Valentines with Crabtree & Evelyn - Hand Therapy Review

Hey beaut's!

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner (yikes) and with that Crabtree & Evelyn have not only got lots of gorgeous beauty bits and pieces to choose from that would be perfect for Valentines Day (and Mother's Day actually) but.... they have also just launched some NEW Limited Edition Rose and White Chocolate Biscuits - yum, I mean who can say no to beauty and biscuits, its the perfect combo he he!

I've been giving three of the Crabtree & Evelyn Ultra- Moisturising Hand Therapy Hand Creams a whirl recently and have really been enjoying them - which is really saying something because I'm really fussy when it comes to hand cream, not only do they have to smell nice but they have to deeply moisturise my hands too and not leave my skin feeling super greasy and these three tick all the boxes for me. Each hand cream is formulated with a nourishing blend of macadamia nut oil and Shea butter which together create such a soothing, moisturising hand cream that doesn't leave my hands sticky or greasy and the scents you can choose from are endless. I have Rosewater* which smells just like pink roses, Pear and Pink Magnolia* which is super fresh, it's juicy because of the pear and delicately floral because of the pink magnolia and lastly Evelyn Rose* which again smells just like fresh pink roses but also has a slight peach twist. All smell so pretty and feminine and the scent actually lasts hours on my hands, just like I've sprayed perfume on them. All of the 25g hand creams are £6.00 each but larger sizes are available too if you really want to splash out.

The Crabtree & Evelyn Limited Edition Rose and White Chocolate Biscuits* (£5.00) make me very happy he he, I'm such a foodie with a large sweet tooth so as you can imagine these didn't  last very long. These all butter 'shortbread style' biscuits are made with elegant crystallised rose petals and delicious pieces of white chocolate, their so tasty and would be a hit with anyone with a sweet tooth.

Have you tried any of the Crabtree & Evelyn Hand Creams beaut's? I'd love to know your thoughts?

Jammie Dodger Cupcake Recipe

Hey beaut's!

I love a good ole Jammie Dodger, I mean who doesn't, and recently I had the baking bug and really wanted to make some cupcakes, and with Valentines also on the way I wanted to do something that would be quite good but not too in your face or lover dovey so the Jammie Dodger cupcakes seemed perfect. These cupcakes are literally filled with raspberry jam goodness, they start with a mini Jammie Dodger at the bottom of the cupcake case, then the vanilla sponge has raspberry jam rippled through it, theres a squirt of jam in the middle of the cupcakes too and then their finished off with a vanilla butter cream which again has been rippled through with the jam, mmmm amazing! 

What You Will Need For The Cupcakes

 125g self raising flour

125g caster sugar

125g unsalted butter

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp whole milk

12 mini Jammie Dodgers

Seedless Raspberry Jam

What You Will Need For The Butter cream/Decoration

150g unsalted butter 

340g icing sugar

2-3 tbsp milk

12 mini Jammie Dodgers

Seedless Raspberry Jam

How To - Cupcakes

1. Firstly pre-heat your oven to gas mark 4 and line a muffin tin with your cupcake cases popping one mini Jammie Dodger in the bottom of each cupcake case as you go.

2. Then in a large mixing bowl, throw in all of your cupcake ingredients apart from the milk and the jam and whizz together with an electric whizzer for about a minute or until your cupcake mixture is lovely and smooth.

3. Depending on how thick your mixture is you may need to add some milk just to loosen it up slightly, I added one tablespoon to mine which I found made the perfect consistency but you may want to add more, less or none to yours, it's totally down to what you think.

4. Next take 2 heaped table spoons of your jam and pop it in the microwave for 10-20 seconds to loosen up, then every time you fill your cupcake cases with your batter drizzle/ripple some of the jam through the mixture in the bowl before hand, you don't want to whack all the jam in and mix through you just want a ripple effect.

5. Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes or until the top of your cupcakes are springy to the touch.

How To - Butter cream/Filling/Decoration

1. Once the cupcakes are completely cool it's time for the fun part, frosting, filling and decorating. In a large bowl, beat the unsalted butter with your electric whizzer until it goes pale in colour and is a soft, whipped consistency. Then gradually add in your icing sugar and whizz again for another 3-4 mins, trust me beaut's the longer you beat your butter cream mixture the nicer it will be so just persevere.

2. Once your butter cream is ready just set it aside for a few minutes because now want to put a squirt of that yummy raspberry jam inside the cupcakes, just like before grab a few heaped tablespoons of jam and loosen it in the microwave, then pop some into a piping bag. Make a small hole in the centre of each cupcake and squirt in some of that yummy jam.

3. To get the rippled effect in your butter cream, grab another piping bag and some left over jam and with the back of a spoon literally wipe the inside of the piping bag with jam, then fill the jammy piping bag with the vanilla butter cream and frost however you like.

4. Finally finish you cupcakes with 12 more mini Jammie Dodgers and voila!!! 

Even though theres a few more steps than usual to make these cupcakes their totally worth it and taste so good even if I do say so myself, if your a fan of Jammie Dodgers or just jam in general then your going to love these.

Mini Valentines Lush Haul

Hey beaut's!

It's no secret that I'm a bit of a Lush addict, so when I saw their Valentines collection pop up of their website I just couldn't resist and ended up treating myself to a couple of bits!

Firstly I picked up the Cupid Bath Bomb (£2.95), this is brand new to Lush this year and isn't it cute, I love the pink love heart-arrow design, it definitely captures the Valentines theme that's for sure. As this is new I had no idea what to expect from it smell but it's actually divine, its full of uplifting bergamot, rose and violet leaf absolute making it very floral but it also has a subtle sweetness running through it too to balance things out, I love it!

Another newbie to the Lush Valentines collection this year is the Lovestruck Bubble Bar (£4.25), can we all just take a second to appreciate the emoji vibes he he, what a cutie! Lovestruck will add a bright yellow citrus burst to your bath because it smells just like a super sour lemon, kind of like a sour lemon sweet actually. I think this one will be great if you like a morning bath as the lemon really is quite refreshing and will perk you up for sure.

Yayyy one of my favourites is back - the ever so popular Unicorn Horn Bubble Bar (£4.25). The Unicorn Horn is super pretty with it's colourful, bright stripes that have been merged together to create the shape of a magical Unicorns Horn, its also covered in a delicate silver lustre which just adds to the magical effect! If you really want to relax and unwind before bed then the Unicorn Horn is perfect because it contains lavender oil and neroli oil which both take away the tension for a better nights sleep, I love this one and I'm so glad Lush brought it back for another year!

Finally I picked up the Lover Lamp Bath Bomb (£4.25). I literally can not wait to use this one, it smells of sweet vanilla and the three red love hearts around the bath bomb are actually organic cocoa butter bath melts which will really nourish and moisturise the skin, apparently the bath bomb bursts out red love heart confetti too, how cute!

Have you bought any of the Lush Valentines Collection yet beaut's? Whats your favourite? I'd love to know!