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Lou Loves

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Hey everyone,

I can't believe it's the end of another month! It only seems like a few day since I last did my favourites! Anyway, these are the products I've been loving throughout November - enjoy! xxx


The first thing I have loved through November is the Zoella Beauty Sweet Inspirations Body Mist! This is one of my favourite products from Zoe and I have been using it nearly every single day! It has the scent of macaroons and toasted almonds - so this is basically a made for me scent! It is such a wearable day-to-day scent but can also double as a stronger evening scent if you apply a bit more of it. This was my holiday scent this year so whenever I smell it, it brings back all memories of my holiday! The only complaint I have about this is it's a glass bottle so it can be a little tricky to travel with. This is £8 and available at superdrug and on feelunique.


An eyeshadow I have been loving this month is the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in the shade 35 On and On Bronze! This is the perfect autumn-winter shade! Even though the name infers that it is a bronze shade, I'd say it was a bit more of a taupe shade than a bronze shade. But, it's the most gorgeous shimmer, pigmented shade and as it is a cream shadow it clings to your eyes and stays put all day but it's also really easy to take off - it's the best of both worlds! This retails at £4.99 and is available at boots and superdrug.


Throughout November, my lips have been really chapped so I have been using the Body Shop Born Lippy Pink Berry Lip Balm! This is a life saver on dry and chapped winter lips. Even though, in the tube, the lip balm look coloured it's sheer so it's perfect for any time of day. It also feels nice under matte lipsticks but it doesn't make the lipstick look any less matte. This is £3 and the quality is amazing for this price!


Some more eyeshadows I've been loving are the shades in the Smashbox Eye Trio in Screen Shot. This has the shades : Nectar (a perfect pink/nude base), Cinnamon Toast (an extremely shimmery golden/copper shade) and Roast (a burnt/deep brown colour). I have loved creating a shimmery warm brown smoky eye with these shades by using nectar in the inner corner, Cinnamon toast all over my lid and Roast in the outer corner and then blended up into the crease. I have this in a mini as it came in a set. The full size retails at £23 and is available at boots stores.


My final favourite throughout November is the Lush Sleepy Body Lotion. I was given a sample of this in the store in Poole and I have fallen in love with it! It has lavender in it but you can't overly smell it which is perfect because I'm not the biggest lavender fan. It also smells of gingerbread which is one of my most favourite scents ever so this is the perfect winter body lotion. The lotion itself is really creamy and moisturising and feels really nice when you work it into your skin. Also, it soaks in quite quickly and it makes you skin feel moisturised but not sticky because I can't stand that feeling. This is a Christmas limited product so stock up now whilst you can! The smaller 95g size retails at £7.95 and the larger 215g size retails at £13.95.

So, thank you so much for reading, and I will see you all very, very soon,

Love Lou
xxxx

Love Lou
xxxx
November 30, 2016 2 comments
Hey everyone,

you all know how much I love baking, so today is another baking post! I'm sharing you the best recipe for shortbread biscuits - enjoy xx! (Makes about 10)

Ingredients:

120g of Softened Unsalted Butter
70g of Caster Sugar - plus extra for dusting
165g of Plain Flour
15g of Porridge Oats (these are just to add a bit of texture to the biscuit)

Preheat the oven to 160C/Gas Mark 3. Line 2 baking trays with baking parchment.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Sift in the flour, then mix in the oats and bring the mixture to form a dough. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough until about 1cm thick. Cut into rounds and place on the 2 baking trays. Chill them for another 30 minutes.

Now bake them for 8-10 minutes until very lightly coloured. Remove from the oven and immediately dust them with caster sugar, then leave to cool. Et Voila! How quick was that!

Thank you so much for reading, and if you recreate this recipe post it on instagram and tag me - @louloves01 - and use #bakingwithlouloves.

Love Lou
xxxx
November 28, 2016 No comments
Hey everyone,

you all seem to love it when I do a how much is my face post - so that's exactly what I'm going to do for you all today! Enjoy - xx!

Urban Decay Naked Palette - £38.50


I used the shade Naked in my brows, Virgin as a brow bone and inner corner highlight as well as blending Buck under my eye.

Maybelline Colour Tattoo in 35 On and On Bronze- £4.99


I used a regular eye shade brush and just blended it all over my lid.

Maybelline the Colossal Go Extreme Volume Mascara - £6.99



Seventeen Stay Time Concealer in Extra Fair - £4.49


I use this under my eyes and on the bridge of my nose.

Soap and Glory Blur and Brighten Concealer in Light - £6.00


I use this on any other blemishes around my face.

MAC Lustre Lipstick in Plumful - £15.50


NYX Buttergloss in Angel Food Cake - £5.00


Total = £81.47

Thank you so much for reading, and I will see you all very, very soon,

Love Lou
xxxxx
November 25, 2016 2 comments
Hey everyone,

as it's getting closer and closer to Christmas, I thought I would share with you a slightly festive recipe. Enjoy these gorgeous cinnamon cookies! xxx (makes roughly 20)

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil - for greasing
150g of Plain Flour - plus a little extra for rolling
50g of Caster Sugar
115g of Unsalted Butter
1/2 tsp. of Cinnamon
1 medium Egg Yolk
Pinch of Sea Salt
Writing icing for decoration

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas Mark 6. Brush 2 baking trays with oil.

Place the flour, sugar, butter, salt and cinnamon in the bowl of a food processor and whiz until a crumb like consistency. Add the egg yolk and bring the dough together into a ball. Wrap it in clingfilm and chill for an hour.

Knead the dough until it's pliable. On a lightly floured work surface, roll it out to a thickness of about 3mm. Cut out the biscuits using whichever cutter shape you like. Roll the dough out twice to get around 20 biscuits.

Lay the biscuits 1cm apart on the baking trays and bake for 9-12 minutes, until lightly coloured. The lower tray may take longer than the higher tray.

Remove the trays from the oven and leave the biscuits to cool for a few minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool. Now leave them to cool completely.

Decorate the biscuits as desired with writing icing and leave them to set before putting them into an air-tight container (they will keep in there for several days).

So, thank you so much for reading, and I will see you all very, very soon.

Love Lou
xxx

If you recreate this recipe, post a picture on instagram and tag me - @louloves01 - and use #bakingwithlouloves01 !
November 23, 2016 2 comments
Hey everyone,

it seems like a while since I last did a review for you lovely lot, so today I thought I would do a review of the Zoella Beauty Wonder Hand - Hand Cream! Enjoy - xx


Wonder Hand is from the Original collection. The original collection is the perfect all year round - but it's my favourite in spring and summer. It has a floral but fresh scent so it's really refreshing but in winter can also feel quite cosy - that probably made no sense at all! haha.


I (try to) use this everyday but most of the time it's more like 2/3 times a week! I don't know why I forget to use it because it's one of my most favourite products to use!I have been trying to incorporate this into my daily routine but it hasn't really happened, but i'm working on it. This is definitely a firm favourite in my weekly pamper routine (I'm doing a festive pamper routine at some point through out blogmas - so look out for that!).


This makes my hands really soft and it is perfect to get rid of any dry winter skin. This hand cream has replaced my previous favourite - Soap and Glory's Hand Food. Compared to Hand Food - the scent is better, the quality of product is better and the product lasts longer. Little definitely goes a long way with this product.


The packaging itself is as gorgeous as the product inside! The box is quite vibrant which is really nice for adding pops of colour. Also, as you open the box, there are little quotes on the tabs saying "High Five!" and "Be the Best Version of You!". I think this is a really nice little touch and I've never seen anything like it before!


The quality of the product is incredible for the price you pay (£5.50) and I would 100% recommend it to anyone who is looking for a new hand cream for autumn/winter!

Thank you so much for reading, and I will see you all very, very soon,

Love Lou
xxxx

Qotp - Have you ever tried Wonder Hand - if you have, what did you think of it?

Click here for the link on Feelunique
Click here for the link on Superdrug
November 21, 2016 No comments
Hey everyone,

I absolutely love Real Techniques brushes, but sometimes it can be quite daunting walking into a store and seeing all the different types of brushes. So, today I will share with you which brushes I have and also do a little review of each. Enjoy!


The first brush I ever tried from Real Techniques was the Shading Brush. When I first got this I used it for applying, blending, the lot, and it wasn't too great at multitasking like that. Now, I have more brushes I use this to deepen the shadows in the outer corner. I swirl this around in which ever shade I use and start buffing it into the outer corner and up into the crease. Using this brush creates a gorgeous smoky look which looks great for a smoky eye! This brush was only £7.99 which is an amazing price for the quality of the brush itself.

My nest purchase from Real Techniques was the Starter Set. This is a set containing 5 eye brushes that are perfect for completing any eye look. It has : a Base Shadow Brush, a Deluxe Crease Brush, an Accent Brush, Fine Liner Brush and a Brow Brush.


The base shadow brush is a staple in my make up bag, and in my opinion should be a staple in everyone's make up bag. It creates a perfect base for any look or just makes any shadow look flawless.

The deluxe crease brush is the best for blending in any eyeshadow and makes any look seem polishes and finishes flawlessly.

The accent brush is perfect for smudging shadows underneath your eye.  The bristles are really soft, without being too soft that it doesn't blend enough.


I love to use the fine liner to create the perfect cat eye flick. I get this look by tracing the line with dark shadow on my wet fine liner. Then, I just go over the line with my liquid liner. This just makes it easy to remove if you go wrong.


Finally, the brow brush is incredible for creating soft, natural brows or bolder brows - whichever you prefer.

The other brush I have from Real Techniques is the concealer brush. This isn't my favourite concealer brush as it does leave your face a little streaky if you don't blend it properly. However, if you get it right, it looks perfect. This is because the brush itself is quite dense so you have to know exactly how to blend it etc. etc. I wouldn't recommend this to any first timers in make up but if you are more experienced this could be the new concealer brush for you.

So, thank you all so much for reading, and I will see you all very, very soon,

Love Lou
xxxx

Qotp - Which are your favourite brushes from Real Techniques?
November 18, 2016 2 comments
Hey everyone,

A couple of weeks ago, the lovely Emma from @emm_azing_beauty_treats on instagram sent me some gorgeous samples. Today I'm going to be reviewing them for you all. Enjoy! xx


Emma is a distributer for NU Skin which is an amazing brand that sell incredible products! I was sent the Liquid Body Lufra and the Marine Mud Mask. You can find the link to Emma's facebook page here.
 
The body lufra literally looks like liquid gold! It's made with Walnut Shells and Aloe Vera so it's really natural and good for your skin. When I used this scrub it felt almost creamy which added a really nice luxurious feel to it. As I was working it into my skin, it didn't feel too bitty which I really enjoy in body scrubs. There's nothing worse than using a body scrub and all you can feel is big clumps of scrub.


This scrub left my skin feeling really soft and moisturised. It wasn't harsh on my skin but I definitely exfoliated well. This is £14 for a 250ml bottle which is super affordable for the quality it is!

 
Emma, also sent me the Marine Mud Mask. I got 2 applications of this mask out of the pot I was sent - little definitely goes a long way with this mask. This mask exfoliates as well as deeply cleansing my skin. The mask takes 15-20 minutes to dry. Whilst it's drying, it feels really tight but in a really good way because you know it's cleaning away any impurities in your skin.


This mask made my skin feel really soft and to be honest, my skin has never looked better after using a face mask. This mask is £25 for a 200ml which should be enough for between 25 and 30 applications.

These products are incredible and I whole heartedly recommend them to any of you out there looking for some amazing new products to try out!

Thank you so much for reading this post and don't forget to follow @emm_azing_beauty_treats and instagram and hop over to Emma's facebook here.

Love Lou
xxxx

Qotp - Have you ever tried any products from NU Skin?

*This products were kindly sent to me but all opinions are my own*
November 16, 2016 No comments
Hey everyone,

It's been a couple of weeks since I last did a baking post, so today I thought I'd share with you the recipe for a flourless chocolate cake! Enjoy - xxx.

Ingredients (roughly 12 slices):

250g of Unsalted Butter
300g of Dark Chocolate
365g of Light Brown Muscovado Sugar
135g of Ground Hazelnuts - you can blend them for 2 minutes in a food processor
85g of Cocoa Powder
6 Large Eggs
1 Vanilla Pod (split and seeds scraped out) or 1 tsp. of Vanilla Extract
1 and 1/2 tsp. of Sea Salt Flakes

Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F/Gas Mark 4. Grease and line a 23cm baking tin.

Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk to combine, then add the sugar and sift in the ground hazelnuts and cocoa powder.

Add the eggs, vanilla seeds and salt, giving it a good stir to mix. Pour the batter into the baking tin and bake for 30 minutes. After this time the cake should have risen but still have a slight wobble at the centre.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly before serving with salted caramel or chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream. It will stay gooey for several days wrapped in clingfilm and is equally delicious served cols with crème fraiche.

So, I hope you enjoyed this post and if you recreate this recipe, post a picture on instagram and tag me @louloves01 and #bakingwithlouloves.

Love Lou
xxxx

Qotp - If you could take one make up item to a dessert island, what would it be?

Aotp - Definitely my Seventeen Stay Time Concealer.
November 14, 2016 No comments
Hey everyone,

Since it's getting into winter, I thought I would share with you the things I couldn't love with out during the colder months. Enjoy! xxx


The best moisturiser I have ever tried is the Nivea Rich Regenerating Night Cream. This is absolutely perfect for getting rid of any dry and chapped winter skin. The good thing is, one of these £4.19 lasts me all winter and I use it every single day! Affordable and amazing quality, what more could you ask for?!?


Through out Winter I can't help but love a berry lip. The one I have been loving so far this year is MAC's Plumful. It's the perfect rose/berry shade and suits nearly every skin tone so it's perfect for nearly all of you reading this. Another bonus is that it lasts through eating and drinking so it's great for the festive season. All MAC lipsticks are £15.50 - some may think this is really over priced but the quality and longevity of these are incredible!


A bath product that I am using all the time so far this is Zoella's Sugar Dip bath salts. These are from the new(ish) Sweet Inspirations range which is most probably my favourite scent of all the collections so far. It has the scent of macaroons and toasted almonds. These bath salts are surprisingly really moisturising and the scent stays in the room for ages which is a bit of an added bonus. These were £6 and they have lasted really well so far - I have been using them for just over 2 months and they have hardly gone down at all!!!


Another product that I can't live without through is the Lush Christmas range. This year, has so many amazing new products, like Snowie (£4.25) and Ruby Red Slippers (£3.95). And there is also the return of so many long term products like Magic Wand (£5.95), Shoot for the Stars (£4.25) and So White (£3.75).  I always look forward to the release of Lush Christmas but this year I seem to have been even more excited for some reason.


Last but certainly not least, is the Superdrug exclusive Barry M nail varnish in the shade Twinkle Twinkle. This shade was released in the Autumn/Christmas collection and it is the perfect shade for Christmas. It is a coppery shade with fine silver glitter which adds a really nice. The Barry M nail varnishes last just over a week without chipping - only with a top coat of course. They are also really affordable - they retail at £3.99.

Thank you so much for reading, and I will see you very, very soon.

Love Lou
xxx

Qotp - What could you not live without during the winter months?

Also, do you like my new photo background - I thought I'd change it up a bit!

Links:

Nivea Night Moisturiser
MAC Lustre in Plumful
Zoella Beauty Sugar Dip
Lush Christmas - Snowie
                             Ruby Red Slippers
                             Magic Wand
                             Shoot for the Stars
                             So White
Barry M Nail Varnish in Twinkle Twinkle
November 09, 2016 2 comments
Hey everyone,

It seems like I haven't done a baking post for you all in ages! So today, I'm going to be sharing with you my recipe for rocky road! Enjoy! xxx

Ingredients: (Serves 8-10)

20cm Square Baking Tin
Greaseproof Paper
150g of Unsalted Butter
350g of Dark Chocolate
4 tbsp. of Golden Syrup
250g of Maryland Cookies
150g of Mini Marshmallows
50g of Glace Cherries
Icing Sugar, To dust

Line a 20cm square baking tin with greaseproof paper.

Melt the butter, chocolate and golden syrup together in a saucepan over a low heat

Put the cookies into a ziplock bag and bash with a rolling pin until you have a mixture of big chunks and crumbs

Pour the crushed cookies into the chocolate mixture along with the mini marshmallows and glace cherries. Stir it in.


Pour the mixture into the tin, cover with clingfilm and transfer to the fridge and set for a minimum of 2 hours.


Remove from the fridge. turn upside down onto a plate and peel of the greaseproof paper. Dust with icing sugar, and cut into bars.

Thank you so much, and if you recreate this recipe, post a picture on instagram with #bakingwithlouloves01 and tag me - @louloves01

Love Lou
xxxxx
November 07, 2016 No comments
Hey everyone,

As you probably already know, I have had my Naked Palette for quite some time now. But, I realised I have never done a tutorial with it! So, that's exactly what I'm going to do today! Enjoy! xxx

First of all, I prime my eyes using the Smashbox Photo Finish 24hr Shadow Primer. This basically sticks your eyeshdow to your lid! It's incredible!

Then I use the shade Naked all over my lid. Naked is a classical warm brown nude which is perfect in autumn. I then add the shade Buck into the crease to add depth to my eye. On the inner 2/3 of my lid I blend in the shade Half Baked which is the most gorgeous glittery gold I have ever seen!

To finish off my eye, I add Darkhorse into the outer corner, Virgin into my inner corner and Creep across my lash line.

Next, I do a thin line of Supercat Skinny eyeliner across my lash line and wing it out. I do this by wetting a Real Techniques Fine Liner Brush and dipping it into the shade Creep and mapping out the angle I want the flick to be at. I then go over with my liquid eyeliner.

For my lashes, I'm using Maybelline the Colossal Go Extreme volume mascara on my top and bottom lashes. This is by far my favourite mascara of all time. It lengthens and volumises your lashes to create a full but fluttery look.

Under my eyes I'm using the Seventeen Stay Time Concealer and using Soap and Glory Blur + Brighten concealer on any where else.

In my brows, I use the shade Naked which is perfect for anyone with dark blonde hair.

Across my lower lash line, I blend the shade Bookworm from Tanya Burr's Hollywod palette which is an almost perfect match for the shade Buck.

And finally, to finish off the look, I used the shade plumful which is a gorgeous rose plum shade.

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this post. I will see you all very, very soon,

Love Lou
xxxx

Qotp - What are your top 3 eyeshadow palettes?

Aotp -  Urban Decay Naked palette, L'Oreal La Palette Nude and Tanya Burr's Hollywod palette.

Links:

Smashbox 24hr shadow primer
Naked Palette.
Soap and Glory Supercat Skinny
Tanya Burr's Hollywood Palette
Maybelline the Colossal Go Extreme volume
Seventeen Stay Time Concealer
Soap and Glory Blur and Brighten Concealer

Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush
Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush
Real Techniques Shading Brush
Real Techniques Brow Brush
Real Techniques Accent Brush
Real Techniques Fine Liner Brush
L'Oreal Brush (Came in La Palette Nude)
Urban Decay Brush (Came in my Naked palette)
PS Pro Beauty Blender
November 04, 2016 2 comments
Hey everyone,

If you read my post a few days ago, you would know that I went to Poole on a weekend break. Whilst I was there, I did a bit of shopping so today I thought I'd share with you the new bits and bobs that I got. Enjoy!

First of all, I went to Lush. If you didn't already know, the Lush in Poole is the original store. It was such a cool experience seeing the original shop I'd only seen in photos before. Anyway, the Lush Christmas range has been released so I picked up two of my favourite ever Lush products. I got the Magic Wand reusable Bubble Bar and Shoot for the Stars Bath Bomb. Magic Wand is a really sweet scented bright pink star that you swirl into running water. Shoot for the stars on the other hand has a scent of honey and orange that is perfect in Winter. Magic Wand retails at £5.95 and Shoot for the Stars retails at £4.25.


Next, I went to Superdrug and went straight to the Barry M counter. After seeing the Barry M instagram story about a month ago I fell in love with the exclusive Superdrug nail varnish in the shade Twinkle Twinkle. The shade itself is really hard to describe! The only way I can describe it is a silver copper. Does that make sense at all?!? It's one of the shades you have to see for yourself to know what I'm on about! This was £3.99 and the quality is amazing! On the Maybelline stand I saw they had released 3 Autumn Baby Lips - Chai Tea Latte, Vanilla Cupcake and Pumpkin Spice. So, I picked up Vanilla Cupcake but now I really want the other two. Baby Lips are only £2.99 which is really good for the quality that they are. When I was at the till, I saw that Travel size of the Garnier Micellar Cleansing water was on offer to £1 so I thought I'd pick one up.


Finally, I popped into Boots in search of a new mascara. I was walking up and down the aisles and at the Maybelline counter I noticed the Colossal Go Extreme Volume mascara. This brush is amazing. It's quite a chunky, rounded brush, but the actual wand has 2 curves on it which means you can either do 1 pump or 2 pumps of mascara depending on how volumised you want your lashes to be. The quality of this is amazing and it doesn't fake off at all - it retails at £6.99.

Thanks so much for reading, and I will see you all very, very soon,

Love Lou
xxx

Qotp - What is your go-to cleanser?

Aotp - Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water.

Links:

Magic Wand
Shoot for the Stars
Barry M Twinkle Twinkle
Baby Lips Vanilla Cupcake
Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water
Maybelline the Colossal Go Extreme volume
November 02, 2016 No comments
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