August Favourites!

Real Techniques Buffing Brush from the Core Collection | Revlon Lash Potion Mascara | Barry M Nail Paint in Mushroom | Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24HR in Tough as Taupe | Bioderma Soluiton Micellaire

It's that time again! The 1st September marks the end of Summer for me, which is sad but Autumn/Winter is definitely my favourite time of year. August has been one of my favourite and busiest months this year! For starters, I went to America which I did a series of posts about here, I also got my A Level results and when I found out I didn't get in to my dream university I had to do a lot of sorting out to find a course at another university and then I've been spending lots of time with my friends, my boyfriend and my family before everything changes in a month and we all end up all over the country!

Anyway, the things I have been using a lot this month are all brand/relatively new to me that I picked up in July. Firstly, I got my first Real Techniques brushes from Walmart in the states and they are absolutely amazing. I expected them to be because of all the hype, but seriously, if you're thinking about getting some, definitely do it! I got the Core Collection 2.0 which I can no longer find so I think it may be discontinued but it still has the perfect brushes to give you a great base to your make up.

The Revlon Lash Potion Mascara I have raved about here so I won't go into too much detail, but this has been my go-to mascara throughout August.

I haven't yet had a nail polish in my favourites purely because I hate painting my nails, it's so messy and it always smudges and looks terrible and takes forever to dry so if you have any tips let me know. But I absolutely love this colour and Barry M polishes have always been a hit with me because they're so cheap, when I manage to chip them after only one day and feel the need to pick them completely off I don't feel guilty. Nude nails are my absolute fave and this has a more brown tone to it so I think it would look good on anyone. I have put this on twice on my fingers and twice on my toes- this is the true test of me liking a nail polish, the return paintjob! I have a feeling a will be wearing this a lot in the upcoming A/W months too.

I picked up a Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Florida partly due to the hype, but also because I'm still relatively new to make up and barely wear eyeshadow or anything. I have a couple of palettes, but this is the perfect base and wear-on-its-own colour too. It's builable and can be smoked out for a night-look and it's sheer enough for day too. Love this and at £4.99 they're a complete steal, definitely going to get more colours! The colour I have is Tough as Taupe but it's called Permanent Taupe.

My last proper favourite is of course my Bioderma. This really is as good as everyone says it is, removing make up with a quick swipe all over the face. The lovely Chloe at FrenchCares saw my what I'm taking on holiday post and told me about her online boutique that sells all this lovely skincare and more for all you  bargain hunters like me. It's priced in euros but the exchange rate works out much cheaper, even cheaper than what I paid for mine from a french pharmacy! She ships internationally, and I'm just waiting for my products to run out so I can order more from her,  definitely check her out.

My last favourite is Best Song Ever, it has literally been my song of the Summer and I can't help but dance and sing along. Can't believe this video has 94 million views though!

What have you been loving this month? Has anything big happened for you? Also, if you're going to uni like I am in a few weeks, let me know. I think I'm going to do a haul of all the things I'm going to take with me so that could be fun.

Hope you're all well.

Em x

Let's Bake: A Flapjack Treat!

A very basic recipe this time around, but flapjack is one of my favourite things to make and eat! I personally love it packed with dried fruit but we didn't have any in the house for this spontaneous bake.

You will need:

100g/4oz margarine
50g/2oz Demerara sugar (I just used normal sugar though)
2 tbsp golden syrup
125g/5oz rolled oats
25g/1oz plain flour

Melt the margarine, sugar and syrup over a low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is a liquid.

Grease a small tin.

Then take the pan off the heat and stir in the oats and flour.

Press the mixture into the tin and smooth over so it is an even depth all over.

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.

 Melt some chocolate (you don't need very much about 50g?) in a bowl over another bowl or pan filled with boiled water.

 Now, the fun bit! Dip each piece into the melted chocolate to give it a chocolate covered edge. You can cover it as much or as little as you like.

Not the most attractive to look at but pretty damn tasty!

Again, this is a recipe I've been using for ages from Be-Ro which I can't find online but I tweak it as I go along.

Hope you enjoyed this post and if you ever recreate something you've seen on here, please let me know on twitter @emilaaarblog it would make my day!

Florida Update #3

This is way too long overdue, but I never finished the "what I've been up to in Florida" posts, missing out on the highlight of my whole holiday! Since the boys went to the Kennedy Space Centre, we went to Blizzard Beach- a melted ski resort water park with some huge slides although no photos to show for it since we didn't want damaged cameras, should have got a GoPro! Then after that, we hit Universal Studios for a second time- see that huge roller coaster in the background? We went on it!!! So cool, although it videos your reactions as you're on it, I don't pull pretty faces let's just say that!

Also, in Universal Studios is Springfield! We took full advantage of this and headed to Moe's where we met Barney with Chief Wiggan waiting outside with a donut to sort out any mischief!

 

After Universal, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe to eat, the largest one in the world! It was so nice and such a cool place to chill in, yes that is a Mustang hanging from the ceiling!

 The next day was Discovery Cove- my favourite day of the whole holiday! We donned our wetsuits and snorkels ready for a day of swimming with tropical fish, rays and dolphins!!

 Just chasing some rays!

 Later that day, I married a dolphin called Marian, we had a whirlwind romance and it topped off the most perfect day. If you ever get the chance, go to Discovery Cove, it has a capacity of 1,000 guests so no where is ever too crowded and they also have an aviary of birds that land on you and eat out of your hands, it's like a fairy tale!

After such a perfect day in Discovery Cove, complete with all inclusive food and drinks, we were still not fish-ed out yet so headed off to Seaworld again the next day!

Still can't understand how amazing marine mammals can be! I had goosebumps the whole day, by far one of my favourite things we did while we were there!

 On our last full day in Florida, we went back to Typhoon Lagoon with the huge wave pool (you can see one brewing in the last picture) and we took great pride in the fact we were first ones in the pool! Having exhausted ourselves and nearly drowning several times under the 6ft waves we went back to our villa to soak up the last bit on luxury and pack our things up while the boys put on the LCFC football game on TV so we didn't miss out on anything back home!

On the way to the airport home, we went for our last Five Guys meal which was a perfect end to our stay in Orlando and we then got on our plane to Newark.

 The views flying into New York were amazing, although not very clear, it was so cool!

After one last Starbucks in America we boarded our flight back to London. Such an amazing holiday, wish I could go back and do it all again!

If you're going to America any time soon, do let me know so I can get all excited/jealous of you!

Em x

Review: Revlon Lash Potion Waterproof Mascara

It was only a couple of months ago that I penned my ode to Clinique's High Impact Mascara and how it ticked all the boxes for me, and I still do love the natural look that it gives, however every once in a while, I find myself looking astray of my trusty Clinique, hunting for something new.
To begin with, Maybelline's The Falsies was top of my list to try, but when I was in Walmart in Florida, the Lash Potion from Revlon caught my eye. 

I wanted a waterproof mascara specifically for my holiday to Florida since water rides, swimming, water parks and big thunder storms were all on the agenda so I was keen to put this truly to the test.
In addition to the waterproof formula, the packaging is amazing- it immediately drew me in, and the brush is very big and full though still in the thinner brush category. It's definitely the right size to use without getting mascara goops all around your eyes!

It claims to add "spellbinding volume and supernatural length" which I completely agree with. Again, I have naturally long and quite full eyelashes so you might not be able to tell how much length is added, but I would say volume is added without clumping and lashes aren't spindled together in a spider-like fashion. A couple of brushes with this through the lashes and you are good to go!

Excuse the no make up, but I really like how this mascara looks, it separates the lashes really well too.

Waterproof wise, I wore this almost every day in Florida and it lasted in the pool, in the 6ft super waves in the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon, on the River Rapids in Universal Studios where not one bit of my was dry afterwards and on huge water slides. To last through all of these as well as just to the end of the day without breaking down or shedding bits onto my face is all I could ever ask for in a waterproof mascara and for $4.99 this is amazing.

You can pick this up from Boots/Superdrug for around £9.99 and if you are planning on going on holiday anytime soon (lucky things) this is must-have! Even if you're not, it's always good to have a mascara that will last no matter what!

What is your favourite mascara?

Also, I'm going to be much more active on my twitter from now on if you want to follow @emilaaarblog

Em x

Florida Haul

Haha, this photo looks so distorted from the angle, but I'm back from Florida and before I fill you in on what we did for the rest of our time there following on from this post, I thought I'd do a haul.

I didn't end up buying any clothes or souvenirs from Florida as I couldn't find any that I liked and souvenir-wise, I was happy with just photos- however, I did want to build my make up collection partly because the exchange rates mean that make up is so much cheaper in America. So I got some make up.............

 

First, I bought these from Walmart. I'd wanted the Real Techniques Core Collection for ages, but thought I'd wait til America to get it slightly cheaper. However, they only had the 2.0 version which comes without the detailers brush and the case/stand. I must say I was a bit disappointed, but the remaining three brushes are the ones I would have used most anyway and I guess I can let the stand go. I also decided I needed some waterproof mascaras for any water parks/water rides at the theme parks in Florida. I picked up Revlon's Lash Potion in black and Maybelline The Falsies Waterproof mascara in brown/black. I then wanted both a Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Truffle and a Maybelline 24hr Colour Tattoo in Tough as Taupe. I actually picked this shade up by accident as I wanted the bronze one, but I still like this one. I don't think I paid more than $5 for each item except the brush set!

 

At a later date, I picked up this NYC Cheek Glow in Riverside Rose as I'm still just getting into make up and wanted to try out an inexpensive blush- this was $2.
The eyeliner I got free with a magazine from Heathrow!

 

I also tracked down a couple of MAC stores as you may have gathered. From the one in the Florida Mall, I bought a cremesheen lipstick in Crème Cup as I know a lot of people have it and it's very easy to wear.

And then from the Orlando Premium Outlets I got an eyeshadow in Woodwinked and another lipstick called Kinda Sexy in a matte finish.

 

I did plan on more MAC purchases at the airport in New York but $16 for an eyeshadow was too much but I bought my other one for $10.50!

 

Finally, as a complete surprise, Alex bought me some real Ray Bans from the Florida Mall! I had no idea he was going to, and I didn't approve of him spending that much on me, but they're so nice!

 

A successful trip's shopping I think!

What do you buy when you're on holiday? Also, if you have any other MAC purchase suggestions, let me know! Always keen to expand my collection!