The 90's Tag!!

The 1990's was such an iconic decade, the world wide web was created, the Spice Girls were singing their little hearts out and you couldn't move for seeing someone dressed in all denim. I was born slap bang in the middle of the nineties, 27th January 1995 to be precise, and I'm very pleased (and flattered!!) that the lovely Lizzie from Head Full of Flowers has tagged me to take part in the 90's tag!

Question 1: Favourite Disney channel original movie? Cinderella. 

Question 2: Favourite music artist? Spice Girls and S Club 7/Steps. 

Question 3: Favourite Nick Jr shows? Blues Clues when I was little and then shows like Hey Arnold and Spongebob. 

Question 4: Favourite sweet? Wham bars or those bubblegum cola bottles. 

Question 5: Favourite game? Mousetrap. 

Question 6: Favourite McDonalds toy? Something Spongebob related when the movie came out. 

Question 7:Favourite book? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. 

Question 8: Favourite clothing store? I was all about Tammy when I was younger. 

Question 9:What would you watch when you get home from school? Programmes like 50/50, Jungle Run and Get Your Own Back and I'd always wonder why my school or, myself and my parent weren't picked to go on the show! 

Question 10: Favourite tv show? Like Lizzie, I'd say mine would be one of Saved By The Bell, Lizzie McGuire or That's So Raven. 

Question 11: Favourite toys? I had a cow teddy that I had since I was very very small which I was inseparable with. I also had a lot of Polly Pocket toys as well as toy cars. 

Question 12: Favourite advert? Even though it was very annoying The Frosties ad with that singing boy was incredibly catchy! 

Question 13: NSYNC or Backstreet Boys? NSYNC!!

Question 14: Weirest fashion trend? Looking back i'm definitely not a fan of combat trousers or those coloured lens sunglasses like blue or pink!!

Question 15: Favourite collectibles? I didn't really get any collectible items I did have 1 or 2 beyblades though.

Question 16: Favourite Beanie Baby? I had quite a few Beanie Babies between myself and my sister. I can't remember the name of a favourite, but I think I was particularly fond of one that looked a bit like an Angel.

Question 17: How many tamagotchi's did you get through? Two. 

Question 18: Favourite game system and game? Playstation and either Ratchet and Clank or The Simpsons Hit and Run. 

I tag: 

Daisy 

Jessie

Katy

Thank you all for reading, I hope you liked this post. Love, A x.

Miners volumising maxi mascara review

When it comes to make up my favourite look would be statement eye make up. From a grungy smokey eye, to the lids being delicately laced with a pastel shadow or a flick of liner I think will complete a whole outfit.

So when Miners Cosmetics dropped two of their new mascaras through my letterbox I was more than eager to test them out. 

The mascara comes in a pink, plastic tube and you can get it for £3.49 off of their website here. 

The mascara comes in two colours: Black and Carbon Black. They are both very similar however Carbon Black is slightly more pigmented giving a darker black colour. 

The wand itself is quite slim and the bristles are relatively small and have a curve to them. 

You might be able to see the curve a bit easier here. Having an hourglass like shape wand will help to add to the length and volume of the lashes. 

To show an example of the brush I'm going to show you a before and after using the Carbon Black mascara. 

So here I am, with not an ounce of make up on my face.

A close up shot of my make up free eyes so you can clearly see the difference before mascara is added.

I then used one coat of mascara just on one eye so you could see a difference. 

You can see the lashes on my left eye look bigger and longer than those on my right eye.

This picture also shows the difference.

Both sets of lashes with a coat of this mascara! 

I really liked this mascara and think it was a great price considering. 

The consistency of the formula isn't too dry or wet. When applying it doesn't make the lashes clump together too much either because of that. 

This mascara gives good volume to the lashes, doesn't make them feel crispy or hard and it dries very quickly too. 

It's easy to remove as well, a bit of eye make up remover on a cotton pad will do the trick! 

I can't really think of any negative points for this product because I think it's such great value for what it is. 

I think perhaps the packaging is a bit basic. 

It doesn't give a really huge amount of volume but it does lift the lashes. 

I would definitely recommend this product, I think it is well worth the money. 

Thanks for reading, I hope you liked this post. Love, A x 

My August in photos.

Hello! Is it me or did August go by in the blink of an eye? It didn't compare weather wise to the lovely, hot June and July we had in England and we also had our last Bank Holiday Monday until Christmas! 

I only seemed to post two pictures onto my Instagram this month so this little post will be a lot shorter than usual. 

This is a photo of myself and my friend Sam at the pub one night catching up with friends. 

This was a Peri Peri chicken and bacon salad I had for lunch one day. I fully admit to instagramming pictures of my food. Sorry. 

I hope you've all had a lovely August! Thank you for reading, I hope you liked this post. Love, A x. 

I made a lemon meringue cake!

I rarely bake, even though I do really enjoy doing it, I find it can be quite time consuming and I always end up making a huge amount of mess. Yesterday, however, I decided to venture into the kitchen and bake something. A lemon meringue cake to be precise! I saw the recipe on YouTube and made one or two changes to their original recipe but I'll still link the video at the end. I would say this cake was actually really easy to make, tasted amazing and I would definitely make this again.

So the ingredients you will need for the cake:

375g caster sugar 

375g softened butter

6 eggs 

Zest and juice of two lemons

400g self raising flour

Tsp baking powder 

2tbsp milk

This will take 25-30 minutes in an oven at 170 degrees. 

For the marshmallow meringue crust you will need: 

175g caster sugar

1/4 tsp cream of tartar 

1/4 tsp salt

5 tbsp golden syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp water

2 egg whites

Recipe!

1) Combine sugar and butter into a bowl. Mix until fully creamed together and it looks pale and fluffy. It may take up to five minutes to get here. 

As you can see the mixture is not quite ready at this stage I think I mixed it for two more minutes. 

2) Add an egg one at a time slowly into the mixture whilst mixing at the same time. 

3) Using a smaller section on a grater or an actual zester, I rolled the lemons on the table using the palms of my hands. Which seems a bit odd but it's something a cooking teacher at school mentioned and it does something to the membranes in the lemon meaning the juice comes out easier. I zested them both fully first then cut them in half and juiced them. 

Even though the recipe does ask for the zest of six lemons I only used two because I like lemon flavours but I am not too keen on the gritty taste zest can sometimes leave inside a cake.

3) Next I added the 400g of self raising flour along with the tsp of baking powder. Becauase I used a lot of eggs and lemon juice, if the mixture looks a bit too wet add in more flour to thicken it up. 

4) Add in the 2tbsp of milk. Or if the mixture is wetter you can leave this step out. 

5) Make sure once the mixer is off, to run the spoon through the mixture a few times to make sure everything is thoroughly mixed in. 

6) Bringing over the already buttered and floured cake tins, I evenly distribute the mixture between the two. The original recipe does use three cake tins but I only had two so made two quite big layers. 

  

Whilst this is baking in the oven, I did the washing up and made the meringue frosting. 

For this you will need a Bain-Marie (a saucepan with about an inche or so of water and then a bowl resting on top, careful not to let the bowl touch the water. 

7) Pour the sugar into the bowl, followed by the cream of tartar and salt.

8) Next add the golden syrup. To make this bit easier I had a small jug of water to dip the spoon in which helped get the syrup off of the spoon. 

9) Add in the vanilla extract and the water. 

10) You will need to add the egg whites. Separating eggs used to seem like a really tricky thing to do but recently I have got better. I do it over another bowl (clearly not thinking about the amount of washing up I'll have to do later but it'll save the recipe not getting ruined) I crack the egg in one hand letting the whites fall into the bowl but keeping the yolk in my hand. I do this same technique for the second one. You can keep hold of the yolks and make something else with them as well!

11) Over the heat (medium to high on the stove top) I use an electric mixer until the mixture has gotten stiffer, white and forms stiff peaks. 

All done! And this tastes absolutely amazing if you have a sweet tooth just like me! It tastes almost exactly the same to marshmallow fluff! 

Once the cake is out of the oven and cooled comes the fun part. In between the cakes I covered one side with a lemon buttercream. The opposing side I covered with a zingy lemon curd and pushed them together. 

Using a palette knife, I slathered the cake with the marshmallow meringue frosting, being as careful as possible not to drag any cake crumbs around the edge. I covered the whole cake until it looks like a beautiful little lemon cloud. 

Next step was a little dangerous as I used a blow torch to burn the sugar and give it that yummy crispy, golden taste. If you aren't old enough ask an adult to do this step or equally if you don't own a blow torch I think putting it in an oven would have a similar effect. 

Et voila! The finished produce. 

Thanks for reading, I really hope you enjoyed this post! Love, A x

PS the YouTube video link is just beneath!

August haul

Hello everyone! I hope you're all well.

So I went shopping today with my mum and sister and I most certainly shopped til I could have dropped. I bought a few things that I've really wanted for some time now and a few other little bits too. 

I'll start with Primark. I was a little disappointed with some of the things in Primark at the moment, nothing was really jumping out at me screaming 'BUY ME' although I did pick up a basic grey cami top for £2.50. 

It's a basic wardrobe staple and I could pair it with jeans, shorts or even tucked into a skater skirt or something. Plus it was such a steal at £2.50!! 

Next I'll show the things I got in Lush. I'm feeling a bit low and in need of a pamper so skipped into the store and picked up three bath bombs. 

The first one I picked up was Butterball. 

This one is great if you suffer with dry or sensitive skin, it contains cocoa butter which is good to soothe and soften the skin leaving it feeling silky soft. It also contains the essential oil Ylang Ylang which is a great relaxant dealing with stress and depression. 

I also picked up Fizzbanger. 

I picked this one up nearly wholly based on the bold, vibrant yellow colour too it. It has an amazing apple and cinnamon smell as well as containing popping candy as well! I've never used it before but it sounds like it'll make lots of fizz and bubbles!

Lastly I picked up Twilight. 

I've never tried this one before but it looked pretty and pink so I wanted to try it. It contains lavender oil and Ylang Ylang oil releasing a sweet and floral scent. These both are also calming and soothing essential oils so will leave me feeling relaxed. 

Next in Superdrug I picked up something I've really wanted to get for quite some time now and seen quite a lot of good reviews about. 

I'm really into the contoured look and would love to give it a go. After looking into which would be the best palette or set to get this one came out on top. I'm really looking forward to trying this, I'll post a review on it too! 

Next H&M. Probably my favourite shop on the high street. I can usually always go in here and find something reasonably priced that I like. 

I got this flannel shirt. I like wearing them over a black dress, I think they look quite cool but casual.

I also picked up a similar flannel shirt as I really like them. H&M fabric always feels really nice and the shirts fit nicely too. 

I got this oversized jumper for £7. It looks really cosy and I picked up one in a size bigger than my usual for a looser fit.

I got this cami vest. It is blue cami with a flower pattern. Around the top it has some lace which I thought looked cute. 

I think this would look nice with jeans and sandals. 

Lastly I got this blue and white ruffle cami top. Unless you haven't noticed I'm really loving cami tops at the moment! I thought the ruffle style was a bit different and the pattern is really cute too. 

It has a quirky spotty pattern to it and would look nice paired with some white or light blue jeans I think. 

Lastly, John Lewis. This product is something I've used before and will probably stay with me for the rest of my life. 

This is the Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb perfume. I got one for Christmas two years ago and there is a small amount left and I wanted to get some more. I absolutely adore this scent, so much so if I was rich I would bathe in it. The bottle is shaped like a grenade linking into the name and has beautiful sweet notes to it like vanilla, patchouli, jasmine and rose. It is my go-to scent and you can wear it day or night. 

John Lewis also kindly threw in some sample perfumes like Chloé Chloe perfume, Chloé Rose and the Roberto Cavalli perfume too. 

Thanks for reading, I hope you liked this post! Love, A x. 

Topshop and Boots shop!

Now I am working more or less 5/6 days a week I often don't really fancy doing anything on my days off. So much so, I haven't been into a big town or shopping for what feels like ages! So today, my stepdad and I quickly drove to a big town near us and I had a little look round the shops. Why is it when you have the time to browse and more money than usual that things in shops just don't appeal to you, yet when I have no money everything looks great?!

So I'll start with Topshop! 

I got this top for £25. It is a navy and white stripe tee with a bit of lace at the bottom and the sleeves. 

I think it will look nice with a pair of jeans, either blue or white, or even with a pair of shorts or a skirt. 

I also picked up this choker for £5.50 in the sale. I'm a little bit obsessed with chokers at the moment!

I really liked this one when I picked it up, it's a bit different compared to usual chokers and I also really love the teal colour. 

I bought this set of rings too for £8.50 in the sale. I love stacking rings at the moment so I think a few of these on my hand would look really cool.

I like that this set has a selection of rings as well as midi rings. 

Excuse my sausage fingers!

What I got in Boots!

I've repurchased this time and time again. It really is one of my favourites, it's very soft and nourishing, leaving your hair feeling silky smooth and smelling amazing too because of the honey extract in it. These are both £2 off at the moment too!

I picked up these make up sponges because they are so easy to apply nail varnish to and do an ombré effect with.

I know practically all bloggers don't favour these, but I love them! They are so much easier to use. Just wipe my face and it's all done! I do also have make up removers, toners, cleansers etc but if I want to take my make up off quickly before bed I'd just use this!

I can't find my old tweezers anywhere and these are quite cheap so I got these.

I also got some scissors.

I got this fake tan spray by Garnier, I really like this one, it dries quickly, makes you looked tan and not orange and I personally think it smells quite nice too.

Another repurchase here with Loreal Super Liner Ultra Precision eyeliner. This one is a very bold black and has a wonderful staying power.

I got Soap and Glory's Hocus Focus illuminator which I am quite excited to try. I usually really like most Soap and Glory products so I hope this will live up to expectations.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little haul! Thank you so much for reading, love A, x. 

Head Full of Flowers' Deathly Hallows multi-layer bracelet review!

Hello, I hope you are all well! 

So the lovely Lizzie from Head Full of Flowers asked for some bloggers to review one of some of the lovely things she has on her blog shop, I jumped at the chance. Lizzie is one of the nicest people I know through blogging and it would mean a lot to both me and her if you'd check her blog out! 

Anyway, from everything in her shop, the Deathly Hallows bracelet stood out to me the most not just because I'm somewhat of a massive potterhead but because it's really cool and looks quite boho. I think the boho styling would look so cool in the summer, paired with a floral dress what with the earthy colours. 

In the middle is the deathly Hallows sign, above it/ to the left are two owls (which I am a bit obsessed with) and beneath is the golden snitch. It has a yellowy pearl style sphere in the middle too.

The bracelt is made up of brown leather type thread with two bits straight threads, a plaited section, followed by two more straight sections, a plaited section and then two more straight strands. 

The bracelet has a small brass clasp which was a bit stiff to begin with but got easier. 

It came with quite a long chain to do it up which I liked in case I wanted it tighter or looser. 

A close up of the bracelet. 

So this is what it looks like on. I think because the plaited sections are quite tight and also because of the metal bits makes it a bit more rigid so won't fit around my wrist as circular and comfortably as I'd like. 

Overall I really like it, I think it looks really cool and perfect for the summer as I love the multi layered stack of bracelets. However I was a bit dissapointed that it's quite difficult to open the clasp and is a bit stuff.  

Thanks for reading, and thank you to Lizzie too! Love, A x