What coffee date can be better than one 23 floors up overlooking the busy streets of Manchester?

One of the greatest things about living just outside of the city of Manchester, is the fact that whenever an overdue catch up with a friend is needed - the city has an unlimited amount of restaurants and cafe's to beach up at for the next 3 hours over a hot coffee and a good gossip. Today's was with friend and fellow blogger, Rachel (have a nosey at her blog here... ) at the famous Cloud 23 Bar on the 23rd floor of the Hilton Hotel which boasts an amazing panoramic view over the city.

After a quick attendance to a nearby fashion and blogging event in aid of Manchester Fashion Week, we took to the skies, grabbed the menu and chatted away the next few hours.




P.s - Make sure you take a trip to the toilets, the cloudy cubicle design is totally instagram-able.

The food here is absolutely amazing, so make sure you grab a few dishes and desserts to try between you. They're not big portions though, so it's good to order a couple and have a little pick at everything like we decided to do. Oh, and definitely try the macaroons... I am a huge macaroon fan and have tried them from so many different places but trust me, these are hands down the best ones yet! So, if you fancy a little trip here it's definitely the perfect place to have a catch up with a friend like I did, as well as the ideal late night date spot. 

Hilton Hotel - Cloud 23 Champagne & Cocktail Bar


Outfit Details:
- Black Denim Ripped Jeans - Topshop
- Black Leather Jacket - H&M
- Grey 'California' T-Shirt - Primark
- Gold Coin Necklace - Topshop
- Black Chelsea Boots - River Island
- Over The Shoulder Bag - Mulberry

Guess who's KeraStraight's number 4 blogger and reviewer of 2015?! Eeeeeeeek.

As all of you know who are readers of my blog, I am a HUGE fan of the brand KeraStraight and their amazing hair straightening product. I've raved about it twice before and wrote far too lengthy posts all about my experiences and frequently asked Q&A's (it's just that good I seriously ramble on). So it's lovely to see that they have awarded me with the #4 position out of their 2015 'Incredible KeraStraight Reviews'. As a fairly new newbie to the blogging industry, it's such a great feeling to have some recognition and an online feature by such a huge beauty brand.

It's been almost 4 months since I mark the day Kerastraight was brought into my life. And what a life changing 4 months they have been so far. If you have naturally wavy, curly or un-manageable hair, or even if you're simply considering getting Kerastraight - then this post is just for you.

I originally did a blog post back in December (that you can see here) giving my views on a recent treatment I'd had done to my hair - Kerastraight. Claiming to transform, manage and make your hair frizz free, I can honestly say 4 months down the line that it does exactly what it says on the tin. Never have I been so impressed by a hair product, and trust me, it takes a lot to impress me when it comes to my hair.

The above photo is my hair in it's new, natural state. To achieve this look, all I do is simply wash my hair and dry it with the hairdryer whilst brushing it simultaneously with a large paddle brush. THAT'S IT. THAT'S ALL I DO. Can you believe it?! Because I couldn't. I was honestly amazed the first time I did this after the treatment and almost 4 months on, it's still drying in the exact same way. I also apply my TRESemmé heat defence styling spray onto damp hair before taking to the hairdryer to make sure it's protected from the heat. Although I wanted to get Kerastraight to manage my hair overall, I mainly wanted to get it to fight the humidity and many days of sun during my trip around Asia. On holiday a drop of humidity usually makes my hair spring up, but with Kerastraight I couldn't believe the difference. No frizz, no puffing up and no humiliation - it really is a lifesaver.





Does It Damage Your Hair? - The answer is very simply here, no. My hair has never felt or looked healthier. The product has even added that extra little bit of shine which had disappeared in the months leading up to getting it. I've been in the sun for the last 3 months whilst travelling around Asia, and even the sun there doesn't seem to have effected it. It feels, looks and is silky smooth.

Would I Get It Again? - 100% yes. Having dealt with my hair as it was for the last 22 years, I feel like I have finally found the product that I have been looking for and that has changed everything. All I ask myself now is why didn't I get it sooner?!

How Long Does It Last? - On the official Kerastraight website it says around 4 months. However, when I had mine done in my local salon I was told 6-8 months, and 4 months down the line it doesn't seem to be slowing down. Basically the product grows out along with your hair. So if you hair grows quick, then I guess the product will last that little bit shorter. However my hair grows painfully slow so I'm probably going to get to the 8 month mark before booking myself in for a new appointment. Although it is fairly expensive, it really is worth every penny.

I used to have curly, frizzy and basically hands down unmanageable hair. I'd dread having to wash it each time in the shower because I knew I had to dry, straighten and then style it for at least 45 minutes afterwards. And don't even get me started on what I'd look like if I let it dry naturally. So making the decision to get Kerastraight was pretty much the best decision I've ever made.

Blogging is something I delved into right at the deep end. Instead of sitting in that cosy spot in my room or downstairs on the sofa, I pretty much took it straight around Asia with me. Here's the truths about blogging on the go, and just how I'd make it easier for myself next time.

Whether you're simply taking the train down to London for the day, or hopping on a plane and flying half way across the world (like me..) for a few weeks/months, blogging inevitably gets that little bit trickier. I began blogging around a month or so before I started my backpacking adventure in December, and saw it as a perfect way for friends and family to see what I got up to on the trip. I usually write my posts on my laptop where I'm able to edit/style/play around with it as much as my heart desires and until I get the layout spot on. I can also preview it etc before making it live and releasing it to the big wide world. But when it came to packing up and heading off to Thailand, silly old me only took my iPhone 5s - and what a silly silly mistake that really was.

I currently have a Macbook Pro and find it the most perfect device to do all my blog-related bits on. But with Asia being notorious for backpackers valuables going missing, I decided to leave it at home and take only my phone with me. This meaning blogging off this and only this for the next 3 months. Now, if you're a blogger or fancy giving blogging a go whilst travelling, I urge you to either a.) take a laptop or b.) take a tablet. 

The amount of times I wish I had my iPad over there with me was excruciating. I saw so many travellers too with tablets (fyi, there's lockers to put them in in every hostel - which I clearly didn't realise before I went) and it killed me a little bit that I didn't have mine. I could just picture it sat there at home on top of my chest of draws, where I'd have a lovely big screen, a keyboard attached and the 'blogger' app working 10x's better than it was doing on my phone.


1. Work Out Just How You're Actually Going To Blog - The platform I use is blogger, so before going away I rummaged through the app store and found the 'blogger' app free and ready to download. Yeah, its ok and it did the job, but all in all it was pretty rubbish. I couldn't see my layout properly, I couldn't change the size of my images and to make matters worse, the website itself through the phones browser won't let you create a post. So decide what platform you're going to use in advance and download it onto your device.

2. Find The Time - If you want to write up a blog post, you'll need to find the time to do it. Backpacking is sooo much fun and trust me when I say this, you're constantly on the move. There wasn't a day really where I was sat around doing nothing, so getting a blog post up relied on me purely managing my time. I found the best way to get my posts done, was while I was travelling from A to B - busses, trains, boats you name it. I popped my headphones in, opened up the app and got going. So find your spot to do this, whether it be on a boat or beached up in a coffee shop. Get your idea jotted down.

3. Plan In Advance - Some days when I knew I'd be going to the most perfect photo opportunity place, I'd get my charger and make sure my phone and its camera were at the ready. I mean don't get me wrong, a lot of the time many places were impromptu and I'd have absolutely no idea that I could do a blog post on it until I got back. But for example, the islands in Thailand were absolutely beautiful and I knew straight away that I could do so many posts on it so made sure my camera was fully charged.

4. Take The Right Tools - Like I've mentioned above, try and take something that will make blogging that little bit easier for you. iPhones just don't cut it, and even though they have amazing camera quality and are perfect for Instagram, the blogging apps just aren't up to scratch. Laptops and tablets are your best bet.

5. Don't Overthink It - You can't blog everything, you just can't. If you don't have the time, if the photos don't work out or if the post simply doesn't happen then that's fine. Leave it be, move onto the next and be spontaneous - you'll know when you have blog-worthy material.

Our next stop was the famous Koh Phi Phi. And what better way to spend one of our days here than sailing around the islands, paddling in the tropical waters and snorkelling in Leo Dicaprio's Maya Bay.

I arrived in Koh Phi Phi and instantly fell in love with it. If you have an image of what Thailand's islands look like in your head (I'm guessing it's going to be the rocks in the sea covered in palm trees and lined with beaches, turquoise waters and brightly coloured wooden long boats - yep, I'm pretty much right, aren't I?) then thats exactly what it looks like. Phi Phi is basically the exact reality of what you're picturing in your minds and what you see images being shared of all over social media. It's absolutely breathtaking.

From the second I arrived, I knew I'd never want to leave. Phi Phi is famous for Bamboo island, Maya Bay (from DiCaprio's film 'The Beach') and Monkey Beach. So we quickly booked ourselves onto a little boat trip for the following day to take us to all the must-see sights. We headed to the pier bright and early and started what was going to turn out to be one of the best days in my whole 3 months of travelling.

We set sail, headed into the middle of the sea and dived into the waters for our first bit of snorkelling. This particular area was called 'Shark Bay' so it didn't exactly fill us with confidence about what was lurking underneath.. But we went in nonetheless!



We then climbed back on board and sailed to the most stunning beach I've ever set foot on - Bamboo Island. It's a little island located around a 15 minute journey from Phi Phi itself, and has the most crystal clear waters and white sands that I've ever seen. It was literally like walking on flour.



We paddled around for a good hour or so, as well as seeing it as the perfect place for a good old photo oppourtunity.