Brιngιng Mσdesty back ιnto Ŧashισn: January 2011

Monday, 31 January 2011

Some Almond Biscotti for dessert, por favor.

' Almond Biscotti ... ,

You can find these in almost all the coffee shops. Although, I'm shocked at the large amounts of fat & calories contained in those! So I decided to try out a healthier version, which also turned out to be simple to make...

Recipe taken from here.

Made up of simple ingredients, this recipe is straight forward to follow. The baking takes quite a while, so patience is needed =P

[I baked these in a hurry and it's the first time I've ever tried to make these, so apologies for the look of them! >.<]

N.B. These aren't all the steps! I just selected a few steps to feature.

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Roasting the almonds to heighten their taste...

....now time to beat 3 eggs with the vanilla and almond extracts....

... 3/4 cup of sugar - not at all too much =P ...

...add it in with the flour...

...combining EVERYTHING...

...rolling it out & measuring...

...the first stage of baking...

...*Optional* - and whilst waiting for the second stage of baking, time to make the chocolate sauce...

(don't follow this step! As my chocolate sauce turned out to be a disaster haha...! )

...and the final product ....

...a mix of non-chocolate & chocolate coated biscottis!

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' ... Today's sunset from the heart of London ^.^ ... ,

Sunday, 30 January 2011

Lush's Valentine Products

I got some of Lush's Valentine Edition products to try out. I was curious of what kinds of products they'd come up with this year and/or if they'd release any products made last year, which I've missed!

' Here are my reviews ^.^ ... ,

It's Raining Men Shower Gel

The shop assistant at Lush told me that this consists of 40% honey, which explains its slight stickiness and sweet scent.

This has to be one of my best shower gels because it smells like Honey I Washed the Kids soap (which is one of my favourites!).

Plus it lathers up so well and leaves your skin silky smooth...

...The after smell is deliciously fragrant!

Aromaco Solid Deodorant

I've been on the hunt for a natural deodorant for a long while now after reading several negative highlights on deodorants containing chemicals.

I've seen this solid deodorant at Lush, yet have always been reluctant to give it a try - so Lush was kind enough to give me a good sized sample of it (thanks Lush! ^.^)

I'm liking the Valentine's edition of Lush's shopper paper bag - I shall be adding this to my collage of pictures.

Love Lettuce Face Mask

I got my favourite face mask for the once or twice a week pamper ^.^

Having tried out 3 types of face masks from Lush now, this remains my all time favourite.

A postcard that was added into the paper bag, advertising the Lush Spa.

Love Birds Soap

I'm absolutely 'adoring' this soap at the moment!

It smells like a remix of Sex Bomb, The Joy of Jelly... and The Love Soap!

The Love Soap was a red hearted shaped soap which was released for last year's Valentine editions. I've finished all my Love Soap stocks from last year, so I was happy when I smelt this and discovered it was one in hiding =P

It's very creamy and lathers so well.

Jasmine & Vanilla go so well together!

Frog Prince Bath Ballistic

I haven't tried this yet, although the staff at Lush told me that the red lips in this frog is a bath melt, which should be interesting. So I'm assuming, as the green frog slowly fizzes away, it should leave a red pair of lips to slowly melt away... ahh... relaxing!

The Ex-Factor Bath Ballistic

To me, this smells like a spicier version of the Butterball Bath Ballistic. The staff at Lush told me what a lot of customers like doing is slowly dipping this in the bath, head first, or arm first, or leg first o.O... (haha...!)

Having tried this last year, I liked this quite a lot! Although, the only exception is.... the smell wasn't as strong and long lasting after everything fizzed away.

Magic Mushroom Bubble Bar

I think this has to be my favourite Bubble Bar. I've a stock of these! And even though I won't be stocking any more of this until I finish up the remainders I currently have, I was glad to see this back at Lush.

The design is cute. The price is reasonable, seeing as you can probably use all of it in 3 baths! That's the advantage with bubble bars.

Also, its scent lasts for a long while on your skin. And it reminds me of one of my favourite discontinued products - the Yummy Yummy Yummy shower gel.

Friday, 28 January 2011

Ballerinas (for under £25) & EOS

So, I finally managed to get an EOS Lipbalm in which happened to be one of my favourite scents - the Honeysuckle Dew.

I only found out what EOS stood for - 'Evolution of smooth.'

With shea butter, jojoba oil - just as it says - it makes lips happy, moist and super smooth. Plus it's (almost =P) organic.

Apart from it's wonderful scent, what I like about this lip balm is its ease of application. You'd almost feel like applying lip balm all the time (no kidding).

One of the main things I like about it apart from the fun in putting it on is the 'hands free' use of the lip balm. You don't have to worry if you forgot your sanitizer (let's be honest, I'm sure most of us don't even think about our unwashed hands and apply our lip balms when we're outside unaware of this!).

Opening this lip balm is so simple - just twist, turn and pull off the top ... !

Its shape is simple and practical.

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I got these from Barratts for around £15 (on sale - including delivery).

I'm so totally into BOWS! They're one of my favourite features in an item.

C'est Chic, sweet & tres girly!

I'm also liking it's side's design...

One thing that would put me off from buying these at full price is its material. It feels very delicate and soft, so you'd have to be careful not to scratch or scrape it anywhere and avoid rain!

I'm also not convinced with its animal print interior lining (although seeing as the design is inside the shoe and won't be seen, I went for it).

I'm not a fan of animal prints as they appear tacky and distasteful to me.

Then I got these from Dune, at just under £25. I think the original price was around £60, if not more.

This feels so well made - soft leather is what composes of this ballerina.

I'm not the type who usually goes for 'belt shaped' designs. Something about them just doesn't appeal to me... However, this was a bargain that was too good to miss (and also, I did need a pair of comfy ballerinas as I always seem to have difficulties finding one comfortable enough!).

Okay, so maybe the sole is a little hideous -.- .... but it's got a good grip! Made of rubber, this cannot be seen once worn, so it shouldn't bother me so much.

On a different note, one thing I like doing is attaching bows to anything (call me obsessed) - featured here is my boots, which I've added a pink bow to (bow bought from New Look - it was a hair piece item =P)

Monday, 24 January 2011

I light a candle and pass it on to you - .... continue the relay!

You heard me =P

Continue the relay of candles with me!

Light a candle -> sip a hot chocolate -> read a book -> keep cosy!

Those of you who have been following my blog would know just how much J'adOre les scents!

~Perfumes aside...

.....I absolutely like candles & oil burners alike!~

I'll show you some of my (favourite and/or reviewed) candles and candle holders in this post (I will blog about oil burners at a later time ^.^)

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I got Glade's Spiced Apple from Tesco's. It was half price at the time so I thought I should give it a try. I have to say: close up, it smells delicious, but far away, this fails to deliver enough fragrance. I'd say at least 2 of these are needed to scent a room up well enough - which is a shame because the spiced apples smell so yumm...!

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I admire this Hand held Lantern for its portability, design and shape. The design is so ethnic & mysterious in a way. It reminds me of the good olden days, which adds a touch of warmth to the room...

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Marks & Spencer's Nectarine and Orange candles totally disappointed me. I expected a bit better from this. I just can't seem to smell it =( !

These Ikea Tindra candles are my favourite!

Not only are they reasonably priced (I think they are £3.50 for 36 tealights at Ikea!), but they also smell soo good! One of these manage to scent an entire small room.

It carries the scent very well for around 3-4 hours.

My favourite scent has to be the white vanilla candles...simply calming, relaxing & keeps my head clear!