Blog Swap with Life of a Trainee Journalist: Summer Favourites

Hi girls! I'm Nicole from Life Of A Trainee Journalist and today, the lovely Ellie and I are doing a little bit of a blog swap. I was so flattered when Ellie asked me if I'd like to do a guest post and I instantly asked if she wanted to do one for me too, so if you'd like to see Ellie's post then head over to lifeofatraineejournalist.blogspot.com. Now we've entered September and we'll be swapping the sunnies for scarves before we know it, I'd love to share some of my summer favourites with you. It was hard to limit my favourites down to five because some great products have been released over the course of the last few months, but after much deliberation, I finally whittled it down to these five little gems.

Let me start with the Barry M Gelly Hi Shine polish in Passion Fruit. It's the ultimate fun and bright summer colour and I love the intense glossy shine finish. I'm a Barry M nail polish fanatic as you'll know if you read my blog and I literally cannot stop raving about them. The Gelly range offer so many gorgeous bold shades and this is one of my many favourites among Lychee, Guava and many others. Barry M stock an incredible range of high quality affordable nail polishes and I'm one of their number one fans.
Another product I've been loving this summer is the L'Oreal Matt & Messy Shine Free Salt Spray. I like to try and avoid applying heat to my hair in the summer as it makes me feel all flustered, so I've really been loving the natural look when it comes to hair. When I leave my hair to dry naturally overnight it's a little limp and lifeless and this salt spray is a quick fix. It lifts the hair and adds an extra bit of oomph to give your hair that beachy tousled look.

A fresh floral scent is key for summer and I've been absolutely loving this Sarah Jessica Parker New York City scent. I got it as a birthday present at the end of January and it's still standing after pretty much daily use - now that's impressive. It's such a day scent and isn't too heavy or smothering. It's very fruity, light and fun and this is pretty much my go-to perfume nine times out of ten. I think it's around £20 so it's extremely budget friendly and is generally a really lovely daytime perfume.

One of the make-up products I couldn't get enough of this summer is the Bourjois Cream Blush in 02. As you can see from the picture it's been well used as the writing is wearing off on the front. It's a gorgeous peach/coral cream to powder blush which complements many skin types. It adds a gorgeous flush of colour to the cheeks without being overpowering and the formula is dreamy. Although this was ultimately a summer purchase, I think this cream blush will make a smooth transition from summer into autumn and will aid me in achieving a warm glow in the upcoming colder months.

Last up is the Vaseline Essential Moisture Cocoa Radiant Rich Feeling Lotion which smells amaaaazing. No word of a lie, it smells like coconutty holiday goodness and I always want to eat it. If you love the cocoa butter smell and are after a really silky smooth nourishing and hydrating body lotion then this is definitely for you. It always seems to be on offer in one store or another which makes it even better because we all love a beauty bargain, but I really can't fault this product.

And there we have it - my summer favourites. I could have included so many more products so I hope you've enjoyed reading about the ones I did choose. I'd like to say a huge thank you to Ellie for inviting me to guest post on her blog. I'm a big fan of According To Ellie and love everything from her layout and writing style to her great pictures and wide range of posts. If you'd like to see more of what I write about, then please head over to lifeofatraineejournalist.blogspot.com and leave me your links.