Stud

Shoes Topshop, Skirt Topshop, Top Forever 21, Belt Primark

Just a quick outfit post today, as I've been rather quiet over the last week! In this outfit the statement I feel is the shoes, they're Jeffrey Campbell esque (at a fraction of the price), and defiantly one of my best buys from 2012, and I'm sure they'll get loads of wear this year as well!! And yes this skirt has already made a sneaky apperance, but I love it.

Can't believe January is nearly over already!! Thanks for reading, don't forget to follow if you enjoyed reading this :)

xxxx

I've been baking

On Saturday, during my 7 day weekend (thanks snow) I decided to do some baking! Again I used my trusty show stoppers recipe book to make Hippy Macaroons and Love Heart Biscuits. Macaroons are something I've always wanted to bake (despite my hatred of coconut!), so these are what I started with. Originally I had planned to take more 'in the process' pictures, but I kept getting in a pickle i.e. forgetting to put in the thickening agent, soo this wasn't my calmest baking experience I must say!

Before I noticed I missed the cornflour :S

Completed Hippy Macaroons

Ingredients
50g desiccated coconut
50g ground almonds
50g flaked almonds
125g caster sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
2 large free range egg whites
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Glace Icing
250g Icing sugar
3-5 tsp orange juice/water (i used a mixture to give a subtle orange flavour)

Food colouring
 

Recipe
Preheat oven to 160° C/325° F/Gas 3
Put Dry Ingredients into mixing bowl
In another bowl, whisk egg whites and vanilla extract until frothy
Tip onto coconut mixture and mix with a wooden spoon, to make a stiff mixture
Leave to thicken for 10 minutes.

Spoon onto lined baking sheet to make 10 macaroons
Bake for about 20 minutes, until a light golden brown
Then put on a cooling rack, to cool completely.

Make Glace Icing by gradually adding water to the icing sugar until it makes the consistency you want.
Divide up in different bowls to add food colouring.
Spoon the white onto the macaroons.
Then make a pattern with the other colours.

Eat.

 

Completed Love Heart Biscuits

Ingredients
100g ground almonds
200g plain flour
pinch of salt
80g icing sugar
125g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
3 large free range egg yolks

Filling
200g raspberries
2tsp cornflour
3tbsp caster sugar

Other
1x8cm heart cutter
and a smaller one
 

Recipe
Put almonds, flour, salt and icing sugar into a mixing bowl
Rub in the butter, so that it looks like bread crumbs
Gradually add in the egg yolk whilst whisking, until the mixture comes together in a firm ball of dough
Flatten the dough
Wrap in clingfilm, chill for 15 minutes.

Roll out dough on a floured surface, to a thickness of a £ coin
Cut out hearts whilst making sure half of them have a whole in the middle
Put them on a baking tray leave to cool for 15 minutes
Preheat oven to 180° C/350° F/gas 4.

Put in the oven for 9-10 minutes until lightly golden brown.
Transfer to cooling rack when they have cooled for 10 minutes.

For the filling
Heat raspberries and sugar in a medium sized pan on a medium heat
When juices start to run and fruit softens, bring to the boil
Simmer for 2 minutes, stirring whilst it thickens.
Remove from heat
Pour into heatproof bowl, wait to cool.

Assemble by sandwiching the filling between a whole heart, and one with a cut out heart.
Dust with icing sugar

Eat

*Note that once filed eat on the same day, if not do not assemble and put filling into a fridge and biscuits into the tin.*

I hope you enjoyed this post, it got abit long sorry. I would also like to welcome my new followers, thanks for taking an interest in my corner of the internet!!

xxxx

 

Under-rated Products 1

Max Factor Colour Collections Lipstick.

Firstly I think the whole brand is over looked by bloggers and youtubers. In my view it sits in an awkward spot in the market its fairly expensive for highstreet/drugstore make up, but has the appearance of being more high end but not quite.

After the fairly recent hype over products such as Revlon's Just Bitten Kissable Balm stains, and the dedication to brands such as MAC; these lipsticks are forgotten about. I own two of the lipsticks in the shade Raisin (a muted red, with a bit of shimmer) and Rosewood (a dusty pink).

They both have good colour pay off and staying power - which is surely what you're looking for in a lip product?!?

 (raisin, rosewood)

The line doesn't have a huge array of colours, but the colours are all suitable for day to day wear. The packaging is nothing special, however when you come down to it, what matters is how it looks on the lips.

This is my first proper beauty post! I hope you enjoyed reading it, comment below if you think I should do more :) And I'd like to apologise for no pictures of them on my lips, but currently I'm blessed with a massive spot very close to my mouth, and I didn't want to share that with you!! (Too much info??)

xxx

Starlight Express?

Hellooo :)

You may or may not know, but I am a Cath Kidston fan, I love the vintageyness and the floral prints. However this season I have fallen in love with their latest print - Trains, I feel my life quality would increase dramatically if I owned everthing from the backpack to the skirt (yes there is a skirt in a train print). Here's my top 3 items from the collection!

1. The Backpack

2. The Skirt

3. The Purse

What are your opinions on this print?

Oh, if any of you have snow, I hope you're enjoying it and that it's not causing you any bother.

xxx

GBBO Diary

Hello, today I just wanted to share my Diary. I had no idea they existed but my clever Mummy got me this. It is aesthetically pleasing to say the least, I am in love with my diary (never thought I'd say that). It as ample room for writing important date, loads of room to make little jottings in, AND the best thing is it has recipes (from the Great British Book of Baking). If for some reason you haven't got a 2013 diary I highly recommend you run out and get it, now.

And now here is my first bake from the book, Lemon Drizzle cake, although it is nearing being burnt I think it's one of the best things I've made flavour and texture wise. Apart from grating the lemons to get lemon zest, it is also one of the easiest things to make.

Hope you've enjoyed reading this :)

xxxx

Hi, I'm a Topshop addict :S

Clothing and Boots Topshop, Necklace Accessorize, Belt Primark.

My Friends generally can guess where I get my clothing from, as I often have days dressed head to toe in Topshop. The Skirt is one of my recent purchases seen in my last past Haulin' and this is how I style it!!

xxx

Wishlist #18

Hello,
I used to do these posts weekly, but after a break from them I think that is too often so am now only going to do them once a month for the time being!

1. Brat Tee By Tee And Cake

2. Real Techniques Core Collection

3. Lady Gaga Fame Eau de Parfum

4. Mac Lipstick in Odyssey

1. Right I know some people are bored of the 'GEEK' t-shirts which are everywhere, BUT I like this top and I think its mildly amusing as my brother always calls me a spoilt brat.

2. These brushes are raved about in reviews, blogs and on youtube. They are reasonably priced, now that I'm getting more into make up, a good set of brushes is a must, and these would get me well on my way!

3. My mum will think, 'you want another perfume, we only just got you one!!', BUT I really really have loved the scent every time I spray it on myself in boots, or Jarrolds, and it isn't to pricey at all compared to some perfumes which are out there.

4. It's not so much the brand, but the colour of the lipstick. I have a just bitten kissable lip balm stain in Crush, I am in love with the colour, and now really want a lipstick in the same colour!!

Sorry that it may be a bit too soon after Christmas this post, but I can't help it!!

xxxx

Haulin'

Abit of a haul today, I haven't had one massive shopping spree this is just what I have collected over December.
(some of the photo quality isn't great as I was using my mum's camera today)

First off all this gorgeous ruby red statement necklace from Primark (I believe it is still available), I first fell in love with this necklace from watching FleurdeForce's videos on her beauty and vlog channels, and when I saw it in my local store I just had to pick one up.

 Again from Primark, and another Fleur inspired purchase on her channel she has mentioned Rebecca Minkoff Bags a couple of times, and when I saw this beauty it reminded me of this. I don't think just from looking you could tell this cost me under £10, Bargain!!

 This is a sale purchase woo!! I got the Soap and Glory Bubble Time gift set for £9, I'm not gonna lie initially I was abit pissed off that I had to get the clock, but once I put the included battery in it very quickly became my new bedside table clock as it is so quiet, and does not disturb my sleep at all. The only product I have tried is Smoothie Star,it made my dry skin feel really smooth and moisturised, I liked the smell of it, but it is a tad mild for my liking! (lush addict over here)

These are Topshops Leigh Jeans in Petite, I've been wanting a pair of jeans/jeggings this colour for a while, but I was really hoping to spend less than £38, however after trying a few places you can't really beat Topshop Jeans that easily!!

My Second Topshop purchase, this gorgeous jersey skater skirt again from the petite section. I have been wanting a skirt like this for a while but haven't got one earlier because A)the petite section only had really boring colours, and B) the 'normal' section skirts look like a midi skirt which is a bit too short. So yay for this red one :) 

And lastly are these adorable owl earrings from Accessorize. I know these may not be to everybody's taste but I love them and will wear them with pride. Only £4 as well.

Have you been more successful in the sales?? I would love to know what you guys have bought yourselves :)

xxxx



Happy New Year

I hope you all had a fabulous night whatever you did to celebrate the new year, I had the twins around for some drinks last night, and had a very lovely catch up!!

Today I have some nail swatches for you, both polishes I got for Christmas :)

Rimmel 60 Seconds Rapid Ruby

The colour pay off is amazing, it just need one coat for it to be nice and opaque. This has a wide brush which means it is really easy to apply on most of my nails, apart from on my pinky finger it was too wide, I doubt this will be a problem for many as I have TINY hands.

Topshop Late Show
Unlike the other polish this required a few coats to become opaque, so initially I was quite disappointed. However after wearing this I had NO chipped Nails, which is a huge plus for me as I am very chip proned. So a huge thumbs up from me!!


Finally just to say I have made a couple of new years resolutions firstly is to make sure I see friends that I have been neglecting. My bloggy one is to include more outfit posts as I love reading them and don't get round to doing them enough!!

Have you made any new years resolutions, comment below I'd love to have a nosey

xxx