Tried and Tested: Health Kick #1 - Joe Wicks 'Lean in 15' Recipe - Lamb Kofta

During the week, I do eat healthily, and try really hard to plan ahead so that we don't rely on getting a frozen pizza on the way back from work. Recently I bought the 'Lean in 15' book by Joe Wicks, after wanting some inspiration for quick and easy evening meals. I have followed Joe since he appeared on Channel 4's Sunday Brunch (must have been last year or the year before), and always found his 15 second clips of him making his meals hilarious, but also really useful at giving me some different ideas for flavours and ingredient combinations.

So I kind of knew that the book would be easy to follow and nothing too fancy, and I haven't been disappointed! That's not to say the recipes are boring and uninteresting, in fact far from it. There are many meals that I would love to have in a restaurant, and I'm excited that I'll be able to cook them myself. But I also appreciate that if you need to buy a particular ingredient that you wouldn't have necessarily have had in the cupboard before, there are a few recipes that use the product, so you get your monies worth! And the things you do have to buy outside of your standard shopping list, are pretty inexpensive.

I have already tried out the avocado and egg recipe (where you half an avocado then crack an egg into it and cook in the microwave). Turned out to be very tasty (avocado is lovely when warm!), but make sure you get small eggs and large avocados, because even though I scooped more avocado out than the size of the stone, the egg still spilled everywhere, oops.

Last night we had Lamb Kofta (we added the broccoli and roasted sweet potato), but it was extremely quick and easy to make, and tasted damn good!

E x

The Multitasker: My MAC eyeshadow palette

I was a bit late to the game with the whole MAC eye shadow thing. I know a MAC eyeshadow is many girls first step into the makeup world, but I had somehow by-passed it. I think I was always daunted by the rows upon rows of colour and didn't know where to begin. So now that I actually work in makeup, and have some friends who can help me out with their Pro discount, I decided that I'd waited long enough, and decided to take the plunge. And took the plunge I did - because in a matter of about two weeks, I had bought a customised 15 pan palette, along with an empty 4 pan palette, for when I'm wanting to travel a bit lighter.

I did a lot of research on Youtube and blogs to find out which shades I would get the most use of for myself, but also in my Pro kit. I tried not to buy too many dupes of shadows I already had in previous palettes.

Overall I tried to buy a mix of mattes and shimmers, with both warm and cool tones. The shades that I was most excited to try was Cranberry, as I love the unique rich colour, and so far have been really pleased with it. In fact, there isn't a single shade that I have been disappointed with. With this palette, I can interchange shades and create so many looks.

Top L to R: Shroom, All That Glitters, Woodwinked, Sable, Mulch
Middle L to R: Omega, Wedge, Charcoal Brown, Mystery, Handwritten,
Bottom L to R: Quarry, Satin Taupe, Cranberry, Smut, Carbon

For the top two rows, I have laid them out so that there is a corresponding matte below the shimmer shade. I paired them to allow for a quick selection between shades. Then for the bottom row they are a bit more stand alone. I think Quarry and Satin Taupe work beautifully together. Smut does a great job of darkening the outer corners of Cranberry. And Carbon is ready to deepen any shade and also acts as a soft liner.

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Review: Bobbi Brown Sheer Finish Pressed Powder

When it comes to powder products, Bobbi Brown is a reliable brand to know that the quality should be decent and its variety of shades should suit a lot of skin tones.

So when I realised that the setting powders that I currently own have a bit of a pinky tone to them, I wanted to try a yellow based colour that would hopefully counteract any redness in my skin.

I decided on the 'Sheer Finish Pressed Powder' in the shade 'Pale Yellow', and for my very pale skin this works really well. It has a really light texture, and doesn't sit heavily on the skin, so its perfect for setting your concealer under your eyes. I prefer it to Anastasia Beverly Hills Banana Powder, as I sometimes find the texture of this a bit heavy for under my eyes.

The only negative is that I have to be careful to not swirl my brush in the powder too much, as there is a lot of fall-out.

Its quite a large compact, with a good sized mirror, so comes in handy for touch-ups.

E x

Tried and Tested: Keeping Your Teeth Healthy

Now I am no expert, and can only talk from personal experience, but as I'm going through some wisdom teeth trouble at the moment, I thought it would be a good time to talk about how I try to keep my teeth in good nick.

I brush my teeth twice a day with the Philips Sonicare Diamond Clean black edition. Its an eye watering £250, but in the Black Friday sales, I seem to remember paying something closer to £90 (from Boots = LOADS OF POINTS), which is still a crazy amount to pay for a toothbrush - but my husband and I use the same device and we just swap brush heads. So although we need to charge it more frequently, its definitely better than paying for two other them! It took a few goes to get used to the tickly sonic movements of the brush, but it feels totally normal now.

There are a few settings to use, and I mostly use the 'Whitening' setting, which has about 30 seconds extra of a different frequency of cleaning (at least that is what it feels like) compared to the standard 'clean setting'. It lasts for a minimum of 2 minutes, so its nice to know that you're cleaning your teeth for long enough and not just giving them a quick tickle with the brush. I don't rinse my mouth out after, as I've been told to leave the toothpaste to carry on working on your teeth, rather than washing it off with water.

I then floss in the evening with the standard Oral B floss, it has a slight minty taste and it just slips in between my teeth easily so doesn't cause too much irritation. I definitely believe that the more frequently you floss, the better your gums are at coping with it.

Then whenever I feel I want to give my teeth/mouth an extra helping hand, I use some of the Corsodyl mouth wash to give it a complete clean. This is great to do when you're had a lot of garlic in the evening, because I think it definitely lessens the impact of the garlic when you wake up in the morning! And I quite often have a swig of mouthwash instead of having a mint/chewing gum as it instantly freshens your mouth up.

I've also had my teeth whitened with an 'at home' treatment via the dentist - review on that soon!

E x

Top Product: Favourite Foundation?

Simple.
Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk.
Such a light but buildable foundation, I am yet to find another one so suited to my skin. I can wear it all year round and for all occasions, I never feel caked in product, but also feel it gives me enough coverage to even out my skin.
I wore this to my wedding, and also with Clarins Beauty Flash Balm as a primer, it stayed put all day. So that's about 16 hours wear. It doesn't have SPF - which I like as I never really trust the SPF 10 or 15 in a lot of foundations - how much protection can that really give?! So for the days where I'm not bothered about camera flashback (any other day apart from my wedding?!), I layer underneath with my usual Piz Buin Allergy Face Cream in SPF 30 or 50, to give me a flawless finish with full on sun protection.

I wear the shade No 4, I don't tan very much, especially on my face, so its a flattering shade all year round for me. And if I want to warm it up a bit, then a light dusting of bronzer does the trick.
Now the only negative. Its price tag of £37 is redonk, especially for something you could use up pretty darn quickly. So I tend to save it for when I want to look my best, and not waste a precious drop for the off duty days. Speaking of which, it goes on wonderfully with your fingers, so no need for it to be soaking into your brushes. I find it much better to finish off with a brush, rather than swoosh it all round my face to begin with.

I've also got the face powder that matches this and they work great together, review soon!

E x

Review: Charlotte Tilbury's Luxury Eye Palette 'Dolce Vita'

There has been so much hype around the Charlotte Tilbury brand (she sure knows how to market herself!), I wanted to let the dust settle before I forked out the big bucks to try her products. I took my time to find out what reviews people were giving her products, and what were the stand-out buys that warranted the hefty price tag. As sometimes its hard to know with a brand if they can really talk the talk.. I love eye makeup, so was instantly drawn to her palettes. Some palettes have quite bright colours, which I knew I wouldn't get much wear out of, but when I saw the 'Dolce Vita' palette, I knew it'd be worth a try. Although I do think £38 is a lot to pay for four small eye shadows, the textures and pigmentation of them are lovely and definitely premium. However the 'Pop' glittery shade, doesn't have the same depth in texture, its great to layer over the other shadows to really bring it to life. The palette definitely achieves many looks, from quite natural, to intense deep smokey eyes, so a great option for weekends away when you want to pack light.

'Prime' shade is a very flattering champagne/gold, great to highlight the brow bone, inner corner and as a wash all over the eyelid.
'Enhance' shade is a warm rusty red/brown, it is quite a strong colour on my fair skin when used in the socket, so a little goes a long way. I don't have another colour like this in collection, I really like it.
'Smoke' shade its a dark olive green, which deepens the outer socket and along the lash line. I actually think both the 'enhance' and the 'smoke' shade could be interchangeable, and the green shade isn't too dark to use higher up into the socket.
'Pop' shade is a coppery glitter, which does exactly what it says on the packet - adds a 'pop' of sparkle to your lids. Although I wish the colour would transfer as well on my eyelids as it does onto my finger-tips when I apply it.

I'll be reviewing the my other purchases of the lip liner, matte lipsticks and eye liner soon.

E x

Muji storage for makeup

One slight problem with owning a lot of makeup, is finding a successful and practical way of storing it. A few months ago, I spent about £20 in Muji and bought a variety of their 'PP Vanity' storage cases. I measured my makeup draw so I knew roughly the dimensions of what I needed to buy, and had a think about how I'd like to categorize all my makeup into the different cases. For instance, all compacts in one tray, all single eye-shadows in another etc. And although I'm re-organising things now and again, searching through my makeup has never been easier and I think I'm using a wider variety of my makeup because I can see it all, rather than sticking to the same items each day.

A small selection from my makeup drawer.. 

E x

My fitness routine

Although I am obsessive about makeup and it is one of my biggest passions, I do also love keeping fit and eating healthily (most of the time!), as I think although makeup works wonders to improve you from the outside, if you're not treating your body well from the inside, you're not going to look as healthy as you potentially could.

Over the past couple of years I have got into a good fitness routine, with a bit of variety so my body doesn't get too used to what I throw at it. And although I am no expert, I know that when I put in the extra effort to exercise harder, I do see my fitness levels, strength and muscle tone improve.

I go to my local Virgin Active gym, and I love it. Its spacious, great equipment and classes, the staff are great and there's a really good atmosphere. However, its ridiculously expensive, but sometimes the cost does push me to go that extra time in a week. But I feel like I can justify the cost when I barely spend anything else on myself (such as beauty treatments and haircuts/colouring).

Personally, I think its good to combine different gym classes, swimming, cardio gym machines, free weights, weight machines and using your own body weight to mix up the routine, so you hopefully never get bored, and your body is always pushed that little bit further.

Here is a typical week of exercise for me:
Monday:
I go to a 30 minute intense class called CXWORX, which strengthen and tones your body. We sometimes use weight a rubber tubes for resistance training. The class straight after this is an old school step class, but its come on a long way since I used to go with my mum MANY years ago (which I seem to remember being more like line dancing round a step). So, this class is very intense, with lots of jumping, squatting and running over the steps. I come out looking like a sweaty beetroot, but I think that just shows I've been working hard! If I don't do these two classes, I do the Barre Core class, which I really enjoy from having spent most of my life dancing. This is a really popular class though so I have to remember to book it a week in advance. As Monday is my day off, I try to use the morning to fit in some intense exercise, as I know I can rest if I need to later in the day.
Thursday:
This is where I go to the gym to work my way through the standard gym equipment. I usually start with the HIIT technique of running really fast for 30 seconds, then walking for 45 seconds. I do this for about 10 minutes to get my heart rate up. I then do a mixture of weight machines, the rowing machine, and squats, sit-ups, planks to give my body a full workout. I make sure I do plenty of stretching at the end, and always make sure I can easily touch the floor keeping my legs quite straight.
Friday:
I go to a Pilates class at the gym which lasts an hour, and I find it a great way to limber myself up for the day.
Saturday/Sunday:
Depending on our plans, I either go for a 5k run and do some stretches at home. Or I go to the gym and do a small version of what I do on a Thursday, but then also go swimming for half an hour.

Wow, I'm tired just writing this!

E x

Review: Kevyn Aucoin The Celestial Powder - Candlelight

On the run up to my wedding last year, I was on the hunt for a highlighter that would accentuate my cheekbones in photos, and make look like a glowing bride, but without aggressive flashback or sparkle like a disco ball.

After spending ages swatching highlighting powders in Space NK and Selfridges, and scouring many other blogs and Youtube videos to find peoples opinion of certain highlighters, I finally came to the decision to buy Kevyn Aucoin's Celestial Powder in the shade 'Candlelight'. And I am so pleased I did.

The word 'Candlelight' is a perfect description for the shade, as it give your skin such a gentle glow. It doesn't have any glitter or white pearlescent, so it looks very natural, but still gives your skin enough of it lift.

The shade is quite unique, as a year on from having it I still haven't come across anything else quite like it. Its a great tone for my fair skin, but I think it would suit darker skin too. It has a 'golden-apricot hue', but this doesn't come across too warm, as it imparts quite a cool toned angelic glow onto your skin.

The only down side is the price, £35 for 3.1g, which is just crazy. Its basically the size of a large eye-shadow, but I suppose the price has just made me treat with special care, because there's no way I want to risk dropping it!

For a special occasion purchase (such as your wedding makeup), or if you just want to treat yourself to a beautiful unique highlighter, then I think it's definitely worth a look into..

E x

A refreshing awakening with Caudalie's Beauty Elixir

Caudalie Beauty Elixir (£11.50 for 30ml - perfect for your in-flight hand luggage)

I first discovered this product when I watched Lisa Eldridge's Long Haul Flight Beauty Regime video, and was intrigued to find out about its 'skin refreshing' properties for myself, not just for long flights, but for my generally tired skin.

Firstly, the smell is lovely and refreshing, it has a spa-like quality to it and inhaling it deeply really awakens your senses. Then its ingredients 'grape, orange blossom, rose, organic balm mint and rosemary' help to tighten your pores and give your skin a wonderful radiance, so act as a perfect base for makeup - or even to spruce your skin up on the days you don't want to wear makeup. It really awakens your skin, so great to use in the morning after you've moisturised, or even after your makeup, but its also quite nice to give your skin a spritz in the evening if you are heading out - especially if you don't have much time to top your makeup up. And of course, its perfect for when you're about to settle into your first film on a long flight, to give your skin a light spritz - it feels like a mini spa treatment 35,000 feet up in the air (yes I had to Google that fact, you're welcome).

Its suitable for all skin types (as I was bothered my sensitive skin wouldn't be able to cope - but so far so good!), and its also apparently great for men to use as an after-shave.

E x