Recipe | Colourful Salmon

In my house Salmon reigns supreme. It's one of those dishes that everyone loves and someone would take a large bite of the minute you turn you back.

I haven't come across anyone who doesn't like Salmon . . .  and quite frankly, I'm not sure I want to. Salmon is one of those dishes that I could trust a complete novice to make and not give me food poisoning. I promised Laalaa a week ago that I would make something with Salmon inspired to suit her vegetarian palette and true to my promise, here it is.

As I'm trying to be quite healthy and avoid fatty sides, I've paired the Salmon with a lovely colourful carrot, cucumber and red & green lettuce salad with a bit of vinegar on the side. Yum!!!

continue reading "Recipe | Colourful Salmon "

Review | Simple Oil Balancing Moisturiser

Back-to-back skincare product reviews? What is going on Annie??

Nothing.

I just felt that I should review another skincare product that I've been loving lately because I've almost finished it and it was the oil controlling moisturiser I paired with the Facial Oil I reviewed on Tuesday so it kinda works that I should review them fairly close together

Baobella sent me the Simple Oil Balancing Moisturiser just before I went to NewYork and after 3 or 4 months  I can say that for a moisturiser with a RRP of under £5, this is surprisingly good. The Oil Balancing Moisturiser is an oil-controlling un-fragranced moisturiser that contains a blend of Zinc PCA and Corn Strarh (?????) to mattify and gently absorb excess oil from your face.

As I don't have oily skin, I can't tell how it would work for someone with naturally oily but as I was intentionally making my skin oily I found that this worked very well as it didn't weigh my skin down, have an overly perfumed smell and had great oil controlling powers (Yes, I am visualising this with a Superman cape right now). Personally I feel that this is an amazing moisturiser as you are getting 75ml worth of product for under £5.

Since using Simple's Oil Balancing Moisturiser I have tried out their Facial Wipes but suffered an allergic reaction (again!!!), so if you happen to have sensitive skin and allergic to Fruit/Flower extracts I would advise you to check the ingredient list before you buy rather than make an assumption that all their products would work for your skin.

continue reading "Review | Simple Oil Balancing Moisturiser"

Review | Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Bronzer in Rich Deep

I believe a wise woman once said:-

 . . . or I could just be making that up (which is highly likely). Esteé Lauder's Bronze Goddess Bronzing Powder in Rich Deep (RRP. £30) has been stared at (because it's very pretty), poked and played with ever seen I was gifted it by Estee Lauder almost 3 weeks ago but I really couldn't decide how I felt about this bronzer so kept delaying this post . . . but then I realised that this Bronzer is actually LIMITED EDITION and the longer I dilly-dally around, the harder it is for you guys to run over to Boots, House of Fraser or Selfridges to pick it up (My bad!).

Bronze Goddess' Bronzer in Rich Deep really has me stuck on the Fence.

I love that it's matte-with-a-hint-of-shimmer formula because it looks gorgeous once the light hits it and it comes with an amazing tipped-brush to help you with your contouring. The Con's for me, is the packaging. While my bronzer didn't arrive cracked like Adrienne's, the mirror keeps popping off everytime I open and close it and that is really irritating for me as I can't find my super glue and I like the mirror too much to take it out!!

Despite my annoyance with the Bronze Goddess Packaging, there is no denying that it is absolutely beautiful but I don't think it's dark enough to truely act as a bronzer for darker skin tones.

If you look at my swatch above, (you might have to squint a bit) you can see the slight red/bronze colour of the bronzer against my skin. I honestly believe that if the Bronze Goddess Bronzer was a shade deeper or had a stronger red tone then I would probably go and buy this in bulk. As it stands I don't think as a bronzer I could use by itself without a bit of help from a contouring powder HOWEVER I have been using it as a face powder. It's the perfect alternative to my MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Dark Deep as it's subtile shimmer makes me look very healthy and natural.

continue reading "Review | Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Bronzer in Rich Deep"

Review | Balance Me Extra Care Radiance Face Oil

When Balance Me got in contact with me to review a few products, honestly I was a bit apprehensive.
I wasn't apprehensive because of the quality of their products (as I had heard they were awesome) but because I have suffered 5 allergic reactions this year alone due to natural or organic products. Luckily the PR was super nice and vetoed their products against my allergies and sent me products which I ould actually use.

Facial Oils tend to have very simple and natural ingredient lists that either contain fruit or nut oil and tend to be the only skincare products that I can use without feeling like it's a potential allergic reaction in a bottle as a glance at the ingredient list is enough for me to deduce whether I could potentially be allergic to it or not.

I have been using Balance Me's Extra Care Radiance Face Oil for about 3 weeks to a month and since I haven't experienced a reaction and my bottle of Radiance Oil is almost finish (Hope it lasts til payday!!!!) I think I am in a great position to review it AND recommend it.When it comes to oils, it's

Balance Me Radiance Face Oil is a 100% natural face oil that moisturises your skin with a blend of Amazonian Buriti Nut Oil, Roman Chamomille and Benzoin to boost your skin's appearance. The Radiance Face Oil is an excellent way to nourish your skin and boost it's elasticity as it's concentrated formula is an easy but effective way to brush off our winter and rainy skin problems and actually feed skin. Facial Oil are oil-based rather than water-based, so your skin is actually getting a high concentration of what it needs, meaning the formulas wiggles down and penetrates the layers of your skin a lot deeper that creams and liquids.

Personally I feel that Balance Me's Radiance Face Oil is a winner as it is created in the Uk (Yay Britannia!!) and contains:-

Although Balance Me do say that you can use the Radiance Facial Oil in the day and in the night, I personally believe that this depends on your skin type. If you have Dry Skin, then you could you this without any problem, if you have normal skin (like I do) then I suggest using a oil controlling primer or moisturiser as well. I found that using a oil-controlling moisturiser actually stopped me from experiencing any shine or a heavy greasy feeling HOWEVER I wasn't actually wearing any makeup when I did that little experiment so I personally don't know how your skin will behave then.

 

I think my skin is getting a bit of a boost from using this as my skin has felt a bit dry and problematic due to the number of reactions I've suffered but this has helped me adjust my skin back to normal and thats' a winner in my book. 

continue reading "Review | Balance Me Extra Care Radiance Face Oil"

Behind the Scenes | Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie Photoshoot

Ok let's be honest. 

If a brand launches 42 new shades of lipsticks, lipglosses and lipliners and invited you to come along and to take part . . . would you say no? 

I don't think I have ever said yes to anything so quick in my life. It didn't matter what the little details where. Lipstick was involved and a quick trip to Luton (in the freezing cold might I add) couldn't dampen my spirit.

The basic idea behind the shoot was for a few bloggers to find out more about the bareMinerals brand, experience the products first hand by having our makeup done by one of the bareMinerals team and end the day with a fun photoshoot (that I happened to laugh my way through . . . cameras make me nervous). I've always wanted to do a behind the scenes photoshoot post and with the Marvelous Moxie Collection launching today, it seems like perfect timing but enough talk, have a look at my pics.

 

 

I will be reviewing some of the Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie lipstick in the coming days, so keep checking back for that. If you want a peek at the Marvelous Moxie lips collection then head to your nearest Bare Minerals Counter or ONLINE!!!

continue reading "Behind the Scenes | Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie Photoshoot "

Recipe | Sticky BBQ Lamb Cutlets

Salutations, 

I just wanted to quick say THANK YOU to everyone for all the support, tweets, virtual hugs (etc etc etc) with my first recipe post. It really meant a lot to me that someone other than the people in my family know that I can actually cook something edible.

Today's Recipe is on some Sticky, BBQ Lamb Cutlets that might not be as healthy as the Shrimp Salad but it makes a gorgeous family meal that everyone can enjoy (provided they are not vegetarian) and is a bit easier that the Shrimps to make. 

This is a very simple dish as all you are really doing if plonking some spices together and smothering your lamb in BBQ sauce but it looks amazing and tastes even better.

continue reading "Recipe | Sticky BBQ Lamb Cutlets"