NEW! Natural soap - The Little Soap Company

I'm all about the natural me. I've been meaning to make my own soap (once again) when I have the time but certain circumstances mean that I have to put that on the back burner for now. So, I finished my Dr Bronner's Liquid Castille soap (really good, might review it another time), and was on the hunt for a soap that I could use in the meantime of me making a fresh batch of soap. So I obviously didn't wash during this soap-less time. I joke.

MySupermarket is my holy grail for grocery shopping, and I somehow stumbled upon this soap. What drew me to it was the fact that I was going to make a liquid soap of the SAME SCENT so it must be fate right? Only £3.50 in Tesco which is really reasonable for an organic bar of soap.



The Little Soap Company, dainty and quaint sounding, their website will give you a more of an insight into their mantra and ethics. Very promising a first glance.

It was packaged in cardboard(??) or some sort of evidently recycled material that pleased me, but didn't surprise me at all, due to it's eco nature. The smell beautifully radiated through the packaging and it was an instant hit - went straight in my basket. Needless to say, that I'm a sucker for all things natural.

Organic Lavender & Rosemary Bar Soap (110g): Pure Organic soap made with the finest natural ingredients and totally free from detergents, SLS, alcohol, parabens, sorbates, silicones, sulphates and preservatives.

I used it as soon as I got home, and strong notes of lavender and rosemary lathered well onto my skin and permeated my bathroom and further. If you're not a fan of strong scents then this isn;t for you. It feels like I'm having an aromatherapy session of some sort when using it, but sadly, I don't know if it's because my nose it too accustomed to the smell, the scent does not linger on the body. Regardless, I feel clean and relaxed due to the nature of the aforementioned essential oils.

Sidenote: I am trying my best to reduce my waste, which is quite difficult if you're someone like me that wears heavy makeup on a daily basis. Baby wipes and black soap are a thing of the past, so I'm using a homemade cleanser to remove the excess makeup. This however does not completely remove all and does not clean the face either. Face washes that I own are targeted for acne/working on my (beyond) problematic skin so I don't want to waste them on clearing makeup off my face. It was then when I decided to use this soap to clean my face as well.

I mean, it's all natural, right? The soap doesn't claim to be anything other than a natural soap and going by the ingredients, seems perfectly fine to use on my face. I am thoroughly surprised and imrpressed by how clean my face is feeling, and it could be a coincidence, but my acne scars are clearing up a lot quicker than usual too so that is a massive bonus too!

There is nothing to fault with this product, a no frills soap, cruelty free and natural so I would genuinely give it a 10/10/ In fact, I've just gone onto their website to see what else they have to offer and the reviews are conclusive with mine.

You can buy the soap and read reviews here:https://www.littlesoapcompany.co.uk/product/english-lavender-rosemary/

Ingredients: Organic Palm Oil (Sodium Palmate), Organic Coconut Oil (Sodium Cocoate), Water (Aqua), English Lavender Oil (Lavendula Angustifolia), English Rosemary Leaf Essential Oil (Rosmarinus Officinalis), Salt (Sodium Chloride), Citric Acid (Sodium Citrate) and naturally occurring within the Essential Oils, Linalool and Limonene.

Vegan Wagamama - VEGATSU

So I FINALLY had the time to go to the Noodle Lab here in London, which is an experimental branch of Wagamama, which, like the former suggests, displays a wide variety of classic and new dishes to try. In fact, the menu has lots of vegan and veggie meals available!

I already knew what I was ordering, the long awaited Vegatsu. My newly vegan colleague got the same, and my other colleague, got King CookDaily's collaboration with Wagamama - COOKMAMA. My non vegan colleague loved the CookMama (pictured above) and said it was filling, so filling that she took half of it home so I cannot wait to try that out too.

Service was fairly quick, but oh my, the serving size did not disappoint! I can literally eat for England, so when I say I was bursting at the seams after this, I am being deadly serious. I got some of their usual vegetable gyozas because I love them, and, like I said, I'm a hungry person.

Usually I find the "protein" part of the meal is overshadowed heavily by it's carb/veg counterparts, and the ratio is way off. However, this was most definitely not the case. In fact, I could say that there was more than enough of the seitan (the chicken alternative) to go round. Accompanied with a generous portion of white rice, slathered in their infamous curry sauce and a lovely, fresh side salad, my tastebuds are salivating as I'm typing this - it was delicious!

I rather simple dish when you think about it, all the elements worked so well together. I haven't had the chicken alternative to compare but I don't even care (rhyming level 100), it was like comfort food that you'd want to curl up onto the sofa having a quiet night in...I should've ordered another to take home. The only "negative" was that it was a bit salty...I think it was the curry sauce but I really don't mind considering I love anything savoury.

VEGATSU: £8-9, seitan coated in crispy panko breadcrumbs covered in an aromatic curry sauce with sticky white rice and a side salad 

Overall I'd give this a 9/10 just because the average person might have some reservations about the salt, but I liked it. Also, because the dish does contain seitan covered in panko breadcrums, it isn't for those with a gluten sensitivity (like me), or worse. Now, usually I can eat gluten once in a while like this meal, but with the stress of recent events and what not, the gluten has had a really bad effect on me, so will sadly not be having the meal anytime soon :( but hopefully, they see how many people love this dish, and will decide to make it a permanent dish at ALL Wagamama locations.

This is going to be a short post. I am obsessed with NAKD Bars and have been for the longest. I always stock up on them when they're reduced down to 50p in the supermarket (MySupermarket is literally the best thing ever for quick comparison, I'll probably do a post on it sometime).

                           

Anyways, back to the post, NAKD has recently come out with a new flavour in their bars (well, two if you count the Lemon Drizzle, but that's been out for a while and I'm not a fan of lemon so...*shrugs*), and the other one is "Blueberry Muffin". Now let me tell you, I'm not a fan of cakes but I used to LOVE blueberry muffins, and made healthy alternatives for breakfast all the time! 

What I love about this bar in particular, is that they've got actual bits of blueberries in them! They've got the flavour PERFECTLY. My absolute favourite was Bakewell Tart...was...it's a close 2nd now 

So, after all that I'd date it 10/10 for everything *off the buy a case load*

NEW! Tesco's vegan ready meal range!

So I spent the little bit of money I had left for the week and bought this purely because it was NEW and VEGAN. Vegan ready meals? Now that is something I can get on board with. 

It is from a new brand exclusively made for Tesco called Wicked Kitchen. At first glance I thought this is for those that have an extra few pennies to live the lavish life of buying gourmet ready meals. I do personally think that this isn't for the everyday, minimum or low income wage person to grab everyday, but nevertheless, a treat for the majority. Saying that, it is priced at the same price or a bit lower than Tesco's Finest ready meal range.

There was a plethora of dishes in the range available in my local Tesco (albeit a large Tesco Extra store), but was told by a colleague who informed me that she saw it in the small Tesco Express', which is quite mainstream - so that's good!

So, the dish I got was the Gunpowder Potato Chana Masala - I love me a good curry (if you see my Instagram, you know I'm not lying), so you could say I'm a curry connoisseur (I'm not). I was very scrupulous of the flavours but oh my goodness - the aroma that brushed past my nose was something else. 

Fragrant notes of saffron, curry leaves and cumin were plenty, so I was expecting a lot from the taste, which also didn't disappoint. The chickpea curry was flavoursome, the potato was seasoned well and the rice was lovely.

I'd genuinely give this a 9/10, I thought it could do with more sauce, but I just wish I had more as it was so lovely!

East meets West fusion - Mediterranean vegetables x Chickpea Tikka Masala curry

20mins / Serves 6

I live off homemade curries like 90% of the time as they're so easy to make! This recipe is even easier if you're having a lazy day, as all the vegetables are pre chopped too. The pre made Tikka Masala sauce is absolutely beautiful and is also gluten free! (Recipe for homemade tikka masala sauce coming soon.) This is lerfect for if you're hosting a dinner party too and you don't want lots of extra veg hanging around.

Ingredients: cost - £4.20 (All from Tesco)

Chargrilled Mediterranean vegetables (Contains aubergine, red pepper, yellow pepper and courgette) - £2
Free From Tikka Masala cooking sauce - £1.50
2 × can of washed and drained chickpeas

Additional:

1-2 onions (depending how you like them)
2 tbsp garlic mince or 2 garlic clovea
Seasoning to taste (I added about 1 tbsp of garam Masala, cumin, turmeric and hot curry powder. Also some mixed dried herbs)
Half a tin of coconut milk (optional, could add chopped tomatoes instead - I did 1/4 of both)

METHOD

Let the frozen veg defrost by about 25% prior to cooking.
Sauté the onions in a little oil or some water if you're oil free. Add the herbs and spices and fry for about 1min and add the chickpeas to the pan. Continue frying for a couple of minutes.
Add the vegetables. The vegetables to contain a little oil so it should assist in keeping the previous ingredients moist.
Cook until the vegetables are defrosted by about 80% and add the Tikka Masala sauce.
Simmer for 10mins before adding either some coconut milk or chopped tomato.
Leave to cool and serve how desired. I served mine with long grain rice.

Hope you enjoy!

Basic Banana Bread

Serves: 5 / Time: 10mins prep, 35-40mins cooking time

Banana bread is my favourite lazy day breakfast food. And by lazy day I mean Monday to Friday, working week where I do not have the time to make breakfast in the morning. Well, I just value my sleep more and I'm not that much of a breakfast fan. But I know I'll get hangry and have no energy an hour later so in my adult life thus far, I've made it a habit to eat breakfast. Adulting at its finest, eh?

Jibber jabber aside, when I make this, I slice it up and can either it cold or warm it up (the latter being my preference). I would wrap it up in foil to keep it warm,  and carry it to eat on the tube...during rush hour...lush. Now I tend to eat it whilst I'm doing my make up, and it's nod messy like cereal or a smoothie BUT...it's so filling!

Ingredients:

2 cups oat flour*
1 cup self raising flour*
3-4 large bananas
1 cup plant milk
1/3 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp cinnamon (I add more cos I love it)
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp coconut oil (optional if oil free)

I use gluten free flour - I but gluten free oats and grind it to flour in the blender, so I always have some on tap. Gluten free AND vegan baking is different from the "norm" so keep checking the oven to make sure the mixture hasn't burnt/dried out.

METHOD:

Mix the flours and cinnamon sugar in a bowl together.
In a blender, mix the rest of the ingredients until smooth.
Transfer the wet ingredients to dry and combine until fully mixed.
Grease a bread tin or line it with baking paper.
Transfer the mixture to the tin, put a few banana slices on top to decorate and put in the oven for thirty minutes.
Check to see whether the mixtureis firm or not. Leave in the oven for ten minutes.

Once down, take it out on a cooling rack and serve anyway which you please.

Hope you enjoy!

♡ Peace n love ♡

Green Smoothie pt.1

Serving size: 1 large (meal), 2 small (snack) / Time: 5mins

So, this is one of my go to green smoothie recipes. I have a fair few variations so watch this space! I often have this on Saturday morning when I'm not in a rush to go anywhere, but I've left it too late to eat anything and therefore deliberating whether to eat lunch or breakfast. I guess that means brunch but yknow when you just can't be bothered to make something? And you want something quick to eat? But filling and nutritious? Yeh, this'll do it for ya!

Ingredients:

-Big handful of spinach


-Handful of kale
-1/3 of a mango or 80g frozen mango pieces
-1 banana
-250ml apple juice
-200ml water (or to your desired thickness)
-Half the juice of one lemon
-Tsp of spirulina
-Tsp chia seeds (optional)

Method:
Funnily enough, just whack into a blender (after you've washed all your fruits/veg ofc - click here to see how I wash mine thoroughly) and Bob's your uncle!

Hope you enjoy this refreshing smoothie!

How to wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly

Washing your produce, no matter where you get them from, is essential. Not just because they might've dropped somewhere, or that they're expose to the elements, but because (unless they're home grown), they are usually covered in "nasties". By nasties I mean, pesticides, preservatives, and a whole other bunch of chemicals and toxic elements that we do not need in our system. Unfortunately, running things under water just doesn't cut it anymore, so I've got a couple of quick tips when it comes to cleansing and eating the things us vegans apparently only eat. Yeh, I went there.

1) If it's not organic, try not to eat the skin. Although people agree to disagree with this, (Google is free y'know, how do you feel about this?) It is best to peel off the skin on produce like apples, cucumbers, potatoes etc, as it removes any residual pesticides lurking in the skin.

2) Use a brush and soap to wash hard fruits and vegetables - Soap?! I haven't gone mad, I promise...yet. I often have a designated washing up brush and pour a little bit of fairy liquid onto the brush, and scrub my produce clean. An old wives tale, or a Caribbean thing it may be, but it works.

3) APPLE CIDER VINEGAR. I have a whole post coming on this nauseating beauty right here. But in the meantime, one of it's many uses is getting any nasties off your produce, especially on smaller or more delicate ones such as berries. Use 1/2 cup or 100ml for (e.g) a couple of punnets of berries and a punnet of plums. Optional, alternatively AND concurrently use 2 tsp of bicabonate of soda too. Soak produce for 10-15mins, use hands to gently wash produce under plain water too.

Hope this helps!

I'm back! But I hate vegans??

At the beginning of 2016, I wrote a post here on why I've decided to go vegan...absolute cringe at that...you'll see why if you click HERE. But through trials and tribulations, slip ups and finding my own flair, I'm proud to call myself vegan!

I personally think I'm a pretty good vegan, imo, FYI...just saying.

Now I know there's apparently "different" types of vegans which I feel is kinda elitist and snobbery. If you're vegan, in my opinion? Doesn't matter whether you're an ethical vegan or not. The end goal and outcome is the same. We don't eat/consume animal products and we're doing our best to be more environmentally friendly. I went vegan for purely personal reasons but just because my initial mentality for doing so was selfish per say, I'm not vegan for the right reasons? Bullshit. (There's no filter on this blog, btw.) I'm still vegan for health, but also for ethical and environmental grounds too.

The end goal is EXACTLY the same as us vegans, in one way or another, have the same end goal - whether it be for health, ethics, environmental reasons or whatever, none of us are contributing to the cruel industry of animal production for selfish gain.

Now, forgive me for any grammatical errors or if anyone takes offence to this (I'm ranting without the editing), however, self righteous "I'm ONLY vegan for the animals and health vegans are sooooo annoying" vegans need to step back down off their high horses. Instead of denigrating those in a community that we are ALL apart of, let's uplift each other and unite to try and spread awareness to those not engaged with veganism. You want to eat kale salad everyday? That's cool. You wanna eat potato waffles and vegan nuggets all the time? You do you. You want to spend your free time preaching the benefits of veganism whether it be for for the self or the ethics? Also good. You wanna sit and drink three glasses of vegan baileys whilst writing a blog post? Well...ok? Anyways, let's stop criticising each other on "who's a better vegan" and just make like a smoothie and chill :)

Let's sway veganism from the superfluous, prestige and borderline charm offensive omniscient flair us vegans more often than not get categorised as. Let's spread ALL the benefits of veganism that have benefited us and can benefit others too!

Notting Hill Carnival, 2017

Anyway, rant over. I'm *hopefully* back and ready to blog about all the food, fashion, beauty etc etc etc so I'm hoping anyone crazy enough to even read my blog, will find something helpful...or probably somewhat hilarious. Here for your entertainment. Follow me, it's free ;)

♡ Peace n love ♡

(Ps - was defo drinking a lot of the new vegan baileys, so excuse the rambling. Btw, It's lush...blog post on it soon, probably 4 bottles later...)

December Glossybox! The Rose Gold Edit

A much overdue post on the December Glossybox, especially as January's box has arrived, and February's box is around the corner, nevertheless, here it is!

This month's box came in a pretty (almost rose) gold packaging, Their theme was rose gold or something to that effect if I can remember that far back, but I guess it was reminiscent of that 'gold glam' look most associated with Christmas *boo*.

Inside the Box (left to right)

Etre Belle – Golden Skin Caviar Eye Roll On

This is cooling gel is designed to keep your eyes looking bright, perfect for the ‘party season’. I place this in my fridge for extra ‘coolness’, and place under my eyes when I come out of the shower. Not too sure if it’s worth the £31 the full size retails at, but it sure does wake up my dreary morning eyes. Might stick to the old cucumber trick in the future when this runs out though.

Full Size: £30.66 | 7/10

Philosophy - Purity Made Simple

Now, I haven't used this product, but I feel like this would be an ideal cleanser for the face to carry with me when I'm travelling or going on holiday. It claims to remove all traces of dirt and oil, whilst being gentle and calming on the skin. Personally wouldn't purchase it for myself as I'm quite satisfied with skin care routine, but as I said, will be suitable to pop in the bag if I'm staying over anywhere I don't have access to m usual cleansers.

Full Size: £18

Cheeky - Chat Me Up Nail Paint in 'Peach Love'

Another nail polish to add to the collection which I can't complain about! As far as I know, there were two options for the nail polish, a bronze-y shimmery gold colour, appropriate for the party season, and the one I got, a baby pink colour...which I LOVE. I wouldn't say it's very holiday season appropriate, but I love it regardless. It's quite nude in the sense that I think it would suit most occasions and would go with a lot of outfits. Also, I'm a sucker for anything baby pink. The finish it normal on the nails, and I think with a good top coat, would last longer than the two days it did without chipping.

Full Size (included): £7 | 7.5/10

Essence - Liquid Lipstick in 'Show Off'

A very apt and bright colour for the party season. At first, I was apprehensive about the colour choice being bright pink, as I felt like it would be too bright for my medium-brown skin tone, however, with the spring season approaching, I think a bold colour would be fitting..just need the confidence to wear it! It has a stick, viscous, lipgloss-like consistency that I'm not a fan of. but I'm sure I could pair it with a dark lip liner or base colour.

Full size (included): £2.50 | 6.5/10

So Susan - Statement Skin Highlighter Pencil

Tis/Twas the season to highlight? Highlighting has become a major staple in my makeup routine, and this highlighter, I must say, is absolutely beautiful! I have to worry with certain products being too ashy on my skin complexion as I have strong yellow undertones, but this highlighter I feel caters and will suit most if not ALL which is always a positive. A universal highlighter, compact and easy to carry, that glides on perfectly, leaving a subtle gold shimmery glow to the skin.

Full size (included): £15 | 8.5/10

Starskin Bio-Cellulose Second Skin Mask

Out of four masks, I got the brightening 'After Party' mask, designed to brighten up your skin after late nights, and partying during the holiday season. It claims that there is a 30mls of a vitamin packed serum in the mask to hydrate the skin. I'm always after masks that claim to do just that, so this was a bonus. I planned to use it before I went out for NYE but sadly didn;t have the time to I feel like I will save this for a relatively 'special occasion', such as an important day/night out or even before my birthday or so as a luxury treat to myself. Who doesn't like to pamper themselves?!

Full size (included): £8.50

2016 Resolutions + WHY I've decided to go vegan

I'm a person that likes to have goals to focus on, so when January 1st comes around, instead of getting the 'January Blues', I see the start of the year as a 'new beginning' if you will. Fair enough to say that yes, I may or may not stick to these goals (I broke two simultaneously at 2am on January 1st but we wont go into that...), but a goal is a goal to becoming a 'better you'...or at least a more content you.

So. here are my goals/resolutions for 2016:

-Be an active blogger/YouTuber
-Drink at least 1.5L of water per day
-Lose that pesky 15lbs that is just hanging around on my body!
-Maintain a good hair care routine
-Try to battle/diminish my acne once and for all
-Apply for my PGCE course
-Travel/go on at least ONE holiday
-Move BACK out of London
-Eat well, exercise more (even if it is only 10mins a day!)
-Eat gluten free (I'm gluten and wheat intolerant but I still torture myself with products containing said gluten...*sigh*)
-Eat mostly vegan...

...but...why an earth am I going vegan?!

For me there are many reasons why I am going vegan, and cutting out dairy from my diet, from an ethical stance through to health reasons.

1) I'm lactose intolerant
- Now, this is funny. I'm a vegetarian, and have been since lent/end of February 2009. The only dairy products I ate were cheese, eggs, butter/spread on occasions, and sometimes if I'm out and about, products containing dairy such as cheese & onion crisps for instance. Also pizza. YASSS, PIZZA.

Now, that might seem like a lot of dairy, but the only product I'd eat every day is cheese, and only a couple of slices of it too (as of the last couple of years). During my 1st year at uni (2013), I gave up dairy completely for lent (not religious, just for funzies)...never in my life have I felt so deprived of something. It. Was. AWFUL! But I did it regardless. When Lent was over, I went back to eating dairy, but not in a large quantities I did before (by large I mean 1kg of cheese and a tub of Philadelphia a week...minimum...yep). Summer of 2013 came around, and I was determined to get fit and healthy, and realised that I was eating mostly as a vegan, so I went vegan for 6 weeks until it was time for me to go back to uni...where I became 'pescatarian' for a year or so. I realised that my body was not having a pleasant reaction to dairy after the summer, which was only exacerbated by gastroenteritis and other health complications the following winter/spring. So, since 2014 I've had an on/off relationship with dairy, until December 2015 where I would be in absolute dire pain whenever I ate dairy, and practically fine (I say that because I have IBS as well as a gluten intolerance...*SIGH*), when I used dairy alternatives.

2) Not so good for acne sufferers
- If you follow me on Twitter, or you're a good friend of mine, you know how down my acne can make me feel. I've had it since I was about 10/11 (I'm now 21), and I haven't been able to determine the cause of it. Aside from dairy, my diet is alright, I used to exercise a lot as a teen, always cleansed my face, and generally took the appropriate steps to clearing my acne. However, I would always get bad breakouts, which I can handle, it's the years of scarring that follows. I cannot decisively say whether cutting out dairy has helped as I have just had another breakout *cries*, but I didn't have a spot in the first week of cutting dairy out of my diet (which is a record!!), and I have generally been getting less spots since cutting down on my dairy intake last month.

3) It's a by-product of an animal
- I feel like if I stay on this too long, I'll be sick. Milk from cows = milk for baby cow. Cheese - pus cells. Ew. Ew. Ew. It shouldn't be for human consumption...who an earth thought that it was a good idea to milk a cow for our own consumption?! Also, pus cells. EWWWW.

4) Why should the lifespan of an animal, be there purely to serve for our selfish dietary consumption...?
- We don't do it to our beloved household pets. Are they not animals too?

Now, I'm not so articulate on the industry of dairy/meat, nor do I necessarily want to at this point in time (as it quite distressing to hear), but for me, it's high time to say goodbye to dairy. Will I occasionally eat the odd cheese & onion crisps? Maybe. Will I give up honey? Most certainly not! Also, some gluten free products such as bread do contain dried egg whites, so given any particular circumstance that I'm in that will require me to divulge in such products, I might have do so. Hence why I'm 'mostly vegan'.

Five Bean Chili (Vegetarian and Vegan friendly)

Here is a quick, easy and healthy style five bean chili served with rice and quinoa!

Ingredients:

-Mixed Bean Salad

-Chopped Tomatoes (I made mine from scratch which I liked better than regular tinned ones!)

-Rice and Quinoa (I used leftovers)

-Onions

-Garlic (I used garlic paste)

-Herbs and spices (I used: mixed herbs [thyme, coriander, oregano, basil], paprika, cumin, tumeric, chili powder, salt, black pepper)

Method:

-If you do not have pre-cooked rice and quinoa. I recommend 'Tilda's' own brand which I have used in the past, or make your own blend which should take around 20mins to cook.

-In a pan, melt some oil (I use coconut oil), sauté a generous amount of chopped onions and add a dash of salt, black pepper and garlic to the mix.

-After washing and draining them, add the beans to the pan and cook for 5mins.

-If making the chopped tomato sauce  from scratch, blend four medium sized tomatoes with some mixed herbs and salt. Pulse the blender for about ten seconds so the tomatoes are not 'runny'.

-Add the tomato sauce to the pan after the beans have. and reduce the temperature to a low heat so it can simmer. (Add mixed herbs in at this point if using tinned chopped tomatoes)

-Add paprika, cumin, chili powder and tumeric to the mix.

-Serve the chili over the rice and quinoa, and enjoy!

Nutritional Values per serving: 280cals/44g carbs

L.A Girl Pro Concealer Review + Demo

L-R:Orange & Yellow, Fawn, Chestnut, Mahogany

So, everyone who's anyone knows about these concealers. They've been raved about in the beauty community, especially on YouTube, with makeup lovers and beauty gurus galore, going crazy over these little tubes of amazing-ness.

I've been using one of the concealers, 'Fawn' (every dark skin girls' favourite), to highlight the usual areas of my face (under my eyes, down the bridge of the nose, my forehead, cupids bow and chin), for a while now, but I wanted to expand my collection because...why not? This shade blends so effortlessly so I decided to order a few more shades that I thought I would benefit from on eBay. Just type it into the search bar and there you go, L.A Girl concealers and other products from the same company, galore!

For reference, my shade in MAC is one shade lighter than NC50, with very strong yellow undertones.

L-R: Fawn, Chestnut Mahogany, Yellow & Orange (without flash)

Fawn:
-Perfect highlight shade for those who are about an NC50/NW42-45
-Yellow/warm undertone
Cheshnut:
-Perfect concealer for shades NC50/NW45
-Yellow/warm to neutral undertone
Mahogany:
-Contour shade for anyone darker than NC50/NW42-45 (must be used sparingly tho), would suit shades perfectly as a contour for shades darker than stated above.
-Neutral to warm undertone
Yellow Corrector:
-Perfect for brightening up highlighted areas
-Great for adding more 'yellow' to foundations that might be too pink/red/cool
-Strong yellow undertone
Orange Corrector:
-Great for cancelling out dark circles under the eyes, blemishes, scars and acne scarring
-Great concealer for those with a 'brown/medium' skin tone to dark
-A 'burnt orange' appearance, more neutral to cool undertone

L-R: Fawn, Chestnut Mahogany, Yellow & Orange (with flash)

PROS
-Water based concealer , so no oily faces for my oily/combination skin girls. All the same, it is not drying at all those with drier skin
-Easy application - has a brush attached to the tube
-Small and lightweight -  compact for travel
-Comes in a variety of shades from very fair to very dark, and also also has a green corrector for cancelling out redness.
-Full coverage

CONS
-In major UK cities, acquiring this product shouldn't be a problem as most beauty supply stores (hair shops) usually stock these. Might be a little difficult elsewhere, but if so lots of websites, especially eBay stock these concealers.
-Do not dilly dally when it comes to blending these concealers. As they are water based, they tend to 'dry faster' than other oil or cream based concealers, which might be hard blend out if left too long. Can also get a few droplets of water when squeezing the tube instead of product.

With these ranging from £2.60-5 in the UK, you cannot go wrong with these concealers. For the price point and quality, L.A Girl has created something wonderful that caters for all skin tones and shades!
9.5/10 (-0.5, because I wish they were sold at Boots or Superdrug or something!)

Check out my demo of the concealers HERE on YouTube!

Mini 'Drugstore' Makeup haul/tutorial!

So I recently bought a few items that I've been dying to try out, and what better way than to do it in a full face makeup video?

 Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E13MEtj85D4

FREEDOM Pro Eyebrow palette in Dark
I don't really fill in my brows or do anything to them, apart from concealer to clean up around each row. However, sometimes I do prefer a more defined look towards the tail end of my brow, and sometimes the inner parts of my brows have a tendency to disappear in pictures, so this palette was great for creating natural hair-like strokes. I personally use the wax (bottom right) to create more definition, and set it with the powders (top right/bottom left).

£3.50 | 8.5/10









FREEDOM Eye primer
Nothing worse than your eyeshadow creasing or disappearing after a couple of hours! This kept my eyeshadow on all night, however it did start to look little 'oily' in the crease, but that could be down to my minimal/sparing application of the product.

£2.50 | 7/10

Urban Decay PERVERSION Mascara
The rush and formulation reminds me of that of the old chunky Rimmel mascaras that everyone had at school...and they were amazing! Love the spoolie brush and the formulation is lovely and easy to build, and with a lash primer underneath, my lashes were looking lovely, separated, thick and fake (in a good way)!

(Travel size currently on sale at Debenhams) £8 | 10/10











NYX Jumbo Eye pencil in 'Milk'
This is probably one of the most raved about products on YouTube and I can see why. In itself it acts as a great eyeshadow primer, and it makes any eyeshadow look 'true to colour' and extremely pigmented! It's quite hard to find in the UK, constantly sold out on the UK website, so I jumped for joy when I found out that they were in London Selfridges and always abundantly in stock. Check the Selfridges website also if you're not close to the store itself.

£5.50 | 9.5/10

NYX Butter Gloss in 'Praline'

Obviously I was going to check out the rest of the makeup at the NYX stand in Selfridges, and was beyond eager to try their lip products. Unfortunately, they'd sold out of some of the more popular shades, especially in their infamous 'matte lip cream'. I was on the hunt for something nude-ish, whether it has a slight bit of pink or brown, and this gloss has the right mixture of both so I'm very pleased. I'm also a matte lip kinda girl, and tend to stray away from glosses, but this gloss is absolutely gorgeous! Perfect when you don't want to have a heavy lip colour, combined with a cheeky cute gloss. Oh, and it smells DIVINE. Like some sort of dessert, cant quite work out which one yet. #savourygirlatheart

£5.50 | 9/10

Homemade veggie burger

Boredom, procrastination...oooh I have chickpeas!

I've always wanted to make a burger from scratch, because although I love (I mean REALLY love) the Quorn Southern Fried Chicken style burgers, they're not coeliac or lactose intolerant friendly...aka they have wheat, gluten and milk in them *cries*.

So, out of what I call, 'constructive procrastination', I attempted these vegan, gluten, wheat and dairy free spicy burgers!

Ingredients: (I rarely ever measure so this is a 'decent' guestimate)
-100g chickpeas
-150g buckwheat
-1 egg white (or vegan egg constitute replacement)
-Diced onion
-Seasoning; salt, black pepper, paprika, cumin, basil
-PATIENCE...seriously

Method:

Soak the chickpeas overnight, then with fresh water, bring to boil for 10mins, then simmer for 2hrs.
Add the buckwheat to the chickpeas at 1.5hrs to simmer.
Make sure the chickpeas are fairly soft before draining them.
Drain the chickpeas so there is no liquid whatsoever left (important!), so the mixture will be firm enough to mash and bind.
Add a little bit of seasoning and onions (I forgot this stage so you can always add it later on in the process), and proceed with mashing the chickpea and buckwheat together with a potato masher (thought there was a more technical term for that utensil...apparently not!)
Once they are at a firm consistency, scoop the mixture into cling film and mould into a circular figure. (If you have a lid or any circular mould in the kitchen, it might be easier to form a 'burger' shape. I did both ways and they were both easy to mould the mixture.)
Once moulded and wrapped in the cling film, place in the freezer for 1hr (check at regular intervals so they are not freezing completely.) This binds the mixture.
Preheat the oven for 10mins at 180 degrees, unwrap the burgers onto a lightly greased tray, and place in the oven for 20-25mins.
Take the burgers out of the oven (don't scorch your arm like I did *cries*), and leave to cool for 10mins.
Whilst waiting for them to cool, get your egg white. add the seasoning to it and mix it in a bowl. Saute the onions in olive or coconut oil in a frying pan.
Dip the burger in the egg mixture until it is completely coated and place it in the frying pan with the onions, 2-3mins on each side. Repeat for all burgers and let them stand before serving. Makes 4 large burgers.

Enjoy!

(Ps, I had butternut squash and sweet potato left over from the night before, which I also mashed into the burger mixture - definitely gives the burger a more moist texture which is nice!)

Prudish Pin-up

So, it was the first day back (of my last ever semester) at uni *panics**screams*, and it was lovely to see everyone! On the other hand, it was so cold and I was in a rush for a lecture (I'm not even doing anymore??), so I decided to wear my work clothes from the day before! (I'm lazy ok.)

It was so cold, my photographer's breath made a little appearance ;) nice effect regardless, eh?!

My housemate is now my new personal photographer, she's a little wonderful at this, I must say!

Jacket/Blazer: H&M

Faux fur stole: New Look

Cardigan: Vintage

T-shirt: New Look (Mens)

Midi skirt: New Look

Suede Chelsea boots: New Look

Necklace: Topshop

Bag: Charity shop (brand new!)

Bandana: Vintage

Watch: Tesco (£6 omg!!)

Cheeky chips - guilt free

Actually waiting for them to cook as I write this...I'm so hungry!

Anyway, I don't like sweet things, 10/10 a savoury girl here! Therefore, I'm a massive potato lover: chips, crisps, cheesy mash, dauphinoise, baked, jacket, whatever, you name it, I love potatoes *insert heart eyes emoji*.

So what's a great alternative to your typical white potato meals that are filling, AND guilt free?

Spicy parsnips and sweet potato chips (well more like wedges because I'm too lazy to chop them up finer. Brilliant).

Came home from the gym starving, and I've been craving parsnips for the past week or so (weird craving right?), and i just wanted something light to snack on whilst doing my dreaded uni work, so I decided to make this little guilt-free treat.

Ingredients:

-Parsnips

-Sweet potato

-Herbs & spices (I used paprika, basil, black pepper, cumin, dairy free cheese powder, garlic granules - but, each to their own! Maybe I'll make a post on my condiment cupboard...)

Prep time: 25mins

Method:

-Preheat your oven to 200 degrees for 10-15mins 

-Cut up your parsnips and sweet potato as chunky/small as you like them and put in a pot to simmer for about 7-10 minutes until they soften, but are still firm (keep checking them, as you might find that the parsnips soften quicker, and will therefore have to remove them from the pot earlier.

-Lightly grease or spray a tray with an oil of your choice, and transfer all the wedges to the tray.

-Lightly dust the herbs and spices over the wedges, and place them in the oven for approx. 15-20mins,

-Regularly check after 12mins to see whether any thinner slices are cooking quicker (or burning in my case...oops.)

-After the wedges have 'browned', take them out of the oven, and let them stand for 1-2mins.

-Dust with some salt, and enjoy!

Resolutions

So, it's 2015 and I've decided, as most do, to make some goals for this year, which I thought I'd share.

One of them is to be more interactive with regards to blogging/Instagram, as I have strayed away from doing so in the last six months or so (sorry for the following backlog of posts). If I'm honest, not posting was due to a confidence flaw type thing, but why should I care what other people think? I'm almost 21 now *panic attack*/*hyperventilates* and they say that the 20s are your selfish years. Me, me, me. Who cares what other people think? (Within reason.) Time to focus on what makes me happy!

Anyway, I'm going off at a tangent so here are my resolutions/general aspirations/goals as of this year.

-Be more positive (goodness me this is a toughie)

-Be more conservative with money (but the sales...HELP)

-Be more resourceful

-Say YES to everything (WITHIN REASON OK)

-Make an effort to socialise more (lunch breaks do not count anymore)

-Actually use my gym membership (gonna be looking/feeling like a VS model this summer totally ;))

-Work hard and stay focused for my exams/essays etc

-COMPLETE DISSERTATION. (Help me.)

-Do that grown up thing and um, grow up a little? Hmmm.

-Get work experience. 

-Move to Brighton.

-Get a sustainable job.

-Apply for uni (again...damn you UCAS!)

That's as far as I've gotten right now, it's almost midnight so there's probably a load of grammatical sleepy errors, and that's all I can remember at the top of my head for now (I actually hand-wrote a list, that I did ;)) -watch this space- I might add more!

 

Ps. Oooh I forgot one - to be happy. Don't let anything get (me/you) down :-)

Indian Summer

Y'know when you put on an outfit and you feel full of sass? I even rang my mum to say how sassy I felt that day. Cringe.

It was late September and 25 degrees which is unusual for that time of year, so I fully embraced those shaved pins of mine with this cheeky New Look number!

Whilst at work, I saw this hanging up, and was intrigued with the grid effect on this sheer tunic. Monochrome crazy, and always willing to be adventurous in fashion, I took a chance and bought it (being just under 5'10 n'all I got a size 20 for the length - part of the 'Inspire' @ New Look range that accommodates UK sizes 18-32). 

Although the tunic looked ok hanging freely, I wrapped your average skinny belt around the waist to add more definition. 

My university grounds is just beautiful, isn't it?

Tunic (as a dress): Inspire @ New Look

Sandals: New Look

Floppy Hat: H&M (20% student deal yas)

Sunglasses: Vintage (Camden Market)

Bag: Primark (from like years ago!)

Wimbledon 2014!

Pimms. Strawberries and cream. Green flying balls. Fit men in shorts. Adrenaline. Pimms.

Some people love Christmas. This is my Christmas, my absolute favourite time of the year - the most prestigious Grand Slam of them all, held in my city, in the district of SW19. 

I've watched the live coverage every year since birth without fail, due to my mother being a complete tennis fanatic. So to go onto the grounds, especially on the final 'Finals day' was truly an amazing experience that I'll always remember!

Sitting on Henman Hill/Murray Mound while the sun beats down, indulging in overpriced food/drink and watching the Men's final was so intense! Then getting to go on Court 1 AND Centre Court for free to see the last matches of the day was an added bonus! I was even on the BBC1 live coverage! Hopefully I can go to 2015 tournament too!

Of course I had to look the part:

And yes, the security did liken me to that of the amazing Serena Williams.

I even met Chico, who was with his son, and in my not so quiet demeanour when I recognised him, went 'OMG' and he came over and gave me a hug! #itschicotime

Bring on Wimbledon 2015!