Lola's

Stuck for a gift idea? Trust me, cupcakes will go down a treat with pretty much anyone you know. Unless of course, they don't like cupcakes, in which case, definitely don’t trust them.

My obsession started last week when my good friend Laura brought me a box when I was unwell, what a total gem.

Let me tell you now, they were certainly the best way to celebrate feeling better!

I've never eaten such a delicious cupcake in all my whole 23 years.

The strawberry one has got to be my absolute favourite, with raspberry coming a very close second! I think I'm even planning on arranging a giant Lola’s strawberry cupcake as my wedding cake, it's really that good. I’d go as far as saying it’s the most delicious thing you can do with your clothes on! tehe

I've nipped into Selfridges since then to stock up too. Yes, I am a huge fatty, I know, I know.

If you're planning on Christmas shopping in central London, I'd definitely recommend hitting the Lolas' cafe in Selfriges. If you’re not keen on spending a great deal, you can even order just one cupcake, it'll come in a cute single box too.

I'm planning on eating my way through every flavor, so far I've tried and tested Oreo, red velvet, banana, raspberry and strawberry. 

Being a huge foody myself, I think these are a perfect present for someone, great to take home this Christmas for your pals or parents. The best part? You can even order them online on the Lolas Kitchen website, a savior for all you last minute shoppers out there. I'm not judging, I'm one of those too.

Have you ever had lolas cupcakes?

Tonight I'm going ice-skating in Winter Wonderland with the girls from work, I'm slightly terrified about this! It should be really Christmassy though, I can't wait to hit the carousel bar (oh yes, a bar on a carousel that rotates as you drink,), eat candy floss and poop myself on rollercoaster’s. Have any of you been before? Let me know if it's good!

Sorry I haven't really done any beauty related posts lately, I'll be back on it soon :)

My new Make-up Artist website...

Hey darlings,

it's an exciting day for me, my new make up artist website, alittlebeautyspot.co.uk went live today!

This is just a sneaky snapshop but I do hope you'll all go and take a look and tell me what you think?
If you know anyone who's planning on getting their make up done, please send them my way :)

Burberry

I fell totally and utterly in love last weekend.
I took a little trip in to Burberry on Oxford street, purely to help my boyfriend pick out a new trench coat.
I'd promised myself that I would keep my eyes tightly shut and walk straight past the women’s department, knowing it was more than likely I would spy something I'd fall desperately in love with, consequently spending the next few months in agony not being able to purchase it.

Trust me to go ahead and spot possibly the most expensive trench they have in the whole bloody women’s department. A whopping £3,500.
Isn't it gorgeous? And besides, who doesn't want to shop somewhere where they offer you wine?!

I just love how this is a such a stunning fashion twist on the classic iconic trench. It's such a statement with the studded leather arms and luxurious real fur collar. *swoons*

Can anyone suggest a good high street copy? I haven't seen anything like this, so please let me know if there's a more affordable version!

Have you ever fallen in love with something completely out of your price range?

Byron

It's no secret; I am a huge cheeseburger fan.

No one can possibly comprehend how happy this particular cheeseburger made me. C'mon, after being cooped up and ill for nearly 2 weeks, you can hardly blame me for my hugely ridiculous cheeseburger craving? I even dreamt about the bloody things.

I opted for my usual, the cheddar cheeseburger (I like it rare), and skinny fries (you also have the option for chicken, or veggie burgers too). Absolute perfection and I enjoyed every single last morsel!

Byron has a busy, bustling, diner style atmosphere, and speedy, friendly service. At around £8 per burger, it’s very affordable, and for all you Nandos fans, Byron completely blows it out of the water.

We certainly arrived at the right time because by the time we'd finished up, there was a queue out the door, halfway down the street! Now, that's when you know it's a going to be a good burger, yes?

In fact, I’d even say it’s worth swinging by just to try the milkshakes. A big Vat of creamy, delicious goodness. I recommend the strawberry one. Oh, and just incase you were wondering, yes, they do sell alcoholic beverages too, fewf!

This particular Byron is a stumble away from Leicester Square tube station, dangerously close to my office!

You'll find Byrons dotted all over London, and there is also one in Oxford and one in Kent.

Have you ever eaten in Byron? What's your burger of choice?

Youtube#10 Natural foundation tutorial

Hey there guys, hope you've all had great weekends? 
I can eat properly again now, so I'm very happy about that, I actually have a couple of restaurant reviews prepared for this week, so look out for those :)
I just thought I'd post up my latest video in case you miss it over on my Youtube channel, I hope you like it. I must admit, I did feel like a bit of an idiot filming myself in the mirror! Let me know if it helps any of you.

Bobbi Brown foundation sticks

I've been meaning to review this product for a little while now, I never thought I'd stray from my beloved Chanel foundation, but Bobbi Brown is the brand that have done it for me this time.

Being a huge fan of liquid foundation, I didn't think I would like using a stick based foundation at all, I guess I just thought it would look thick and cakey. Well, I was totally 100% wrong on that one! Meet my new favourite go-to.

It's the kind of foundation that makes your skin look flawless without actually looking like you're wearing it, that's what we're all searching for right? I apply mine with a nice big foundation brush, you hardly need any product to get a good coverage, they are easy to blend and  extremely buildable too. 

Oh, I've also been tripling them up as concealers too (which they are totally amazing for), and mixing them in with a moisturiser to make tinted moisturiser when I'm having a rare good skin day.

Yes, they are rather pricey at £28 each, but these are total gems. I can't recommend them enough!

Have you tried Bobbi Brown foundation sticks? What's your current 'go-to' foundation? 

p.s sorry for the lack of photo of the product on my face, i know it's annoying, but I'm still looking kinda mangey from being ill for so long!

Isolde

Nars Isolde instantly became my new favourite product the very first time I used it. 
I wasn't even apply it on myself, I was doing a make-up look on a model for my new website (more on that soon), and so this was a cheeky little purchase for my make-up artist kit. 
Of course I ended up dipping into it myself once I saw how stunning it was (it was bound to happen, don't judge me!).

The left shade is a gorgeous shimmery bronze-gold colour, perfect for Christmas time. I've been applying this all over the lid. Then I go into the crease with the right shade, a slightly darker, less shimmery bronze. 
The great thing about this duo (apart from the fact that there's a mirror in the compact, why don't all products do this?!), is the pigmentation. You literally need the tiniest bit on your brush and you'll get a great colour pay off. I'm hoping this means Isolde will last a long time.
Both shades in this duo have undertones of orange in, which I wasn't expecting to like on myself, man was I wrong, it's all I've been wearing.

At £24 per duo, they certainly don't come cheap, but considering the single shadows are £17 each, doesn't this count as a bargain?!
This being my first ever Nars eyeshadow purchase, I can certainly see what all the fuss is about around bloggersphere, & personally I would definitely be willing to pay it again. The only problem now is that I literally want all the shades, greedy girl.

Now I've given into the whole Nars hype, I've got my eye on the Laguna bronzer (I know the whole world seems to have this) and the Copacabana highlighter, I think they'll both be making it onto my Christmas wish list.

Have you tried Nars Isolde before? What are your favourite Nars products? Please feel free to recommend me any other duo shades or products too :)

Give-away Winner and a little update...

'Get Well' Raspberry cupcakes from my buddy | Walking to the doctors in the rain | My current favourite nail polish collaboration

Hey guys,

time to tell you who one my Chanel Giveaway! 

I'm so sorry I didn't announce the winner yesterday, those of you who follow me on Twitter or Instagram (magsy24) will know I've been really poorly for the past week and a half, I could barely muster the strength to write a text message yesterday, much less a blog post. 

Anyhoo, the winner is the lovely Megs from Wonderful You (She has a gorgeous blog, go check it out)  Congratulations, I hope you love the prints as much as I do. 

Good news folks, I'm feeling a teeny bit better today, lets hope I'm on the mend now. I've actually managed to paint my nails (Milkshake & Ice Crush both from Topshop if you were wondering) and eat some soup. After not eating for a few days now, it honestly tasted like the best thing ever! 

My lovely friend Laura came to look after me yesterday, & amongst the box of goodies she brought me were these gorgeous Lolas Cupcakes, don't they look amazing? I can't actually eat them yet, but I thought you might appreciate that the glittery raspberry one matched my nail varnish, this made me happy. It's the little things, eh?!

Chanel Give-away reminder...- NOW CLOSED

Hey lovelies, 
just a quick reminder that my Chanel print give away ends tomorrow. Three weeks flew by, huh? 
So quick, you've still got time to enter! All you have to do is be a follower of my blog on GFC and click here to leave a comment on the original post. I'll announce the winner tomorrow, good luck! 

Bread Etcetera

Pancakes for dinner anyone? 

Whenever I spy pancakes on a menu in a cafe or restaurant that's it, my minds made up. It's the inner child in me, I just love them and they're a sure way to cheer me up. I don't think I'll ever grow out of my love for pancakes. 

So, after four days of being stuck at home with stomach pains, Stef took me to 'Breads Etcetera' in Clapham tonight, for a berry pancake dinner, what a little star he is :)

Bread Etcetera is a little all day breakfast restaurant, it's self service on all different kinds of home-made breads, which you cut and toast yourself. Each table is kitted out with a little toaster on it, and jam jars for you to drink out of, cute or what?!  I had my berry pancake fix, and Stef had a beasty omelette. 

What do you think of my geeky fox jumper by the way? I'm so in love with it..

How have your weekends been? What do you do to cheer yourselves up when you're ill?

Feelin' blue

Hey kids, I thought I'd just give y'all a little update on why I've been a bit absent over here on my blog this week.
I'm writing to you from my sick bed :( Yup, I'm all tucked up with my hot water bottle and fluffy socks, on a mild dose of morphine. I must say, I'm feeling rather spaced out, typing is hard work right now...

I've been having the most awful stomach pains since Saturday, at first I thought it may have just been seriously bad lady pains, but it's been days.
So I went to the doctors yesterday morning and was sent straight up to A&E (eeep). After a lot of waiting, blood tests and a lot of prodding, they think I have a burst cyst, so sent me home with some mild morphine pills (these make me very happy and drowsy). I'm just waiting to be referred to a private doctor now, so looks like it's going to be a quiet, drugged up weekend for me.

Yesterday wasn't all bad, I finally got my new Iphone (yipee). So, that means I'm on Instagram now, I'm 'magsy24' come find me, or leave your Instagram names in the comments below :)
It's looking a bit bare at the moment as I'm too ill to photograph, but I'll upload soon I promise. 

Also, I got the issue of the magazine that I did my first make-up artist shoot for, so I'm excited to show you the photos for that soon. It was so bizarre seeing my name credited in a magazine!

Anyway, thank you so much to all of you who sent me lovely tweets and messages yesterday, honestly you cheered me up so much! I'm sure I'll be blogging from bed over the weekend. I'm sure I'll be back to my normal self in a few days, in the mean time any dad jokes, Instagram names, blog links, tumblr links and youtube videos you'd like to send me would be very much appreciated to keep me entertained!

Photo Diary#11 A weekend in Bath

Hey kids,you all seemed to like the video I popped up from the weekend, so I thought I'd show you some snaps from Bath tonight.

Last weekend, Stef and I decided to escape the hectic London life, and head to the beautiful city of Bath.
Friday night ended up being a bit of an impromptu bar crawl, starting with chocolate martinis (yes, they do actually taste of chocolate) and a bottle of wine on the train, before we had even arrived, hiccup!
We dumped our things at the hotel and headed to a few of the bars I used to go to as a student in Bath.
Needless to say, after a bottle of prossecco and a few more cocktails, we woke up a little worse for ware on Saturday morning, we're such a bad influence on each other...

We had a lovely big lie in and headed to one of my favourite pubs, 'The Raven' for one of their famous home-made pies, just what you need with a beast of a hangover. We walked around by the weir, I showed Stef a couple of my old flats, The Cresant, The Circus, and The Abbey. As we sat down in the Abbey, there was an orchestra and choir rehearsing, it was so relaxing when we were feeling a little fragile from the night before. Perfect timing!

Oh, we also paid a trip to the famous Sally Lunns tea-rooms, for a famous Sally Lunn bun, a toasted brioche type bread with melted cinnamon butter on top, UH-MA-ZING! Seriously, the best thing you will ever taste. I am currently obsessed with all things cinnamon as a result.
On Saturday night, we dined in a gorgeous candle-lit, intimate little French bistro, the food was incredible.

We did the typical tourist thing today, and visited the Roman Baths, it's got to be done hasn't it? We headed up town for a warm winter veg soup in 'Same-Same but Different' before catching the train back to Paddington.

We were so lucky with the beautiful sunny crisp winter weather, it made for some gorgeous shots! I'll admit, I did feel rather nostalgic revisiting the city that I studied and lived in for 4 years, it's always going to be nice to go back. 

Have you ever been to Bath?

Youtube#9 A Weekend in Bath

So, this video's a little different from anything I've done before, we had such a gorgeous weekend in Bath, I thought I'd share a little montage of it with you. It was so stunning, timeless and romantic, I'll always love Bath beyond belief.
Have you ever been to Bath?

Beautiful Images#3 people should fall in love with their eyes closed

All imaged from Pinterest and Tumblr

Hey guys,

I haven't done one of these posts for a while, so I thought I'd share with you my favourite images from this week.

I'm heading over the ever so beautiful Bath tonight for a little weekend get away with my boyfriend. I'm super excited, I lived there for 4 years whilst I was at University, and I can't wait to show him around. No doubt we will be doing a bar crawl, trying out some new cocktails and taking in all the sights. I can't wait to show you guys this weekends photos :)

What are you up to this weekend? Did you like my favourite pictures this week? Oh don't forget to enter my Chanel giveaway too!



MAC Trend Book Autumn/Winter 2012

Hey beautifuls, how are your weeks going so far?

I'm a tad hungover today (yes, I went out on a 'school night' again, when will I learn?!). I'm not gonna lie, I kind of wanted to wear my duvet into the office today!

Last night we went to the launch party for the new Halo 4 Xbox game, I know it sounds super geeky, but any event with a free bar you can't go wrong! I saw the Made in Chelsea chaps again, and a few of the TOWIE cast too, I didn't take any photos for you guys though 'cos I didn't wanna be all fan-girl when nobody else was really taking any photos...

Today I thought I'd show you something I am a very lucky little sausage to have. The Mac Trend book of Autumn/Winter 2012. I know this is super hard to get hold of and they only really send it to the bigger make-up artists, but my boyfriend is a jammy thing and managed to get me a copy of my own.

I absolutely love it. It basically tells you what the MAC predictions of the make-up styles that are going to be trending in all the fashion capitals like London, Paris, New York, Milan etc this season. In each shot they've done, they list the products used for each part of the face, and then describe how it was applied, so you can go off and achieve it yourself.

I've been loving all the London and New York trends, I've definitely noticed a 'no make up' make up look. I'm definitely keen to embrace that! Some of the models look like they're wearing nothing at all, but they're actually wearing rather a lot, it's so clever.

I think I'm going to try a few looks from this book and blog them for you. How do you feel about the 'no make-up' make up trend this season?