I DID IT!

(excuse having to look at my horrible toes!)

I know it's only tiny! But it's my first one! So glad I finally had it done, it didn't hurt at all and my tattooist was so lovely!

Now to find a pair of shoes that don't rub it for my mile and a half walk to work... fml.

beautiful photographs

One of my absolute favourite photographers is Anna Verlet. Her beautiful landscapes and nature snaps are such an inspiration, if I'm ever halfway as good as her I'd be over the moon. The mute tones and composition of every single one of her photos are so intense, they are quite literally breathtaking.
Here are a few of my favourites.
Click the pics to enlarge and see the true beauty!

All images courtesy of Anna Verlet's Flickr

the best brownies ever!

These are actually the best brownies EVER! I love chocolatey goodness in any form, but brownies especially! Sometimes they can be a bit too heavy though. These are the perfect texture and lightness!
I was going to take pictures of the process but I got a bit excited melting chocolate and forgot to weigh out the other ingredients so had to go fast. I ended up not following the original recipe at all.
I also had an After Eight easter egg left over so I used that as the chocolate rather than normal dark chocolate, it has a slight minty taste which made the brownies even more perfect!
Oh and I ran out of caster sugar, so used normal sugar.
Basically this recipe is my complete mess filled mistake.

200g Butter
270g Dark Chocolate
200g Sugar
30g Cocoa Powder
60g Self-Raising Flour
4 Eggs

- Preheat oven to 200
- Grease your baking tin
- Melt the butter and chocolate over a pan of boiling water
- In another bowl mix together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder and eggs
- Pour in the melted chocolate/butter and stir until smooth
- Pour the entire mixture into your baking tin
- Bake for 30 mins, the top should be crispy but gooey inside.
- Cut into squares and devour with a bit of vanilla ice cream on the side :)

I recommend wearing an apron, because while sneaking spoonfuls of the mixture you will spill it down yourself.

Review: China Glaze Holographic Nail Polish in OMG

I am in love with this stuff! It's amazing!
I was a bit sceptical as to how good the holographic-ness would be when I bought it but its good good good!
The consistency is pretty nice, takes 2/3 coats to become properly opaque but it goes on so smoothly that this isn't a problem. It's really fast drying, one of the fastest I've come across. But it does tend to chip fairly easily, so I'd definitely recommend using a top coat with it. It's not too cheap, about £8 a bottle, but I got mine off eBay for around £5.

This is my first China Glaze nail polish, and I will definitely be buying more. The OMG Holographic range is so cute, all of the colours are named after different internet abbreviations eg. IDK, 2NITE, TTYL. I of course want them all!

a saturday at the custard factory

My friend Ellie and I spent Saturday around the Custard Factory in Birmingham. There's lots of beautiful architecture and it's full of vintage shops and stalls. There was a vintage fair on too but it was so packed we couldn't look properly. Got some nice little bits I'll show you in another post.

Scrumdiddlyumptious Lemon Bars

This is my first food post! Woo!

I made this delicious and easy to bake Lemon Bars earlier today.. I'm a little obsessed with anything lemon, and these are perfect for a summery day too :)

What you'll need
For the base:
200g (7oz) plain flour
75g (3oz) caster sugar
175g (6oz) butter
For the filling:
3 eggs
300g (11oz) caster sugar
3 tablespoons plain flour
4 tablespoons lemon juice
Zest of one lemon


Preheat oven to 180°C
Grease your baking tin
Mix together the butter and sugar

Add the flour to the creamed mixture. Forming a dough.

With floured hands, place dough in the baking tray.

Pat down the dough to fill the base of the tray.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

In the meantime...
Whisk together eggs, sugar, flour, lemon juice and zest. (I admit there's triple the amount of zest and juice in there.. I'm a lemon addict)

When the base is cooked, pour this mixture over the top and put back into the oven for another 20-25 minutes.
Allow to cool completely before sprinkling icing sugar over the top and cutting into squares.

Voilà.. scrumdiddlyumptious lemon bars :)

Enjoy my lovelies, and have a fabulous weekend :)

Get the look: Rachel Bilson

 A few of you have said you'd like to see some more fashion posts on here. So I thought a celeb style guide with each outfit for under £100 ($145) would be good for all of us a bit strapped for cash. Let me know whether you like this feature.. be honest! i can take it :)

Rachel Bilson's look
Straw Trilby - £5 - New Look
Sunglasses - £5.50 - www.outerrebel.com
Skinny Jeans - £25 - Dorothy Perkins
Boyfriend Blazer - £30 - Ben Sherman @ Asos Outlet
Suede Ankle Boots - £20 - F&F @ Tesco
Nautical Racer Back Top - £8 - New Look
Shopper Bag - £5 - New Look


Total - £98.50 ($143)

Review: Soap & Glory Flake Away

This is my first Soap & Glory product. I honestly don't know why, I lovelovelove the packaging but I suppose I thought if they put that much money into the pretty packaging then the products couldn't be that great especially as they are such low prices. This has definitely proved me wrong though.

What they say
Transforms your scaly legs from reptilian to radiant. Nothing eliminates dry surface flakes as fast as Flake Away. For superhero-strength skin smoothing spa body polish with Shea Butter, sweet almond oil, peach seed powder, sea salt and sugar.

What I say
The consistency of this exfoliator is perfect! Not too greasy, not too gloopy, just the right amount of scrubby bits vs smooth moisturising bits. With exfoliators I've used before they've either been too abrasive or not really done anything at all. I don't really have 'flaky' skin.. I don't know anyone who does.. but using this 2/4 times a week for a month or so and my skin is so smooth! Any dry patches have disapeared and my skin looks much brighter. It's so good that I've really had to refrain from using it on my face.. but I learnt my lesson about using body products on my face when I got obsessed with Palmers Cocoa Butter.. trust me spots of volcanic proportions are not a good look!

(Sorry about the horrible mottled skin... stupid weather and bad circulation)

Pros
- Great consistency.
- Does what it says on the tin with a cherry on top.
- Pretty pretty packaging.
- Great price... I got a 300ml tub from Boots for £4.33
- Lovely peachy, orangey, vanillary smell that makes you want to eat it!... But don't... trust me, I tried.

Cons
- A little doesn't go that far.. the pot is after about a month and a half's use.. so it's not that bad but I used more than I thought I'd need.
- Bath needs some serious scrubbing after using it.
- Might need to swap hands for the scrubbing.. makes them tingle after a while.

Will definitely be repurchasing and getting more Soap & Glory products!