Winter lips

Stupid me, I forget every single winter that the cold literally destroys my lips. But every year I let it happen no matter how many chap sticks I have in my draws I always forget to transfer them to my bag! What I've found over the years is that many chap sticks will dry out my lips more than they do moisturise. This is due to the petroleum, although it is very oily and thick when it dries it feels like its pulling the moisture out and beginning to crack. Does anyone else have this?

Those cute little tubs of vaseline that make you addicted is for me always because I have to keep reapply and so continuously buying the product. My lips become dependant on it instead of curing the dryness. I love savonnerie nutritive lip balm. (here)I love keeping it with me just because of the smell, but in this case is really does sooth my dry lips, finally! 

Keeping with my natural addiction, Savonnerie is 100% natural so I know there aren't any nasty chemicals drying out my lips. Plus I don't need to keep reapplying all day. If I've forgotten it one day my lips will survive. Although Vaseline is only £1 I'd rather pay £4.95 and have something that actually benefits me!  Have you tried Savonnerie, what are you favourites?

Until next time xo

The Embellished Nail

I've seen this type of manicure spam all over my pinterest, at £30+ a manicure I thought.. no frigging way. DIY. So this is one of my favourites and I just took some crafting gems you can get from any craft store as they're cheaper than beautician gems. They work the same you'll always need a top coat to secure it though. Teamed the pearl bubbles with my Barry M  varnish. 

What do you think? I love it! Can't stop stroking them, its so bobbly and weird. Probably should stop before they fall off... but they're soo soft! Urmm, anyway hope you try it out! Its really simple you just place them randomly or I've seen some following the cuticle or even little cross designs!

Until next time xo

All Greek To Me

So a quick pop into Cardiff town centre and a short wonder around the arcades.. I come across this little gem! Loving all things Greek how could I just walk past? No way. Stepping inside I felt like I was in Greece, the decor is so simple but so effective. The cobbled style floor just like paved stones and blue touches immediately reminded me of photos from Santorini. The smell of Greek olives in the air and friendly chit chat. I know this is a place my boyfriend would love and can't wait to take him! 

I couldn't quite get the shop keeps names with all the food chat but they are such lovely women. Immediately showing her Greek custom she offered me some food to try, which I could not turn down. Completely 100% fat free choco bites. They're made with olive oil instead of butter which tastes amazing (not at all savoury as I initially thought) selling at 5 for £1, bargain on the go snack.

Fat-free chocolate bites

Everything is made by the owners from scratch and you can taste it in the quality of the food.  The cheese pie was amazing too. Although All Greek To Me just opened yesterday I know they'll be around for a while, if your in Cardiff definitely pop in and say hi. They're very friendly and the food will speak for itself.

Delicious Greek pie

Situated in the classic Cardiff arcades, nearest the castle ( I really can't remember the arcade name! If you know where I'm talking about please comment and correct me haha)   'High Street Arcade'

What do you think, gorgeous and quaint or what?!

Until Next time xo

*Update - this lovely lady is called Leda. I still love this shop and pop by every week. 

Carrot Cupcakes

I love carrot cake, its one of my favourites. The name just makes it feel slightly less naughty when you've got your feet up with a cup of tea and a large slice. But when I looked up a few recipes online the name is very deceiving. The recipe I took uses 200ml of sunflower oil?! I was really unsure if it was   just a typo or a joke. It felt pretty disgusting putting that much oil just on top of eggs and mixing! But as Ive learnt from so many disasters in the past, always follow the recipe! Especially if like me, your just a home baker haha. If you not like me and count your calories daily then you may want to cut down on your carrot cake intake!

I wish I had picked up a few little carrot fondant decorations to make it a bit more obvious but hey ho. I used around 200g of grated carrots but it still didn't quite give the taste, I think if you try this then 1 whole tablespoon of cinnamon would be advised. It brings out the taste of the carrot a lot more.

Recipe
275g caster sugar
200ml sunflower oil
4 medium eggs
300g carrot (more or less)
150g nuts or dried fruit
225g wholemeal or plain flour
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp cocoa powder

Cheese frosting:
125g unsalted butter,
125g full-fat cream cheese
275g icing sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Edible decorations 

1.Cream the eggs and oil together
2. Mix in carrots
3. Add sugar and flour
4. Mix in nuts
5. fold in cinnamon and cocoa powder
6. Cook for 15 minutes at 170 degrees
7. Mix all frosting ingredients together and spread over cooled cakes

Spikes on Boots

Thought I'd share my new boots with you. They were £10 in Primark which I think is beyond reasonable, the quality isn't amazing. But its pretty good for the price. I've been wanting some studded things for a while as you probably could tell from all my posts. Kind of spammed studs and spikes! But I love it so much, the suede material makes it slightly less in your face I think. 

Would love the buy these jeans and t, but too much spending! Do you like this? After wearing them on a stormy day, its safe to say these are dry day shoes. Soggy feet are the worst, damn.

Until next time xo