Pumpkin Carving

Last year's pumpkins:

This years pumpkins!

 

 

 

Hey everyone!

Hope you're all having a nice Halloween, if you celebrate it! When I was younger, no one in Luxembourg had even heard of it, let alone celebrate it yet now there are a few fancy dress parties every year and (very rarely) the odd trick or treaters. Whenever we were in England around this time, we'd dress up and eat toffee apples. I think we even went trick or treating once! But usually we'd stay at home and watch a Halloween movie. The thing I love most about this time of the year is pumpkin carving! It's so much fun and you can keep the insides to use in a soup. This year I decided to buy my pumpkins early on and not make the same mistake as last year: leave it until the last minute and not being able to find proper pumpkins anywhere. I bought two big ones and two smaller ones and left them outside until a few days before Halloween, so that they'd be fresh, unfortunately the little ones sort of deteriorated after a day.

Let me know what you usually do to celebrate Halloween!

Cherry Tint

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi everyone!

Yet another FOTD today, featuring my new ELF lipstick (haul coming soon). I wanted to do something different for once, since I usually only every wear nudes on my lips. I didn't want anything too dramatic, so I settled for a sort of lipstain look instead.

Eyebrows:

Benefit Brows A-Go-Go: the darker shade

ELF Wet Gloss Lash & Brow Mascara

EcoTools Brow Comb

EcoTools Angled Brush

Face:

NARS Blush in Amour

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Light 2

Real Techniques Blush Brush

Real Techniques Buffing Brush

Eyes:

NARS Primer

NARS Eyeshadow in Lola Lola

BaByliss Eyeshadow Brush

Hema Blending Brush

Sleek Storm Palette: top row, light matte brown shadow

NARS Eyeliner in Via Veneto 

Maybelline The Colossal Volum' Express Smokey Eyes Mascara 

Lips:

ELF Mineral Lipstick in Cheerful Cherry

Real Techniques Detailer Brush

Let me know if you've tried any of these products and what you think of them!

Updated: What's in my bag?

Hi everyone,

Back in March I did a 'What's in my bag' blogpost and have decided to update it because I've changed my bag and have a lot more stuff that I carry around. I really love seeing/reading these kind of videos/blogposts, as I'm quite nosy and it also gives me ideas of essential things I should carry around.

I got this bag from Next. It's a really gorgeous stony beige colour and has polkadots on the inside. It also came with a polkadot black and white scarf attached to one of the handles but it fell off. My nan gave me a replacement polkadot scarf, but that one conveniently decided to fall off today too and I can't find it, although it's definitely in my room somewhere. It's a good size bag and fits all my essential bits and bobs.

In the main compartment: tissues, Impulse body spray, medicine bag, notebook, phone, purse, Tangle Teezer, camera

In the little side pocket: key and keychain, Vaseline lip balm

In the side zip up pocket: eye drops, Caudalie lip conditioner, Collection 2000 Cream Puff lip cream in Cotton Candy and a pen

In the middle pocket: hand sanitiser, hand cream, H&M passport cover, Accessorize card holder, H&M clothbrush

Let me know if you've done one of these posts, I'd love to see it!

Butternut Squash, Chicken & Spinach Gnocchi

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi everyone!

My mum and I were thinking about what to have for dinner and I suggested trying out gnocchi with butternut squash and chicken, as it's easy and everyone would eat it. Butternut squash is one of my all time favourite Autumn and Winter ingredients. It's so lovely and you can do so much with it like roast it, put it in ravioli or turn it into soup.

Serves 4 (plus leftovers)

Ingredients:

1 onion

5 small garlic cloves

chili flakes

olive oil

chicken (enough for 4)

spinach (half a pack)

butternut squash (enough for 4)

gnocchi (enough for 4)

Preheat your oven (200°)

Wash half a pack of spinach and leave it to dry.

Peel and chop the onion and one garlic clove, then chop the butternut squash into cubes.

Peel four cloves of garlic but leave them whole.

Put the four whole garlic gloves and the butternut squash in a baking tin, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle the chili flakes on top. Put that in the oven for about 30 minutes or until soft and golden.

Cut your chicken into cubes and put the onions and garlic in a frying pan with some olive oil to soften.

Once soft and golden, add the chicken and some extra chili flakes (optional). Once it's done, put to one side.

Heat up water in a pasta pan and add some salt and a bit of olive oil. Once it's boiling, add the gnocchi, which usually only takes about two minutes (until they've all risen).

Pour boiling water over the spinach and wait for it to wilt.

Take the butternut squash out of the oven, squash the garlic with a fork and mix in the gnocchi, the chicken and the spinach.

Add Parmesan to serve.

We added some sweetcorn as well, which is optional. We'd originally wanted to toast some pine nuts and add them, but forgot all about them!

Enjoy!

Getting Figgy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi everyone!

Hope you all had a great weekend! I'm starting the week with another FOTD, and I thought it'd be nice to use some colour this time. I love purple eyeshadows on brown eyes, and thought it would also be really nice for Autumn. 

I started the look the same way as the last one, using the same brow products, concealer and eyeshadow primer.

After applying my NARS primer, I used Benefit's Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow in Get Figgy all over the lids. It's a really nice shimmery fig colour (would you believe!) and it applies really well and easily. 

Next, I applied NARS Eyeshadow in Ashes to Ashes on the outer corner of the eyelid and through the crease, then I blended it out a bit. This colour really doesn't show up well on camera, so the pictures don't really do it justice, but believe me, it is gorgeous.

Then, instead of my routine of black eyeliner, I decided to use brown instead. I think it goes really well with the purple, and it's not as harsh as black. I used the Rimmel London Soft Kohl Eyeliner in 011 Sable Brown on my top and bottom lashline.

To finish off the eyes, I used my new Maybelline The Colossal Volum' Express Smokey Eyes Mascara on my top and bottom lashes. I really like it so far, it didn't clump and left my lashes looking separated, full and fluttery. It didn't make them quite as long as the Chanel mascara I used last time, but I don't really, because I tend to use Maybelline mascaras for more natural looking lashes anyway.

Moving on to my cheeks, I used NARS Douceur, for a hint of colour, nothing too dramatic since there's a lot of colour on the eyes. I left my lips bare, apart from some lipbalm to moisturise them.

Hope you liked this look, let me know what your favourite Autumn colours are!

Essie Nail Polish

Peach Daiquiri, Watermelon, Jam 'n Jelly, After Sex, Recessionista

Mademoiselle, Buy Me A Cameo, Pink Diamond, Mint Candy Apple

No Chips Ahead, Nourish Me, Grow Faster

Hi everyone!

This year was the year that I heard of Essie nail polishes and considering all the hype they received through blogs and YouTube videos, it wasn't too hard to find out about them. I've never really been that into nail polishes, yet when I saw them, I immediately wanted every single colour. Then, to my complete surprise, as Luxembourg isn't really known to stock many decent products in the shops, I came across Essie polishes in Auchan (they can also be found in some Cactus shops, for example in the Belle Etoile). I bought two that day, and have kept buying more ever since (and when my purse allows!).

So far I own nine colours and three nail care polishes. They cost 9.98€ each, which, for a nail polish, seems like a lot, to me, but that could be because I'm a bit of an amateur when it comes to nails. However, I love the quality of them, and they are very easy to use, so I do recommend them. And the names are all really fun and cute.

Nail Polishes:

Peach Daiquiri: a peachy coral 

Watermelon: a dark, pinky red 

Jam 'n Jelly: a warm fushia 

After Sex: a pearlescent burgundy

Recessionista: a dark, purple red

Mademoiselle: a very light pink

Buy Me A Cameo: a frosted, satin mocha

Pink Diamond: a sparkling pink

Mint Candy Apple: a creme de menthe mint

Nail Care:

Nourish Me: hydrating base coat

Grow Faster: protecting base coat

No Chips Ahead: chip free top coat

If you want to know more about the history of the brand, click here for an informative time line all about Essie.

Which are your favourite Essie polishes? Have you tried any of these?

Current Everyday Look

Hi everyone,

I'll start by saying  I'm sorry for the rubbish lighting! It's been constantly cloudy today unfortunately, but I really wanted to do this FOTD. This adds to the fact that it looks like I have absolutely nothing on me lids on all the photos, which is so annoying. Basically, it looks better in real life. 

Garnier Essentials Hydrating Day Care & Garnier Dark Spot Corrector

I used my moisturiser on cleansed skin, then when it had dried, I used the dark spot corrector. So far, I really like this combination as it makes my skin look and feel really nice. I'll probably start using a heavier moisturise (like the Bebe one) when it starts to get colder, but the Garnier Essentials has been great for warmer days as it's so light.

Benefit Brows A-Go-Go, Revlon Brow Styling Gel & Eco Tools Brushes

While I was waiting for my skin to dry, I lightly filled in my brows using the darker shadow. You can probably tell that I usually use the lighter one, but I've recently dyed my hair a bit darker than my natural shade, and I prefer using the darker colour. Then I set it with the brow gel that I found in TK Maxx.

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Light 2

Once my skin was dry, I lightly concealed my blemishes. I then waited for that to dry too.

NARS Pro Prime Eyeshadow Base, NARS Ashes to Ashes & Nepal, Urban Decay Eyeshadow Brush, Elf Crease Brush & Hema Blending Brush

I primed my eyes using the NARS primer, then used the Elf crease brush to put a bit of Nepal in the inner corner of my eyelid. Next, using the Urban Decay brush, I applied Ashes to Ashes all over my lid and blended it into Nepal. Then using the same Elf brush, I applied Nepal through my crease and blended that out with the Hema brush.

NARS Long Wear Eyeliner in Via Veneto, Collection Extreme 24 Hour Felt Tip Liner & Chanel Inimitable Intense Mascara

 

I used NARS Via Veneto and Collection's Felt Tip Liner to line both my top and bottom lash lines, then I applied mascara on my lashes. So far, I am in love with the NARS eyeliner, especially when used with the Collection liner, for an extra dark look.

NARS Blush in Dolce Vita & Real Techniques Blush Brush

I used a tiny bit of Dolce Vita on the apples of my cheeks, for a slightly flushed look. I bought this brush a few months ago and so far I'm impressed. It's so soft! I'll definitely try and get my hands on some more.

H&M Lipbalm in Coconut Mango & Elizabeth Arden Lipstick in Rose Aurora

Lastly, I applied some lipbalm and then my Elizabeth Arden lipstick, which was a birthday present from my sister's future mother-in-law. It is absolutely lovely and the perfect shimmery nude colour, which is great for this look, since there's so much going on with the eyes.

 

Hope you liked this look! Let me know what your current favourite products are!