This Week The Mice Have Mostly Been...

Yes, yes it is!!! Friday my dear dear friend - I can say hand on heart that I have never been so glad to greet you! For Mini Mouse and I this week has been somewhat painful AKA f**king diabolical - our first week back to work after a blissful holiday in Barbados. Other than moaning and groaning every waking hour as reality sets in hard and fast, This Week The Mice Have Mostly Been...

Reminiscing about our perfect paradise getaway with two gorgeous friends of ours, V and Kitty...

We literally spent everyday worshipping the sun, relying on Pimms, gin and champagne to keep us suitably hydrated and eating as much delicious food as humanly possible! It really was a rip-roarer of a holiday with ALL of the trimmings...

Views sent from heaven...

Champagne at sunset...

Cricket - we didn't like it, we loved it...

Pimms O'clock for two weeks solid...

Coconuts galore...

Moisturising like a mad woman to keep our tans alive and kicking! Before heading off on holiday I stocked up on L'Occitane's lavish and ultra think body cream and treated myself to Clinique's moisture surge face cream in duty free. In the words on Pretty Woman - Big Mistake, Huge! I'm now in a spot of bother as on the one hand I proudly seem to be retaining a healthy peel-free tan whilst feeling as soft as a newly born pup BUT on the other hand i'm destined to turn into a poor piper trying to fund my newly found expensive moisturiser habits - #thirdworldproblems! 

Rubbing further salt in the post-holiday blues wound by attending an Hawaiian Tropic media event! But what better way to get over an ex holiday than dreaming of the next one waiting to sweep you off your feet! Sold and off we trotted to Shoreditch House on Wednesday for a night of secret garden summer themed fabulousness! We were greeted with scrummy cocktails...

Delectable mini burgers that Mini Mouse saw off in one...

Followed by a twirl in the summer centric photo booth, packed to the rafters with the best props money could buy... beach balls, sunnies, buckets and spades - you name it, they had it...

After we'd whipped around the garden having more than enough fun for a school night it was time to check out the Hawaiian Tropic goods which is why we were invited afterall! In all honestly I didn't expect to be as impressed as I was when I was taken through the new launches. My favourite has to be the Hawaiian Tropic Shimmer Effect sun lotion (RRP £13.99) - it does pretty much what it suggests... suntan lotion with a gorgeous golden shimmer effect. The only thing I could possibly moan about when it comes to a beach holiday is the first few days when you set foot on the beach with your pasty hasn't-seen-sunshine-for-yonks skin! Once the painful whiter than white Vampire-esque stage is over, you're left with the embarrassment of sunburnt patches in the most awkward and prominent of places - for me it's always my nose, upper lip, around my bikini edges and my feet... ouch and not in the least bit attractive! Anyway back to the point I was making, I reckon this is the secret weapon i've been waiting for - i'll be the envy of the whole beach! 

The new Silk Hydration Face SPF (RRP £11.99) was also pretty special. I hate wearing thick, heavy cream on my face in 30 degree heat - it clogs up your pores making you hotter and leaves you looking like a sweaty not-so-hot mess! This product promises to be lightweight, non-greasy and boasts nifty hydrating ribbons to keep your skin fully moisturised and the best part is, it smells of coconut! 

After a view more cocktails, we decided to hang up our buckets and spades and head home but not before being handed a goody bag close to bursting! That's me sorted for my next June holiday to Portugal! I can hardly wait already...

Which neatly brings me onto my parting words... over and out brown trout! Have a super weekend of R&R and see you back here refreshed and raring to go on Monday.

All our love,

The Mice xxx

In the Bag: 3BM Beach Bag Essentials

Taking inspiration from Beach Tomato's great feature, In the Bag, today we thought we'd give you a peep inside the HK Mouse's beach bag...

The Bag
I have a couple of these Anya Hinmarch canvas totes.  They're great quality, have a little zip pocket inside for keeping your cocktail cash safe and I love the fun design.  You can get something similar here.

Beach Bag Essentials
Top of my list is sun cream.  I was one of those children who always got burnt on the first day of holiday and had to spend the rest of the week lobster pink and peeling, swimming in a t-shirt.  I'm fair with lots of freckles and I don't want my face to look like a handbag when I'm forty.  My favourite suncream is Soltan - great range of SPFs, good value and smells amazing (our family has always used Soltan and the smell makes me feel all holiday happy).  Now I live in Hong Kong where there's no Boots, I have to stock up whenever I'm home (or in Thailand where amazingly the Boots are just like the ones at home!).  I always use a higher factor suncream on my face.  I like Clinique SPF30 Face Cream and Clarins Sunscreen Wrinkle Control High Protection SPF30.  I've also learnt the hard way not to forget that lips need sunscreen too.  Kiehl's Tinited SPF15 Lip Balm protects your lips while also adding a little pop of flattering rosy pink.
 
I'm having a bit of a Panama hat obsession at the moment.  Giving you face added protection from the sun and hiding wild holiday hair while also looking stylish and chic I think its very hard to beat a Panama.  I picked up this Ecua-Andino hat from O2 Hair Studio on Wyndham Street in Hong Kong (you can also buy online from the Ecua-Andino website).

A big black pair of sunglasses are obviously mandatory.  My trusty Miu Miu's have travelled all over the world with me.  You can get something similar here.

I discovered the Tangle Teezer last year and its now my number one weapon in my mission to tame my hair.  This amazing little bright pink brush may look like a dog brush but its a whizz at getting knots out of tangled, sea-salty hair without pulling or tearing your tresses.

A bikini cover-up is essential for throwing over your swimwear when you're walking to or from the beach, lunching or sipping cocktails at sunset.  When I was in Sri Lanka last year I picked up lots of gorgeous sarongs from Barefoot.  They come in the most beautiful rich colours and bring back lots of happy memories of an incredible Sri Lankan holiday.

I love nothing more than just lazing the day away on a sunlounger.  To keep me entertained I always have a stack of magazines, my iPod and a good book.  I'm currently racing through Rules of Civility by Amor Towles.  Set in New York in the thirties, its full of Great Gatsby-esque characters drinking martinis, riding around Manhattan in chauffeured Bentleys and gatecrashing fandangos in the Hamptons.  The most recent addition to my suite of beach entertainment is my iPad.  I love that I can read all my fav magazines and papers on here anywhere in the world (and it also means I can indulge in a little Words with Friends poolside...).

Last but not least, I'm never without my Canon PowerShot S100.  I've always had Canon Ixus compacts until the compact PowerShot arrived.  This baby lets you have full control over your photos (or if you just want to flick it to Auto and snap away, you have that option too) and I often think that it takes better photos than my SLR.  My last PowerShot ended up at the bottom of the South China Sea so I'm going to be making sure that I keep a tight hold on this one.