Household Empties

I'm not sure whether to make a series out of this style post but just wanted to test the water with it!  I thought it would be quite interesting to do some mini reviews of household items.  Now that I have moved out I can make sure all the products I buy are cruelty free and I'm enjoying trying out lots of brands that are available!  Let me know you found it helpful and would like to see more of this post!

Lunch at Prezzo

Recently while my friend was down visiting me for the weekend and we went for lunch in Manchester city centre before she got the train home.  We wandered through The Printworks looking for somewhere to eat and came across Prezzo where neither of us had been before.  At a quick glance the menu looked pretty good so we went in.  First impressions were that we were ignored and walked past by a lot of the staff until finally Louise asked the next staff member we saw for a table.

However after this disappointing start everything got a lot better!  After properly reading the menu there were loads of things I wanted, a pretty good vegetarian selection.  Although a lot of them involve goat's cheese and butternut squash so if you're not a fan of them it might not be so good!  Fortunately I love these two things and went for the Goat's Cheese and Vegetable Risotto which had butternut squash, courgettes and green beans in it.  Louise went for Spaghetti Carbonara, but we were really hungry so decided to share the Large Bread Board as a starter.

The bread board turned out to be AMAZING!  How good does it look?!  It's made up of tomato and pesto bread, mozzarella and garlic bread, rosemary flatbread and ciabatta with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping.  I could just eat this over and over...  This was £5.35 between us.

I nearly forget to take a photo of my main and had started eating when Louise reminded me ha, hence why it looks a bit dishevelled!  Sometimes risotto can be really creamy, sickly and samey but I really enjoyed this.  It wasn't too creamy, with the creaminess mostly coming from the goat's cheese which there was a perfect amount of.  The different bits of veg made it more interesting too.  It's quite a small portion considering it is £10.95 but I don't mind as it was the perfect size for me, I managed to finish it with ease and without feeling too full.  I think if I hadn't had the bread before I'd probably been able to eat more so I'm glad we decided to have a starter.  My only criticisms would be that I'd have preferred larger pieces of butternut squash and probably a slightly larger portion - only because I have a fairly small appetite so it might not be enough for other people! 

I'd really like to go back and try some of the other options I was eyeing up!  See their menu here.

Have you got a favourite at Prezzo?

<3

Beefayre Rhubarb & Raspberry Candle

When I was offered the chance to try something from Beefayre I was thrilled as although I hadn't heard of the company, after some quite googling I knew it was right up my street.  Beefayre was developed by artist Sharon Jervis and her son after visiting beekeepers in Romania.  The products are handmade in England using high quality ingredients, avoiding any petroleum by-products.  They also donate 3% of their profits to bee conservation and research which I think is brilliant! 

Nars Blush Collection - with swatches

I'm a big fan of Nars blushers, they're all so pretty!  I used to work for House of Fraser so was lucky enough to get 10% off beauty items which I took full advantage of and have built up and small collection whilst I was there.

Click read more to see my collection and swatches of everything.

DIY Frozen Sweet Potato Chips

I had no idea what to call this post!  Basically it's a 'recipe' for making a big batch of sweet potato chips which can be stored in the freezer until needed.  I love doing this as I always have them to hand to shove in the oven for lazy dinner nights.

Sweet potatoes are so good for using as an alternative to normal potatoes for chips or wedges but can be a bit time consuming to make from scratch each time.  I've used this method a few times and it works out great.  I live by myself so it's handy having them in 1 portion sized bags that I can just bring out and use when I fancy them.

As well as being super yummy, sweet potatoes are really good for you!  They are full of vitamins C, D and the minerals iron, magnesium and potassium.  [source] 

Start by washing your potatoes - use as many as you like.

Cut them up into relatively similar sized chips/wedges.  You can peel them if you like but I love the skin!

Boil a big pan of water, enough to cover all the potatoes, and add them to the pot.  Leave them boiling for a few minutes.  Meanwhile, prepare a bowl with cold water and add ice cubes.

Transfer the chips from the pan into the cold water and leave until cool.

Once they have cooled, separate them into portions and seal in freezer bags.

Put them in the freezer! 

To actually cook them, all you do is bring out a bag and run the chips under cool water to thaw slightly.  Spray a foil lined baking tray with oil, place the chips on the tray and spray with some more oil.  Leave them plain with some sea salt and pepper sprinkled over or rub in mixed herbs or spices using olive oil for some flavour.  Place in the oven at about 200c for 18-20 mins.  Voila!

<3

What's In My Shower?

Now that I have a bathroom all to myself I thought I would do a sort of mini tour and 'what's in my shower' type of post.

I'll start with the shower then onto other bits I keep in my bathroom.

I got this little suction holder from Ikea and it's really handy for keeping most of my products within easy reach - and it only falls off very occasionally!

Currently I am using Dr Organic Pomegranate Shampoo and Conditioner but I've only used them a couple of times so far so I can't comment too much on them.  Although I've noticed that I'm not really a big fan of the smell...

I keep my Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish in here as well which is what I use for taking my make up off at night while showering.  I also always have a muslin cloth hanging over the shower guard to use with it.  I tend to use eye make up remover first before going in the shower, then use the C&P for the rest.  I love how quick and easy it is!

I usually have shower gel in here too but I've ran out so just using soap instead! 

My current soap is an absolute favourite of mine, Lush Northern Lights.  It's a Christmas limited edition one which they didn't even do last year, this one is from the year before, oops!

I've been using Morrisons Sensitive Aloe Vera Shave Gel which I quite like, you hardly need any and it smells really good!

Lush Rub Rub Rub is a body scrub which can also be used as shampoo oddly...  Only used this a couple of times as a scrub but it smells amazing!  I've been informed that the Sakura bath bomb is the same scent so I'll be picking this up soon!

Below are some of the shelves I have and what I use them for.

Top left I use these two holders for muslin cloths and cotton pads.

Top right Some skincare I don't use as often: The Body Shop Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil; Arran Aromatics Cucumber and Avocado Scrub Gel; Arran Aromatics Bergamot and Mint Mud Mask, Antipodes Grapeseed Butter Cleanser.

Bottom left My most used skincare: Lush Breath of Fresh Air Toner Water; Ren Clarifying Toning Lotion; Ren Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask; The Body Shop Camomile Gentle Eye Makeup Remover; Trilogy Rosehip Oil; Liz Earle moisturiser; Buddha Beauty Facial Night Cream.

Bottom right This is a unit I got from Ikea for storing towels and stuff (you can see it in the back of top pic).  On the top shelf I keep some jars containing soap, cotton buds and my reusable cotton pads.  On the shelf below this I have a big toiletries bag with my bath bombs and bubble bars, also my body moisturiser sits here.

Have you got any bath/shower time necessities?

<3

NOTD: Trustafarian

I haven't worn nail varnish in such a long time let along blogged about it!  Is it possible to be to busy to even apply nail varnish?!  My nails were getting too long and I was going to cut them so I thought I may as well take advantage of them being long and paint them first.  I'm tempted to shape them into that stiletto style actually, it's grown on me! 

This is Butter London's Trustafarian which is a pale green with a sparkly golden holograph through it.  The holo is fairly subtle but catches the light beautifully - the photos don't do it justice!  I applied 3 coats although 2 would probably be fine.

<3

Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara

I feel like I spend a lot of timing looking for a mascara which works for me!  I've not been particularly excited about any since they discontinued the Bourjois one I loved - there are cruelty free disputes about them now however so it's probably not a bad thing.  

When I went to Paris in June we obviously had to go to Sephora so I thought I'd splash out a bit and try a Too Faced mascara as I'd heard good things about them.  There were a couple to choose from and in the end I went for Better Than Sex.  

It's the biggest tube out of all the range and it's really quite heavy and chunky actually, I'm not sure if it's supposed to remind us of some sort of vibrating sex toy or if that's just me being dirty minded!  Anyway... moving on, as you can see from the photos below, it's also got a huge brush.  You can't see it all that well but it's twisted and in an hourglass shape.

Below are some photos to show the effect of the mascara.  In the first one I have no make up on at all, then for the next two I applied foundation, concealer, brow pencil and finally the mascara.  Please ignore the drunk look in the middle one, my eye kept blinking haha!  I think mascara works really well at both lengthening and curling the lashes - I didn't even curl them before this.  

I am loving this mascara, definitely the best one I've used in a long time!  It lasts all day and I've not had any problems with flaking.  However, I normally don't wear mascara on my bottom lashes so I think it would transfer if I did, as every other non-waterproof one does, but I wanted to show it applied in the photos.  

What's also great is that removal is easy and comes off quickly with my Body Shop Camomile Eye Makeup Remover.

The only negative I have come across with this is that I seem to always get it on my eyelids which isn't something which happens with other mascaras!  I think it might just be because it's such a huge brush which I'm not used to, so hopefully I'll get to grips with it soon...

I would definitely repurchase this however it seems to be really popular and sold out almost everywhere at the moment!  As I mentioned above, I bought it in Paris and it was about 23€, and from what I can find online I think it's £19 here which isn't too bad.  Boots and Debenhams both stock Too Faced but are out of stock online, however BeautyBay are selling it here for a bit cheaper at £16.91 with free delivery.

I would like to try the Better Than False Lashes which has nylon fibres you apply in between coats but this is £32 so maybe once I have a bit more money...

<3