Chocolate Brownies

Hi does anyone fancy a chocolate brownie, because they are delicious. All gooey inside and a nice crispy top, best ones I have ever made.

To make these little chocolate delights you will need:

200g dark chocolate

175g butter

325g caster sugar

130g self raising flour

3 eggs

You will also need:

Heatproof bowl 

saucepan

scales

mixing spoon

To get started you need to heat your oven to 160C.

Boil the kettle and put the water into the saucepan, place the saucepan onto a medium heat on top of the cooker. Then put the chocolate and butter into your heatproof bowl and place your bowl unto the sauce pan make sure that the bowl doesn't touch the water. Then allow to melt.

Remove the bowl from the heat (with tea towel or oven gloves) then add the sugared stir in until well incorporated then add the flour until incorporated finally add the eggs and mix until smooth and thick (this needs to be done quickly or the eggs will cook).

Pour your mix into the prepared baking tray and bake for 40-50 minutes. They should be flaky on top and soft in the centre (don't worry if they look undercooked they will continue to cook as they cool down).

Once completely cool cut up and enjoy.

If you liked this blog then check out my others and don't forget to share and subscribe.

Emma

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Homemade bread

Hi everyone,

I have another great recipe. This time to make your own delicious white crusty bread.

Equipment

Stand mixer with hook attachment (not needed if you wish to mix ingredients by hand)

2lb Bread tin

Measuring spoons

Strong arms!

Ingredients

500g Stong bread flour

7g Dried yeast (usually one packet)

300ml Luke warm water

Sugar

Salt

15g Butter

Method

Start by weighing all your ingredients out and placing them into separate bowls.

Place the flour and salt into the mixing bowl  stir in the sugar and yeast. Mix this together well with the hook attachment or a wooden spoon. then 'rub in' the butter.

Add enough water to form a soft dough.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic you will be able to tell the dough is done if you form it into a tight ball and gently press you finger into it the dough will bounce right back into the ball.

Once you have reached the right consistency it will need to rest I place mine into the hotpress as it has to be somewhere warm to rise. (Proving is the yeast activating and filling the bread with air) I usually put mine into the tin I am going to bake it in (oil your tin first) then shape and place your dough in, cover with a damp tea towel or clingfilm the cover has to be very loosely laid on top if it is tightly wrapped around it will not rise well leading to dense bread.

It will need to prove for 45 minutes or until doubled in size, then place into the oven at 230C (fan assisted) 210C (non-fan) (Gas 8) for 15 minutes then turn down to 200C (fan assisted) 180C (non-fan) (Gas 6) for a further 15-20 minutes. Then turn onto a wire rack. 

You will know it is ready by tapping underneath it will sound hollow.

Tip: if you would like your bread soft wrap it in a tea towel while it is cooling.

Emma

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Leek and goats cheese tartlets

Hi Everyone,

Great recipe for you today, leek and goats cheese tartlets sounds impressive but they are so simple and taste amazing (I love goats cheese).

So onto the recipe.

You are going to need:

2 largish baking trays

Sharp knife

Medium saucepan

Wooden spoon

1 ready roll puff pastry (or you can be adventurous and make your own)

350g of leeks

Knob of butter

Aprox. 200g of goats cheese

1 tsp dried oregano

Salt & pepper (I use cracked pepper)

First Heat your oven to 220C.

Add the butter to the medium saucepan and melt over a medium heat.

Cut your leeks up medium/thick and add to the melted butter, once they have wilted add the oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cook for another 5-6 minutes.

While the leeks are cooking unroll you pastry and cut into 12 portions (3x4). Once you have your 12 portions make a slight indentation with your knife the whole way around you pastry about 0.5cm from the edge of you pastry.

Add your leeks to the pastry then top with the goats cheese and place in your oven for about 10-15 minutes.

Once they have turned a golden brown they are ready to eat.

So enjoy these tasty treats and don't forget to share and subscribe.

Emma 

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50 Shades of OPI

Hi Everyone,

OPI recently launched a nail polish set for the 50 shades of grey movie. Its not an overly exciting set as it had 4 different shades of grey a sparkly polish which I think is more of a top coat than a polish on its own and a red polish in it.

Not really expecting much I gave them a go and I have to say that I really like them they go on great 2-3 coats and they dry really quick as most OPI polishes do. I tested them on nail extensions to show you the colours because after my last nail polish post I swore my nails were going to crumble of my hands.

My Silk Tie is a metallic silver it was opaque in three coats lasted 2-3 days with a top coat and had a really nice metallic shine of it.

Dark Side of the Mood is an almost black-grey colour three coats for opacity and a nice glossy finish it it is a creme formula and had very small shimmer to it but you really had to look at it to see that. 3-4 days with a top coat.

Romantically Involved is a nice pop of colour in this really rather grey set, its a creme finish has a nice glossiness and was opaque in two coats 3-4 days with a top coat.

Embrace the Grey when I painted this one onto the extension while I was sitting at the table in the kitchen there was a slight outburst of "Cool Ferguson grey!" I won't embarrass the culprit but it was a good way to describe this one. It has a creme finish and lasted 3-4 days with a top coat.

Shine for Me is a dense glitter polish but still took 4 quite thick coats to get full opacity I do believe it is more of a top coat to add a bit of glitter to the other ones this lasted 5 days with a top coat before chipping.

Cement the deal is the last polish in this set and is a lighter grey two coats made this polish opaque it has a creme formula and a glossy finish. This one lasted 3-4 days with a top coat.

This is a nice set if you are into collecting but these polishes are basic colours and can defiantly be got cheaper in other brands. My favourite ones are defiantly Dark Side of the Mood and Romantically Involved if you are goinf to get any I think those are the best ones or a cheaper option is to buy the mini set and get all the colours in mini (£19.95 on OPI site for the mini set each full sized bottle is £11.95).

If you liked this post then check out my others you can also share and subscribe or leave a comment.

Emma
XX

Skin tone cool or warm?

Hi Everyone,

I have a great blog for you today and after doing some research I have finished explaining skin tone and how you can best find out what yours is.

Skin surface tone is the colour you’d describe yourself as having (ivory, light, medium, tan, dark) Your skin’s undertone is the colour underneath the surface. You can have the same skin colour as someone, but a different undertone. Undertones are divided into:

Cool (pink, red or bluish undertones)

Warm (yellow, peachy, golden undertones)

Neutral (a mix of warm and cool undertones)

A big misconception is that pale people can’t be warm-toned, many fair-skinned people have warm undertones like Nicole Kidman to name one, and dark-skinned people can have cool tones, supermodel Alek Wek is a cool tone.

So, how can you determine which category you fall into.

1. Check Your Veins

Look at the veins on the inside of your wrist. Are they blue or green? If they look more blue, you likely have cool undertones. If the veins look greenish, you’re warm. If you can't really tell then your likely to have a neutral tone. 

2. The Jewellery Test.

Think about whether you look better in silver or gold jewellery (not which one you like more, but which one actually makes you look better ) People with cool undertones will look better in silver and platinum metals, and warm-tones will look better in gold.

3. Eye and Hair Colour.

Your natural eye and hair colors can help figure out your coloring. Customarily, cool people have eyes that are blue, gray, or green and have blond, brown, or black hair with blue, silver, violet and ash undertones. Conversely, warm-toined women usually have brown, amber, or hazel eyes with strawberry blond, red, brown, or black hair. Their hair tends to have gold, red, orange, or yellow undertones.

4. Burn or Tan

When you’re out in the sun, does your skin turn a golden-brown, or does it burn and turn pink first? If you fit into the former category, you’re warm-toned, while cool tones tend to burn (fair-skinned cool girls will simply burn, while medium-skinned cool-toned girls will burn then tan.)

5. Compare you skin with Celebrities.

Celebrities who have cool undertones: January Jones, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway, Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz, Cara Delevingne.

Celebrities who have warm undertones: Jennifer Lopez, Nicole Kidman, Jessica Alba, Rachel Bilson, Jennifer Aniston, Beyoncé.

6. Find Which Colors Look Best on You

There’s no denying that certain colors will make you look better regardless of your skin’s undertone. Warm-toned girls should lean toward yellows, oranges, browns, yellow-greens, ivorys, and warm reds, while cool-toned girls should wear blues, greens, pinks, purples, blue-greens, magentas, and true “blue-based” reds.

I hope this has helped if you needed it and if you liked this blog post have a look at my others and don't forget to subscribe and share.

Emma

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Tanya Burr Nail Polish

Hi Everyone,

I'm going to do a review on the Tanya Burr nail polishes as I finally got all the colours. :)

The range of colours is very good however I do think that a nice dark blue shade would have completed this set. The consistency is of most of these polishes is really nice and two coats usually works to get a good opaque colour. I like the packaging its nice quality and it looks nice. However the brush could have been of better quality for the £5.99 price.

Peaches & Cream is a nice nude shade leaning to a light coral. This is nice formula to apply two coats gives opacity and lasted 4 days before chips started to appear.

Penguin Chic this was a nice formula and was opaque in two coats I don't have any grey polishes and I really liked it. It lasted well on the nails about 3 days.

Mini Marshmallows this polish has a nice formula however it did need three coats to get full opacity it is a nice baby pink and lasted well about 4 days before I would have needed to apply again.

Bright and early, I really didn't like this polish it was patchy and needed three coats the formula was bad it was lumpy and didn't look smooth on the nails even when it dried.

Little Duck, another one I really didn't like this polish was patchy and needed three coats this formula was also lumpy this dried a bit better than bright & early but still didn't look even and smooth.

Be bright, be happy, be you I couldn't get a clear photo with the white wall it was coming out orange which it defiantly isn't. I really liked this polish it went on nice and was opaque in two coats.

Mischief Managed I really liked this polish it went on nice and was opaque in two coats. This lasted about 3 days.

Riding Hood I really liked this polish it went on nice and was opaque in two coats. This lasted 2-3 days and is a lot darker than the photo more of a dark burgundy.

New York Night I really liked this polish it went on nice and was opaque in two coats. This did need to be reapplied after 2 days because of it dark it is the chips are more noticeable.

This polish is called Midnight Sparkles in the bottle it looks really sparkly but when its on your nails you can't really see the sparkles lasts about 2 days because of it dark it is the chips are more noticeable.

Overall this is a nice collection however some of the polishes for me were a let down, maybe more time on the formulas was needed. One other thing that had me a little miffed was the fact that the heart on top of some of the polish lids was a sticker while some of the other lids had the heart properly printed onto the lid.

Out of the collection I would suggest Peaches & Cream, Penguin Chic, Mini Marshmallows, New York Night and Mischief Managed. I feel that these are the best polishes and the colours I would wear the most.

If you want to get your hands on any of these visit your local Superdrug or shop online at FeelUnique.com or Superdrug.com

Don't forget to share and subscribe if you liked this post and check out my others.

Emma 

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RDS Dublin Makeup show

Hi Everyone,

So last week on Monday 9th March I travelled down to Dublin on the train to the RDS for the Irish Beauty Show. I had been looking forward to this for almost a month now and I must say it didn't disappoint. There was all type of beauty stands as far as you can see. I will put a list of exhibitors at the bottom of the post as well as what I bought.

There where nail stations everywhere to get your nails done at.

Jessica Stand

There was also teeth whitening stands I think there was maybe two or three of these.

Here is a list of the exhibitors and the floor plan from the Irish Beauty Shows webpage.

I saw lots of brands I've never heard of before and I thought I would include some of these in this blog to get the name out there as I though their product was really good. 

The first one I'm going to mention is Ciara Daly. I have never heard of this brand however I have now been informed that its pretty popular. So Ciara Daly has in fact got a makeup school and a range of beauty products. I didn't actually purchase anything but my friends bought her 'hero brush' so I will ask them how they got on with that.

The next one is Crown Brushes although their webpage has makeup on it as well they only had brushes at the show I did buy some of these as they seemed to be really good quality, only time will tell. I have used them a few times now and haven't had any fall out the brushes themselves are a bit stiff but after giving them a wash with some conditioning shampoo and conditioner they seem ok, the brushes pick up product well and distribute well on the face.

Fuchsia Cosmetics is another one I had never heard of they sell makeup and makeup brushes. This stand was absolutely mental even trying to get in to see what they had was a nightmare it was so packed. The products seemed good quality and a good price.

Benefit also had a stand there with 10% of their products so I did buy two of their products the first is the Puff off eye cream which I am testing out at the minute, and the Porefessional this came in a duo with the Triple action face emulsion. 

The last one I'm going to mention is OPI this is a big brand and I have heard of this one however I have to admit I've never actually bought any of the polishes but at the show price of €6.95 I didn't think I could go wrong (now I wish I had picked up some more of them) I really like this polish it goes on nice and you only need a maximum of two coats for a fully opaque colour.

Indulgence 

Push and Shove 

With flash 

Without flash

I really enjoyed my day out to the makeup show I've never been to one before and I can't wait to go back again next year.

Emma XX