Hey everyone,

Last year I did the Christmas Tag and you all loved it, so I thought I would do it again for you this year as I have quite a few more readers! Enjoy! xx

Hey everyone,

Mince Pies are a Christmas Classic and although shop bough ones taste delicious, you should definitely try this recipe to make your own this Christmas. Enjoy -xx!

Ingredients ( Makes 12 ):

60g of Cold Butter
340g of Plain Flour
110g of Cold Vegetable Fat
350g of Mincemeat
A splash of Full-fat Milk
Icing Sugar to dust

Preheat your oven to 200C/400 FAN/Gas Mark 6. Lightly grease a 12 hole cupcake tin.

Mix the flour, fat and butter between your fingers until crumbly. Add 6 tablespoons of water and combine to make a ball of pastry.

Roll out on a floured surface to a thickness of 3-4mm. Use a fluted round pastry cutter to cut 12 circles, each big enough to fit the holes in the tray.

Press the pastry down firmly in each hole and fill with a heaped tablespoon of mincemeat.

Cut out a further 12 circled to fit over the top, or use a festive cutter such as a star or Christmas tree to form a lid.

Using a pastry brush, brush the milk of the exposed pastry. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool. To finish, dust the pies with icing sugar!

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

Love Lou
xxxx

If you recreate this recipe please post a picture on instagram and tag me @louloves01 and use #bakingwithlouloves.

Hey everyone,

I love Lush, especially at Christmas so today, I thought I would share my top 10 list of Lush Christmas products! Enjoy!

Magic Wand Reusable Bubble Bar

Magic Wand is a sparkly bright pink star on a little stick that you swirl under running water and it creates gorgeous Snow Fairy scented bubbles. I can get about 20 baths out of this and it retails at £5.95 which is an amazing price compared to some of the other bubble bars.

Snowie Bubble Bar 

Snowie was a newbie this year and I love it already. This is quite a refreshing scent which is unusual for the Christmas collection. It actually has grapefruit oil in it so it's really moisturising which I think is perfect in winter. This is £4.25 which is a little pricey as it is a smaller bubble bar but the design is so cute that it's definitely worth the money.

Ruby Red Slippers Bubble Bar

This was 100% going to be in my top 10, I mean who doesn't want a Wizard of Oz themed bubble bar?!? This bubble bar is an insanely glittery bright red shoe that has quite a floral scent which usually I'm not a huge fan of but I absolutely love this one! This is £3.95 so it's definitely one of the more affordable bubble bars.

Never mind the Ballistic Bath Bomb

My first bath bomb on the list! I absolutely love the concept of this bathy bomb. It is a huge yellow bath bomb, but one side is has a bright pink bath melt over the bath bomb. This is something really different and I have never seen it done before this really one had me at hello.  This bath bomb is probably one of the biggest in the collection and it retails at £4.25.

So White

So White has been a massive favourite of mine for a long, long time. This is Snow White themed big white bath bomb with just a little splash of colour on the top from the leaf. I love the everything about this bath bomb ; the scent, the name, just everything! This is £3.75 which is so worth it for the amazing apple scented waters!

Butter Bear

Butter Bear is probably the most moisturising product in the collection. This is a really sweet scented bomb, as it does have cocoa butter and cocoa powder in it. The cocoa butter in this bath bomb makes it really moisturising - so much so the water almost feels soft (ha that probably made no sense at all). This is only £1.95 which is incredible!!!!

Luxury Lush Pud

This bright pink bath bomb certainly packs a punch. It is tonka and lavender scented which really surprised me, I didn't think it had lavender in it, but apparently it does! This is a Lush classic and I can't go through the whole of Christmas without one! This is definitely near the top of my ultimate Lush list. This is £4.25 but it is definitely worth paying a bit more for.

Golden Wonder

Another Lush classic! This one has a citrusy scent from the amazing lime and orange oils in it. But, I does have a bit of a sweet scent. For me this is a classic Christmas scent that the collection  would definitely lack without this scent. This bath bomb is by far the biggest bath bomb in the collection but retails at only £4.25 this is probably this most quantity for your money.

Sleepy Body Lotion

This body lotion is a newbie this year. I got a sample of this when I was in Lush Poole and I have fallen in love with it! It has a gorgeous lavender and gingerbread scent but the lavender isn't too strong but you can still smell it, so for me it's the perfect balance! This is £.795 for 95g or £13.95 for 215g!

Snow Fairy Body Conditioner

Last but definitely not least is this newbie! This is basically my dream product! I love the Lush body conditioners but couldn't find a scent that I 100% loved. But, whilst scrolling through all the festive goodies this caught my eye and I immediately knew it was my ideal product! This comes in 2 sizes : 100g for £7.95 or 225g for £13.95.

So, I hope you al enjoyed this post, and I will see you all tomorrow,

Love Lou
xxxxx

Hey everyone,

A couple of days ago I did a how much is my face and I promised you a tutorial on the look, so here you go! Enjoy! xx


First of all I use the Smashbox 24hr Photo Finish Eye Primer. This is perfect for keeping any shadow put all day and it doesn't crease at all!




Next, I use the shade Naked all over my lid, this is the most gorgeous warm matte brown shade and it is perfect in Autumn winter. I then use the shade Half Baked all of the lid. Finally, I use the shade Darkhorse in the outer corner to deepen the look.



Next I use my Soap and Glory Supercat Skinny Liquid Eyeliner to create a precise cat eye look. This is honestly the best liquid eyeliners I have tried and it's the best for creating a really precise flick.



To finish off my eyes, I use the Maybelline Go Colossal Extreme Volume Mascara! This is my favourite mascara by far, it creates a really nice natural look but can also be built up to create a really dramatic look!


Under my eyes and on the bridge of my nose I use the Seventeen Stay Time Concealer in the shade Extra Fair. On any of areas on my face, I use the Soap and Glory Kick Ass Blur and Brighten concealer in the shade light. This is a really blendable light weight concealer and it matches my skin tone perfectly.



Kiko Free Spirit is my lip of choice so far this autumn-winter. It was a limited edition product so it is no longer sold but many other brands do very similar shades. It is a gorgeous light plum with quite pink undertones.

So, I hope you enjoyed this post, and I will see you all tomorrow,

Love Lou
xxxxx

Hey everyone,

as you know Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, and I absolutely love it so today I'm going to be sharing with you my favourite things about Christmas! Enjoy! xx

Christmas Tree

Bare Trees

Snow (a very unreliable favourite)

Berry Lips

Christmas Jumpers

Roses Chocolates

Lush's Christmas Collection


Winter Candles

Christmas Decorations

Blankets

Christmas Lights

Blogmas!!!

Hey everyone,

I really enjoy it whenever I have a proper skincare routine that I do every night. In winter, so far I have established a pretty permanent one so I thought I'd share it with you all! Enjoy! xxx

The first thing I use is either Soap and Glory's Peaches and Clean Cleansing Milk or Garnier's Micellar Cleansing Water.


If I use Peaches and Clean, I put 2 pumps on my fingertips and start to work it into my skin making sure I get rid of any last bits of make up. For my eyes, I do a really small pump, split it between my two hands and gently rub my eyes until all of the product has come off. I then use a wet flannel to get rid of any excess product still on my face.


However, if I use the Garnier Cleansing Water, I nearly fully soak a cotton pad with the product and just move the cotton pad across my face, focussing on my eyes. This is really quick and easy for if I'm rushing a bit.



I then use my Nivea Rich Regenerating Night Cream. I have this in a pot (you can also get it in a tube) so I just get a bit of product and massage it all over my face.


Next I use my Simple Spotless Skin Rapid Spot Zapper on any blemishes and around my nose.



Finally, I use my Body Shop Born Lippy Pink Berry Lip Balm and my Zoella Beauty Wonder Hand. These are 2 of my most favourite products to use in autumn-winter.

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

Love Lou
xxxx

Hey everyone,

I love doing how much is my face posts for you all and you all seem to love them so today I'm going to be doing one on my standard look so far this December! Enjoy! xx

Smashbox 24h Hour Photo Finish Shadow Primer - £20.00



Urban Decay Solo - Half Baked - £14



(I put the link to easy baked as the website said Half Baked was blue so I went with the most similar shade)

Urban Decay Naked Palette - £38.50



Soap and Glory Supercat Skinny Liquid Eyeliner - £6.50



Maybelline Go Colossal Mascara - £6.99



Seventeen Stay Time Concealer - £4.49


Soap and Glory Blur and Brighten Concealer - £6


Kiko Free Spirit Lip and Cheek - DISCONTINUED - was £12.50





Total = £102.98

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

Love Lou
xxxxx

P.S. I'm going to be doing a tutorial on this look later in the week!

Hey everyone,

A couple of weeks ago I went to the most gorgeous garden centre and they had the most amazing Christmas display. I took a lot of photos so I thought I'd share them with you all today. Enjoy! xxx













So, I hope you enjoyed this post, thank you for reading, and I will see you again tomorrow,

Love Lou
xxxx