The Importance of brushes.

I've been experimenting with make up for more than half my life, and in this time I have been trying to find myself the ultimate foundation. I've tried hundreds of different foundations, but never managed to get the flawless complexion I have seen allover instagram. I figured it might have something to do with my application, bought a sponge, but still no potato.

It always looked slightly cakey, dry and my flaws were still pretty visible. Yesterday I chanced upon a set of eco tools brushes, that came with a tutorial as to how to use them, and at £10.49 for the set I figured there was no harm in trying.The set was 'Fresh and Flawless' by Eco Tools. They come in a lovely box and are very pretty things.

There's a guide within the box that gives you enough to get going with, and this is the wonderful difference.

I feel airbrushed. This is the best my face has ever looked, and I am using the exact same products as in the first picture. I never thought something so simple could make so much difference.

Has anything revolutionised your face? I'd love to hear.

CB x

Yves Saint Laurent Touché Eclat!

     I thought it was definitely time that I shared one of my absolute favourite products with you. As you can see from the rather fetching photo below, I suffer with very dark under eye circles (much worse than they look in the photo, I promise!).

        Even under full make up they tend to show up and I have always struggled to find anything that conceals them properly. Everything I tried either barely covered anything, or was so thick and pigmented that it stuck out like a nun in a porn shop . I have been desperate to find something subtle enough that I can pop a bit on and go without any other make up, and my prayers have been answered in the form of Yves Saint Laurent's Touché Eclat.
     
        It is a highlighter and concealer and is fabulous in many many ways. It retails at about £20 but you get the occasional bargain - I found mine in the amazon lightning deals after Christmas for £13. Like all high end products, it looks and feels lovely. It comes packaged in gold, which I admit I'm a sucker for, and feels... good. It feels like a nice product.

Being pretty pale, I went for the lightest shade, 1 Luminous Radiance, but there are about nine shades to choose from. You click the bottom, and spread it on with the brush at the top. Below is the swatch and next to it, the product blended.

       

 It feels quite thin and as you can see blends to virtually invisible, so  I wasn't particularly optimistic that I would get great coverage from it, but I was pleasantly surprised. I dabbed a thin layer on in the darkest areas of my eyes and blended with a finger - I'd get a better finish from a brush I think, but I'm still pretty happy. You can see a side by side comparison on my wonky eyes below, I have the touché Eclat on the right eye, nothing on the left.

I've finally found something I can pop on and go out without bothering with a full face o' slap. And I get to have my freckles on display, yay freckles! 

Christmas Cupcakes for the ward!

With Christmas approaching, I decided to make some Christmas cupcakes for the nurses and other staff on my ward. I had so much fun with these. I made 12 chocolate and 12 vanilla cupcakes and piped them all with buttercream frosting. I used the recipes I got from the Angel Food Kitchen - I will share these at some point soon as they truly create the perfect cupcake.

I had so much fun with these, using Mexican Paste to model festive sugar shapes, the chocolate pretzel reindeer were my favourite though! 

I'm very pleased with how these turned out and all 24 were gone in moments!

Feel free to ask any questions about how I made anything. Did you create any festive bakes over Christmas? Let me know! 

CB x

Making Macaroons : Attempt 1

After way too many sofa days watching The Great British Bake Off, I got a real itching to give macaroons a go.

"It'll be easy" I said.

"What's the worst that could happen?"

I decided to make rose macaroons with a white chocolate ganache and as is often the case with last minute bakes, I only had about half of the ingredients. I nipped round to my corner shop in hope of getting some white chocolate, but alas - none in stock. I figured I could shuffled the recipe around a bit and bought some galaxy instead.

I got to work with the macaroons, I used the BBC recipe, which you can find here: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/macaroons_04669

All was going smoothly, macaroons in the oven - now mint instead of rose, so I went to get started on the ganache. Only I had absent mindedly snaffled more than half of the chocolate! Oops! Back to the shop for another bar.

It was then that I realised I'd forgotten to leave the macaroons to sit - no smooth tops for me! The sitting is a vital part of making the perfect macaroon, it allows air bubbles to rise and a skin to form on top, this is what creates the smooth and shiny dome that macaroons are so famous for. 

I got impatient with the ganache and tried to sandwich the macaroons way before it had set. Its still very runny once cooled, so I assumed that this was as thick as it was going to get, but be patient, it thickens up considerably if you give it even give minutes more.

 For a first attempt, I don't think they look all too bad!

My trip to the Angel Food Kitchen!

For my most recent birthday I got to take a cupcake course at the Angel Food Kitchen in Brighton! It was such a fantastic day and I learnt so many skills that I've used plenty of times since.

It was a two hour course, run by such a friendly and helpful lady in the most gorgeous kitchen. As there were only five of us taking the class there were plenty of opportunities to get one on one assistance with some of the trickier skills, like the palette knife swirl (which I am still yet to master)!

We got to play around in a candy dream land, with jars full of sweets and sprinkles, sugarcraft moulds galore, enormous bowls of frosting and twelve cupcakes to get creative with! I have to say, I'm quite proud of the end result!

They were beyond delicious and I would absolutely recommend the course to anyone and everyone. Beginners and experts alike.

Have you had any experiences with similar courses? I'd love to hear about it.

CB x

A little about me!

Hello! I'm Charys and I thought I'd create a blog so I could share the things I love. I'm currently living in Brighton - one of the most vibrant cities on earth - while I train to be a nurse.

I use the majority of my spare time and spare money on baking, crafts and cosmetics, despite not really having any of either!

I hope to use this blog to share reviews of my favourite products, some of my favourite recipes and anything else really that I fancy.

Thank you for taking the time to read and I hope you enjoy!

CB x