Gluten free halloween cupcakes! :)

Hi Ladies,

With halloween just round the corner, I decided to bake some spooky cupcakes for my friends and family. I decided to go for chocolate orange cupcakes, I like to experiment with my baking and try out my own flavour combinations so I basically adapted my basic gluten free cupcake recipe by adding the juice of one large orange and 100g of milk chocolate (to a mix for 12 cupcakes). The weren't quite as orangey as I would have liked and next time I will probably look at either using orange essence or a bit more juice, but they got lots of compliments and tasted delicious!

I piped the orange buttercream onto the buns with my piping bag which is from lakeland, and for the green buttercream I used a super easy technique which my friend taught me which is great if you don't have a piping back or are in a rush. You basically pop a spoonful of buttercream onto your cupcake and spread it into a cone like shape, then use a fork to mark the lines into the buttercream and swirl the fork up the cone creating a flick at the top. I will definitely be recreating this for some Christmas tree style cupcakes in december I think they will look fab!

I bought some spooky haribo jelly sweets for decorating, used some blue sherbet to decorate the green cupcakes et voila!

These were quickly eaten up by family and friends and no one seemed to be able to tell that they were gluten free :) For any other gluten free bakers out there, my top tip would be to make your mixture a little bit runnier. Gluten free flour seems to need a bit more liquid, and I always put 3-4 tablespoons of milk into my mixture which seems to work a treat. My favourite gluten free flour to use is doves farm self raising :)

Are you doing anything for halloween?

have a lovely weekend,

All About Batiste! :)

Hi Ladies,

Batiste has long been a firm favourite of mine. I can still remember the day one of my house mates in university halls introduced me to dry shampoo, and I don't think I have ever been without it since! Its great for when you're in a rush and need to give your hair a quick refresh. Batiste has definitely made many bad hair days a little more bearable for me!

I've really enjoyed seeing all the new scents batiste have been releasing over the past few years, and I thought I would share with you a few new ones which I have really been enjoying recently. There is such a wide range of scents now that there really is something for everyone. Personally, I have never been keen on the original scent, the blush scent or the tropical scent which I find a bit overpowering. I prefer the ones which I would describe as smelling more like ''a body spray for your hair!'' such as diva, fresh, lace and the three lovelies pictured here :)

L-R Brit, Cherry and Graffiti*

I really like all three of these scents. Brit is one which I have repurchased quite a few times, It is a really fresh lovely scent. I picked up the cherry version recently in boots, I wasn't sure about this one initially and didn't rush out to buy it when it first came out as I don't really like sickly sweet scents which I suspected this might be. But I was drawn in by the pretty packaging and I actually really love this scent, it is subtle and fruity, it actually reminds me a little of how my little ponies used to smell! (any one else love these!?). I was lucky enough to be sent the recently launched batiste graffiti scent to try. This is definitely up there with my favourites. It is more of a musky scent, and I can definitely detect a hint of coconut in it which I really like.

Which is your favourite batiste?

REVIEW: L'oreal elvive extraordinary oil

Hi Ladies,

A couple of weeks ago my dad treated me to the L'oreal elvive extraordinary oil whilst we were out shopping (thanks Dad!). I was browsing the haircare isle in boots moaning about how dry my poor blonde locks were when he picked this up from a promotional display and basically said how about this? I then preceded to moan that at £9.99 it was far too much for a stuggling student like me and before I knew it he was marching me to the till, getting out his debit card and telling me to stop whining (it worked!)

I have had this hair oil for a couple of months now, and as a self confessed haircare fanatic I thought I would give you my thoughts on it :)

Firstly, this is a product I would probably never have purchased myself. At £9.99, although I am known to splash out on haircare, this is a little too pricey for me. I also rarely go for hair oils, I much prefer cream based treatments to oils and serums. That said I was really looking forward to giving this a go.

I have been using this as the final product when I have blow dried and styled my hair, and occasionally on an evening if the ends of my hair are feeling particularly dry. I have been really surprised by how smooth and sleek this leaves my hair. I was really worried about it making my hair look greasy (and I still would not use this product anywhere near the root) but it does nothing of the sort. It smooths down fly away's and leaves my hair feeling and looking noticeably softer on the ends. I really like to use this if I am going out and have straightened my hair I feel like it gives my hair that healthy blunt look you always have when you have just been to the hairdressers!

So, Does this makes a lasting difference to the condition of my hair? I'm not convinced. I wouldn't say I have noticed a difference in the overall condition of my hair whilst I have been using this product, however I am suitably impressed with the finish it gives my hair in the short term which is unlike anything I have used before.

A little goes a long way with this product, I find that half a pump is easily enough to run through the middle-to ends of my hair (I have long hair and quite a lot of it). So although I still feel its rather expensive for what it is, I can see this lasting a really long time.

7.5/10 from me! Would I repurchase? Probably in the boots 3 for 2!

Have you used the extraordinary oil?

My Picture Diary #1

Hi Ladies,

I have never actually actually done one of these my life in pictures type posts, but I really enjoy reading them so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon. Here are a few recent photo's from my iphone (incase anyone is interested the picture apps I use are instragram and PicFx) :)

1. A super yummy hot chocolate my lovely mum made me, looks like it came straight out of a Parisian cafe!

2. My lovely new light fitting, in my newly decorated bedroom

3. Berol Fineliners! Did anyone else use these at primary school? The best felt tips ever!

4. Blushing snapple apple - delicious

5. My gluten free pizza from pizza hut! I was really impressed, and will definitely be going again.

6. The Hummingbird bakery - A gluten free red velvet cupcake was waiting inside for me, it didn't last long enough for me to take a photo!

Let me know if you would like to see more of these posts :)

OOTD - Here comes Autumn :)

Hi Ladies,

I thought I would share this outfit with you from over the weekend. It was pretty chilly this weekend so I layered up for a trip into town (expect a little haul coming up soon!) with a brand new jumper and my trusty north face gillet. I also decided to wear a couple of high street jewellery items which I picked up a couple of weeks ago :)

 

Jumper - Vera Moda

Gillet - North face

Jeans - New Look

Boots - Uggs

Necklace - Topshop

Earrings - New Look

 

 

I picked up this mauve jumper from Vera Moda for around £20, its really chunky and cosy and the colour is perfect for Autumn. My gillet was a present last christmas, it is a chocolate brown colour and I adore the yellow lining. My jeans are the supersoft superskinny jeans from New Look, I have quite a few pairs of these jeans I find them really comfortable and they are reasonably priced too at around £20. My earrings are also from New Look and were a bargain for £1.99. I picked up the triangle necklace from topshop to wear with a dress for a night out with some friends, it was a bit more than I wanted to pay at £12.50 but I actually think I will get a lot of wear out of it as I love how it can make a relatively boring outfit like this a little more interesting.

 

I got my Michael Kors bag in the Christmas sales last year, and I still love it as much as when I first bought it. The leather is super soft and it is a lovely design which goes with pretty much anything.

 

Hope you had a lovely weekend! :)