A Day In London

As my sister has come home from university  for a week over Easter, we decided to take a trip to London to do a bit of shopping. We spent our time in Oxford Street, Carnaby Street and Covent Garden.

I thought I'd share some pictures that I took on my iPhone of our day out including our first trip to Five Guys for lunch.

We had mid-morning coffee and cake in John Lewis. I had a latte and lemon meringue tart which was absolutely delicious.

And my sister Alice had a fruit tart and peppermint tea.  

We wandered in and out of shops along Oxford Street and also popped down to Carnaby Street for a browse in Liberty's of London and Brandy Melville. 

When we finally decided it was time for lunch, we wandered to Covent Garden because we wanted to try out the famous American burger chain Five Guys.

I had a grilled cheese sandwich with lettuce, tomato and grilled onions. I have to say I was slightly disappointed. I couldn't taste the cheese and the bun had gone soggy. Not quite what I had expected.

Alice had the vegetarian sandwich with a million different toppings which she really enjoyed.

We also had a 'little' portion of fries (Alice had the Cajun fries) and a bottomless drink each. This may have been a mistake because we both left half our chips and suffered from a sugar rush.

 

The drinks machine in Five Guys is amazing because it has so many different flavours of every drink you could ever imagine.  

I tried fruit punch lemonade, peach fanta and cherry cola and Alice tried raspberry lemonade, grape fanta and cherry-vanilla cola.

 

We left Five Guys feeling completely stuffed so we took a stroll around Covent Garden market and we even went to the Moomin shop and saw some street performers on unicycles. 

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I hope you've enjoyed this post about my day in London. Where is your favourite place to visit in London?

Charlie xxx

Easter Nests Recipe

Ingredients:

• 225g Plain Chocolate
• 2 tbsp Golden Syrup
• 50g Butter
• 75g Cornflakes
• Mini Eggs
  

Method:

1. Line a 12-hole cupcake tin with paper cases.

2. Melt the chocolate, golden syrup and butter in a bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, (do not let the base of the bowl touch the water). Stir the mixture until smooth.

3. Remove the bowl from the heat and gently stir in the cornflakes until all of the cereal is coated in the chocolate. 

4. Divide the mixture between the paper cases and press 3 chocolate eggs into the centre of each nest. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour, or until completely set.

These are perfect for giving to family and friends as a little extra treat around Easter time because they are so quick and easy to make.

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I hope you've enjoyed this Easter inspired post. Let me know in the comments if you make these.

Charlie xxx

Real Techniques Brush Collection

Real Techniques brushes are very popular among the beauty community because they are amazing brushes for an excellent price. Sam and Nic Chapman are professional make-up artists and the creators of these Real Technique make-up brushes. They are the sisters behind Pixiwoo make-up tutorials which can be found here.

 

From Left to Right: Powder Brush, Buffing Brush, Contour Brush, Pointed Foundation Brush, Detailer Brush, Shading Brush, Shading Brush. 

The Real Techniques Core Collection is probably the most popular out of the whole collection of brushes. These brushes are readily available in drugstores in the UK such as Superdrug and Boots retailing at £20.99. This set contains base makeup brushes; buffing brush, a contour brush, a pointed foundation brush and a detailer brush, which are perfect for beginners as well as more experienced make-up users. 

Buffing Brush:

This is my favourite brush in the collection because it helps to give a flawless and natural looking finish to base make-up. I use this brush to blend in my liquid foundation.The brush is excellent as it evens out foundation without absorbing a lot of the product, unlike some brushes I have used previously for applying my  foundation. 

Pointed Foundation Brush:

This is actually my least favourite brush in the set because I find it too small to use all over the face in applying my foundation. When I first used this brush I found it gave a streaky finish to my foundation and therefore I much prefer using the buffing brush. I would guess this brush could be used for concealing dark under eye circles or for concealing blemishes on the face. 

Detailer Brush:

This is an amazingly precise brush as it is so small. I like to use it to conceal small blemishes or redness around the nose. I also love to use this brush to give a softer finish to lipstick and to give an even finish over the lips. 

Contour Brush:

As I do not contour my cheeks I like to use this brush for highlighter. It picks up just the right amount of product and glides on the areas you want to highlight. For contour/bronzer I prefer to use a larger, more fluffy brush.

This set comes in a panoramic case which is great for travelling but also doubles up as a stand for the top of your dressing table. Another good use for this case is to hold the brushes upside down to dry avoiding the glue dissolving and bristles falling out.

Powder Brush:

This large, fluffy brush evenly apply powders and mineral foundations for smooth, high-definition results. I use this with powder to set my foundation in place.

Shading Brush:

This brush applies eyeshadow perfectly. However, it does not work as well for the crease of the eye because it is not quite fluffy enough but for eyeshadow all over the lid it works a treat.  

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Do you use Real Techniques Brushes? Which is your favourite? Do you have any recommendations?

Charlie xxx