Simple Cookies for all Occasions!

Simple Cookies for all Occasions! 

Cookies and Tea !

My boyfriend and I love making cookies and have come up with our own recipe which we find works the best for us. We love to make a batch if we have friends or family coming over.

Preparation time: 15-20 minutes

Makes: around 27 medium sized cookies 

Oven Temp: 180 degrees Celsius

Cooking time: around 10 minutes

Ingredients:

250g of Plain Flour

150g of Caster Sugar (or granulated if you don't have caster)

150g of Light Brown Sugar or Muscovado Sugar

225g Butter

2tsp Vanilla Extract

1 tsp of bicarbonate soda 

2 medium eggs

Lots of chocolate!

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius

Place half melted butter, sugar (both brown and caster) and vanilla extract in a bowl and mix together

Beat eggs in a cup

Add Plain flour and bicarb soda and beaten eggs to the sugar and butter mixture 

Mix together into a dough and add which ever chocolate you like. We find dividing the batch in three at this stage works best so we can add different fillings for a bit of variety!

Pop in the oven and keep checking them until they are golden brown

Leave on wire rack to cool

Enjoy!

This time we made three different types of cookies. One batch was white chocolate, one milk chocolate and one was chocolate and caramel pieces. Yummy!

Keeping Healthy- Alcohol Free January!

Keeping Healthy- Alcohol Free January!

So I am not one for new years resolutions - as a child I used to say I would make my bed everyday ...I still struggle to make my bed twenty years later! But for some reason I got it in to my head that I wanted to give up alcohol for a while.

It was around the 10th of January and I was getting ready to go out for coffee with friends. Trying to decide whether coffee would turn in to drinks and if I should therefore dress a bit more formally I realised ..huh! I haven't had anything to drink so far in 2015! So I decided ok I am going to have a drink free January! 

I would not consider myself a heavy drinker. I would have a glass of wine or two with my boyfriend during the week and then generally go out for drinks on the weekend. 

My reasoning behind setting up this blog was to better myself so I thought I would document this part of my journey towards a better me too!  

Noticing that January is almost over I decided to search the internet to see what the benefits of giving up alcohol were and here are a few I found..

• As your liver isn't using its energy to break down alcohol it can concentrate on healing any bruises or scrapes you may have! (Fab I am so clumsy that my knees constantly have bruises on them from walking in to things so this will help!)
• Your complexion will even out- always a plus
• It helps you to avoid gaining excess tummy fat- again always a plus
• Better sleep- yippee! 

I didn't find it too challenging to give up alcohol. There were only a few times where I felt a bit left out because I wasn't drinking but I reaped the benefits when I woke up the next morning hangover free and as fresh as a daisy! 

I have noticed my skin has gotten a lot better- I have been using my clarisonic and using Clarins Facial Shaping Lipo Drain Serum so I guess its probably a combination of everything! 

So I think I will continue my drink free January into an alcohol free February! 

As always thanks so much for reading! If you enjoyed this post don't forget to follow me on google+, twitter and bloglovin' 

Love Bobby x  

Cleaning Make Up Brushes

Cleaning Make Up Brushes 

Deep Cleansing Technique

Why do we need to clean our make up brushes?

• So the most obvious reason is that when you use your brushes, especially eye make up brushes, all the different products colour and stain your brush meaning that any residue from previous styles will come through in the look you are recreating today.
• Secondly germs and bacteria gather in your brushes and cause skin problems such as spots and blackheads
• Also if your make up brushes are dirty you are putting that grime and bacteria back into your make up palettes causing them to go bad before their time! 
• Finally clean brushes will last longer.

Dirty brushes getting ready for a bath!

How to clean your make up brushes

There are two different types of cleaning techniques 

1. Spot cleaning which basically means popping a bit of brush cleaner on a make up cotton pad or tissue and rubbing your brushes gently - this should be done at least once a week
2. Deep cleansing (which I am going to explain today) which should be done once a month

Deep Cleansing Technique

Before we start there are a few golden rules which need to be followed..

• Never wash past the bristles of the brush! This will wear down the glue which is holding your brush together.
• Do no try standing up as the brush cleaner and water will drain into the glue in the brush which again will wear away your brush
• Let your brushes dry naturally lying down.
• After a deep cleaning it may take your brushes a few days to dry completely so keep that in mind and only clean the brushes you know you won't need for a few days- I tend to wash my brushes in a rotation so I am never left caught out with no brushes!

1. Firstly fill a clean small basin with luke warm water, or alternatively use a clean sink.  
2. Dip the tip of your brush into the water to wet it
3. Place some washing up liquid or baby shampoo on your palm
4. Swirl the brush in the shampoo against your palm 
5. Gently rub out the soapy make up from your brushes and repeat a few times until the water remains clear.
6. Leave brushes to dry naturally lying down.

Lovely clean brushes relax as they take a few days off to dry!

Tips

One tip I would add is that when you feel that all the old make up is removed from the brush do one more shampoo and rinse just to be sure - you would be surprised at just how much make up can be hiding in all those bristles, especially in flat foundation brushes. Many times I think I have a brush all clean and decide to repeat steps 4 and 5 one more time just in case to find that there was more stubborn make up gunk still buried in the brush.

Do you have any tips to add?

Thanks for reading!

Feel free to follow me on Google +, bloglovin' or Twitter (@Pressed_Powder)

Love Bobby x. 

Guerlain Super Aqua Lotion, Replumping Toner Hydration, Radiance

Guerlain Super Aqua Lotion, Replumping Toner Hydration, Radiance  

Guerlain Super Aqua Lotion, Replumping Toner Hydration, Radiance  

This has to be my favourite toner I have tried so far. As you can see from the picture my Guerlain Super Aqua Lotion is down to the half way mark. I use this product almost everyday.

It is super hydrating and has a beautiful refreshing rose scent. I noticed a change in my skin after using this toner for a couple of days. My skin became much more hydrated and very smooth. It even improved the bags under my eyes. It is also really gently on my skin which is important to me. 

Guerlain Super Aqua Lotion, Replumping Toner, Hydration, Radiance

This is my go to toner and I will be a very tough act to beat !

Have you tried this product?

Do you have a favourite toner?

Thanks for reading!

Feel free to follow me on Google +, bloglovin' or Twitter (@Pressed_Powder)

Bobby x. 

Clarins Paris Shaping Facial Lift Lipo-drain serum

Clarins Paris 

Shaping Facial Lift

Lipo-drain serum

Clarins Paris Shaping Facial Lift Lipo-drain serum

The Clarins Shaping Facial Lift Lipo-drain serum is a serum aimed at creating more defined features to create the much sought after V shape contours. It does this with a combination of different plant extracts such as Baccharin which helps with contouring, Horse chestnut which helps with reducing puffiness and Blue Button Flower which helps reducing fat deposits. It also contains ingredients such as caffeine and alchemilla. Along with creating more defined features it also aims to give an even skin tone and more youthful appearance.

How to use Clarins Paris Shaping Facial Lift Lipo-drain serum

Clarins recommend that you use four pumps of the Shaping Facial Lift Lipo-drain serum and spread evenly all over your face and neck. 

They also provide facial message instructions to carry out to help speed up the process. This massage consists of short exercises which only take a few minutes to carry out. This can be found on the Clarins website.

I have just started using Clarins Paris Shaping Facial Lift Lipo-drain serum last night and I have to say I woke up pleasantly surprised as my skin pigmentation was much more even and radiant looking even after one night! There has been no change yet to the contours of my face but the product indicates that it would take a month before results would be noticeable so I will review again in a month time and see if I notice any significant difference! 

Have you tried this product? What did you think?

Thanks for reading!

Feel free to follow me on Google +, bloglovin' or Twitter (@Pressed_Powder)

Love

Bobby x. 

Clarisonic Mia 2 Hollywood Lights

Clarisonic Mia 2 Hollywood Lights

Clarisonic Mia 2 Hollywood Lights

My sister bought me a Clarisonic Mia 2 Hollywood Lights for Christmas this year and I was very excited to start using it. A month later and I have not been disappointed! I already have friends and family complementing how good my skin looks ( which makes me wonder how bad did it look beforehand! ).

The first time I used it I couldn't get over how amazing my skin felt. I really felt like my skin was glowing and I never remember feeling my skin so soft before- even my boyfriend commented on how soft it felt.

The first two weeks of using the Clarisonic Mia 2 Hollywood Lights I found that my skin broke out a bit with little spots. I feel like this may have been all the impurities in my skin coming to the surface because of the Clarisonic and they have all since disappeared. 

How to use the Clarisonic Mia 2 Hollywood Lights

I tend to give my skin a quick wash beforehand to get rid of all the layers of make up and eye make up and then use the Clarisonic afterwards. I am amazed at the amount of make up which still ends up on the Clarisonic head! 

Clarisonic Mia 2 Hollywood Lights

Next I wet my face and put a few blobs of cleanser on my forehead, cheeks, nose and chin and off we go! 

I love the timer feature on the  Clarisonic. It beeps at different intervals to let you know when you should move to another part of the face. It recommends:  

• 20 seconds on the forehead
• 20 seconds on the nose and chin
• 10 seconds on one cheek
• 10 seconds on the other cheek

Overall I am so happy with this product and my skin has never been so healthy looking.

Do you have a Clarisonic? What is your skin care routine?

Thanks for reading!

Feel free to follow me on Google +, bloglovin' or Twitter (@Pressed_Powder)

Bobby x. 

OOTD

Outfit of the Day

OOTD

I was looking in my wardrobe this morning to try and decide what to wear today and I noticed two things. 

1. It is so disorganised I can't see all the clothes at a glance I have to try and rummage around.  
2. I have so many clothes which I have hardly ever worn.

So I remedy this I have decided to unleash a full wardrobe reorganisation scheme starting from tonight! So this will mean taking out all the clothes sorting them into what I want to keep and what I want to donate and then putting away any summer clothes that are clogging up my wardrobe at the moment. If you have any tips for reorganising your wardrobe let me know! 

My second remedy is aiming to wear an item of that I haven't worn in a few months everyday. I think I am getting to set in my ways of wearing certain outfits over and over. 

So today I decided to wear my Uterque dress and Mexx jumper. The Mexx jumper is new but the Uterque dress hasn't seen the light of day in a while so it is nice to give it an outing!  

Mexx Top

Uterque dress

And that is my outfit for today :) Hope you like it !

As always thank you for reading my blog! Hope you have a great day!

If you liked this post don't forget to follow me on Google +, Bloglovin or Twitter (@Pressed_Powder). 

Love Bobby x. 

Mavala Slow Growing nails

Nail Care 

My nails have a tendency of growing slowly so I decided to to try a new nail care regime. 

I got a set from Mavala recently as a gift which I have been meaning to try out. 

It has two different nail care products in it. The first is called 'Mavaderma' and this product is a cuticle oil which you massage daily into the cuticle in circular motions. The second is 'Scientifique' and this product is a nail hardener which you apply to the tips of the nails only and apply once or twice a week maximum until the nails are healthy and then every other week after that.

From reading the pack I found out something I never knew before. the growth of nail can depend on if you have cold hands and feet and similarly if you live in colder weather - that explains a lot for us Irish girls !  

Week one

I have just applied both products on my nails. The 'Mavaderma' has a lovely floral scent and the 'Scientifique' has more of a clinical smell. Even after a few hour I have already noticed that the nail hardener has made a big difference on the tips of my nails. The no longer easily bend when I put pressure on them.

Week Two

Unfortunately two of my nails have broken. It is as though the tips of my nails are now so strong that when I put too much pressure on them the rest of the nail cannot support it and it snaps off instead of bending with the impact. This may mean that I no longer need to use the 'Scientifique' as my nails are strong enough.

Week 3 

I have only used the 'Mavaderma'  this week and I have noticed that my nails have stopped breaking and they look nice and healthy!

Verdict 

The 'Scientifique' wasn't really for me but I would definitely buy the 'Mavaderma' again.


Thanks for reading!

Feel free to follow me on Google +, bloglovin' and twitter (@Pressed_Powder).

Love Bobby x.

What is in my Make Up Bag - January 2015

What is in my Make Up Bag - January 2015

My Make Up Bag

I am in my boyfriend's house today and had not planned a blog post or taken any pictures for a post I could work on. I was feeling sorry for myself when I thought - wait this is the perfect opportunity to to a blog on my make up bag!  

I travel to and fro between my house and my boyfriend's house and, although I have a drawer with some bits and bobs, I always tend to bring my make up bag forward and back with me. 

My brushes

I bring the things I need to do my make up for whatever occasion. This is my new make up bag which was a gift from my boyfriend's sister for my birthday and I am obsessed with it (if you have read by liebster post I'm sure you already know this)! 

Tonight we are having a few friends around for a board games night so its nice and casual.

I have a few of my brushes with me- My 35N Make Up Forever foundation brush and my Real Techniques buffing brush, contour brush and deluxe crease brush. These would be the brushes I use the most. 

My foundations and concealer

My favourite Rimmel Match Perfection foundation (here's my review of it)  has just run out so I am now using Oriflame Studio Artist Foundation which my good friend gave me. I love this foundation and it smells amazing which is a plus. I use the Sleek Bare Skin Foundation in Praline for contouring and find that it works very well with the Oriflame foundation. Finally I have my old reliable concealer - Rimmel Match Perfection in Ivory ( also reviewed here ).

My powders

I have a few different powders. Firstly my Sleek Face Contour Kit in Light. It has to be the most useful palette ! I use it everyday for contouring. I have my new Primark P.S. Love... bronzer which I am testing out at the moment and my Natural Collection Pressed Powder for setting my make up. 

Eye Make up

I have my Sleek Brow Kit in Dark which is my favourite brow kit at the moment, my favourite Sleek eye palette i-Divine Oh So Special 658, Collection Intense Colour Kohl Pencil and Rimmel The Max Volume Mascara. 

Seventeen and Collection

Finally I have my two favourite lipsticks at the moment! Seventeen Stay Pout -Going Steady and Collection Gothic Glam- Seduction (reviewed here). 

And that is the extent of my make up bag! What is in your make up bag? I would love to hear from you.

I will be doing reviews and swatches of these products soon so stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!


I'm off to start playing the board games!  Enjoy your night :)

Feel free to follow me on Google +, Bloglovin', or twitter (@Pressed_Powder) and I will follow back 

Love Bobby x.

Liebster Award

Liebster Award

I am still very new to the world of blogging and so when Michaela from Caela's blogs nominated me for a Liebster award I was very excited (but also a bit nervous!). I want to say a huge thank you to Michaela for nominating me and you guys should check out her lovely blog princesscaela89.blogspot.co.uk .

I have copied and pasted the rules that Michaela used which are as follows

1. Thank the person who nominated you

2. Answers the questions from your nominator

3. Nominate 11 bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

4. Create 11 new questions

5. Notify your nominees through social media  

So the questions Michaela asked were : 

1. If you could only own 3 makeup products what would they be?

O gosh, this is a tough one! You should see my make up bag.. it is huge ! But if I had to pick only three make-up products..

1. I would have to have foundation (Rimmel Match Perfection). I feel very self conscious without foundation because I am a bit shy and blush when I talk to new people or in front of a crowd. 

2. I would have to have a lipstick ( Lancome L'absolu Rouge ) . I think I get it from my mum, who gets it from her mum that you are never fully dressed without your lipstick!

3. I feel like I have the face and lips covered so I best have something for the eyes! Mascara ( Maxfactor Volume Mascara). For some reason I have forgotten to put my mascara on a few time lately before leaving the house and I felt very very strange so I will go with Mascara!  

2. Who's your favourite blogger and youtuber

I love lots of Youtubers and bloggers but my favourite favourite favourite at the moment is Dani Mansutti. 

3. If you could only use either drugstore/high street makeup or high end makeup for the rest of your life which would you choose?

I've only ever really used drugstore make-up and have had one or two pieces high end make-up here and there. High end make-up for me has always been something that's really special because I don;t treat myself to it too often. So this is a tough question. I would love to have high end make up for the rest of my life but ideally I would like to have both because I love the fact I get so excited when I get something high end and I don't want it to loose its specialness! 

4. Whats your holy grail beauty product?

I am still on my quest for my holy grail product! At the moment my favourite product would be the Rimmel Match Perfection concealer. 

5. In your opinion whats the best budget beauty product and why?

Same answer to the above question- Rimmel Match Perfection Concealer. I just feel like it is a hidden gem!

6. What made you want to start blogging?

I had wanted to blog / do youtube videos when I was younger ever since I started watching Michelle Phan (probably around 5 years ago) and went as far as to record a video on my awful camera but chickened out. I finally plucked up the courage to start blogging in December 2014 but I was very nervous. I have to say I have never met such nice people than the people in the blogging community!

7. Whats your favourite food and drink?

I love food. Anything Thai, Chinese, Italian! I love lemonade- especially the freshly squeezed lemonade from M&S... yuummmm.  

8. If you got to make your own beauty product what would it be? and what would the packaging be like?

Wow this is a cool question. I have always wanted to try making a perfume! (Does that count as a beauty product? I hope so!). I would probably keep the packaging pretty simple maybe a pale turquoise with some sort of subtle print or design.

  

9. Describe your perfect makeup bag

My perfect make up bag... I actually got, what I would consider, the perfect make up bag for me from my boyfriend's sister  for my birthday! I will have to post a picture of it .. It is a nice big size (I'd say you could fit an tablet in it!) and it has lovely scotty dogs on it and its bright and funky and I love it. Especially as my boyfriend got me lots make up for Christmas, and my birthday is just a few days after Christmas, it couldn't have come at a better time. It is great for carrying my make-up for when I am staying his house ! 

10. Do you use fake tan? and if so what is your favourite?

I do use fake tan - no as often as I should though! I have really pale skin and I have bad circulation so I tend to look a bit blue with the cold. I love wearing fake tan to boost my confidence. I love Sally Hansen or Coco Brown.

11. If you were given £100 to spend on either clothes or makeup which would you choose? 

Make-up! I have too much clothes... I positively cannot buy any more until I do a big sort out and donate what I don't wear to charity. 

My Nominees!

1   Kaitlyn:  http://kaitlynlovesbeauty.blogspot.ie/

2   Shauna: http://sjsbeautyblog.blogspot.ie/

3    Petranka:  http://outsidethewardrobe.blogspot.ie/

4   Aly : http://xoalyy.blogspot.ie/

5  Charlotte : http://dobeautywithcharlotte.blogspot.co.uk/

6 http://petitepralines.blogspot.ie/2015/01/beauty-zen-positive-affirmations.html

7 Daiisoo: http://daiisoo.blogspot.ie/

8 Coleen : http://bellezateenvida.blogspot.co.uk/

9 http://cheap-skatefashion.blogspot.ie/

10

11

11 Questions for my nominees !

1.Why did you start blogging?

2. What is your favourite thing to do on a rainy day?

3. What would be your ideal holiday destination?

4. What is your favourite meal of the day?

5. If you had one wish (and you cannot wish for more wishes) what would it be?

6. What are your goals for 2015?

7. Where do you see yourself in ten years time?

8. What was the last random act of kindness you performed?

9. What is your favourite colour?

10.What is your favourite make-up product and why?

11. What is your favourite blog post from your blog and why?




Thanks again for the nomination :)

Bobby x.

H&M Mini Make Up Shopping Spree !

H&M Mini Make Up Shopping Spree ! 

H&M Lipstick - Darling Pink 

H&M Darling Pink

I love H&M lipstick and have already reviewed Fiji Fling in my Rosy Lips post. 

H&M Darling Pink 

This lipstick is a nice coral pink colour and I am looking forward for spring to arrive so I can start wearing this lovely lively shade ! 

Swatch of H&M Darling Pink

H&M Glitter Eyeliner 

H&M Glitter eyeliner 

Now I have to admit there is very little glitter in this eye liner for a 'glitter eyeliner' but it works to my advantage as I prefer a more subtle shimmer to large amounts of glitter. 

Swatch of glitter eyeliner

Solid Black and Frost Grey Pencil Eyeliner

Solid Black and Frost Grey eyeliner

I always need new eyeliners and so decided to pick up a grey and a black eyeliner to try out. 

Swatches of glitter eyeliner, solid black and frost grey

The pencil eyeliners are nice and soft to use and smudge well which would be the two main things I look for in an eyeliner! 

H&M Nail Polish - Malin's Mirage 

Malin's Mirage 

I decided to pink up a pink nail varnish as I am running low on pink at the moment. I

Malin's Mirage 

 like the applicator brush on this nail varnish and there is also a ball bearing inside the bottle which is great to help prevent the nail varnish separating or drying out.

Malin's Mirage

Cracked Nail Varnish 

Cracked black nail varnish

I bought a similar product a few years ago and loved it so was thrilled to see this in H&M today.

Example of cracked nail varnish

I love the texture this nail varnish creates! 

That ends my mini shopping spree in H&M !

Feel free to follow me on Google +, bloglovin' and Twitter (Pressed_Powder)

I hope you enjoyed my post. Thanks so much for reading!

Love Bobby x. 

Conceal and Highlight

Conceal and Highlight

Concealer has become one of my everyday essentials in my make up routine both for highlighting and for cover blemishes. I like to have a few different colours and consistencies to choose from depending on which foundation or look I go for.

Sleek Correct and Conceal Palette 002 

Sleek Correct and Conceal Palette

My boyfriend bought me lots of different Sleek products this Christmas-  I was a very lucky girl. Included in his present was three different Sleek concealer products. First up is this lovely Sleek Correct and Conceal Palette.

I love this product because it is small and handy to carry around in your make up bag. The first two are cream concealers and the final disk is a powder. They last the whole day and blend well with my other make up products. A major perk for me is that it also has SPF 15.

Sleek Hide it Concealer 00

Sleek hide it concealer

This is the second concealer by boyfriend picked up for me. Again it is a handy size and a creamy consistency. It also has SPF 15 which is fabulous. 

Sleek trio and Sleek hide it concealer

Sleek Luminaire 02

Sleek Luminaire 

A third find by my boyfriend -Sleek Luminaire. I really like this concealer and highlighter although I haven't hand many opportunities yet to use it. I'm looking forward to getting an excuse to wear it again soon !

Swatches of Sleek trio, Sleek hide it and Sleek luminaire 

Rimmel Match Perfection Concealer and Highlighter 010 Ivory 

Rimmel Match Perfect Concealer and Highlighter

I have included a review of this product in another post  here . This would be the concealer I use everyday. It is easy to use, affordable and good quality. 

Swatches of Sleek trio, Sleek hide it, Sleek luminaire and Rimmel
 

Natural Collection Cover Up Stick - Fair 

Natural Collection Cover Up Stick -Fair

I must admit I haven't used this concealer lately. It is extremely affordable and has heavy coverage so it is great when you are having a bad skin day. I would generally use it in very small amounts in conjunction with other concealers if I needed a bit of extra coverage. 

Swatches of Sleek trio, Sleek hide it, Sleek luminaire,  Rimmel and Natural Collection

These are a few of my concealers from my collection. Do you have any concealers you would add to this list? I am always on the look out for new products so I would love to hear from you :)

Feel free to follow me on Blogger, Google +, Bloglovin' and Twitter (@Pressed_Powder). 

Thank you for reading!

Love Bobby x.