New Years Eve Pamper Tips

Hi guys, I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas! I have had a little bit of time off from blogging due to being incredibly busy over the the past week or so. However, now that all of the festivities are over, hopefully my posts will become regular once again. So, seeing as New Years Eve is only two days away now, I thought that I would share with you all some of my favourite things to do to pamper myself prior to nights out. Making sure that you are fully prepared will ensure that you are feeling and looking your best, as well as keeping last minute stress and worries at bay. So, let's get started!

1. Exfoliate your skin
Prepping your skin the night before is a really great tip as everybody wants their skin to be silky smooth, especially if your New Years outfit is a little revealing. In addition, if you are planning to apply fake tan before the big day, exfoliating is a key step to include. As most of you will already know, fake tan clings easily to dry patches on your skin and that is not a good look! I simply like to use some exfoliating gloves which are pretty inexpensive or a body scrub, (my favourite is Soap & Glory's Sugar Crush Body Scrub,) and gently buff my skin in circular motions before applying some body butter and viola... smooth skin in seconds! 

2. Look after your lips
Making sure your lips are prepped before applying your lip product of choice is another crucial step. There is nothing worse than flaky-looking lips, especially if you are planning on puckering up at midnight ;) A great way to banish flakiness is to use a lip scrub and Lush do some great ones, (Bubblegum and Mint Julips,) which are extremely popular amongst beauty bloggers. However, an excellent and cheap alternative is to make your own lip scrub. I simply slather a little bit of Vaseline mixed with some sugar granules on my lips to make a simple (and tasty) scrub. Afterwards, I apply a liberal amount of my favourite lip balm, Carmex, and my lips are really smooth and plump in no time!

3. Prime the face
As many of you are probably aware by now, using a primer before applying foundation is a great way to ensure that your make-up stays put all night long. All you have to do as apply a layer of primer onto your face and then do the rest of your make-up as normal. For Christmas, my parents bought me Clinique's Universal Face Primer (£20.00,) which I have had a tester of before and I absolutely love it. If this primer is a little too expensive for you, there are some great high street alternatives out there. A few of my favourites are Revlon's Photo Ready Primer (£11.00) and Rimmel's Match Perfection Primer (£6.99.)

4. Paint your nails
Last but certainly not least, having nicely painted fingernails and toenails is essential on a night out on the town! In my opinion, having a pretty manicure really finishes off your look and pulls everything together. There are typically five steps to a manicure/pedicure that you can do at home, which are; pushing back the cuticles, filing the nail, applying a base coat, applying two or three coats of polish, followed by a top coat. Alternatively, if you fancy treating yourself, do not have a steady hand or you have a bit of extra cash, getting your nails done professionally could be another way to go!

I hope that these tips help you to prepare for whatever you are going on the 31st. Also, I would love to know what is your favourite thing to do to pamper yourself? I love listening to your suggestions and sharing tips with fellow bloggers. I hope that you all have a fabulous New Years and I wish all of you the best of luck going into 2014! 

DIY December: Chocolate Orange Cookies

Hi guys. Today I thought I would do something that I have never done before...a food-related blog post! Over the past few weeks, I have been heavily influenced by Miss Glamorazzi's (Ingrid Nilson's) DIY December videos on YouTube. She has been making lots of yummy Christmas themed treats, as well as cute homemade presents and decorations, so I thought it would give it a whirl myself. I have been meaning to do something like this on my blog for some time now and I've finally gotten around to it. Normally, I tend to stick to baking cakes or cupcakes but sometimes is nice to branch out and try something new. With that in mind, I decided to bake some Chocolate Orange Cookies. 

Although these cookies are not technically Christmas themed, I think they are a lovely little treat for this time of year and would be great accompanied with a cup of tea or coffee whilst sheltering from the cold, winter weather too. I originally got this recipe off of the BBC Good Food website which you can view here, however, I altered the recipe slightly as I did not have any white chocolate at hand. 

To make 15-18 small cookies or 10 larger cookies, you will need:

125g dark chocolate

150g plain flour
30g cocoa powder
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2tsp salt
75g light brown sugar
125g softened butter
Zest of one large orange
200g milk chocolate chips
1 egg

At this stage, you will need to pre-heat your oven to 170°C (Gas Mark 6) and line a baking tray so that your cookies do not stick.

Step 1
Break up the 125g of dark chocolate into a microwave-proof bowl and melt it in the microwave in 30 second intervals, checking and stirring it as you go, until it is completely smooth. Alternatively, you could do the same over a pan of simmering water until fully molten. Then, leave the chocolate on the side to cool.

Step 2
Measure out the plain flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl and set aside for later. Cream the 125g of butter and 75g of light brown sugar and beat it in a bowl until it's light and fluffy (using an electric whisk for this step makes it a lot easier!) Then, add the melted dark chocolate into the mixture and whisk once again.

Step 3
Add in the orange zest and egg and whisk until the mixture is combined. Then, fold in your flour mixture which will eventually create a sticky dough. Throw in the chocolate chips and give the mixture a final stir to ensure that the chips are evenly distributed. 

Step 4
Now for the messy bit! Roll the dough into small or large balls (depending on your preference) and place them onto the lined baking tray. Bake for roughly 15-18 minutes or until a skewer or knife inserted into the middle of a cookies comes out clean with no mixture on it. 

Step 5
Once the cookies are done, take them out of the oven and allow them to cool on the tray for up to 10 minutes. Then, you can transfer them to a cooling rack or a plate. At this stage, the cookies may seem quite soft and may appear un-cooked but I can assure that they are. As they cool, the cookies will harden. Do not try and cook them for any longer otherwise they will either burn or become dry.

And viola, that is how you make delicious chocolate orange cookies! I hope that you enjoyed this post and please let me know if you give this recipe a go yourself, I would love to see the outcomes! Hopefully I will be able to start incorporating some more food-related posts into my blog on a more regular basis as and when I can :)

The Christmas Tag

Hi guys. Today I thought that I would do a Christmas tag after seeing so many bloggers do one. I thought that it would be nice to share with you some of my family's traditions and see how they differ from everybody elses. Let's get started!

Do you prefer a real Christmas tree or a synthetic one?
My Mum is quite fussy and always demands that we get a real tree as they look much nicer. I always tag along with my parents to our local Christmas tree farm each year and help them pick out a tree. This year, my Dad accidentally knocked over a bunch of trees whilst we were there and I literally could not stop laughing. I cannot take him anywhere!

You're in a coffee shop, it's December, what do you pick up?
I have become addicted to Costa's Honeycomb & Cream Hot Chocolate this year. I definitely recommend it!

What's your favourite colour scheme for decorating the tree?
As our living room is quite neutral in colour with a few green pillows and so on, (I promise it looks nicer than it sounds,) we tend to match our decorations to that. So our colour scheme is gold, browns and greens. It looks really elegant and classy I think!

Giving or receiving?
Definitely giving. I get really into buying presents and I get so much excitement out of doing so. I always really try and make my gifts personal whenever I can, especially when it comes to my closest friends.

To mince pie or not to?
Unfortunately, I do not like mince pies.

What's your traditional Sunday lunch?
On an average Sunday we will have some form of meat with roast potatoes, an assortment of vegetables that Mum honey glazes and cooks in the oven (yum!) and Yorkshire puddings. However, at Christmas, there are obviously plenty of trimmings such as chipolatas and sausage meat.

What do you wear on Christmas day?
I try to dress nicely on Christmas day in a dress and tights but this year, I think we are all wearing Christmas jumpers for fun. Also, even though we spend Christmas day at home and do not leave the house, I still like to make an effort with my hair and make-up.

What's your favourite Christmas song?
I'm not a huge fan of Christmas songs because when I worked in retail, they were all I heard for about three months on a loop. If I had to choose it would probably be 'Last Christmas' or 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday.'

What's your favourite Christmas film?
Elf without a doubt and I'm sure most people will say the same! It's so funny and I can quote so much of it.

Do you open presents before or after lunch?
We normally open them around mid-morning once my Nan has arrived. We usually all take it in turns to open one present each and go around in a circle.

I hope you enjoyed reading this fun, little tag and please feel free to link me if you have done this tag or a similar one, as I would love to read them and see the similarities and the differences between everybody's Christmases! Also I would like to tag my best friend, Laura, to do this tag too. She has a great blog called 'Just A Random Rambler,' which I recommend you take a little peek at. Thank you :)