Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm Stain

This is the Revlon matte lip balm that I picked up on my last shopping trip, I bought from Superdrug for £7.99 which I thought was reasonably cheap and I just couldn't decide which colour I liked so I decide to buy three (I believe there are 10 different shades available) just because they were cheap enough to do so.

The lip balm comes in a plastic tube with a click on lid, the design of the lip balm appears like a chunky pencil, this makes the application of it much easier and quicker, although you may need to use a small brush to neaten up the edges and ensure that you cover the 'corners' of the mouth without getting it on the skin. 

240 Striking

The first one that I picked up was the 240 in the shade Striking, which is a really bright red. As a shade it appeared very bold, the beauty of this one is that as the colour is so "striking" as it is so rightly named, it manages to keep its colour all night in my case.

205 Elusive

 

Elusive as a shade was really good, it was more of naturally appears pink, so rather than looking over the top it more highlighted a natural lip colour. Which is why I tend to wear it quite a lot as I believe it`s a nice finishing touch to a natural look. As this one is more of balm formula it appears a little bit glossier then the others, however it`s not really significant enough to affect the staying power.

210 Unapologetic

 The second one I picked up was the 210 Unapologetic, this was more of a bright pink shade almost like a step up from the shade Elusive as it`s the same kind of pink just a lot brighter.

 

Overall I'm really impressed with the Revlon matte lip balm range and will definitely be investing in some more. I find that the fact it's a lip balm rather than a lipstick makes it much easier to work with as the formula seems almost more buttery so it's makes the application all that much easier. The consistency of the lip balm means that you don't really need to wear anything underneath or even really bother with a lip liner. Also it has reasonably good staying power due to the fact that it's a lip stain formula, I found that it tended to last for several hours before it might need topping up, even after this it just faded out and become more neutral to what it is when you first apply it. But I would definitely recommend it, with the variety of shades that are available it would easily be able to complete any look.

Have you had chance to try them? I`d love to know your thoughts, let me know in the comments section what you think of the Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm Stain

Collection Eyes Uncovered Palette in Nude Bronze

 

This is a little gem that I have recently been loving, collection created the eyes uncovered palette earlier this year and have 3 variety of the collection. I have recently been using the nude bronze palette and I'm immensely impressed with it so far.

The palette comes with 6 different eyeshadow shades, the nude bronze collection that has the colours: Ivory, Mink, Ochre, Golden Brown, Ember and Nutty.


The variety of shades creates an endless possibility for looks that can created. The product itself comes in a small cardboard palette which is compact enough to carry in any makeup case without causing a mess. It also comes with a small sponge eye brush, which in my opinion isn't all that good I prefer to use my revolution E301 eye brush; although the brush it comes with may be good if you're a beginner just getting used to eye makeup, or are just wanting to experiment with different looks.

I find that the nude bronze palette is best suited to me as the shades are warmer which suits my place skin better. I also find that it seems more pigmented in its formula, so it just seems easier to work with and blends better, so you can create a variety of looks easily. 

Overall I'm really impressed with the collection eye uncovered collection, I would definitely recommend it and it's available from most drugstores including Boots and Superdrug for around £3.99. So it's a much cheaper alternative to high end products without skimping on the quality.
                                                             

 

Outfit Of The Day

So it’s the annoying time of year where it’s absolutely freezing cold outside so wrapping up is a must before going out, however here in the UK this is a problem if you’re going shopping as the minute you walk into any shop the heat just becomes so over powering it’s nearly impossible to battle with; particularly if you’re in the shop for a long time.




So this is my attempt to put together a simple outfit that I`d be able to cope in (turned out ok, was cool enough to not overheat in the shops but didn't work out very well with the cold so had to add a coat haha...)




















So to start it off I had a very simple beige crop top jumper the I picked up fairly cheaply from Boohoo (http://www.boohoo.com/)













I then paired this off with a pair of high-waisted skinny jeans which again where from Boohoo (http://www.boohoo.com/) (I had a mini splurge session on the website...) but I find that their jeans are actually a really good, as normally I struggle to find jeans that fit properly everywhere because of my body shape.

To finish the look off I went with lace up black boots, because they're really comfy and warm because they are fleece lined. These were a spur of the moment purchase from Wynsor World of Shoes (http://www.wynsors.com/), as I found myself in the terrible weather with the wrong kind of shoes, but they turned out to be a pretty decent purchase.










That completes my almost winter ready look, I kept it rather casual as I didn't really feel like putting that much of an effort in but still wanted to try and look ok, although I did end up having to also wear my coat because it was just so cold. Let me know in the comment section what you think? What's your go to winter wear?

Everyday Eye Blend

To complete my everyday look for eye makeup I simply use my Collection Eyes Uncovered Palette in Nude Bronze, and Mascara to help keep more of a natural appears to the makeup.

1. First I create a base layer of eyeshadow, I tend to use the colour Ivory, mainly because I'm cursed with having dark eyes so the ivory base helps to even eye the skin colour blend out the darker colours I put on.

2. Mainly to the middle I add in a lighter brown, which in the collection palette is the colour Ember and add the shade Nutty to the end of my eyes before blending it all inwards to create more of a natural colouring to the eyes which can be as intense of minimal as desired.

3. To finish of the look I add a thin layer of Mascara to my eyelashes to help them look fuller and define the smaller ones just a little bit more, at the minute I'm really liking the Rimmel Wake Me Up mascara as its good at creating the long dark look without clumping the lashes together or requiring a thick coating.

So that's my 3 step guide to a very simple quick and easy eye blend that looks natural. What's your everyday go to look for eye makeup? 

Knot Hair Updo (long hair)

This is a quick simple hair style that can be dressed up or altered to suit almost any occasion, it`s also a good style for keeping all your hair up and in place, which can be rather difficult when you have really long hair as with most hairstyles it doesn't hold.







1. Gather all the hair at the back and comb through, doesn't necessarily matter what state the hair is in with this style (e.g. it doesn't have to be perfectly straight for this to work.)












2. Tie the hair up in a ponytail, securing it with a hair band, it can be as high or low as you want it (for more of a sophisticated businesses kind of look I`d probably keep it reasonably low.)











3. Starting from the top twist the hair round until it is all tightly twisted together.









4. Wrap the twisted ponytail top of itself until it forms the bun, I tend to secure it with another hair band because its better at keeping it in place as I have really long hair which is quite heavy, so if I was to use a hair grip it wouldn't really hold it very well.








5. Lastly, I spray a small amount of hairspray just to secure the stupid little baby hairs, however if you`re going for more of a messy looked you could just leave them.






So that's it my simple 5 step guide to create a knot bun for really long hair, you can really easily dress it up by adding in a nice floral headband of some decorative hairgrips.

Chocolate Slab Cake

This is possibly one of the quickest and cheapest ways I have found of making a chocolate that tastes amazing without the need for expensive ingredients, made with simple ingredients found in most home kitchens.

Things you'll need:

Cake-

150g of self-raising flour 

150g of caster sugar 

75g of cocoa powder 

250ml of water 

2 tsp of oil 

Icing-

150g of icing sugar 

30g of cocoa powder 

150g of butter

1/2 tsp of oil 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 150*c 

2. Combine the flour, caster sugar and coco powder together, then mix in the oil and water. 

3. Once the batter is fully combined and lump free, pour it in a cake tin (doesn't really matter which one I used 11" by 7" rectangle cake tin), then place in over for 20-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 

4. While the cake cools, mix the icing sugar, butter and oil together to form the butter icing. 

5. Once the cake is completely cooled, lather the chocolate icing on top and enjoy.  

How to keep entertained while traveling

I spend a lot of time travelling particularly on trains, this sometimes lead to the unfortunate problem that I found myself in just a few days ago of being stuck because I missed my train :-( so I had to wait around for two hours until my next train. This got me thinking about ways to stay entertained while travelling, especially when in the situation of waiting for trains or long journeys; here's a few things that I came up with/do:

• Read a book- I find this one of the best past times as I have a lot of books that I want to read ( I am currently reading All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven) 

• Do some work- I normally spend a lot of time on trains, these days most of them have Wi-Fi so I tend to take my laptop with me and finish off whatever work it that I need to do.

• Watch Netflix- catch up on some TV or binge watch some TV episodes to pass the time, most trains come with free Wi-Fi giving the perfect opportunity to watch an unhealthy amount of TV.

• Listen to music- I have a playlist with a variety of different music ranging from Taylor Swift to Nickelback to keep me entertained. 

• Sleep- if you've got a few hours what better way to spend it then by just having a nice long nap

• Travel with someone- traveling with people is always better then travelling alone because then you have someone to keep you company and entertain you.

• TALK TO SOMEONE- this is a big one because we now live in a world where everyone is so glued to things such as their phones that people rarely ever talk to each other, but if you`re going to be sat next to someone for a few hours then why not have a chat.

So those are some of the little things that have kept me occupied during my many hours of daily travel, what`s some of the things you do when you have go on your travels?

Rainbow Cup-Cake



     My Cake, it turned out a little messier then planned but it tasted pretty good haha.

Things you`ll need:
A cupcake mould
An 8" cake board
Piping bags
non-stick spray or butter for greasing
parchment paper

for the cake:
375g if Self-Raising Flour
375g of Caster Sugar
375g of Softened Butter
6 Eggs
4 1/2 table spoons of Milk
Food colouring (which ever colours you choose)- I had Pink, Green, orange and blue

for decoration:
Fondant (in whatever colour you want, I chose red)
500g of Butter
500g of Icing-Sugar
Any sweets or other decorative toppings you want




1) Pre-heat the oven to 175*c . In a bowl cream together the butter and the caster sugar to form what resembles a smoother past, then whisk in the 6 eggs until it is all combined, and then add the milk.









2) Now all of your 'wet' ingredients are combined, sift in your flour until everything is combined to form a smooth batter










3) Separate your batter into four bowls (or however many colours you have), mix in 4 cap full`s of food colouring into the individual bowls so you create your different colour batters.






4) Generously coat the cake mould with the butter to prevent the cake from sticking, layer the batter in the tin how you want the colours to appear, then place in the over for 50-90 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when the cake is stabbed in the middle (remember that the bottom half of the cake will take longer to cook then the top)






5) Once the cakes are cooked leave them to cool completely before attempting anything else





6) Mix in the butter and icing sugar to form your butter icing.





7) Take the bottom half of what will be the cupcake, place it upside down on some parchment paper (this will make it easier to turn later) then add a layer of butter cream. roll out the fondant and wrap it around the cake, this will form the wrapper  of the cupcake, you may want to tie a ribbon around it for a little extra support until the butter cream has had chance to set, leave for about 20 minutes.



9) Hold the cake board to the top (bottom of the cupcake base) and slowly turn over, add a thin layer of butter cream to the top and then attach the second piece of cake.




10) take the remaining butter cream and put in a piping bad, then pipe the top half of the cake to form the swirl, then add on any additional decorations that you want .




11) Enjoy.                              


My cake didn't turn out all that neat but that's okay because it looked good and tasted good, although the picture doesn't really show it all that well you can see all of the different colours in the actually cake and it has formed some what of a marble effect rather than being solid blocks of colour.                            
                                                                  

Meet The Animals

So lets start with the newest first, they say little kids have a way of getting what they want... this is very true for my little sister, thus on one random afternoon window shopping at the pet store led to the bringing home of the latest addition, so without further ado...









Meet Poppet, this is my sisters not so little baby rabbit she`s cute, adorable, fluffy and a cheeky mischievous sod who has a tendency for getting herself stuck in the most ridiculously impossible place. Although she lives outside she comes inside to play and likes to have a game of catch me if you can before she goes away.










Meet Fang, another one of my sisters cute adorable pet, although he has a palace as his home if I do say so myself. Hamsters are not the greatest pets he doesn't really do much but I guess in a way that's also what makes him good; however, he does enjoy climbing up his cage and squeaking around on his wheel at ridiculous o`clock.












We also have two amazing dogs, who have complete different personalities. First we have Scooby (I know very unique original name haha) he`s the quiet sneaky one. Then there's Max  who is just one big ball of energy.







It seems kind of unfair not to mention the ginormous fish tank that lives in our living room. It started off as this bog standard little tank that had 2 fish in it and now it`s just evolved into the oversized thing that takes over a quarter of the room and comes with its very own story of evolution.

 So those are all the pets that we currently have, although I highly doubt that they will be the last, so what are some of the pets that you have?