Easy Chocolate CUP-cake :) UPDATED

Recently, on my personal fb I posted pictures of my cake in a mug. Everyone was totally confused and thought it would come out soppy and gross. A very easy ad convenient recipe when you just want something sweet...super fast! Or if you can't bake a cake like me. I am absolutely terrible at baking cakes that were made from scratch, but I'm ace at baking boxed caked mix :D

You can alternate the ingredients (that is, the ones which give it the flavour [almond,vanilla,mint essence] you like):

You will need:

2 tbsp Flour
1 tsp Baking powder (if not using self rising flour)
2 tbsp Sugar
1 tbsp Cocoa powder
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 Egg
1 tbsp Oil/melted butter
1 tbsp Milk
Chocolate Chips/tiny pieces of chocolate (m&ms etc).
A VERY large mug (not normal coffee mug size).



Method:

1. Mix all the dried ingredients together (flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa powder, cinnamon).
2. Mix in the egg until smooth as possible (may still be a bit lumpy).
3. Mix in the oil/MELTED butter until totally smooth.
4. Mix in the essence.
5. Mix in the milk.
6. Mix in whatever chocolate pieces (milk/dark/white/m&m's/dried fruit etc).
7. Make sure it is all mixed smoothly with no lumps and no flour stuck to the bottom of the mug.
8. Pop in the microwave for 2.5 minutes.
9. Remove when done and let cool.
10. Take a fork and make sure the sides of the cake aren't stuck to the cup, which they shouldn't be.
11. Dust some icing sugar on top and VOILA! CUP cake!!
    

In a large mug...This is actually a picture of the coffee cake I made which I'll be posting the recipe off later. The recipe is radically different btw but proven yummy!

Cake in a small coffee mug slightly bigger than regular size (see how it almost doesn't make it?)

This recipe is exceptionally dangerous ;) Cake at the tip of your fingers?! Dangerousssssssssly good :p

It's not eggy AT ALL if you were wondering, and it's the consistency of a pound cake. It's not airy and fluffy but nice and spongey and yummy!!! You're tummy will not be disappointed!

It is simpler than any of the other cake in a mug recipes out there, with less ingredients and it doesn't overflow over the cup (unless you don't listen to the instructions and use a regular sized coffee mug (tisk tisk).

ENJOY AND LET ME KNOW HOW IT WORKED FOR YOU!!! :)

xoxo

Fav Nail Polishes for the past 3 months!

I've been gravitating towards 4 particular nail polishes for the past 2-3 months basically and I STILL love them!!

The first, which is an all-round favourite for me is Orly "Rage", a gorgeous rose gold polish that looks so classy and applies like a dream! $35ttd in Wonderful World, however they don't carry many and they sell quickly!
I absolutely LOVE rose gold polishes and another one I use which is slightly different is MAC's Soiree from the Champale Collection. I don't have a swatch at the ready for "Rage" but It's quite similar to MAC's Soiree which I do have a swatch of in my Champale Haul post. Rage is slightly more pink than Soiree but both give the same FAB look.

My second favourite is Essie's Ballet Slippers. Essie is well known for their large selection of pinks and wonderful pastels. I think they're probably the best at making pastel shades. The only problem I have with Essie is that they're not very opaque so in order for me to get a fully opaque, non-blobby/streaky look I usually have to apply 3 to 4 coats! Downer! But I'm still head over heals for this colour! It's THE PERFECT pink. Not bright and scary, subtle, classy and elegant. It's also suitable for any time of the year!!!

Against neutral background

My 3rd favourite overall is Essie's Sand Tropez. A slightly grey toned nude from their French Affair Collection Spring 2011. It's the perfect nude for me, though they also had another nude in the collection called Topless and Barefoot which was a more pink toned nude. It's a fab nude really and not too brown which most are and look muddy. I love it!!!

Ballet Slippers and Sand Tropez (Neutral Background)

My current favourite that I can see myself wearing a lot over the summer holidays is China Glaze "For Audrey". Originally I was looking for a sky blue to match Hard Candy's "sky" and "for Audrey" looked rather light in the bottle (a bit greener than a sky blue) but I decided to try it. When I got home, I wasn't disappointed that it wasn't even close to a light blue, as it was an eye popping TIFFANY BLUE. An EXACT match to the Tiffany & Co box colour. I kid you not! Compare it yourself!!! I LOVE IT!! I don't even care that it wasn't the colour I thought it was close to! It's a gorgeous, bright (not too bright) summer blue/turquoise. It lasts super long and it's so flattering! It's great on the fingers or the toes...or BOTH for summer.

"Fo Audrey" (Natural Light)

"For Audrey" (flash)

swatch against skin (I look tanned and I'm pale!)

If you ever see me around anywhere I'm most likely wearing 1 of these 4 colours...I LOVE them and I hope you do too :)
This may have helped those who were looking for an exact match to the Tiffany & Co box colour especially!!

xoxo

3D Nail Art/Appliques!!

I’ve been meaning to post this up for a VERY very long time


I’ve never been a fan of nail art per se, but I find it looks good on you’re fourth finger on one hand like a little pop of something interesting. Doing every single nail most times is a bit much for me.
I came across these cute little 3d nail art appliques. I wouldn’t say they’re stickers like the ones you’d get when you were 9 years old that were hard plastic things that fell off in 2 minutes. These are very thin, delicate “stickers” with a slightly rubbery/silicon feel to them. They’re so delicate that if you try to pick them off of the plastic sheet they come on you might rip them and there goes your applique

You apply them to completely dry nail polish or a bare nail depending on what you want to do by taking a tweezers or very carefully peeling them off of the plastic sheet, applying them gently to whatever part of the nail you find suitable and pressing lightly to ensure that it is stuck. In order to “seal” it in place it’s important to apply a coat of clear nail polish so that it doesn’t get dug into or hair doesn’t lift it off (which tends to happen if you pass your hand through your hair over and over without having applied the clear coat). I apply the top coat mainly because when I pass my hands through my hair I don’t like the rubbery texture of it which grabs onto my hair.

I loveeee them!! They’re adorable and last forever, up until you decide to take them off. In order to take them off, you can’t rub nail polish remover over them and expect them to come off….because they won’t. Use a cotton ball dipped in nail polish remover to take off the clear coat then pick the applique off with your nail, then proceed to take off the rest of the nail polish. I would say they last longer than your nail polish, as the nail polish could chip/fade/peel or whatever and the sticker would STILL be there.

I had picked up cute little white flowers with rhinestones in the middle (which to tell you the truth are kind of annoying when I pass my hands through my hair) and the cutest little pandas ever!! They also had monkeys, crabs/lobsters, puppies, kittens etc but I held back and just got the pandas and flowers.

They’re such a fun way to dress up a nail look, and all you need to do is apply it to ONE finger Not only does it not look over done, but it saves the rest of appliques for future use!!

 

Isn’t Mr Panda adorable?!?!
The Crème packs cost about $18ttd in WW which is around $3usd? Probably cost less in the US as most of the stuff sold here is wayyyyy cheaper away.
The L.A Colours white flowers cost $10ttd so a little over $1 usd.

Affordable, cute and easy to apply!!!
WIN!

xoxo

Coral Pop

Coral Pop by soireeluxure featuring green earrings

ASOS bodycon dress
asos.com

Blazer
90 EUR - modekungen.se

Christian louboutin heels
$795 - footcandyshoes.com

Mulberry bag
925 GBP - matchesfashion.com

H M metal jewelry
3.99 GBP - hm.com

Miss Selfridge coral jewelry
10 GBP - missselfridge.com

H M antique jewelry
3.99 GBP - hm.com

Lucifer Vir Honestus green earring
$4,175 - barneys.com

Satin necklace
$850 - farfetch.com

I'm obsessed!!!

Over the past few months my wishlist has grown and so have my favourites.

I'm only going to list a few things...just stuff I want to get and one or two things I have and love and am amazed with to be honest.

First thing I'm obsessing over and plan to get at some point is this beautiful Gold watch by Guess!
It's the Guess Feminine Contemporary Watch and it's beautiful! It's been out a good while now, but I don't have any watches like this, actually I don't have many watches at all. The only working one I have is a DKNY watch from my hubby :) Gold/rose gold toned accessories are soooo beautiful and happen to be quite in. They look classy and chic and i LOVE it!

Gorgeous ain't it? *faints*





Another watch I am determined to get sometime but I have to save up for is this GORGEOUS Links of London Sweetie watch in Rose Gold. Links of London is a popular and quite pricey UK jewelery line etc. They're especially popular for their sweetie bracelets and links friendship bracelets. My hubbz thinks the band looks like a millipede's back (LOL) but I love it!!! Only £350...that's just about $3626 TTD. In other words, FREAKING EXPENSIVE (for us at least), but I'm determined to have it in my possession at some point.

The next thing is from Estee Lauder's Bronze Goddess Soleil Collection 2011, their summer collection! It's their Sea Star Bronzing Blush retailing for about $35 USD and about $275 TTD I think. Expensive for us again, but it's absolutely gorgeous and unique! It gives your cheeks a peachy glow. You can use the star as a pink blush and the outside as a bronzer which is quite orange. Swirl them together and you get the most gorgeous glow on your cheeks for the summer! FAB!! Not to mention the packaging and the design is beautiful!

The last 2 things, I have been meaning to get for past few weeks but due to very very low funds and no time at all for myself I haven't been able to. There's this company/site called "Storm in a Teacup" run by Jennifer in the UK. She handmakes gorgeous vintage and contemporary style jewelery that I LOVE, and she is super affordable! Such a lovely woman, you have no idea! She ships worldwide for a very VERY afforable cost at around £3.30 to anywhere in the world (£2.00 UK and £2.70 Europe) by Royal Mail straight to your door!
My absolute favourites from her which I will be ordering very soon are the Emma Ties and the Helen Necklace! To die for!!!!
I've also taken to the Lady Godiva Comb, the new Swoop & Soar Clips and the Lemon Snicket vintage bracelet!
LOVE!!

Emma Tie in Brown

Emma Tie in Turquoise

Lemony Snicket Bracelet

Helen Necklace

Lady Godiva Comb

Swoop & Soar Clips

*************************************************

Now, onto things I actually own and am actually pleasantly surprised at how good they are.

The first thing I am absolutely amazed at and LOVE is something I've actually done a recent blog about.
It's the BeFine Night Cream. I bought it because of the packaging basically. It definitely drew me in, but I also liked the fact that they used natural ingredients etc. The first time I tried it, I did have a few buttons/pimples/bumps/planets...whatever you want to call them, that were quite red and raised and hurt a bit. I honestly didn't use the cream thinking it would help any of that because I bought it just to use in general. This stuff is freakinggggggg amazing! I woke up the next morning and they were about 1/4 of the size they were before, all the little tiny bumps were gone and of course I stood there in front of the mirror with my mouth open in shock. I literally did not expect that. I used it for 3 days continuously after that to see if any more improvements would be made and by the 3rd night they were completely gone as if they were never ever even there.
I stopped using it because I got all caught up in exams and basically didn't have time to do anything except sleep (and I hardly did any of that) and eat and bathe. I totally forgot about creams etc and taking care of myself. Due to exam stress my forehead went crazy again and just last night I finally got time to pluck my eyebrows and shape my nails and time to take care of my skin. I put the cream on again and this morning, I swear to you the little stress bumps that were all over my forehead are now GONE and the 2 big red planets I had are also GONE. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this cream. If you can get your hands on it, GET IT!!!

The next thing I'm loving right now is actually hair care. It's Garnier Fructis Fortifying Deep Conditioner Strength and Repair 3 Minute Masque. Now, I'm hearing that a lot of people don't see this product selling anymore but I managed to get my hands on it. I wanted a good hair masque because my hair does get quite dry even though I don't do a thing to it :s It's not coloured, it's not treated or styled in anyway at any point. This cost me around $45 TTD and I love it! It leaves my hair soft, silky and most of all it quenches my poor hair. I wash my hair once every 3 days because it's actually not very good to wash the natural oils out of your hair too often or your hair becomes dry, PLUS I don't need to buy a new shampoo and conditioner every 2 weeks. I use this everytime I wash it and my hair just looks so much better and feels so much healthier after. You scoop some out with your fingers, massage it into your hair, leave it to soak in and wash it out after you've washed your hair. It's really wonderful!

I've also been loving my EOS Lip sphere in Summer Fruit. They don't sell them where I live but one pharmacy had about 4 of them and I just had to buy one. I LOVE mint but I have a lot of mint lipbalms and lipglosses so I got the next best thing. It smells like peaches (at least to me) and has a sweet but not overbearingly sweet taste and it's SO CUTE!!! The packaging is just wonderful and it feels sort of smooth and slightly rubbery sort of how NARS packaging feels. They come in flavours like Lemon, Honey Suckle, Summer fruit and Mint generally and once in a while come out with limited edition flavours.

 

These are just a few things I'm loving right now, but at the end of May I'll post my May favourites :)
Since it's already the middle of May I didn't bother doing an April Favourites post!

Check out Storm in a Teacup& try the BeFine Night Cream! You will not be disappointed!!

xoxo

More soon! So many blogs, so little time!!

Hey everyone,
So again I have to slow down on the blogs because it's exam time for me! It'll all be done soon, and I have soooooo many I want to put up and some may even be a bit out dated because of how long I was supposed to put it up :( But i'm going to put it anyway.

I hope that everyone is enjoying their holidays (if you're all done exams, or never had any) and good luck to those who do!

xoxo

Skin Saviour!! It will all BeFine ;)

It's already May and for many of us exams/finals are around the corner or already upon us. The stress, anxiety, lack of sleep all building up and wreaking havoc on our poor skin. In my case, I have a tendency to get cystic acne (quite possibly the worst kind because it's hard to treat topically and you can't pop any until weeks later when they get close to the skin) on my forehead and chin when i'm super stressed and lacking sleep. In addition to the enormous planets appearing on my face and the fact that they hurt like a b****, my skin has been drying out. I've seen this product in our local superpharm and always wanted to try it but I would force myself to shift focus and walk on by. One day I couldn't take it anymore and just had to buy it as I have to admit, I'm a sucker for packaging.

The BeFine Night Cream with Cocoa, Millet and Rice Bran is just wonderful!
A bit pricey at $100ttd a pop (1.7fl oz) or $30usd from the BeFine website.

What it claims to do:

• Increases elasticity and supports collagen growth
• • What: Rice Bran Proteins
  • Why: Helps in formation of collagen, provides protection for collagen and elasticity.
    
    
• Tightens skin and reduces wrinkles
• • What: Iris Florentina Root Extract
  • Why: Natural flower estrogens.
    
    
• Nourishes and feeds your skin proteins and vitamins
• • What: Rice Bran Oil (Oryza Sativa)
  • Why: Rice Bran Oil contains the highest amount of Vitamin E in natural form. The oil contains the Vitamin E antioxidant group including tocopherol, oryzanol and tocotrienol. These bio-available nutrients are used to soften and moisturize the skin.

So I can't really tell you about these claims since I've only been using it for about 3 days and I have no wrinkles, although I can vouge that it does moisturize the skin really well and absorbs very quickly leaving absolutely no sticky residue/feel.

The formula is very light, a slight scent but ALMOST like an unscented cream (which I find have a scent even though they're unscented), it smoothes your skin instantly (I did a back of the hand test by rubbing it on one and leaving the other and the one with the BeFine was silky smooth). You don't need much to cover your entire face, oh! and the bottle comes with a little pump which is lovely as it doesn't squirt out too much product.


I know I've only been using it for 3 days (well, nights) but:

• Day 1, the acne on my forehead were literally like big red bulbous planets that gave me headaches. They were horrible and I couldn't do a thing about them and nothing was working :'( I applied the night cream that night and when I woke the next morning my skin felt silky smooth and the bumps were significantly smaller.

• Day 2, it flared up slightly again but not as badly (and no headaches! yay!) so I applied the night cream that night as well. When I woke up the next day I swear to God the bumps were almost gone and even the ones on my chin were completely flat (though the marks were still there on my chin because I have hyper-pigmentation problems).

• Day 3, it has not flared up again, and they're ALMOST flat!!

I will continue to use this for the next few weeks and tell you what else I've noticed for instance if it has helped with my hyper-pigmentation, whether my skin is less dry (as I have combination skin, where the dry spots are EXTREMELY dry).

I was so amazed because I didn't expect the cream to really help with what was going on on my face, as I only intended to use it as a moisturizer for the night time (something new to try). Keep in mind that I do regularly moisturize my face (even before this product), but none of the products have done what this has. I LOVE it!! Even better that they're food skin care and NOT TESTED ON ANIMALS!

Ding ding ding! We have a winner!!! :)

I encourage any of you, who either want a moisturizer or a great, natural night cream, to invest in this product and see what greatness it does for your skin!

xoxo