How to bake my Messy Black Forest Gateau

If you haven't guessed already from my instagram pictures, I love cake. I love to buy it, eat it, bake it, take pictures of it and pretty much live off it. Last week someone put the thought of making a black forest gateau into my head and before I knew it I was in Tesco picking up all the ingredients needed. I'm usually a pretty savvy shopper and love getting good quality products for as little as possible but on this day I was in a rush and didn't have my bargain hunting head on. It cost me €17 to buy all the ingredients for this cake. Usually I would have most of them already in the press at home which can save me a few pennies but on this occasion I had to buy each ingredient. And on the plus there is plenty left over to make other treats. 

For the cake you will need:

340g Golden caster sugar

340g Unsalted butter

240g Self-raising flour

100g Cocoa

6 Eggs

For the filling:

2 cans of black cherries in syrup

2 tbsp of Kirsch 

For the icing:

600ml of double cream - The more the better because this cake is pretty rich!!

200g dark chocolate - I bought Tesco own brand and it worked out just as nice as pricey chocolate. Also leave a few squares to decorate your cake afterwards if you like.

1. Preheat your oven to 170C

2. Prepare your cake tin before you start making a mess! Butter, dust with flour and line with greaseproof paper.

3. Now it's time for the good stuff. Whisk the butter and sugar in a bowl until it becomes light and fluffy. 

4. Then begin to beat in the eggs, one at a time. Sift flour and fold into your mixture along with cocoa powder.

5. Place mixture into baking tray and place in oven. Leave in until your entire kitchen smells like chocolate or for you crazy time accurate people 1 hour! Leave on a wire rack to cool.

6. Drain cherries and keep 200ml of the cherry syrup to be added to the kirsch.

7. Slice your cake into three sections.

8. Spoon your cheery syrup evenly over each section and leave to soak.

9. Heat up your double cream and add the chocolate pieces until melted. Place in the fridge to cool and thicken.

10.Now it's time to decorate. You can do this any way you wish. It pretty much involves your whipped cream, cherries and chocolate icing. For my cake I places a layer of cream and cherries between each section and topped the cake with the chocolate icing, chocolate shavings.

11. If you can wait, leave to set in a cool place. If you can't pop the kettle on and grab a fork!!

Enjoy girls,

Sarah

BARGAIN ALERT: INGLOT discount sale to celebrate the launch of Nightlife Collection

INGLOT have spoiled us once again with their new Nightlife Collection which launches this August 1st. Nightlife nails collection consists of five glitter polishes which can be worn on their own or over your own polish to add sparkle and bling. 

To celebrate the launch on August 1st INGLOT are offering a 10% discount in store as well as the chance to grab your favourite products for less, check out the offers below.

3 for 2 on Nails

3 for 2 on AMC pencils

Pro 5 palette reduced to €15

AND

Their 14 piece brush set reduced to €144 from €180

Let me know if you hit one of their stores. I'm on a spending ban myself at the moment as I'm saving up for my first car! The only problem is I have a list as long as my arm of products I want to try when the ban has been lifted! 

Love,

Sarah

YOUR NAILS Magazine

If you are obsessed with nails as much as I am you will love this Irish magazine. It's called Your Nails and retails at €6.50. The magazine has everything that you need to know about on trend nail art, step by step guides and salon reviews. 

The nail art step by step guides are amazing and most are geared towards professionally trained nail technicians in my opinion but even for the likes of myself who isn't trained and just has a real interest in nails I have taken inspiration from these looks to create my own. This magazine is jam packed with really interesting and fun subjects. They even have a fashion section where they show you outfits to match your polish! Product news telling you what the top five selling products are, essentials and updates on new products. They also have a health section showing you the best way to take care of your nails and an education section which covers topics such as "Are artificial nails harmful?".

I really enjoyed reading this magazine over and over again, it's so colourful and full of great tidbits of information. Also check out their website yournailsmag.com for endless inspiration on what to to with your nails next!

Love,

Sarah

Of Night, Light & The Half Light - A Photographic Exhibition By Sean Moore

Hello lovelies,

I wanted to share an event with you all and recommend if you can to attend. Some of you lovely bloggers reading this might have met Sean Moore, an aspiring photographer at last years Christmas Blogger Meetup. Throughout the day Sean captured fun moments for us through his lens and they turned out great. Since then Sean has grabbed his passion for photography with both hands and hasn't looked back since. Last year his blog was short listed in two categories in the Ireland Blog Awards for best newcomer and best photography blog.

Apart from having a natural talent for photography, Sean is also a very friendly, fun and down to earth person and I can understand why people book him to capture their special moments. You can read some testimonials on his website here. He says his "philosophy is that photography is not just about capturing images it's capturing imagination".

A few months on and he has only gone and produced his first photographic exhibition, how cool is that. It's taking place in Brioche on 65 Aungier street, Dublin 2 and will run from the 19th-31st of July. The launch of his exhibition will take place this Friday from 18:30 to 20:30. I'll be there to show my support and would love you to experience his work for yourself. Hope to see you there.

Love,

Sarah

Click below for Sean's Sites:
Website: Sean Moore Photography
Facebook: Shooting Shaun
Twitter: @shooting_shaun

Current Product Favourites

Hello lovlies,

I decided today was the day to get back into making YouTube videos. I just wanted to say a quick hello to everyone and thought it would be a good opportunity to let you all know what my everyday current favourite products are. It's been so long since I made one I was a bit tongue tide and possibly talked a bit of nonsense! Never the less, here it is...

• Bioderma Crealine H2O: Not available in Ireland and Uk, can be purchased online. http://www.leguidesante.co.uk/279/purchase/crealine-cleansing-solution-perfume-free/
• Avene Cleanance gel: Boots and Paramacies €15.25c.
• Garnier Pure Active Exfo Brush Wash:Boots €10.69c. http://adoreabubbles.blogspot.ie/2013/07/garnier-pure-active-exfo-brusher-wash.html
• Tibolli Moisture Lust: Peter Marks €23
• L’Oreal Paris Studio Silk & Gloss: Boots €4.79c.
• Pixy Aloe Rescue Gel : Online €7.95c. http://www.pixy.ie/lotions-potions/body/aloe-rescue-gel.html

Just a few products I am loving at the moment. Let me know in the comments below if you have tried any of them yourself and let me know how you got on.

Love,

Sarah

Shine On Blog Award

Hello Lovlies,

There was a big smile on my face this week when I found out I had been nominated for the Shine On Blog Award by the lovely Girl Friday, thank you guuuuurlfriend! 

There are a few of these blog awards floating around and I think they are fantastic. It really shows you how much support and respect we have for other bloggers. I love our (not so little any more) blogger community.

As part of being nominated I have to share seven facts about myself, here we go!

1. There's a photo of me in a Beano magazine out there somewhere, sitting on a tractor no less. 
2. Growing up I collected stamps and marbles! I lost a few along the way though. 
3. D&G Light Blue was the first perfume I ever bought myself and is my favourite for summer.
4. I love spicy food, spicier the better! I'm tucking into an Indian dish I made myself tonight.
5. The first CD I ever bought was Robbie Williams single Rock DJ. The shame.
6. I have more fun shopping in charity shops than in high street stores. You never know what you might find.
7. Christmas is my favourite time of year. I get to spoil all the people I love and fill my belly with all my favourite foods. 
8. EXTRA FACT: I really appreciate the fact that you are reading my blog right now. 

Now I nominate fifteen bloggers to share their facts, this is even tougher than it was to come up with those facts!

1. Dancing with disaster
2. RaraGiggles
3. Scatterbrained
4. BeautySwot
5. Anita's Beauty Spot
6. Love Life and Makeup
7. Eimear Byrne Make Up Artist
8. Emerald Eyeliner
9. Nina Reviews
10. Girl with the Skew Earring
11. Forever Fabulous in Bows
12. The Lady Named C
13. Flowers and Freckles
14. Adora Mehitable
15. Secrets Behind the Closet Door

Some extra har har facts:

• This little nugget is from my oldest brother when asked to suggest a fact about me. "Out of all your friends you have the biggest feet". He's right, the swine!
• When I was ten I broke my leg playing chasing with my cousins and Mark Rogers who is now the field training manager for Benefit. Thanks Mark!
• When I was six I made perfume from weeds in my garden and sold it to the other kids in the neighbourhood for 2p. 
• I got my tongued pierced when I was sixteen, a few weeks later I swallowed the bar at school while eating lunch. 
• In second year I told my business studies teacher that "I can't tell the future" when I was asked "Will you have your homework done tomorrow". Her face was priceless. I was instantly full of regret.

Hope everyone is well and enjoying the sunshine.

Love,

Sarah

Expert Last Lip Color by NYC - Review & Swatches

From Left to Right

438 Candy Rush, 411 Snow cone, 443 Purple Crush, 405 Blue rose, 404 Air kiss

From Left to Right

440 Creamy Caramel, 418 Sugar plum, 402 Red flame, 441 Traffic jam, 432 Red Rapture

I'm a bit slow off the mark with these beauties ladies. I have been meaning to review them for quite some time. Bare with me over the next few weeks as I play catch up to the reviews I've been meaning to do but have not been able to get around to doing them until now. 

Today I have the NYC Expert Last Lipstick collection. They cost a very affordable "in your face" expensive brands....€2.49 and come in a range of shades. I have swatches above of ten out of fifteen shades in the collection and I'd love to know which ones are your favourite in the comments below.

I have to say I am loving Blue rose, Air kiss and Red rapture. These are the colours I usually gravitate towards when buying lippy products for myself. They glide on nicely and feel creamy upon application. No matte drying sensation with these beauties. I'm not too fond of the sheer shades such as Candy rush, Snow cone and Sugar plum. They are just too sheer for me. They might be more suited for teens or someone who is looking for just a smidge of colour.

The darker shades have great staining power which I like as it means less time re-applying and more time smiling! They claim to last up to 5-6 hours and with the right application you will get this from the darker shades. 

I often get asked what certain products smell like, what are ya like aye! Well I can't quite put my finger on the scent but they do smell nice and not the usual smell you would associate with make-up at such a low price. Well worth the buy in my opinion. 

Love,

Sarah

Garnier - Pure Active Exfo-Brusher Wash Review

Hello Lovlies,

I went into Boots just over a month ago looking for a gentle exfoliant for my face and I wanted to try something new. I have spot prone skin, especially on my forehead and I've tried a number of lotions and potions but have yet to find one to help clear the pesky feckers up. I came across this Garnier Pure Active Exfo-Brusher Wash €10.69 and was curious to see how the brusher head would work. It claims to remove dead skin cells and fade marks by unclogging impurities from pores and visibly reduces sebum levels. Sebum is produced by the body and clogs the pores of your skin, this causes acne.

There are easy to follow instructions on the packaging on how to use the brusher head.  After wetting your face you open the brusher head by turning it 180 degrees. Holding it upside down you squeeze the bottle to release the product inside. You then close the brusher head by turning it again and then proceed to apply it to your face in circular motions. Simply rinse your face afterwards and you're done. 

The concentrated formula contains 2% purifying salicylic acid, an effective antibacterial ingredient which helps to clear pores and protect against spots before they have a chance to invade! It also contains herbasoothe which is known for its caring and soothing properties. 

The bristles themselves, scary they may look but there is no discomfort when applied to my skin at all. 

I've been using the Exfo-Brusher wash in the evenings after I have removed my make-up and sometimes in the morning while in the shower. I have noticed a visible different in my forehead as the spots I could not shift before have dramatically decreased and some have gone altogether. The only downside to using this product is that for the first two weeks I experienced the acne purge!! I broke out in places I normally wouldn't break out like on my nose and the side of my cheeks. I'm putting this down to the product and its extreme pore de-clogging actions. After a full month of using it my skin has settled down and I am loving it. I can happily say that I will re-purchase this product without a shadow of a doubt. 

I'd love to know what you use to keep your acne at bay. Let me know in the comments below.

Love,

Sarah

Pucker up with LUSH - International Kissing Day - Power liquid Lipstick, Mint Julips scrub and Lip service Lip balm.

Hello Lovelies,

I don't know about you but this bi-polar Irish weather is really taking it's toll on my lips. Unlike skin on the rest of our bodies the skin on our lips is exceptionally thin and has no oil glands which makes the lips even more delicate and prone to dryness and chapping.

Follow the steps below for supple, smooth and chap free lips (and of course utterly kissable!)

Step 1. Scrub

Using a lip scrub is a great way to remove dead skin and Lush have three flavours to choose from, Mint Julip being my personal favourite. Their lip smacking cocktail contains castor sugar and jojoba oil. €6.75 each and contain 20g of product. Another way to exfoliate your lips would be to give them a gentle exfoliating with your toothbrush.

Step 2. Moisture

After you have removed the dead skin from your lips you will need to protect them as much moisture as possibly by using a lip cream or balm. Lip Service has been around since the dawn of time, I mean since the start of Lush and keeps proving to be a best seller. It contains shea butter, cocoa oil, beeswax and tangerine oil.Not only can you use it on your lips but also on you elbows, knees and heels. It can also act as a protective primer if you plan on wearing a drying matte lipstick. M.A.C Ruby Woo springs to mind for me.

Step 3. Pucker Up

I've mentioned the Emotional Brilliance range by Lush before and next month will celebrate it's first birthday. The range features lip and eye colours that offer show stopping colour that's actually good for your skin. Check out this Liquid Lipstick in shade Power €17.95. The lip range consists of thirteen different amazing colours that can also be used as a cream blusher. Power is a very bright orange-coral colour with gold shimmer. I'm still perfecting my application with these sponge top applicator lipsticks but I love how creamy they are and as always animal cruelty free. 

"A kiss symbolises kindness but there is noting kind about testing on animals so lets join together and kiss goodbye to cosmetic cruelty" LUSH. 

 This week Lush are promoting #crueltyfreekisses in association with International Kissing Day which is on Saturday the 6th. Lush are attempting to set the new Guinness world records title for the most lip prints collected in 12 hours. If you would like to take part then head on over to your nearest Lush store on Saturday where you will be able to pucker up and get your kiss on (Kissing strangers not advised!!)

Love,

Sarah