Lemon Drizzle Cake!

Todays post is going to be a little different from my usual fashion/beauty posts. I have been LOVING baking recently and after seeing Tanya Burrs video with Zoella it made me rekindle my love for baking Lemon Drizzle cake! I got out my trusty Mary Berry cookbook and made the lemon drizzle tray bake.

This recipe is pretty much the easiest thing you can make and you can't really go wrong. The only thing I found helpful was an electric mixer as it makes the cake have a smooth texture when cooked.

First things first you need to set the oven to 160 degrees. You may also want to grease a tin or line it with greaseproof paper as the overall preparing of the cake happens very quickly.

All you have to do is put everything into the mixing bowl and mix it all together until it becomes a smooth and silky texture. You then put it into the container and put it in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until you can put a knife in and take it out without anything being on the knife. Whilst you are waiting for it to cook you can then make your topping by mixing together what you need. I would like to add I used icing sugar instead of granulated!

I find the next step better to do whilst it is still in the container. You need to use your knife or a skewer to create a line of holes from the top to the bottom of the cake. You will then pour your icing all over the cake so it can get inside and add some extra 'lemonness' to the taste.

Once the cake has fully cooled then you can take it out of the tray and cut into small squares and then enjoy!

It is such a great smaller cake to enjoy with a coffee or tea! 

Hope you liked this post and let me know if you make this tray bake too! 

Twitter- @Bellamomentox

Superdrug Haul!

Finally my order from Superdrug has come! And this time it was the RIGHT order which makes everything so much better. I bought a selection of bits that I have wanted to treat myself too for a while now. 

 First of all I got this NYC Palette. This was probably one of the things I was most excited about getting. These may have been in the UK for a while now but I have only really just seen them. Priced at £2.49 each they are truly a steal! Something else I thought was good about them is that they have been created with different eye colours in mind. I got Smokey Blue for blue eyes and Midtown Mauve for brown eyes. My eyes are mainly blue but I have a spec of brown in one of my eyes. I always gravitate towards the pinks and purples for my eyes but I also wanted to try out the blue palette too!

When I saw that this palette had come back into stock I knew that I needed to get my hands on it. I have been looking for it in stores and online with no luck at all! This palette is called 'Undress me too' by MUA and has been stated by bloggers to be very similar to the Naked 2 palette with the same textures and colour pay off. I wanted to see whether this is true as I am a huge fan of the Naked 2! This palette retails at £4.00.

 Now onto lips, I needed some new lip products as I use my same Bombshell by MAC everyday with a little bit of my revlon kissable balm stain underneath. I had heard good things about these products so picked some up. First of all I got The Cream Puff moisturising Lip Cream in cotton candy 1. On the side it says a Velvety soft, matt finish lip cream. I would agree with this statement as it does go on very matt and does feel that it is super soft. However sadly to say I really didn't like this product. I have always tried different products and experimented with different things but I just hated the way it made my lips feel when wearing it. I felt like my lips reacted to it so I am not sure whether I am going to try it again. I did however love the packaging and the smell of the product which is always a bonus! This retails at £2.99.

 I had seen these being advertised in superdrug in store and wanted to get a couple. Little Mix created their own products for Collection and have sold really well. The shade on the Left is Jade's colour. This colour may be one of my favourites in terms of lips as it can be worn as a nude colour. The shade on the right is Perrie's colour and is a purple colour. I have wanted to try out a purple colour for a while now and seeing as Perrie is known for her purple Lip I decided to give this a try. I really like the colour payoff as when it is on the lips it doesn't look as out there. I like how the collection can be connected to each of the girls with their iconic symbol. Both of these lipsticks retail at £2.49 at the moment.

 The Apocalips Lip Lacquers are another blogger recommended product that I wanted to try out. I got shade 102 Nova which is a light pink colour. I love how it goes on as a lipgloss but really sticks and has the colour of a lipstick. I have probably worn this the most since I have got it as it can be worn for day and evening time. This retails currently for £5.99.

I have finally decided to buy a Real Techniques brush! I decided to get the expert face brush as this seemed to be the one brush when researched that people had said to get as the first one. I have used this to apply my liquid foundation and really love how easily the brush blends in the foundation. I also like how it has a flat bottom which means it can stand next to all of my brushes on my dressing table. This brush retails at £8.99. 

I hope this haul was worth the wait, I was so excited to share all the bits I got with you! 

xoxox

Twitter- @Bellamomentox

*Everything was bought with my own money and every view is my own, If there are any PR requests please check out my About Me section at the top for details of how you can get in touch. Thanks :) 

Manicure sunday?

Now I know that usually you are supposed to post your manicure Monday blogposts on a Monday, but I was far to excited about this post! I am going to share my first (I think) nail tutorial! This is something that is very easy to do but looks really complicated when finished on your nails. It is also a nail tutorial and design that you can very easily do on yourself!

What you need for this tutorial are three colours which compliment each other really well. I went for Pink, Lilac and dark purple. I also got a base/top coat and a sponge. You can also use a makeup sponge if you don't have an painting sponge.

First step is to paint your nails with a base coat. This helps the nail varnish to go on smoother and also protects your nails from staining.

Then you need to paint your nails of the colour you have decided to be the base of the design. I went with Barry M's Gelly Hi Shine varnish in Grapefruit.

Then you need to apply some of the next colour you want to use onto your sponge. You really don't need very much on the sponge. Then begin to dab it onto the top of your nail and slightly gradient it down into the pink. You need to make sure that the pink polish is fully dry before doing this step. I used Barry M Nail paint in Berry.

Finally you need to add some drops of your final colour onto your sponge and then dab it right at the top of the nail to get a little of the colour onto the nails. Seal this in place with a topcoat when finished. The Purple I used was a small polish from No7 Collection.

I love how this design looks on the nails. It looks so chic and effortless that it is one that I think will be a reoccurring thing on my nails throughout winter. I am going to try this design out with other colours too, although these three together may be my favourite!

Let me know if you try out this design. I would love to see your results, Tweet me at @bellamomentox

I hope you let me off for posting my manicure Monday post a day early! 

Thanks for reading!

xoxox 

No7 Nail varnish collection

I know I usually post on a Sunday, however I couldn't wait any longer to post about this little collection of nail varnishes. I got this as a present from my auntie, uncle and my little cousins at christmas and just love everything about them! I am a huge nail varnish freak, and after clearing out my polishes I have managed to be left with more than I started with (weird right!?). The consistency of the colours are just on spot. I tend to use them with a base coat and a top coat so that helps to make the varnish glide on easily. Two coats of these and your mani is complete! 

In the set comes Totally Teal, Devils Delight, Damson Dream and Hot to Trot. I love how all the beauty companies are starting to name all of their varnishes as looking at old No7 varnishes in my collection they are left nameless. Each varnish comes with 4ml of nail paint inside which seems to last forever.

Have you tried any No7 nail varnishes?

xoxox

Soap and Glory heaven!

I am so excited to share this little box of goodness with you! It is quite known to my family how obsessed I am with every Soap and Glory product so to receive this gift for christmas, well you can imagine how happy I was! I believe that my mum and dad bought it for me from boots. The bag it comes in is limited edition in itself which means that sadly you can no longer buy the products all together but you can buy them all separately in store anyway. 

The bag is a limited edition Jonathan Saunders design which is in a gorgeous pink and silver colour which matches all Soap and Glory products.

The contents of the box

L-R- Butter Yourself moisturising lotion, Peaches and clean face wash, Sugar Crush body wash.

L-R- Hand Food, The scrub of your life, Heel Genius. 

Righteous butter moisturising butter

L-R- Selection of Soap and Glory Samples, Extreme Plump lipgloss, Thick and fast mascara. 

I am so excited to use all of these products although most of them I have already used in the past and are old favourites for me. If you would like to see a review for any of this products let me know down in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

Francesca

xxx

My fashion and makeup favourites of 2013!

Bonjour!

Sorry I have been a little distant from blogger this past week, Or at least it feels I have been distant since a blog post a day throughout christmas! I have gathered together all of my favourites from 2013 in terms of makeup and fashion to create this years favourites of 2013.

Makeup
2013 was definitely the year that I found makeup. It went from being something I did on occasions, to something that was applied everyday. I still probably have no makeup days more than I do have makeup days but I have really enjoyed finding products that I love and applying makeup more often.

Top of my list has to be my Urban Decay naked 2 palette. I got given this to me for my 18th birthday from my parents and have probably used this everyday when doing my eyeshadow. There are still colours that to this day I have not tried, but I am beginning to experiment a little more with it. Bootycall and YDK are still my go to's eye look. But I have began to use Blackout in place of eyeliner. Tease, Verve and Snakebite are also new favourites of mine. I look forward to using this again throughout 2013 and hopefully adding another palette very similar to this to my collection too!

Another favourite is the Just bitten kissable balm stain by Revlon. I got this before I went on my summer holiday and have used it everyday. It looks very bright and daring on the stick but I have been so surprised how you can make it look somewhat natural by tapping it on the lips and rubbing it with a lip brush. On holiday I also just wore this on its own without any face makeup and it just added a pop of colour to my outfits. As this is a balm stain it stays on ALL day no question and I have had to problems with it bleeding around my lips. I wear this everyday to Uni and could not favourite this product more!

For face there has still been one stand out product for me which I feel doesn't really get talked about that much. When it comes to a base for my makeup I can get really lazy. As I have relatively dry skin sometimes using a liquid foundation causes a little bit of a problem for me. The all in one face base from the body shop is so amazing. The coverage is medium so concealer does have to be used with it but it is so easy to apply and looks great every time. I have been using this product since my 16th birthday in 2011. It comes with a sponge which really does help apply the product successfully. It also smooths out the skin for a fantastic finish. This lasts all day and doesn't budge!

Fashion

My first fashion favourite has to be something that I have got most recently which is my Zara scarf. I have worn this everyday since as it is so versatile and goes with every single outfit. It also is super warm which is really good when living in the UK! It is super soft and although it is on the pricer side for a scarf (£19.99) I think it is so worth it for the quality that you receive. I can't believe that it is the price it is actually!

My next fashion favourite is my coat from Dorothy Perkins. I really love the quilted leather sleeve section and the way it looks like an oversized biker jacket. It is so warm but is relatively thin which is good when you don't want to bulk out an outfit. The only issue that I have with the coat is the material. The nature of a black woollen coat is that it attracts hair of all kinds. I have to give myself time to not only get ready when I go out but to de-hair my coat with a lint roller also. But overall this coat is amazing and I managed to pick it up when Dorothy Perkins were doing their flash sale. I have had a little look and can't find this online, although you may be able to get it in-store in their sales.

My final fashion favourite (if you can call it fashion) is my Pandora bracelet. I got this for my 18th birthday and have really enjoyed buying little memorable charms to place on it. From my grandparents I received the bracelet and the dress and 18 charm. Which are all special because they are my first ones. Then my aunt got me this beautiful green glass bead one. She also bought me the gorgeous tiny charm which I think is one of my favourites! I then bought the boat charm for myself when I was on holiday last year as it reminds me of where we went.


Hope you enjoyed reading this post. It is really nice to finally get back into posting about fashion and makeup!

Francesca

xoxox