#SendMeAway with IceLolly.com – My Dream Destination for 2016

Posted on February 14, 2016 by prettyandpetit

In 2016, this Olympic year, my dream destination would have to be Rio de Janeiro in Brazil! This city has everything a perfect holiday destination has to offer; sun, sea, beautiful beaches along with some truly magnificent cultural sites to visit. Not only that but there are some truly amazing photo opportunities to be taken, with vibrant, colourful scenery, beautiful views and fabulous people! It would be the perfect place to visit in Summer 2016.

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Check out my top 5 things to do whilst visiting Rio de Janeiro below and let me know if you have any more hidden gems!

Visit Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Mountain. Christ the Redeemer, an icon of Rio, stands tall above the city and is best seen either from a helicopter or by making the climb up to it. It was completed in 1931 and is 30 metres in height (not including the base) and was beautifully designed in an art deco style by French sculptor, Paul Landowski. Another fantastic site to behold is Sugarloaf Mountain. Sugarloaf Mountain, stands tall opposite the Christ the Redeemer statue and is rated to be one of the top sites to see on a trip to Rio and with it’s fantastic views it’s easy to see why! Located on a peninsula out in the Atlantic Ocean it is widely known for its cable cars as a way to reach the top for the most spectacular 360 degree views over the city of Rio de Janeiro.

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A visit to Rio isn’t complete without a trip to Copacabana Beach. This beautiful beach, up to 4km long, is one of the many beaches located around the coastline of Rio de Janeiro. The beaches play host to a mix of activity, from beach soccer matches to games of volleyball, through to sun worshippers and swimmers.

Carnival in Rio is like no other. One of the most famous festivals in the world, the carnival is full of the most vibrant, colourful costumes from the revellers and floats from Samba schools located in Rio. The carnival took place between February 6th and 10th in 2016 and will be taking place between 24th February and 1st March in 2017 if you want to experience it for yourself!

Brazilian food is a mixture of Portuguese, African and Amazon influenced delicacies, however something you will definitely come across is barbecued meat – and a lot of it! Want to try some Brazilian barbecue before heading there? Why not visit the fabulous Rodizio Preto (so yummy I’m off there for my birthday meal next month!) One of the few foods that you will find wherever you visit in Brazil is Feijoada, a delicious stew of black beans, sausages and pork which is truly a labour of love taking up to 24 hours to cook. It’s definitely worth it though!

Rio is home to the 2016 Olympics. Last held in London back in 2012 (has it really been 4 years?!), Rio will play host to this fantastic sporting event with everything from swimming and diving through to athletics and cycling. A trip to Barra Olympic Park is essential on a visit to Rio, located to the south of the city. The Olympics will be taking place August 5th to August 21st 2016.

Make sure you take a trip to icelolly.com to get some inspiration for your next holiday in 2016!

I nominate the following three fabulous bloggers to share their dream destinations as part of the icelolly.com competition #sendmeaway!

Let me know in the comments where your dream destination would be for 2016!

Becky at Pretty & Petit

New Year, New You – How to Gain Instagram Followers That Stick Around!

Posted on January 7, 2016 by prettyandpetit

As part of my ‘New Year, New You’ series this month I’m asking bloggers to share their plans, tips and resolutions for 2016!

Today is the turn of the lovely Louisa Rogers, who has a vibrant and beautiful blog accompanied by a fabulous and equally stunning Instagram feed. She shares her tips on how to use Instagram, how to gain followers and most importantly how to keep them. Make sure you take a read of her blog by clicking here.

Contrary to popular belief, Instagram is not an easy business. Amongst the meme pages, the self-obsessed 12 year olds and the Russian spambots lie real people who are interested and passionate about your content. The only problem you have to get around, is finding them, and keeping them interested. I used to notice that my follower count was volatile and I would lose 5 people overnight for no apparent reason, now I only ever notice the odd person unfollowing and I can put that down to one thing only…

My Instagram pre-overhaul… as you can see there was no over-riding aesthetic style, and the whole thing looked messy and a bit crap!

I used Instagram (@louisagrogers, if you’re curious) for a long time without taking any notice of aesthetics: I guess you could say that I used it for its’ intended purpose, as a real-time photo-sharing app with an emphasis on the social! However as I became more serious about my blog, I realised that if I was going to gain a decent number of followers on Instagram like my influences @Helibells and @LisaMcconniffe (amongst many others!) I was going to start making sacrifices.

My Instagram pre-overhaul… Once you realise how important the cohesive feed of images is to followers, not just individual photos, it’s a lot easier to use Instagram more wisely and make your whole feed look awesome and appealing.

I stopped posting random, funny moments with friends and only posting from my camera roll. I started considering using the same filters for every post to keep things quite coherent (Ps. I use Clarendon, that’s mine now, no touching) and making sure any images I post fit my colourful, slightly vintage, slightly funny aesthetic.

I do make the odd exception for a hilarious meme because they are uber-shareable, people always tag there friends in them, thereby increasing your visibility and I think humour and fashion should be placed together more often!

My Instagram post overhaul… My new approach is still as quirky and varies, but I make sure to use similar colours and filters throughout to keep things relevant. I can thank this change of attitude for all my new followers!

I now wholly understand why many bloggers have separate blog and personal Instagram profiles , as the ultra-curated content of influencers who have over 10,000 followers is often very glossy and impersonal, almost business-like, and I understand them wanting to retain Instagram for those fleeting, semi drunk moments with friends that we all used it for back in 2012.

My Instagram post overhaul… I even feel happier looking at my feed when it’s nicely composed!

Curating your Instagram may be upsetting at first, and I still sometimes hate how disciplined I’ve become, especially when I upload a photo that I think will fit and it suddenly throws off the entire photo-feed with the wrong colours or composition, but it does pay off. I had about 300 followers on Instagram for the first year and a half that I used it. Since changing to a more carefully considered use of the app, and hashtagging mercilessly in my comments (yes, I’m that girl – but it works) I have garnered over 600. This number is by no means impressive or putting money in my bank account, but I think it does prove that anyone is capable of gaining followers and therefore exposure by making a very simple choice.

So what will you do? Do you want to keep Instagram as a platform as light-hearted and spontaneous as Snapchat? Or are you looking to boost awareness of your blog and personal brand by stepping up your #instagame? Let us know in the comments section below!

My Christmas Wishlist for 2015!

Posted on December 13, 2015 by prettyandpetit

So it’s the middle of December and after gorging on the first of many sweet treats to come over the festive season (if unlike me you have resisted the temptation to eat them all!) it’s time to create the wishlist of all wishlists! I love a wishlist.. and to be honest my wishlist is ongoing! That’s enough of saying wishlist for now!….wishlist.

I recently went on a major spending spree in Waterstones coming away with £50+ worth of gorgeous new hardback books from my favourite bloggers, vloggers and fashionistas, a review of which will be coming soon! I still love curling up with a good book and a couple on my wishlist this Christmas include:

Fleur de Force – The Glam Guide (I’m obsessed with blogger/vlogger books at the mo!)

Dita Von Teese – Your Beauty Mask (She is my ultimate beauty icon! Even her front cover is stunning!)

Alexander McQueen – Claire Wilcox (After seeing the exhibition, I felt intrigued to learn more about the designer)

Lisa Eldridge – Face Paint, The Story of Make Up (Just look at the front cover!!)

Secret Garden: 20 Postcards (Time to get colouring for friends and family)

The World According to Karl (Full of wonderful, inspirational quotes. The perfect gift for any fashionista!)

Miles of MAC (No one can ever have too much MAC)

I am majorly getting into Charlotte Tilbury make up. Not only are the products looking super cute, the names of the different products are so unique and I’m super excited as we now have our very own branch in London!

Mini Lipstick Charms – £29

Nocturnal Cat Eyes To Hypnotise, Silver Leopard & Black Magic Eyeshadow – £29

Lip Cheat, Pillowtalk – £16

Keeping with beauty and I think it’s time to admit that yes, I’m a Naked addict. By that I mean the gorgeous eyeshadow palettes from Urban Decay that have literally taken the blogging community by storm. I’m not going to bore you with yet another review of these fantastic eyeshadows – everyone knows they’re amazing by now. However, I am going to pop a couple on my wishlist and hope to inspire you to do the same. Once you do, there’s just no going back. (For those of you who are interested I am going to be doing a W7 palette review, which in my opinion are just as fabulous on a budget buy!)

My absolute fave palette, Naked 2 – £38

How cute is this Fujifilm pink camera?! I adore it! Or if you’re a massive Hello Kitty fan check this one out too! I was debating getting one last Christmas but never got round to it.

I love having photos around of memories and special occasions and I’ve found a few gorgeous frames from Paperchase that I absolutely love this Christmas.

Mystic Rose Frame – £10

Vision Peacock Frame – £15

Flamingo Frame – £18

My computer is literally so old it’s practically running Windows 98 (which is saying something as it’s a Macbook!!) so it’s definitely in need for an upgrade. I have been looking at getting a netbook for a while now – something that I can pop in my handbag so I can set myself up in a coffee shop over lunch and get on top of my blogging. I love this ACER from Currys, which is sleek and versatile, perfect for working on the move!

In 2016 I want to get mega organised with my blog and in order to do so I am looking to get a Blogger Planner. These Blogger Planners are perfect for keeping organised, planning content and brainstorming new ideas. They also have such lovely quotes and are seasonal, offering beautiful pastel shades in the Summer and blacks, greys and whites in Winter. Available from The Bloggers Planner.

In 2016 I want to fill my home and life with everything rose gold. I can’t describe how much I love this colour. A slightly pinker version of a copper colour, it looks most fabulous with rich dark purples and white.

Lantern from New Look – Now £5.99

Tealight Holders from eBay – £7.99

Bellini Rose Gold Coloured Furniture from Kaleidoscope – From £92

Cushion from Ted Baker – £50

Fairy Lights from Christmas Time UK – £34

When I was last in Debenhams (One of my fave department stores with excellent sales!) I spotted these gorgeous Ted Baker PJ’s. All of Ted Baker’s sleepwear and lingerie range is so beautifully silky and soft and so perfect for curling up in on a Winter’s evening. It’s a shorts and vest set too meaning you won’t get too overly toasty curled up under layers of duvets and blankets!

I am totally besotted with the new Michael Kors Rose Gold perfume. Not only is it such a stunning colour but it smells so yummy that I kept the sample in my bag for weeks! Definitely check it out if you haven’t already. I hope you love it as much as I do.

What are on your Christmas wishlists? If you’ve posted them on your blog make sure you send me your link in the comments!!

Becky at Pretty & Petit

#LoveMe Challenge – Day 7

Posted on September 19, 2015 by prettyandpetit

Prompts

One thing that’s just for you

One thing I absolutely love is to be creative. I love to draw, paint, colour, make collages, photograph and design new outfits. I have had a few people ask me why I don’t pursue more of a creative role in my profession. I think elements of marketing and certainly now working in events, are creative. I am however, reluctant to pursue a creative career. I studied a media degree at university which I absolutely loved it and I received a 1st for my fashion photography final major project but my desire to continue on into employment within this area expertise just was not there. Looking back now, I think something such as a creative director for photo shoots would have been quite a fun career path – maybe one day!

I enjoy the time that I do work on creative projects and I don’t think I would want to spoil that feeling by associating the pieces I am working on with deadlines. This is why I would say my creativity is just for me. (As well as anyone who visits me to see an abundance of sketchbooks and paintings!)

Becky at Pretty & Petit