St. Lucia We Love! - Photo Diary

Although I managed to keep you somewhat  up-to-date with photos whilst I was in St. Lucia there's a few more that I have to share, not to mention updates on Jamaica and New York where I also spent the summer!

I was only supposed to be in St. Lucia for two weeks for the carnival, but my friend and I fell so in love with the island that we extended our stay to an entire month! Quite indulgent but so worth it: we had the best holiday ever and plan to return next year! Although I have a soft spot for Jamaica (there's no place like it, and it's also where my family are from) I consider St. Lucia to be my favourite Caribbean island thus far; not only are the people are so laid back and super friendly, I find it easy to explore and navigate as a tourist even for the first time, not to mention the island is beautiful (of course). One local said all I need is my ID card and to learn the Patois because I seem to have met everybody he knew and picked up all the local slang!

Birthday Celebrations!

I was lucky enough to celebrate my birthday whilst still in St. Lucia, due to being a summer baby I've been blessed enough to celebrate a few birthdays abroad including New York, Jamaica and Aruba. What I love most about spending it abroad is the fact that however you choose to celebrate, it's a new and unique experience, anyway enough with the talking...here's some pics from the day.

St. Lucia Beauty Haul

I'm obsessed with purchasing beauty items abroad, whether it's natural locally produced goods or just a product from a mainstream line that is not available in the UK I'm always on the lookout for something new...

L-R: African Black Soap, Raw Shea Butter, Sulphur Soap, Coconut Oil, Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Intensely Smooth Leave-In and Garnier Fructis Fall Fight Strand Saver Anti-Breakage Spray.

I will post full reviews at a later date as I have only tried the sulphur soap so far, which I loved: it immediately dried out my spots and bites (my skin had been acting up for a while), the only negative is the scent so I stick to using this at night (whilst sleeping alone of course). 

I swear by Garnier hair products for both my weaves and real hair so I'm excited to try these two products; the Triple Nutrition line is incredibly hydrating especially the conditioner which I make sure I stock up on the USA.

St. Lucia Diary Pt. 4: It's Carnival!

So after an intense morning at J'ouvert, we were ready for the road! As I previously mentioned, it is truly a miracle that we even managed to wake up and arrive on time. Here are our costumes: we were in the Phoenix section in Just 4 Fun, the only item missing are our leg pieces which we hastily put on on the side of the road.

St. Lucia Diary Pt. 3: We going 25/8!

Just 4 Fun Indulgence Breakfast Fete

St. Lucia Diary Pt. 2: Colour Me Red and Sexy in Black

Colour Me Red

I have to admit that I was far from excited to see Machel Montano again, don't get me wrong he's an amazing performer who never disappoints, but I was more excited to see Bunji Garlin at Sexy in Black. Anyway after a LONG day of going in to town, collecting our costume and rushing to get dressed in 30 minutes we arrived at the Beausejour Cricket Ground about midnight, I couldn't tell you who was performing, as we rushed to grab some food and drink  immediately. We caught the tail end of Ricky T's performance before we headed into the crowd to watch Machel, we were front and centre of course! 

Machel's performance was good as usual, the vibe and energy was MAD. He sang all his classic hits, current songs and songs by other artists; the crowd was hyped all the way through. The highlights for me were when he threw a bottle of his rum into the crowd which I almost caught, but instead got in my eye, sitting on the shoulders of a stranger only to be pointed out by Machel, and when he sang The Fog (the song I was waiting all night for) the crowd went crazy literally dancing in the fog; I had no complaints about the night except the red powder that Machel's people threw into the crowd was quite a struggle to remove!

Carnival Prep

I decided to write this guide for anyone who may be new to taking part in Carnival or 'playing mas' as we call it. Prior to this summer, despite attending many soca fetes etc I had never actually gotten round to joining a band, hopefully this will give you an idea of what to expect, especially if you are going abroad!

St. Lucia Diary Pt. 1

We landed in St. Lucia on Friday, ready to drink and party the night away! After about an hours drive (which feels like a lifetime after an 8hr flight) we finally arrived at the hotel to chill out and get dressed for the evening. First stop was a quick bite to eat on the strip (Reduit Beach Avenue), then onto to the Gros Islet Street Lime; at first I was bored and unimpressed with the music (Dance, Pop) there were a lot of tourists congregated front and centre, so we just chilled on the sidelines drinking rum punch.

Later on when the vibe changed and the DJ played Soca, Dancehall and Reggae, we really began to enjoy ourselves; nothing beats the freedom of dancing in the streets! We danced without a care in the world, drank and danced some more...we impressed a few of the locals who had no idea us Brits could party like that...

All in all I had a great night, I was feeling the vibes, the people were friendly and I was having a great time until some c*** stole my phone from my bag, I was livid to say the least and ready to swing for someone and I made that very clear! Luckily some locals including someone I met from J4F helped me to call my phone, although I never got it back and managed to block the phone, I was mostly annoyed about the photos we had taken that night which I never got to share and never will, which sucks! It also ruined my blogging plans, so I was pretty pissed to say the least...but such is life and luckily I had my BB, and most of my contacts on other devices. I refused to let it ruin my fun, but I wished the most evil thoughts on the person who did it lol!

Stay tuned for more!