Elegant Festive Makeup | Frosted Snow Smokey Eye

Elegant Festive Makeup | Frosted Snow Smokey Eye

My Frosted Snow Smokey

 Eye look

Hey,

Hope all is well and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year :) 

Speaking of Christmas and New Year, this gave me the ideal to post a simple but elegant makeup look of mine that I believe ideal for any Christmas or New Years party or occasion; the Frosted Snow Smokey Eye.

Now I love the smokey eye look, and it is true that I wear it everyday, but I also wear it for special occasions as well. For these occasions, I amplifying the smokey eye a bit either by adding a little more shadow to the crease of the eye, or replacing lighter shadows with darker ones, making the shadow contour the eye even more; especially when out and in darker restaurants or bars. 

Base shadow in 'Silver Nude'
from 'Body Collection Eye
 Shadow Palette'

So without further ado, I'll give you my quick and easy step-by-step guide to achieving my Frosted Snow Smokey Eye look. These images were just taken in my room after completing the look so I'm afraid no nice fancy background for this post.

1) Firstly, like always, I wash my face in the morning to remove any oil or dirt to avoid blocked pores caused by wearing makeup on blocked skin. After every face wash, I then moisturise with my 'Simple Kind To Skin Light Moisturiser' which is the only moisturiser that soaks into my skin and doesn't leave an oily, greasy residue on my skin's surface, which in turn blocks pores and causes blemishes. I apply this moisturiser twice and massage it into my face gently in circular motions until it's absorbed.

'Golden Bronze Baked Eye Shadow'
with 'Golden Bronze' used for the crease
of the smokey eye look.

2) I then start with my everyday makeup: foundation, concealer, press powder. After I take my trusty 'Body Collection Eye Shadow Palette', and select 'Silver Nude', which will be the base for this look and gently apply it, dabbing it onto the eyelid to reduce buildup and to create an even application. 

3) After building the colour by applying the eye shadow, I move to my 'Golden Bronze Baked Eye Shadow' in 'Golden Bronze', and start to apply it to the crease of my eye, starting from the end of the lash line across to the corner of my eye. For the crease of the eye, I apply the shadow in a back and forth motion to blend the shadow. Each time I gently add intensity to the crease to develop the smokey eye look. To avoid excess shadow falling underneath my eye, I very gently tap the eye shadow brush on the edge of the eye shadow palette to remove excess shadow. 

The complete Frosted Snow
 Smokey Eye look

When I apply eye shadow to the crease, I do it in a ' V' shape due to my eyelids tapering down, which leaves my eye lashes tapering down and flicking out a bit like a cat eye. In theory on my left eye the 'v' shape will be like this: < and on my right like this: > but obviously in a more curved shape, as eyelids curve and the eye socket is also curved slightly.

4) After blending the shadow into the base eye shadow, I then take my powder brush (with no powder on it) and gently flick the brush from under my eye outward to remove excess shadow. Finally I apply my mascara. Because the eye shadow will have fallen onto my eyelashes, I firstly apply the shadow on the top of my lashes starting from the outside to the inner lashes. Straight away I then apply another coat to the lashes underneath where you would normally apply mascara. Again I start from outside of the lashes inwards, going over the outer lashes once more to develop curl. 

5) Last of all, I apply moisturiser to my lips to create a moisturise

The complete Frosted Snow
 Smokey Eye look

d, smooth base to put lipstick onto, and apply my lipstick. You can choose which colour you want.

For instance, with this eye shadow look, it's best to pick a subtle pinkish tone like my Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick by Kate Moss in 'Rock 'n' Roll Nude'. This is because a light tone compliments the look, but does not distract the eye from the eye shadow look. However, if you were to use a darker lipstick, like my Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in 'Drop of Sherry' in a dark burberry, reddish tone, this would draw the eye away from the smokey eye look, and distract from the main makeup feature that was intended to build definition to the face. Once applying lipstick, the look is complete.

 I hope this was helpful and a great idea for anyone struggling to think of make up looks for the festive season, or even enabled others to create an idea that has influenced by this look.  

To the left 'Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick' by Kate
Moss in 'Rock 'n' Roll Nude', to right 'Rimmel Lasting
Finish Lipstick' in 'Drop of Sherry'

Thank you for reading,

Yours truly,

Caris :)

Perfect Smokey Eye | Frosted Rose Eye Shadow

Perfect Smokey Eye | Frosted Rose Eye Shadow

Hey,

Hope all is well,

Final look of 'Frosted Rose' eye shadow look using 

'Technic Bronzing Eyeshadows Baked

Eyeshadow ' palette and Rimmel Long Lasting

Lipstick in 'Rock 'n' Roll Nude' by Kate Moss.

I love eye shadow, especially baked eye shadow, and I love the smokey eye look. My every day look always involves a smokey eye. Ever since discovering makeup when I was around 13/14, I have forever loved the look of a smokey eye. I just love how pretty the colours look, blending into other complimentary colours, and that you can wear it for any occasion and it just looks great. 

   So I have decided to share my new favourite eye shadow palette that I recently purchased, my Technic Bronzing Eyeshadows Baked Eyeshadow palette in what I call 'Frosted Rose', and my Frosted Rose Smokey Eye look I created using this palette.

Now before I start, I just want to tell you all about this palette, because its my new love. Some of you may be thinking 'Technic? That's not a big brand is it?' and that's a common thought with makeup brands that aren't as popular as the makeup giants like Rimmel or Max-Factor, Mac or Maybelline.

My 'Frosted Rose' eye shadow look using my
'Technic Bronzing Eyeshadows Baked
Eyeshadow ' palette.

   I purchased this palette for £2,99 and I love it; it has all the pigmentation I have been searching for and is so cost effective. Not only is it gorgeous with it's pinkish hue, but a great price. To add, Technic are also against animal testing unlike other brands such as Maybelline and Rimmel, which may come as an unexpected shock to some, due to the ideology that 'cheap', cost-effective makeup is of low quality and therefore of bad morals, but in this case that belief is banished. This puts this palette in my good books, because this palette even more worth it's cost, as the majority of non-animal testing brands can be fairly expensive to purchase and don't last very long when I use them as frequently as I do.

So let me tell you about the Frosted Rose Smokey Eye look I created one day using my new 'Technic Bronzing Eyeshadows Baked Eyeshadow' palette.


1) To start with, I firstly applied my every day makeup: foundation, concealer and press powder. I then took my trusty eye shadow brush and applied the base shadow to my eyelid, the lightest colour in 'Frosted Snow', dabbing it lightly on to my eyelid, building up the intensity of the pigment due to it's very light pale white-pinkish hue.

Makeup for this look:'Technic Bronzing Eyeshadows Baked
Eyeshadow' palette in 'Frosted Gold, and Rimmel Long Lasting
Lipstick in 'Rock 'n' Roll Nude' by Kate Moss.

In order of left to right: Top: 'Truffle', 'Frost', 'Rusted Gold'
Bottom left to right: 'Ice', 'Berry', 'Copper Bronze'.

2) I then placed a darker shade of shadow in  'Rusted Gold' onto the tip of the brush, and started to blend it into the crease of my eyelid to create the smokey look and highlight my eyes. I worked along starting at the lash line, and then along the crease on top of my eyelid, and repeat. I continue to add and blend small amounts, slowly building up the intensity of the eye shadow and creating the slightly pinkish tone of the eyeshadows. After adding enough shadow, I then used the brush without any eye shadow on it, to blend the shadow into the base shadow to stop a harsh clash of unblended eye shadow. I will admit that for some like myself when first starting smokey eye looks, it takes practice to learn blending and what way to blend the shadow into the crease of the eye depending on your eye shape. When blending the shadow, I do mine in an almost 'V' on it's side like this: ' < ' shape, with the point being the outer corner of my eyelid, instead of a 'C' shape, as my eyelids are too big for the 'C' shape route to take as you blend.

3) Lastly, to achieve the shadowed effect the smokey eye creates and add depth to the eye, I applied 'Truffle' a tiny bit onto the brush and gently dabbed it above the lash line and then along the outer corner's crease of my eye; the areas of the eyelid that my 'V' shaped route to blend the shadow would take. I always prefer to apply the darkest colour such as 'Truffle' lightly at first, as if it's too dark it can be difficult to blend without looking like a panda. Finally to finish off, I very very lightly moved the brush back and forth in the 'V' route to lightly blend the darkest shadow, with strokes literally of about 2mm or approximately 1cm. As always, I get my un powdered powder brush and gently flicked the brush outward along my skin under my eyes, to rid of excess powder that falls onto the eye lashes and under eyes when it's applied. Just staring from the outer corner and flicking it outwards flicks the shadow off your face.

The final look for my Smokey eye 'Frosted Rose' look.
Because I am looking down, you can see the blending of
eye shadow to create the smokey eye look.

   A trick I use when applying eye shadow, is to gently tap the eye shadow brush on the edge of the palette case to remove excess, loose shadow that will fall under my eyes when being applied.

4) To complete the look, I apply my mascara. Working my way from outer lashes and underneath the lashes, I firstly apply it gently to the top of the lashes, and then the bottom, to fully coat the eyelashes by hiding any loose eye shadow residue which will be settled on my eye lashes, and to help them keep their shape. I do this as my eyelashes are quite long and taper downwards in a curve leaving lashes that flick outwards like a cat eye liner would.
 
To add, another useful tip I have for eye shadow application when you've applied shadow for the smokey eye look, is how to deal with bits of mascara ending up on your eyelids which are covered in layers of perfected eye shadow. What I do is get my eye shadow brush and make it clean of any residue by rubbing it on my hand so that the residue won't transfer, and then lightly move the brush back and forth on the eye lid in small strokes to gently blend and remove the black mascara, yet without removing any of the shadow or disturbing the balance of pigmentation of eye shadow.

Close up of the look. This 'Frosted
Rose' look is subtly but an effective
smokey eye look. 

5) To compliment my pinkish 'Frosted Rose' smokey eye look, I pair this look with my favourite lipstick: Rimmel's Lasting Finish Lipstick in 'Rock 'n' Roll Nude' by Kate Moss in her nudes lipstick collection. I feel this

lipstick compliments the pigmentation of the eye shadow and the 'Frosted Rose' smoky eye look with it's nude pink pigments.

The final look complete with 'Technic Bronzing
EyeshadowsBaked Eyeshadow' palette and
 Rimmel Long Lasting Lipstick
in 'Rock 'n' Roll Nude' by
Kate Moss; to create a pinkish
nude, frosted rose look.

I hope my quick tutorial was interesting, helpful, and maybe even inspiring to read for new makeup looks, and I hope you enjoyed the post. This smokey-eye eye shadow look was just created one morning when I was getting ready for college and decided to use my new 'Techic Bronzing Eyeshadows Baked Eyeshadow' palette, and I really liked the results I achieved just by experimenting with makeup.

Thank you for reading,

Yours truly,
Caris

Ultimate Make Up Crush | Baked Eye Shadow

Ultimate Make Up Crush | Baked Eye Shadow 

Technic 'Bronzing Eyeshadows Baked Eyeshadow ' in
 'Frosted Rose' and 'Golden Bronze Baked Eye shadow'.
The image is taken in artificial lighting to show the shimmer and
satin effect they create even in a dark, night time environment. 

Hey,

For this post, I thought I would share with all of you my one makeup product that I just can't not get enough of right now: baked eye shadow and the smokey eye look. When it comes to my favourite make up, I don't just mean big brands, oh no, I mean all the brands I have.
So for my baked eye shadow, this collection consists of many different brands that I discovered and now adore. If I love a make up product, I don't mind what brand it is, be it cheap or averagely priced, I'm willing to try it out and adopt it as my own; because I love to save money via the best deals and money saving includes trying new brands at more affordable prices.

Technic 'Bronzing Eyeshadows Baked Eyeshadow 'in
 'Frosted Rose' and 'Golden Bronze Baked Eye shadow'.
The image is taken in natural lighting to show
the shimmer and satin effect they create.

To  me, baked eye shadow is amazing. I love the look you can achieve with it and the consistency this eye shadow has with its satin-like effect when it catches in the light. Because it's baked, I find it tends to last longer, yet still looks fabulous on your eyes, meaning you can save on topping up your stash. Another great thing I find about baked eye shadow, is that due to this eye shadow being baked, it has more shimmer to it, making the coverage fuller on your eyelids. This in turn allows you to develop your look from pretty to glam, just by adding more baked shadow with the best results via dabbing and pressing the shadow gently onto the lids for a chick look. So let me introduce my most used baked shadows and their looks. I have incorporated images to show their consistency, some taken in the day with natural lighting to highlight the intensity of the pigment and satin-like shimmer, and images taken in artificial lighting to represent their satin effect and pigment in darker environments at night. 

Day: 'Golden Bronze Baked Eye shadow'.
Upper left: 'Copper Gold', upper right: 'Golden
Bronze', lower left: 'Frosted ivory', lower Right:
'Chocolate'.

Baked eye shadow is my ultimate make up crush right now. When I'm getting ready for a night out, such as to a restaurant or occasion, I always turn to is my smokey eye silver look (yes I created the name myself because I think a commonly used look has to have an official name).

 
For the day, my first look I turn to is my most faithful 'Dark Bronze Baked Eye Shadow' set which I adore. This shadow is versatile (like other baked eye shadows) and can be paired with any normal pressed eye shadow, such as when I use my 'Golden Bronze Baked Eye Shadow' with my 'Silver Nude Pressed Shadow' from a long lasting palette of mine. This duo go hand-in-hand to achieve a subtly smokey look for the day, using 'Silver Nude' for the base and 'Golden Bronze' for the crease of the eye. 

Night: 'Golden Bronze Baked Eye shadow'.
Upper left: 'Copper Gold', upper right: 'Golden 
Bronze', lower left: 'Frosted ivory', lower Right: 
'Chocolate'.

 
   At the night to achieve my second favourite look with these baked shadows, I use the dark smokey look, by adding 'Chocolate' to the look on my outer corner of the eyelid to create depth and make my eyes pop; highlighting my eyes with the 'Silver Nude' whilst giving off a dark smokey look with 'Golden Bronze' and 'Chocolate'. In my post, 🎃 🎀 Halloween Look | Broken Porcelain Doll 🎀 🎃 I used these shadows to create my look and illuminate my eyes, which you can see by clicking the link.  

My third favourite look, is a simple coat of my 'Golden Bronze Baked Eye Shadow'. I start on the outside of my eye lid and work my way in, building on the intensity of the shadow, adding more pigment to the crease of the eye and blending the shadow. My favourite part about this look is the way the shimmer in the eye shadow catches the light, highlighting your eyes and giving a soft glow along side the warm pigmentation which compliments my skin tone. An even better fact is that this eye shadow look takes minutes to perfect and just adds a little extra to your make up look. 

Day: Technic 'Bronzing Eyeshadows Baked Eyeshadow'
 palette in 'Frosted Rose' 

Finally, the last baked eye shadow that I will rant about, is my newly discovered 'Bronzing Eyeshadows Baked Eye Shadow' Palette from Technic. This palette was around £2.99 I believe and I came across it when Christmas shopping one day. Being the baked eye shadow addict that I am, especially a bronze coloured eye shadow lover, I snatched it up. I had been looking for a pinkish bronze baked shadow for a long time, so when I came across this palette I couldn't believe my luck. There were so many palettes to choose from, all with lush colours, but in the end I turned to this 'Bronzing Eyeshadows Baked Eye Shadow' palette in what I like to call 'Frosted Rose' because of the shimmer and pinkish undertones which I adore 

 

 Night: Technic 'Bronzing Eyeshadows
Baked Eyeshadow' palette in 'Frosted Rose'

   The palette consists of six shadows, all as individually gorgeous as one other, and all with a pinkish pigmented undertone to them. A great part is that not only was this brand cost effective, costing just £2.99 for baked bronze eye shadows, but it's against animal testing, unlike top brands such as 'Rimmel' and 'Maybelline'. This may come as an unexpected fact for some, as many people believe 'cheap' or cost- effective make up is of low quality and therefore bad morals; but in this case that stigma is wrong.

I am  ultimately in love with this 'Bronzing Eye Shadows Baked Eye Shadow' palette, even the way it looks is amazing, with the rose-silver pigmentation and effect it presents. When I got this palette home I loved it so much, I even said to myself "Ohh this palette is so bea" when testing a few shadows on my hand 😄  I am so excited to try this new palette, and see what new smokey eye looks I can concoct, and which of these are best suited to specific occasions. It's decided: this palette is a keeper. 

The back of the Technic 'Bronzing Eyeshadows Baked
Eyeshadow' palette. The small heart says 'Against Animal Testing'

So there are a few of my looks along side the baked shadows I use to create my most used looks; including the introduction to my newest ultimate makeup crush, the 'Bronzing Baked Eye Shadow' palette.  

 
   A thing I cannot get over about baked eye shadow, is that it has such an intense shimmer and allows you to create more depth than pressed shadows allow you to. This makes your look appear even more glamorous then it would be if using pressed eye shadow alone, and more chick than usual; a perfect way to make your look unique. 

Thank you for reading,

Yours truly,

Caris 

This Season's Statement Item | Chenille Roll Neck Jumper

This Season's Statement Item | Chenille Roll Neck Jumper

Hey,


With the clocks set back and the day light fading, Winter has set in. And with this change of weather, there's nothing I like more than a new, warm item to add to my Winter wardrobe collection.

This Chenille Roll Neck Jumper is my newest addition to my Winter wardrobe, and being a massive jumper addict- especially for the thick, roll neck types- I am in love with this new jumper already.
Costing me just £16, it's affordable and a great fashion statement item that will keep you warm in the cold Winter months.

The Chenille Roll Neck Jumper achieves a casual, effortless look for the Winter season. Paired with Black Skinny jeans and Black Chelsea Boots, I feel this outfit is elegantly congruous for any Winter occasion.  

This jumper is a definite favourite of mine. It's affordable, simple and elegant. It is extremely warm with a soft texture to it, making it very comfortable to wear; something I believe is highly important for any item included in my Winter wardrobe this year.

Thank you for reading,

Yours truly,
Caris

Autumnal Photography | Catching the Last of Autumn

Photography | Catching the Last of Autumn

Hey,

hope all is well,

I thought that with Autumn nearly gone for the year, I would catalogue just a few images taken on my phone the past few days to share with you all. 

I love Autumn with it's gorgeous contrast of colours and can never resist to take a few pictures when ever possible. I love the way the trees look and the way the birds sing when it starts to get darker, the cosy nights snuggled up warm at home watching your favourite films, and the way the leaves float to the ground, spiralling and spinning like a dancer. 

   

Autumn also reminds me of new begins before the new year starts in January, with the trees letting their leaves go as if they're memories from this year being placed out of the present and into the past; a catalogue of memories. This may attach to me as one of my favourite seasons, because of this, I am an Autumn baby, but also find beauty in nature and the trees letting their leaves free. It's just magical. It has also been a changed year for me, with things happening that have transition me out of the same routines and into a less predicted world with new beginnings in itself.

So without further ado, here are the pictures I captured on my phone the past few days before we see the last of Autumn and it's gone for the year. Enjoy 😃 🌌

Hope you enjoyed these photos as much as I love them and their beauty.

Thank you for reading,

Caris 

🎃 🎀 Halloween Look | Broken Porcelain Doll 🎀 🎃

🎃 🎀 Halloween Look | Broken Porcelain Doll 🎀 🎃

The final look: Broken Porcelain Doll

Hey,

During the Halloween period, I can't help but take part in the fun and get creative with Halloween looks. Every year I enjoy the fact that no matter how unusual you look, it's acceptable because it's Halloween and everyone looks extremely different to their normal, human selves. And so I thought I'd share my Halloween look with you. 

This year, I dressed up at work to raise money for the children's charity the NSPCC, which my employer frequently supports all year round, and with the chance to show my creativity, I couldn't help but take part and become a broken Porcelain doll. 

   I just love the idea of a broken Porcelain doll and all its hidden meanings for Halloween. Think of the symbolic representation that's associated with dolls: the notion that they resemble childhood and joy, yet when broken, a doll can convey sense of a loss of freedom and hope a child may feel when their toy is broken. This is the basis for all films with creepy, haunted dolls; they symbolise a loss of childhood, broken dreams and lost joy. An example, Annabelle the possessed doll.... 

Make up used for the look

So with my love for horror films, and my interest in the hidden meanings and symbolic representations, I decided to get creative and become a broken Porcelain Doll for Halloween. The idea sprang to me when I was thinking of a Halloween look, and my idea for the broken Porcelain doll popped into my head. My design is my original idea and was created using just my ordinary things: make-up and my every day clothes. I personally prefer not to use expensive make-up for Halloween looks, as you cannot tell the difference and at Halloween the aim is to look as creepy as possible, even if your lipstick is cheap as you'll only be wearing it for a short period. Plus drawing on myself is a bit of a waste of make-up, so I tend leave big brands out of the picture, except for my everyday makeup which consists of brands such as Maybelline, Rimmel and Soap & Glory because I have no other make-up brands to use.

Silver Nude eye-shadow

     The images are from two occasions, my first practice so I could have time to take the images for you lovely people, and the others are from after I got back from work; as I had to set off at 9 for work so wouldn't of had enough time to take images of my look.

Firstly, for the look, I wore my White Long Sleeved Turtle Neck- my essential top for everything - my Black Dungaree Pinafore Dress and white shoes. I paired myself with an old teddy, that is conveniently broken at the back, to mimic the toys that dolls would come with, and give off a creepier vibe. 

Golden Bronze baked eye shadow

For my makeup, I put on my every day look: foundation, concealer, press powder and mascara. I then used a lot of pink blush for my cheeks to mimic the rosy cheeks dolls have, and smokey eye look to make my eyes pop using my frosted Silver Nude eye shadow, and Golden Bronze and Chocolate baked eye shadow. I followed this with my Avon Matte Lipstick in 'Peach Flatters' (which I have previously blogged about alongside other lipsticks: Favourite Lipstick Picks | Lipsticks I Couldn't Live Without) to achieve the heavy and bright lipstick dolls would have.

Chocolate baked eye shadow

I tied my hair into two messy pig tails, then left my fringe out at the front, to present the often childlike hairstyles that dolls would have. This look can also be with your hair down which I wore for work when I decided to leave my hair down for the day after it fell out. 

The finished look close up: Broken Porcelain Doll

To achieve the cracks on my hand and face, I used my Soap & Glory felt tip eyeliner pen and drew the cracks lightly onto my skin, filling in some parts to make it seem as though I was missing pieces. Soap & Glory is the only brand I own for eye liner, as I find it to be amazing because it doesn't smudge, lasts all day, and the felt tip is perfect for precision of make up. The trick with drawing the cracks is to make them as thin as possible and imagine your drawing what cracks on a delicate window would look like. I drew cracks on my right side of my face reaching from my jaw line to my temple, and a smaller one on my left side of my face by my jawline and cheek bone. I then dusted press powder lightly over the cracks on my face to help set the eye liner, and to gain depth of the cracks on my hand, I used ordinary eye shadows in jet black, grey and then white to go over the harsh black lines to give a blended effect, and complete my look. 🎃 🎀


Thank you for reading and happy Halloween,

Yours truly,
Caris  

       

Autumnal Look | My Autumn Wardrobe Favourite

Autumnal Look | My Autumn Wardrobe Favourite

Hey, hope all is well,

With the leaves turning brown and the temperature dropping, Autumn has arrived. in response to the change of season, it only seems appropriate to grab anything warm we can find and throw it on. And with this norm, I felt it was time to update my Autumnal wardrobe for the chilling season ahead. 

In this cold weather, there's nothing I love more than big coat to keep me warm; and I think I've found my love. A few days ago, I brought this Faux Fur Collar Burgundy Duster Coat for £35.00, and have decided it is one of my favourite items 😃

I love the colour burgundy, especially in the Autumn when the leaves turn yellow, to gold, to burgundy, to brown. Walking around buttoned up in this coat, I've never felt more congruous for the season. Paired with skinny black jeans and a jumper and black Chelsea boots, I feel set for the cold weather. 

I adore this coat and it's growing on me by the day. The best part is that it's a statement piece that changes your look from cozy to glamorous and makes you look felicitous for the Autumnal days ahead.

The Faux Fur collar keeps you warm and the best part is that it can be unbuttoned and taken off, transforming your coat into a Boyfriend Coat; meaning you can change your look and add to it to suit any occasion. 

Thank you for reading,

Yours truly,

Caris 

Day Out | Trip to Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Day Out | Trip to The Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Hey hope all is well,

This is a blog repost from my other blog, xDance Dorkx and I thought why not share this post on my blog Caris' Blog for any of you who don't follow or read xDance Dorkx; so that you can all see what amazing pictures I managed to sneak in to my English trip. Enjoy 😊

A few weeks ago (possibly two if I can separate that memory from the memory of the stress A-Levels have given me these past few weeks) I went to The Victoria & Albert Museum in London, to see a recorded screening of the play Jerusalem for my A2 English Language exam. 

     Now you may be asking 'why did you go to see a play that is the recording of one instead of a live performance' and my class and I asked the same question. I guess our teacher felt it would be easier to understand and refer to the play for the exam if we watched it, which is true. But I also found that trips to London with my A2 English class are very amusing and eventful, such as our breakfast at Weatherspoons before we left Oxford for London; and the lady serving hated me with a passion because I paid 39p on my debit card 😂 ....

 However that's not the basis for this blog post, although it's a pretty funny story that I may talk about another time, but the story behind this post is that before I watched the play, I managed to take some pictures of the artifacts, and I've decided to post some of them here for you all to see; because believe me some of them are amazing!      Unfortunately when I tried to get these images onto my laptop, they deleted themselves off my phone, and some artifacts I was not allowed to photograph, but the ones I still have and was allowed to take pictures of are below; so just have a scroll down and take a look. I believe I was in the 'Religion' section -although I cannot recall the exact name- so I believe most of these images are of religious items and just to say I didn't manage to write down what each item was, but it's amazing how beautiful these artifacts are. Here are just a few of the pictures. 

Hope these were interesting, and apologies that there aren't many here, as thanks to my phone they are now deleted 😡 But these are the surviving images and I still think they're just as amazing 😄

Thank you for reading,

Yours truly,
Caris.

A Sweet Treat | Mini Vanilla Bites

A Sweet Treat | Mini Vanilla Bites

Hey, hope all is well,

Image of my Mini Vanilla Bites

A few days ago I made some cakes, which I call my 'mini vanilla bites' and I thought it to be a good idea to share it for all to see. I will be posting images and some quick short instructions to make it as simple as possible, as even though these cakes took me around two to three hours due to complications with the cake as I initially intended these to be cake pops, however the cakes tore in the silicon mold and wouldn't stay put with the sticks, I decided to turn them into my own creation being my mini vanilla bites. 

Ingredients and equipment:

To start, as I did but with the intention that the cakes would become cake pops, you will need a cake pop mould in order to achieve the small round shape of the cakes, one which I recieved as a gift years ago and decided it was time to use it. 

     Secondly you will need to have a cake recipe to follow. I have cake recipe cards which are perfect, but you can find multiple cake recipes in books or online, such as on the BBC Good Food website which I often go to for recipes which I then modify to my desired needs. The cake recipe mustn't be anything too difficult, as you will need to make sure they mold to the cake pop mold, so I went for a simple vanilla fairy cake recipe which doesn't require too many ingredients and so is cheaper to make. This recipe makes 20 mini cakes, however because I was experimenting, I ended up with a two extra cakes, so be sure to scale up or down to the right number. Unfortunately, I don't have to amount for the icing as I experimented with the portions as all recipes were too much for the small cakes, but roughly only 100g because the cakes are so small.

To conclude, you will need:

Cake pop mold or small cake tin

Large mixing bowl

Spoon

Sieve

2 Egg

150g butter/margarine for the cake

150g self raising flour

150g Caster sugar (be sure to use this instead of granulated sugar, as when granulated sugar heats, it clumps together and makes the texture of the cake gritty due to its larger size compared to caster sugar which is finer)

1 1/2 cap (the lid from the vanilla extract bottle) of vanilla extract

Butter/margarine for the icing

Decorations, such as 100's and 1000's and icing pens like I used.

Method:

1) Firstly preheat the oven to 180 degrees-for the vanilla fairy cake recipe I have given above- and make the cake mix, add butter/margarine, caster sugar and beat in the bowl until smooth. Beat the egg/s in a bow/jug until bubbles of air are on the surface-this lets you know air has been beaten into the egg so it will help the cake rise properly into the molds.

2) Using the sieve to avoid lumps of flour in the cake when it's finished, sieve the flour and add the egg and mix until smooth without lumps. Add vanilla extract, bearing in mind to stick to the recipe as too little vanilla extract wont be able to hide the eggy taste of the cake, and too much will make it overpowering and sharp on your throat when you eat the cake.

3) Greece the cake mold/tin with butter/margarine and spoon the cake mixture into each mould making sure to fill it level with the top of the individual cake moulds. If using a cake pop mold like I did, connect the base with the cake mixture to the top mold carefully, and then place on to a tray before putting into the oven as the silicon mold will bend and spill the cake mixture without a tray to support it. Now be sure to only open the oven when you're sure the cake is near or is finished, as this will allow the heat to escape which will effect the cakes' ability to rise like it should into the molds, and may result in flat, deflated cakes. Just follow the instructions and all should be fine. 

4) Whilst the cakes are cooking, make the icing. For mine I used buttercream icing which I would recommend as it's thicker and wont run off the round sides of the cakes like normal icing which concisest of water and icing sugar. Add the better/margarine and sieve the icing sugar to make the icing lump-free. Mix until smooth and creamy, and ensure that the icing does indeed taste like a mix of both icing sugar, with a hint of butter flavour. Icing that tastes solely of butter needs more icing sugar to ensure it's sweet, creamy taste. 

5)Once the cakes are cooked, remove from the oven. After leaving to cool for a while, carefully remove the top cake mold and check the cakes are risen properly by pressing the cakes gently in the middle, if they spring back after pressing them down, they're cooked and risen properly. 

Carefully remove the cake bites from the molds and leave to cool o a wire rack. Once cooled decorate the cakes with icing and decorations, such as 100's and 1000's like I did. To note: be sure the cakes are completely cool as any heat will melt the icing and this will make it run off the cake. 

Leave the cakes on a plate and place in the fridge to ensure the icing sets. Once set, take out and enjoy :)   

I ca,e about this idea of my own, my Mini Vanilla Bites, as i initially intended to create cake pops, which failed massively, so I turned it into a new recipe of my own and they looked cute and tasted delicious, I shall have to make them again. 

Hope this was helpful and thank you for reading,

    

Yours truly,

Caris

Summer Photo Picks | My Favourite Pictures Of My Holiday, 2016

Summer Photo Picks | My Favourite Pictures Of My Holiday, 2016

Hey, hope all is well,

 Mountains, Carmarthenshire, South Wales. This image isn't
edited at all, everything you see, all the natural colours;
are untouched, and only captured by me on my camera.

Now I have just been on holiday, and anyone who knows me and my blog, will know that if there's anything I like to do more on holiday; is to take pictures to catelogue my experiences. I have gathered together all the pictures I love the most, in order to share them and to highlight the beauty of the South of Wales where I spent my week on holiday with my family. This year, I am going to create a mini album one could call it, of all the pictures, putting a twist to my usual blogging where I end up writing and writing until about five pages later I only just finish, with the thought that a small collage of photos might be nice to share on my blog with all of you.

Llanelli beach

However, before you have a look at the natural beauty of South Wales, I'll first give you some context on my holiday. I went on holiday Saturday the 30th with my family off to South Wales to a small cottage in the middle of the hills and forest in a small village called Gwynfe, based in the county of Carmarthenshire, which was one of the two county's that wales consisted of. 

Dryslwyn Castle, a 13th century castle.

     The journey took approximately three hours, followed by pacing up the small, steep and narrow roads and over the mountains that I swear look like mount Everest's cousins. The further we went, the higher we got into the mountains, until thirty minutes later we reached the cottage, named 'Forest View Cottage'. 

Dryswlyn Castle

Now the cottage was an average size, painted white and with all rooms on ground level, and being so high up in the mountains, the cottage was cold, with its stone structure. Of course, as you may have guessed, there was no wi-fi, no phone signal- unless you drove twenty minutes to Pen Arthur Wood- and not even a telephone inside the cottage, with the owner of the cottage living next door, I guess they didn't see any reason to have one.To sum up, the area was pretty excluded or even 'remote' as some might say. 

The beginning of the National Show Caves

     Throughout the week, we spent some time travelling to different places, going along a mountain route that winds round the mountains and past the sheep who occupy it. The view was amazing, and you'll soon see why :) In summary, we visited Dryswyn Castle, a 13th century castle now with its remains standing high above the
ground, Llanelli and it's beach and it's national nature reservation grounds with a cycle route that a enjoyed so much, we spent two hours cycling around and even came face to face with swans that didn't seem too happy to see our bicycles because their juvenile babies were around, so they started trying to attack the wheels, and may I add; swans aren't the
most friendliest of birds I can think of. We also visited The National Show Caves which were amazing and had an intriguing history to them of bones found in one of the three caves called the 'Bone Cave' that were from around the iron age or older, with the main cave
being the first to be discovered by the Morgan Brothers in 1912 who had finished

Waterfalls in the National Show Caves

their farm work for the day and decided to finally explore the caves, mapping out every detail of it. We also went to Swansea for a bit of shopping, because I really needed some new shoes that preferably weren't broken like my other ones; and finally Pen Arthur Wood, a small woodland walk just twenty minutes down the road, and down the mountains, from Gwynfe.



So here are all the top pictures from my summer holiday, 2016. I could only choose a few because they were all amazing and I just couldn't fit them all onto this blog post. Scroll down the page to view the rest of images, click to enlarge them. All images are taken by me, Caris and my property :) 

National Show Caves

Waterfalls in the National Show Caves

The National Show Caves

This stalagmite was named 'The Angel'
by the Morgan brothers for its tall human-like structure
and long wings which can be seen to the back of
the stalagmite's structure. The Morgan brothers
 first ventured into the caves after finishing
their farm work early in 1912 and they mapped out
the caves as they went. one hundred and four years later,
they're open to the public with their rich history
and interesting past of the 'Bone Cave' which has remains
dating back to before the Iron age. 

I hope these pictures were worth a look, I think they are it it goes to show the real, untouched natural beauty of South Wales.

Thank you for reading,

Yours truly,
Caris