Bioré deep cleansing nose pore strips: review

Hands up, who likes blackheads?!

Yea, thought not.

no I haven't busted my nose...I am busting the blackheads! 

Generally my skin is quite clear but my skin bug bear is large pores and in particular blackheads around the nose. Not surprising, did you know you have about 200,000 pores on your face?!  I know you shouldn’t but sometimes I try to give them a squeeze but this doesn’t work. It could also make the issue worse as it can damage skin and further block pores so I try to refrain.

What does work though is this stuff… Bioré’s Deep CleansingPore Strips!  

rid blackheads with this! 

chocolate and mint oaty snack slice - raw and vegan! (makes a tasty dessert too!)

One of my resolutions for 2014 was to cut down on naughty sugary snacks such as chocolate bars, biscuits and cakes. But as hard as I try, sometimes there are times where I am craving something SWEET! And sometimes that sweet HAS to be chocolate!!!

mint and chocolate is a great combo 

To curb this I have been trying to make my own homemade sweet recipes, such as protein balls. However a few weeks ago I bought a packet of raw cocoa powder and have since had a little hallelujah moment as I have now been experimenting and making delicious dessert recipes using this little wonder product. The result – satisfying my chocolate sweet tooth without damaging myself with sugar.

So today I am sharing with you my delicious recipe for chocolate and mint oaty bars!

And as they are raw and no bake, it means that they are super healthy (we have all heard that a raw diet is good for you) and so easy to make.

Make Yourself Youthful” in SPF 50, Soap and Glory: review

Today I am off to Croatia and it is my first time visiting. Actually, there are 9 of us and it is all of our first time. I don’t really know what to expect but do now that the weather is going to be great, with temperatures up to 28*c so that means plenty of sun cream for us!

With your body, sun cream is pretty difficult to get wrong, but when it comes to your face, it becomes a little more tricky – different skin types means that skin on your face might react differently to that of your body.

SPF for the face 

For me, I often find that sun cream leaves my skin oily, greasy and spotty. Not usually the look I am going for on holiday.

Luckily I have recently discovered “Make Yourself Youthful SunshieldSuperfluid” in SPF 50, from Soap and Glory (which has always been one of my absolute favourite beauty brands). The sun cream is lightweight but offers good coverage, and even in Dubai in May, I only needed one application to stop me burning.

velvety soft texture 

Even if you aren’t on holiday though, it pays to use sun cream on your face as it is one of the main causes of wrinkles and aging!!!

It has a lovely velvety texture to it, which means you aren’t left with a sticky residue like most sun creams for the face, and therefore leaves a nice even smoothness if you want to put make up on top.

don't forget to use SPF for the face even in England! 

This has to be the best sun cream for you face that I have used so far!

X x X

Ps, don’t forget the tops of your ears when applying your Make yourself Youthful Sunshield Superfluid 

Rimmel apocalips lip colour in stellar: review

I am totally in love with this lip colour! Whilst coral might seem a bit ‘odd’ for your lips, it is actually a gorgeous colour and will add a touch of fun to your make up look!

Whilst in winter, I tend to stick to darker, berry shades, the summer sun makes me swap these rich colours for lighter, more cheery shades, of nude and pink. But lately I’ve been wearing this gorgeous tangy shade and I love it!

my new favourite lip colour! 

This colour is “stellar” from Rimmel’s Apocalips lip lacquer range. It is such a great colour and as it is a gloss, it doesn’t dry out your lips or bleed out of the lip line. It is long lasting too!

this will make a tan 'pop' 

This shade certainly makes a tan pop so I have taken this colour with me whilst I am on holiday in Croatia! It’s like I am wearing summer on my face!

XxX

Mastering fake tan…it’s easier than you think

Yay, summer is here and the sun is shining. That means the hem lines are going north and the legs are coming out.

If that is filling you with dread though, then perhaps it is time to give your pasty limbs some love and pop open the fake tan! But if that is filling you with dread, then perhaps it’s time to learn how to fake tan.

I’m not a beautician but am a beauty junkie and I like to think I do learn from my mistakes so consider myself as having finally learnt how to fake tan! I spent three years at uni resembling a cross between the caste of Towie and an oompa loompa and I feel those days are loooong behind me. I like to think I now have a more natural tan colour, complementing my dark features and giving off an air that I’ve spent time away in the sun, minus the strap marks.

love a bit of fake tan!

So here are my top tips for fake tanning at home.. these tips can be used for the instant fake tan but also for your developer tans.

My favourite outfits of Spring/ Summer

I will be honest with you. I do love fashion, clothes, accessories, and most of all, shoes, but I have never been a slave to fashion. I love the new trends but would never wear the fashions that don’t suit me or quite frankly look ridiculous. So compared to the girls and blogggers you see on magazine, I guess I am not a "real" fashion lover or blogger. 

I follow a lot of street style snappers and fashion accounts on my instagram and bloglovin but in all honesty, sometimes there are OTT for me – they are trying to hard sometimes to be “cool” in my opinion. 

I am just jealous because I am not model size and can’t get away with wearing a red checked shirt over a khaki turtle neck jumper, teemed with a sequin skirt, chunky boots and a felt sloppy hat!!!!!  Whilst I get a few blobs of inspiration from these street style accounts, most of the time I am left confused as to why they think that this outfit looks good!

if I wore this, people would definitely 
think I've gone a bit eccentric! 

So here are my favourite outfits over the last couple of months for a bit of style inspo that is “wearable” and not OTT, nor cost a fortune or uncomfortable to wear....

X x X

light blue floral dress - primark,
dark blue floral courts - primark,
with a pop of bright pink - Mulberry clutch 

navy sleeveless shirt - primark, white skirt - primark
brogues - new look, pearls - my grandmas 

Friday night freaks - udderbelly festival, Southbank, London

If you are looking for something different for the weekend in central London then I have a top recommendation for you! Friday Night Freaks at the Udder Belly Festival on South Bank.

picture from http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/

Acts take place in the large cow tent!
picture from http://loose-lips.com/

I went there Friday with the Boy and I got to say it is one of the funniest things I have seen for ages! It is pant-wetting and belly-in-stitches funny! It is a touch risqué and soooo not politically correct so you need to go with an open mind and your banter hat on, otherwise don’t bother.

picture from http://www.designmynight.com/

Some people clearly didn’t get the memo, as after the first act, which was an excellent spoof of Nigella Lawson but in a burlesque routine, one family on the front row left afterwards! Be warned before you go. To be fair to the show, the family should’ve realised though as the show didn’t even start until 10.45pm, so it wasn’t exactly going to be PG.

The stand up is “dirty comedy” with the funniest, dry humoured and witty comics, spewing the most outrageous jokes that will leave you with a hand-over-mouth-because-I-can’t-believe-you-have-just-said-that giggle.

West End Live: free show for the theatre lovers

If you love the theatre then you’ll love West End Live. One weekend over the summer, all the theatre shows in the West End, come together to showcase their songs on stage at Trafalgar Square, all for free!

Trafalgar Square was packed! 

enjoying the sun and singing 

If you pop along, you’ll be treated to non-stop singing and dancing from all the shows, singing the favourites from the shows. From the most famous shows, such as Jersey Boys, The Phantom of the Opera and Wicked, to the lesser known and newer shows like Once and The Pajama Game.

Rescue treatment - first aid for very damaged nails (Nails Inc): review

In April, I had a set of false nails put on for the honeymoon trip. I never get this done but didn’t want to face three weeks of having to constantly paint my nails and shellac has never worked on my nails before. Whilst I loved the look, when I came home and had them removed, they have seriously damaged my nails underneath, even though they were gels and supposedly better for them.

A few weeks later and my nails were still so brittle they were constantly breaking – to the point that they were breaking below the nail line and ripping the skin. Ouch.

to the rescue! 

Luckily I discovered “repair and rescue treatment – first aid for damaged nails” from Nails Inc.

Raspberry jelly cheesecake (no bake)

Have I ever shared about how much I love cheesecake??? Ok, just a few times perhaps.

Trouble with cheesecake though is that the combination of cream cheese, butter and more cream is not a recipe for a light dessert so I don’t have it as much as I want. This is where my quest and search for healthy alternatives comes in and I have the perfect one for you, thanks to Philadelphia cream cheese!

raspberry jelly cheesecake! 

Because of the jelly (go for sugar free if you can) and Philadelphia light, you’ll scrap some of the fat, calories and unnecessary cream but retain the flavour of a delicious and creamy dessert. And the best thing about this recipe, is that there is no baking or oven required whatsoever! That is my kind of cooking!

the smell of raspberries and jelly was amazing! 

For a large mouthwatering cheesecake, about 8 slices, you need…

70g of melted butter

180g crushed digestives (you could use light)
1 packet of raspberry jelly

2tbs of water

1 medium egg (separated in yolk and egg white)

125ml semi skimmed milk

100g of frozen raspberries (plus a few more for decoration)

300g of Philadelphia light

125mlof low fat crème fraiche