Life ¦ Peanut butter and Nutella mug cake

 

 

 

I love a good mug cake, in actual fact I've been a little bit obsessed with them at the moment and after receiving a mug cake recipe book for Christmas my obsession has only intensified. I mean who doesn't love a single serve cake you can make in like 5 minutes. Today I thought I would share with you one of my favourite mug cake recipes. I've been making this both with and without the peanut butter so if you aren't a fan of nuts just miss it out. So without further ado lets get on with the recipe.

 

Ingredients -

 

4 TBSP Self raising flour

2 TBSP Sugar

1 Egg

2 TBSP Milk

1 1/2 TBSP Oil

3 TBSP Nutella

1 TBSP Peanut butter (Optional)  

 

 

Method -

 

1. Put all the dry ingredients into the mug and mix together.

2. Add in the egg, milk and oil and whisk together.

3. Add the Nutella and peanut butter if you are using it and whisk until they are evenly distributed through the mix and there are no lumps.

4. Microwave for 30 second bursts until you are happy with the consistency. If you like it a little more gooey it needs around 90 seconds and if you prefer it like the consistency of a normal cake it will need around 120 seconds.

 

 



Life ¦ Mothers day gifts from Cheerz

I know I'm a little late on this post however I don't seem to have stopped in the past couple of weeks and my life only seems to be getting busier. However I definitely wanted to share these gorgeous personalised gifts from Cheerz with you. The cut off date to get these ordered by is actually the 28th of February so I would highly suggest if you want them you get on and order them now. If you saw y first post about Cheerz at Christmas time you will know that I was incredibly impressed with the whole service from start to finish so when they asked me if I would like another set of photos I jumped at the chance.

 

For mothers day they are offering 3 specific products, the first is a set of 9 fridge magnets which I didn't bother ordering as our fridge is in a cupboard so we don't actually have anywhere to stick them however they are a super cool idea if your mum loves a good magnet. They are also super fab value at just £7.50 so they are fab for if you are on a tight budget but want something special.

 

Next up we have the Cheerz box* £13 which has this gorgeous themed packaging, I am honestly so in love with the daisy print. Inside the Cheerz box you get 30 prints. You can change the colour of the borders and add text however I decided to leave them blank as I feel like they would look super cute with writing on them rather than printing. As with the last set of prints I had from them they are really great quality however I would say to try and use high quality photos as some that look absolutely fine on my phone come out a little grainy.

 

 

Finally for my favourite thing we have the Photo album* £22. In this you can have 20 photos or ou can opt to have big photos over two pages. I decided to go for a photo per page  as there where lots that I really wanted to include. I was really impressed with this. The pages feel incredibly good quality and the printing on the whole has turned out really well. I must say there are a couple of images that are a little pixilated however that's probably more my fault for picking crappy IPhone pictures.

 

Overall if you are looking for something a little bit special for your mum this mothers day I would highly recommend heading over to Cheerz and having a little browse. Also by using the code COLEHWB you can receive £4 off your order.

 



Life ¦ Cole gets fit, or dies trying #1

 

 

So I joined a gym (that's not a sentence I ever thought I would type I can tell you that) I've been thinking about it for a while now and I mean what better time but the present. Currently I've only been to the actual gym twice however I've been taking full advantage of the fact that all the classes are involved in my membership. I have a new love in spinning thanks to the lovely Sarah from At the beauty desk and I've also started Pilates which so far I'm really enjoying. I think I'm going to be making this into a little series so I can almost track my progress and talk to you guys about what I've been loving but I also want to share some healthy recipes and meals with you and just generally share more healthy lifestyle thinks with you I also hope it's going to stop me sliding off the wagon as I feel like I've committed to it.

 

If you have any of these fitness posts or have any tips for me make sure to leave them in the comments.



Beauty ¦ Mac Viva glam Ariana

Is it possible to be in love with a lipstick as I think I might just love this one. I feel like it is such a me colour. Mac lipstick aren't something I often pick up and my collection consists of a measly five including this one however I read one blog post and I was straight on the Mac website to get it ordered. The finish is meant to be matte which I was a little concerned about however I would definitely say that it was more similar to a satin finish than a matte one. It's incredibly creamy and doesn't dry down in the way that I've heard about Mac's matte finishes doing. Lasting wise I do get the dreaded ring with this shade after about four hours of wear but due to how dark it is I can forgive it. Speaking of the shade it's the most gorgeous dark purple shade. When comparing it to the likes of rebel it is a significant amount darker and it has a lot less pink in it.

 

 

Overall I am so in love with this shades and I would highly recommend it to dark lip lovers!

Cole xo



Beauty ¦ Miss sporty Insta glow collection and mini reviews

 

So today I thought it was about time I shared the new Miss sporty spring/summer releases with you I am honestly so in love with the entire range and I'm super excited to be talking about it.

 

So lets start off with the base products the Insta glow primer £3.49* is a really beautiful pink toned radiant liquid which gives the skin a beautiful light glow without making it look too shiny or disco ball-esque. The shimmer is incredibly fine and doesn't look obvious. In the press release it does mention using it as a highlight which I did try however for my taste (Cheekbones that blind people when the sun them) it was a little too subtle however if you were looking for something very subtle it does look lovely.

 

Moving onto the Insta glow foundation £3.49* first off I need to say that I am incredibly impressed that Miss Sporty have created a foundation that is pale enough for us ghost girls however in terms of darker shades the range lets it down. The formula of this is really lovely the texture is incredibly sticky and on first swatch I wasn't sure whether I would get on with it however I'm actually really impressed once blended all that stickiness is gone and once it's on it sticks around. In terms of finish it's not a glowy foundation like I expected it's that perfect looks like skin foundation. Overall I'm really impressed with this one and at £3.49 you really can't complain.

 



Moving onto the colour in the collection there a two shades of the Insta glow bronzer £2.99* and 4 shades of the Insta glow blush £2.99* . Both bronzers are shimmery but incredibly subtle so as long as you use them with a light hand. The two shades also make really lovely shadow shades as the lighter shade (Sunkissed blonde) has a golden tone to it and the darker shade (Sunkissed brunette) has a really lovely olive tone to it, they aren't something that I'm going to wear on a daily basis as I prefer a bronzer which sits in between gold and olive however I imagine I will really enjoy them in the summer.

 

Moving onto the blush shades I think there is a really nice mix. I find a lot of really budget brands miss out on some staple shades in their collections however I feel like Miss sporty have really nailed these shades. I think my favourite has to be Luminous beige which is very similar to Benefit Rockateur. That being said I have worn all four shades multiple times and really enjoyed them.

 

Finally for this collection there are a couple of new basics products the Studio lash Dark lasher mascara £2.99* is a really lovely budget mascara don't get me wrong it's nothing to shout about from the roof tops however it both lengthens and adds volume so if you are looking for a really budget mascara I would suggest giving this one a go. The Nail expert 3D gel effect top coat £2.29* is a nice top coat however it didn't quite cut it in terms of adding that gel effect I am going to be honest and say I was a little disappointed however I have been wearing actual gels for the past couple of months so to then go back to normal polish perhaps didn't help.

 



From left to right - Sunkissed blonde, Sunkissed brunette, Luminous beige, Flushed pink, Glowing mauve and Shiny coral.

 



From Left to right - Primer, Foundation shades, 001, 002, 003, 004.

 

 

So that's it for today I apologise for the length of this post! If you feel like I've missed anything out of this post that you'd like to know feel free to leave a comment.

 

All these products will be on counter on the 21st of February!

 

Cole xo

Beauty ¦ January Beauty favourites

So it's that time of the month again. I've bought a lot of stuff in the past month and with all of the lovely beauty bits I received for Christmas it was pretty hard to whittle down everything so this post didn't end up ridiculously long!

 

Starting off with something I am a little bit obsessed with, the Makeup geek powder shadows are incredible. I actually popped up a post about all the shades in my palette //here// but they are all incredibly pigmented and an absolute dream to blend. I definitely need to get round to picking up some more shades.

 

I've never tried the Benefit boxed blushes before however I've been using this palette pretty much non-stop this month. My favourites have been Rockateur which I knew I would love as it's just so pretty and Dandelion which was a shade which I didn't expect to love as much as I do as I expected it to be a little non descript however it is the perfect shade for when I wear a lot of eye makeup.

 

If you are a regular reader you know I absolutely love a good dark lip. Revlon Black cherry is something I've worn a lot in the past month. It's one of those gorgeous dark wine shades. It's a shade that every time I've worn someone has said something about how much they like the shade. I really love the formula, glossy isn't what I usually go for in a dark lip however this one doesn't move about at all unlike 99% of glossy dark lipsticks.

 

I am still on the hunt for the perfect foundation and although I haven't found it yet I am super impressed with the Urban decay Naked skin foundation. It feels incredibly lightweight on the skin and leaves the skin super healthy. The one thing I will say however is that I picked up the shade 0.5 which I expected to be light enough however it is still to dark and a little bit to yellow toned. I can still wear it however as long as I make sure it's blended out well. It's definitely not one for the people who like a really full coverage however if you are looking for a low to medium super lightweight foundation this is definitely a nice one.

 

Benefit Gimme brow is always something that I never got around to trying as I was a little cautious that it wasn't going to live up to the hype that surrounds it. However I am so impressed with it. It helps give my brows a lot more volume whilst adding a little bit of colour too. I've been pairing it with the Maybelline brow satin pencil and it is all I have been wearing on my brows.

 

Finally for this months favourites is the Bourjois colour edition 24h in Petale de glace which is what I've been reaching for when I haven't been wearing the makeup geek shadows. It is a really strange texture and once on the lids it is a powder. The shade is a super pretty pinky taupe shade and I feel like not only do I love it now but I also feel like it will make the most perfect super easy throw on shadow for the summer as once it's on the lids it doesn't move at all.

 

 



Blog ¦ 5 things you actually need to start a blog

So today I thought I'd do a bit of a jokey post and talk about 5 things you actually need to start a blog. If you can think of any more leave them in the comments for me to have a giggle at.

 

 

1. The internet -

 

If you are reading this congratulations you are one step closer to writing a blog.

 

2. Something to get on the internet with -

 

Having the internet is all well and good but you need something to access the internet with is also essential it can be a 10 year old Toshiba or a brand new MacBook as long as it works it's good.

 

3. A blog -

 

When starting a blog having a blog is always useful. I personally use Blogger but I know a lot of bloggers also use Wordpress. Something I see a lot is people saying that you should get your own domain straight away however I would always suggest that you enjoy blogging before starting to invest in your blog.

 

4. Something to write about -

 

This ones pretty self explanatory it doesn't matter what you write about as long as you have something to write about.

 

5. Something to take photos with -

 

Again I'm definitely not suggesting that you need a brand new canon DSLR as long as it is something that takes a fairly good picture I always find it doesn't matter what you use as long as you have good lighting. So if you use a phone camera or something like that I'd suggest you take the pictures in a window so there is plenty of good light.