The Skinny Bakery Review! Tasty Treats That Keep Your Waistline Happy!

Hey beaut's!

If you've read my blog for a while now you will probably know by my endless baking recipes that I have a super sweet tooth, the only problem with having a sweet tooth is that you crave everything naughty and it's never good for the ole waistline! However I was recently introduced to The Skinny Bakery and instantly I feel like all my sweet-toothed prayers have been answered... cakes, biscuits, gingerbread men.... all lower in calories...yup I'll have a lorry load please he he!

The Skinny Bakery was founded in 2013 by passionate home baker Mariella Forte! The Bakery sells guilt free, handmade treats which contain alternative healthier ingredients such as beetroot and sweet potato too quark and tofu making them a 'not so naughty treat' and they typically only contain 30-40 calories per piece! Theres so many yummy treats to choose from too, theres brownies, flapjacks, biscuits, meringue cookies and mini cake bites in so many flavours, they call the mini cake bites 'pearls' which is so cute. All of the baked treats come packaged really well, the biscuits come in little clear bags and the pearls come in grab and go style packs perfect for at home grazing or if you on the go their not too bulky and fit into your picnic basket perfectly!

The treats I received where...
Skinny Mini Gingerbread Men* £2.99 - These are the cutest little gingerbread men, you get three in a packet - each one contains just 36 calories! Their super tasty with a real ginger kick and a nice amount of sweetness, their also a dairy-free!

Skinny Choc Orange Cookies* £2.99 -  These are basically like a Terry's chocolate orange but in biscuit form, you get five little cookies in the bag and again they are a dairy-free recipe!

Skinny Chocolate Pearls* £2.99 - A pack of five little chocolate sponges filled with a tofu-chocolate frosting, these are so moist and tasty in fact I found all of the pearls super moist and are 42 calories each. Don't forget to store these beauties in the fridge though!

Skinny Beetroot Pearls* £2.99 - A pack of beetroot sponges pipped and filled with a quark based low fat cream cheese frosting.

Double Chocolate Meringue Cookies* 2.99 - A pack of six chocolate cookies made with egg whites and dairy-free chocolate. Just like meringue's they are crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside, yum yum yum!

Skinny Carrot Cake Pearls* £2.99 - A pack of five carrot cake sponges made with real carrots and piped with a quark based low fat cream cheese frosting and are only 39 calories each, what's not to love.

You can shop the skinny bakery by either buying anything you fancy separately or theres some really good multi-buy deals that are pic'n'mix style and such good value. Theres also vegan and dairy-free options on the website too. If your looking for a sweet treat that isn't too naughty them I cant recommend these enough, they where all tasty, super fresh, not dry or hard and kept perfectly in the fridge for 7 days! I think my favourites would have to be the gingerbread men and the chocolate pearls, I'm a sucker anything chocolate-y and the gingerbread men just make me think of all things Christmas and Autumn he he!

You can shop The Skinny Bakery HERE.

Healthy-ish Blueberry Muffins Recipe

Hey beaut's!

I've been in the kitchen baking up a storm again... If you read my blogmas posts back in December you might remember I shared quite a few recipes, their was so many fun things I could bake over the festive season and I think it's fair to say my household seriously indulged. Now it's a new year and we are all trying to eat that bit healthier so I thought I'd give heathly-ish blueberry muffins a whirl. These turned out seriously tasty even if I do say so myself so I thought I'd share the recipe with you all today.

What You Will Need
2 cups wholemeal flour
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup fat free greek yogurt
1/2 cup of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup coconut oil melted
1 cup blueberries

How To
1. Preheat your oven to Gas Mark 5 and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper cases and then set aside.
2. In a large bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients, so the flours, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, and cinnamon and set aside.
3. In another bowl whisk together all of the wet ingredients, so the yogurt, milk, vanilla, eggs, honey, and oil.
4. Gently fold the wet mixture into the dry flour mixture until everything is well combined and all of the flour has disappeared then fold in your blueberries.
5. Divide the batter evenly in the paper cases then place in the oven and bake for 18 minutes, reducing the heat to Gas Mark 4 after about 10 minutes of baking.
6. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes before carefully transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely and voila.... Yummy muffins that aren't as bad for you as having a big lump of cake or a cupcake covered in icing but still gets rid of that sweet craving you might be having.

Overall I'm so pleased with how these muffins turned out, this was the first time of me giving these a go and if there was one thing I'd change when I make them next time is to fill the paper cases up with more mixture to make them bigger, as I did have a little mixture left! Their lovely and sweet and the coconut oil makes them moist and tasty, their the perfect snack when your craving something sweet or for breakfast with some yogurt on the side.

Have you been baking healthier this year beaut's? I'd love to know!

Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream in Light | Review

Hey girlie's!!!

I recently picked up my very first BB Cream, I must admit I picked it up on a complete whim as I had purchased a Maybelline Mascara and there was a buy one get on half price offer on which obviously I couldn't refuse, so as I could get a BB Cream for £3.99 I thought I may as well finally give it a go. I've been using the Maybelline BB Cream for around 3 weeks now and I have to say I absolutely love it, its become a must in my foundation/base routine and its made such a difference in how fresh/dewy my skin looks and feels.

Maybelline's Dream Fresh BB Cream claims that its thin, gel based formula enhances the skin with its 8 benefits in 1, which are...

♥ Creates a natural glow.

♥ Compliments the skin tone.

♥ SPF30 UV protection.

♥ Hydrates all day.

♥ Blurs imperfections

♥ Oil free and non greasy.

♥ Looks visibly smooth

♥ Feels fresh.

I have to say I completely agree with all 8 claims. It matches my skin tone a treat, leaves my skin feeling soft and glowy, its a light coverage BB Cream so only blurs imperfections slightly so I still add a small amount of concealer on a couple of blemishes I have, it never clings to dry patches that I'm prone to getting and doesn't make my skin feel oily or greasy at all and I love the fact it has the added SPF 30 making it perfect for the summer time wear or if your on holiday and you want something lightweight with SPF this is perfect.

My favourite way to use the BB Cream at the moment in this dull, cold weather is to use it as a base. I pop a pea sized amount on the back of my hand and use my Real Techniques buffing brush to lightly buff the BB Cream into my skin, and in spring/summer this would actually be enough for me with a small amount of concealer, but as its still cold in the UK I have been getting a slight bit of redness so I've been using half a pump of Rimmels Wake Me Up Foundation buffed over the top and the results are gorgeous, it's not cakey, glowy and healthy looking and lasts all day without a single touch up!!

As you see, the skin on my hand after the BB Cream has been blended looks so much better and so glowing!

The plastic tube packaging is also cute and quite youthful, it has no dispenser or pump though, its one of the squeezable, screw cap jobbie's which I do like, at least you know you can use all the product up and not waste any, I also cut these sort of plastic tubes open when I think I'm finished as there always 2-3 applications left in little secret hiding places within the tube ha ha.

Overall I adore this BB Cream, I honestly never thought I'd really get into BB Creams but after using Maybellines offering I have been pleasantly surprised and some what converted. I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants a fresh, glowy, light feel to the skin, or if your looking for a nice base at this time of year for under your foundation you just have to give this a go, I'm sure you will love it as much as I do.

Have you tried Maybelline's Dream Fresh BB Cream beaut's?? What did you think??

New Year, New Goals!!!

Hey girlie's!!!

Firstly Happy New Year too you beautiful, sparkling bunch!!! I love the start of a new year, it honestly feels like some sort of weight has been lifted to me, I feel anything negative can be left behind and everything can start all fresh and positive. Today I thought I would share with you all some goals I want achieve this year, I'm not calling them resolutions, just things that Id like to conquer and kick butt too ha ha.

Here we goooo....

Push Myself More!

Most of you don't know this but for the past 3 years I have suffered with Labyrinthitis, I don't want to talk about it too much in this post but I'm happy to do a separate post if you'd like to learn more about it, Labyrinthitis also has its fair share of side effects and the one that effects me quite alot is... Anxiety. Anxiety had stopped me doing so many things I've wanted to do in the last 3 years, for instance going on holidays, going to concerts, going on certain trips and even the simplest of things like going into a busy shop can be horrible experience. I do honestly feel like right now my anxiety is the best its ever been, I do still get my bad days but generally its alot better, so instead of being worried or scared this year I'm just going to go for it and push myself that little bit harder to do things that I really want to do, I've had enough of missing out!

Lose Weight/Be More Healthy!

Yes I know this is really predictable but I've been wanting to lose weight for a very long time, I've not been in the right mind set previously but now its the start of a new year and I feel I am. In September 2013 I went on Slimming World for 3 weeks and managed to lose 6lb's but I never kept up with it, however I loved Slimming World's concept so this January I'm going back on it and will succeed!!! I don't want to just lose weight for the appearance factor but I want to lose weight for my health and fitness too.

Blogging

2013 was an amazing one for me in the blogging world. I started my blog on the 17th January 2013 and started posting the odd post here and there and soon fell completely in love with blogging and the blogging community, I never thought my little blog would reach over 50'000 page views, its so overwhelming and exciting!!! Even though I do have a job along side my blogging hobbie I'm still going to go for it in 2014 with my blog. I'm so passionate about Haysparkle.com and the support I've had from all of you lovelies during 2013 means the world to me and it really does inspire me to achieve bigger and better things for Haysparkle.com in 2014. So watch this space girlie's ha ha!!! I've also started to find myself loving photography, I'm really working hard on making the most out of my little camera and I'm hoping the new lighting studio I was kindly gifted for Christmas will help me achieve better, more crisp photo's for my reviews in 2014... whoop!

And there you have it, the 3 goals that I have set myself to achieve throughout 2014!!!

Have you set yourself any goals or resolutions this year beaut's??? Let me know in the comments below, Id love to know he he!!!

Have a smashing, sparkling New Year girlie's and thank you again for all your support!!!

Don't forget I'm currently holding a Nanshy Eye Brush Set GIVEAWAY, you can enter here.