Sunday 22 April 2018

Very Important Cakes

Ask anyone who knows me, even if they've only met me once, and they will tell you that the number one thing I love is cake. In all shapes, flavours and forms, cake is truly one of life's delights - eating it, baking it, drooling over photos of it - I absolutely flipping love it and I'm not afraid to shout it loud from the rooftops! 

Which leads me to a very special evening last week. First of all it was invite only, second of all the whole purpose of the evening was to EAT CAKE and third of all it was for VIPs - very important people who can scoff cake like it's going out of fashion... Sign. Me. Up. 

Let me take you along for the ride and while I'm there introduce you to Bendelow's Kitchen: Catering/Baking/All Occasion Goods run by Dominique Bendelow. 


I'm going to start right at the beginning because the first thing I saw when I entered the event was lines and lines and oh so beautiful looking scrummy lines of mini cheesecake pots *D R O O L* I managed to remember my name (just!) and sign myself in before deciding right there and then that it was going to be a mighty fine evening! 


The whole place was filled with cake. Oh my, it was a dream come true. There were cupcakes, mini puddings, pieces of fudge, millionaire's shortbread, meringue kisses...I lost track of it all while figuring out how many things I could eat without looking like the greediest one in the room (as if I really cared, ha, bring it on!) 


So what did I try? First of all I had churros with a chocolate dippy sauce. Fluffy, sugar sweet, oh so light and very very tasty indeed - the perfect starter course. For mains I moved on to the sticky toffee pudding for which there are no words. One of the nicest versions of this famous pudding I've ever had, and trust me, I've tried many. For pudding I opted for the cheesecake - shaved chocolate on the top, the richest most heavenly chocolate sauce, dipped right into a creamy cheesecake filling and crumbly biscuit to finish. I honestly contemplated if I could fit one into my handbag to bring home for second pudding. Instead what I actually had for my next pudding was the scone that I got in the goodie bag which was also exceptionally fine! 


Oh what a night! It's basically like it was made just for me! If you fancy trying out some of those deeeelicious treats for yourself you can follow Bendelow's Kitchen on Facebook and drop Dominique a message to talk all things cake. Obviously I can highly recommend you do just that! 


A big thank you to Bendelow's Kitchen for my invite and all the tasty delights - I had the most lovely evening! My big love of cake is entirely my own and can previously be found documented pretty much everywhere.  

Saturday 14 April 2018

Life is too short for rubbish moisturisers!

I LOVE a good empties post. Call me weird but there's something oddly satisfying about seeing or reading all about products that people have loved so much they've literally scraped every single last drop out. I'm more than happy to stand alone on this one, but just in case you're like me, I'm coming at you today with a few of my most loved, used, scraped out - hell I've even cut one of them open - lotions and potions from the last few weeks!  




Mixa Restoring Body Lotion
Since I went all out there with the drama about cutting things open, it makes sense to start off with Mixa - the bottle that had the scissors taken to it! As with most things that we consume these days, I first came across this brand via at least three of my bloggers/vloggers/YouTubers/Influencers - whatever you want to call them. They all talked about how fantastic the brand was, how much good the lotions and potions were doing to their skin and most of all, how purse friendly it is. I have to agree, they were right on all three counts. 

There's nothing fancy dancy about Mixa at all, it doesn't particularly smell of anything, but it is indeed flipping good lotion that will do good things to your skin. This particular one worked wonders on my red patches from so much cold weather (COME ON Spring, what you playing at?!) and I was genuinely upset when the lotion stopped coming out via the pump, hence the dramatic scissors whereby more and more product just kept coming out for about another week, yay! I initially had to order this via Boots online, but I've since seen the brand in person in Superdrug in Middlesbrough so if you're interested, I would definitely head there first. I would like to think that the cut open packaging/scissors story speaks for itself, but it's safe to say I can highly recommend Mixa and I look forward to trying more. 

Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter
This is my third repurchase of this really flipping good cleansing balm. At just over £10 for the tub, it's a decent size that lasts a reasonable amount of time and does a really good job of removing all traces of makeup. I like that it's very, very light on fragrance, that it's super effective, it's really easy to travel with (she says, as if always off to far-flung destinations when in actual fact it's been no further than UK holidays), and I sometimes end up getting it for slightly cheaper if I have Body Shop points saved up. The only reason I haven't bought this again is that I've got a real hankering to try the Clinique Take the Day off cleansing balm so I'm saving my pennies up for that! (sidenote: way to tell that this blog is strictly amateur hour - when was the last time you heard a blogger say they needed to wait for payday for anything?!) 



Lee Stafford Sea Salt Spray
Boy, is this packaging pink! I inadvertently ended up buying two things from this range and the overwhelming PINK in my hair stuff basket was hurting my eyes! Rainbow bright packaging aside, this is a crackin' sea salt spray that has basically been making my life, now that my hair is 7 inches shorter than it was and back to being all bouncy and full of life. Spray in, quick scrunch and job is a good'un! Not sticky, not crispy, indeedy not rubbish at all. I can highly recommend! Once again, the only reason I didn't buy it again straight away is that I like trying new stuff out so I've currently got a blue one from L'Oreal. All the colours of the rainbow!


Lee Stafford Air Dry Foam
I'm definitely going to file this one under the category of fail. I don't quite know why I was so intrigued to try one of these 'air dry' products when in actual fact I air dry my hair every time I wash it (translation: can't be bothered to get the hairdryer out so leave it to dry naturally) and don't really need a product to help me do that. It was faffy, sticky and didn't really do anything at all. Very much a 'meh' from me. 


Bionsen Caring Touch deodorant (aluminium, paraben and alcohol free)
Over the past few years I've made many a foray into the natural deodorant world. The first one I ever tried did not go down well at all and basically gave me a kind of prickly heat rash in my armpit. 


Pleasant. *sarcasm* 

I have to admit that after the trauma of that it took me a good two years to be brave enough to try again. The next attempt was with the crystal style one. I'm still trying to figure out how that one works...when I saw this Bionsen one I was really intrigued. It looked like a normal deodorant, smelled nice, and didn't seem too scary, and it was about £2.50 so definitely not bank breaking at all. 

I've been pretty chuffed that it's turned out as well it has. I really, really like it and use it on weekends and when I'm working from home. I'd like to say that I use it everyday but I work in what is basically a sweatbox so if you don't have 48 hour Mitchum protection type deodorant on you might as well forget wearing any colour except black... 

Botanics All Bright Radiance Concentrate Serum
Excellent price point, very easy to buy (just pop into your local Boots) and a nice, sinks in quickly and moisturises at the same time serum. It ticks all the boxes but there was just something about this that didn't really float my boat. I bought a second bottle just to make fully sure, but the second attempt didn't really excite me any further. I think it's perfect if you're looking for an entry level serum but for those of us that might require a little more assistance in the hydration department, the big guns are needed and this cute little bottle just isn't big and doesn't have enough ummmph behind it. 


And there you have it. A whole heap of empties and a mini review thrown in for good measure. What have you emptied out lately? Hit me up in the comments - we've already established that I'm very easily enabled...