July favourites

I don't often do favourites blogposts but this month there have actually been quite a few nice summery things that I've been loving. First off is these amazing lace up sandals that were £29.99 from public desire. They're a little pricier than the mango pair (only £19.99) but these ones have a zip up the back that the laces are attached too, meaning that they stay in place all day and you don't have to worry about them falling down. I went with black because I figured they'd go with everything but they do them in tan and white too if you fancy something different.

I initially got this perfume for Christmas but I've actually been wearing it more through summer. I usually like to wear quite sweet, heavy scents like My NY by DKNY and Bejewelled by Vera Wang but when it's really hot and sticky, I think you want something lighter. Valentina by Valentino (my favourite designer in the entire world) is really fresh and summery while still being a little sweet and not too floral so it's a really nice mix. It is a high end perfume so it's obviously quite expensive but they last for ages so it's not like it's something you need to spend money on very often.

As I said when I went to watch it, Magic Mike XXL was amazing - probably the best film of the year so far. It's much funnier and less gritty than the first film and an almost-naked Channing Tatum is obviously a big selling point. Although actually, I think I preferred Joe Manganiello is this film - his character was so funny and there was some good irony thrown in there by the writers about his True blood role. It's a definite must-see even if you haven't seen the first film, although I did miss Alex Pettyfer who was my favourite in the first film and didn't come back for the second.

I tried this mascara ages ago and loved it but then I just never re-bought it and ended up trying roller lash and some other high street brands and forgot about it. Then on the plane home from Zante, I got this for only £13 (I love duty-free) instead of £20 like it normally is and I fell back in love with it. It's such a good mascara for lengthening, thickening and separating; basically what more could you want?

I own a LOT of bikinis; whenever I go on holiday I always wear a different one every day and still don't even take all of them with me because I won't get a chance to wear them but my favourite of this summer so far was this beautiful triangl dupe that I got from new look. Well, the top was from new look (£14.99) but they didn't have the bottoms in my size so I just wore it with plain black bottoms instead. If you're going to invest in anything this summer, invest in some nice black bikini bottoms. They go with pretty much anything so you can buy a couple of extra bikini tops and then mix and match and save yourself some money.

Who doesn't love a nice french fancy? These grown-up versions - cocktail fancies - are even better. Inspired by peach bellinis, pina coladas and raspberry daiquiris (all cocktails that I love), I thought these were a really cool idea and they actually do taste like the cocktails! The closest in taste is the pina colada one but my favourite was the raspberry daiquiri (my favourite in the regular pack is the pink one too surprise surprise).