills in brows on one end, and a tinted gel that delivers shape, colour and hold on the other end

1 x NEW Maracuja Juicy Lip (2.7g) in Hibiscus – with a hint of pink, a lip-loving formula that wraps lips in lasting hydration and gorgeous high-shine colour that doesn’t feather or bleed. The ultra-comfortable, non-sticky formula melts onto lips to instantly smooth over the look of dry fine lines while making your pout appear plumper. Infused with maracuja, grapeseed, goji, acai, acerola, pomegranate, watermelon strawberry, blueberry, peach, cranberry, vitamin E, is rich in antioxidants with a coconut scent

1 x NEW Foundation Brush – a high-density brush made of soft synthetic hairs in varying lengths. making it extremely easy to buff and blend foundation onto the skin. The hairs are ultra-dense, so the gel formula does not absorb into the brush, leaving you with maximum pigment. Press and buff on comfortable and flawless medium-to-full coverage with this foundation brush

1 x Babassu Foundcealer Skincare Foundation (30ml) in your choice of Fair, Light Neutral, Light-Medium Neutral, Medium Neutral, Tan Neutral or Deep Neutral – an all-in-one moisturiser, concealer and foundation that helps keep your skin looking and feeling hydrated, plump and youthful, while offering customisable coverage that minimises the appearance of fine lines and leaves skin with a natural-looking radiant finish. Contains babassu, hyaluronic acid, sunflower seed and vitamin E

1 x Lights Camera Lashes Mascara (7ml) – this 4-in-1 mascara instantly lifts, curls, volumises and lengthens to make eyes appear bigger. It delivers ultra-black pigment for darker, defined lashes and boasts a vitamin-rich formula. The 360 degree magniLASH wand features a mix of shorter bristles to add intense volume, and longer bristles that give instant curl

Next Week’s Big Deal from Ninja – Duel Zone Air Fryer

If you haven’t yet discovered air fryers, then you are in for a treat. I wasn’t convinced we would be an air frying family, but I gave one a go and ever since we have used it every single day. It’s used as much as, and if not more than, the oven, particularly because it’s perfect for the kids’ dinner. It’s hot instantly and with the timer it makes life very simple. Along with main meals, it also gets used for warming croissants and bread rolls and I love it. Ours is quite a basic one and only has limited space, that’s why our Big Deal this week is soooooo good.

Ninja have brought us a double whammy air fryer with two independent baskets that can cook something different at a different temperature for a different length of time on a completely different setting! The quality of it is fantastic as you would expect from Ninja, and the lovely Gail has been in to pre-record some of the demos with me and I thought it was really impressive.

She did the most amazing jumbo garlic butter prawns, pork belly, roast vegetables, sausage rolls, chicken wings and even fruit crumble. It uses up to 75% less power than a fan oven and uses 75% less fat. You also don’t need to use added fat at all so don’t let the word ‘fryer’ put you off. This launches on Sunday, so make sure to check out the presentations. It’s on Easy Payments and will save you £44 off the QVC price!

That’s it from me this week, I have the weekend off and so I’m looking forward to some family time. It’s going to be a heat wave, at least in the south, so I am not looking forward to my journey home tonight. Leaving London at 5pm on a Friday when half the country will probably be heading to the coast is not my idea of fun in the car, so fingers crossed it’s not toooooo bad. Wish me luck!

As always you can keep up with me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Hope you have a good week!
Lots of love,
Katy xx