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Zingy Lemon Salad Recipe!

A couple of days ago, when my brain was entirely drained by revision (story of my life right now), I decided to make lunch for my mum and I.

I wanted a salad to be healthy, but I wanted to do something slightly different to your usual green salad, so here's what I came up with!

You will need; Some kind of lettuce (mine was a mixed bag but some basil leaves sounds nice), Sweetcorn, A few cashew nuts (optional), Bread, Olive oil, A clove of garlic, Ground pepper, Lemon juice

First of all, turn on the oven to a medium heat. In a baking tray, tear a piece of bread into pieces. Finely dice a clove of garlic and add to the tray. Toss it all around in some olive oil, and place in the oven to bake for roughly eight minutes.

 

Whilst that's cooking, cook some sweetcorn and leave it to cool! (I cooked it in the microwave to be quick)

Wash your lettuce and then toss it around in some lemon juice (to taste, takes a bit of trial and error to suit it to your taste buds!) I also ground some pepper over it at this point.

 

 

Serve the lettuce into bowls or onto plates and distribute the sweetcorn on top. I threw a 5 or 6 cashews nuts on top to give the salad a little more substance, and then topped it off with a lots of the croutons from above!

 

I found this salad super yummy, but not as filling as I would of liked, does anyone have any ideas of how I can make it more filling, but not unhealthy?

Products I've Repurchased Haul!

I've done a bit of shopping in the last little while, so I thought I'd tell you what products I've repurchased. I love these kinds of post personally, because I think it says a lot about a product when somebody loves it enough to want to buy it again!

So here's what I've bought... First off Simple Kind to Skin Replenishing Rich Moisturiser (long name, huh?)

This is my every day moisturiser and I love it because although it is highly moisturising on my very dry skin, it sinks into my skin fairly quickly. It leaves my skin feeling soft and smooth, but slightly tacky so provides a great base for foundation etc.

 

I also ran out of the moisturiser I use at night... Olay Essentials Beauty Fluid. I love this because although it is high street priced, it feels rich and luxurious on my dry skin. It makes my skin feel soft, smooth and healthy. Although it's supposed to be for the daytime, I feel it would be too moisturising used on my skin in the daytime, but it is perfect for me overnight as it leaves my skin feeling great even when I wake up the next morning.

 

In terms of hair products I bought some more Baptiste Dry Shampoo. I've had a couple of different scents in the past and I've loved them, but this time I went for the XXL volume one as I love volume in my roots, especially because I have lots of thick, heavy hair!

 

I also bought Schwarzkopf's Got2Be Guardian Angel heat protectant as it smells lovely, doesn't weigh my hair down or make it greasy, and protects it from heat damage (obviously not entirely, I doubt any do that!)

 

It was 3for2 on hair care products so I bought some Loreal Elnette Hairspray, because I'm pretty sure I'm gonna run out of hairspray this summer with proms and weddings etc! I hadn't bought it before so I can't really say much about it, but I thought it was worth mentioning, even if all you've learnt is that boots have lots of offers on!

 

I also bought another Collection (formerly Collection2000) Lasting Perfection Concealer. I actually bought this a month or two ago, but I haven't started it yet so it counts, right? Every time I think I'll have to start the new one, I find a bit more product inside the old one... It's pretty much the Tardis of concealers! I've mentioned this concealer lots before (I'm a bit obsessed!) but it really is a great, affordable concealer. Creamy in consistancy and full in coverage!

 

 

So these are the products I've repurchased recently, what's your "I want to buy it forever and ever" product?

How to Clean your Makeup Brushes - without spending a fortune!

Cleaning makeup brushes is very important. Makeup brushes can be a breeding ground for bacteria, but at the price of around £10 for most brush cleansers, it's no wonder so many of us don't bother!

 

But a while back I discovered a way to clean my brushes at roughly a couple of quid a bottle! The secret is using Baby Oil and Baby Shampoo.

You can find each of them for around £1

Why both? Well firstly, there are two types of ways to clean your brushes. The first is spot cleaning; a way to remove cosmetics from your brush quickly after use, so you can use it again rapidly. The second is deep cleansing; a way of removing all the dirt and bacteria. Experts say we should do this after each use (and that's definately the case if you're using them on clients!), but I just try and do it as often as I think of it (which I wish I could say was a bit more often!)
 

 

So how do you spot clean a brush? It's really simple. Put a few drops of baby oil onto a piece of kitchen roll, and rub the brush around in it! The oils will break down the colour and cosmetics in your brush, so you don't have to worry about getting left over green in your purple eye shadow!
 

 

Now onto deep cleansing, which is a little bit more time consuming (especially if you have a lot of brushes!) but really simple and easy too. Step one is to put a little dollop of baby shampoo on your hand and swirl your brush around in it. Baby Shampoo is far better than normal shampoo as it is far gentler, so won't strip your brushes of their natural oils. It's also great as you are unlikely to get an allergic reaction from it, you do put the brushes on your face after all!
 

 

So once you've shampooed the brushes, it's time to rinse... I like to do this in a little pool of water in the sink (I do have to change it fairly regularly!), however you could equally just rinse it under a tap. You may want to repeat the shampoo and rinse process for foundation and concealer brushes as they tend to be particularly messy.

Once rinsed, pat your brush to remove excess water, and place on a tray covered in a teatowel that's been placed slightly at an angle. (I propped one side of the tray up with a tub of body scrub!) This will allow the water you've inevitably got into the metal joinings of the brush to drain out instead of staying in their to rust! Rememeber to make sure all the hairs are lying in the correct direction, you don't want them to look like porcupines! Then all you have to do is wait for them to dry. I usually leave them overnight and that's enough for most brushes.

Yay for ugly old christmas themed teatowels?

I really love doing this as it makes me feel all lovely and clean when applying my makeup, and I also find the process of cleaning them wierdly theraputic!

Why don't you give it a go!

Prom Dresses for your Body Type!

Today I want to continue my Prom Mini Series by talking about Prom Dresses for your Body Type!

If you don't yet know which your body type is, then lucky for you, I blogged about it a couple of days ago... (you would almost think I'd planned this!)

Being a bit of a pear myself, working out what suits my body type has been a long and sometimes painful process for me, so I hope I can help someone else with it!

Below I'm going to show you a few dresses (all from ASOS just to try and keep things simple), and for each one I'm going to explain which body types it's likely to suit and why.

So without any further ado... bring out dress number one!

 

 

Now ignoring colour and the detailing, look at the shape of this dress - strapless with a puffy skirt. This style is perfect for those of you who are apple shaped, as the sweetheart is flattering on larger busts, and the skirt will create hips, balancing out your figure. Other body shapes will work with this dress, but be warned pear shaped girls, this dress will emphasise the width of your hips!

This is another one for you apple ladies as it doesn't cling to your stomach, and shows off your lovely slim legs. It's also great on those with a tomboy figure too! The floatiness of this dress (floatiness is totally a word!) will create movement and fluidity creating the illusion of fuller hips.

 

 

I love this dress style on lots of body shapes as it's fairly universally flattering. However this style dress is particularly flattering on pear shapes, as the horizontal stripes broaden the appearance of your bust size, and the vertical stripes lengthen the lower half of your body.

 

 

Now this is a great dress for pear shaped girls who love floaty feminine styles. Firstly it will broaden your shoulders with the wide straps. The black belt is at the perfect place to nip you in where you are smallest. The skirt is also great as it will float over your hips, but doesn't have much netting to emphasise their size! However this dress will totally work for the majority of body shapes.

 

 

If you don't mind showing off your back, this is a great dress for those curvier girls (for example pears and hourglasses), as the long length will make your legs appear longer. It will also make your bum look good! ;)

 

So there you go... There were about 101 dresses I could have picked as styles for each body type, but in the end, regardless of your body type, you have to find out what works for you!

Good luck prom dress shopping!

 

What's my Body Type?

It's going to be prom season soon, and that probably means time to buy a dress if you haven't already! 

So I thought that now is the perfect time do a mini series about prom dresses! I want to start off by talking about "Prom Dresses for Your Body Type", however for that to be of any use to anyone, you need to know what shape you are first! So just in case you don't know which body type you are, I'm going to explain them to you!

There are four common body types amongst women, and each has different characteristics. But before you read please remember that every woman is different, and your shape may not always be obvious as you can be a very subtle or a very bold form of a body type!

The Rectangle/Banana/Tomboy

If you have this body type your body will tend to go straight up and down, without pinching in much at the waist, and your shoulders and hips will be of equal width. You may also be slightly lacking in the boob and bum department, however this is not always the case.

P!nk is known for her petit frame, and crazy haircuts!

The Hourglass

Similarly to the Rectangle, your hips and shoulders should balance, however the key difference between these 2 body types is the difference between your hips and waist. You have more noticeable curves, and often a larger bum and boobs to match! You are likely to gain weight on both your stomach and hips/thighs.

I just love how classy Beyonce always looks!

The Apple

You shoulders are wider than your hips and you gain weight around your stomach. You are likely to have large boobs, but long, slim legs. It's very likely that you won't have a very defined waist.

Nadine Coyle from Girls Aloud - her legs go on forever!

The Pear

The majority of british women are this shape. You are likely to have larger hips and slimmer shoulders, you should have a large difference between your hips and waist, and gain weight largely on your hips too. You're likely to have a larger bum (did someone say ghetto booty?) and smaller boobs.

I love, love, love this dress. Oh, and JLo!

So there you go, body shapes explained! Work out which you are, and get ready to find a prom dress which compliments your shape!

Happy Easter and March Favourites!

Today's post is a double whammy post! 

(can I hear an ooh?) 

First of all it's Easter and I wanted to wish you all a Happy Easter! I'm a Christian so this celebration has special meaning for me. It's a time when I'm reminded that someone perfect and blameless loved me enough to die for me, and that because of that I no longer have to feel guilty for my imperfections and screw ups! That's pretty amazing, right?

Secondly, it's also the end of the month. And that means, it's beauty favourites time!

Favouritest favourite product of the month has to be Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream without a doubt. I've done a detailed rave review post which you can read, but I wanted to mention it just in case you missed it! It's a lovely hydrating, moisturising multipurpose cream, that only smells slightly odd! Well worth a try if you have dry skin like me!

I've also been loving the "10" blusher bronzer duo by Benefit. It was the first real blusher I ever bought, but I haven't really used it for quite a while. But I randomly decided to give it a use half way through the month and have regularly used it since. It is made up of a shimmery bronzer and a shimmery pale pink blusher. This blush is so pale that I have occasionally used it as a highlight along the top of my cheekbones. Although you are supposed to use the colours stripped next to each other along your cheeks, I've been swirling it together on my brush and it gives me a lovely healthy glow!

Another product I've been enjoying using lately is the Pencil Eyeliners by No.7. They're lovely and creamy, and the one I have is a very dark grey colour, with a lot of sparkle. I've been using it a lot recently to smudge out, creating a subtle smokey eye!

The next product was one I was given by a friend, the Benefit Eye Bright. It's a pale pink concealer in a jumbo pencil form. I like it because the pink counteracts the blue shades I sadly find below my eyes, and also because the pencil form means you have greater control and accuracy of where you place it.

I've also recently got into contouring and highlighting a lot this month. Although it's quite a lot of work for everyday, it's lovely for special occasions. I use the Blank Canvas Cosmetics Contour 1 Palette which I really have enjoyed using as it has different shades so is easy to adapt according to your skin colour. It also means you can start off lightly and then intensify it to your taste. 

I don't have any skin or hair products this month, is there anything you'd recommend me trying?