Wing Ring

I love love love the jewellery at Topshop this season. Especially this wing ring, black, burnished gold and dark silver stones it's really good on a night out, but I can wear it in the day without it looking too garish

a more detailed view

Queen of Charms

 Last week I stumbled upon a picture of Sarah Harding from Girls Aloud wearing a gorgeous necklace from 'Me & Zena'. I purchased mine from Queen of Charms and the service was amazing! I ordered it on Tuesday morning and it arrived on Wednesday at midday - just look how cute the packaging was too

Thankyou sweets :)

I was a little disappointed as the picture on the website shows this below with the chain running straight through the eye of the anchor and describes it as "Enamelled charm anchor (coloured on both sides)" - whereas mine as you can see above has a separate loop which the chain goes through and is gold on the reverse, not enamel. This being said, I looked on the 'Me & Zena' website and the one I received seems to be the updated version, and it is still very lovely! I think they must have added the extra loop so the anchor doesn't keep flipping around to the reverse side. All in all a very happy purchase.

Cupcakes 2

Some more cupcakes I made last week for a friend, her Birthday was on the first day of the exam period :( ! We are celebrating properly next week though :) If anyone wants the recipe for these I will happily share it. They turned out alot better than the chocolate ones!

Clear Skin :)

Yes! My skin has finally recovered, which I think is due to a combination of things.
I have finally found a moisturiser that actually clears up my spots rather than breaking me out - which is Neutrogena Visibly Clear Oil Free Moisturiser. £3.83 for 50ml - I'm not sure how quickly I'll get through this but I bought it a week ago so will let you know.

I started using cotton wool pads with Liz Earle which have kind of been ok for the past week. I will definitely be purchasing a new bottle along with some new muslin cloths though so I can start cleansing thoroughly again.

FYI - I have used both the 100ml pump and 200ml tube before - I always thought the tube would be a more cost-friendly option as you could get all of it out by squeezing and then screwing the top off and scooping the rest out, however.. I have just finished my 100ml pump and prised it open with a knife (a bit drastic I know but it's all in the name of research) and the pump actually has a sort of balloon inside that inflates, I presume each time you "pump" the bottle, so actually when you finish the bottle and can no longer get any out, it's because the bottle definitely is empty.

(sorry for the lack of pictures taken) my camera is coming up with "lens error" so I need to get that fixed this week

Finally, since I got back to Uni last week, I have been using my Bare Minerals Introductory Kit.

This is just amazing. I got a Debenhams voucher for christmas so used it to buy this set. It's quite pricey at £45, but I was out of foundation so needed a new one and have always been very intrigued by the Bare Minerals brand.

The kit I got was the light one, and it contains:

2 x Foundation Shades (Fairly Light & Light)

Mineral Veil

Warmth

Full Coverage Kabuki Brush

Flawless Application Face Brush

Maximum Coverage Concealer Brush

Bare Vitamins Skin Rev-er Upper

Get Started DVD

Once I have my camera back I will do a review of this kit with pictures of the products and before and after.

For the moment I will leave you with my current skin routine which seems to be working very nicely for me :)

Night: Remove makeup with simple cleansing facial wipes (I wet these with warm water at the end and go over my face once more to really remove everything)

Apply Neutrogena moisturiser all over face

Morning: Cleanse with Liz Earle Cleanser before showering

Dry face after shower and apply skin rev-er upper

Use Bare Minerals foundation with swirl tap buff method

I will go back to posting more frequently after my last exam tomorrow.

In 24 hours time I will be a very happy girl!

Cupcakes

A belated Birthday present for my flatmate

I adapted this cupcake recipe from Anna in the Kitchen

Chocolate Cupcakes

Makes 12

110g unsalted butter, softened

225g golden caster sugar

2 large eggs

150g self raising flour

100g plain flour

25g cocoa

120ml milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

- Heat the oven to gas mark 4 and line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases. 

- In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter and the sugar until well smooth. 

- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing into the mixture between additions. 

- Sift the flours into a separate, smaller, bowl. 

- Measure out the milk in a jug and then add the vanilla to this.

- Add 1/3 of the flour to the large bowl.  Beat well until combined. 

- Add 1/3 of the milk and beat again. 

- Add another 1/3 of the flour, then another 1/3 of the milk, then the last of the flour and then the last of the milk, beating well between additions. 

- Spoon the mixture into the paper cases.  Fill about 2/3 full. 

- Bake for about 25 mins until golden brown and a skewer inserted comes out clean.

- Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes. 

- Then turn out to cool completely on a wire rack. 

- Decorate as you choose.

I have to say I was very impressed with how well these cupcakes have risen. I own the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook and find the recipes never manage to make the 12 they promise, but can only get 8 or 9 out of one batch else end up with very small flat cupcakes.
If I were to make these again I substitute more cocoa powder for plain flour, and make the icing less-solid, as the cupcakes were a little dry, but they did go very well with a glass of milk :)

I meant to include the chocolate chips in the mix but forgot, so ended up putting them on top instead.

Skin Resolutions

I would like to establish this year, just exactly what keeps my skin nice.

I am quite fortunate that my skin has never been particularly problematic, I had a couple of spots in my T-zone from age13 to 15 but they cleared up so I'm pretty sure it was just typical teenage skin. I also had one unfortunate month a couple of years ago when I thought applying Niel's Yard orange flower facial oil all over my skin morning and night would be a good idea, suffice to say this was not the case - I ended up with a pretty chronic case of acne all over my chin which took months to clear up and was very painful. I'd love to try some of their other products though as the range is very large and that oil smelt absolutely delicious :) I kind of wish I'd kept my little pot just so I could get a whiff now and then!

This is my skin with a nice thin layer of Chanel Pro-Lumiere buffed in. (Taken at the end of summer hence the unnaturally tanned state ;) ) 

Normally I don't find it too hard to cover any blemishes or the redness around my nose and on my chin, but in the past two weeks there has been a serious decline. Honestly, the spots are just everywhere!
I think this is a combination of things:

• Firstly, I had to throw my muslin cloths away that I normally use with my Liz Earle cleanser so I have just been using a plain old flannel to remove it from my skin which I don't really feel is getting my skin "clean".
• Secondly, I've been mixing my regular pale Givenchy foundation with an even paler shade of Bobbi Brown skin foundation to get the right colour to match my neck at this time of year, so my skin could have flared up due to this sitting on my face all day.
• Thirdly, the central heating and freezing wind outside are giving me a lot of dry patches. I've been exfoliating every other day but it hasn't really cut it and I've had to reach for *gulp* the dreaded moisturiser....

Every single experience with moisturiser has been a bad one for me. Sure, in the short term my skin is moisturised, but the next day I wake to find my pores oozing oil and, yes, you guessed it, spots breaking out all over the place. My skin literally hates moisturiser, yet I know how important it is to moisturise...help!

Does anyone have any recommendations for any type of moisturiser which doesn't make you break out?

Goodbye Christmas

Today we are taking down all the Christmas decorations from our house and returning to normality.

The holiday has been lovely spent with my family and friends who I had not seen since leaving for University. The only downside has been revising for exams which start in a weeks time – help!.. I still fail to see why we don’t get tested before Christmas so we can work work work in the knowledge that we will have the break after to enjoy ourselves?!

Anyway, I want to share with you, before it disappears, some pictures of the tree which we’ve had growing in the back garden all year, it’s absolutely huge now! It does seem to be thinning out a little – this is the 3rd year we’ve used it inside – but we still have a lot of love for it ♥

 

Below is Harley last year when we first got him, he was just a little baby kitten! Having a lot of fun with said Christmas tree :)

Happy New Year!

Brand new year, brand new blog. I have pondered for several months about starting up my own blog, and thought today, at the start of a new year, would be an ideal time to write my first post. I can also make it a resolution to update regularly : ) This will be a creative outlet for to share with you everything I love and find interest in.

It is absolutely freezing in England at the moment, and to counteract the effects of my mother’s cracking of the ecofriendly-keep-the-central-heating-on-low whip, I have found myself reaching for my lovely sequinned Warehouse jumper which I got for Christmas. Snuggly and sparkly, just what I want to be wearing over the festive season!