What's In My Bag

So last week I finally did something I had been wanting to do for awhile now and I posted my first beauty related blog post. I really enjoyed writing it and it turned out to be one of my more popular posts. What's In My Make Up Bag/Handbag posts are some of my favourite ones to read, I am extremely nosy. With that said, for my next venture into the beauty world, I bring you a look into my handbag (minus the rubbish). My bag is from New Look, my Mum and I call this my "grown up" bag.  New Look's bags are great, they hold up better than Primark/Penney's ones and they are cheaper than Topshop bags but look just as good! 

Essentials: The two things I will never leave the house without are my wallet and my phone. My wallet is from Penneys/Primark, I got it for Christmas about 3 years ago and it is holding up really well. I'm currently on the look out for a new one, but I can never find one to commit to seeing as this one is perfectly fine. 

My phone is a Nokia Lumia 520, that I have had for 6 months now and I am very happy to say I have never had a problem with it. It has been dropped more times than I care to state but it doesn't even have a scratch on it, which is great.

Beauty Bits: I'll start with the things that I actually use on a daily basis, Soap & Glory Hand Maid anti-bacterial gel and L'Occitane Mango Passion hand cream. I love these as they are really fast drying, they don't make your hands sticky or greasy and they both smell great. 

I also have two lipsticks in here, both nude colours. One is a Clarins Rouge Eclat lipstick in 01 nude rose and the other is a Rimmel Moisture Renew in Latino. 

Not quite sure why but a Rimmel Salon Pro nail varnish seems to have made it's way into my bag, this one is in the colour Jazz Funk.

A newcomer to my handbag are a pair of sunglasses that I picked up from New Look about two years ago, it's not often I wear sunglasses even during the summer but you never know. 

Lastly, I have a travel size Batiste Dry Shampoo, which I rarely use but is always good to have, just in case! 

Useful Things: I like to be prepared for any situation so I also have in my bag, Bach's Rescue Remedy, some plasters, a spare pair of glasses, a pen and some snacks. I usually have a packet of tissues as well but I seem to have run out and I have yet to restock!

Rescue remedy is great, I use it mainly before interviews but sometimes just if I'm having a particularly stressful day or when I'm feeling anxious.

I am so clumsy, plasters are a must for me. 

A spare pair of glasses are a recent addition to my bag, I wear glasses all the time, I have two pairs and last week I broke the pair that I wear all the time so they are currently being held together with some sneaky super glue, which seems to be working quite well but just in case it happens again, I like to have a spare pair so I don't have to walk around blind for a day. 

Not a whole lot I can say about the pen, everyone needs a pen! 

Last but not least, the snacks, I always keep a snack in my bag, this week I have some pumpkin seeds, something to keep me going until my next meal, otherwise I would no doubt buy a chocolate bar of some sort. Not forgetting a pack of mints, because I don't like chewing gum but being minty fresh is a must!

I hope you guys enjoyed having a look around my bag, anything you think I seem to be forgetting? There's always room for more stuff in the bottomless pit that is a girl's handbag! 

Marble Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

I am genuinely surprised by the lack of things I make that have chocolate in them. I am a chocolate fiend, certainly not someone that prefers savoury snacks. I'm not even a massive fan of sweets, just chocolate. I have wanted to make these for ages now, I remember making a marble cake with my Nan a couple of years back, and more than anything I just love the way the inside looks. I don't really make cakes, unless they're for a special occasion. I find it easier to just make cupcakes as they're easier to give to people. Not many people got these cupcakes, they were toooo yummy for me to give away. One of the great things about these cupcakes is that you don't actually need any chocolate, just cocoa powder, which makes me feel a little better about myself when I'm stuffing them in my mouth. This recipe makes 12 cupcakes and I choose to frost them with vanilla buttercream icing, you could use chocolate icing but I thought that may be a little too much chocolate. Happy baking! 

What you will need:

150g butter
150g caster sugar
3 eggs
175g self raising flour
50ml warm milk
2tbsp cocoa powder

For the icing:
100g butter
200g icing sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
2tbsp milk

1. Preheat your oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Line your cupcake tray with 12 cupcake cakes. 

2. Mix together your butter, sugar and eggs with an electric mixer until it's pale and light. 

3. Add in your flour while still mixing and when the mixture begins to stiffen, start adding your milk. 

4. Divide your mixture between two bowls (I didn't divide mine evenly and ended up with more chocolate than plain, oops.) and stir your cocoa powder into one of the bowls.

5. Add a heaped teaspoon of plain mixture into your cases, a teaspoon of the chocolate mixture and then another teaspoon of the plain on top. I've found this works best to make the marble effect.

6. Take a skewer, or the tip of the knife and gently swirl around your mixture. Do not over swirl, it will not be pretty. 

7. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool while you make your icing. 

8. To make the icing, beat together your sugar and butter (put your electric mixer onto a low setting or else there will be an icing sugar disaster) then mix in your vanilla extract and milk. 

9. Wait until the cupcakes have completely cooled to ice them and decorate as desired! 

Banana and Peanut Butter Dog Treats

As promised in my "Doggie Day Out" post, this is the recipe I used for the treats I baked and brought along to the charity event I went to on Saturday. I spent an evening last week looking around the internet for a simple but tasty dog treat recipe that didn't use a lot of complicated, hard to find ingredients that would still be suitable and healthy-ish for all dogs. Most of the recipes I found use peanut butter, which I wasn't sure about but I was assured by some doggie experts that natural peanut butter would be okay for most dogs. I used this recipe, which also includes bananas. Giving your four legged friends one of their five a day. Do dogs need five a day? I don't think so but it can't do any harm! These treats were taste tested first by our family dog Ollie, he loved them! 

What you will need: 

250g wholemeal flour

90g rolled oats

160g peanut butter 

2 bananas

2tbsp honey

2 eggs 

3tbsp plain flour, for rolling

1. Preheat your oven ro 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and line two baking trays with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, mix together your peanut butter, eggs and honey with an electric mixer.

3. Mash up your bananas and add to your mixture, beat again until smooth. 

4. Gradually add in your flour and oats, until everything is mixed together.

5.Sprinkle a pinch of plain flour over your hands so the dough doesn't stick then take a small handful of dough, roll into a ball and flatten out to be about a 1cm thick. Place on your baking tray.

6. Repeat this process until you've used all the dough, I made 18 cookies with this recipe.

7. To make the paw prints, I pressed into the dough with something that was a small circle shape. This step is completely optional. 

8. Put your cookies into the oven for 30 minutes, or until they turn a golden brown colour and begin to harden. 

9.  Place on a wire rack to cool. Store in a cool, dry place. 

These treats won't last as long as the ones you would buy in a supermarket but I'm sure they're much more tasty and are a whole lot better for your dogs! 

Doggie Day Out #1

So the time has come for me to introduce you to the two main men in my life, my boyfriend Brian and our dog Max. Max is a three year old Jack Russell and Brian is a twenty year old human that I have had the pleasure of being with for the past four years. I am a self confessed crazy dog lady and Brian is slowly coming around to my way of life.  Unfortunately, there aren't any nice places to walk Max near where I live so when the weather starts brightening up we bundle him into the car and take him somewhere he can have a good long walk. Yesterday, Cork's Dog Action Welfare Group held their "Spring Fling" event at Ballincollig Regional Park. A doggie day out with lots of fun activities including a duck race, rubber ducks were €5 with all the proceeds going to DAWG. I also brought along some dog friendly treats for the bake sale and I should have a post up about those tomorrow! I thought I'd share some of the pictures I took, although this post is mainly for me as I am going to enjoy making "Doggie Day Out" posts about all of Max's adventures (please humour me).

This picture sums up their relationship pretty well. 

I hope you're all having a wonderful Easter weekend! Do you guys have any nice spots you like to take your four legged friends? 

What's In My Make Up Bag

I'm trying something a little bit different today and writing my first beauty post! I don't know a lot about beauty and I unfortunately do not own an excessive amount of products. However, I do love reading beauty blogs and watching beauty Youtube videos. So, here is a look into my make up bag, which appears to be overpopulated with lip products and doesn't include the three nude lipsticks that have taken up residency in my hand bag. 

Rimmel Match Perfect Foundation: I've been using this for a few months now and I absolutely love it. I wouldn't recommend it if you're looking for a  high coverage foundation as it's definitely very light but it gives me just enough coverage to even out my skin tone, which is all I'm really looking for. It's also the perfect shade for my pale skin, I have this in the shade "Porcelain".

Boujours Healthy Balance Powder: This is an old favourite of mine. It's not chalky and doesn't leave your make up looking cake-y, perfect for setting my foundation and giving a little bit more coverage.

SEVENTEEN Phwoarr Paint: I find that the only part of my face that needs a lot more coverage is under my eyes. I never seem to be able to find a concealer that doesn't disappear as I'm blending it in. However, this one is extremely heavy duty, but not drying as you would expect, it's surprising creamy.

No7 Blush: I've had this blush for far too long, I only sweep a tiny bit over my cheeks as they're quite rosy naturally. I don't even think Boots sell these anymore but it's such a nice colour and it does the job so I refuse to throw it away.

Collection Fast Stroke Eyeliner: I use this when I want quite thick, very black winged eyeliner. This will not create a thin line unless your hands are reeeeeeally steady (which mine are not) but it's extremely opaque and amazing for less than £3/€5. 

Collection Extreme 24h felt tip liner: When I first bought this, it seemed like it had already become very dried out so I rarely used it. However, I've heard a lot of people rave about this eyeliner lately so I thought I would give it another go and I'm really glad I did. Not completely opaque like the one I mentioned above but it's great for creating a thin, small line.

Collection No Clumps Mascara: Not much to say about this one. It does what it says on the tin really, no clumps! Really great for lengthening and separating the lashes.

MUA Heaven And Earth Palette: The only eyeshadow you will find it my make up bag is this palette. It's all you need really, it has a great range of neutral colours, which is perfect for me. I only wish it had some matte shades.

Rimmel Kate Matte Lipstick in 110: I don't wear lipstick a lot but I cannot wait to use this more in the summer. It's such a beautiful, bright coral colour.

Rimmel Kate Lasting Finish Lipstick in 01: I adore this colour, deep reds are my favourite. I wish I had the courage to wear it more.

Rimmel Apocalips in Apocoliptic: These were raved about in the beauty world this time last year, I completely agree with the hype around them. The colour range is fantastic and they really stain the lips.

No7 Sheer Temptation Lipstick in Cuckoo Coral: I got this lipstick when I had a no7 voucher last year. It adds the perfect sheer coral tint to your lips but I don't think I would pay €12.75 for it at full price.

Revlon ColourBurst Balm in Lovesick: I wore this last week and fell in love with this vibrant pink lipstick again. Stays on all day with minimal fuss and keeps my lips super moisturized.

Lush Lip Scrub in Sweet Lips: This is my saviour when my lips are dry. Scrub-a-dub-dub my lips with this stuff and it gets rid of all the dead skin to make my lips lipstick ready. The sweet lips version that I have has been discontinued unfortunately but all the other ones smell just as good.

Carmex Lip Balm: I apply this every day after the lip scrub, it's the only lip balm that keeps my lips properly moisturized.

If you've made a "What's In My Make Up Bag" post, leave a comment down below and tell me, I'd love to have a nose in your make up bags!