Chocolate Star Cupcakes

Hey there!

Welcome to another 'Cupcake Thursday'! I actually made these cakes at the same time as the ones in my post last week but I decided to play about with the recipe a little bit and change them.

The cupcakes I decided to make were Chocolate Stars (the name itself is pretty explanatory as to what is in them but here is the recipe anyhow). This post, like last week's won't have step-by-step instructions but it will have measurements.

You will need:

Spoons
A large bowl
Smaller bowls
Sieve
An electric whisk (optional)
Scales
Cupcake cases
Baking trays
Measuring spoons (optional)

The measurements I used for the ingredients were enough to make about 12 cupcakes and they were quite big so you could half the measurements for smaller cakes or just make more! I actually only made 4 chocolate cupcakes but the recipe was originally for 12 so I am going to stick with that.

Ingredients:

100g Butter
100g Self-raising flour
100g (Golden) Caster sugar
2 Medium-large eggs
Cocoa powder
Magic star sweets

Optional:
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

If you don't have a recipe to follow then you can find a step-by-step guide here but just change in these ingredients instead of the previous ones.

When you get to the stage where you are about to place the cupcakes into the oven, press 2 magic stars (back to back) into each case. Make sure they are not directly on the bottom but not right at the top either. This will create a chocolate surprise in the center. When I first tried this, I did think that they would melt but sadly they didn't (so don't expect the center to be really gooey and melted!) ;)

For the icing:

These measurements are all approximations because when I make icing I just kind of guess the measurements and go by taste instead of exact amounts.

50g Butter
150g Icing sugar
Cocoa powder (add to taste)

*Quick Tip for Icing*
If you add milk or cream into the icing and them thicken it up again with more icing sugar it makes the icing lighter and taste even creamier. 

I (personally) think that the icing is the best part! (The reason may or may not be because you get to taste it!) ;)

  

As you can see, I also decorated them with chocolate magic stars (which I love, if you can't tell) and figured it would make the cakes look super cute! It was also this that gave them the name 'magic star cupcakes'!

(The cupcake in the back left looks a little disheveled, but it tasted fine, the icing came out strangely so I had to try and fix it using a fork!)

I hope you try these cupcakes and enjoy them as much as I did! 

If you have any ideas for mid-week posts, feel free to tweet me them or comment on here because I like to incorporate other people's ideas into my blog to change it up a little bit.

 Until next time

-G-

X

Lip Balms: EOS vs. Balmi

Hey there!

So today's post is going to be a comparison, recently I was given an EOS lip balm by a family member and I loved it straight away! It fast became my favourite lip balm and I was using it very quickly. I then began to wonder if there were and English equivalents and saw a 'SprinkleofGlitter' Drugstore beauty haul video on YouTube that she mentioned 'Balmi' in. It from watching that video that I decided to go and buy some! I ended up buying the mint and raspberry ones and both are great, however I'm not sure if they live up to the EOS one or not!

For those of you who are not familiar with either brand, EOS is mostly found in America but can be brought in 'Selfridges' (a big UK department store chain) and also on 'Amazon' or 'Ebay'. EOS stands for 'Evolution of Smooth' and also sells hand and body lotion and shaving creams. (You can find their website: here) 

Balmi is a more recent brand but they originally designed their packaging to be very similar to that of EOS and therefore had to change it to be the cube shape it is today. Their website is here but I am guessing it is not quite finished yet because many of the different tabs do not work and they only have the 4 flavours of lip balm as their only products. Although I do like both products they each have their own pros and cons. 

~Balmi~

Ok, so Balmi is up first and I have to say that it is an excellent brand and it must be very difficult to try to engineer a new lip product that already has an overflowing sector of the market and also when the EOS lip balms already exist and are very similar to your design.

Pros
Some of the pros of Balmi include that it is very easy to apply, it's conical shape makes it very easy to glide on and be quite precise. It also has a very silky feel once it is on your lips but doesn't feel too heavy and also isn't sticky. 

It also comes in very cool packaging (I wish I'd had the thought to take a picture before I took it out but alas, I forgot) the actual cube is also very nice to hold and is made from a 'soft' plastic. It doesn't feel really more smooth but has more of a 'rubbery-ish' texture.

Although there are pros there are also characteristics that I cannot decide whether or not they are good or bad. The smell is one of these for me, personally I find that the raspberry Balmi has a very strong smell and although it is quite pleasant it can be very sickly and overpowering (it smells like a raspberry maoam sweet for me, if you're from the UK you will probably know the smell I mean). However, I do love the smell of the mint one, the only fault I can find with it is that once it has been applied it makes your lips very cold around the edges and slightly numb and I'm not sure if this happens to anyone else but I can't decide whether or not I like the feeling. *I have since researched this and turns out it does happen to other people* The actual lip balm, I find, doesn't last as long as you would like  but when it is on it is very smoothing and nice.

Cons
I do like these products but they also come with their faults. For example; the actual design of the cube is quite bulky and is slightly less portable than a traditional 'Chapstick' or a Maybeline 'baby lips'. However, I think it completely makes up for this in the appearance and the feel. 

The only other con I can think of is the one revolving around the method of opening the cube because it is not just a regular twist top. The way you open it is you twist slightly and then pull up as there is a little plastic slot for a tiny chip to fit into and that was totally not what I was expecting at all! Overall, it isn't too bad but can be quite fiddly.

Another con could be that there are only 4 flavours so far (raspberry, coconut, mint and strawberry) which does limit the market to people who like those flavors.

~EOS~

EOS, I think, is a very good brand. It is well known and used by many beauty and fashion bloggers and is, overall, quite trusted. The flavour that I have is the 'summer fruit' one and it is lovely!

Pros
I found quite a few pros for the EOS lip balm and most of them are key selling points for it. I like the experience that my senses receive from it. It smells gorgeous and is not overpowering at all! Another thing you would not really expect to like is the taste, it has a very sweet taste that is nothing like that of Balmi (which just tastes a bit like Vaseline to me!) and I have to stop myself from licking my lips when I wear it! In fact, it tastes a little like sugar and I absolutely LOVE the smell and taste! Both of those factors completely sell it for me!

The overall feel of the product is also a good one! It is very smooth and nourishing when it is on but is not waxy or heavy at all! It also lasts quite a long period of time, I can apply some in the morning and it will last until around lunch which is when it comes off when I eat or drink!

You would think that with the spherical shape of the actual balm it would be difficult to apply but it is quite surprising that it isn't at all! It is very easy to apply and you can still be very precise with it!

The composition of the balm is also very 'allergy-friendly', people with gluten, petroleum or phthalate allergies  can use it without worry which increases the available target market.

There is also a very wide range of flavours at EOS; Lemon drop with SPF 15, Medicated tangerine, Sweet mint, Summer fruit, Blueberry acai, Strawberry sorbet, Honeysuckle honeydew, Pomegranate raspberry and then the slightly newer ones of; Vanilla mint and Coconut milk. There has also been many previous flavours and limited edition ones.

Unlike the Balmi packaging, it is very easy to open, with a standard screw top and the outer packaging is also very cool and 'trendy'. (again, I wish I had taken a picture!)

Cons
It was quite hard to find fault in the EOS lip balm because I did like it a lot but I guess there are 2 main points. Like the Balmi packaging, the sphere is quite bulky and isn't very portable which is difficult if you want to take it with you on a night or day out and you are only taking a clutch bag! 

The other con is the pricing, however, there is reason for it being slightly more expensive in the fact that better materials and ingredients are used which means you get a very good product for a not unreasonable price tag.

Overall, I still can't decide which product is my all-time favourite and I don't think I ever will be able to! They each have their own unique selling points and are quite difficult to compare, despite them being very similar products!

I think that I am going to make the most of the amazing weather here and prepare a take pictures in the sun for future posts! I hope you guys all enjoy whats left of your weekends! :) 

Until next time

-G-

X

Cupcake Thursday

Hey there!

Welcome to 'Cupcake Thursday'! It originally started out as 'Cupcake Wednesday' because I tweeted about it and forgot that I would be posting this on a Thursday! *oops* But I did make these cakes on a Wednesday, so that counts, right? ;) 

The cupcakes I decided to make were strawberry and vanilla. This post won't have step-by-step instructions but it will have measurements.

You will need:

Spoons
A large bowl
Smaller bowls
Sieve
An electric whisk (optional)
Scales
Cupcake cases
Baking trays
Measuring spoons (optional)

The measurements I used for the ingredients were enough to make about 12 cupcakes and they were quite big so you could half the measurements for smaller cakes or just make more!

Ingredients:

As you can see, I have 2 bags of caster sugar because I thought I needed more but turns out I did have enough! 

100g Butter
100g Self-raising flour
100g (Golden) Caster sugar
2 Medium-large eggs
Strawberry jam or powder or flavouring (add to taste)
Vanilla essence (add to taste)

Optional:
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

If you don't have a recipe to follow then you can find a step-by-step guide here but just change in these ingredients instead of the previous ones.

For the icing:

These measurements are all approximations because when I make icing I just kind of guess the measurements and go by taste instead of exact amounts.

50g Butter
150g Icing sugar

Vanilla essence (add to taste)

Strawberry jam or powder or flavouring (add to taste)

I also added some 'Gel Food Colouring' to make it a bit more pink but its up to you if you add any or not.

I (personally) think that the icing is the best part! (The reason may or may not be because you get to taste it!) ;)

  

As you can see, I also decorate them with chocolate magic stars which I love and figured it would make the cakes look super cute!

I hope you try these cupcakes and enjoy them (as I have, they are sweet but not overpowering) 
Feel free to tweet or Instagram me a picture of any attempts :) 

 Until next time

-G-

X

DIY Beauty Storage Ideas

Hey there!

So, today's post is going to be a few do it yourself beauty storage ideas. They are ways you can store any beauty related (or not) products *duh, it's in the title* and, although some of them are slightly strange, others (I think) are quite good ideas!

1.  ~Jars~
Jars can be used for a multitude of different things and they don't even have to be special in any way! I've just been using some old jam/marmalade jars (obviously after I cleaned them out!) In the first one I stored hair bands and a few hair-bow clips (you may be able to tell that I like the colour blue!)

In the second I kept the remainder of my hair-related items. I had a hair doughnut, some clips and other hair bands. I also had, what I think are the cutest hair slides ever! they have these really sweet little owls on them and add a perfect accent to any hair style, whether it is plain and down or a dressy up-do.

Next up I have a few, as I call them, 'clippy jars' because I honestly don't know the real name for them. I brought them from Ikea for £0.80 for the smaller one and £1.25 for the larger one. They are meant to be used for preserving food, I think, as they have seals and are pretty air-tight. However, I wanted to use them for other reasons. To make the jars more decorative you could use glass pens or paint or add other decorations.

In the larger jar I like to store nail polish. It is great for showing off all of the different bottles and colours but it does smell quite strongly of nail polish which makes me think that one may have leaked! In the jar is only a small proportion of all my nail polishes and I may do a 'nail polish collection' post sometime in the future but I think it is slightly OTT but they were just too pretty to leave! (insert scene from despicable me; *it's so fluffy I'm gonna die!)

2.  ~Tic Tac boxes~

This next one is a method that I saw on Pinterest I think where someone had posted about their idea to store hair grips in a tic tac box. It is the perfect height and the opening at the top is great for just pouring them out and not just tipping them all over the place! It is also perfect for keeping them in one place so you can just throw it in your bag and you wont have stray hair grips floating around.

The small box is also good for wrapping hair bands around it to keep them safe and together. As I said before, (well, partially) the box is very portable and tidy.

I also have a larger tic tac box which I think I brought while in France that had 100 tic tacs in it. It has a small flip lid but I prefer to use the larger flip lid because I use the box to store cotton pads for taking my make-up off. It is the perfect size and is pretty 'sleek' which is pretty cool, I think it kind of looks like a giant tic tac!

3.  ~ Giant Tea Cups~

I actually have 2 of these 'giant tea cups', one red and one green. In this one I like to keep cotton wool balls because I thought it looked pretty cool! I thought it looked a bit like cream on top of a hot chocolate either that or a cloud in a tea cup. A little like the saying 'a storm in a tea cup'.

4.  ~Rubbers~

Ok, now this one is quite weird! Yesterday I had the thought of maybe keeping my earrings in a rubber because it would hold them together and upright. Don't worry, I did wash it but I'm not too sure about this method because it may be slightly too 'out there' and altogether useless! 

I kind of think it looks a bit like a little rose garden (may just be me!).

5.  ~Candle Holders~
My last idea for a storage idea is, I think, quite cute. It is a little candle holder I got from Ikea that cost £2.50. It is the perfect size for storing make-up brushes and I think the 'cut-out' design is so pretty! They also come in a variety of sizes (the larger ones are plant-pot covers) and colours.

It feels like a lifetime since I last posted but, in reality, it was only last Saturday! It must be because I've had such a busy week! Also, since it is summer, I thought I may start to blog a bit more and upload a post mid-week. Any ideas for posts are always welcome! 

Until next time

-G-

X

How to... Pom-Poms!

Hey there!

Sorry this post is a bit of an early one but I wouldn't have been around to post it at normal time and I wanted to be sure it was up! So, here goes...

Pom-poms are pretty cool, aren't they? I'll leave that decision up to you but this is how to make one anyway!

You can buy ready made plastic pom-pom makers but as I do not own one of these I like to make my own out of cardboard. You can use a compass for this but if you don't have one you can just draw around a circular object like a cup. Draw a smaller circle inside the larger one and then cut them out (carefully!). There needs to be 2 circles that are exactly the same size for the pom-poms to work.

For the next step you will need quite a lot of wool and it is best cut into strips (they can be quite long) so they can be passed through the center. Keep adding more wool until the center hole is as full as it can get. You can add as many different colours as you like; the more colours use, the more exciting and unique the finished pom-pom will look.

 The next step is the most fiddly and difficult because it can be quite tough to do. You need to use some scissors to cut between the 2 circles so the lengths of wool around the circles are cut in half. Once you have gone all the way around the circle, you need to tie a piece of string between the 2 cardboard halves to hold all the wool together, you can then remove the cardboard.

You are then left with a pom-pom! It is probably a good idea to trim the edges of the pom-pom to make it more even and you can also fluff it up to make it a 'poofy-er' pom-pom. (you should follow me on twitter just for my amazing new words!) ;)

So there you are! A super fluffy, colourful (optional) pom-pom!

I hope you have enjoyed making this and have ended up with a pom-pom of your own! you can also make the cardboard circle bigger or smaller to make your pom-pom bigger or smaller.

Until next time

-G-

X