August Birchbox

Birchbox £12.95*

This month's Birchbox came at perfect timing! On wednesday I fly to Amsterdam (I am ridiculously excited) and this month's box focuses on summer getaways! The little clear bag that the products come in is perfect for keeping your hand luggage liquids and it's also super cute. So, onto the contents:

Liaison de parfum £105
This perfume comes in a really cute envelope and is the perfect size for travelling, there are a few different ones that you can get in the box, the one I got was "I dare you." I think this would be better suited to more mature people, it's nice but not one that I would usually purchase. 

Number 4 Super Comb Prep and Protect £20
A leave in conditioner which you spray on your hair while it's damp, it protects it against heat and sun damage while also detangling. This smells absolutely incredible and I've been needing a new heat protectant spray as I've been trying to take better care of my hair!

Supergoop Daily Correct SPF 35 CC Cream £32
This is a CC cream which contains a really good SPF, it also claims to smooth fine lines and even the skin tone. I think this would be really great if you're going away as you don't always want to wear heavy foundations but would rather wear something lighter, it also has high SPF so it also looks after your skin.

Wild About Beauty Creme Eyeshadow £13
This creme eyeshadows is paraben free so it doesn't contain harmful chemicals, I really love this shade, it's a really pretty champagne shade which I wear quite a lot of so it's perfect for me. The formula is lovely and creamy so it applies really nicely onto my eyelids.

Nude Progenius Omega Treatment Oil £58
This is a "nourishing facial oil" which is great for hydrating skin, I really need this as my skin is very dry and lately it's been even worse. You can apply this in the morning and in the evening.

The Proposal by Tasmina Perry £7.99

I think this is a really great idea, this is the first chapter of 'The Proposal' a romantic novel. I think it's really great that the box gives you the opportunity to read the book and see if it's something you would like to carry on reading! It's also great for a quick plane ride! 

If you would like to sign up to Birchbox, you can get £5 off with the code  BBX5LIPSTICK which is valid until 5th September!

Current Favourites

Recently I've dug out my Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation, I forget how much I like this. The coverage is great but the consistency isn't too heavy and it doesn't look cakey on my skin, it also lasts all day and I don't need to re-powder my skin at all. I have been using my Real Techniques Buffing Brush to apply it with, I stopped using this brush when I bought my Sigma F80 brush as I completely fell in love with that one. However for the past month or so I have been loving this brush again, the finish it gives is just amazing! I have also rediscovered my Mac eye shadows! I have been using All That Glitters (probably one of my all time favourite shades) over the lid and a mixture of Woodwinked and Mulch on the outer corner, Woodwinked is another of my top favourite Mac shades! Finally I am still loving my Tangle Teezer, I put off buying this for absolutely ages because I didn't think I really needed it. This is so gentle on my hair and I have completely put away all my other hairbrushes and only use this one! 

What products have you been loving lately?

Banana Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting

For the sponge

4oz Caster Sugar

4oz Butter or Marg

2 eggs

4oz Self Raising Flour

4 bananas

For the Frosting

Butter or Marg

Icing Sugar

Nutella

How to make them

1) Pre-heat your oven to 180C and line a tin with cupcake cases.

 2) Cream together the butter and sugar, mix as much as you can as this makes them light and fluffy.

3) Add the eggs and mix them in with the butter and sugar mixture.

4) Sieve in the flour and gently fold it in.

5) In a separate bowl, mash the bananas and then add to the other bowl. 

6) Spoon the mixture into the cupcakes cases and put them in the oven for around 20 minutes until they are a light golden brown colour. 

7) Take them out of the oven and leave until they have cooled completely.

8) For the frosting mix icing sugar and butter together, then add the Nutella. I don't have specific measurements for this as I just guess as I go along but I generally start with about 2oz of butter and keep adding icing sugar until the mixture tastes sweet (if it's shiny at all then keep adding icing sugar as that means there's too much butter) and you can taste any butter. 

9) Put the mixture into an icing bag and pipe onto your cupcakes!

DIY Dutch Style Bike With Basket

For ages I was obsessing about the Bobbin Mint Metropole Bike but couldn't really justify spending £300 on it. Plus the fact that I live in quite a small village so I wouldn't loads of use out of it. I absolutely love these styles of bikes and think they are so adorable, plus whenever I cycle, I never have anywhere to hold my handbag! When my grandparents were moving out of their house, I found this really old bike and decided to do it up! It was really simple and only cost about £70 in total! (It would be a lot cheaper if I had kept the tyres black)

You will need

An old bike

Spray Paint

Basket

New Tyres

Any additional details you want to add

How I did it

First we* took the bike apart as much as we could, we then taped up any parts we didn't want to paint, so the handlebars, the saddle and the peddles. I bought a spray paint from Homebase, because I'm only riding the bike around where I live we bought standard spray paint but if you want a more substantial one then maybe get car paint. This is the one that I bought here, it actually worked out a lot better than I thought it would, it didn't need a huge number of coats and the colour is perfect! They had a lot of other colours to choose from so you can pick any colour you fancy, I think pink would also be really nice! This is the basket I bought, it goes with the Bobbin bikes but it works on any bike as it simply comes with straps to attach it to your bike. As I wanted the bike to look similar to the Bobbin Metropole I bought these cream tyres and just replaced the black ones with them.
Overall, I'm SO happy with how this turned out and so glad I didn't spend the £300 on the new bike when this one looks almost the same! I'm still thinking about changing the saddle slightly, maybe by covering it in fabric!

What do you think of the bike?

*I say we, my Dad did most of the taking apart and putting back together! 

Room Tour

Here's an updated room tour, I did one about a year ago when I redecorated it, this one is pretty similar but a few things have changed and I've organised things a bit differently. My room is a loft conversion (meaning I don't actually have a door!) and it's a different shape to most rooms, the ceiling is very low! Pretty much all the furniture is from Ikea, all the white drawers, dressing table, the table over my bed and pink chair are from there, as well as my duvet! The table over my bed is so handy, I generally use it when I'm on my laptop as I can sit in bed to do work, the pillow on my bed is one that I made using Ikea fabric, I love the pattern! My dressing table is also from Ikea and so are the rectangular glass pots for my brushes, the one that looks like a vase is one I got from my grandparents. The sundae style one is from The Hambledon, as is the one behind it. On my six drawer unit, I keep most of my jewellery, the plate that holds my bigger rings and the gold two tier holder are from my grandparents house. The rest are just small plates which work really well for holding jewellery! Longer necklaces are on my jewellery holder that's attached to the wall, this was from the Next sale. Then finally is my pink Ikea chair, I have my jeans piled on here because I wear them so much that I can't be bothered to hang them up! I then keep my Mulberry Bayswater (my most used handbag) on the top as I frequently reach for it!

If you want to know where anything else is from, just ask in the comments!