Bank Holiday Buys Review! :)

So Rachael and I had a last minute shopping adventure into Belfast on Bank Holiday Monday and for once I didn't buy a nail polish (shock horror!!)  However I did manage to pick up a few little interesting buys as did she which I'm sure will feature in future blog posts :)
































This is a quick little overview of my purchases! :) I have tried all of the items out this week so this is a little review aswell!

My first purchase was these beauties! The Cocoa & Shea butter shower gel and hand & body lotion from the Marks & Spencer's essentials range :) These smell absolutely amazing! I am a big fan of Shea butter and Cocoa butter scents separately but together they are even better! These smell like buttery chocolate! and for £1 each you really can't complain! :) I found these near a till area and think bath lotion may also be available :)

Next onto the Biore pore strips and Vaseline Spray & Go body moisturiser! I have read reviews and heard about Biore strips on the internet for a while and have wanted to try them! They are basically blackhead removal strips! I suffer greatly from blackheads on my nose and big pores on my cheeks (foundation never sits right so any advice would be appreciated on that front lol!) so I thought I would give these a go! I have only used them once so cannot say a great deal however they did what they stated and removed a lot of dirt, however they are £7.99 which is a bit pricey in my opinion so I hope to have better results as I use them more :) The Vaseline moisturiser has probably been my favourite purchase! Rachael recommended this and whilst she has the Aloe Vera version I picked up the cocoa radiant one (slightly obsessed!) and this is fantastic! I cant praise it enough! Although it is £4.99 a can it has helped improved the look of patches of Psoriasis I have on my elbow and knee and it is also easy to apply (spray on) and non-greasy! Waste no more money on millions of moisturisers just buy this one!

My final purchases were the real techniques miracle complexion sponge, Loreal true match foundation, true match concealer stick and Loreal lumi magique concealer and brightener! The real techniques sponge is a repurchase and I love this sponge! I love anything from real techniques really lol! I think it is designed to be a cheaper version of the beauty blender and it works beautifully at applying foundation when it is wet, would highly recommend this! The lumi magique concealer is also a repurchase and I mainly use this to brighten (not conceal) my under eye area as I don't feel it has enough coverage for me as a concealer but it is effective at brightening :) The last of my purchases were probably the most disappointing to be honest. I again have heard about Loreal true match foundation for a while and from American youtubers the true match concealer stick however I don't feel they have great coverage! Again this may be because I like a heavy coverage but I found the texture of the true match concealer very runny and thin and the true match concealer very hard to spread so I was disappointed and wouldn't rush out to buy any of those again!

What have been your new favourite purchases lately? Any must have's? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading :)

Amy!

Random Favourites

As it's coming into the Autumn/Fall time I thought I would share my random favourites with you at the moment. This is undoubtedly my favourite time of the year, I'm appreciating the crappy Northern Ireland weather again, hope you enjoy :) 

1. Barry M Gelly Polish in Satsuma



I love this shade for the autumn, I'm really into my dark polishes and orange/red polishes at this time of the year :)

2. Halloween Décor

I become a little bit obsessed when it comes to festive decorating, I've recently decorated my room for Halloween, I got these two tea light holders in Poundland for a £1 each, a complete bargain!

3. Lucky Charms

I may have nearly had heart palpitations when I discovered my local Tesco Express was now carrying Lucky Charms for £4! Until recently in Belfast we had to pay around £7 for a box, couldn't be happier these are back, so yummy!

4. Arctic Monkeys - AM Album

Have not stopped listening to the new Arctic Monkeys album since it was released on Monday, being a die hard fan I will never be disappointed at anything they produce and in my opinion this is one of their best :)

5. Eminem

Another rediscovered love in music this month has been Eminem with his new album The Marshall Mathers LP 2 being released in November, in particular his extremely early stuff. Every now and again I will go on marathons of listening to him non stop. Definitely not an artist for the easily offended or offended by cursing to say the least but without a doubt one of my all time favourite artists.

6. Life is Sweet

If you live in Belfast or you are planning to visit, I highly recommend you check out Sarah Smallwood at the Life is Sweet stall in St Georges Market on a Sunday or have a peek at her site LifeIsSweet. I have followed her Facebook page for a while now and always wanted to try her stuff.  A few weeks back I finally went to the market and picked up some of her baked goods including red velvet cupcakes and snickers brownies, this girl is an amazing baker, I highly recommend her!

Well that's all my favourites for the minute :) I hope you enjoyed this post and let me know down below what you are loving lately :)

Love Amy x

Raspberry Ruffle Cupcakes

Baking has started to become a real hobby for me and what better time than the summer holidays to fill your days with baking.  Today I want to share a Raspberry Ruffle Cupcake recipe with you.. hope you enjoy :)

Vanilla Cupcakes (Makes 12)                                           

115g Self Raising Flour
115g Caster Sugar
115g Butter (Softened)
2 Eggs (Lightly Beaten)
1 TSP Vanilla Extract
1 TBSP milk







Raspberry Buttercream
4-5 Cups of Icing Sugar
1 Cup of Salted Butter
200g Raspberries
4-5 tablespoons Double Cream
Bag of Raspberry Ruffle Sweets

Method

1.Preheat your oven to 180oC and

line a bun tray with 12 paper cases.

2. Using a mixer and a large bowl,  

beat together the butter and caster

sugar until pale, light and fluffy.

3. Gradually beat in the eggs, a little

bit at a time, then beat in the vanilla

extract.

4. Using a spoon gently fold in the

flour until thoroughly incorporated.

5. Add the milk and gently fold into

the mixture.

6. The mixture should now be smooth and drop easily from a spoon.  Now spoon the mixture into your bun cases.

7. Bake in your preheated oven for

around 15-20 minutes until golden

in colour and firm to the touch.

8. Leave to cool for around 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Buttercream Method

1. Whilst buns are in the oven heat a

saucepan over a medium/low and add the raspberries.

2. Continue to crush them with the

back of a spoon until they turn into

a sauce.

3. Take off the heat and put through

a sieve to remove any unwanted seeds.

4. Leave to cool completely before using.

5. When buns and raspberry juice has cooled you can now work on your buttercream base.

6. Cream the butter and add the icing sugar (about a cup at a time), when incorporated add in the raspberry juice (about a teaspoon at a time) - please note- don't add too much or your buttercream will be difficult to pipe, you want to keep it stiff around 3 teaspoons should suffice.

7. Now your buttercream is ready

to pipe onto your buns, decorate

how you wish and top with some

raspberry ruffle sweets :)

I hope you enjoyed this recipe and let me know if you try it out or if there is any recipe you swear by :)

Amy x

A Stormy Goldmine.

I decided to share my favourite smokey eye with you guys :) I absolutely love gold eyeshadow, I think because I have green eyes it seems to work really well.  After many reviews a few months back I decided to purchase two of the Sleek I-Divine Palettes from Superdrug.

Update, Bloglovin and A Quick Thankyou

Hey guys!

Just a short post to update everyone on the blog!