Hey everyone, today I am going to be doing a bit of a Spring Product list sorta thing but you'll get the hang out it as I go along. I hope you enjoy this post and I will see you very very soon. xx

FACE

Smashbox Hydrating Under Eye Primer
Soap and Glory Kick Ass Concealer
Smashbox 24hr Shadow Primer
Smashbox Photo Op Trio in Screen Shot (I use the shade Nectar and Cinnamon Toast in Spring)
L'Oreal La Palette Nude in Beige (I use the first 3 shades and the dark shade at the end as a liner)
Maybelline Lash Sensational (I complained about this in a recent post, but now I love it!)
Smashbox Full Exposure Mascara
Kiko Free Spirit Lip and Cheek (As a blush) - Limited Edition
Kiko Velvet Mat - Limited Edition in early 2016, so no longer sold

BRUSHES

Real Techniques Concealer Brush
EcoTools Airbrush Concealer Brush (not on website)
Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush
Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush
Real Techniques Accent Brush
Real Techniques Fine Liner Brush

The 4 shadow brushes mentioned came in a set of 5 and unfortunately, the link doesn't work on the boots website :(

OUTFIT

Primark Grey Striped Tee (Not listed)
New Look 915 Generation Dungarees
White Converse High Tops

SCENT

Katy Perry Royal Revolution
Ted Baker Pink Body Spray

Thank you so much for reading, and let me know if you want one of these every month or so,

Love Lou
xx

Hey everyone, today I am going to be doing an updated version of the Beauty Blogger Tag that I did in September last year. Let me know if there is any more tags you would want to see me do :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy this post, and I will see you very soon xx

Is you hair naturally curly or straight?

Straight

What is your natural hair colour?

Blonde / Brown

Do you dye your hair?

Nope I never have, and never will

How often do you wash your hair?

Every other day so 4 then 3

Do you wear the same style or mix it up?

A bit of both I think

Do you do your own mani/pedi or go to a salon?

I do it myself (let me know if you want a tutorial)

How often do you change your nail varnish?

Whenever I have time to

Do you polish your toes in winter?

Always, even though that is pretty odd.

How long does it take to do your make up?

30 mins to 1 hour

What's first, face or eyes?

Face 100%

Do you collect make up or just buy it when you need it?

Definitely collect. I have a bit a lot of an obsession

How often do you wear lashes?

Nope I don't

How often do you wear a full face of make up?

 2 or 3 times a week

Do you ever wear make up at home/with family?

No

Do you leave the house without make up?

Not really, maybe twice a month

How many high end products do you have?

Too many

How often do you wash your brushes?

Once a week

Do you plan your outfit?

Not really

How often do you change your handbag?

About once every 6 months

What time do you wake up?

In the week 7am but at the weekend, between 9 and 10am

How often do you work out?

Never!

Left or Right handed?

Right

How tall are you?

About 5ft 4

Do you speak a foreign language?

Yes I speak French

How many pets do you have?

A fish tank of fish so about 15

How often do you check your blog?

About once an hour!

Do you read your comments?

Yes and I reply to all :)

Do you keep a list of products that you want?

Once that I really want, yes.

How did you come up with your blog name?

I dreamt it and it just sorta stuck

What do you use to take blog photos?

Iphone 4

How often do you clean your house?

Once a week

Favourite colour?

Pink

What are you doing for the rest of your day?

Not much as it is 6pm but  I will probably write another post :)

I tag...
Marti (Pink Smarties)
Lauren 
Beth

Thank you so much for reading and I will see you soon :)

Love Lou
xxx

Hey everyone, and today I am back with another baking post. You guys, always seem to enjoy my baking posts so I am trying to do more where I can. I hope you enjoy this post and I will see you very very soon. xx

Ingredients for 8 little pots:

360ml full fat milk
420g of dark chocolate (at least 70%)
360g condensed milk
60g unsalted butter
A pinch of sea salt

Optional Extras

A bar of milk/dark chocolate for grating
Fresh rosemary sprig
Vanilla pod
Grated orange zest

Method:

Place your milk in a sauce pan (as well as your additional extras) over a medium heat and bring to boil. (If you have extras, strain the milk now). Melt the chocolate, milk, condensed milk, butter and a pinch of salt in a large saucepan over a medium to low heart and stir occasionally. When the chocolate and butter have melted, increase the heat and whisk the mixture until smooth and glossy. Divide the mixture between ramekin dishes and put in the fridge for at least 7 hours, or over night. When ready to serve take the bar of chocolate and grate over the pots :)

I hope you enjoyed this post, and I will see you very very soon.

Love Lou
xx

Hey everyone, welcome back to another post. The other day, the lovely Emsi Rose tagged me in the Starlight Blogger Award. I hope you enjoy this post and check out her post here. And, I will see you very very soon. xx

The Rules are:

Answer the 3 questions you we asked
Tag 6 more people
Ask them 3 questions

The questions Emsi asked me were:

What keeps you going when things get tough?

I don't really know to be honest. Probably, the fact that I can always distract myself by writing blog post, or chatting to you guys in some way.

What are the 3 things you want more people to know?

Oooohhhh, this one is hard. The first one being - I blog because I enjoy it - a lot of people think we blog to become famous or the classic "you're just trying to be like Zoella" when we're really not. The second one is - Don't judge people by the way they look. And finally - Don't aspire to be like people in magazines because they are incredibly photoshopped. I had a full on rant about this so click here to read more.

What's the favourite thing you like to cook?

My favourite thing to cook is the BBC Sausage and Penne Pasta Bake. My favourite thing to bake is Tanya Burr's Triple Chocolate Cookies

The 6 people I tag are:

Marti from Pink Smarties
Lauren from Lauren Joanne
Hannah from Hannah Porter
Beth from Beth May
Eve from Eve Nicholls
Alice from Girl Abroad

My questions are:

What inspired you to start blogging?
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you love?
Who would you collab with if you could collab with anyone?

Thank you so much for reading, and I will see you again tomorrow

Love Lou
xx

Hey everyone, and welcome back to another lou's guide to. Please let me know if you have anymore suggestions for these Lou's guide to as I am starting to run out of ideas. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this post and I will see you very very soon. Byeee x

There are so mine different types of lip products out there, and it can get quite over whelming, so I am going to run through some of my favourites to help out any of you looking for some new lip products.

I am going to start off talking about is glosses. I am not a huge gloss fan but when I do decide to wear one I usually like wearing the Tanya Burr ones. The 2 I am going to mention aren't sold in any shops anymore, but I have seen it on amazon, so check Amazon out if you are interested. Anyway, the 2 I like from TB cosmetics is Aurora and Cotton Cane. Aurora is a muted dark pink tone and Cotton Cane is a pale pinky colour. All of the glosses feel really smooth on the lips, but not sticky at all. Another important note, is that they do not dry out your lips at all, I have tried so so many glosses that dry out my lips, and these don't at all.

Another type of lip product I enjoy is lip crayons. I feel like they are super easy to use and require absolutely no maintenance during the day. A really super affordable one is the Barry M Matte Me Up Lip Crayon - I think there is about 5 colours in the range and I feel like they would suit any skin tone. I have one in shade number 2 which is a beautiful Barbie/pale pink that looks great in spring/summer. A slightly pricier one is the Kiko Lovegrove Free Spirit Lip and Cheek Crayon. If you are interested in these you might want to get your hands on one pretty quickly as they are running out super fast. I have the one in the shade 105 and it is a lovely, muted mauve/pink colour - its really hard to describe.

The final lip products I am going to talk about is lipsticks. I feel like lipsticks are a good option if you are going out for a little while, or can easily re-apply because they can be quite high maintenance. Some of my favourite drugstore ones are the Kiko Velvet Mat in 613 (Was Limited Edition) and Natural Collection in Pink Mallow. These are both matte shades and they are both pinky toned shades. A more high end product is MAC lipstick in Plumful. This is obviously a dark plum/ purple shade that is perfect for autumn/winter.

Thank you so much for reading,

Love Lou
xx

P.S To make up for missing posts last week I will be posting every weekday this week :)

Hey everyone, and welcome to my spring essentials. I did one of these in autumn and winter last year, so I thought you guys would like to see my spring essentials as well :) If you like post share it using the links at the bottom of the post. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this post, and I will see you again very very soon. xxxx

My first essential is a bright lipstick. I have quite a few bright coloured lipsticks so I am going to share a few of my favourites with you. My top 3 are: Kiko Deco Delight in 02 (no longer sold), Barry M Matte Me Up Crayon in 2 and Kiko Free Spirit Lip and Cheek in 105 (Limited edition - only limited time left to buy). I am a huge fan of pink toned lipsticks in spring and I also quite like a coral but I don't really have a coral lipstick, but the Tanya Burr I Found Nemo lipgloss is a really nice colour coral.

Another make-up item which is an essential in the spring is light bronze/gold eye shadows. In spring and summer I prefer to wear lighter shade eye shadows as I feel it looks really nice with the bright lipsticks. Some of my favourites so far this spring are: Smashbox Photo Op Eye Trio in Screen shot - I have been loving nectar and cinnamon toast and the first 3 shades in the L'Oreal La Palette Nude. Also, let me know if you want a spring tutorial using some of the products I have mentioned in this post :).

A bath/shower item I love in spring is body scrub. My all time favourite scrub is the Soap and Glory Scrub of your Life. It is a really exfoliating scrub, but doesn't feel too harsh on my skin, which is quite sensitive. It is in the original soap and glory scent I think, but I don't have any left so I don't really know. I do also love other soap and glory scrubs like Sugar Crush and Smoothie Star which are slightly less exfoliating but still do the job.

A more fashion related item is dungarees. Dungarees have only just become a favourite of mine, after I recently picked up a pair from New Look. I feel like they are just a bit of a change from wearing just shorts all the time, as the weather gets warmer. As soon as it hits about 20 degrees I am already in shorts and tees hehe

A final essential of mine is, a light fruity scent. I never really had a "go to" scent until recently when I started using Katy Perry's Royal Revolution nearly everyday! It is fruity scented but also has undertones of vanilla which pretty much makes it my perfect spring/summer scent!

I'm sorry this post was 2 days late but I have been super busy. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post, and let me know in the comments - what is your number 1 spring essential?

Love Lou xxx

Hey everyone, and welcome to my April favourites! Today, I am going to be sharing with you some bits and bobs that I have loved throughout April! I hope you enjoy this post and I will see you all again soon. xx

Beauty

Alberto Balsam Juicy Green Apple Shampoo

I have fallen in love with this shampoo through out April. This shampoo is for normal to greasy hair. I picked this up because at the end of last month my hair was looking quite greasy - even on 2nd day hair! So, I picked this up in Boots and it has completely changed my hair. It makes it look shiny and healthy but without looking greasy, like other shampoos. This was also really affordable as well as it was only £! As well as being sold at boots, most big supermarkets sell it as well!

Soap and Glory Kick Ass Blur and Brighten Concealer

I bought this concealer in the middle of March as a replacement for my Collection Lasting Perfection which kept on leaking all of the time. I got this, as I knew it was not going to leak because it is a stick but when you apply it onto your face it looks like a liquid concealer - it is a really weird concept but it is one of the best concealers I have ever used! It feels really creamy on my skin but still covers up all blemishes and dark circles. The only slight issue I have had with this is on any dry skin it goes quite patchy and peel-y but if you moisturise before hand it is completely fine. This was also pretty affordable as it retails at £6

Kiko Free Spirit Lip and Cheek in 105

This is a limited edition product so if you want to try this out you might want to get your hands on this pretty quickly. This is a lipstick in a pencil style which was released with Kiko's range that was designed by Ross Lovegrove. This comes in a box with the pencil and giant sharpener inside - which is super handy! This comes in 5 or 6 shades (I don't really know how many as some shades have already sold out online). I got this in the shade 105 which when lightly applied is a bright pink and when built up is a darker pink but still pretty bright. As this is limited edition it was a bit pricier than the regular kiko lipstick but - it is also nearly double the size. This retails at £9.90.

Skincare

Jack Wills Hope Cove Body Lotion

I don't think I have ever mentioned this product on my blog before which really surprises me as it is probably my most favourite body lotion of all time! I got this in the "Weekender" set by Jack Wills at Christmas so I don't know the price of this individually but I am guessing it would be between £5 and £10.  Anyway, this is a really creamy lotion and makes your skin feel really silky smooth. It also has a really nice scent, but it is really hard to describe! If you are ever in a Jack Wills store give the Hope Cove range a smell and you will know what I mean!

Nivea Rich Regenerating Night Cream

This is my all time favourite moisturiser! There isn't really much I can say about this apart from it makes your skin really soft and moisturising! This was from my favourite skincare range - Nivea dry/sensitive. As some of you long term readers many know I have been using the range for a while now, and I have never tried a bad product from the range! The range is really affordable - this moisturiser costs £ per 50ml and comes in a tub or tube - depending on which you prefer.

Scent

Royal Revolution

This perfume is by Katy Perry and I got it a few years ago for my birthday. It's a really rice fruity
scent but it has vanilla undertones which makes it perfect for all seasons. I don't actually know how much this is as I cant seem to find it anywhere - if you know let me know in the comments :).

TV and Flim

Home Fires

Season 2 started up at the beginning of April. I hadn't watched season 1 but I was told I would probably pick up what had happened as the season goes on. I have now picked up what happened and I love it. It is set around WW2 and it can get a little scary at points. If you watch it, let me know in the comments who your favourite character is.

The Durrells

The Durrells is also a show that started at the start of April. It is on 8-9pm (just before Home Fires). This, I believe, is based on a true story. It is about the Durrell family that move to the Greek island of Corfu and try to start a new life. I don't want to give away too much so I won't say too much :)

Eddie The Eagle

I went to go and see this film in the middle of April and when I went, I didn't really know what to expect but it was actually really good! It is based on British Ski Jumper Eddie Edwards - who was nicknamed Eddie the Eagle at the Olympics. It was an absolutely brilliant film and I cried (I cry at nearly everything happy in a show/film. haha).

App/Game

Food Street

I started playing this game, towards the end of April and it is brilliant. It is where you get given a restaurant thingy and you have to make orders from people using the ingredients you have grown/produced. Then, there is also community events where you compete in teams! It is a completely free available on Google Play and App Store. It does however have in-app purchases which you can choose whether or not you want to purchase anything from the app.

Youtube and Blog

Sacconejolys

I just had to include them in my favourites after the amazing announcement they made this month! I have been watching the Sacconejolys for about 3 years now - which is a long long time. (For those of you who didn't see their announcement click here to see it.

Pink Smarties (Marti)

I did a collab with Marti, and she was such a pleasure to work with, so you should definitely check out her blog

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

Love Lou
xxx

Hey everyone, and welcome back to another baking post. You all seem to like my baking posts, so I thought I would try and do more for you all. By the way, I would love to see you recreate my recipes, so if you do, share them on Instagram with #bakingwithlouloves01 so I can see your results! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this post, and I will see you very soon. xxx

Ingredients (15 - 35 pieces - depending on the size you want)
Cake
75g Cocoa Powder
200ml Boiling Water
3/4 tsp. Bicarbonate Soda
4 Medium Eggs
370g Light Muscovado Sugar
180ml Vegetable Oil
200g Self Raising Flour
Butter/oil to grease the tray.

Topping
150g Dark Chocolate (about 50% cocoa)
3 tbsp. Milk
Small (edible) Decorations of your choice (e.g. Smarties)


Method

Whisk together, the cocoa powder and boiling water, add in the bicarbonate soda, then set aside to cool. Then, preheat your oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees fan / Gas mark 4). After preheating your oven grease a 4cm deep, 30x23 cm tray bake tin. (If you want to turn out the cake, line as well, but if you don't want to, there is no need). Whisk together the eggs, sugar and oil in a large bowl, then fold in the flour, then the cocoa solution. Pour the mixture in to your prepared tin and bake for 30 - 40 minutes or until risen and you can put in a skewer and it come out clean. Run a knife around the edge of the cake, and leave to cool.  To make the topping, break, and gently melt the chocolate with the milk, in a bowl set over a pan containing a little simmering water. Keep stirring until the mixture is smooth and then pour over the cake. Smooth the top with the back of a spoon or a palette knife. Add the decorations (roughly estimate 1 to a square), and then leave to set for a few hours. Cut into squares, bars or bite-size pieces and serve - they will keep in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks.

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

Love Lou
xxx

Hey everyone, over the time I have been wearing makeup, I have tried and tested a few mascaras. So today, I thought I would talk about some of the mascaras I have tried and what I thought of them. I hope you enjoy this post, and I will see you again very soon!

The very first mascara I ever tried was Natural Collection Lash Definition Mascara. This is a thin wand , which makes it perfect for a first time mascara as it is petty easy application and you have less chance of poking your eyeball with it (hehe). Personally, I think it is a great first time mascara but isn't so great if you have been wearing make-up for a long time. However it would be perfect if you are just looking for a bottom lash mascara as, like I said, it has a thin wand and doesn't apply too much mascara at once. This is also pretty affordable as it usually retails at about £1.99. Also, it is in really small packaging so you could just slip into your bag, or wherever you want to take it.

Next, I tried Collection Lash Volumising Mascara. I wasn't a fan of this at all. It's wand was huge, and had no shape to it at all - kinda just a blob. When it went on, it didn't give any volume of length, just sort of stuck my lashes together. I really don't recommend this for anyone - unless you want to clump all of your lashes together. This retailed for £3.99, and I think the £1.99 one was actually better!

Then I got Maybelline Lash Sensational. A lot of people here on the internet rave about this so much, but I am going to have to disagree with them! Personally, I like my lashes to look quite natural, where as this clumps 5 lashes together (and kind of makes me look a bit like spongebob hehe) The product itself is also pretty clumpy. When I take the wand out of the bottle, it has clumps of mascara on it. The one thing I do like about this, is the wand. It is a curved shape - which makes it really easy application. This retails at about £., and it is probably my favourite out of the 3 so far.

Finally, I tried my all time favourite mascara Smashbox Full Exposure Mascara. I go this mascara in a set. I always ramble on about this so if you are interested in my thoughts on it click here.

I hope you all enjoyed this post, and I will see you all very very soon
Love Lou
xx

Links

Natural Collection (New name)
Collection
Maybelline
Smashbox

Hey everyone, so recently, I went shopping and I thought I would share with you the bits I picked up because you usually enjoy hauls! Anyway, I will stop rambling and get into the post. I hope you enjoy! xx

The first thing I picked up was from boots and it is the Soap and Glory Kick Ass Blur + Brighten Concealer. I have been loving this concealer though. When it goes on, it has yellow-y undertones but I does blend out. I would recommend this if you have pink or yellow undertones to your skin. This was £6 and I think it is 100% worth every penny - of not more. I love it!

The next thing I picked up from boots was the Real Techniques Concealer Brush. I also have the EcoTools Airbrush Concealer but I found this was not that good at buffing in concealer - however it is good on blemishes. So, I picked up this in the hope that I would make blending larger areas easier - and it definitely has. I do recommend washing this first to make the bristles a little bendier this is also pretty reasonably priced - it retails at £7.99.

The final thing I picked up from boots was the EcoTools Make-up Brush Cleansing Cloths. I like these, but I don't love them. For me, I felt like they didn't get all of the excess product off my brushes for a weekly cleanse, but if you were just looking for something for a quick daily cleanse, I definitely recommend these. They were a little pricier, as they retail at £6.99.

Next, I went to Kiko and their new Wanderlust Limited Edition range was in! I automatically fell in love with the Free Spirit Lip and Cheek in 105. This can be used as a lipstick and/or a blush. I prefer using this as a lipstick but obviously, that is just my personal preference. This can be used as a vibrant spring pink that is a little dark, or quite a dark mauve-y colour which makes a pretty much all year round lipstick. This comes with it's own giant sharpener and was £9.90 which isn't bad as it is double the size of a normal lipstick.

After that, I went to Superdrug and picked up the Simple Spotless Skin Fast Action Spot Zapper. I love this and talk about it all the time so if you are interested look through my skincare posts for more info!

Then, we went to Primark and I picked up a few bits. The first thing I picked up was a t-shirt that was cream with little dots of colour through out it. It say 1976 at the top and has red hems which I thought was really cute! This was also, on sale to £3 which is absolutely insane!

The other thing I got from Primark was a ring. I already have a ring from Primark, and it was gold so I was on the hunt for a silver one. Straight away, I was drawn to this ring as it had the prettiest flower details with little diamantes as the flower buds! I posted a picture of this on my Instagram and all of you said how lovely it looked - surprisingly, it was only £1!

After a jewellery success in Primark, we went to Topshop, I wasn't actually looking for anything in Topshop but as I was walking round, I spotted a gorgeous gold necklace. It has a super thin chain and has 2 hearts inter linked with each other. I thought this was really cute so I picked it up (it retailed at £5).

The final thing I got was some dungarees. I hunted for dungarees the whole of last summer, but I couldn't find any that I actually liked. When, we were looking around the teens section I spotted these dungarees and took them to try on! They are a really soft denim which is the "classic denim" colour. These were also pretty affordable compared to other dungarees on the market - they were £17.99.

I hope you all enjoyed this post and I will see you all very very soon,
Love Lou
xxx

Links
Concealer
Concealer Brush
Cleansing Cloths
Lip and Cheek
Spot Zapper
Ring (Not Listed)
Tee (Not Listed)
Dungarees
Necklace

Hey everyone, A few of you asked me to do this post on my day in the life so I thought I would get it up for you as quick as possible. So, I will stop rambling, I hope you enjoy this post. xx

Ingredients:

Sponge:
4 oz Butter
4 oz Sugar
4 oz Flour
2 eggs                                         
A dash of milk
10 Cupcake Cases

Icing:
(No specific measurements)
Icing Sugar
Butter
Cocoa Powder

Decoration:
Mini Marshmallows
Daim Eggs
Mini Smarties
Silver Balls
Chocolate spaghetti

Method:

First weigh out all of your ingredients so you are prepared. Crack the 2 eggs into a measuring jug with the dash of milk and beat until fully mixed together - but don't over beat it. Add the butter and sugar into a big bowl and mix with an electric whisk. When it looks fluffy and doesn't feel overly grainy add into a little bit of flour and a little bit of egg/milk mixture. Repeat this each time, mixing it with an electric whisk in between each addition. When you add the last section of flour and egg/milk mixture fold not stir with a silicone spatula. (For those of you who don't know, to fold, you "cut down the middle with the spatula and fold one side into the muddle, you then repeat this until all ingredients are combined). You fold so you don't loose the fluffiness of the cakes. Then, put a generously sized blob of mixture into each case and cook for 15-20 minutes.

Once you have taken the cakes out of the oven, wait for them to fully cool before trying to ice and decorate them. In a medium sized bowl, add in some butter and icing sugar, and mix them together (and add some more in) until it looks like a buttercream consistency. Then add in the cocoa powder for the chocolate flavouring. Add most of the mixture into a piping bag and pipe from the outside in on 6 and inside out on the remaining 4 (doing it inside out creates a cute rode design). Once you have iced all of he cupcakes, cut 6 daim eggs in half, and put them either side of the spike you have made with the icing. Put 2 (or more) mini marshmallows between the 2 daim eggs and add chocolate spaghetti/sprinkles to each side. Set these to the side and start on the rose patterned cupcakes, put 3 mini eggs crossing the middle of the cupcake. Put a mini smartie in between each mini egg. Finally, add a silver ball to each side of every mini egg! And voila - 2 easter themed/all year cupcakes!

I really hope you like this post, and I will see you very very soon!
Love Lou
xxxx