"This is Halloween." | Feeling Spooky?

I love Halloween. But only this year have I realised just how much I love this holiday.

Everywhere becomes Halloween themed and people go to great lengths to decorate everything spookily. Shops start selling Halloween themed food. I got especially excited about the 'Cadbury Mini Animals' biscuits because they become 'Halloweenies' and the biscuits change into the form of ghosts, bats and spiders etc. The drinks, specifically in Starbucks, become themed. I recently tried the pumpkin spice latte (without coffee, I'm not a coffee lover) and I would recommend it to anyone, it's so good! The only sad thing is that they're all novelties and they only last a couple of weeks then it's a whole year of waiting for their return. One of my favourite things though is the costumes and makeup. I love looking at people's costume ideas and how they've interpreted them, especially when they think about the small details in their outfit which really finish it off.

But even though I have just said how much I do love this holiday, I feel ashamed to say I had never carved a pumpkin until a few days ago.
 I'll just let that sink in.
I don't quite know why I had never carved one before seen as though it's a tradition on Halloween, and I usually get into the spirit of things by dressing up and decorating the house. But when I did carve mine I have to admit it didn't go as well as it could have done. So I've thought up a few tips so you don't make the same mistakes that I did if you are carving pumpkins.

Jack O'Lantern Tips!

>When making the lid of the pumpkin, place the knife at a 45 degree angle so the knife is pointing towards the centre of the pumpkin. This will prevent the lid falling through when you put it back on.

>Draw your design onto the font of the pumpkin with a pen that can be wiped away, like a drywipe marker. Any mistakes made can be easily corrected and at the end you can wipe off any lines that you might have missed. I used a permanent marker and some of the ink is still visible so it doesn't look as good.

>Carve with small, slow movements. I went too quickly and sliced the pupil in the right eye off and I also cut from the right eye (again!) into the corner of the mouth.

>If you cut off a piece of the pumpkin that you didn't want cutting off, take a toothpick and join the piece back onto the pumpkin by pushing the toothpick through them both.


I was feeling particularly Halloweeny that night so me and Anna also made spooky buns.

We followed a standard 12 bun recipe and decorated them using green and white icing and Halloween decorations with red food colouring as blood. Which we thought was a good idea at the time because it did look very effctive, but only in the looks area. It tasted so bad! Next time I'm definitely going to buy fake edible blood because the taste of them means just as much to me as the appearance.

Hope you have a good Halloween! 

September Favourites! | 2013

Some might say the 9th is too late in the month to do a monthly favourites, but better late than never eh?

That has been my excuse for everything lately I need to stop.

Anyway, so I tried out a few new products during September and I thought they deserved a mention because I have really enjoyed using them.

Firstly I have really liked using the Original Source shower gel in Lime.
This was a last resort buy because I needed a shower gel for Belgium and there were no others which I liked or that were quite cheap. I don't usually like zesty smells in shower products or in general so I tend to avoid lemon, orange and lime scents. I never expected to like this shower gel as much as I did, it's really refreshing so I like using it on a morning to wake me up. I feel like I can now branch out with shower products, I might finally try the Soap and Glory Sugar Crush body wash.

This next one is quite well known and won't be anything new to most people, however it is new for me, it's the Liz Earl Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser.
I was on the search for a new cleanser and I've been wanting to give this one a go for months, and it has definitely met the expectation I had for it. It takes my my makeup off really easily and helps to balance out the oils in my skin. It also isn't too harsh which I really like because sometimes my skin can get a little sensitive.

Next is the Sleek blush in the colour Rose Gold.
This wasn't a recent purchase, in fact it has been sat in my drawer for weeks but I decided I should start using it. It's a really pretty coral colour with a shimmer running through it and I find that I don't need to use a highlighter when I wear it because it has a beautiful shine by itself. It slightly reminds me of the Nars blushes, so this kind of like a cheaper alternative.

This was quite a late favourite in September but I had to include it, it's the Essie nail polish in Wicked.
I absolutely love this nail polish, under different lights it changes from deep red to black, which I particularly like because it isn't as harsh on the nails as a jet black nail polish but it's still quite dark. I think it's a perfect colour for the Autumn/Winter months.

And finally I have been loving the Jane Iredale Crease brush.
I hadn't heard of this brand before, but I went into my local apothecary and they had a small Jane Iredale stand filled with makeup and brushes. I immediately got drawn to the brushes because I am in need of a few and I noticed the crease brush. Its made from natural hair, so its super soft and isn't scratchy at all. I also like the shape of it, it's quite fluffy and has a pointed end, it blends my eyeshadow really well.