A CHILDHOOD CLASSIC

It wouldn't be Easter if we didn't have Mini Egg Nests (also hurray for the return of the Mini Egg- the superior chocolate).

You Will Need:
-A cereal of choice (I'm using Cornflakes but I know a lot of people like Rice Krispies or Bran Sticks if you want the authentic nest-look)
-Chocolate (I'm using Dairy Milk- secretly not my favourite don't tell anyone- but any chocolate is good, I recommend milk for this- though dark is my favourite- and you might need quite a lot)
-Mini Eggs (the bigger the packet the better)

You Will Also Need:
-An oven
-A fridge
-A saucepan
-A bowl
-A spoon
-Cupcake cases
-Those small weird fluffy chick things for added Easterness if you so wish

Personally I love the pirate cases

To Make:
-Break up your chocolate into individual pieces and melt over a LOW heat (mine was too hot at first and I ended up burning it).
-Taste the melted chocolate just to make sure it's melted enough or something.
-Pour the cereal into a big mixing bowl and then pour the melted chocolate over the top.
-PLEASE NOTE: there are no measurements for this recipe, you just kind of make however much you want.
-Mix the cereal and chocolate together until you can see no original cereal colour and every last bit of it is covered in chocolate.
-Put into cupcake cases and decorate with Mini Eggs or weird chicks or whatever you want (I used two Mini Eggs on each one because there wasn't room for three).
-Put into the fridge or leave out until they have set/are as hard as you want them to be (I like them to be really hard but my friend likes them to still be warm and runny).
-Eat the remaining Mini Eggs.

IT'S MY PARTY AND I'LL CRY IF I WANT TO

IT'S MY 17th BIRTHDAY TODAY, YAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY ME!!

For quite a while now I've wanted to do this thing where I take a picture of myself everyday for a year (even though I'm not likely to change all that much). Anyway, I'd wanted to start this on January 1st but I forgot so I thought why not start it today on my birthday.

So starting today I will be taking a picture of myself everyday for a year, ending on 16th April 2015 which will be my 18th birthday.

So this is me today aged 17 exactly, wearing a Topshop top and a Miss Selfridge skirt.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

As you should all know I set myself the new years resolution of reading more which so far I am sticking to very well; but I have also set myself the new goal of trying to read less rubbishy teenage fiction (but not cut it out completely I still need those cringy stories in my life) and read more adulty fiction- PLEASE NOTE adulty fiction being fiction books aimed at adults and not adult books like 50 Shades of Grey which is what my mother thought I meant by adulty books.

I went on a wee book shop recently (meaning I only bought two instead of the five I wanted) and one of those books was 'The Rosie Project' by Graeme Simsion. I'm not going to lie to you, when I first saw this book in Waterstones in hardback the reason I originally picked it up was the fact that the title is my name and that there is  a 3D lobster on the front. I decided to wait until the book was in paperback to get it as it actually sounded really, really good and while searching the interwebs since then and now I have unintentionally come across a lot of great things written about this book. From what I have gathered from the land of the blogs, this book is a cult storm that everyone is reading and there is no one that doesn't love it.

This is quite an easy book to read in that it has very large font, but regardless of that I finished it in four days. Personally I loved this book, it has characters which are easy to like and an engaging and compelling story line whilst also being quite humorous. For me, this is an easy read that I am currently trying to make everyone I know read as well and it is something I would definitely read more than once; it is the perfect beach read for the summer (and not just because of the lobster).

APRIL 9TH

So I haven't actually done one of these before because my life is not that interesting and people probably don't care that much anyway. Just to say that I am sorry that I've been awful at posting recently but my AS exams are coming up and therefore I am going to be relatively inactive up until June 2nd when my last exam is. I will still be posting a couple of times a month but I really want to concentrate on my exams and do well (I am super motivated after the UCAS convention last week). Anyway I have a couple of posts lined up for the holidays and it's my birthday in a week today and I Have a super special uber awesome fun idea for that. What this space.

A DISAPPOINTING REALISATION

This will only be a very quick post, but something I have come to realise recently is just how bad Barry M is for your nails. I have been using the Barry M clear nail varnish/bottom coat for quite a while now and I have come to realise that it is more or less ruining my nails.
I have found that the top layer of my nails (NOT the nail varnish bit- the actual nail) always peels away really easily and it is doing it a lot more recently, and I have blamed the Barry M bottom coat for the problem.

In order to combat this problem I have thrown away my clear Barry M nail varnish for good and have resorted to investing in some more expensive nail care products. I was very impressed with Essie's 'After School Boy Blazer' so I decided to go for one of their bases- the 'Grow Stronger' base coat. According to the reviews this prevented peoples nails from peeling and splitting, and was a great streak-free base for their nail varnish. I have also notice that it goes on very thick which is a good thing in my books; it also looks pink in the bottle but goes on quite clear and is basically a 'you nails but better' natural look.

I will report back on how well this works as I first have to grow out the tops of my nails that are splitting but I will hopefully be able to go back to wearing a normal base coat (not Barry M though) sooner rather than later. So far, though, it appears to be working quite well as it has not chipped off AT ALL and there is no new peeling bits on my nails. I am hoping to still be able to wear Barry M colours as I feel they should be okay as long as there is a stronger base coat underneath.

Essie 'Grow Stronger'- £8.99 in Boots.

SKIN THE COLOUR OF MOCHA

Since my school erected (hurhurhur) a coffee bar in the sixth form common room, I have unfortunately become a bit of an addict. My current coffee love is mochas (not to mention how amazing hot chocolate that comes out of a machine is- why is it better than the normal ones?). My love of coffee has led me to experiment at home and I believe I have come up with a sufficient mocha substitute for the time being...

You Will Need:-A mug (duh)
-A teaspoon (double duh)
-Milk (I use semi-skimmed)
-Coffee
-Hot chocolate power stuff
-A Microwave

To Make:
-Fill up your mug with milk
-Microwave it for however long is needed for it to be hot enough to your taste (I do mine for 2mins10secs as my microwave is quite hot and I like my drinks to be burn-your-mouth-boiling hot when I drink them).
-Depending on how chocolatey or coffee-y you want your drink to be, put in the hot chocolate and coffee (coffee is an acquired taste and I prefer my drinks to be slightly more chocolatey so I used one teaspoon of coffee and two teaspoons of hot chocolate).
-Stir and then drink.
-Thank me.

APOLOGIES TO MY PURSE

Just to say I am very sorry I have been neglecting my blog somewhat but I have my AS exams coming up soon plus coursework and other work so I have been really busy recently.

 

 

 

 

This post is the lovechild of two-three months of Boots, Superdrug, Body Shop and many other shopping trips. I had fun. Too much fun.

 

1. I genuinely have a severe problem when it comes to lip balm and the Body Shop. After my *slight* obsession with the Born Lippy stick in plum I couldn't resist getting another. In my defense at the time Body Shop has a buy-one-get-one-half-price offer on all their mini lip balms, soaps, etc. and I couldn't pass by on that one. I decided to opt for the pomegranate one as it gives a nice orangey/redy/corally tint and I don't have one like that.
Born Lippy sticks- £3 in Body Shop

2. I saw this nail Barry M nail varnish in Berry Cosmo on someone's Instagram and I couldn't not get it after that. It is the most beautiful dark purple/maroon colour that is probably more better suited to autumn/winter but I absolutely love it and it looks amazing with two/three coats.
Normal Barry M nail varnish- £2.99 in Superdrug

3. I couldn't find the Essie nail varnish in After School Boy Blazer in any of my local shops so I ordered it online and then prayed for it to arrive before my holiday (which it did but my brother didn't answer the door so I didn't get it until after my holiday). Sad? I know.
Essie nail varnish- £7.99 in Superdrug

 

4. This was actually a present from my friend's mum as she knows my love of lip balm, this Vaseline 'Paint the Town' is a limited edition one (missed out on getting the pink bubble one- boo :( ) and it just gives a really lovely, subtle redish-pink tint to your lips and basically enhances your natural colour (I mentioned in my October/November Favourites that I had got back into the Vaseline Rosy Lips and I am loving Paint the Town.
Vaseline Limited Edition 'Paint the Town'- £3.49 in Boots

5. These Topshop leggings were one of those 'omg I NEED these' buys and I absolutely love them. I'd been wanting tartan trousers for ages and these are perfect, they are much thicker than normal leggings and are basically perfect in every way (apart from the small hole going up the inside seam that I didn't see until I'd cut the label off but was easily sown back up).
Leggings- £25 in Topshop

 

The colours are much darker than this but the sun was very bright when I took the picture

 

6. This Rimmel Kate Moss matte lipstick was another kind of impulse buy but I love it all the same. Wine 107 is a dark colour (I love my darks) and is a dark red with pink undertones (I am yet to branch out into bright red colours for my lips).
Rimmel Kate Moss lipsticks (matte)- £5.49 in Superdrug

7. As many may already know You Me At Six is one of my most favourite bands ever and their new album Cavalier Youth is amazing and perfect and ARGH. I love it, I have it on repeat currently, I want to get it tattooed to my face. (I don't know what it is but something about this album cover gives me this weird extreme nostalgia and makes me want to cry).
Cavalier Youth CD and DVD combo- £12 on Amazon

8. After wanting to try one for AGES I finally picked up a Body Shop lip butter in Shea. I'd always been put off these before as £4 is quite a lot for such a small tub and the Born Lippy pots are only £2 each, however I have found myself using this religiously every night and it has worked wonders on my lips- it also smells really great. I also picked up another one in the Limited Edition blueberry range as, as I said, it's limited edition and I got one for my mum for mother's day and it smelt amazing.
Lip butter- £4 each in Body Shop

 

9. Yet another nail varnish, but I was NEEDING a pastel mint colour to add to my collection and I stumbled across this Model's Own one in Apple Pie in a Model's Own pop-up shop in my local shopping centre. This nail varnish claims to be scented like apples and has a little scratch-and-sniff stick on the top- the whole Model's Own Fruit Pastels range is absolutely beautiful and I want all of them.
Model's Own Fruit Pastel range in Apple Pie- £5 in Boots

 

10. Lush is always an iffy brand for me as some of their products smell amazing whilst others I would not want to touch with a barge pole. I was in Lush recently shopping for my friend and choosing her a bath bomb when I came across the Butterball. The problem I have with most Lush bath bombs is that they are far too big for just one bath and I hate that. The Butterball, however, is one of their smaller ones and with a scent of 'cocoa butter, light vanilla and musk' it is the perfect one for me (it also doesn't come with loads of small bits inside that float around your bath and you have to spend hours picking out afterwards urgh).
Butterball bath bomb- £2.50 in Lush