Best of This Years Sales

It's fair to say that I have been less than impressed with this years sales offerings overall, however there are a few items thats discounts  have caught my eye. I've rounded up what are in my opinion, twelve of the best affordable clothing and beauty items that are on sale this year. Let me know if there are any other sales and discounts that I should know about, and if you plan on purchasing anything in the sales!


Follow Nicole May's board Best of the Sales on Pinterest.

2

Almond Butter Fudge Recipe

This gooey and chocolatey almond butter fudge is not only made of healthy ingredients, but it's also quick and easy to make so it makes a great gift for someone that's more health conscious but still enjoys the occasional treat. This recipe is taken from Deliciously Ella's book.

Ingredients

2 mugs of Medjool dates

10 Tbsp of Almond Butter

4 Tbsp Coconut Oil

3 Tbsp Raw Cacao

Method

Pour the dates into a saucepan and cook them on a low heat for around ten minutes with a little boiling water, until the dates soften and become sticky. Then drain any leftover water from the pan and leave the dates to cool for a few minutes. 

Put the rest of the ingredients into a blender and gradually add the dates each time you turn off the blender to avoid the dates sticking to the blades. Once a paste has formed, line a baking tray with baking paper and evenly distribute the fudge mix. Then simply leave to set in the freezer for at least three hours, although I find leaving it overnight works best. You can then cut the fudge into squares before storing it in the freezer, and when you want a piece just simply let it warm up for a few minutes. This will prevent the rest of the fudge from getting too gooey and melting.

5

Christmas Gingerbread Recipe

Baking gingerbread biscuits each year at Christmas has become somewhat of a tradition, I love that they are so easy and quick to make and baking them makes the house smell of all the lovely warm spices used in this recipe. I'm not a fan of lengthy difficult recipes so I've made sure that this one is as concise and brief as possible! Be sure to let me know if you try and this recipe out and also let me know what you like to bake at Christmas!

Ingredients 

400g Plain Flour

180g Unsalted Butter

125g Dark Muscovado sugar 

3/4 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

2 tsp Ground Ginger

2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Ground Allspice

1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg

1/2 tsp Salt

1 Egg

125g Black Treacle

Sieve the flour, and mix it with the bicarbonate of soda, spices and the salt and set the bowl aside.

In a separate bowl mix the butter and sugar together until it becomes fluffy, then beat in the egg and add the treacle. Gradually add in the flour and combine the mixes. 

Once a dough has formed divide the mix into three and wrap it in cling film, before leaving it to rest in the fridge overnight.

Pre heat the oven to 170 degrees, and take the dough out of the fridge to soften for 10 minutes. Then roll out the dough and use cutters or a knife to cut out shapes. Be sure to keep adding flour to the surface your using and the rolling pin to stop the dough sticking. Then line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and bake for 10 minutes (although I find it's best to check after 8 minutes to avoid any burnt edges).  

You can decorate the biscuits in any way you like, I made a simple royal icing to ice mine just with icing sugar and warm water although you can just buy pre made icing to save time!

Nicole x

10

Christmas Gift Guide: For Beauty Addicts

This years offerings of Christmas beauty gifts are definitely  swoon worthy, there are almost too many to choose from. So I've chosen ten of the best gifts on offer in this gift guide, and many of them are on my own Christmas wish list too! Let me know which of these gifts you would like you would most like to find under the Christmas tree, and make sure to follow my Pinterest to see more covetable gifts I will be adding to the guides. The next gift guide will be coming on Friday, and it's for those that love to be pampered!

Nicole x

7

Christmas Gift Guide: For Pampering

Everyone deserves to pamper themselves once in a while, and these luxurious products make great gifts to encourage the recipient to treat themselves. I've picked 10 great Christmas gifts that are sure to make you feel relaxed and pampered. Let me know which of these comforting gifts you would love to be treated to, and be sure to follow my Pinterest for more gift ideas! Follow Nicole May's board Christmas Gift Guide: For Pampering on Pinterest.

0

Christmas Gift Guide: For Fashion Lovers

The first post in my gift guide series! I have selected 10 gifts which I think would make great gifts for fashion devotees, and as a fashion lover myself I can say I would love to receive any of these gifts! Most of these gifts are affordable but there are also a few luxury items to consider too! Let me know which of these gifts you would love to receive! The next guide will be aimed at beauty lovers, so keep an eye out for it! I will be adding to the gift guides as we get closer to Christmas, so follow me on Pinterest to see more ideas!

Follow Nicole May's board Christmas Gift Guide: For Fashion Lovers on Pinterest.

Nicole x

6

Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation

It's been a long while since I last used my blog, but I thought I would re-start it with a product that I've been eagerly awaiting for months now! Although a few months are nothing in the comparison to the amount of time this foundation has been in the making. This foundation has been in the works for five years, so needless to say this raised my expectations by a ridiculous amount. 

The first thing that has to be discussed with this foundation is the packaging, as always with Charlotte Tilbury products the packaging clearly looks high end and sophisticated (can I receive all my mail in a CT envelope?!). The product arrives in the usual burgundy packaging with an informative postcard, which really makes you feel like the products are worth their price tag.  The bottle is a frosted glass, and the lid is almost every bloggers favourite shade (rose gold of course!). Although the most important thing here is that the foundation has a pump, which definitely grants some bonus points.

The foundation automatically comes with three samples of the product, one of your chosen shade, a shade lighter and also a shade darker. This service is like nothing I have ever experienced with other high end brand, and I found it be extremely helpful and useful. I ordered the Shade 5, however upon using the same I realised that I had definitely overestimated my fake tans potential! I have since had the return it for an exchange, and I am awaiting my delivery of Shade 4. Unfortunately this means I was unable to include pictures of the foundation on my skin, as I'm not sure that level of orange is suitable for the human eye.

The quality of the foundation however, is impressive. The coverage is definitely high, which suits my acne prone combination skin perfectly. Although it differs from other high coverage foundations I have tried as the product really doesn't seem to try out my skin at all. It also lasts for hours, I wore the foundation until the evening at which point it was looking a little oily but this could no doubt be solved with a dusting of powder. I applied the foundation with my Real Techniques buffing brush, and the thickness of the foundation did take some getting used to. Charlotte Tilbury's video tutorials with this foundation show highly impressive results, and I think this may be partly to do with the accompanying brush she used which at £45 is sadly is beyond my brush budget.

 Overall the foundation is certainly suited to those looking for a high coverage foundation that doesn't sit in pores or dry spots. Although I would note that the pictures of shades shown on models on the website are a little misleading, which I assume is due the bright lighting used in the shots. Let me know if you are interested in trying this foundation, and also which CT products are your favourite.

Nicole x

2