My Fav Festival Essenitals

Hello Beautiful!

Nottingham has already marked the beginning of the festival season by becoming host for Everywhere and Deck The Halls.

However, unlike other festivals such as Glastonbury and Park Life, not much thought is needed when it comes to deciding your outfits.

If you have ever been to a festival (especially when it has been raining) you will know that wellies are a necessity!

Yes, cheap wellingtons are all nice and good, but a decent pair of wellies will keep your feet nice and warm whilst you surround yourself in mud.

Hunters offer the best quality wellingtons in the county and although they are expensive – their durability makes every penny well worth the spend.

They come in a range of lengths and colours, but a personal favourite are these red beauties! They will definitely make your feet stand out against the mud.

Original Tall
Hunters
£85

For me, another festival essential is shorts - and the rain doesn't put me off the thought of wearing them.

When I attended Y Not last year, I pretty much lived in shorts - even during a thunderstorm with heavy rain!

All across the high street, I have seen shorts with lace trimmings and I love these ones from New Look.

The acid wash with the dainty lace detail is gorgeous! plus, as there's not too much white, you don't have to worry about getting them dirty.

Lace hotpant shorts
New Look

£19.99

Kimonos have set to become very popular this summer, and I have found them to be very easy to incorporate into your wardrobe.

Retailer H&M have a beautiful collection of long, short, plain and floral kimonos - so even the fussiest of fashionistas will have a good chance of finding a kimono to wear.

I love this Aztec print kimono from the brand; most of the kimono's I have seen are usually made from a silky material and this viscose kimono is definitely more festival appropriate!

Patterned Kimono

H&M
£14.99

Last, but not least, if you are lucky enough to experience some warm weather whilst you are at your festival, sunglasses are a BIG must (plus, they are essential if you are hungover ... cough.)

I am in love with the round sunglasses, and every time I look at a pair I think of music legends such as John Lennon and Elton John.

ASOS have a huge range on sunglasses at the moment and when I came across this pair - I instantly fell in love! The detail around the lens makes these just a little bit special.

Filigree Top Round Sunglasses
ASOS
£15

Personally, I cannot wait for August to come around so I can start to wear these beauties!

What is your favourite festival item?

McBusted: review

Hello Beautiful!

Ten years ago, when IPhones didn't dominate people's lives and tweeting was just something bird's did, pop rock band Busted were reigning high in the charts and had won the heart of every teenage girl in Britain (including mine).

They were living the dream, a career they worked so hard to achieve.

However, in 2005 the band shockingly broke up after band member Charlie Simpson decided to move onto a new band. I won't lie - my little pre-teen heart broke into a million pieces.

So when I heard the the remaining two members, Matt Willis and James Bourne, were teaming up with identical band McFly to create a superband - you can imagine my excitement.

I have been to see McFly when they performed their 'Radioactive' tour in Nottingham when I was younger, and continued to look forward to seeing the band newly named 'McBusted'.

The support bands, Young Brando, EofE and the 3 dudes did well to warm the huge crowd. Their catchy rock songs caused the audience to get up out of their seats and dance.

Starting just before nine o'clock, the stadium went dark and a video lit up on the two screens at each side of the stage. The video featured the same concept as those portrayed in the film 'Back to the Future'. Moments later, a DeLorean landed on the stage containing the two remaining Busted members. They were then shortly followed by McFly members Tom, Danny, Dougie and Harry.

Opening hit 'Air Hostess' sent the crowd into a frenzy - even young teenagers who would have been children at the time sang along with the band.

Throughout their performances, McBusted made good use of their stage and the ringed catwalk which extended from it.

Their interaction was flawless - especially from Matt and Dougie who were constantly circled the crowd and asking the audience if they were having a good time or if they were ready to do so.

The set list was evenly distributed amongst the two bands - with the set opening with three Busted and followed by three McFly tracks.

Half an hour in, and the band disappeared off the stage to reappear on a UFO at the back of the arena. Whilst on here, the band played 3 songs including the popular 'Star Girl'.

The boy's energy bounced off one and other. Their laddish charm made the crowd laugh as they performed hilarious jokes and poked fun at one and other. One stunt involved Matt wearing a wedding dress whilst performing 'Crashed the Wedding'.

After an hour and a half, the show came to a sad end - but all the band members vowed to make a return to Nottingham.

Could this be a hint of a second tour? I hope so.

Furthermore, this is definitely in my top 3 for concerts I've ever seen. For anyone attending a McBusted gig, it will truly be a memorable experience and a blast from the past.

Rating: 9/10

Trent on Tour: The stories

The original story can be found on The University Paper Website

As the saying goes – what happens on tour, stays on tour.

That is, of course, until something ridiculous or hilarious happens and then the whole of the society – if not the entire university –  knows you as the guy who had an embarrassing mishap with an inanimate object.

With many societies flying across Europe – ranging from our dancers to the archery society –there is always an unruly story to be told, with a few students being more than happy to open up about their tour experiences.

This year, the Trent army haven’t failed to amuse us with their witty tour stories; punching of fresher’s,  public posting of genitals and drunk chanting about Wayne Rooney. We’ve heard it all.

From the simplistic shaving of ‘NTU’ into the back of your hair or, with even more dedication, a whole N Number being tattooed on your foot.

To the dangerous, one girl suffered with such a bad allergic reaction to a henna tattoo on her face that she was rushed to hospital.

Before even arriving at the hotel, a sports society member was kicked off the tour bus for being sick everywhere and yet managed to beat the whole bus to the hotel.

For one unlucky student, it was the sheer reality that a hockey stick was forced so far up his backside that it left him hospitalised with five stitches.  Definitely not the wisest of moves.

As mentioned by comedian Russell Howard, ‘I accidentally fell on it’ is not a believable explanation.

We all hope it was either a dare or you were entirely intoxicated.

One student was so drunk, he asked for his taxi driver to take him to Clifton and the driver continued to drive around the strip for half an hour.

After a while, the student realised he was getting nowhere and jumped to the conclusion that he was being kidnapped – which led to him throwing money at the driver and jumping out of the moving car.

My favourite Student Discounts from Unidays

Hello beautiful!

When it comes to being a student, I think the most valuable lesson you learn (as well as your degree) is how to budget & making every last penny count.

Even though I commute to University, a great deal of consideration about my spends still has to be made to make sure I am able to afford bus/train fare. It's not all fun and games believe!

However, when you do have the luxury of treating yourself - you want to make the most of it, right?

Unidays are a site that shows the best student discounts the internet has to offer - including discounts for Apple, Jack Wills and Benefit.

Here are my favourite discounts and why I think you should use them:

1. Spotify

Spotify offer a huge 50% off their premium rate - meaning it's only £5.99! Spotify is available on your computer, IPad or mobile - which mean you can always have music wherever you go, with no annoying adverts.

2. Apple

Technology giants Apple offer a 15% discount for students - which is perfect for anyone who uses iMac. I have recently used this to buy myself a lovely little iPad Mini and it is perfect for notetaking in my lectures.

3. Motel 

Motel are offering a massive 25% off their clothing, which for any fashion lover is perfect! They offer a diverse selection of clothes for an affordable price!

There are so many places to choose from - if your not already a member of Unidays, I would recommend you join as you could save a huge amount of cash - perfect for a cheeky night out!

What is your favourite student discount?

60 seconds to perfect nails!

Hello Beautiful!

For any girly-girl like myself pretty nails are an essential. There is nothing nicer than having pretty coloured nails - and painting them can be so therapeutic!

Unfortunately for me, I am not allowed to have my nails painted for work (sob) and only paint my nails when I have time off.

Luckily for me, I have this week off to celebrate my birthday! (Hello twenties!) and I decided to invest in a new nail polish colour.

I have always been a fan of Rimmel's nail polishes - so when I heard that Rita Ora was the new face for the 60 second nail polish, I had to check out her colours!

I have had a good look at her range and I love all the colours in it - but this pink really took my fancy.

'Don't Be Shy' is a beautiful bold pink or, as I would say, a 'Barbie Pink' and I'm a sucker for these shades!

Now, me and nail polish have a real love/hate relationship. I can be a very heavy-handed and easily chip nail polish. I've even been able to chip gel nail polish - which I thought was impossible!

However, with this range - I find the consistency very thick and I haven't chipped the colour of at all! Result!

The big selling point to this product is that it dries in 60 second - and, as a tester and a very impatient woman, I can tell you that it indeed dries in this time!

Rimmel
'Don't Be Shy'
£3.69

For the price of £3.69 at Superdrug, the item is extremely affordable and I totally recommend it if you're after a decent nail polish with a variety of colours.

Do you enjoy painting your nails?