Recipe: Mini Egg Rocky Road

I know I'm not alone when I say that Mini Eggs are hard to resist and that there's a likely chance that a good amount of them have been consumed before Easter is even a thought in anyone's mind. I for one am guilty of buying a bag for myself if I've had a particuarly hard day and it was one of these days that got me thinking what recipes would work well with the addition of Mini Eggs. The answer was a lot but I narrowed it down to three, simple yet delicious recipes, the first of which I'm sharing with you today.

Ingredients
- 200g Dark Chocolate
- 135g Butter
- 200g Digestives, crushed
- 100g Mini Marshmallows
- 100g Mini Eggs
- 2-3 Tbsp Golden Syrup

Method 
1- Grease and line a 18cm square baking tin with greasproof paper.
2- In a saucepan place the dark chocolate, butter and golden syrup.and melt together. Stir continuously so that nothing gets stuck to the bottom of the pan.
3- If you haven't already crushed your digestives, then crush them now. Don't worry if you have a variety of sized chunks, it'll just add to the end look of your rocky road.
4- Add the biscuits, marshmallows and mini eggs to your chocolate mixture. Combine everything with a wooden spoon/spatula until everything is thoroughly coated in chocolate.
5- Pour into your prepared tin, using you spoon/spatula to spread it out evenly.
6- Chill for a minimum of two hours, checking intermittedly, in the fridge. Once it's completely set, cut into squares or slices and enjoy. 

Review: Loreal Rouge Signature Matte Liquid Lipstick

I love a good liquid lipstick, sure they're not flattering ninety nine percent of the time but I love them. So when I heard Loreal were releasing a new matte liquid lipstick that was comfortable to wear whilst still being highly pigmented, I was instantly curious.

Advertised as a ultra matte liquid lipstick that packs a bold colour pay off alongside a lightweight finish, the Signature Matte Lips come in twelve stunning shades from neutral everyday shades to bright in your face reds. They're supposed to not smudge, flake or dry lips out and are supposedly able to last for twenty four hours.

That all sounds amazing and I so badly wanted to like them but they fell just short of the mark for me. Sure it was a highly pigmented colour that looked stunning on and felt like I was wearing nothing but that for me were the only two positive selling points. It certainly didn't last twenty four hours, in fact it didn't even last four hours on my lips and all I was doing was talking as always and sipping my regular frappucino. And yet it disappeared and I was left with that horrid ring of lip liner around my lips making me look like a 90's throwback wannabe, no wonder it felt like I wasn't wearing anything. Other than that it was drying and left my lips feeling uncomfortable, which was only made worse when it came to removing it. Removing these is a bitch. Sure the initial layer comes off but it leaves behind a stain that no oil cleanser or micellar water can remove without a strong amount of scrubbing. And afterwards you're left with sore, red lips that need even more TLC.

These may look beautiful, the packaging may be sleek and the colour range may be divine but these liquid lipsticks are really not worth the money. I had such high hopes for these and they were just disappointing. I'd advise steering clear of these and saving your money to buy a better quality liquid lipstick, even if that means paying a little bit more.

What I Read: March

Pinch, punch first of the month. Happy April 1st everyone! Today I'm back with my slightly late What I Read wrap up. March was a very hit and miss month for me bookwise and I only managed to finish two books even though I opened and attempted to read five different books throughout the month. I had a hard time being hooked in by any of them apart from these two but even at that, one was rather disappointing whilst the other was good but not astounding.

A Place Called Perfect- Helena Duggan
The first book I finished in March was A Place Called Perfect by Helena Duggan. Initally the cover was what caught my eye the most but after reading a preview on iBooks, the story itself had a pretty good premise. Following the story of Violet and her arrival in a town called Perfect, you follow her as she tries to adjust to living in this picture perfect town that certainly doesn't have space for an inquisitive and somewhat rebellious little girl such as Violet. I'm not too sure if this is marketed as young adult or more younger reading but I thoroughly enjoyed both the narrative and the writing style. It was an easy read and I found I devoured it in a day. It had the right mix of mystery, suspense as well as a little bit of humour and finished on a brilliant cliff hanger that made me add it's sequel straight to my Amazon basket. Out of the two books I've read this month, this is the one I recommend reading.
 

This Lie Will Kill You- Chelsea Pitcher
And the second book I finished this month turned out to be a massive disappointment even though it had a good premise and could have been an amazing thriller. This Lie Will Kill You centers around five teens who are all hiding their own secret concerning the death of a fellow student last year. That's until they're invited to a murder mystery party with the chance of winning $50,000. However it soon becomes aparent that the only murder mystery they'll be taking part in occured last year when they're secrets come out and their lives are at stake. Sounds pretty good doesn't it? Well it wasn't that good. It had so much promise but it fell so short of it. All the reveals were done before we'd even got halfway through the book and as soon as they'd entered the house it was clear who was behind it all. It got very confusing slipping between different perspectives and tenses, each characters individual arc getting lost in the main narrative even though the writer tried their hardest to introduce each character seperately. And the ending! Don't get me started on the ending. I just didn't get it. I even went back and reread the last five chapters and it still didn't make sense. Maybe if it had been building to a sequel of sorts then it would have made more sense but as a stand alone novel, it made absolutely no sense to me and seemed to come out of nowhere. Maybe if you've read it or reading it, you'll understand it more than me but for me it was too confusing and put me that little bit deeper into the reading slump I've been in. 

Monthly Favourites: March

March is finally coming to an end and that can only mean one thing. It's monthly favourites time. This month I have just three things to share with you and none of them are beauty related. I haven't found any new beauty loves this month and I haven't rediscovered any either, this month it's been all about the things I've seen and the hoodie I haven't been able to stop wearing.

My first and most important favourite of this month has to be my Missguided/Playboy Hoodie. I have literally lived in this hoodie all month. It's super oversized, I literally can't find my hands half the time when I wear this but it's also super cosy and warm. It's been the perfect thing to throw on when I'm nipping down the shops or when I'm not feeling like making a huge effort. And I've already more occasions to wear this (Avenger's Endgame I'm looking at you).

One of two amazing things I saw this month was Captain Marvel. When the trailers started to appear for this film, I wasn't too sure, I didn't think it would be my thing. But boy how wrong was I. I absolutely adored everything about it. Brie Larson was amazing as Carol/Captain Marvel and it was nice to see a bit of backstory on Fury, including the humourous way he actually lost his eye. It's one of the best films I've seen so far this year and I'm already looking forward to Captain Marvel joining the remaining Avengers' in Endgame (I'm totally not ready for Endgame).

And my last favourite this month is one I booked back in January after me and Jasmin decided to say fuck it and make 2019 our bitch. 2019 is the year we go to see more theatre, more concerts and actually do more with our lifes than drinking copious amounts of Starbucks and spending way too much money in Primark. So whilst I was enjoying a week off of work, me and Jasmin went up to London to finally see Aladdin at the Prince Edward Theatre. And oh god it was amazing, I've never loved a theatre show so much. The genie played by the amazing Trevor Dion Nicohlas was my absolute favourite and gave the whole show a similar vibe to the original Disney Animation without trying to hard to be like the original. I literally came out of the theatre humming Friend Like Me and I'd happily give my right arm to go back and see it again before it comes to the end of it's run in June.

Review: Loreal Infallible Magic Essence Drops

Primer drops are becoming quite a trend in high street beauty but they can be very hit or miss. MUA's Oil Primer Drops are brilliant and worked wonders for me whereas Barry M's Unicorn Drops didn't quite hit the mark. So when Loreal released their Infallible Magic Essence Drops, I was unsure where they were going to fall on the scale.

Now I thought I had a good idea of what these drops did but when I checked on Boots to make sure I had my facts correct, I actually learnt more about them. Where I thought these drops were just blue for the sake of catching a consumers eye, they're also blue as they contain blue toned light diffusing technology which helps to reduce sallowness and give skin a radiance boost. And whilst I already knew that the texture was ultra lightweight and felt like a splash of water to the skin, I didn't realise that it was actually a hardcore cocktail of ingredients aimed to love your skin even whilst you're wearing make up. Packed Acai, Kiwi, Goji and Hyaluronic Acid, this works to brighten, revitalise and hydrate skin without weighing down your skin or disrupting your make up.

As I said I was quite wary about these when I first brought them but it only took one use to have me hooked. I did add these to my Maybelline Master Prime Anti-Redness Primer but that didn't take away from the results. Instantly my skin felt cooled and hydrated and as I rubbed it in, my skin looked more and more radiant and felt silky soft to the touch. It didn't leave skin feeling tacky or greasy in anyway but it did adhere my make up really well and helped greatly with it's longevity. Usually around my nose and chin my make up disappears after a few hours but with these drops, my make up stays in place all day, doesn't break up or go powdery or cakey and my skin feels soft and hydrated, even after my make up has been on for a few hours. And they're suitable for all skin types as well, my friend Lauren brought them on my advice and she loves them even though she had an oily skin type. So I highly recommend trying these out if you want to try some primer drops or if you're in the market for a lightweight primer that's not going to weigh your skin down or leave it feeling greasy, Loreal Primer Drops are the way to go.

Recipe: American Style Pancakes

I've never been a big fan of pancakes and never really understood the hype of Shrove Tuesday. I think it's because here in the UK the pancakes are always really thin, plastic looking pancakes that never taste right no matter how much Nutella you douse them in. And online all I've been seeing lately is thick American style pancakes and it got me thinking that maybe they're the answer to my prayers. Now you may think that these are hard but they're actually surprisingly easy and don't take that long to prepare. So heat up that frying pan and get ready to make yourselves some delicious. fluffy pancakes that taste delicious with maple syrup, nutella or anything you want on top.

Ingredients
- 135g Plain Flour
- 1Tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 Tsp Salt
- 2 Tbsp Caster Sugar
- 130ml Milk
- 1 Egg, lightly beaten
- 2 Tbsp Melted Butter
- Knob Of Butter or Butter Frying Spray

Method 
1- Pre heat your frying pan on a medium heat. I tend to get this started before I make the batter as my hob takes forever to heat up.
2- Into a bowl sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar. Lightly mix together with a fork.
3- In a seperate jug, lightly beat your egg. Add your milk and melted butter to the jug and mix together.
4- Pour your milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix together with a fork. There will initally be lumps but they'll soon disappear as you batter comes together.
5- Add some butter to your now warmed pan. You can use normal butter or a lighter butter spray like I did. It's just to help cook the pancakes and stop them from sticking when you flip them.
6- When your butter has melted, add a ladle of batter to the pan. The pancakes may not be round and look rather thick but that's the exact look you want them to have.
7- Wait until the top of the pancake starts to bubble and then flip. It may seem tempting to flip them before they're ready but that'll just cause a mess in your frying pan and be a waste of batter. I did that with my first one and it sadly had to go in the bin.
8- Once your pancake is cooked through, place in a bowl and store in a low temperature oven to keep warm. Then repeat step 7 until you've used up all your batter, with each new pancake being added to the bowl.
9- Once you have all your pancakes, douse them in your topping of choice and enjoy. I actually made this for me, my mum and nan for breakfast the other day. We added a dollop of Nutella to them and they were absolutely delicious.

Recipe: Dark Chocolate Chip And Lavender Shortbread

Pinch, punch first of the month. Today I am back with the first of five recipes I have planned to share with you this month. Some of them center around upcoming day's such as Shrove Tuesday and St Patrick's Day but the rest of them are centered around Mother's Day which is rapidly approaching for us in the UK. And today is the first of those. Today I'm sharing with you my simple yet tasty recipe for dark chocolate chip and lavender shortbread. Now I know lavender is a slightly more acquired taste but when paired with the dark chocolate chip, it's got a kick to it that isn't too overpowering when you get that mixture of sweet as well.

Ingredients 
- 115g Butter
- 55g Caster Sugar
- A Pinch Of Salt
- 175g Plain Flour
- 100g Dark Chocolate Chips
- 1Tsp Lavender Extract

Method 
1- Pre heat oven to 180C. Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.
2- In a bowl sieve your flour, salt and sugar.
3- Add your butter and rub together until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. This is the grim bit but it's worth it as you get better results using your hands rather than a food processor. Sure you'll get a cramp after a few minutes but it's well worth it.
4- Add your dark chocolate chips and lavender and continue to rub together until it starts to form a dough. This doesn't take long and you don't want to overwork the dough otherwise it'll end up being too crumbly too roll out or cut.
5- Once you have your dough, roll out onto a lightly floured surface until it's about 1/2 an inch thick. Make sure to cover your rolling pin in flour as well so your dough doesn't stick and rip as you roll it.
6- Taking a cutter of any size and shape cut out as many shapes as you can, rerolling your dough when necessary so you get the most out of it.
7- Place your shortbread shapes onto your prepared baking trays and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. You'll know when they're ready to come out as the edges will be firm whilst the insides will still be a little soft.
8- Once cooked, leave too cool on the tray until they've firmed up and then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Then all's that left is to enjoy them.