Henna Update

So a few months ago I hennaed my hair, at first I was that keen on the results as it was so much darker than my natural hair. However a few month down the line the colour has faded considerably and now I love it!

A Very British Birthday Cake

Hello again! It was my mums birthday on Saturday and she had asked for a union jack cake! At first I was a bit like ‘Huh!’ as I did not really know how to go about it. At first I thought about using food colouring on royal icing to get the red white and blue and just cutting out the icing to form the flag. However my family are not big fans of overly sweet things so instead I decided to use fruit to make the union jack (since all the fruit I used were in season it was especially summery as well!) ! I also blended raspberries into whipped cream for the filling as I thought this would be less sweet than butter icing (It is bloody delicious!).

 Ingredients         

•  175g butter
• 175g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 1tsp baking soda
• 175g self raising flour

Filling/topping

• Tub of whipping/double cream
• 2 punnets of raspberries
• 1 punnet of strawberries
• 1punnet of blueberries

Method

• First blend together sugar and butter.
• Then add the eggs and vanilla extract.
• Blend for 2 minutes until the mixture forms bubbles on the surface.
• Then sift in the flour and baking soda and fold in with a metal spoon.
•  Then separate between 2 cake tins and cook at 180 for 25 mins.

For the filling and topping

• whip the cream till it has thickened then add a punnet of raspberries and blend in.
• spread the cream between the layers of the cake and on the top
• Then using the different berries decorate the top (I attempted to do a union jack!)
• I then used a little pack of decorations from waitrose to decorate the cake further!
• Enjoy!

DIY- Makeup brush Jars

I have a growing collection of makeup brushes, the problem is that I can never find them in my makeup draw/bag and they get mucky in with all my other makeup. So I decided I wanted to find some nice pots or jars to put them in. The only problem was I could not find any that I liked that weren't really expensive. So instead I bought some cheapy jars, that you can get hold of pretty easily and accessorized them up, to make them look cute!

Before!

 After!

So all I did was use some ribbon (my mum has loads of it, she is a constant crafter!) and tied it into a big bow, and then I used some little paper flowers and twisted them into the bows! It was very easy and cheap, yet I think it has made the jars look very pretty and they are just so practical! 

Hair Henna

Last Friday, I did something rather drastic. I hennaed my hair! I have never dyed my hair before, so this was a big step for me. Last Christmas I had an appointment booked to get my hair dyed and I chickened out and cancelled it, so finally I have done it!

 Problem was that I did it myself (never a good idea), I did no research on henna.I was told (by unreliable resources) that it would wash out very quickly and that it would not change the colour of my hair that much, well that was wrong!! Turns out the dye is permanent and cannot be dyed over as it is oil based.It also can  make your hair go very orange, which is what happened to mine.

The packet suggested to leave the henna on for 30 mins to 2 hours, I left mine in for 30 mins, my hairdresser told me this is where I went wrong. My hair was at first bright highlighter orange! Thankfully it has faded to a nicer coppery/auburn colour which I now actually really like!

Before

After!

I look really different in both these pictures, (the top one is just before a night out, and the second was taken today after a day of shopping) but the hairstyle is the same so I thought it would be a good comparison! So what do you think? I actually now really love it!

Hello all!
I have not blogged since before my field trip to Malham Tarn two weeks ago! A lot of things have happened since then, well not that many but it does feel like I have been busy. Malham was, despite my reservations, fantastic! It was a very hectic week, I held a bat, rung some birds (this means putting a little identification ring around their ankles, not strangling them) and did a project on two species of warblers territorial sizes and habitat preference. I learnt how to identify different birds by their song and identify endless plants. The week included getting up at around 5AM everyday and endless walking, but none the less it was great fun and endlessly interesting!

Below are a few pictures from the trip!

Baby great tit

Pipistelle bat

New born lambs (very late in the year for this)

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Malham Tarn itself

Following the trip, my laptop had to go in for some repairs, 2 years of picking it up by the screen has meant that the screen has nearly come off oops!! So I was not able to blog about the trip till now! In this last week I have been on a cup cake course (blog post to follow) and done something slightly drastic to my hair! But a Post on that shall have to wait!

To Malham and beyond...

I have finished my exams! Yay! Finally I am on holiday! Ohhhh wait, no I am not. I still have a field trip to go on, I still have a lot of work to do, ohhh F**K! So on Friday I am off to Malham some tiny little place in north Yorkshire eugghh! A few fellow students and I am off for a week to a National park in the Yorkshire dales, we are going to help out with reserve monitoring and will be doing our own projects in small groups.

My group is looking at and comparing different species of Warbler territory sizes and habitat preferences. We have to be up at dawn and dusk to collect the necessary data, dawn at this time of year is at 4.45 AM, yes, that's right, I have to be up and out in a forest at 4.45AM! I am so not looking forward to next week!

Here is a picture of a Warbler!

When I get back form this trip I will most likely be absolutely exhausted! The last Field trip I wen on with my university, consisted of us waking up at 7 in the morning and not being able to go to bed before 3, as we had so much work! I am hoping and praying that this will not be the same in Malham!

Wish me luck and sleep! 

Shoes, shoes shoes!

A week or so ago I bought a cute black dress, as cute as it is, it's just a little but bland! So I wanted to but some beautiful new statement heels to go with it! At first I thought red, but then black and red is done so often that I wanted to find something a bit different. So I decided to try and find some electric blue shoes! And boy was I lucky....

I managed to find myself a pair of Kurt Geiger heels, that were £120 reduced to £39! They are perfect for my outfit and I could not believe the bargain! I love them, and they are actually really comfortable. I have always been a firm believer in buying more expensive shoes clothes etc, over very cheap brands, as in the long run, they are more comfortable and last way longer! I own quite a few Kurt Geiger shoes from sales, and they always wear really well!

Well I'm off now to totter around my house in my new shoes, preening in front of any mirror I come across haha!

Crafting Mad!

If you, or anyone else you know, loves all things crafting, cooking, gardening or textiles, you really should check out this blog! She really covers a multitude of anything do it yourself, the woman behind Dawn the constant crafter is my wonderful mum and she is very talented! She also has a lot of pictures of a younger me on her blog!

http://dawnthecrafter.blogspot.co.uk/

Below are a few pictures of what she gets up too!

French plait/braid go to hair

As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, it is exam time for me at university at the moment, (in fact I had an exam this morning) and that means I really can't be bothered to make that much of an effort, but I still like to look at least somewhat presentable (it's been inbuilt into me from a young age that you should always look reasonably smart when leaving the house).

So I have a few go to hairstyles that are  quick easy and yet still look nice! My first go to hairstyle is to french plait the front parts of my hair back and down, i sometimes join them together at the back of my head, or just plait them down separately! I love this hairstyle as it is great if your hair a a bit frizzy and messy, if its a little bit greasy or if you have a fringe to get it out of your face!

Front view, pardon the lack of makeup

Side view

 The hairstyle is actually really simple, just gather hair from below the plait and from above the plait, and carry on doing this until you reach just before your ear, then just gather hair from above the plait. After a few cross overs like this, stop gathering hair and just plait down!

This hairstyle is also great it it is really hot and you want to keep your hair off your face. You could even gather your hair into a bun or ponytail at the back, sot hat you have a more interesting up do!

Spring/Summer makeup!

Even though the weather in England has been pretty rubbish lately I still feel the need to have some amount of a spring/summer feeling in my life! One way I love to do this, is through my makeup!

Below are a few of my favorite looks at the moment!

1. The bright lip- this is probably one of my favorite of all the looks above! I just love bright lipstick! I think this is a great look if you don't want to wear a lot of makeup, but you still want to have a bit of a colour pop to your face!

2.Lilac Shadow- Lilac eyeshadow pretty much suits anyone, but you have to make sure that it looks young and fun, rather than granny! Keep the rest of your makeup paired down, or put with a bright red lip!

3.Fresh and Dewy- This is a great look if you don't like wearing a lot of makeup, it looks healthy and fresh, yet still polished.

4. Rosy Girl- my favorite look of the bunch, a nice rosy glow on the cheeks and lips, with a bit of subtle taupey shimmery shadow on the eyes! I love it, I think this makeup is perfect for almost any occasion, out for a walk, or out on the town!

I will be replicating all four of these different looks throughout the next few months as I love them all!

Tell me if there are any other good makeup looks that you like!

Fishtail Plait/Braid

I love fishtail plaits! I think they are so pretty and very useful! So I decided to make a small video on how to do a fishtail plait! Hope you enjoy!

A Bun with a twist...

Last week one of my friends came into uni with really pretty hair, it was plaited and then put into a bun, I thought it looked really cool. So I decided I would try it out, and it was surprisingly easy. I think its a clever way of making a boring bun look more interesting and can be dressed up or down.

So here is a guide to create the plait bun...

 1. First french plait your hair! Some people find this really hard (I know I used too) but it is actually really easy, just gather up bits of hair slowly, as you plait down the head.

2. Then coil the plait into a bun and pin it (this is easier if you have slightly thinner hair than mine!). This is actually the trickiest part for me, and as you can probably see below I have not pinned the bun all that well.

3. Finally voila! Below is a front shot of the hair style, and as you can see it just looks like a normal bun from the front! You can make any changes, mess the style up a bit to make it more casual, or perhaps add some chandelier earrings to dress it up! (Also I changed my top in this picture! I took this just as I was about to leave the house!)

Sorry the pictures are not great, taking pics of the back of your head on your own is very tricky!

I hope you try the hairstyle out!

Lust List

It is revision time again for me, I have had a ridiculous few weeks with 5 pieces of coursework and in just over a week the start of exams (I have 5!). So of course what am I spending my time doing? Procrastinating! And on my most recent trip of idle browsing I found a few dresses, that I am quite frankly in love with!

1. Printed Belted Dress, £85 at Oasis 
2. Frenchie Dress, £110 at Deadly Is The Female  
3. Vera Dress, £75 at Deadly Is The Female 

So there is my little lust list! If only I could afford the beautiful dresses! I had never even heard of Deadly Is The Female until a friend recommended it! It has some beautiful clothes, all with a very vintage feel!

A year ago today

A year ago today, I was having a party, well not really, but the family and I did have a big bbq and I baked a massive cake! It was the Royal wedding, and the weather was beautiful! Which seems very hard to remember at the minute, with, what seems like constant torrential downpour in Leeds.So a year on from the marriage and they seem to have settled in pretty well. Kate especially seems to have taken to being a royal and the wedding has done wonders for the image of the royal family all over the world. So whats next for the happy couple? I'm hoping they start popping out some new, cute little royals, preferably a girl first since the commonwealth leaders agreed on an historic change to give sex equality in royal succession. In my opinion it was about bloody time!

Below are some pictures of my very British berry cake that I made to celebrate the wedding last year!

A union jack made out of berries!

The epic cake!

Interior design to inspirational speech

Yesterday I went to IKEA, I am a little bit obsessed with IKEA, every time I come home from Uni a trip to IKEA always takes place. Why? Well, I seem to have developed a passion for interior design, furniture, bed linen, cups, saucers, you name it, just house things. So much so that in the last few weeks of me going shopping mad, I have probably bought more things for my student house and room at home (including a ton of interior design mags) than anything else, like shoes clothes etc.

Yesterday I bought....

So as you can probably see there is a very distinct trend in everything I bought. There seems to be just a very small amount of flowers going on, only a small hint of course... who am I kidding! I think maybe I have gone floral mad! I just think it all looks so pretty!

In all honesty I am not quite sure what has happened to me, when I was growing up I was a complete tom boy, and then everything changed! People that have known me more recently would probably never believe that I was ever anything but the extremely girly girl I am now!

The picture above was my permanent state of dress! But in year 11 at senior school I changed, I began to love makeup, clothes, pink and flowers! However although I may have become more girly I still will muck into everything and am never afraid to get my hands dirty! I just love flowers and nail varnish and I am not ashamed of it!  I can be girly and not be looked down upon. Some people always want to put you in a box, to stereotype you. They seem to think that if you're girly you are shallow and thick, and I have to say I feel really sorry for those people. People are made up of many layers and just because you are girly doesn't mean that you can't be interested in politics or I don't know, wrestling! Just as if you are a manly builder you can also love baking cup cakes! The world is a wonderful place made up for all different sorts of people all of which should be embraced for their strange quirks and individualities!

So this blog took a strange twist of direction, but I am rolling with it! So my advice is, embrace what you love and don't be held back by what others think you of you!

New shoes!

Since I have been on my Easter holiday from Uni a lot of shopping has taken place. One of my favorite new buys is a pair of very pretty yellow pumps from Clarks!

I love these shoes! They are so pretty, and yellow seems to be very big at the moment. Not only are they cute, but they are Clarks shoes, which automatically mean they will be unbelievably comfortable! These cute summer pumps also come in navy blue and beige, but I  liked the yellow best, I plan to wear them with everything (I even have them on now, as I write this!)!

In love... with Naked 2

About 2 weeks ago now, whilst out shopping, my mother decided to buy the Naked 2 palette. I had raved on about how much I loved the original Naked set of eye shadows that she thought it would be a good buy. I have to say I was unbelievably jealous! I was in fact so jealous that 2 days later I bought it for myself, even though at the time I had only about £50 quid to my name (and the palette costs £36). But I can't regret it, I love the new set of eye shadows!

The new selection is much more based on, in their words Taupe and Greige neutrals. I actually prefer it to the original Naked set. I find that this palette has more lighter shades, more suited to day to day wear (but it still can create any style from dark and smokey to neutral looks). However in truth I pick and mix from both of the sets when I do my makeup.

Another reason why I prefer the new Naked is the two-ended shadow brush that it comes with. The two ended brush has a shadow brush and a crease brush ( both made cruelty free) which are great for application of the shadows. The set also comes with a travel-size Lip Junkie Lipgloss in a lovely pink shade that will suit almost anyone!

The new metal case the palette has is another plus in its favor, the original set had a suedey exterior which for the life of me I cannot keep clean! So the new metal case is much more functional!

Overall I love the Naked 2 palette! I am very glad I spent the last of my limited funds on it!

It's been a while...

Hello strangers! I am finally doing another blog post! It has been a month since my last, I have been so neglectful! However it is not completely my fault! For the last month I have had 4 coursework deadlines (all in one week!) and I have been at my granny and grandads house, where there is no internet! But now, I am finally home!

There have been so many things I have wanted to blog about, and I have done some serious shopping in the last few weeks ( I went a little mad to be honest!). So hopefully I will be able to sort myself out and get back to business, but I have got a ton of revision  to do (I have five exams in May, yay) and even more coursework (my life is so fun). So lets hope I can fit a few blog posts into the next few weeks! 

Anyhoo, Happy Easter!

Apple crumble!

In my previous post I talked about how my housemate and I went to our local green grocers (support your local traders!!) and bought a shit ton of fruit and veg. So with this we decided to make an apple and rhubarb crumble!

Ingredients:

• 300g plain flour
• 200g sugar
• 175g plain unsalted butter (at room temp)

Filling:

• 4 cooking apples
• 2 rhubarb

Method:

• Peel, core and cut up your apple and rhubarb, place into a pan of boiling water and boil fro a few minutes.
• Put flour sugar and butter together and rub together to for breadcrumbs
• pop you fruit into a big dish, then put your breadcrumbs on top
• cook in the oven till the top is golden!

 

As we are poor and cheap students, we have a habit of nicking sugar packets so that we don't have to buy sugar! The only drawback is, that it takes ages to get enough sugar! Below is Izy doing the sugar shake dance!

 

So Yummy!

Smoothies!

It is a beautiful day in Leeds! So my housemate Izy and I, as we were feeling summery, decided to go to our local greengrocers and make smoothies!!! We bought, a lot, of fruit, but our grocers is sooo cheap! We got everything for £10.93, the same amount in Sainsburys would probably cost closer to £30!!

We decided to make two different types of smoothie, mango and strawberry and mixed berries!

There is the finished product! We were feeling fancy so we put them into martini glasses! They looked great and tasted fantastic!

We then made a mixed berry batch, with lots of raspberries, blueberries and strawberries! This smoothie will taste even better in a few months when the fruit is in season. You could also add some alcohol to them to make some delish cocktails (I think I may try that tonight!). So go and make some smoothies they are so easy and cheap and they taste yummy!!