♥ My Love for Liz ♥

Today's is basically about my undying love for thee Mrs Liz Earle, oh how much I love you!

My all time favourite cleanser has to be the ever popular, Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish, retailing at £13.75 for 100ml in Boots. However if your a newbie to the Liz Earle hype I'd highly recommend buying the Starter Kit which includes x2 Muslin clothes which you need to remove the lotion.

This fabulous product has won copious awards including: 

(see Liz Earle Website for info)

Here's how to use the product!

At the end of a long day of assignment writing and 5 hours in the library, the make-up needs to come off!

Getting prepared with my fresh muslin cloth and my 100ml Cleanse and Polish.

Next I pump 1 and a half pumps onto the back of my hand, 1 pump isn't quite enough, whilst 2 is a little too much, so we meet in the middle!

I apply and massage the cream into my face, starting on the outer face, then taking more care to the eye's to ensure all that pesky They're Real Mascara is removed!

Next run a sink of piping hot water, and drench your muslin cloth in it. 

Finally, use your muslin cloth to begin to remove all that makeup, do this several times, each time rinsing off the makeup in the sink and bringing the muslin cloth to the face once again. Repeat until squeaky clean! 

Thankyou for reading, let me know if your a Liz lover too!

xx

Links

100ml Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish

 

Dear Santa...

So here's some items of my Christmas list this year...

*Hint, Hint*

L'Oreal Elvive Smooth-Intense Anti-Frizz VS. Bumble & Bumble Bb Straight

Hey Guys, 

Today I'm going to be reviewing and comparing two, well four, recent purchases of shampoo and conditioner combo's, the first under £10, the second, totaling £50! So without further ado, Let the battle commence...


L'Oreal Elvive Smooth-Intense Anti-Frizz Shampoo and Conditioner - Approx £4.50 each.

Product Description - 'intense smoothing, enriched with Argan oil, nourishing hair and calming frizz for even smoothing right to the tips'

Packaging - Not really a fan of the loud orange packaging, but for £4.50 what can you expect eh?

Smell - The smell is ok, nothing special, having had another sniff, kinda smells of cleaning products...

Does it work? - So I've used this product several times before and I think it works, but only on a short term basis, after several weeks of using this product, i seem to get a lot of product build up on the scalp, nobody wants that do they? But if your looking for a quick fix on a budget, these guys are for you!

Value for Money - Great value for money, the price of £4.50 is for 400ml.

Overall Score - 5/10

                           -------------

Bumble & Bumble Bb Straight £25 each

Shampoo 'Start Smooth'
Conditioner 'Quiet Frizz' 

Product Description - 'Ultra mild, sulfate free cleansing keeps hair soft, smooth and reduces frizz. With non-damaging Cocen-straight technology developed to maintain straight styles and straightening treatments'

Packaging - I'm head over heels in love with the packaging of these products, they just look so appealing in the shower. And when squeezing the bottle only the right amount of product requires comes out, perfect for me!

Smell - the scent of both the shampoo and conditioner remind me of the 'Aussie' hair care range, all peachy and tropical. Heaven in a bottle. 

Does it work? - YES! I have instantly noticed after several washes that my hair feels considerably more soft and there's a lot less frizz going on here!

Value for money - I think we can all agree on this one, they're not in any way, shape or form value for money! At £25 for a measly 200ml they're pretty pricey. However I picked up mine in Boots recently and received £15 worth of advantage card points in return, so now's the time to try them out!

Overall score - 8.5/10


xxx 

Great British Bake Off Cup Cakes: A Recipe

*FYI - SPOILER ALERT*
You may or may not know this about me, but I love to bake in my spare time, I find the whole process really relaxing and soothing for the mind (especially when you get to 'guilt free' stuff your face with the end products) therefore The Great British Bake Off is a programme taylormade for me! As tonight was the night that series 4 ended, and Francis was crowned winner, I thought it apt to bake some cakes in honor of the occasion, and out came the trusty apron.

Apron strings tied, I set about readying my ingredients, these included:

For 12 Medium sized Buns:
200g Butter 
200g Caster Sugar
200g Self Raising Flour*
4 Medium sized Eggs

Equipment Required:
2 Mixing Bowls
A weighing scale
A wooden spoon
12 medium sized bun cases
Piping Bag and Nozzle
                

For the Butter Icing
Approx 35g of Butter*
140g of Icing Sugar
A splash of red food dye

On to the recipe:

1. Weigh all your ingredients out, so there ready to hand as and when required. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

2. Start by putting your butter, at room temperature into a mixing bowl, add the sugar, combine the two ingredients until left with a creamy paste, yellow in colour.

3. Next add the eggs, again room temperature, one by one, folding the mixture each time, this produces a smooth, thick and creamy batter.

4. You should be left with a mixture that at some point in the mixing process resembled the small intestines! Now gradually add your flour, folding the mixture as you go, so move your spoon around the bowl in a figure of 8 motion.


5. Once all the ingredients are combined, your ready to spoon the mixture into your cases, when making mine I added three heaped teaspoons per cupcake case.

6. Place your tray of cakes into the oven, on the middle shelf, to ensure an even bake. 

7. After 20 minutes check your cakes, if there not yet golden brown, leave them for a further 2-4 minutes, perhaps lowering the temperature of your oven. Keep a close eye on them though!

8. Bring the cakes out of the oven and leave to cool. Whilst cooling we can begin to make our Butter Icing.

Butter Icing Recipe

1. Place your room temperature butter into a mixing bowl.

2. Gradually add icing sugar to the butter and combining the two ingredients to make a light textured cream. I find using the back of a metal spoon is easiest when doing this.

3. Slowly continue to add more and more icing sugar, waiting until the previous lot is fully mixed in before doing so. 

4. Keep mixing until all of the icing sugar has gone and you have a pale yellow creamy Butter Icing. 

5. I chose to make my Butter Icing pink so to do this simply add a small splash of red food dye and mix. Easy Peasy.

6. Spoon the icing into a piping bag and begin to pipe small dots around the edge of each cupcake,or in any design you wish.

Voila!

Skincare Products I Couldn't Live Without

Hey Friends, 

Today I thought I'd share with you two products that have recently made it into my skincare regime and that are never leaving. Ever. Got that shops, never ever stop selling these products!

L'Oreal Skin Perfection Advanced Correcting Serum
If you've seen the latest L'Oreal ads with the fab Ms Cheryl Cole, parading her 'flawless' skin then you'll know what product I'm about to praise, oh yes, it's the L'Oreal Skin Perfection Advanced Correcting Serum. I only see that one, bold word, PERFECTION. 

I apply this serum during my morning skincare routine, usually after, and once my moisturiser has sunk in, if you go to test this product in store then you'll see how the pink shaded serum has almost a shimmer to it, therefore once you rub it in, little speckles of shimmer illuminate your face! At first I thought that may be a bit much, but once on the face it simply adds a glow, nothing more, nothing less. 

Furthermore, after several weeks of using this product I can confirm that it certainly does what it says on the tin 'Advanced Correcting Serum' I have begun to notice my pores being minimised after applying this product and my skin is feeling noticeably smoother and subtle. 

                   













All in all, a great buy!

La Roche-Posay Serozinc

Second up, and an all round favourite product out there in the land of beauty is La Roche-Posay Serozinc, Zinc Sulfate Solution Cleansing and Soothing.  

I hate reading blogs where the writer raves about a product and gets you all excited and THEN tells you it's not available in the UK, so you have your warning!However I purchased my bottle....can? from Ebay (will list seller below) and found the experience super easy.

The Review

I ADORE this product, I swear it has made a difference to my skin in every way shape possible! I first saw this product on the BodyTalkDaily show on YouTube in which Pixiwoo chatted to Caroline Hirons about everything skincare, after which I, naturally, made it my life's mission to hunt the product down! 
...
Two days later, it landed on my doorstep, and the rest is history!
I normally spritz this on right after having cleansed and toned, both morning and night, and wait for it to sink in before applying my moisturiser. I feel like, as  I suffer from dry skin, especially during the winter months, spraying this on just before my moisturiser provides me with an extra layer of moisture and had combated the dreaded flaky skin which I usually get at the beginning of winter. 

Amy xxx

L'Oreal Skin Perfection Advanced Correcting Serum

La Roche-Posay Serozinc Ebay Seller

NARS Matte Velvet Lip Pencil - Mysterious Red - Review

The Review...

Over the past few days I've bought and being trying out the NARS Matte Velvet Lip Pencils, after seeing the Nars Fall 2013 Ad campaign the evening before I was due to head into town shopping, the perfect pencil fast tracked it's way up to the top of my list, sod the makeup wipes!

With the 'limited edition' tag line looming in my mind as I shopped my way around town, I tried and failed at both Space NK and Selfridges. I even resorted to checking online during the walk towards each. With no such luck I decided to ask the lady on the NARS counter at Selfridges if there happened to be a similar colour, and of course there was... Cruella, obviously I marched straight to the till and whipped out my card.

Later that evening, sat back on the sofa, online shopping once again, my flatmate and fellow beauty blogger Sophie (The Beauty Room Blog) asked if i'd tried looking on ASOS, and da da da, to my joy, limited edition Mysterious Red was IN STOCK, never have I ever added to basket and pressed confirm before! And there still in stock for you too! ASOS . (Top tip, student discount of 10% can be used on beauty too!)

Up top: Cruella, Down low: Mysterious Red (Limited Ed)

Review:

When swatching the pencil, you'll notice the thick, smooth, velvet like finish of the pencil, once on your lips this feels even better. After application, the product almost 'dries' onto your lips, giving a great long wear application - there's nothing I love more! Today I applied my Mysterious Red at 11am and it's still going strong at 4.30pm.

The pencil like appearance of this product only heightens my love for NARS and this lipstick, being in pencil form it means that there's no need for a lip liner or a lip brush. Application is super quick and easy with only one coat needed.

I would wholeheartedly recommend this NARS pencil to anyone who'll listen and think it's a must buy for any lipstick lover out there...

Amy xxx

Mysterious Red

FOTD: Autumnal Eyes

Autumnal Eyes/Red Lip 

First up, apologies for the cray cray hair, we all have those bad hair days! Moving swiftly on to the main event, the makeup...

With my outfit for the day emitting a certain autumnal feel, I decided that my makeup look should reflect that too.

I went for a golden orange tone on my eyes, with the all important cat flick with gel black eyeliner, keeping the cheeks fairly simple with just bronzer and completely the look with a gorgeous matte red lip.

Hope you liked my face of the day, all products are pictures and listed below.

Product List

Foundation and Concealer: Rimmel Wake Me Up (Ivory)
Bronzer: Bourjois Bronzing Primer and NARS Laguna
Highlighter: MAC's Soft and Gentle MSF
Eyes: Bobbi Brown eyeshadow stick in Vanilla (Base), MAC's Woodwinked (bottom L), Cranberry (Top R) - on the large pallete, MAC's All that Glitters (small palette top R) and Nylon (bottom L) 
Lips: NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella

Amy xxx