My Autumn Skincare Picks!

Hey beaut's!

It's that time of the year again where we need to repair and nourish our little faces and seeing as I love things all autumn/winter I couldn't resist doing a post dedicated to some of the skincare products that I know are going to be well loved by me this season, and even better news is that their all super affordable, yay! Currently I'm dealing with mix of dry-combination skin but every autumn/winter is the same for me, as soon as the cold weather hits that's it - my skin is literally sucked of all of it's moisture and I turn into one dry skinned gal! So in a nutshell every product I use has to have some element of moisture too it because my skin needs all the help it can get, trust me!
So lets kick things off with cleansing, I've been loving the Nivea Sensitive 3-in-1 Micellar Water* (£3.29), not only does this remove my makeup with ease but it soothes and hydrates at the same time and never leaves my skin feeling dry or tight which a lot of other micellar water's I've tried do! It's also safe to use around the eyes and lips which is fab because you can literally swipe everything off your face at once! After cleansing I love to tone my skin, I actually used to skip this step but my skin really benefits from toning at this time of the year and my favourite right now is the Garnier Skin Active Soothing Toner with 96% Rose Water* (£2.69). What I love about this particular toner is that it's made from 96% natural origin ingredients making it perfect for dry and sensitive skin, my skin always feels so squeaky clean and super soft after using this beauty, it smells divine too!
Moisturising is a crucial step for me and makes sure that not only is my skin nourished but that my makeup has a nice base to sit on top of, two of my favourite day creams at the moment are the Simple Replenishing Rich Moisturiser* (£3.59) and the Garnier SkinActive Hydrate & Soothe Day Cream* (£4.49), both of these are so gentle on my skin but give my skin a huge dose of moisture whilst also restoring softness and suppleness. I honestly don't think you can go wrong with either Simple or Garnier to be honest, they both do exactly what they say on the tin! My night cream of choice is the Olay Double Action Sensitive Night Cream* (£4.19), this stuff is brilliant if you need a lot of nourishment, you can slather it on thickly if your getting a lot of dry patches and when you wake in the morning they've vanished, it's bloody amazing stuff!
Finally you cant forget about those hands and that pout during the autumn/winter months, I don't know about you but my hands really take a battering when it's cold, I'm talking dryness, chapped knuckles and they bleed, yup it's bad! The only thing that works when my hands are that bad is the Neutrogena Hand Cream* (£3.35), now theres nothing glamorous about this stuff but it really does work wonders, it's super thick and does have a slight greasy feeling afterwards but if your persevere you'll love the results, it's amazing stuff! For lips I've always been a Carmex* girl, it gives long lasting relief when my lips are dry and chapped and the cherry flavour is so lush, I also much prefer the squeezable tube option than the pots Carmex do as their so much easier to use when your on the go!

You can find all of the skincare I mentioned plus lots more on the Chemist.co.uk website HERE.

nopin

Baking On A Budget - Autumn Spice Cake Recipe

Hey beaut's!

It's no secret that I love to bake, the only thing is that believe it or not baking can get a little bit pricey so I like to skip down to Aldi* and pick up all of my baking ingredients for a much better price! Aldi have such a fab range of fresh British foods which are such good value and truth be told the recipe I'm sharing with you today literally only cost me a few pounds to make with plenty of ingredients left over to make many other cakes if I want to! The cake in question is my very seasonal Autumn Spice Cake, and honestly beaut's if you like cake and you like spices your going to love it!
What You Will Need For The Cake
175ml vegetable oil
185g applesauce
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
240ml buttermilk
320g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
370g light-brown sugar

What You Will Need For The Buttercream
200g Unsalted Butter
400g Icing Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Splash Of Milk

How To 
1. Preheat your oven to gas mark 4 and line or grease two round baking tins. 
2. In a large mixing bowl pop in your brown sugar with the vegetable oil and applesauce and mix with your whizzer until well combined, then add in your eggs, vanilla and buttermilk and mix again, this will look pretty questionable at this point because it's all wet ingredients but bare with it, also if your cant find buttermilk just use milk with a squeeze of lemon juice instead, this actually makes buttermilk and is so easy to do yourself, that's what I did!
3. Once your wet ingredients are all combined throw in your dry ingredients, I actually like to combine all of my dry ingredients in a separate bowl first then whack in half of the dry into the wet - mix - then thrown the rest of your dry ingredients in and whip up with the whizzer.
4. Divide your batter between the two tins and bake for around 25-30 minutes or until the top of the cakes are springy to the touch, then transfer onto a wire rack to cool. 

How To - Buttercream
1. In a large bowl, beat the butter until it becomes smooth and silky, then start adding the icing sugar slowly to avoid the dreaded icing sugar cloud and mix again until combined. If your buttercream becomes thick just add in a tablespoon of milk in at a time until you get the perfect consistency.
2. Pipe or spoon the icing on top of one of the cakes them sandwich them together and decorate the very top and the sides of the cake how you like, I decided to leave the sides plain and do a couple of swirls of icing on the top instead of covering the entire cake but the choice is yours... and voila!

This is such a cosy bake and perfect to snuggle up with on those dark, cooler evenings with a cuppa, I'll definitely be trying these in cupcake form too soon! 

Do you like baking at this time of the year beaut's? I'd love to know what your favourite autumnal bake is!

nopin

Revolution Conceal & Define Foundation Review!

Hey beaut's!

I have been absolutely loving Revolution's base makeup launches over the last few months and I think it's fair to say I'm not the only one, I've tried both of Revolution's concealers and the stick foundation and really liked them all especially the concealers but now theres a new kid on the block in the shape of a foundation, ohhhh! That's right the Conceal & Define Concealer now has an older sister so say hello to the Conceal & Define Full Coverage Foundation!
Just like the concealer the foundation has a crazy amount of shades to choose from, 24 to be precise which is just incredible! Ranging from fair to deep, in cool, pink, neutral and warm undertones - there really is a shade for everyone, I think that's chuffing amazing for a high street beauty brand and I really praise Revolution for doing this! I have the foundation in the shade F4 which is for light skin tones with a pink undertone and it matches me perfectly, Revolution also have a full run down of the shades on their website if your unsure what shade you might be.
The foundation itself claims to be lightweight yet buildable, oil-free yet creamy and comfortable, long-lasting with a demi-matte finish that won’t settle into any fine lines or cling to dry patches, sounds pretty amazing right - I couldn't wait to whack it on my face! I have to admit as soon as I started blending in the foundation on my very first application I was loving it, it blends into the skin with complete ease (I use a beauty blender by the way) and the coverage is mega good, it's definitely more on the full side of things and a little of the foundation goes a long way too! The foundation does claim to have a demi-matte finish but I would say it's more on the matte side that demi-matte so if your looking for a bit of a glow you wont really get that from this foundation. Despite being matte I didn't find the foundation heavy or cakey in any way and it wears on my skin really well, my skins quite combination at the moment and I never have any oily/shiny patches come up when I wear this but I do notice that it does cling to a little dryness I have around my nose which isn't a biggy but something to bare in mind! The foundation seemed to last on me for around 7 hours before it had started to wear off slightly on my chin which I think is a pretty good wear time and I never powdered my skin either because I felt that natural matte finish that the foundation has was enough for me!
The only thing I don't really like is the applicator...it has a jumbo doe foot style applicator which holds the product much like how a concealer does and then you spread/dot it around your face that way, personally I don't find it very hygienic and I would of much preferred a pump to be honest, however it is quite a controlled way to use the foundation and I cant see how I'll waste much of the foundation because I cant accidentally pump too much out so theres always that. The bottle however is gorgeous, it has quite heavy glass bottle which is frosted which makes it feel so much more expensive and luxurious!

Overall I've been bloody loving this foundation and I'm so glad I picked it up to try, in terms of the formula it ticks all of the foundation boxes for me and the fact theres 24 shades to choose from is just amazing!

You can find the Revolution Conceal & Define Foundation for £9.00 HERE.

nopin

Gousto Reveiw - What I Thought Of The Meals + Discount Code!

Hey beaut's!

I absolutely love getting in the kitchen and cooking up a storm, you'll probably know this by  my frequent baking posts, but sharing my meals is something I've yet to do on my blog and seeing as I've been testing out Gousto recently - a recipe/meals subscription service - I thought I'd let you know how I've been getting on! 
Gousto* recipe boxes contain all the ingredients you need to make up to four different meals for either two or four people. How it works is you simply scroll through the Gousto menu on the website - which has over 30 recipes and changes weekly - and you pick out which meals you'd like to make/try for that week, theres everything from 10 minute meals, healthy options, vegetarian and plant-based meals and world foods so everyone is catered for. When the box arrives it's divided into two with all the vegetables on one side and all of the meat on the other, the meat and fridge ingredients actually come in a bag with lots of ice packs and my ice packs where actually still frozen which I was super impressed by, all of my fridge ingredients where all really cold like I had just taken them out of the fridge! All of the ingredients you need for the meals are all measured out to the exact amount you need so theres no waste or faffing about and the handy recipe cards have step-by-step instructions which are so easy to follow, so even if your not that good in the kitchen or still learning if you've just moved out of your parents house it's literally a doddle!
The four meals I made are.....
Chicken Teriyaki With Sugar Snap Peas - This one was super easy to make and only took 25 minutes in total which isn't too bad for a delicious home cooked meal made completely from scratch! The chicken was full of flavour and I couldn't believe how easy it was to make the teriyaki sauce! The sugar snap peas where so fresh and had a lovely crunch to them and combined with the basmati rice, it was lush!
Classic Cottage Pie With Broccoli - This recipe had a few more steps than the Chicken Teriyaki and also took around 40 minutes to make but it was by far my favourite dish, I've honestly never tasted such a yummy cottage pie in my life, it was even better than what my mum used to make me when I lived at home - sorry mum lol! The portion was completely spot on too, I used two mini individual dishes for me and my boyfriend and every last bit of the beef mixture and the mash went into each dish without any waste, I would highly recommend this one if your trying Gousto out, I'm definitely going to make the recipe again!
Roasted Red Pepper Linguine With Tenderstem Broccoli - Another close favourite of mine was this linguine dish, I love pasta that's why opted for this one and wow it was incredible and again full of flavour! To make the sauce I literally had to roast the Romano pepper, tomato and garlic then blitz it up with the spices and stock and wow, it tasted so good, this was a huge hit with my boyfriend too!
Greek Lamb Pastitsio Bake With Rocket Salad - This was my final dish and extremely different for me because even though I'm partial to a pasta bake I never ever use lamb, in fact I never really eat lamb at all but that's why I wanted to try this recipe because I wanted to try something different! Truth be told this was lush and I loved the addiction of having a rocket salad with it too because again I never serve salad with my pasta bakes at home.  
I found the whole process of using Gousto really easy and the meals didn't disappoint, we enjoyed everything, found the portion sizes perfect and I really liked the fact that everything was made completely from scratch because I knew exactly what was going into my meals and sauces! I'm definitely going to be using Gousto again for sure, the menu this week looks pretty epic to be honest so another cheeky order could be coming soon he he!

You can get your first two Gousto boxes for 50% off when you use my code HAYSPARKLE at the checkout HERE, that will make your first two boxes just £17.50 for two people for four days, or around £23.00 for four people for four days, that's an incredible price, delivery is free too and you can choose a delivery day that's suitable for you, what's not to love! 

nopin

Autumnal Interior Ideas!

Hey beaut's!

Now that we are creeping closer to October I'm getting myself into Autumn and Winter mode, I love getting my house Autumn ready, I'm talking cosy, cosy and more cosiness he he! Obviously I love to add a few Halloween themed pieces around the house but for me I love nothing more than getting those autumnal throws out and snuggling up so here's a few things I love to do in my home to make it feel more seasonal! 

* Candles - I have been named the crazy candle lady many times because I'll admit I am a candle addict at this time of the year, but adding in some autumnal smelling candles to your home not only makes it smell incredible but it will instantly have that warm, cosy vibe going on! Even if you pop a couple of tea lights on, dim the lights and watch a movie it makes it feel 10x more cosy having some candle light flickering away! 

* Lighting - I go fairy light crazy during the autumnal months, I think just like candles they add that cosy vibe to any space. I like to drape them anywhere and everywhere really, they work really well intertwined through ornaments on shelves, on book cases and even along the head board of your bed. I also have a few light-up ornaments that I like to dot around the house which add a real autumnal, cosy touch too! However if your a blogger like myself then you know how much lighting is key during the Autumn/Winter months, those darker mornings/evenings and those dull autumnal days in general can make it pretty hard to get some good lighting for our snaps, I've honestly been considering one of those Skylight Windows for my spare room from Glow Glass to let plenty of light in. I'd love to know how you achieve bright pictures during the autumnal months beaut's?!

* Soft Furnishings - Throws can make any space look more inviting and warm, their multi-useful too as you can snugly up in them and get super toasty, I always add a throw to my sofa and bed during autumn/winter! Something else I love to do is to whack some autumnal bedding on the bed, I got the cutest set last year with hedgehogs and foxes which I love so much so that will be going back on soon!  

Other things you can do to add an autumnal touch in your home are.....
 * Add bowls of pine cones, conkers, leaves and cinnamon sticks around the house, you can easily make these yourself pretty cheap by going outdoors and collecting some up or you can buy some autumnal potpourri from the shop! 
* Adding more cushions to your lounging space can add a more cosy feel! 
* Pop vases of flowers in autumn colours around your home.
* Place a autumnal wreath on your door, these can easily be made at home too.
* Add some pumpkins to your pooch way.

What autumnal changes do you make to your home beaut's? I'd love to know! 

nopin

* This is a collaborative post.

Sleek MakeUP Christmas Collection Revealed!

Hey beaut's!

Can you believe Christmas is just 98 sleeps away, it's crazy how quick the time is going this year isn't it! I'm back again today with another Christmas collection to share with you and this time it's Sleek MakeUP's time to shine! 

Sleeks Christmas Collection is available in Boots and is on their classic 3 for 2 mix and match Christmas offer which we all know and love! The collection has everything from little lip gloss and lip liner sets which would make the perfect stocking fillers to a makeup brushes, sets where you get a couple of different Sleek products to try and they've even brought back their advent calender which is £35.00 for 24 doors which I think is a pretty good price for a beauty advent calender! The pricing of the collection starts at just £6.00 all the way up to £50.00 for the huge mega set, this usually goes half price for one week in the run up to Christmas when Boots do their star buy offer so keep your eyes peeled for that if your either after the huge set for yourself or a friend!

You can find the entire Sleek MakeUP Christmas Collection HERE.

Will you be buying any gift sets from the Sleek Christmas Collection beaut's? What have you got your eye on? I'd love to know!

nopin

Autumnal Candle Haul!

Hey beaut's!

It's that time of the year again when I turn into the crazy candle lady, theres something so cosy and warming about burning candles during the Autumn/Winter months isn't there, they just look so pretty on those dark autumnal nights and the spicy, warming scents are just amazing! Because I literally have to fill my entire house with candles it means I have to bu quite a few and I found some absolute corkers in TK MAXX recently so I thought I share which ones I got!

All four of the candles I picked up in TK MAXX are by the brand DW Home, I believe this is an American brand which would explain the epic scents I found, I don't know about you but I feel like candle companies in the UK just don't do those epic Autumnal/Halloween scents like they do in the states! All four of the candles I got come in glass jars with lids and feel super luxurious and expensive, the prices of these where pretty epic too, the small jars where only £2.99 each and the larger jars where £5.99 which for candles in general is good but as their an American brand I think that's an amazing price!  
(From left to right - Maple Pumpkin, Pumpkin Spice,  Apple Cider, Frosted Leaves)
The scents I picked up are...
Maple Pumpkin - Wow this candle is next level, I wish they had larger jars of this one in stock because I think I would of bought a couple of those because I love it so much! Maple Pumpkin smells sweet like caramelised sugar and pumpkin combined with a hint of toasted nuts, it honestly smells good enough to eat!
Pumpkin Spice - This one comes in the most amazing black glass jar with little gold bats all over it, it was also boxed up in gift box for no extra charge which I thought was such a nice touch, they had a couple of other Halloween candles boxed up too if your looking for a Halloween themed gift! This one reminds me of Yankee Candles cinnamon stick, it has quite a strong cinnamon and nutmeg vibe going on mixed with a brown sugary sweetness, it's absolutely lush!
Apple Cider - This one not only looks super autumnal in it's rusty Orange jar but it's literally autumn in a candle, theres hints of woodland spices mixed with warm apple cider, it's incredible and the scent throw is fabulous!
Frosted Leaves - This is quite different for me because it's got that woodland vibe like autumn leaves, weathering pine and burnt embers but I actually really like it, it kind of reminds me of going on a drizzly walk in the woods with the dog if that makes any sense he he!

I'd definitely recommend popping into TK MAXX soon if your after these candles as I cant see them lasting very long, I definitely want to pop back in a grab a couple more soon! I want to check out their autumnal homeware too but they never really had much of that in when I went!  

What scents have you picked up for Autumn beaut's? I'd love to know!

nopin

Revolution Fast Base Concealer Review!

Hey beaut's!

Revolution have been killing it with their base makeup launches recently and it's fair to say us makeup loving guys and gals have been all over the new goodies like a rash , I adored their Conceal & Define Concealer so when I saw that they had launched a new concealer called Fast Base I popped down to Superdug and picked one up straight away!
The Revolution Fast Base Concealer claims to highlight, brighten and banish under eye circles fast, this claim really lured me in because I suffer really badly with dark under eyes so anything that might help them disappear I'm all for trying! And oh my godddddd beaut's, I bloody love this stuff!
The formula of concealer is absolutely stunning and ticks all the concealer boxes for me in terms of covering dark circles, it's lightweight, super creamy and hydrating, blends in-in seconds, has a beautiful medium but buildable coverage, has a semi-matte finish that is never drying and doesn't cling to any dry patches at all, it lasts really well and doesn't crease on me at all or go cakey! As I said it literally ticks all the boxes for me and does an amazing job at brighting up my under eyes, I love it so much more than the Conceal & Define concealer, and that's really saying something because I really like that concealer too. The shade range is fab, theres 14 shades available ranging from fair to deep, in cool, neutral and warm undertones, I have the shade C2 which is for fair skin tones with a neutral undertone, realistically I needed a shade with pink undertones but of course that was out of stock because this stuff sells like hot cakes but C2 actually works perfectly fine for me!
The only negative I have to say is about the packaging where the concealer dispenses, it has a twist-up mechanism which you twist and the concealer comes out of the little cushion applicator, that part of the packaging is fine, the applicator is lovely and soft and allows you to easily dot the product under your eyes but my goodness does the lid and around the cushion applicator get grubby, my concealer looks absolutely gross now so just bare that in mind!

You can find the Revolution Fast Base Concealer for £5.00 HERE.

nopin

This post contains affiliate links. 

Theres A New Subscription Box In Town - British Beauty Box Reviewed!

Hey beaut's!

You probably all know by now that I love a good ole subscription box, I just love the whole element of surprise, I mean who doesn't? Well there’s a shiny new subscription box in town that you guys and gals just might need in your life, so say hello to British Beauty Box!  

British Beauty Box is a skincare and haircare subscription box that is delivered to your door every 3 months, each box will contain 5 full size luxury products that will be worth at least double the price you pay for your box, the contents of the September box is worth a whopping £128, that's crazy good right! Heres what I received, and I have to say I'm over the moon with the contents....
* Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm With Dual-Action Cleansing Cloth £47.00 - I absolutely love the Emma Hardie Cleansing Balm, I've had two jars previously but the hefty price tag did put me off re-purchasing it anymore, so the fact theres a whopping 100g pot within the British Beauty Box makes me very happy! The cleansing balm turns into an luxurious feeling oil once you start rubbing it into the skin and literally breaks down any makeup or SPF you've had on your face all day, and the dual-action cleansing cloth has a gentle yet abrasive muslin side to wipe away the oil from my face and down my neck and then theres a smoother, micro fibre side perfect for the eye area and voila... My skin is left super clean, conditioned and not dry what so ever! 
* Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix Night Pads £14.95 - I've heard a lot of good things about these Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix Night Pads, in fact their a best-seller for Nip + Fab so I cant wait to give them a go. You get 60 pre-soaked pads within the pot and all you have to do is rub one all over your face at night to exfoliate the skin and let the acids within the pad do their thang!!!
*Ark Skincare Pre Cleanse & Makeup Remover £30.00 - Then we have another cleanser type product which personally I'm so happy about, I'm always on the look out for good cleansers seeing as it's one of the most important steps in our daily skincare routine! The Ark Skincare Pre Cleanse & Makeup Remover has a water like consistency that you use with a cotton wool pad to remove all of your makeup and the days daily grime from your face. I've really enjoyed using this so far, it removes my makeup well and is so soft and gentle on my skin, I also love the fact it's made with natural ingredients and is vegan friendly! 
* Bybi Babe Balm £18.00 - The Bybi Babe Natural Beauty Balm is a fab multi-purpose skincare product, I think dry skinned gals will definitely benefit from this product a lot because it can be used as a super rich moisturiser, a night cream, a lip balm, a hand cream the list literally goes on and on, I think this is going to be an essential autumn and winter product that I wont be able to live without!
* Manuka Doctor Radiance Serum - Finally this month we have the Manuka Doctor Radiance Serum, this lovely stuff boosts your skins radiance and gives an instant illuminating effect. It helps to tighten the skin too so wrinkles will appear reduced and it leaves the skin looking more firm and supple, it's the perfect product to whack on before you apply your foundation!
So lets get down to business, how much is the box gonna cost ya....Theres 3 different payments you can choose from when subscribing to British Beauty Box, you can opt to pay monthly which will cost £25.00, or you can pay £50.00 quarterly which will save you 30% on the monthly subscription which I think is the best deal as it makes the price around £16.00 of so a month, or you can do a one time payment of £175.00 for a full years worth of British Beauty Boxes!

As you can see this box contains some cracking products to help keep your skin looking absolutely beautiful, I'm really impressed with the contents and actually didn't expect to receive such luxury 'high-end' products if I'm honest! I also love that British Beauty Box pop a little gift bag into the box too so if theres something your not really feeling you can share it with your nearest and dearest, what a nice touch!

Subscribe and receive your first box HERE.

nopin

Zoella Lifestyle Christmas Collection Revealed!

Hey beaut's!

A couple of weeks ago you may have seen that I done a little post on the Zoella Beauty Christmas Collection which you can find in Superdrug, if you haven't seen it yet you can check out my post HERE. The beauty collection looks pretty epic and left me chomping at the bit for the reveal of Zoella's new lifestyle collection which is always available in Boots, lucky for me as I was scrolling through the Boots website I came across quite a few of their Christmas gifts and Zoella's was on there, hurrayyyy.

The theme of the lifestyle collection looks very pretty this year, it has a botanical feel which is so Zoella and I'm totally living for the dark blue and baby pink colour way Zoe has got going on! As far as the gifts go it looks quite similar to last year but obviously everthings been updated, the mug this year contains two caramel hot chocolate sachets which I think is a nice addition and looks more like a gift set than just a mug, theres a trio lunch box set which looks cool, I actually got the duo tins Zoella bought out last year and I still love them. The candles are back with new scents of Hot Chocolate and Midnight Wonder but so far their isn't matching reed diffusers like there was last year but that could well be because their not on the website yet! Their are a few newbies within the collection too like the pink fluffy slippers, cosy socks and mittens and headband set which all looks super cute! Prices start from £6.00 up to £20.00 so theres certainly a gift for everyone whether you want something big or small, and don't forget these are all in Boot's classic 3 for 2 Christmas offer which we all love!

You can find the entire Zoella Lifestyle Christmas Collection HERE.

Will you be buying any of the Lifestyle Christmas range beaut's? What have you got your eye on? I'd love to know!

nopin
This post contains affiliate links. 

Apple Crumble Cupcakes!

Hey beaut's!

It's been a while since I got in the kitchen and baked some cupcakes and seeing as Autumn is creeping ever closer I thought it was time for a cosy bake, this time around I opted for apple crumble cupcakes, they just sound so warming and autumnal don't they! These cupcakes have apple within the sponge and the most amazing cinnamon and brow sugar buttercream - which might I add is the best buttercream I've ever made, the addition of brown sugar is just immense and gives it a slight caramel vibe, oh my! Then the cupcakes are finished off with that yummy homemade crumble, whats not to love! 
What You Will Need For The Cupcakes
300g Cooking Apples
2 Eggs
125g Unsalted Butter 
230g Plain Flour
155g Golden Caster Sugar
2 tsps Baking Powder

1 tsp Cinnamon
Pinch Of Salt
Splash Of Milk

What You Will Need For The Crumble Topping
75g Golden Caster Sugar
100g Chilled Butter
140g Self-Raising Flour

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

What You Will Need For The Buttercream
125g Unsalted Butter
55g Soft Brown Sugar
200g Icing Sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Splash Of Milk
How To - Cupcakes
* Start off by making the apple mixture, I popped 250 grams of my cooking apples into a saucepan and covered them in a little water for around 5 minutes to soften, once soft drain the water and leave the apple mixture to cool. Then chop the remaining 50 grams of apple into tiny cubes and leave to aside!
* In a bowl cream together the butter and the golden caster sugar until light and fluffy then whack in the eggs and vanilla extract! Once all of the wet ingredients are combined add in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and gently mix until combined, at this point the batter might be quite stiff but fear not, pop in your softened apples and mix well - this will help loosen things up, if the batter is still quite stiff like mine was then keep adding in a splash of milk at a time until it loosens slightly.
* Finally before popping the batter into your cupcake cases mix through the remaining 50 grams of cubed apple, then bake at gas mark 4 for around 15-18 minutes or until the top of the cupcakes are springy to the touch, then transfer onto a wire rack to cool

How To - Crumble
* The crumble topping is so easy to make, in a large bowl rub together the butter, flour and vanilla until it's nice and crumbly kind of like breadcrumbs, and then stir through the sugar. 
* Spread the crumble mixture onto a lined baking tray and bake for 5-10 minutes until just golden, I actually got my crumble out half way and used a knife to chop at it and move it around so the underneath of the crumbles firmed up too.

How To - Buttercream
* In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract until it becomes super whippy, then start adding the icing sugar slowly to avoid the dreaded icing sugar cloud and mix again until combined. As usual if the buttercream is too stiff then pop in some milk until you get your desired constancy.
* Pipe or spoon the icing on top of the cupcakes and sprinkle over lots of the yummy crumble, you can add a little or a lot depending on how much crumble your partial too and voila!
And there you have it beaut's, yummy apple crumble cupcakes that are so autumnal and delicious! These are a little more time consuming than general cupcakes because you have to make the crumble and soften the apples but it's totally worth it, especially on a cold autumn day!

nopin

Revolution Kisu Eyeshadow & Highlighter Palette Review!

Hey beaut's!

I haven't had a new eyeshadow palette by Revolution for such a long time but when I saw their collaboration with the YouTuber Kisu I instantly fell in love, the colour-way of the palette was right up street so the palette went straight into my wish list, lucky for me it was my birthday recently and my bestie Kate treated me to the palette so I thought I'd share my thoughts on it with you today!
Truth be told I hadn't even heard of Kisu before the palette was released but her ideas behind this palette are fabulous so... well done girl! The palette itself has matte pink packaging which is super pretty and comes with a large mirror within the lid which is always handy! Within the palette their are 16 beautiful eyeshadow shades 8 of which are matte and the remaining 8 are metallic. The shade range in this palette though is absolutely stunning and I mean just look how perfect it's going to be for the Autumn months... arhhh I love it! Theres everything from your classic beige, brown and a couple of creams, intertwined with cranberry tones and gold shimmers with a pop of turquoise blue thrown in for good measure. The palette also includes 2 'slices' of highlighter which I'm not complaining about, I am a highlighter addict after all. Theres the shade Marshmallow which is an icy white which almost has a foil like finish and then theres Khaleesi which is a peachy pink which has the most amazing golden shift shift to it!
The quality of the shadows within the Kisu Eyeshadow & Highlighter Palette are actually very good and really consistent, I kind of knew that the metallic shades would be good because I know Revolution do make amazing metallic shadows but I did worry that the mattes might of been a little lack-luster but actually their brilliant and perform just as well as the metallic's! Each shade is super pigmented, they all pick up on my brushes well and blend out with ease, their are a couple of shades that have the smallest amount of fallout but it's nothing major at all, and the highlighters have an almost foil effect and aren't glittery at all which is a bonus, overall I'm really pleased with the quality!
Eyeshadow Shades....
Maldives – metallic deep lagoon blue
Reign - metallic yellow gold
Bloodlust - metallic rich copper red
London - metallic burnt rose gold
Vampire - matte dark cranberry brown
Royal - metallic warm taupe
1991 - matte pastel beige with a slight shimmer
Ivy - sheer metallic beige
Clumsy - matte deep brown
Cookie Dough - matte sandy beige
Cat Lady - matte taupe
Rose Gold - metallic rosy pink with a golden shift
Gryffindor - matte mustard yellow
Mai - metallic rusty copper
October - matte brick red
Hype - matte yellow taupe
(From left to right - London, Reign, Vampire, Rose Gold, MAI, October)
Just look at those swatches - insert love heart eyes emoji - he he. Overall I'm so impressed with the Kisu Palette and have thoroughly enjoyed playing around with all of the shades so far. The quality is really nice for the price which is just £10.00 by the way, and the shade range is stunning and right up my street, I also think if your looking for that perfect Autumnal palette which wont break the bank then you need to look no further, and the fact you get 2 highlighters thrown in too is just a brucie bonus!

You can find the Revolution X Kisu Eyeshadow & Highlighter Palette for £10.00 HERE.

nopin