The design is based on an extract from the book the 40 Rules of Love by Elif Shafak. (Everyone I know that has read it LOVES this book, I recommend!)
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T-Shirt Design at ASOS
The design is based on an extract from the book the 40 Rules of Love by Elif Shafak. (Everyone I know that has read it LOVES this book, I recommend!)
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MUST HAVE Lipsticks for Brown girls
HI GUYSS... excuse the poor image quality as this is a rush one, I didn't mean to abandon the blog this way but this year has been a roller coaster indeed... more on that another time maybe.
Anyway, I just had to share these two drugstore gems with you all. At a mere £1 each they're currently on a 3 for 2 offer so I bought a back up of my all time fave, Fawn Fancy. Here's the link to them both Fawn Fancy and Shade 11. Just in case you're not aware, Superdrugs do free P&P with absolutely no minimum spend for their beauty card holders so go ahead and take advantage.
As for formula, I can't compare with high end lipsticks as I've only ever ventured there for liquid formulas but I will say that these tend to last long if I do the Wayne Goss tip of placing a tissue paper over my lips after application, and then dabbing some translucent powder over the top. It gives a gorgeous airbrushed look to it.. no longer exaggerating lip lines and creases and keeps it in place practically all day with minumum touch up required. The white tube (Fawn Fancy) is a true matte formula and the black tube (Shade 11) is not.. so it's not overly glossy but it's not quite matte so not as long wearing either.
Anyways, enjoy! xo
£4 Makeup Brush Set for Starters!
Yes, Really... 12 Quality brushes for a mere £4! Do not underestimate Ebay again.. these brushes are VERY similar to the Sigma Mr. Bunny set that's been discontinued. It literally contains everything you'd need if you're starting out with makeup so it's ideal for teens and students. None of the brushes shed any hair when being washed and feel just as soft as my original Real Techniques Core Collection set. Once upon a time I actually used to think "meh.. I don't need all these different kinds of brushes for good makeup application" but I was very very wrong. You do need good brushes and this set is perfect... trust me.
I would even recommend these for travel, because if you're like me, you only take with you on your journeys the things you wouldn't be heartbroken over losing or being damaged in your luggage so instead of taking my Morphe or RT brushes, I can grab these and go.
The set contains the following brushes:
-Flat foundation brush
-Stippling brush
-Large powder brush
-Angled blush brush
-Angled eye brush
-Concealer brush
-Flat fluffy shadow brush
-Round fluffy shadow brush
-Eye shader brush
-Lip brush
-Liner brush
-Angled liner/brow brush
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE
Easy Food | Peri Peri Chips
Ever since I ate at Toro's Steakhouse for the first time, I became somewhat addicted to the peri peri chips they do. I'd only need to be passing by to then stop and get some to take home. Every. Single. Time. Then I decided on giving it a go making them myself and so I did, Hurrah!
What you need:
- Nandos Peri Peri Sauce (I get mine from Asda or Tesco)
- Your favourite tomato ketchup (fellow addicts will know the difference lol)
- Plain chips - I oven bake mine with a dust of salt over
- Bowl and plate to cover it properly
Method:
Again, I normally only eyeball my measurements, theres no set amount that I do but for explanation purposes I'd say I use roughly 4 tablespoons of Ketchup and 3 tablespoons of Peri Peri sauce for about 3 handfuls of chips. But my pictures might explain better. You basically need enough to coat the chips well and need to put the sauces directly into whatever bowl you're using. Then mix the two sauces, chuck in your chips, cover with the plate and shake, shake, shake! When they're evenly coated you're done. It's best to do this while the chips are still hot so they absorb the sauce and it spreads easier. After I took the final picture of the chips I added more ketchup as they weren't quite right.
What you need:
- Nandos Peri Peri Sauce (I get mine from Asda or Tesco)
- Your favourite tomato ketchup (fellow addicts will know the difference lol)
- Plain chips - I oven bake mine with a dust of salt over
- Bowl and plate to cover it properly
Method:
Again, I normally only eyeball my measurements, theres no set amount that I do but for explanation purposes I'd say I use roughly 4 tablespoons of Ketchup and 3 tablespoons of Peri Peri sauce for about 3 handfuls of chips. But my pictures might explain better. You basically need enough to coat the chips well and need to put the sauces directly into whatever bowl you're using. Then mix the two sauces, chuck in your chips, cover with the plate and shake, shake, shake! When they're evenly coated you're done. It's best to do this while the chips are still hot so they absorb the sauce and it spreads easier. After I took the final picture of the chips I added more ketchup as they weren't quite right.
At home IPL hair removal!
I'm so excited to finally share my experience using my Phillips Lumea SC2009/00 which I purchased at a discounted price of £349.99 directly from boots (WORTH EVERY PENNY). I'm aware that Amazon tend to go up and down on their price so it might be worth keeping an eye out if you're looking to purchase this model. I've been using it for around two to three months now, with huge gaps inbetween because working life tends to get in the way a lot. In this post I'll be giving you an idea of how I've gotten on with it so far.
WARNING: I'm no person to be shy about these things if it's going to help someone else so if you're one to get a lil uncomfortable with regards to the topic of 'down there' then do just skip that part and give the Face and Body bits a read.
So the way that IPL works is that when your hair is in it's growth stage, having removed hairs from the surface (shaving is best) it'll zap it into a sleeping phase, which in effect, slows down the regrowth cycle and causes existing hair bulbs to fall out. Done repeatedly and as instructed by the manual, you will eventually stop growing hairs all together.
I've never shaved in my life so doing it for the sake of this has been a right pain. With the benefit of mum being a beautician I've been lucky that I've always been able to wax. Shaving definitely took some getting used to, I even gave myself a huge cut on my wrist bone the first time which was all types of nasty, the scar still hasn't healed either :(
The recommened time between each session on whichever area is two weeks which I stuck by. Any sooner and I wouldn't have given the growth enough time for the treatment to be affective as there's no hairs to send into sleeping phase to begin with. On top of this, there's obviously been extensive research behind the release of this product so it's always safer to follow the recommendations in the manual.
Bikini Line
The model I chose is suitable for Face, Bikini and Body. I chose it as I felt it's important that each area has it's own head (as shown on the bottom of the box) but I do know of some people just using the body head on the bikini area and giving it a good clean after use as with the SC2007/00 model which doesn't include a bikini-specific head... whatever you prefer as there is nothing different besides from the size about them both. For me the bikini line one worked great because it's smaller than the body head so is convenient to get all areas done properly and I had peace of mind that I wasn't using it elsewhere.
As we all know how quick the growth is for this area, it's the only place I started out doing once every week. I only needed to do that for three weeks, then miss one and twice again the same way. Now it's significantly slowed down the process and there are much less hairs as well as having the most fall out I've noticed from my whole body. I'm still on my once-per-two-week phase of treatment but I'm extremely happy with the results. Less hair growth means clearer and more even looking skin too which again, I'm very pleased with.
Face
I've had a bit of a sideburn and some chin hair that I thought could do with getting rid of so did from my sideburns and whole 'beard' area including chin. I did do my upper lip once but couldn't deal with waiting two weeks for it to grow for the next session as it is the most noticeable of all and never in my life have I let it grow out, I've always threaded as soon as they were just about long enough to be pulled out by it. The facial area is the least uncomfortable to do, all I felt was warmth and have only had to do it 3 times for it to have gotten to a point i'm happy to leave it alone. That's probably because mine weren't so bad to begin with but other people may need to do it just a few more times.
Underarms
As usual this area has been done every two weeks and oh my! I hate to boast but my pits are gettin' prettier by the day - with exfoliation once a week to combat those evil ingrown hairs. I'm near enough to the point the hairs aren't growing back, only a small patch I keep missing on either side is left. With this one again, I've not had to do it more than two times to start seeing a difference, I hadn't done them almost a month before last week which was my fourth time and there was barely any hair there.
Arms and Legs
These are the areas I've been the most laziest with having only done my legs twice and my arms three times. Time is such a big problem for me, I just never get enough of it to keep up however I'm not giving up and will try to do as much as I can, so far it has slowed down the process of regrowth, my shaved arms and legs are now growing back roughly at the rate of waxing.
IPL machines aren't suitable for all skin tones and hair colours so I do recommend doing enough research into it before making the decision to purchase. Me being light-medium skin coloured with dark brown hair meant I was perfectly fine to go ahead and have had the results as mentioned. The advised stength was levels 3-4 from the options on the machine but I've generally stuck with level 3 for comfort. Initially, it might be a slightly horrible, warm sting depending on how sensitive you are but after the first time of completing an area, it's more comfortable as just a flash of warmth. Everyone's different though and the friend who recommened I get this has never felt any of the horribleness that I did.
I will try to do another update a little later down the line but up until then, you are free to ask me any questions via the comments section or email.
Take care my loves xx
Favourite High Street Perfume
I'm all about affordable, quality products and ZARA definitely tick all boxes when it comes to perfumes. Though their clothing is well above my budget, their perfumes are totally worth paying full price.
I love them because:
♥ They're affordable
♥ They're good Quality
♥ The scents never let me down
♥ The sets are nice for gifting
♥ The singles go nicely in gift bags
♥ Often go on sale
♥ Some are known to be dupe scents
♥ Widely available
♥ Nice packaging and bottles.
The Black Rose twin set cost a mere £7.99 for two 50ml bottles on sale and the other set cost around £13 (can't remember exactly) for two 100ml bottles at full price so the pricing is really very reasonable. I often stock up when they're on sale as back up perfumes in case I, or anyone in my family runs out or to keep as last minute gifts - we've all experienced the no time, no idea what to gift dilemma, this may just save the day for you too!
Easy Food | Chicken Steak
Ok, It's been forever but I'm back with another easy peasy recipe. It was around this time last year I did the Eton Mess one.. oops!
You will need 3 medium sized chicken breast pieces, salt, pepper, (I use low fat greek) yoghurt or half a lime, Oil, Badia Complete Seasoning (or other spice mix of choice) along with a non metal dish, grill or grill pan.
So you start with the marinade and there's two different ingredients you may use as your base, yoghurt or the juice of half a lime. Put that into the non metal dish that you'll be setting your chicken aside in. Metal/Steel dishes give meat a weird taste. Add half a teaspoon salt and pepper, and a heaped teaspoon of the Badia seasoning. Mix together, add your chicken breast making sure to coat well and leave to marinate for at least 15 minutes.
Add some oil to your grill and turn on medium heat. Place your chicken on and leave to cook 5 minutes on each side before turning over. Continue the process until you see the chicken is done. It usually takes me around half an hour total to do this.
When you're done. Serve hot with whatever side you prefer; chips, rice, potato, mixed veg etc.
