Terry's Chocolate Orange Loaf Cake Recipe

Who's ready for things to get a bit festive around these parts? I know I am, and what better way to kick start the super festive recipes than with a Terry's Chocolate Orange Loaf Cake! Chocolate orange is one of my favourite flavours, and lets face it a Terry's Chocolate Orange is a Christmas essential, their so festive and I think all of us receive one in our Christmas stockings don't we?! This recipe is based off of my Halloween layer cake I made back in October but the quantities are slightly different, so if you fancy giving this one a go just scroll down for the recipe!

What I Got For Christmas 2019

 Hey beaut's!!!

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and stuffed your faces with all the pigs in blankets and chocolate because I know I did! I'm so sad Christmas is all over for another year though, I absolutely love the build up, the pretty decorations and the twinkling lights but hey, today I thought I'd keep things slightly festive and join in on the 'What I Got For Christmas' bandwagon, personally I love reading these type of posts or watching them on youtube, I just love seeing what lovely gifts everyone received. I was so lucky this year and received some amazing gifts from my family, boyfriend and friends and I really am grateful and truly thankful for everything I got! Anyway lets get going...

So lets kick things off with makeup and beauty, there wasn't actually much makeup on my Christmas wish list this year which is a first for me, I did however really want to try the Morphe Continuous Setting Mist and the Morphe Highlight and Contour Sponge so I did actually ask my Mum for those, she also picked me up the Soap & Glory 'The Mask Force Five Set' and the Soap & Glory 'Brow Sweet' gift set, bless her, she knows I'm a Soap & Glory addict! My boyfriend Michael was naughty and treated me to the Jaclyn Hill X Morphe Eye Master Collection which I've lusted over for years, and he got me the beautiful Anastasia Eyeshadow Vault which contains the Soft Glam and the Modern Renaissance Palettes, and honestly the vault is stunning, the pictures just dont do it justice!

Michael really did spoil me... last year he got me the Harry Potter Hogwarts Great Hall Lego Set which I had no idea I was getting but once I completed it I got a little bit Lego obsessed so Mike got me the Harry Potter Clock Tower Lego Set this year! I couldn't believe it, apparently it joins onto/goes with the Great Hall too, I'm currently half way through and I've caught the Lego bug again, it's so addictive! Mike also got me the most precious Harry Potter music box which you wind up yourself and it plays the iconic Harry Potter theme song, I LOVE this so much and haven't stopped winding it up since I got it!

Another gift from my parents was this massive Yankee Candle Set, you'll probably already know I'm a crazy candle lady so this is the perfect gift for me, it's crammed full of different sized festive Yankee Candles which are always my favourite scents, I cant wait to get burning!

My secret Santa at work got me some Lush bit's which I really appreciate as I haven't had any festive Lush bits this year - mainly because of how pricey Lush is these days - so it was such a nice treat to get those! And finally how beautiful is my new Pandora ring, I LOVE IT!!!

So that's all of my gorgeous gifts I received this year beaut's! Me and Mike also received some tins of biscuits which I think will last us a lifetime ha ha and we received some money and vouchers to share between us so I think a shopping trip will be in order very soon!

What did you get for Christmas beaut's?? Leave me your links below as I'd love to see.

Yankee Candle Alpine Christmas Collection!

 Hey beauts!

Christmas is now within touching distance and one brand that I just couldn't be without at this time of the year is Yankee Candle. Not only do I buy their candles as gifts but I have to stock up on their festive scents for myself, Christmas just isn't Christmas without a Yankee Candle or two burning around the house!

This year Yankee Candle brought out their Alpine Collection which features 6 brand new scents - After Sledding, Alpine Mint, Alpine Morning, Evergreen Mist and finally the two scents I have are Pomegranate Gin Fizz and Candlelit Cabin. I'm absolutely obsessed with Pomegranate Gin Fizz already, it contains notes of Cranberry, Sparkling Pomegranate, Fresh Lime and Festive Orange, this one is fruity yet festive as it smells like the perfect Christmas tipple! Candlelit Cabin has notes of rustic pine and warm spices, this is more of a fresh festive scent, imagine walking outside of a frosty morning through Christmas tree's, yup it's lush and definitely a more traditional alpine scent! 

Yankee Candle also have the option to personalise your large jars now which I think us amazing, you simply choose your favourite scent then you can upload a photo, or choose from Yankee Candles edits and you can also add your own personal message! I think this is such a lovely idea and makes a cute keep-sake to anyone your gifting it too, the personalised large jars are usually £24.99 but at the moment if you use the code PD20 you can get your personalised candle for £20.00! 

This collection is perfect for creating that cosy, festive atmosphere throughout your home and as always I found that the scent throw of both of these candles amazing, they both fill the entire house with their scent very quickly and still linger when they have been blown out which is always a bonus! As always the Yankee Candle large jars have a burn time of between 110 – 150 hours, so you get plenty of  use out of them!

You can find all of the Christmas Yankee Candles HERE.

*This post contains gifted items from Yankee Candle, all opinions are my own!

Soap & Glory Christmas Gifts 2019

Hey beaut's!

Soap & Glory always sleighhhh when it comes to Christmas gifts, and lets face it - Christmas just isn't Christmas without some Soap & Glory under the tree! This year theres everything from bath and body sets that range from big to small in all of the popular Soap and Glory scents, theres skincare sets containing the amazing Soap and Glory face masks, makeup gifts and mega cute stocking fillers and beauty baubles! Prices range from £5.00 all the way up to £60.00 for the huge set that Soap and Glory do every year, theres such a good variety this year!

Soap & Glory have two tin style gift sets to pick from this year which are just £10.00 each making them amazing budget gifts or secret Santa's for your work budget, the Original Pink Collection (which is an absolute classic S&G scent) contains four travel sized favourites - Clean On Me, Hand Food, Scrub Of Your Life and The Righteous Butter, theres also a Bright + Beautiful Sheet Mask which I think is such a nice addiction!

A fab set to buy someone who's maybe new to Soap & Glory is their Holiday Heroes Gift Set, it contains 6 products which really show off what S&G have to offer from bath and body, to hair and even skincare! Theres 5 travel sized products within this set including Clean On Me, Hand Food, The Righteous Butter, a 3-in-1 Daily Vitamin C Facial Wash and a Rushower Scent-sational Dry Shampoo, and they've included a pack of the Puffy Eye Attack Under-eye Brightening Hydrogel Patches, now you can probably see why I said it would be perfect for a S&G newbie! I also love that everything comes in a little travel bag which can be re-used over and over. I've actually already bought one of these sets for someone for Christmas as I think it's the perfect prezzie and for £12.50 you cant go wrong! 

If your looking more for stocking fillers then Soap & Glory have quite a lot of choice this year but my favourite has to be the 'A Christmas Quacker' bath bomb! This super-size fizz-a-ball bath fizzer has the most amazing festive fragrance which fills your bathroom with the scent of Christmas, and once the bomb dissolves it reveals a hidden floating duck soap inside, how amazing is that!!

Something very exciting for Soap & Glory's Christmas collection this year is that they collaborated with Wonder Woman on some of their gift sets which let's face it - is pretty epic! Their 'Wonderful Face' Palette (£12.50) is just one of the amazing gifts that's on offer ( I need the brush set in my life asap though), the palette opens up to reveal four eye shadows, two blushers, one bronzer and a highlighter, you will be gorgeous and glowy all festive season long!

Do you have your eye on anything from Soap and Glory's Christmas collection beaut's? Or are you gifting anyone any of these prezzies? I'd love to know!



*This post contains gifted items from Soap & Glory, all opinions are my own!

Zoella Lifestyle Christmas Collection 2019 Revealed!

Hey beaut's!


It's that time of the year again.... Yup, dare I say it....Christmas is just a mere few months away and I for one am totally excited, I absolutely adore Autumn/Winter and Christmas and love seeing all the pretty gifts in the shops, so when I was browsing the Boot's website the other day and came across Zoella's new and final lifestyle collection I got rather excited and had to share them with you all today! I'm not actually sure if this is the entire Zoella Lifestyle collection as it seems smaller than the collection last year but as this is her last collection maybe she's held back a bit, who knows??

The theme of the lifestyle collection looks very pretty, I love the dark blue, gold and baby pink colour way Zoe has gone for this year! As far as the gifts go it looks quite similar to last year but obviously ever things been tweaked slightly, the mug is back but it's on it's own this year, it would seem they've dropped the two caramel hot chocolate sachets that came with last years mug! I actually have the very first 'Cosy Vibes' mug Zoe released a few years back and it's still going strong so the quality of the mugs are good and I would recommend! The trio lunch box set is back this year in a new colour way, the Hot Chocolate candle is back too but with updating packaging! The fluffy slippers are grey this year which I love the look of,  and the bobble hat and travel mug gift set looks so nice too. And if your obsessed with planners like I am then your probably going to need the planner is this collection too.

The prices of the collection this year start from £6.00 up to £18.00 but like I said before I'm not sure if this is the entire collection yet or not as it's still quite early! But 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 every year!

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!

Soap & Glory's 2018 STAR GIFT - Bubble Act!

Hey beaut's!

Soap & Glory always sleigh (see what I did there) when it comes to Christmas gifts, this year theres everything from big and small bath and body gifts to gorgeous makeup gift sets but the one thing I always get excited about is the Soap & Glory Star Gift, I mean it just isn't Christmas without a Soap & Glory Star Gift crammed full of products on the shelves is it, and this years offering could be the best yet in my opinion!

The Bubble Act Star Gift* is literally jam-packed with 12 Soap & Glory favourites, theres everything from face, bath, body and makeup and what I think is so amazing about this years star gift is that everything is full size, theres no mini's or travel sizes in sight which makes this such good value for money. The packaging is so fab this year too, the products all come inside a limited edition festive gift tin which was designed by the multi-talented graphic designer, art director and illustrator Zuki Turner! I'm definitely going to be keeping my tin for storage purposes that's for sure. Whats so amazing about this years star gift is the epic price point, it's just £30.00 and your getting £80.00 worth of products inside, that such an epic deal and amazing value.

  Inside the Bubble Act tin you will find -

* The Righteous Butter Body Butter.

* Clean on Me Shower Gel. 

 * The Scrub of Your Life Body Scrub.

* Hand Food Hydrating Hand Cream.

* Fizz-a-Ball Original Pink Bath Bomb.

* Original Pink Body Spray.

* Melty Talented Dry Skin Balm.

* Peaches And Clean Deep Cleansing Milk.

* Bright & Beautiful Radiance-Boosting Mask.

The Rushower Dry Shampoo.

* Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss in Bare Enough

* Thick & Fast HD Mascara.

The Soap & Glory Bubble Act Star Gift is available NOW in store and online at Boots for £30.00 HERE! As I said before this is such a steal and the best bargain I think I've seen so far this Christmas, I think it would make the most amazing present for a Soap & Glory fan as it would stock them right up or for someone who is maybe new to Soap & Glory as theres just so much to try out! If I was you I'd act fast if your interested in this set as I can see it literally flying off the shelves!

Pixi Best Of Bright Kit Reviewed!

Hey beaut's!

Over the past year or so I've really got into Pixi as a brand and their skincare has gone down an absolute treat with me so far however.... theres still a few Pixi skincare goodies I've be longing to try and their Best Of Bright Kit is not only a great way to try out more products without committing to the full size but also it would make the most amazing Christmas present! 

Pixi's Best Of Bright Kit* contains three of Pixi’s best-loved ‘Glow’ products, and I mean who doesn't love glowing skin, I know I do! Staring is this set is the Pixi Glow Mud Cleanser (15ml), the cult classic Glow Tonic (30ml) and the Pixi Glow Mud Mask (15ml), all of which are discovery-sized!

This sets aim is to reveal your best skin in three easy steps by cleansing, exfoliating and treating so lets start with cleansing and the Glow Mud Cleanser, this little beauty contains clay and glycolic to remove dead skin cells, detoxify pores and to draw out impurities to reveal radiant and brighter skin. Then theres the ridiculously popular Glow Tonic, this stuff has been raved about for years and I have no idea why I've waiting so long to try it, containing glycolic acid it gently exfoliates the skin removing dead skin cells and leaves the skin instantly looking brighter! The set is then made complete by the Glow Mud Mask, this is a 15-minute facial in a tube and I love it, it's the perfect way to restore luminosity to lacklustre or winter-ravaged skin and works wonders on congested, dull looking skin. 

This trio together really does make my skin look and feel amazing, I cant stress enough how much brighter, fresher and healthier my skin now looks after finishing all three of these deluxe samples, and I've already got a full size bottle of the Glow Tonic on the go, it lush stuff!

If your after a  ‘party season’ treat to yourself or if your looking for a Christmas gift for a skincare or beauty lover then I really cant recommend the Pixi Best Of Bright Kit enough, I think all ages can benefit from this set too so it really is a versatile gift!

You can find the Pixi Best Of Bright Kit for £20.00 HERE.

ADEXE Freerunner Petite Berries Watch!

Hey beaut's!

I absolutely love ADEXE watches, I have one of their Sistine rose gold watches which has practically lived on my wrist ever since I got it but recently ADEXE have launched some brand new styles and colour ways and they look drop dead gorgeous - just in time for Christmas too! 

This time around I opted for the Freerunner Petite Berries Watch* and isn't she the cutest, this particular style caught my eye because not only does it look elegant  because of its petite style but I love the berry coloured face, it gives me such autumnal/winter vibes and the rose gold strap and accents are just everything in my opinion! The watch itself is has a hand-made mesh band with an easily adjustable open spring bar so you can get the perfect fit for you, I love this because theres nothing worse than having to get links taken out or punching extra holes in a strap is there! The watch face is made out of  hand-polished  stainless steel is well proportioned, it's also quite lightweight but still robust and well made, and the numbers are clear and easy to read. The watch also comes with a 2-3 year battery life which I think is pretty epic and activates once you take a tiny stopper out of the mechanism which adjusts the time so you get the most battery life out of your watch as possible! All of the ADEXE watches come with a pair of pre-set extra straps in black or brown too which I think is such a nice added bonus!

Overall I'm so in love with my new ADEXE baby...I mean watch! It looks stunning, it feels so well made and luxurious, it's comfortable and more importantly it keeps me on time for work (lol), it also looks super cute in the background of Instagram pictures - oh it's all about the gram isn't it he he. Seriously though if your looking for a new watch or want to gift someone a watch this Christmas I cant recommend ADEXE enough, they have some seriously stunning pieces on their website and even the men's watches are pretty fit!

You can find the ADEXE Freerunner Petite Berries Watch for £109.00 HERE, theres also some other colour variations of this same style of watch too. You can also grab yourself 15% discount off of the ADEXE website with my code HAYSPARKLE15, happy Christmas shopping beaut's! 

Red Carpet Manicure 2018 Holiday Collection

 Hey beaut's!

When it comes to nails Red Carpet Manicure are where the parties attttt... They have so many shades and finishes to choose from and you always know your going to get a good quality, long lasting manicure from their gel polishes. Recently Red Carpet Manicure launched their 2018 Holiday Collection 'An Enchanted Affair' and I've been road testing six shades from the collection and have quickly fallen in love!

The Red Carpet Manicure 'An Enchanted Affair' Collection consists of lots of fabulously festive shades that will have you covered this party season. The first shade we have is....

 Elegance Is Everything - This is a silver pearl shade that really sparkles and shines under the light, I like using this one as an accent shade instead of all over my nails.

Gifted In Glitz - This one a warm gold shimmer shade with plenty of minute gold glitters suspended within it which really twinkle, this is such a festive shade!

Martinis & Mistletoe - This shade is basically like your wearing your Christmas tree on your nails, it's your classic Christmas green with a pearl sheen to it.

Lavish & Luxurious - This shade is right up my street and one you could get away with wearing all year round if I'm honest, it's a dark dusty mauve creme which I've been obsessed with ever since I got it, this one might be my favourite!

Gowning Achievement - Another favourite of mine, this is a rich burgundy creme which has raspberry tones going through it, again this one looks amazing with the gold or the silver pearl shades as accent nails!

Just Call Me Sugarplum - This is a straight up aubergine purple with a pearl sheen to it, this one really reminds me of statement party nails and I would definitely rock this shade with Gifted In Glitz as my accent shade for any Christmas parties!

The formula of these polishes is beautiful and I really enjoyed playing around with them, because they are proper gel colours they do need curing under an LED lamp otherwise they wont dry but all you need to do is simply pop a base coat on then cure, then pop two thin coats of your chosen shade on and cure again for 2 minutes between each coat, then follow with a top coat and cure again. This literally gives you fully opaque nails that are streak free, super glossy and hard wearing and I swear your nails look like you've had a professional 'pricey' manicure at the salon when in reality you've sat at home in your PJ's watching Netflix he he! Overall I'm loving this collection, in terms of the formulation these polishes are literally incredible and they last so long too, mine where on for a week and a half before I had some general wear and tear, how amazing is that!

You can find the Red Carpet Manicure Holiday Collection Gel Polishes HERE for £12.95 each.

Christmas Gift Guide | Makeup Edition 2018

Hey beaut's!

Christmas is creeping ever closer, it's just 44 days away in fact, wow that's reminded me I need to do some more Christmas shopping pronto! Anyway I thought I'd do my annual Christmas gift guide of some of my favourite makeup gift sets that have been launched this year, I've done this over the last couple of years and love it because I can just sit and go through all the websites and see what some of my favourite makeup brands have to offer this year! I must admit this post is mainly focused on luxury 'under the tree' gifts but I've also thrown in a couple lower priced options too so hopefully theres a good mixture!

Too Faced A Year Of Great Sex £55.00
Benefit 'Pretty Pop' Makeup Cracker Gift Set £15.00
NYX Whipped Wonderland Soft Matte Metallic Lip Cream Vault £30.00
I Heart Revolution Chocolate Heart £30.00
Smashbox  'Holidaze Photo Finish' Travel Size Primer Trio Set £30.00
Stila All Eyes On You Liquid Eye Shadow Vault £195.00
Huda Beauty The New Nude Eye Shadow Palette £56.00
Minnie Polka Dot Pouch with Brush Set £44.99
Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pen Trio £12.50
Beauty Blender Blender's Delight £34.00

Will any of these makeup gifts be on your Christmas list this year beaut's? I'd love to know. I really want that Huda Beauty Palette and that Beauty Blender Set!

Christmas Beauty Baubles 2018

Hey beaut's!

Their are sooooo many beauty baubles out this Christmas, brands have seriously upped their game and I'm loving them all so I just had to share a few of my favourites with you all today. Personally I think beauty baubles work amazingly well as stocking fillers or for secret Santa's, their all super festive because of their bauble design, reasonably priced and still great little gifts at the same time that most beauty lovers would enjoy. My favourites out of all the baubles that I've featured in this post would have to be the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Champagne Pop Mini Highlighter, this is such a popular highlighter and the fact it comes in bauble form this year is pretty epic! I also love that Urban Decay have jumped on the bauble bandwagon with their all nighter setting spray and Benefit have launched LOADS of baubles this year featuring most of their cult classics like the Hoola Bronzer, their mascara's and even some of their blushes! I also love to little Real Techniques baubles, their so cute and super affordable at just £6.00 each!

Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara £10.00

Urban Decay -'All Nighter' Makeup Setting Spray £10.00

Burt's Bees Mistletoe Kiss Gift Set £9.99

Emma Hardie Merrily Moringa Treatment £10.00

benefit Badgal Bang Mini Stocking Stuffer £10.50

By Terry Baume De Rose Tree Decoration £20.00

Real Techniques 2 Mini Miracle Sponges £6.00

Real Techniques Mini Buffing Brush Ornament £6.00

Jo Malone London Christmas Ornament £22.00

BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector Champagne Pop Mini Ornament £16.00

 DIPTYQUE Surprise Pocket Do Son & Tuberose £38.00

Will you be gifting any of these baubles this year beaut's? Which one is your favourite? I'd love to know!

This post contains affiliate links.