Travel diary - take me back to Cascais, Portugal!

With weather getting colder and colder the closer we get to Christmas, I'm fondly reliving the week of gorgeous sunshine I experienced in Cascais!

My sister is a teacher in Portugal and has tried and tested many of the restaurants, cafes, bars and beaches, and so I was in expert hands!

This was my first trip to Portugal and I already can't wait to return. The buildings, the people, the food, the WEATHER - everything was amazing. I can't believe I haven't visited sooner. I'm a longtime vegetarian and Cascais was one of the most veggie friendly places I've visited outside of the UK. Yay!

See a selection of pix from my trip below - and if you have any questions write them in the comments and I'll try to help!

Sadie x

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travel, styleSadie HawkerComment
Four of the best tropical perfumes

I love holidays (who doesn't!). And I love perfumes that remind me of times spent lounging with a coconut cocktail while I'm sat working at my desk.

I'm always keen to sniff a new scent, but it is rare that I buy one. I love subtle scents - I have a strong sense of smell and so find heavy perfumes nauseating. Who else has had the annoyance of squirting perfume all over themselves after an initial quick sniff, only for it to quickly become overbearing, and you spend the rest of the day feeling sick from it?! Well I have done this MORE THAN once at duty free before a long-haul flight. Learn from my lesson, my friends! Spray cautiously! ;-)

So after several years of sniffing, resisting the temptation to spray, and then re-sniffing, here are my top recommendations for a coconut / vanilla / tropical scented perfume...

Enjoy!
Love, Sadie x

1. Lavanila Vanilla Coconut

lavanila coconut

Hands down THE best smelling perfume I've ever worn. I've worn it almost every day for three years and am still in love with it. I get so many remarks of "you smell nice", even when it's not been freshly sprayed! I first bought it in Sephora Times Square at 1am. A sales assistant asked if he could help, and to my delight he found me my perfect perfume. I also tried the Lavanila Vanilla Summer fragrance which did the whole-i-feel-sick thing to me, after I'd purchased it of course.

It's a subtle scent of vanilla and coconut. It smells great sprayed on your hair! The bonus is that it is also a 'healthy fragrance' which has no chemicals.

Shop Lavanila here.  

Lush Vanillary

2. Lush Vanillary

See the trend here? Vanilla smells? Well there'll be more coconut smells too, as these are my scent-vibes! ;-p

Lush Vanillary is a STRONG scent! If you have a sensitive nose, spray sparingly. One or two squirts is plenty! It's a perfume that lingers, too. Unlike Lavanila, it's quite easy to find Lush products in the UK, and so I recommend having a sniff next time you see a Lush store.

Shop Vanillary here.

3. The Body Shop Coconut Eau de Toilette

The Body Shop coconut perfume

Cheap and cheerful, a simple coconut perfume that's good for every day wear. It's a nice, summer scent, and a good back up tropical perfume. And it's even easier to sniff in store than Lush!

Shop Coconut Eau de Toilette here.

 

4. Pure Fiji Starfruit Coconut Oil Rollerball

Pure fiji

I was lucky enough to holiday in the South Pacific seven times while I lived in New Zealand. During our holidays at Musket Cove, Malolo Lailai, in Fiji, we were given Pure Fiji toiletries in our bathrooms. They. Smell. Divine. I've since bought several of their heavenly scented products and whenever I use them they take me back to my holidays in Fiji.

One of my favourites is the Starfruit Coconut Oil Rollerball - it's a handy size to keep in my handbag and it smells amazing. I do find that the scent needs to be reapplied regularly, though.

Shop Pure Fiji here.
See my Fiji travel diary here.

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beauty, travelSadie Hawker
XO Acapulco - how the newest Shh cuff is made!

Hey guys and gals, it's Sadie!

I've been working on a new bracelet, XO Acapulco. In fact it's THE biggest bracelet I've made to date and is inspired by the popular Acapulco necklace.

I thought I'd share with you a little about the design process!

 - It starts with the inspiration (above) - well that came from my love of colour, print and pattern. I LOVE the Acapulco necklace so much, it's my personal favourite piece. I also enjoy wearing the big, wide Bananas bracelets, and so started thinking about a big cuff bracelet that would coordinate with the Acapulco necklace.

- Then I begin designing the pattern on my laptop. I often share this process on the Shh Instagram stories - so you may have seen this! When I'm happy with the design, I make the prototype.

- For the wide bracelets I have a different bead loom. Even stringing the loom for a piece as large as this takes ages! I have to be careful that the threads don't ping off as then I have to start all over again....argh!

- Then it's a matter of following my design and beading, beading, beading. This bracelet took approx 4-5 hours of beading (with the odd tea break of course!).

- It's then ready to be finished with 24 carat gold plated shiny bits, photographed and listed online!

Hope you enjoyed this little trip behind the scenes! 
Big love,
Sadie xx

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collections, style, custom orders, behind the scenesSadie Hawker
Colourful flower crown cat embroidery!
hobbycraft geometrie cat modern embroidery kit

So you all know I love colour, I love pretty things, and I love a bit of tedious needlework! So it was about time that I tried my hand at embroidery.

I bought the Geometric Cat Embroidery Hoop Kit, £8, from Hobbycraft which came with everything I needed for my first embroidery challenge! The had easy-ish to follow instructions (I had to look on YouTube for better instructions on French knots!), and most of all, I love the pretty kitty picture!

I'd definitely recommend this kit for first time embroidery and I'm now on the hunt for my next one! 

Sadie x

Progress photos of little kitty making her appearance!

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workshop / classesSadie Hawker
As worn by: Thread.co.nz's Megan Robinson
as worn by, press, styleSadie Hawker