No7 Exquisite Curl Mascara

I just wanted to do a little rave post about this mascara by No7. Quiet simply it's AMAZING!  I purchased this mascara a few months ago on a bit of a impulse. All the mascara's i have already i'm really fed up of using,  i always tend to always go for the plastic brushes even though i don't necessarly get on well with them! I just wasn't getting the lashes i longed for!

A few months ago boots were giving out £5 No7 vouchers with puchases over £5. I had my fair collection of vouchers as i'm ALWAYS in boots! So while i was looking around the No7 make up stand i came across this masara and i'm SO glad i did! What drew me to it was the NEW sticker on the bottle and the fact that it was called Exquisite Curl mascara! I'm always longing for my lashes to have a lovely curl and had yet to find a masara that could meet my curl needs! The mascara comes in two colours, black and black/brown.

Anyway to cut the story short i LOVE the mascara! I couldn't rate it enough! I use it everyday and only put on one coat and it gives me the blackness and curl that i was so longing for from a mascara but could never find!! I use it on a daily basis, just popping out of the house or going to work ect. However if i'm going out in the evening or out for a speical occassion i tend to use Rimmel Day- 2- Night masara as it just goes on a bit thicker and gives my lases the extra length i need for an evening out.

I was getting to the end of my No.7 mascara before Christmas but was trying SO hard to make it last till after Christmas as i had some Christmas money. I'm SO glad i waited as i went in the other day and purchased a few items of their 50% sale ( I'll do a little post about what i brought this week ) and because i spend over £5 the lady gave me a No.7 £5 voucher! I have to say i was well chuffed! I went straight over to the No.7 counter at the front of the store and picked up another bottle of the mascara! I debated about what colour to get as they also sell it in a brown/black but ended up sticking to the black to be on the safe side! I have to say i'm LOVING the new bottle of mascara i was so excited to use it the following day and it's defiantly living up to the standards i was expecting! I have to admit this is the first time i've EVER repurchased a mascara so that should show in it's self how good it actually is! Another reason to go out and get this mascara is at the moment they are throwing in their rose quad palette when you buy any No.7 mascara. The women did say to me the palette is a promotion so once they sell out of the palette's that's it they won't get any more there was a few left in my local store so i was lucky! The palette is great and it includes four metallic pigmented eye shadows that could be used for evening and daytime looks!

If you have any picked up any No.7 £5 vouchers i'd suggest popping into your local boots and having a little look at the No.7 mascaras!

♥

Christmas Goodies.

Just a LITTLE post with a few pictures of what i got for Christmas. As always Christmas day goes past like a flash! I was woken by my little sister at 6.30am as she realised santa had come to see her and left her some presents! She was SUPER excited! We all opened our presents and then had some breakfast and got ready. For Christmas i always DRESS up! This year i wore a dark red skater dress with a thin black belt. I painted my nails with Barry M gold foil nail polish and finished off with simple dots and stripes. I also put one gold leopard print nail foil on one of my fingers to add a bit of bling! Before the family came over i had a quick half hour nap and they arrived for 11.30am. We had a LOVELY roast dinner and then all retired to the lounge for a 20 minute nap! TWO naps in one day! I really was been LAZY! My grandma then put the Queen's Speech on at 3pm and we all sat down and watched that and then i drove over to my boyfriends house for my second Christmas! We opened presents together and then played a few family games and finished the evening watching The Hangover Part II & The Inbetweeners Movie. All in all it was a LOVELY Christmas it's just a shame it always goes to QUICKLY!


Hope you all had a lovely Christmas & Santa brought you all that you wanted!


♥

How to make your army of gingerbread men.

So yesterday i decided to get my BAKE on! As christmas is fastly approaching i decided to make an army of GINGERBREAD MEN. I always associate gingerbread men with christmas so i felt it was an appropriate thing to bake. I have to admit i am a bit of a cheat and have previously brought a box of gingerbread men from Tesco's with the icing and smarties and have decorated them myself! *blushes*
I wouldn't say i'm the best at baking or cooking to be honest and i don't normally adventure much further from boxed cake mixtures but yesterday was different!


I decided to have a look online for a EASY gingerbread man recipe and found hundreds! I decided to stick with this one from the BBC Good Food website it was simple and i had all the ingredients apart from a few things that i decided was optional not to add in! The website suggested that it makes 12 big gingerbread men but i managed to make 15 with my cutter!

So to make your army of gingerbread men you will need :


♥ 140g unsalted butter 


♥ 100g of dark muscovado sugar


♥ 3 tablespoons of golden syrup


♥ 350g of plain flour


♥ 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda


♥ 2 teaspoons of ground ginger


♥ 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon ( I didn't have this in the cupboard so decided to leave it out! )


♥ An optional pinch of cayenne pepper ( I also didn't have this so decided to leave it out and it did say optional! )


♥ 2 balls of stem ginger ( I also didn't have this so decided to leave it out! )




Once you have all of the ingredients you're ready to get your BAKE on!




♥ Firstly you will need to preheat your oven to 200c and line 2 baking trays ready for all your men to bake on. 

♥ You will then need to melt the butter, sugar and syrup in a pan and leave to cool down while move onto the next step.

♥ You then need to mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and a pinch of salt ( I also didn't put the pinch of salt in! ) in a bowl together. 

♥  You then will need to take the butter, sugar and syrup that you have just melted and mix it into the flour, soda and ginger. 

♥  The mixture may still be hot from the melted butter, sugar and syrup so you will need to wait till it is cool enough to handle and then roll out the dough and start pressing out your gingerbread men! 

♥ Once you have pressed out your army of gingerbread men put them in the oven to bake, i put mine on for 12 minutes and they came out a beautiful golden colour.

♥ Leave for about 10 minutes to cool down and then here comes the fun bit! ICING & DECORATING! 

I'll leave the icing bit up to you as you will know how you want your gingerbread men or women to look like! I decided that mine should be all gingerbread men as they all looked manly and strong coming out of the oven! I used a tube of white icing sugar to decorate their faces and to put three buttons on them. I also had little sliver balls for their eyes and smarties and pink balls for their buttons! 

Once they were all decorated i handed them all out to my family to try one and they all said how lovely they were! My little sister isn't a massive fan of gingerbread men but she ate one and said that they were very tasty! I thought they tasted lovely and they weren't hard to make at all! I'd strongly suggest making some if you have a spare half an hour! I may even make another army of gingerbread men and bring them 

into work towards the end of the week!

Let me know if you try this simple recipe out. I'd love to hear how they turn out!

♥  

Why don't you add a bit of glitter to your life...

CHRISTMAS & GLITTER goes hand in hand! I ALWAYS get so excited every year to try out different nail polishes during December as it's definitely deemed acceptable to cover your nails in glitter! 


This year i've splashed out on a few different bottles of glitter nail polishes! I've picked up Barry M Red Glitter number 150. I brought it as soon as i saw it! I've had it a few months and have been saving it for the festive season! I'm really glad i brought it when i did because every time i go into my local boots stores it's always sold out. I've had a look on the Barry M website and they have so many different glitter polishes that just aren't stocked in my local Boots or Superdrug stores which is a shame because i LOVE Green Glitter Number 298. 

I also have a an OPI nail polish which is my ALL time favourite but i've used it so often i really need to replace it but i've had it for so long i don't think they sell it! I'm still after OPI rainbow connection which was brought out for the muppets movie! I've tried SO many places! It's proving impossible to get my hands on! I went to Birmingham a few weeks ago and tried Selfridges and they didn't have it and i've tried my local Sally's Store but they didn't have it either! Where i live there isn't many stores that stock OPI nail polish which is such a shame because they are so good! I would order it online but i get so IMPATIENT waiting for things to come through the post!

I also have purchased a ELF glitter polish called Golden Goddess. I have to admit i'm slightly disappointed with this nail polish. On the website it looks like a really opaque gold glitter and i thought perfect for £1.50 and put it straight in my shopping bag but when it was delivered it was far from opaque it was like a clear nail polish with glitter specks in. To be honest i haven't used it at all which is a shame because i was really excited to get it! The only way i would use it would be over a colour nailed polish to add a bit of sparkle.

I have also subscribed to Glossybox and this month i was EXTRA excited about as it had a glitter nail polish in! The nail polish is a BEAUTIFUL glitter purple by Deborah Lippmann. It retails at £16 which i feel is slightly pricey and i just couldn't justify spending £16 on a nail polish as i buy so many different polishes so often! I don't think i would have picked up this colour if it was in my local boots store as i never really go for purples as i feel i'm more of a nude gal! When i put this colour on i was pleasantly SURPRISED! I LOVED it! I got SO many compliments from my work friends but also from customers who came in to buy tickets!

I have painted my toe nails all ready for tomorrow with Barry M Glitter Red 150 which is the nicest red i've had in a LONG time! It just SHOUTS christmas to me! It's just a shame that no one is really going to see my pretty toe nails as my feet are always so COLD! I'm going to paint my finger nails tonight when i get home from work and i'm still deciding what colour to go for but i'm definitely leaning towards the Barry M Glitter Red!

I HOPE you all have a LOVELY christmas and santa get you everything you have asked for! 

♥ you all!

Shopping Haul - Forever 21

So the weekend just gone i took a trip up to BIRMINGHAM! It was the FIRST time i had gone shopping in Birmingham as it's not the closest to me so i was VERY excited! I've heard by SO many people how good the shopping was there even my Grandma had told me how good it was! I decided to take the train up there for the day as we all thought driving would just be a nightmare especially as we haven't gone there before but also finding somewhere to park with christmas coming can be a pain even in my small town!  The train journey was LONG it took about two hours and it was such a busy train as it was a cross country service. Thankfully we thought in advance and booked our tickets which made it cheaper but also it guaranteed us all a seat on the train. I get such satisfaction saying "excuse me your actually in my seat! " and most people are like oh ok i'm really sorry! Then they have to go and walk down the whole train to find another free seat! SUCCESS!


When we finally got there around 10.30am i headed straight to the Bullring Shopping Centre it was MASSIVE! As soon as i walked through the doors i found FOREVER 21 i was SO excited i was practically jumping for joy! I have sent my dad with a LONG list a few times when he goes to New York  with his job but to actually go to a Forever 21 store was SO exciting! ( Is it sad that i get so excited about shopping? ) It was MASSIVE! In fact it was THREE storeys high MASSIVE! I was in my absolute element! Though i don't think my boyfriend enjoyed me going around the shop like three times! We were in there for ages! I think i was fairly restrained as the whole time I kept reminding myself that need to finish off my Christmas shopping and that i shouldn't be shopping for myself!

Here's a few pictures of what i picked up! I did get a few other bits but my boyfriend brought them for me as Christmas pressies so i'm not allowed them for another week and a bit!

Has anyone else took a trip to a Forever 21 store? At the moment there is only a store in the Bullring Shopping Centre in Birmingham and another store in London on Oxford Street but i'd definitely say it's worth a visit as they have something for everyone!

♥

TWENTY ONE ♥

This week brought my TWENTY FIRST birthday and to say I was excited was an understatement! I had a few days off work towards the end of the week so my last day at work was on Wednesday and when I came in they had the Box Office all decorated with banners and I brought cakes in so it was like a party all day! About 3 o'clock when people started to finish for the day I was brought in a bag full of presents from everyone and a massive 21 balloon! It was such a  LOVELY surprise! They brought me a Topshop voucher, a bottle of champagne, a twenty one glass and key (it's tradition apparently!) also ages ago we were all looking on the internet for my managers birthday present and I saw the cutest necklace stand and I mentioned this months ago and they remembered and brought that  for me too! It was such a lovely way to start my birthday!!

So on my actual birthday (Thursday) it was pretty relaxed. I woke up to SO many presents! My parents brought me a car during the year for an early birthday present when I passed my test but they also brought me a Michael Kors watch and a twenty one charm for my Pandora bracelet which was such a LOVELY suprise! My sister also brought me another charm, a tortoise. I have a pet tortoise ( His name is Arnie ) and they have to be my absolute favourite animal (reptile.) My boyfriend brought my a ring from the website Daisy a bottle of benefit Ring my Bella Perfume, some Bodyshop body butters and smellies, and a bottle of Liz Earle Toner! I also got money and vouchers from friends and family which was lovely!

It was down to me what I wanted to do during the day and all I wanted to do was to go shopping! We decided on Guildford, my boyfriend goes to University there and he had mentioned that the shopping centre had all been re done and there were a few new shops so he sold it to me! We went there and had a look around and I brought myself a few presents with my birthday money! Then we went for a Nandos for lunch! It was my first Nando's that i had in months and I ate until I felt SICK!!

We then went back home and when we got back my dad came and said there was a box for me on the table so I went in and opened it and it was a cake from CHOCCYWOCCYDOODAH in Brighton! I couldn't believe it!! I'm a fan of the show and every time I watch it it always leaves me amazed at how beautiful the cakes are but also how tasty they look! It was a milk chocolate and dark chocolate cake with a thick white chocolate heart on the top that said HAPPY 21st BECKI.  I have to say the cake was the nicest cake I have EVER tasted!! It was so thick chocolate me and my dad couldn't actually cut the cake! He managed to in the end but it broke into a few pieces!

In the afternoon I went back to my boyfriends house to see his parents & sister to say thank you for my presents. We just watched telly and chilled out. In the late afternoon we went back to my house and my little sister brought me a ticket for my birthday to her nativity play so we went to that in the evening which was so CUTE!!

I've put a few pictures below of my day and some of the presents i got given! I had such a LOVELY day! It was so perfect! I've got a few blog post ideas coming up so stay tuned!

♥

Statement Clothing Item - Topshop Faux Leather Panel Legging

I was in my local Topshop today and  FINALLY they had restocked their Faux Leather Panel Leggings (£28) and had my size! I was SO chuffed! Obviously i couldn't leave Topshop with just the leggings and brought what is described on the website as a Oversize Half Sleeve Top (£16) to go with the leggings. I decided the outfit was PERFECT for my birthday this week and the shopping trip i'm taking to Birmingham on Saturday! I wanted something a bit different as i'm ALWAYS wearing jeans and just plain black leggings to work. I thought with the Faux leather panels down the side would give the outfit a bit of a edgy look.

Has anyone else purchased these leather panel leggings from Topshop or the Oversize top? What do you think of them? I'd LOVE to hear what your statement item is in your wardrobe?!

♥

Product Review: Tea Tree Toner Tab

I'm ALWAYS willing to try out different face products especially from LUSH! I was looking around my local store in town and came across these little Tea Tree Toner Tab and for 75p i thought i'd give it a try! The women came over and explained how to use it and it was really simple! She said it was to be used on problem skin and that the tea tree would help calm the redness around spots. At the moment i have a few spots on my forehead which is a bit annoying especially on the week of my BIRTHDAY! WAH!

I have to admit my skin is so much better lately but i don't want to speak to QUICKLY! I wouldn't say i have acne but i definitely have had my fair share of spots! I've been to my doctor a number of times and he's given me all different creams and solutions to try and none of them have ever been the miracle spot cure i'm searching for but lately i'm taking antibiotics and am on them for the next three months and my skin is definitely calming down!

I've just tried out the Tea Tree Toner Tab and it was really easy to use! I was VERY impressed! I took all my make up off , cleansed my face and then came down and boiled the kettle. Once the kettle was boiled i poured the hot water into a bowl and dropped in the toner tab and left it until it stopped fizzing! I then got a towel and put my face over the hot water for about 10 minutes. I LOVE the smell of Tea Tree and found the 10 minutes really relaxing! When the 10 minutes were up i poured the solution down the sink and had a look in the mirror. My face was initially red from the heat but now it looks ok. I'm just going to wait and see what it's like tomorrow to see if my spots look less red and more calmer! The women in Lush did mention i could wait for the toner to cool down and store it in a little travel bottle and use the solution as a toner for the next week but i already have a no.7 toner that i use daily and i didn't really know how i felt about using it for the next week.  I'm a bit worried that it might break me out as my skin isn't use to having Tea Tree smothered all over it! I also though that 75p isn't really bank breaking so i would just repurchase it as a treat in a few weeks.

I think it's definitely worth purchasing one of these toner tabs as a TREAT!  I found the 10 minutes very relaxing and nice just to sit back and have a little think! For 75p you can't really go wrong especially if your skin is spot prone like mine. Hopefully i'll wake up tomorrow and my skin will be calmer and less red! I'll let you know!

I'd love to hear if there is anything you suggest trying from Lush for problem skin! Has anyone else tried this toner and what did you think of it?

♥

Hello December!

Well i CAN'T believe i'm actually typing this but DECEMBER is finally upon us! It has to be my favourite month of the year not only is it the month of CHRISTMAS it is also the month of my BIRTHDAY!  This year i'm going to be the TWENTY - ONE! Well a week today to be exact! (I'm sure you can tell how excited i am about it!)  I also love the fact that everyday in December you get to eat a chocolate everyday on the countdown to Christmas! This year i've got a really cute Hello Kitty advent calendar and i couldn't wait to eat my number one chocolate this morning! I have to admit there is nothing BETTER than advent chocolate it just tastes SO nice! This year has gone so so fast! Everyone at my job is telling me the older you get the quicker the year goes and i'm starting to believe them!

I'm SUPER excited because tonight we are putting up the Christmas tree and all the decorations around the house! I know some people may say that it's a bit early to be putting up all the decorations 25 days before Christmas Day but our family LOVE christmas! I had to admit though that my dad isn't a big fan of the decorations going up this early but i think it's a man thing! I'm yet to meet a guy that get SUPER excited about Christmas like me!

I've pretty much finished ALL of my Christmas shopping, i've just got to get my boyfriend his present and i'm DONE! I think this year i'm a lot more organised and planned what i was buying everyone before i went to town. I made the mistake last year of not making a list and ended up buying so many little things for people when i saw them it was ridiculous! It took me SO long to get all my christmas presents and i was even shopping before i went to work on CHRISTMAS EVE as soon as the shops opened at 8am! It was a NIGHTMARE! 

Hope this post was a bit interesting to some of you! I'm just SUPER excited about CHRISTMAS this year! Have you started or finished your christmas shopping yet?

♥