Halloween In My Home..

Hi Darlings,

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I've had such a busy couple of days so I thought I'd show you some of the highlights!

The night before Halloween:

 Alex Baking her Witch Cake

Decorating Halloween cupcakes

 Some of the finished results

 My favourite winter jumper, so cosy and homely for crafty projects

 Alex bringing our stash of pumpkins in

 Yes we really did have that many!

Carving out the pumpkin houses

 One of the finished results

 Outlining the freshly carved Jack o Lantern

Halloween:

 Zombie fingers - made from chocolate fingers, pumpkin seeds and blackcurrant jam

 Some of the fun cakes we made including Luce's Rocky Road Spiders

 The Jack o Lantern in action

Luce, having just drawn her spider on (it is now somewhat smudged)

The Witch Cake

 Snacks table

Spiders! 

 Toes - made of hotdog sausages, tomato sauce and tortillas

Our pumpkin village 

 A close up of one of the pumpkin houses

Frogspawn jacket potatoes for dinner

We've had so many Trick or Treaters tonight, some of them had put so much effort into their costumes and were lovely - it was so much fun to see them all. A group of 13 year old zombie schoolgirls (read tarty schoolgirls) not quite so nice, but you can't have it all!

Now I'm off to watch The Witches, (it's something we do every year) and eat a massive amount of sugar.

See you all tomorrow lovelies, I hope you had an awesome night!

Lea

x

Long after the daylight is over..

Autumn/Winter is without a doubt my favourite time. Last night we snuggled down into the sofa with a tartan blanket and I read while Alex watched a film. I had warm honey apples sprinkled with cinnamon and a hot-chocolate  - Pure perfection.

Tonight I'm pumpkin carving and baking, to get ready for Halloween tomorrow. 

I can't wait to get home, put my fluffy socks on, and sit down to do these festive and fun things with a chai latte and some gingerbread to hand.

I hope you're having a wonderful day everyone <3

Lea

x

Images via weheartit.com

Sunday in York

Hi darlings, 

Alex's younger brother and his girlfriend came up to stay with us this weekend and we had a lovely time. We spent a lot of it watching films and eating home cooked food, but on Sunday we decided to take a trip to York for the day. We left the young lovers to do their own thing for a couple of hours and went for a wander around the shops on our own.

We stuck around the York Minster area, which is full of small shops, tiny alleyways and quaint teashops. It's a lovely place to spend an afternoon and I so recommend it if you ever get the chance.

I got the opportunity to do some more Christmas shopping (nearly done now!) and we had lunch in a lovely little teashop that felt a lot like it was about to fall down it was on such a slant! 

 (The best Carrot and Coriander Soup I've had in years)

I'm super excited for Halloween this week, and I'm also contemplating dragging my friend to get Fro-yo after we're done at Uni today (she doesn't know this yet - she potentially does now)

Hope you've had a lovely weekend everyone,

Lea

x

Trick Or Treat?

Good Afternoon Darlings,

When I was growing up and lived at home, Halloween was always a lot of fun. Even after I stopped going Trick or Treating, my mum used to put so much effort into the food that she gave out at the door. Rather than giving sweets or chocolate away, she used to make hotdogs for the children and parents who came with them. 

It warmed them up when it was freezing and they were out in the cold dressed as a cat for half the night, and was something a bit different from what they got at every other house.

With that in mind, this is the first year where we're expecting Trick or Treaters. Where we live now, there are quite a few children in the houses that surround us, which is a stark contrast from student-ville where we've been for the past few years!

We obviously weren't going with the boring options then were we?

These are the ideas for this year:

 (here)

 (here)

 (here)

 (here)

(here)

You can find the recipes for all of these by clicking on the 'here' button.

They are all from a lovely site called Spoonful.com, if you like arts and crafts, cute recipes and Disney (!) You'll love it!

Abiento,

Lea

x

FOTD - Glamour Style

Good afternoon lovelies!

It's been a fair while since I did a FOTD so I thought it was high time I got on with it!

I was having a little play around this morning and this is what I came up with, I hope you like it :)

Eyes:

I used Soap and Glory's 'It's About Prime' as a base.

I then used Sweet Lust by MAC all over my lid.

I added Expensive Pink by MAC into my crease.

I then added more definition to the crease with Bobbi Brown's Black Plum eyeshadow, as well as taking it under my lower lash line. 

I then blended any harsh lines with more Expensive Pink.

I used white shade from the MUA Heaven and Earth pallet to add light to my inner corners.

To finish off I used Black Gel Eyeliner by Bobbi Brown, and a generous coating of Bobbi Brown's Extreme Party Mascara.

I finished up by applying some false lashes. These are by Eyelure and are their 'natural ones'.

Lips:

I used Vaseline's Pink Bubbly limited edition to condition them before applying colour.

I then used Estee Lauder's, Double Wear, Stay in Place Lip Duo in the shade 19 Forever Fuschia.

Rather than use the attached gloss, I finished up by applying some of the Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip perfecter in pink, concentrating on the centre portion of the lips.

Cheeks:

I contoured using the Sleek Contour Kit.

I then applied Chanel's Fantasia blush and blended it out.

I used the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Rose Quartz to Highlight. 

--------------------------

For the rest of the day I've been working on some Jurisprudence prep that I had to do, and generally jamming around the flat to Northern Soul, all in all it's been a pretty good and productive day!

(Note to self, the mirror is streaky - I can never seem to get it perfect!)

What have you been up to? Anything exciting?

Abiento <3

Lea

x

Autumn Hair and Beauty Inspiration

Hi Darlings,

I've been having a scout out for some Autumn/Winter beauty inspiration this afternoon and I'm super pleased with what I found!

I love the whole transition between Summer and Autumn/Winter, it's so exciting to try out all the new textures that appear!

 Add a pearl to your ponytail at the nape of your neck, it's an instant way to make your everyday style classic and chic. 

Try a texturising spray to achieve the matte effect. This is fantastic for the winter months as it will hide a multitude of hair sins. 

 For a night out why not try the graphic eyeshadow look? Add false eyelashes in a feathery texture to add drama.

Try out some new colours. Shimmery shades in a bold colour offer a change from the Autumnal burgundy lip.

 Opt for minimal eye makeup and a flawless complexion. Pair it with a red lipstick in a shade that suits your skin tone, and use it as a light stain on your cheeks to achieve a matchy matchy look.

For a twist on the dark shades that dominate our nails during the colder months, apply a nude shade and paint the tips in your favourite wintery colour. 

I love finding new inspiration, so please link me back to your blog in the comment section if you have any for me!

Have a fantastic autumnal day lovelies,

Lea

x

Photos via Vogue.com

Why Do You Wear Makeup TAG?

Hi Beautiful,

I thought I'd do a tag for you today, I haven't done one in forever so I thought why not?

I expect the title of this blog is relatively self explanatory so I'm going to jump right on in and start!

Where Did You Begin?

I started wearing makeup when I was around 13. I have to say it wasn't a particularly good beginning; I kept pinching my mum's foundation and it was obviously far too dark and far too heavy for me, but at the time it always seemed like a good idea. I also had a slight penchant for lining just my lower waterline with black eyeliner. Very goth darling.

My mother, having seen the state that I looked, decided that something had to be done about it, and took me to Bobbi Brown. From there on in I started to wear minimal makeup but it looked far better than my previous heavy handed approach. Think tinted moisturiser, concealer, pink blusher, mascara and lipgloss. What doesn't make sense to me about this though, is the fact that my Mum doesn't wear makeup very often. It's mostly foundation and mascara and lipstick. Whenever I visit she asks me to put makeup on her! Nobody else in my family had this sort of interest either so I don't know where I got it from.

As time went by my interest grew and so did my collection. I learned different techniques on how to apply makeup until I found the ones that suited me - nobody every taught me, I just sort of experimented until I found a way that was right for me personally.

Now almost a decade later, I am completely in love with the world of beauty, and thoroughly enjoy being a part of it!

How Do You Feel Without Makeup?

I'm really not a fan. Although I very rarely get blemishes or imperfections, I have suffered with a condition that has left me with a lot of dark hyper-pigmentation and as a result have turned to makeup to get my confidence back. Luckily now, it has become far more under control and the worst are fading nicely, so maybe in the future I will change my mind on this! When people see me in real life, my 'thing' is often said to be my skin, I work hard to get it that way and I know the products that will give me an even and perfected complexion. People are often surprised to find out what my makeup is hiding! 

What Do You Like About Makeup?

I like the confidence that it brings me. I think that is the most important thing to me personally.

Other than that however I get genuinely excited to have a play around with makeup and see the different looks that I can create. The market is constantly saturated with new products to try and that in itself is very exciting. I would probably rather spend my money on a new lipstick than anything else!

3 Holy Grail Items:

Vichy Dermablend (I wear the shade Opal)

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer (I wear shade 1)

Collection Pressed Powder (In the lightest shade - it's the only one I've found that's light enough for me, even throughout high end brands!) 

(Cheeky Uni Library shot while attempting to look like I'm not taking a photo of my makeup! As I type this I am getting an incredibly odd look from the girl to my right!)

I absolutely love reading this TAG so please let me know if you do it then I can go and have a good nosy!

Have a lovely day everyone,

Lea

x

Little Update and Winter Wishlist!

Hi lovelies,

I'm so sorry I disappeared again for a while. After my last post, to top off my bad luck, my iMac broke and had to be sent off for repair (for the second time in 2 years!!) I guess when you've been out if the swing of blogging for a while you get out of the loop and it takes some time to get back into it properly. 

In the time I've been gone I've changed my hair colour (to red) changed it back again (to blonde - what a farse that was!) had my last shift at YooMoo, developed a complete love affair with Chai Latte and have gone completely Autumn/Winter crazy.

I don't know about you, but I absolutely adore Autumn and Winter. I've sorted out my wardrobe and put my summer clothes away, and out have come the comfy, cosy jumpers and snoods. I find it so comforting watching a film on the sofa with a Chai Latte or a Hot Chocolate while it's pouring down outside. Alex has been looking up loads of crafty things to do for Halloween and Christmas and I'm so looking forward to it :) 

Having said all that, here is my current wishlist. I love everything on here, and it's all pretty budget friendly! I'm loving H&M at the moment, they have some really great key pieces if you look carefully for them, and I'm in love with everything here <3

All of the pieces bar the nail varnish are from H&M and are priced as follows:

Jumper: £24.99 (here)

Black Jeans: £19.99 (here)

Boots: £29.99 (here)

Hair tie: £4.99 (here)

Snood: £7.99 (here)

The Nail Varnish is by Mavala and is available from The Beauty Bay for £3.50 - The shade is Monte Video.

I hope you've all been well while I've been away, let me know what's on your winter wishlist!

Lea

x