I couldn’t decide how do my nails the week I did these so I went with a bit of a mixture. Pink and white, butterflies and flowers, some Andrea Fulerton pearls and some glitter to give my nails some sparkle!
Over the past few weeks I’ve had the chance to try the Hairy Jayne Hair Perfume with Heat Protection. It recommends using it if you don’t wash your hair every day but I always do so have mainly been using it if I am going out in the evening and haven’t washed my hair since before work. I also use it on days when my hair is frizzier than normal as it is good at calming it down. 
Hairy Jayne have a few different scents for their hair perfume but mine is the neroli, vetiver and patchouli. The smell is quite strong when you first apply it but it quickly fades to a more subtle scent. The hair perfume costs £11 for 50ml but is lasting me well so far as you don’t need to spray much due to the strong scent. I’d definitely recommend it and have been impressed by how good it is at minimising my frizz!
I was also sent a sample of the Treatment Conditioner in the same scent. Again, I was impressed with this as it left my hair feeling lovely and soft. I’ve tried a few treatments recently and this is the only one which seems to have had any effect on my hair! You can buy the hair perfume and a full size treatment in a gift pack for £17.50.
This Barefoot Botanicals Rosa Fina Cleansing Milk is one of the best cleansers I’ve ever used. It smells amazing and the packaging is lovely. The cleanser really suits my skin and makes it feel really clean and hydrated. It’s quite expensive (£20.95 from MyPure) but I would buy it again as I think it’s amazing!
I won a little 25g tube of Burt’s Bees Naturally Nourishing Milk & Honey Body Lotion in my cracker at Christmas. It’s a really lovely body lotion, very moisturising but not sticky and it smells good too. I don’t use Burt’s Bees products very often but every time I do I ask myself why I don’t use it more! The full size version of this is now on my list of things to buy!
A few weeks ago I went to a ceilidh with some people from work. I thought I would get in the Scottish spirit and attempted a tartan pattern on my nails. I thought it turned out quite well! What do you think?
1. My cat Midnight.
2. Amazing colours in this sunrise.
3. Looking back at Thailand photos.
4. New dress.
5. I won a competition from The Body Shop!
6. Loved these nails.
7 & 8. Cute and delicious cupcake chocolates!
9. Rainbow ruffle cake!
I was quite pleased with this gradient but it didn’t really stand out enough against my skin tone. I like my nails to be bright and obvious!
The winner of the Natio Essence Gift Set is……
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Congrats Esther, we will email you to get your address 
These mocha cupcakes worked out so much better than the batch of Chocolate & Mint cupcakes I made a few weeks back! I used a cake recipe from my Great British Bake Off book and then experimented with the icing. The coffee flavour is very subtle so next time I make these I will probably add a bit more coffee.
Cake Ingredients
175g butter or marg
175g caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
175g self raising flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ tablespoons instant coffee dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
50g dark chocolate, grated
Icing Ingredients
75g butter
190g icing sugar
60g cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant coffee dissolved in a tablespoon of water
A few tablespoons of milk
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and put your cases in the tin.
2. Beat the butter for a minute or so and then beat in the sugar until it becomes pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs gradually.
3. Gently fold in the flour and baking powder and then the grated chcocolate.
4. Separate into the cake cases and put in the oven for around 20 minutes.
5. To make the icing, beat the butter until it is creamy and then gradually beat in the icing sugar, cocoa powder and coffee. I always use an electric whisk as it makes the icing really fluffy! Add tablespoons of milk until the icing is the right consistency for piping, or just swirl the icing onto the cakes using a knife.
This was my seconds attempt at using the stamping plates I had for Christmas. I really love the design! What do you think?
