Winterlicious Tag | Christmas Countdown

  Hello Everyone! After deciding to take a break from blogging for several reasons I have finally decided to slowly come back and start again. Because it's December I think it is perfectly acceptable to introduce a winterlicious tag to my blog, surely?   1. Favourite Winter Nail Polish?  My favourite winter nail polish would have to be any dark browns/maroon colours from Essie and Barry M.   2. Favourite Winter Lip Product? I've been wearing the Kate Moss Lipstick in the shade 107. It's a beautiful dark red shade, perfect for winter colours.   3. Most Worn Winter Clothing Piece? I've recently just bought a new coat because my other one was getting old and tatty, so I've been wearing that an awful lot seeming as the weather is getting colder and colder every day, it's definitely necessary!    4. Most Worn Winter Accessory?  I've been wearing a lot of scarfs due to the cold weather, but I also recently bought a 'ear warmer' head band. It looks really cute and decided to try pull it off myself.   5. Favourite Winter Scent/Candle? I really like Bath & Body Work's candle Vanilla Pumpkin Marshmallow, I bought this back near Halloween but I'm still burning it and it smells really christmasy too. I've also been burning my other candle Mistletoe which smells amazing!   6. Favourite Winter Beverage? Recently I've been going Late Night Shopping, which is a perfect excuse to buy some Costa or Starbucks. I love the White Hot Chocolate from Costa the best, not to mention the cute festive cups!   7. All Time Favourite Christmas Film? I love watching Christmas films so I've watched a lot in my time however, if I had to choose it would be Elf by far!   8. Favourite Christmas Holiday Song? I've been loving Leona Lewis's song One More Sleep and also Ariana Grande's Santa Tell Me.   9. Favourite Holiday Food/Treat? I love Christmas time because of the food, who doesn't? This year I've been loving pretzels, plain ones, chocolate covered ones! Love them!   10. What Is Your Favourite Christmas Decoration This Year? Um, that's a hard one because I just love decorations! But, I'll go with this flickering candle I have. It was one of my deceased family member's so it means a lot to me and its also just so beautiful to watch.   11. What's At The Top Of Your List? I haven't really asked for anything specific this year actually so this is a little tricky to answer, I'm grateful for whatever!   12. What Are Your Plans For The Holidays This Year? I'm currently writing up a 'Winter Bucketlist' as I do with every season now and basically I will just slowly tick off throughout Winter the things I do that I wrote down. My main one this year is do to more baking for people and I also really want to go Christmas shopping with my family like I do every year.   I absolutely love tags so if anyone else wants to do this than I tag you to do so! I hope your all having a good start to December and I'll speak real soon!    -Lowenna x    

I Heart Summer | Tag

Hello Everyone!

Seeming as it's almost time for Summer, schools are breaking out and the weathers getting warmer I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to do the I Heart Summer Tag that I sore on Christine's Blog. 

1. Favorite Summer drink?

Hm, any type of mocktail probably.

2. Favorite Summer lip product?

I've recently been using a lot of my Rimmel London 1000 Kisses in the shade 700 'Nothing But Nude' which is a really light peachy colour. I also love using The Body Shop's 100% Natural Roll On Lip balm in Coconut to give it a shine.

3. Pool or Beach?

Beach!

4. What's your must have Summer hair styling product?

I absolutely love L'Oreal Paris Studio Matt & Messy Salt Spray, lightly sprayed into the hair it gives really lose beachy waves, perfect for the Summer!

5. Sun bathing or fake tan?

Sun bathing, more natural and who doesn't like to sun bathe? 

6. Favorite Summer nail polish?

I've recently been wearing the Rimmel London 60 Seconds in the shade 842 'Too cool to tango', its a baby pastel blue which pretty much goes with anything and everything, really summery colors.

7. Any Summer traditions?

Well I used to go to a certain beach in the evenings and have a small BBQ on the beach with my family however, we haven't been for a few years so maybe not a tradition but its a fun thing we like to do now and then.

8. Favorite Summer Scent?  

I've recently been using a spray by Elle, a light fruity scent.

9. Favorite BBQ food?

For food, I'd have to say burgers! But we all know we have to say Smores!

10. Any Summer vocation plans this year?

I am traveling to Gran Canaria (Canary Islands) for a 2 week holiday, first time abroad, definitely excited!

I tag anyone and everyone that wants to do this. If you have any summer plans then let me know in the comments. 

What's your plans for Summer?

Tanya Burr Nail Varnish | Bright And Early

Hello everyone!  If you follow me on instragram or twitter you'll probably already know that is was my birthday lately, one of my presents from my best friend was this Nail Varnish by Tanya Burr, if you don't know who Tanya is, where have you even been lately? However, as I'm such a big fan of Tanya I was so excited to try it, I can honestly say its my best nail varnish I've ever owned, not to mention the beautiful shades she has. I have the 'Bright And Early' shade which is a beautiful coral like shade, I think its absolutely perfect for spring and especially summer, it really brightens any outfit. 
Doing my nails are like doing chores, I hate doing them. Mainly because I cant stay still enough for it to dry and then it goes everywhere and looks a mess. However, when I tried Tanya's Nail Varnish it dried surprisingly fast so I don't have to worry about messing my nails up, which makes me even more happier. I never used to go for bright or bold nail varnish's, I sort of lingered around the darker shades, however lately I've been feeling rather outgoing with nail colours and because this shade is so pretty, I just can't not wear it. If anyone is looking for a nail varnish, look no further because Tanya's Collection is honestly so beautiful and they're amazing quality, in fact I recommend to everyone watching this, go get yourself one or even them all, they're just so beautiful.
Have you tried Tanya's Nail Varnish's? What shades your favorite?

Lush Haul | Easter

Hello everyone!

So of course as its Easter, not going into lush is just not an option. It was very hard to not go bankrupt in there as I just wanted to buy anything and everything which smells good, which is pretty much everything? 

I firstly picked up the Creamy Candy Bath Bubble bar, which smells literately like candy and candyfloss. I then picked up the cute Fluffy Egg bath bomb in the shape of a Easter egg, yes Easter egg! I then came across the Golden Egg which I just couldn't leave on the shelf. However, I've heard some stuff about the glittery bath melts that the glitter gets everywhere, but nevertheless its glitter, who cares where it goes? Not me!

They all smell so amazing and I can't wait to try them out, I still have bath bombs from Christmas. Is that bad?

Have you tried any Easter Lush products?
  

Tips & Tricks & DIY Stationary Holder | GCSE Revision

 Hello Everyone!

So lately I've been extremely busy with revision for my GCSE's, so I can understand how frustrating revision is and having to remember everything, so I thought I'd do a post on my tips and advice for revising. I hope some of you find this helpful.

 So what I usually do is get out all my books for any subjects I need to revise for, I first of start of by flicking through them and remembering the topics and things I need to cover. Personally, I find cue-cards the best strategy of revision, so what I usually do for this is I find some colorful card/paper and cut the A4 pieces in half. From there I just go in topics and write down important things I need to remember and key facts etc, I find it much easier to do this all very colorful as I find its more creative and I just generally remember more like this. I also at the end of each topic, say maths, I usually leave a few questions to answer at the end and when it comes to the day of the exam I read through the cards and do the questions at the end as I find that refreshes your mind more.

I also lately created this shall I call it, stationary holder? I used to have all my stationary in a draw in a big ol' mess, which made it extremely difficult and annoying to find any pens or pencils I need. All you will need for this is:

A shoe box or any box of your choice

Lots & lots of toilet roll tubes

Glue Gun

I went for a smallish shoe box as that is much easier to store but also, the toilet roll tubes wouldn't all fit in a bigger one. I skipped this step however, you can paint the box and the tubes all different colours to make it even more better. Please ask for help on this step if your not comfortable with using a glue gun, you want to arrange all the tubes in the box until your happy, once you are happy get a hot glue gun and glue the bottom of the tubes and hold them down tightly to the box, this will stop the tubes sliding around. I find this stationary holder so so helpful, specially for revising as its all there and organised and there's no need for endlessly looking for your pens etc in a unorganized draws.

I hope I helped some of you in some way, if your currently revising for any exams, be it non GCSE, I wish you the best of luck.

I Heart Spring | Tag

Hello everyone!  Can I just start this post of by saying that I'm sorry for the lack of posts at the moment, I'm currently doing my GCSE's and my free time is slowly slipping away, however I will try to write as many posts as I can.     So as it's officially Spring and all the clocks have changed, I thought what better time do to a Spring tag than now? So lets get into it.
1. What's your favorite Spring nail polish? I've really been liking the pastel colours at the moment, I have a light blue nail polish by Rimmel London that I've been loving lately, so probably that.
2. What is your must-have lip colour this spring? I've lately been using the 1000 Kisses Lip Stain by Rimmel London, which I love. The colour is a lovely subtle pink, definitely my go to lip stain.
3. What is your favorite Spring dress? Where I live it doesn't get very warm in the spring, so I most likely wont be wearing a dress however I have been wearing a grey and black dress that I got from New Look which I wear with tights, but unfortunately Spring for me where I live, is still like Winter.
4. What is your favorite Spring flower? I really love a bunch of daffodils in the spring, they just bring any room to life.
5. Favorite Spring accessory? Lately I've really been into wearing my earrings alot more so I'd have to say earrings because I've been going mad and buying all different ones lately.
6. What Spring trends are you most excited about this year? I've really been loving all the pastel colours out recently, I think they're just beautiful shades. I'd have to say that's something I'm excited about.
7. Favorite Spring candle? Before Christmas I purchased a Mistletoe Bouquet Candle and unfortunately I never burned it over the Christmas period, I recently rediscovered it and surprisingly it doesn't smell much like a festive candle, so I've been burning that recently alot.
8. Favorite body spray for the Spring? I've recently been using Body Shop's Jasmine Body Mist, its a gorgeous sweet smell, definitely trying some more of them out soon.
9. Whats your favorite thing about Spring? Not only because my birthday happens to be in Spring, but the way the weather gets warmer, flowers come out and it all just looks beautiful.
10. Any plans for Spring break? Unfortunately no, however I am preparing for a vacation in the summer.
So I hope you enjoyed my Spring tag, I tag everyone and anyone that wants to do it. I love Spring, whats your favorite thing about Spring?

Lasting Finish 1000 Kisses | Rimmel London

Hello Everyone!

So lately I've been coming across a outrageous amount of blog posts and reviews on lip stains and because they're so highly recommended I thought what better way to know than to find out yourself, so I went out and got one.

I came across this one by Rimmel London and I just loved the colour, a subtle pinky shade, I had to try it. I think the only down fall with this is that the nub at the end dries out fast, you have to keep wiping it with a tissue to get the colour to come out better, however the colour comes out beautifully.

It's not only a lip stain, but on the other end it has a lip balm part and you apply this after you apply your lip stain to give it a shiny effect. Now, at first I thought this could get quite messy because as we all know lipstick transfers onto lip balms, however! This lip stain is transfer-proof, which means that no colour gets transfered onto the lip balm side which is just amazing because you can carry this stick around and if you need to moisturize your lips there's no need to bring another lip balm because its got no transferred lipstick/stains on it, it's amazing. I really like this lip stain, one of my favorite lipstick/stains. I'm going to have to go back and get all the shades because I've not worn any other lipsticks since buying this, honest.

Have you tried this lip stain yet? What shade do you proffer?

Spring Outfit Ideas | Polyvore

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

Set 4

Hello everyone!

Today I thought I'd share with you a new series I hope to continue on my blog. I recently re-discovered my Polyvore account and so I thought it would be a great way of me to give you all some ideas about the up and coming season, in our case Spring. I put together 4 different outfits which personally, I'd love to wear. I left a link underneath each image so you can pop over to my polyvore account because when you click on a item on the collages it says where and how much you can buy them from so if you really like any specific items then definitely try that out.

So for outfit number 1, I wanted to go for a chilled almost every day sort of outfit. Now, if you live in a hot place then this would be a perfect outfit, however where I live it never really gets too warm in the spring so you'd hardly see us in shorts any time soon. I really like the high socks with the shorts I think it creates a cute look specially adding the black boots finishes it off. For outfit 2 I really liked the girly feel to this outfit, I absolutely love the dress and with all the flowery accessories, I think pulls it all off.
If you want a really girly look, outfit 3 is perfect for you especially if you live somewhere where its warm in spring time. I think the pastel colours are just gorgeous colours, specially for Spring. Outfit 4 is something that I'd more go for as it doesn't get very warm in Spring, or even at all so the jeans and long sleeves is perfect for if you live somewhere a little colder. 

I really enjoyed doing this post, if you want to see more like these just leave me comment, if you recreate any of these outfits send me a picture on Instragram with the #OutfitsWithLola.

Valentines Baking | Raspberry Macaroons

Ingredients:

• 1 Sachet of Macaroon Mix (Included)
• 1 Sachet of Icing Mix (Included)
• 2 Large Eggs
• 50g Butter
• 1tbsp of Milk

Equipment Needed:

• Piping Bag (Included)
• 2 Mixing Bowls
• Electric Hand Mixer or by hand
• Spoons
• Baking Trays
• Grease-proof Paper

So, the first step is to line your baking trays with grease-proof paper so when your macaroons are cooked they don't stick to the tray. 

Then you want to get your 2 large eggs and separate the egg whites, this can be quite tricky so seek help if need be. You then once you've separated them, want to get a electric mixer and mix the egg whites until it forms peaks and becomes almost foam like. You don't have to use a electric mixer however doing it by hand takes a lot longer so a electric mixer is a better option.

Once you've whisked the egg whites you want to add the Macaroon Baking Mix that is included and you want to FOLD them in. Make sure you fold not stir because this creates air pockets in the mixture and that's crucial to create a perfect macaroon. Once you've folded it all together the mixture should turn a nice pinky colour, you then want to scoop it into your piping bag and this bit can also be a little tricky so seek help if you need it. The next part is up to you, if you want to make big macaroons you will need to pipe bigger circles and if smaller, smaller circles. Tip: Make sure you do them in pairs other whise you could end up with a random lonely one. 

You want to put your macaroons in a cold oven, no preheating, and put the temperature to 50'c so the temperature will slowly rise around your macaroons. You want to keep it on 50'c for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes of being on 50'c, you want to turn the heat up to 150'c for the last 15 minutes and at this stage they will be looking flat but they will start to rise within the next 15 minutes.

Whilst the macaroons rise in the oven you want to make the icing, for this you'll need to mix with a electric mixer the 50g of butter until it becomes soft, you then want to add the Icing Mix and the 1tbsp of Milk and again mix with the electric mixer, once it looks like the following you want to take your macaroons out the oven once they're done and let them cool. Once they're cool you want to spoon the icing in between the two macaroons like a sandwich and presto, you've got some yummy Macaroons.

So, I hope you guys enjoyed this tutorial on baking Macaroons. It was alot of fun to make however getting flour etc over my camera was not a good idea. I'd love to do some more baking tutorials for you all, if you have any ideas on what you'd like to see let me know in the comments. If you recreate these macaroons or similar, instragram or tweet me a picture with the #BakingWithLola. I hope you guys enjoyed this, I know I did by eating them.

Photography Shoot | Abandonded Interior Shoot

Hello Everyone!

So today I've come to you with a complete different post, yes photography.

I've been wanting to do a photography based post on my blog for awhile but I never really came round to doing it, however today I am. So if you didn't already know, I'm currently studying a photography course and its the most fun I've ever had in any subject and lately we were assigned to take a interior shoot of abandoned places. If you don't know what any of that means, it basically means to do a photo shoot on the inside (interior) of abandoned or old places/houses. I'm quite lucky where I live because I have abandoned mine houses all around me so this was pretty easy to pick what and where I was taking this shoot. Firstly, I came up with the idea of having a filter of black and white to create a darker and almost creepier effect on my images. I wont go into technical terms because I'm sure most of you wont or don't want to know what they mean. So here are some of the best photos I took.

I hope you enjoyed this post, if you want to see any more than please let me know because I'd love to do more. I'm actually this week coming being assigned to do a portraiture shoot so if any of you want to see that then I'll be more than happy to write up a post for you. If any of you do a photography course or just love doing photography, I'd love to see your images so if you'd like to share them then tweet or instragram me the images with the #PhotographyWithLola. Hope you enjoyed this, see you next week.