Valentines Day Get Ready With Me

With the 14^th February swiftly knocking on the door I thought it only right that I do a Valentine’s get ready with me. Whether you’re going out with someone special, having a mates date or you want to look good sitting at home with a pizza and ice-cream for one, here’s a look for you. 

Prior to getting ready for an event or trip out I like to prep my skin and hair so before going for a shower I used a face mask from Mudmasky to minimise my pores and smooth out my skin. I also cleansed my skin using a coconut face scrub from Treacle Moon and toned my skin using the daily cleansing wipes from Nip and Fab. I don’t like to use too many products in my hair but when I curl my hair I do like to treat my tresses with a leave in conditioner, this time opting for a Keratin Protein mask from Hask to ensure my hair was nice and healthy.

Products Used For this Look:

Base

YSL Touche Èclat Blur Primer

Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation in shade 1N1

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in shade 1

Laura Mercier Invisible Setting Powder

Benefit Hoola Bronzer

Nars Orgasm

Makeup Revolution Highlighting Trio in the Rose shade

Eyes 

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette

Makeup Revolution Highlighting Trio in the golden shade

Tarte Amazonian Brow Mousse

Soap and Glory Arch De Triumph

Lips

Lime Crime Perlees Lipstick in the shade Gemma

NYX Mechanical Lip Pencil in Nude

With naturally curly hair I opted for tight curls with lot’s of volume, a quicker hairstyle for me than straightening my lengths. 

Your outfit really depends on your plans on the day but I have opted for a nude longline blouse with pleated detail at the back paired with a pair of leather look trousers and nude flats. My ideal casual outfit. With the dark eye and metallic lip I wanted to keep my outfit quite simple. I chose not to pair my look with a bag and instead just took my burgundy Michael Kors purse.

Luisa

xo

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Èclat Blur Primer Product Review

Over Christmas I picked up a few pieces in the Feel Unique sale, one of my most wanted products included. Yves Saint Laurent is a brand whose products I love, their eyeshadow palettes are incredibly pigmented and their highlighters are out of this world and I am always eager to get my hands on more of their products. One of their ranges that I have been lusting after from afar is the Touche Èclat collection so while on sale I picked up the blur primer which I thought I’d share with you today.

As always I like to start with the packaging (I’m a sucker for nice packaging), YSL package all of their products in a beautiful, shiny gold box with black matte writing which draws you immediately to the product. The product bottle is also alluring with its gold lid and glass, cylindrical  bottle that allows you to see the product inside and it looks great on my dressing table. I really love that the bottle is glass rather than plastic, I love good quality packaging, it makes the product that little bit more special. The last comment I’d like to make about the packaging is the pump dispenser. I love having a pump on a liquid product, it stops you pouring out too much product and saves things from getting messy.

YSL Touche Èclat Blur Primer is a gel primer flecked with gold glitter, who doesn’t love glitterm the more the better right? Like I said this is a gel product so when you first pump some onto the back of your hand it does feel kind of gloopy but as soon as you start to apply it to your skin, the formula becomes velvety smooth and leaves your face feeling amazing. As the name suggests, the product blurs imperfections, minimising the appearance of pores thus giving you the perfect base to apply the rest of your makeup. The little flecks of glitter in the product blend in with the skin and make your face radiant when the light catches it.

I’m not a big makeup wearer during the week, I enjoy that extra half hour in bed too much to get up and apply a full face of makeup but this primer has changed that. With the pore minimising and the lovely glow you get from this product, I find that applying this on its own is enough to stop my morning face from scaring my colleagues. It also applies beautifully under foundation. I tested this under a full face of makeup on a busy, winter day in Scotland battling the wind and rain and I’m pleased to report that my makeup didn’t budge after a good 8-10 hours wear.

The Touche Èclat Blur Primer is definitely an amazing primer and I can’t wait to try other products from the Touche Èclat collection starting with the foundation so look out for an update here when I do.  Have you tried the primer? What are your thoughts on it? Be sure to share your thoughts.

Luisa

xo

January Favourites

Wow, it’s February already. It feels like Christmas was only a few days ago, this year is shaping up to be pretty fast already and hopefully full of lot’s of new and exciting opportunities. With us already almost through with the first week in February it is of course time for my monthly favourites for January. This months list is shorter than usual as a lot of things I have been loving recently appeared in my 2016 favourites which you can check out via the link on the right of this page under the popular posts but without further ado here are my January favourites:

Mermaid Blanket: Oh my wow. This has been my most used item since getting it for Christmas. With the temperatures dropping to -9 degrees, a warm blanket is an everyday essential. What I love about this blanket is that due to the style, it is sewn up at the back as far as the knees meaning the underside of your legs aren’t in for a cold surprise when they come into contact with a leather couch, instead they stay nice and warm and snug. If that wasn’t enough, the fact that it is in the style of a mermaid tail makes it a winner. Who doesn’t fantasise about being a mermaid and having a tail? Well now you can dream away while chilling in your mermaid tail.

Tesco Instant Hot Chocolate: When you think of winter and cold nights you immediately think of snuggling up (mermaid blankets are optional) with a hot drink. Traditionally hot chocolate is made with good quality drinking chocolate and milk, carefully heated on the stove but unfortunately this is too rich for me and makes me ill. The alternative, instant chocolate. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s made with water or if it’s to do with the richness of the chocolate powder but I am loving it. Hot chocolate topped with marshmallows and scooshy scream, yum!

YSL Touche Eclat Blur Primer: This primer is amazing. It blurs pores and brightens your skin and just generally provides the perfect base for your foundation. It’s not a primer I’d use for everyday wear but for days/nights out, it is perfect and prolongs my makeup.

Garnier Moisture Bomb Tissue Mask: With the winter weather this mask has been a life saver. During the year I have very oily skin but with the cold temperatures this winter, I have been getting dry patches on my face. This mask, like the name says, hydrates and moisturises your skin to combat any dry areas. This is a mask I have gone back to time and time again. I have previously done a full review on this favourite which you can check out here.

HP Sprocket: If you have been following my recent posts you’ll have seen a review of my new love, my HP Sprocket. It’s a portable, instant printer which is perfect for printing instant pictures anywhere and at any time and is something I will definitely get a lot of use from this year.

What have been your January favourites? If you have a youtube video or blog post on your favourites for this month then make sure you leave a link below so I can check it out.

Luisa

xo

HP Sprocket Product Review

So I recently purchased the HP Sprocket, a device I’ve been wanting for months but couldn’t get my hands on anywhere, it’s been such a hit that it’s sold out everywhere but I finally got my hands on one.

What is it you ask? The HP Sprocket is the cutest little photo printer. It’s a pocket sized photo printer that lets you print 2 x 3” photos straight from your phone from anywhere. It comes in 2 finishes black and white with rose gold detailing. This is the one I went for. You can never have enough rose gold, right. The printer uses Zink Zero Ink printing paper meaning that there is no need for ink cartridges, just a well charger Sprocket. The Zink paper is also sticker backed meaning you can use your prints for photos or peel the backs and stick them to your wall or in a scrapbook. It is super easy to use. You simply download the sprocket app, load your photo for editing and hit print then 30 seconds later and boom, you’ve got yourself the cutest little picture.

I absolutely love this printer. As much as I love snapping pictures and storing them in my camera roll, there is nothing quite like a physical picture. I also love that it is small enough to fit in your hand meaning it’s the perfect travel sized. Although I haven’t had the chance to take it out yet, I can definitely see it being a regular item in my bag. It’ll be the perfect piece for capturing and keeping memories of days out and things I love. It doesn’t print amazingly high quality photos but for £99 the quality is fantastic. If you are a photo person then I would highly recommend investing in an HP Sprocket.

Luisa

xo

Gingerbread Cupcakes Recipe

I don’t know about you but when I think of Christmas, I think of all the wonderful smells, cocoa, cinnamon and of course ginger or gingerbread. This year I was thinking of ways to incorporate gingerbread into my festive baking without making gingerbread men so I decided on gingerbread cupcakes. Ps, I know I’m a little late as Christmas has been and gone but it is still the Christmas holiday for many so it still counts. This was such a weird recipe and not one I’ve ever seen but surprisingly they worked and I’m super proud of them so here they are.

Ingredients

• 75g unsalted butter, softened
• 100g caster sugar
• 125ml black treacle
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 175g all-purpose flour, or plain flour
• 1tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 1/4tsp ground ginger
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2tsp ground allspice
• 1/2tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4tsp salt
• 1tsp baking soda
• 125ml hot milk

• For the Buttercream:
• 75g butter, softened
• 400g icing sugar, sifted
• 2tsp vanilla extract

Method

Start by pre-heating the oven to 175˚C/350˚F/Gas Mark 4 and lining a 12 hole muffin tray with cupcakes of your choice ( I went for plain white ones).

In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar. Once pale and fluffy add in your egg, egg yolk and Treacle. 

In a separate bowl, sift your flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and salt. Add this mix to your wet mixture. 

Heat your milk but be careful not to boil it and dissolve your bicarb in the milk. Add to your batter and stir until all is combined but be careful not to over mix.

Distribute your batter among your cake cases, I would recommend using a jug to pour the mixture as it is quite a wet mix. You should get 12 good sized cupcakes.

Bake cakes for 25 minutes or until springy to the touch. 

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

While waiting for your cakes to cool make your buttercream. Start by beating your butter until it is pale and fluffy. I used the whisk attachment on my stand mixer as i think it whips up the butter better. Once the butter is nice and pale, add in your icing sugar gradually, missing for a few minutes in between. If you find your icing sugar is getting too stiff, add in a couple of dessert spoonfuls of whole milk to loosen your mix. Add in your vanilla and mix again until well combined. Get creative with your piping, I used a closed star nozzle to get a rose effect on my cupcakes and topped with a little candy cane to decorate.

Luisa

xo

What I Loved In 2016

Well 2016 has officially come to an end and it’s time to open a new 365 page book just waiting to be filled with adventures. It’ll be my first full year of blogging and I can’t wait to publish some amazing posts with product reviews, recipes, fashion posts and more. I thought I’d kick of this year with a rundown of my favourite things of 2016, well some of my favourite things, there are just too many to get them all down in one post. I could still be here writing this post this time next year if that were the case. Pre warning, I have a fair sized list so I have tried to break it down into categories. Without further ado here is my favourite things of 2016.

Beauty

Makeup

• YSL Rouge Volupte Shine Lipstick in the shade Beige Blouse
• Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concelear
• Too faced Better Than Sex Mascara (Waterproof) 

Benefit Hoola Bronzer and Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara

• Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in the shade Mink
• Morphe Taupe Palette

Morphe Taupe Palette

• Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation
• Benefit Hoola Bronzer
• Lime Crime Perlees Lipstick in the shade Gemma
• Benefit Gimme Brow
• Laura Mercier Invisible Setting Powder
• Too Faced Natural Eyes Palette

• By Terry Ombre Black Star in the shade Frozen Quartz

Skincare

• Garnier Moisture Bomb Tissue Mask
• Lollipops Paris Délicieuse Lip Balm
• Garnier Micellar Water
• & Other Stories Sirocco Sands Hand Lotion
• & Other Stories Havana Blues Body Scrub
• Lush Cup O Coffee Face Mask

Tools

• Beauty Blender
• Zoeva Rose Golden Volume 11 104 Buffer Brush

Perfume

• Victor and Rolph Bonbon Couture
• Chanel Mademoiselle
• Jo Malone London Peony and Blush Suede Cologne

Chanel Mademoiselle and Ted Baker Lavene Flower Cuff

Fashion (Clothing, Bags and Accessories)

• Kurt Geiger London Saffiano Leather Tote in pale blue

• Kate Spade Lily Avenue Patent Carrigan

• Ted Baker Lavene Enamel Flower Cuff
• Tiffany Small Double Heart Pendant in Tiffany Blue and Silver
• Asos Curve Watercolour Floral Border Print Blouse
• Rayban Sunglasses

Others

• Harry Potter Mug ( This was a gift so I’m not sure where it’s from but as it heats up the Marauders Map appears from the black mug)

• Elephant Mug from Urban Outfitters 

• Kreafunk Headphones

• Iridescent Iphone 6 case from Case Mate
• Rowntree Randoms ( I may have developed a slight addiction to these)

I’m Also going to add a few places I’ve been in here:

• Edinburgh ( Up until this year I haven’t really been in Edinburgh other than passing through but this year I visited the dungeons, Edinburgh Castle and also went to the Elephant House Cafe, where J.K Rowling wrote Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone)

• New York ( Do I really need to explain? New York is Fantastic)

• Menorca ( I love the sunshine and was so happy to be somewhere sunny for the first time in years)

What Have you loved this year? I’d love to know so make sure to leave a comment or a link to your post with your favourite things from 2016.

Luisa

xo