My Favourite Magazine

 

 

 I have recently loved reading magazines. I mainly buy them for fashion and make up inspiration. The one that I have been loving is Company magazine as it is so easy to read and it looks fun and inviting! Each magazine is released a month before the actual month that it is relating to, which is great because then you can be on trend the whole year round. I started buying this magazine in April and I should probably get a subscription really, as I think that I will always buy it. It is definitely a magazine which is aimed at younger women with a passion for make up, fashion and possibly even blogging/vlogging. I absolutely love it as it is an easy read with great advice and interesting interviews. It doesn't exploit women or make you feel worse about yourself, its an actual magazine that is enjoyable to read and gets you involved with the latest trends, which I think is awesome. As long as it doesn't change its image, I am sure that this is definitely something I will always look forward to reading every month.  Thanks for reading!! :) 
 

Baking Chocolate Cupcakes

Baking is a hobby of mine, especially when I get the free time. I buy so many baking books and have nowhere to put them, so I am putting them to good use and actually using the recipes. I never really follow the recipes though (what a rebel *gasp face*), I just alter them slightly.

For this recipe, you will need:
125g butter
125g light muscovado sugar
2 eggs, beaten
15g cocoa powder
100g self-raising flour
100g plain chocolate, melted
Chocolate chips (if you really want them to be super chocolaty)
And you can't forget all the equipment!

First, I whisked the butter to make it soft then added the sugar and whisked it together.
I then beat the eggs and added them slowly into the mixture, adding a little flour, so it didn't curdle.
Next I added the rest of the flour, in which I mixed the cocoa powder as well. Whilst I was doing this, the chocolate was on the stove, slowly melting...
I then added white chocolate chips for awesomeness!
I set the oven to 190 degrees C on the muffin setting. Whilst my oven was heating up I poured the mixture into the cupcake cases. I managed to get 12 cupcakes from this mixture. However, I did use muffin cases instead of cupcake ones.
I then popped then in the oven for 20 minutes and Boom! Cupcakes had been baked!

I am absolutely useless at decorating and icing cakes, so I was going to leave them alone, but Zoe made me!!
I guessed the butter and icing sugar amounts and just whisked it until it tasted alright. I then added red food colouring, which I am pretty sure mine has gone of, yum! I then spilt the food colouring everywhere (I would not advise that you do this). Disaster then struck again when I was using the piping bag and it broke half way and then the icing went everywhere. The kitchen surfaces were not in a pretty state (Sorry Mum).
I did clean up, obviously, and I displayed the cakes on a stand that I got from somewhere, but it was pretty and pink, so I thought it fitted with my cupcakes.

Thanks for reading,

Niamh x

Another Book Haul

I love to read before bed or on a really lazy day and recently I have been collecting a lot of books, so it should keep me feeling less bored. I tend to buy my books from Amazon as they are always so much cheaper, or if I do buy books from a book store, I will buy them when they are on offer... I do love to save my money, not just spend it.

The first book I saw was 'Bridget Jones-Mad about The Boy'. This book was half price, so was around £4. I have realised that this is probably the third book in the series and I do not own the other two, so I will have to leave this book until I buy the others. Helen Fielding
The second book I picked up was 'The Book Thief' and the first thing I did was read the blurb  and I read 'Here is a small fact, you are going to die' and I was hooked. I am so excited to read this, well actually I might read it next. The Sunday Telegraph says it's 'Extraordinary, resonant, beautiful and angry' ...How can a book be angry? This book is definitely intriguing which is why I can't wait to read it. I do believe this has been made into a film as well. Markus Zusak
'The Night Circus' is a book I have seen all over YouTube and when I saw it in Waterstones I just picked it up and bought it. I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but it's so simple and beautiful and I always read reviews on books before I purchase them and everyone seems to adore this book. Erin Morgenstern 
I managed to buy 'The Lord of The Rings' trilogy and I will not lie, 'The Hobbit' is one of the hardest books I have ever read, but saying that. I really did enjoy it and I want to finish the series. I think I paid around £15 for the three books which is pretty good. I am debating on whether to read it next to carry on the series, or have a break from it. One thing I did notice in 'The Hobbit' is that it is actually really different from the film. The film has definitely included scenes that are not even in the book and I did get really confused, but I'm always confused so...  J.R.R. Tolkien
I was strolling about in TK Maxx looking for good deals on things and I stumbled across the 'Divergent' trilogy and it was only £10 for all three books ad they were all in excellent condition. It was the only set there so I had to buy it really, didn't I? I haven't seen the film yet, so that gives me time to read them before I do. I know this series has been adored by most people, so I hope that I will enjoy it just as much. Veronica Roth

As I seem to have bought so many more books since this book, I had to buy myself a proper book shelf and I love how I can see all my books on display now, instead of them being squished in my wardrobe.

 I have previously bought more books (oops!), so another haul is coming soon, yay!

Thanks for reading,

Niamh xxx

 

My Holiday Travel Essentials

Yesterday I told you all about my holiday to Malta and today I thought I would tell you what my holiday travel essentials were for this holiday. It was extremely hot when we went and I think it reached up to 40 degrees C.
Sun cream is an absolute necessity for any hot weather and exposure to the sun. I took the Nivea invisible spray one which was factor 50 and it did the job perfectly. However, I did mention that I burnt my feet on the first day, because I didn't really think about protecting my feet from the sun, but now I know. This leads me on to my next product, which is the Body Shop's Pink Grapefruit body butter. This was pretty much a life saver for me. Not only does it smell amazing and summery, it was a great after sun moisturiser. I used this every single day and night on all the areas that were exposed to the sun. It made my burns on my back and feet go down super quickly and everywhere else was tanned and it really helped to keep my tan. I would totally recommend this one especially.
An SPF for my face was also an essential and I took the Simple one, which was SPF 30. However, this was really harsh on my skin and one morning I woke up and my face was all red, my eyes puffed up and I had a horrendous, itchy rash and I  don't want to blame this product, but after I stopped using it, my face was fine again. I would still recommend that you use a face SPF though.
A good cleanser, face wash and moistures is essential for me as it did get really hot and I just wanted to feel refreshed every morning and evening and these products really helped. I used the Simple cleanser and light moisturiser and the Body Shop Tea Tree facial wash.
A toothbrush and deodorant and any toiletries are essential for everyone really and a good, moisturising lip balm.
For make up, I took everything, but I needed a really good waterproof mascara (for swimming) and a good powder that would set my make up for the whole day. Like I said it got really hot, so I didn't want to be all shiny or have mascara running down my face.
A tangle teezer is just a must for any girl with longer hair, especially for when you are in the sea as the salt water makes it super knotty. I never take hairspray with me when I'm travelling abroad, so a back comb brush is what I replace it with, but because this is more damaging, I used Moroccan oil to save it  little bit. Hair bands, scrunchies and hair grips are also essential.
My travel toiletry bag us from Primark and it was only £4 and I managed to fit so much in it, so it was perfect for my holiday.

Thanks for reading,

Niamh xxx