My current cleansing routine

I'm not a loyal skin care brand customer, I tend to buy what's new or on offer so as u can guess the products I use change all the time:) first I start off with Boots cucumber wipes ( these are so cheap at £1.50 and smell Devine!) then I pump one pump of Rocs Multi correction cleansing fluid into a cotton pad and take the rest of my make up off. I then turn the pad over to soak up any excess cleanser onto the pad. Next is to tone which I'm using Lancôme's Tonique Douceur for all skin types:) ( I don't think I'll be buying this again as find it highly perfumed) next is to moisturise:) I'm using Neals Yard Rose daily cream. I really like this moisturiser it's great for at home as its light and pretty much chemical free.( it was a freebie too with Maria Claire:)) And then if I can be bothered ( I'm very lazy!) I'll apply some Elizabeth Ardens Prevage eye cream:) x

Mid season sales:)

Popped into my local shopping centre earlier and everywhere seemed to have a sale on! It's so temping...can't resist a bargain:) and at the moment it doesn't take that much to spend my penny's! Not sure if its the awful weather but I'm deffo in spending mode! It cheers me up so why not I say, a little of what you fancy does you good:) so picked up these lovely leather boots from river island for £35 and the mint waffle jumper is from Gap £9.99:) I've been after a mint coloured jumper so grabbed this as soon as I spotted it. It's a lovely soft cotton material with a waffle like embossed print. Lovely jumbly :) its my sons bday today so thought I'd bake a chocolate cake courtesy of Betty Crocker to surprise him when we get back from school:) again a little of what you fancy does you good:) x

Revlon - Nearly Naked Foundation

I love this foundation!!!! It's so light weight and yet gives a flawless finish that totally seals it for me. My skin type is normal with a slightly oily T zone. I suffer with dark circles, which is a pain in the bum but on a good day with this foundation I can skip concealer:) I don't really like to use it if its not needed as it does tend to settle into my lovely uhmmmm laughter lines. The staying power for me is a thumbs up too, but I have to say my time of wearing make up is minimal as I only wear it when I'm going out and I take it off as soon as I get home. I can't stand to wear make up in the house! Maybe weird but I like to feel completely comfortable when at home so that means jogging bottoms on too:) Max hours I've worn this foundation has been 5 hours so my opinion is based on this period of time:)

I use a foundation brush to work the foundation into my skin and think this helps smooth out pores and gives you that flawless appearance.Working with your fingers doesn't quite give that polished look. I also use the nearly naked powder to seal all that goodness.

The only negative point I have is there is no pump just an open top. So one must be super careful when pouring the foundation out. I pour the foundation straight onto the foundation brush, which I do very slowly and carefully! Hate waste:) and mess!

So other than that I would deffo recommend this lovely product:) x

Rimmel - Apocalips

Have seen and heard so many good things about theses lip glosses that I just had to get my mitts on one:) I wanted to try one out, I walked out with three.....as you do:)

Well I must say they do live up to the hype, super pigmented and the staying power is quite amazing considering they are glosses at the end of the day. I would say they feel like a gloss but have the look of a super glossy lip stick. Not drying at all, even after a couple of hours. You can still put your lips together and feel the product on your lips, in a good way I may add. The only down side is I found with the lightest shade in Luna, is it did cling on to me dry bits on my lips ( lovely) so I would give your lips a quick scrub & apply some lip salve of some sort to solve zee problem:) They also do have a strange scent, like plastic? It's not too apparent, so shouldn't bother to much;)

All in all I would recommend these little beauties, specially for a night out:)

From top Luna, Stellar and Nova. Price £5.99

Spicy Lamb Meatballs

This is a firm favourite with our family so thought I'd share the recipe:) Ok you will need -

1 kilo of mince Lamb ( I use two packets)
2 tsp of dried coriander
1 chicken stock cube
1 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of pepper
1 tsp of chopped garlic ( I use the tube stuff as makes light work and no stinky garlic hands for hrs!)
1/2 litre of passata ( I use a big jar)
2 cups of green beans
1/4 cup of milk

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Next mix the mince lamb, salt, pepper, dried coriander and garlic together throughly. Make little balls out of the mixture until all the mince mix is gone. Place the little babies in a roasting tin. Roast in the oven till just starting to brown, ( usually about 25 mins) I wouldn't leave them in too long as they can get quite dry if over cooked.

Next pour passata into a medium sized sauce pan and pop in the stock cube, let it cook down slightly for about 10 minutes then add the green beans. Cook for a further 15 mins. Once meat balls look nicely cooked add them to the passata mixture and cook for a further 15 mins on a low heat to allow everything to marry nicely with each other:) Then add 1/4 cup of milk to the mix. ( this takes the acidity down from the passata) . And that's it really, we usually have this with some white basmati rice...yummy! X

This recipe will feed 5-7 depending on portion sizes. Keeps well in the fridge and can be frozen.

L'occitane:)

If you haven't heard of this brand it's a French based company that produce lovely face, bath and body products for women & men. Recently they've also created a beauty line, which I have yet to try out. I fell in love with L'occitane when I received a sample size Shea butter hand cream with the magazine Marie Claire quite a few years ago now but saying that they seem to offer this little freebie once a year, every year:) it was an instant hit! I thought hmmmm this is good stuff! And I know my stuff:) not to sound to big headed but when someone has used high end and low end products over the last 15 years, you kinda get a feel for things straight away:) It sinks into your hands straight away and for me leaves the tiniest amount of moisture, not too much to think ughhhh I've got sweaty Betty hands syndrome...not a good thing. I also don't like hand creams that disappear altogether too so this is a nice in between go to product when your on the go:) So since popping my L'occitane cherry, I've gone on to use lots of their products over the years and have yet to be disappointed. I'm sure I shall be reviewing lots of their products in the near future.

A little tip is that L'occitane usually have a voucher code floating round the net that gives you a lovely gift if you spend over a certain amount. They also provide free gift wrap and samples. I must say they do out do themselves on the gift wrap, I ordered quite a few Christmas presents and they all were delivered in beautiful boxes and tissue paper. I'm very much into gift wrap, think it just makes the present that bit more extra special:)..... and now to the point of this post:) L'occitane are currently having a one day sale:) which you will find here. I also have a code if your spending more than £45 you will receive a head to toe gift set worth £20. ( The code is AZTW7.) x

Spring lips

I'm not a bright lippy type of girl, I tend to gravitate towards the more nudes and pinks:) .......but she says as of late my eyes seem to zone in on all the lovely bright lipstick & glosses that are about. This one stood out amongst them all, it's the Maybelline colorsensational in Shocking Coral (910) which costs £7.19 but I printed out a £2 voucher from the advantage point machine so cost me less. I recommend checking the kiosk for offers as they usually have quite a few to print out. Anyways back to my new best friend.. I love it, it feels lovely on the lips ( very moisturising) and I think brightens up my complexion. The smell is something you are either going to love or hate, I love it:) the smell reminds me of play dough. The staying power is good too,I used a wet wipe to take off the colour swatch on my arm and I can still see a slight colour left on my arm!

The way I am wearing it at the moment is dabbing the colour on my lips then putting on some Korres lip balm and mixing the two together. The result is a beautiful soft pink. I'll probably wear it full on in the summer more with bronzer or in the evening if I ever venture out:)

So if your like me and tend to stay safe with colour, I dare you to try some brights, u will be pleasantly surprised:)....go on x ps I just received a boots leaflet through the post which announced they've started a 3 for 2 on all their make up ( usually excludes high end:( ) So yay, an even more of an excuse to try something new:)

A little Boden purchase:)

Boden have got a mid season sale on this week only on selected bits in the mini Boden range:) so......course I had to purchase something:D I already bought the girls the stripy boat neck in lemon ( with a 15% off code plus free delivery and returns. There is always a code floating around on the Internet) and have been eyeing these skirts up;) saw them in the sale so couldn't resist. Got my 'good news' email this morning which means the goodies are on their way...yippeeee:D x

 

Stripy Boat neck in Citrus/white £10- £12 ( I would size up on these tops, they come up slightly small )

 

Everyday Cord skirt in Kingfisher Flutter £20 ( currently £12 )

Candles

I love candles and love to burn them most days, I think it adds a certain calmness to your home and fills your house with a lovely scent:) the one I'm currently burning is the Stoneglow candle in exotic Jasmine. I purchased this at my local TK maxx store which is a great place to buy your candles as they are so reasonably priced. This one was £4.99:) they have so many to choose from you will be spoilt for choice! Just be careful as little hands love to touch everything and anything, mines usually on my kitchen counter. Unless the children are at school and munchkin is having her nap:) then it's on my coffee table. A tip I heard is if you freeze the candle before using it, it will last longer? I haven't tried this one myself but let me know if you have:D x

A little Primark Haul:)

Me and munchkin went to wriggle & rhythm at our local library this morning, if you don't know what that is, it's a little group of mummies & daddies that sing songs with their babies :) .... so the lovely Primark is literally next door:) well now would have been rude not to!:)

I was looking for pastel colours but I seemed to have come out with very muted colours? It is raining today surprise surprise so maybe the dullness  rubbed off on me? Anyways I'm abit late getting onto the stud band waggon but better late than ever:) and I seem to be drawn to anything with skulls and studs:) Just a little tip if you don't want to or don't have much money the vests in Primark are only £2.50 and they stock all sorts of colours. I have them in lots of bright and pastel colours to update a shirt, layered under vests or Jumpers.

Fine knitted metallic vest £6, Grey vest £2.50, Metal necklace £4, Stud bracelets £2, Skull phone cover £2, Beige bow sandals £2.50 and studded black leather sandals £12.

 

 

Forgot to add this lovely skull scarf which was £3:)

Strictly Come Dancing:)

Happy Monday....had a very eventful Sunday as you know I'm such a social butterfly and am always out and about....not:) well the old lady down stairs was given some tickets to see the Anton & Erin go to Hollywood show for Xmas, her friend couldn't make it so she asked moi!:) I do love the strictly come dancing show but I watch it manly for the celebs but hey ho what else would I have been doing? A big fat nothing! So I said yes:)

The show was at 3:00,perfect timing as I can sort out the children & house before I go and then sort them out for bed time when I get back:) besides I'm such a homey type of person and don't really like going out in the dark, I'm scared!! Hehe just kidding, no really I'm just lazy and love to be in my pjs and plonked in front of the TV:)

The show was surprising good, there was dancing, singing and lots of little jokes thrown in by Anton which I bore the brunt of at one point....to my horror as I was trying to get a nice pic of them on stage he noticed me and then preceded to poke fun and tell the whole audience I was taking his pic:( if my face could have got any hotter I'm sure it would have exploded. He did go on abit but I was to embarrassed to take it in hehe:)

Anyways it was fun and something different, came home to a cooked burnt pasta bake ( I had made in the morning) that the hubby had forgot about! Lots of dirty dishes, think you get the pic:) oh what a glamours life I lead:) once all cleaned and tided up, it was time for a chai latte ( yummy) and bed:)

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend, now let the week commence!

Brownies!

I heart brownies....they are my favourite dessert especially served warm with ice - cream and a cup of tea ( I know how very English darling;) ) I have some friends coming so thought I'd treat them to some home baking.....so here's my go to super easy recipe for some brownie delights!

You will need -

1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups of sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 cup of cocoa powder ( I use green & blacks as think its the best for that extra chocolatey goodness!)
100g of milk chocolate
100g of white chocolate
1 tsp of coffee ( mix it with about 50 mls of boiling hot water then I add a splash of milk to cool it down)

Preheat oven too 180 degrees

Ok now what I do is mix eggs, oil, sugar, coco and coffee mixture with a hand held electric whisk until all thoroughly mixed then add the flour & baking powder and give another quick mix. Next chop up the chocolate and mix that in too. I use a square tin for the mixture but you can use what ever you want:) spray the tin with oil or butter it then line with foil or a baking sheet. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 25 mins depending on the oven. Now this is the important bit, check them after 20 mins as theres nothing worse than dry brownies, with a knife . You want to see little bits clinging to the knife, this is a good indication that the brownies are ready to be taken out of the oven:) Anyways I like my brownies super gooey, as you can see by the pics;) let me know if you try the recipe out:) x

My first Birch box!

Ok I may have gone over bored on the beauty boxes.....but the weathers rubbish and I need some cheering up thanx very much;) and this actually didn't come out of my own pocket hehe convinced my sister that this is the perfect Mother's Day /bday prezze, so my lovely sis treated me to a years sub. ( my bdays not until September! Isn't she the best sis:)) It's a prezze that keeps on giving, now that's what I call a perfect present if I don't say so myself!

It was there waiting for me in my porch as I came in from the school run earlier :) oh how delightful!!! I can deffo get used to this, I get the same excitement when I receive my fortnightly Graze box... Maybe sad but I don't get much excitement in my life so it's the little things.

Well this is what I got - a beauty blender ( heard lots if good things about this lil baby!) , a beauty blender cleanser ( just says sample size) , a la Sultane De Saba body lotion (30 ml), a Yu-Be moisturizing skin cream 3g, a Laura Geller Inkwell waterproof Gel Liner ( Purple) , a sample of Molten Browns Valbonne perfume and last but not least a little tin of Lindt's heavenly chocs which I'm munching on while I type this....I can thoroughly recommend these chocolates;D yummy! X

Nails inc Bruton Street

Got this lovely plummy/pink Nails Inc colour in my March glossy box:D ( my first ever box...exciting times:)) even more exciting is that I get to paint my nails while my little monkey has her afternoon nap....uhhhh a little disclaimer she's not actually a monkey but sure does act like one sometimes!;)

Now I'm sure spring is just around the corner so this colour just seemed the perfect spring colour to me to. I'm really getting excited about wearing pastels, I'm not really a pastel kinda girl but think because of our very long and mizzy weather here in the UK it just makes me happy to see all the lovely pastel colours around. A shopping trip to primark is deffo in order hehe get my fashion fix on a budget....ohhhh yesss indeedee.( if anybody out there doesn't have a clue what I'm talking about, Primark is a forever21 kinda shop but I think cheaper?anyways it's a fab shop, so if you are ever in the UK you must have a little looky!) x

I'm a big girl now:(

My baby is growing up too quickly:( this is her now getting ready to pick up her brother and sister from school:) she's determined to do the zip up her self.....so cute but good thing is we've got plenty of time! A good tip for any parent, make sure u give urself plenty of time to get ready once children want to do things themselves!!:) she's been trying for the past 10 minutes hehe:D righty best get myself organised:) x

Mulberry Flower cut out tote!

This is my current handbag......well in my dreams:) haha I adore Mulberry, their bags are just a dream. Gorgeous buttery leather, great design oooohhhh what's not to love? If I won the lottery this would be my first purchase:) is it just me though or has Mulberry's handbags gone up in price?? Was having a wee look on their website the other day and was not impressed but still a girl can look & dream:)

On another note just used my new L'occitane face cream that came in my glossybox today and I must say its lovely! Smells really fresh and feels lovely and comforting on my skin which has been acting up lately;( not sure if its the bizarre weather we have been having here in the Uk? Anyways stay warm and keep dreaming:) x

My first Glossy box!

So excited, just received my first ever glossy box! Curtesy off my lovely hubby for Mother's Day ( got a years sub, a little tip if you place your order through top cash back you will get £20 cash back!) I'm obsessed with a bargain, or anyway I can save money hehe:) ok so here's what I got Tresemme salon finish hairspray in extra hold, a 7ml eight hr cream by Elizabeth Arden, a 4ml nails inc nail varnish in Bruton street ( lovely pastel colour!) a jelly pong pong lip blush ( can't see the name but as u can see from the pic it's a lovely red colour:) and lastly a 15ml immortelle precious cream from L'occitane:)

Very happy with what I got:) now let's have a play....yay x

Who loves Boden?

Me me me!:) I have a small problem, I'm totally addicted to Boden, well to be exact Mini Boden. I just want everything, but allas my budget doesn't quite cover:(

Anyway just received this lovely top for my 19 month old monkey, I did get this in a navy blue stripe in age 2-3 which is fine but not much growing room so got the jade in age 3-4. May is having her nappy poohs ( nap if anybody is wondering what I'm talking about:) ) so can't try it on her but it looks fine. These tops are so useful and go with anything, very handy for us mummy's in a rush:) luv it, good quality and stylish what more can a baby want?:) anyone a Boden fan too?

Hellooo:D

Why hello Miss Blog, haven’t seen u in a long while! I'm going to try and bemore blog active from now on.....she says:) well let’s see what happens.

I can almost smell spring..... it is coming.....well I hope it is! When Ilook outside and I have just come in from the delightful school run, it was veryblizzard like! Not nice! Poor May was not amused as I had to wake her from hernap ( well she had been sleeping for almost 3 hrs!!) This weather makes me want tohibernate, we did have a tease last tues, the weather was amazing sunny andwarm! Was very mood uplifting :) Then that was it a big fat nothing just this weirdcrazy English weather!!! Come on spring!!!!

Now let’s start talking about chocolate, does anybody else just eat nonstopwhen they are in the house? Or is it just lil old me that eats rubbish all day,you would cry if you knew what I have devoured today! Let’s not even talk aboutEaster eggs, bought a load ( special offer at the lovely Tesco’s, buy 2 get 2free) would have been rude not too, well there’s 2 left!!! NAUGHTY naughty:)well this mummy needs to start the dinner, my dinner was an Easter egg:0 uhmmmmno comment:) ta ta for now.