April Favourites

I have really enjoyed dipping my toes into the world of beauty blogging, so in keeping with that theme I bring you all my first monthly favourites! They won't only consist of beauty bits but may also include some TV, film, music and books favourites. Possibly accompanied occasionally with some other things I have been loving during the month. So here are a few things I have been enjoying in the month of April! 

• Dove Hair Nourishing Oil Care Leave-In Spray
  I spray this on the ends of my hair while it's still wet and it really seems to be helping the problem I'm currently having with my dry ends. I don't spray too much as it's easy to go from dry to greasy but with the right amount it helps to put a little more life into your hair.
  
• Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation
  As I mentioned in my "What's In My Make Up Bag" post, I have been using this for a few months now and it's by far the best foundation I have ever used. I think it's going to be perfect for summer as it's super light.
  
• Maybelline Forever Strong Nail Varnish in Ceramic BluePastel nails are still my absolutely favourite, they really suit my skin tone and I much prefer them to brights (although I am partial to a cherry red nail varnish every now and then). This is the perfect pastel blue for me and it only takes two coats to achieve a very opaque colour.
  I don't think Maybelline sell these anymore, unfortunately. Which is a real shame because the formulation is fantastic. Has anyone tried any of the other Maybelline nail varnishes? I wonder if they are as good as this one!
  
• Vanilla Scented Candle
  I have never been a candle person, we have quite a few dotted around our house but I can never smell them, therefore never saw the point in buying some for my bedroom. However, last week I decided to pick this french vanilla candle up and I have been addicted to it ever since. It was extremely cheap so I wasn't expecting much from it, however I was pleasantly surprised when it made my whole room smell of vanilla!
  
• Veronica MarsLately I've been stuck in a rut with television shows, I can't seem to find one to really get into, so I returned to my old faithful favourite .I cannot put into words how much I love this show. I watched it first when I was 11/12, then last year I discovered that Brian also loved it so in preparation for the film we watched all 3 seasons. My feelings towards the film are a story for another day (basically, I loved that too). It follows the life of  a girl who starts the show as a high school student who then goes on to college all while being a private detective. It is honestly girl power at it's best, one of the many reason I enjoy it so much. If you haven't seen it before I highly recommend you get watching! 

I hope you enjoyed finding out what I've been loving this April, leave me a comment telling me what you've been enjoying this month! 

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?