Just in case you are a Clinique fan and haven't heard already, there is a free gift with a £50 spend at Boots stores in the UK now until 16th August 2014. It is also available at Boots online!
The gift comprises of:
Cosmetics bag
Nail enamel in Pinkini
Mascara
Dramatically DifferentMoisturiser
Liquid Facial soap
Moisture Surge CC cream
Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief
Will you be going for it? What will you buy?
Have a great day.
Take care,
CJ xx
For week 1 of my Recipe challenge series I chose a recipe from The Way I Cook by Lisa Faulkner. The recipe I went for was Chicken Pie with Stuffing Pastry.
The stuffing pastry is made by smoothing a layer of stuffing over one half of the rolled out puff pastry, twice the size of the pie dish.
Then fold over the left half onto the right side and gentle roll down to form a seal.
The filling is basically a creamy chicken and mushroom filling and is a great way to use up leftover cooked chicken.
Here is Lisa's photo of her pie:
And here is my pie:
VERDICT:
Would I cook it again? Yes, I will give this 3.5 out of 4 "thumbs up".
In our family, whenever I cook something new we have a "thumbs system". If they like it, it gets a thumbs up, if they dislike it, obviously it's a thumbs down, and if they think it's okay, then it is a neutral halfway thumb! There are 4 of us in our family and for this recipe there
were 3 thumbs up and one neutral, hence the score of 3.5. Clear as mud, eh? But hey, it works for us!
A couple of points to note; I did double the amount of stock that Lisa specified in the recipe because I felt there wasn't enough sauce in the filling for us. Also, next time I make it, I will probably use a quarter less of the stuffing mix because the stuffing layer was a tad too thick for our taste.
Sorry but for copyright reasons I cannot publish her recipe here, but if you are interested in trying this recipe, it can be found online here. If you want to purchase her book, it is available here and you'll find this recipe on page 17.
What do you think of my pie? Did I do Lisa's recipe justice? Have you cooked anything new this week? I really enjoyed trying a new recipe and look forward to trying a different one next week.
Thanks for reading.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care,
CJ xx
It's been a couple of weeks since I received my Makeup Revolution order and I have had time to have a good play with them so here is my first review.
The first item I have chosen to review is the small Baked Eyeshadows palette in Chocolate Deluxe.
The packaging of this palette isn't as nice looking as some of their larger palettes, it is just plastic with a clear lid and no mirror, but it costs just £2.50 so I think this can be forgiven and it's certainly not a deal breaker for me.
The palette contains 5 eyeshadows. They are not named but there are 2 pale shimmery pinks which are very similar but one is slighter warmer than the other, a deep pink, and two chocolate browns, one slighter bronzer than the other, see swatches above. There is some fall out but not too much considering the cost.
The joy of baked eyeshadows is that they can be used both wet and dry. Above is a swatch of them wet. As you can see it makes a more intense colour.
When I try a new brand I like to do a longevity test and when I first use a palette I do not use any primer so that I can see how well it lasts on its own.
Here are the shadows applied, dry:
I found they applied easily and I was pleased with how they looked.
However, 10 hours later...
I was so disappointed to see the shadow had creased and had almost disappeared. Then I realised the price of the eyeshadows, which works out at 50 pence per colour, and thought what did I expect?! Anyway, determined not to be defeated, the next day I applied the same eyeshadows, but this time I first primed my eye lids with Urban Decay's Primer Potion.
This is the result after 10 hours with primer...
Wow! What a difference a primer makes! I really do like the shades in this palette and, if applied over a primer, then I think this is a lovely little palette and well worth the £2.50 price tag. I haven't tried them wet yet, so perhaps they will last longer on their own once applied wet. Makeup Revolution Baked Eyeshadows can be purchased from their website here or from Superdrug. There are currently 5 different baked eyeshadow palettes available.
I am really impressed with this range and look forward to reviewing the rest of my purchases from them.
Have you tried this range? Do you have any recommendations?
Thanks for reading.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
And, as usual, take care!
CJ xx
**puchased with my own money
The recent Laura Geller Tuscan Sun Collection TSV from QVC UK arrived in super quick time. In fact it arrived the next day. Well done QVC!
Upon opening the parcel, my first impression was how nice the straw tote bag was! To be honest, I didn't even factor this into my purchase because it was the make up I wanted so to like the bag is an added bonus.
It's not as big as I thought it would be but that is good for me because now my boys are teenagers I no longer have to take the kitchen sink out with me! It has a couple of sewn in pockets inside which I suppose are meant for a mobile 'phone. I wouldn't use it as a handbag though, because I am too security conscious and prefer a zip closed bag.
Now onto the make up. First up is Balance N Brighten. I chose the shade Porcelain which is the palest shade it comes in. This is a pink toned baked foundation and is ideal for my pale skin. I often think, now that I am above 40, that I should switch to a liquid foundation because it would probably be more forgiving on my fine lines. However, I really don't like the feel of liquid foundations on my skin so for now, this baked foundation is my Holy Grail and I have many (too many!) in my stash. I like this foundation for its colour correcting properties. In the summer months I use it in conjunction with the shade Fair which is darker with more yellow tones. I have tried to swatch it below, but as it is so pale the camera hasn't picked it up very well.
Now I need another blusher like I need a hole in the head! I have so many! This is a Baked Elements Blush infused with Italian Spring Water no less!! I wasn't sure at first when I saw the shade Siena in the pan because it looked too orange for my complexion but it is actually a lovely apricot colour when applied. I love that this blusher comes with a little brush underneath the compact too. Not the best brush but ideal for when you're out and about for quick touch ups.
The Baked Brûlée Highlighter in Honey Lavender is a lovely, subtle shade, not too shimmery. Laura says it can also be used as an eyeshadow so I shall have to give that a try too.
A new product in the range is the Lasting Love Lip Stain. This set came with the shade Tuscan Peach. When I saw this stick in the set, the packaging colour looked quite orange and I didn't think it would suit me at all, however upon application it is more of a mid pink than orange - see swatch below. I will do a full review of this regarding longevity, etc once I have had time to try it properly.
Finally, the kit also came with a Spackle Primer with SPF 30 and a double ended brush. I have tried a different formula of Laura's Spackle and I wasn't too keen so perhaps I will give this one a try but not too sure yet. The brush I probably won't use, it has a brush one end and a large sponge applicator the other end. I'm happy enough with my Real Techniques brushes, so shall probably pass this on to my mum.
Overall my first impressions on this set are very positive and I have signed up for the Auto Delivery option whereby I get the same set (but with a different blusher and lip stain colour) in October and January but at the special TSV price.
I purchased this set from QVC for the special price of £38.96 plus £4.95 postage. This price was just for 24 hours and the price has now increased to £49 plus £4.95 postage but if you are still interested in purchasing it is still available here.
Have you tried any products from the Laura Geller range? What are your favourites?
Thanks for reading.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care,
CJ xx
**purchased with my own money.
Today's post is totally different to my usual content and is not beauty based at all. I wasn't even sure if I should post it at all considering this is essentially a beauty blog but I have been blogging for 5 months now (I know, I'm still a newbie!) and I feel blogs evolve and you should write about what interests you.
Well, besides beauty, I love baking and cooking. However, lately I have found myself stuck in a bit of a rut! I seem to be cooking the same dishes for my family over and over again. You know the ones - Cottage Pie, Spag Bol, Curry, Chilli, Roasts, Pizza, Toad in the Hole, etc. All the usual favourites which my family DO enjoy, but it does get a tad repetitive. The same goes for baking. I can knock up a Victoria Sandwich cake in my sleep, along with cookies, brownies, fairy cakes but again I stick to a few trusted recipes because I know my family love them and will eat them, rather than risk something they may not like.
Well not any more! I have 50+ recipe books and most of them have "post-it" tabs where I have marked recipes I like the sound of. Every couple of months I do indeed try a new recipe but then I return to the treadmill of the family faves listed previously.
I have decided to try a new recipe every week, either baking or a family meal, and I shall post both my successes and failures here. If I hold myself accountable via this blog then hopefully I will stick with this challenge! I have already done my Meal Plans for the week ahead and I have chosen a new recipe to try on Wednesday. I will report back with the results later this week/beginning of next week.
Thank you for indulging me. Is anyone else going to join me in this challenge? It doesn't matter if you are a great cook, an average cook or a bad cook, just try something different.
Thanks for reading.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care,
CJ xx
Today I received a postcard through the post from QVC with details of their Laura Geller TSV which launches this Wednesday 23rd July at midnight (so it looks like a late Tuesday night/Wednesday morning for me!).
The TSV is called the Tuscan Sun Collection and it contains the following products:
Balance & Brighten baked foundation in choice of shades - Porcelain, Fair, Medium, Tan or Deep.
Baked Elements Blush (shade possibly Siena?)
Baked Brûlée Highlighter (shade possibly Honey Lavender?)
Spackle under make up Primer with SPF 30
Lasting Love Lip Stain in shade Tuscan Peach
Brush/applicator
Plus it comes in a lovely straw shopper bag (not pictured) but there is a link to it here.
The postcard doesn't state the price but I am hoping it is around the £40 mark. If it is more, then I may have re-think buying it because I have several Balance & Brighten in my stash already and I also already own the Honey Lavender highlighter if it is that shade in the TSV.
So fingers crossed it will be under £40 because I do like the look of the blush and lip stain and the bag!
Do you like Laura Geller make up? Do you think you will be purchasing?
Thanks for reading.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care,
CJ xx
I'd completely forgotten that the Summer 2014 Fragrance Shop Discovery Box was due out so it was a complete surprise when I received a despatch email!
This quarters box again contained 7 fragrance samples (usually there are 5).
5 are women's fragrance and 2 are for men.
This quarters selection were:
Candy Florale (Prada)
Lady Million Eau My Gold (Paco Rabanne)
Fatale (Agent Provocateur)
Dahlia Divin (Givenchy)
Eclipse (Ghost)
L!ve (Lacoste)
Gentlemen Only Intense (Givenchy)
Each sample contains between 1 - 2ml of fragrance and you also get a booklet describing each scent along with a £5 off voucher for each scent if you decide to purchase the full bottle.
This box costs £5 each quarter and that includes postage. I know lots of stores give out these samples free of charge but if, like me, you don't live near a department store then this is a relatively cheap way of trying out new fragrances and perhaps trying a fragrance that you would normally steer clear of.
I'm really looking forward to trying these out, especially Eclipse because I think that might be a lovely summery fragrance.
Full details about this box can be found here.
Do you subscribe to this box? What is your favourite perfume?
At the time of writing, Quidco are still offering £1.50 cash back with any new Discovery Club subscription, so if you are a member then it is worth going through their link.
Thanks for reading.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care,
CJ xx
**purchased with my own money.
