Spring / Summer Wishlist

I am so glad that Spring is on its way, my skin needs warmth and sunshine and when this time of the year comes around I usually have a long wishlist of clothing and beauty items to take me through these seasons. I have out together some of the items on my wishlist together, shown above and I hope to get my hands on some of these to use during Spring and Summer. 

Rimmel Volume Shake Mascara*

I love trying out new products, and I was kindly sent the new mascara from Rimmel London to try out and share my thoughts on. At £6.99, Rimmel states that this mascara has breakthrough shaker technology, has clump free volume, and stays fresh. I have never used a mascara with this technology before, but I like the idea of it, as it replenishes the formula that give volume to your lashes. 

This didn't flake on me or slowly disparate throughout the day and gave me full lashes without any clumps. For me personally, it didn't do much to lengthen my lashes, but I was happy that the mascara did as said on the tube as it really did add volume to my lashes. I also liked how black the formula was and it stayed this way as the day progressed with only a little fall out. 

H&M Beauty Blender

I have never tried the original beauty blender but I hope to in the future, the one sponge I choose to use and rarely stray from is the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge. However, recently on a complete whim whilst I was browsing the make up section in H&M I came across a black beauty blender type sponge for £1.99 and decided to buy it, with honestly not much hope for it and I ended up being pleasantly surprised. So impressed with it I was that I have not stopped using it since I bought it. 

It has a tapered tip so it is easy to use around the nose and under the eyes and blends out my foundation so well that it leaves my skin looking flawless and evenly covered. I have tried it with a number of different foundations and it does just as good a job as the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge. For the price of this one over the Real Techniques one I will definitely be repurchasing this more often! 

What do you use to apply your foundation? 

What I got for my Birthday

I turned 23 over the weekend and celebrated by spending time with my amazing friends and family. I was very fortunate to receive some lovely gifts; a few I had asked for as well as some surprises that I want to share with you.

River Island Zip Around Jewellery Case - This is a really cute and compact way of storing jewellery and also makes it easy for travelling. I can not wait to fill it with my favourite pieces. 

Vera Wang Princess Perfume - A second bottle for me as this is a staple of mine, one of my all time favourite perfumes and a definite go to for a night out! I love the pretty jewel cut, heart shaped bottle and the scent is fruity and sweet and lasts all day or night. 

River Island Blue embellished bird print clip top purse - I love River Island purses, they have so many different patterns, designs and colours to choose from, with lots of slots for cards and separate areas for pennies. I like my purse to have some organisation to it, and try to keep it neat and tidy and these purses help to do this. 

Escape to Oz Colouring Book - I am obsessed with colouring books, I have more than I can count on one hand now but it is one of my favourite things to do, especially when I need to unwind, relax and de-stress or just when I want some time away from tablets and the internet. This one is really intricate and detailed with imaginative illustrations but also a must for any fans of the film. There are 96 pages of double sided adventure on every page. 

Pentel Pack of Six Iridescent Metallic Gel Pens - Link here These pens have two different colour effects on light or dark paper and are super pigmented and glittery. They dry pretty quickly. The colours also change depending on the angle of view. I have loved using these in my new colouring book. 

Pandora Charms 'Rose Infinite Shine' & 'Best Friends' - I love Pandora and I love being able to create my own personal bracelet with their many charms. I don't have a colour theme to mine like many people do, but I like the mix of silver and rose gold and the two new charms I got for my birthday are the perfect additions to my bracelet. 

Bondi Sands Liquid Gold Tan - I have been wanting to try this for ages as I have heard great things about it, and having used other bondi sands products before and being very impressed, I really do have high hopes for this. 

Primark Pineapple and Coconut Scented Diffuser - This smells like a tropical paradise and looks so cute in my room. Primark's homeware and accessories are so good and this is a part of their new tropical summer range. 

February Favourites

Nivea Lip Butter Blueberry Blush - I am such a huge fan of Nivea's lip care, especially the lip butters. The scents are incredible and true to their individual names. I have been using this lip butter every day since I got it as it keeps my lips perfectly moisturised and hydrated.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation - A rediscovered love of mine that I have been enjoying wearing during this cold month. My skin is fairly dry and this foundation gives my skin coverage, and a dewy finish without sticking to any dry patches or exposing any imperfections. Whilst it is light coverage it can be easily built up but one application does enough to even out my skin tone. I also love the scent of this foundation but it is not overpowering at all or even noticeable once on the skin. 

Wet n Wild Megaglo Highlighting Powder 'Precious Petals'  - A product I didn't think I was ever going to get my hands on unless I took a trip across the pond, but amazingly, I came across a UK website that sells a number of different American beauty products such as Milani, Color Pop and Wet n Wild. I first heard about this highlighter on Kathleen Lights channel, she was raving about how amazing this was for a drugstore highlighter. I found this on Makeupmart.co.uk and highly recommend you check it out! 

L'action Lip Enhancer - A great lip enhancer product that I was kindly sent by L'Action Paris. After a number of uses my lips appeared only slightly plumper, but I love wearing this as a gloss on its own or over other lip products. It is not sticky or drying at all and doesn't make my lips sting or tingle too much. 

Great British Bake Off Vanilla Traybake

Taken from the 2017 Great British Bake Off calendar is this sweet but easy recipe that I can take absolutely no credit for, but something I baked myself recently and wanted to share on my blog. Having only ever shared one other baking recipe on my blog before, which went down really well, I thought it would be a good idea to do another, and perhaps make recurring content. It may not look like anything special, or as presentable as the image on the calendar, but it is really tasty and fun to make and decorate, with a short bake time. 

Recipe

As stated, a tray bake tin of the above measurements in the image, is ideal for this recipe however I didn't have quite the right size but even though my tray bake was slightly smaller than the one in the recipe above, the bake still turned out fine. 

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees/ 160 fan/ 350F/ Gas 4, and grease and line your tin with butter and baking paper. 

To make the sponge, mix the butter, sugar, vanilla, eggs, milk and flour into a bowl and beat together, or alternatively use a food mixer. Beat until it looks smooth and light and all the butter is soft and well whisked into the mixture. Transfer the mixture into your tin, spreading it out to the sides and make sure it is even. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the top is a golden brown and check your cake is cooked by gently pressing the centre with your fingertips to see if it springs back. 

Leave your bake to cool and firm up in the tin and when cooled, remove the paper. Whilst it is cooling make the frosting by sifting icing sugar into a mixing bowl and add the butter, milk and vanilla extract. Beat or whisk until the frosting is smooth and light. 

Put your icing onto your bake and then it's time to decorate! the It is best to do this straight away before the icing firms up, I used these multi coloured stars from Tesco and some white piping icing. I then cut the bake into pieces before serving! 

How cute are the Joie Oink Oink utensils I got for Christmas from Wilkinsons?!

This really didn't last long in my household, which is a good sign! It was tasty and so easy and fun to make. If you give this a go please send me your pictures and let me know how you got on! 

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Primark Precious Metals Metallic Lip Crayons

I have not used any Primark make up before and to be honest it is because I really did not have any high hopes towards it. However, when I saw these Metallic Lip Crayons I did not hesitate to pay closer attention to them. There were three to choose from and when I swatched them all I was so impressed with how easily they glided onto the skin and how pigmented and metallic they actually were. For only £2 I quickly decided that I was going to purchase a couple and I chose a gorgeous rose gold, pinky shade and the gold shade. They also had a deepish brown shade that looked a bit too dark for me but was equally as gorgeous.

They were easy to apply and needed about two coats to get a good colour pay off. They lasted for a couple of hours as I was eating and drinking and did not dry out my lips at all. They actually felt like a gloss when on my lips as they were so moisturising and hydrating. 

Overall I am really impressed with these and it has made me want to try more Primark make up!