The Perfect Mint Green Nail Polish

If you read my Summer Boots Haul post (here) you may have noticed I purchased this beautiful Maybelline Color Show nail polish. I'd gone through a phase of letting my nails breathe a little bit and as I looked through my box of nail polishes I didn't want to use any of them as they seemed too dark for what I like to wear in the summer or they were ones which I constantly wear.

So after raiding the Boots website I thought I'd go for a brand I don't own a nail polish in and I went for the Maybelline Color Show nail polish in the shade 'Green with Envy'. I thought this is a nice summer colour, different to any that I already own and a perfect mint green. It was also only £2.99 which I think is a bargain compared to what we can sometimes pay for just one nail polish I know already I'll get more use out of this one than my very bright orange Illamasqua nail polish.

I think I'll definitely look into buying some more from this range from Maybelline, they have so many shades available and I've been wearing this nail polish for a whole week now and it's only slightly chipped so I'd recommend it!

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Autumn Fashion Wishlist

How is it September already?! September pretty much means Autumn is here, especially with the weather we've had lately, I feel like we haven't even had a summer yet. Talking of time flying by, this blog is now 2 years old as of yesterday so thank you to everyone who's reading this and has kept on reading. Anyway, here's a little wishlist of some of my favourite autumn picks so far.

Sleeveless Tailored Jacket - Topshop

Black Ripped Jeans - Topshop

Plum Roll Neck Top - Dorothy Perkins

Denim Shirt - Topshop

Black Cowl Neck Jumper - Newlook

Necklace - Hugo Sophia

Autumn fashion has to be my favourite but I'm really liking the sleeveless jacket the most and pretty much all of Hugo Sophia's necklaces look amazing.

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Strawberry & Lemon Meringues Recipe

Another bit of baking I've done lately is little meringues. These didn't exactly go to plan with how they look, I think they look more like macaroons but oh well they still taste just as they should! I was originally going to make something like a Lemon Meringue Pie but I thought this was a much easier option and then I can make different flavours too. Why not try adding Nutella instead of the lemon/strawberry?

Makes around 10 completed 'sandwiches'

Ingredients:

2 egg whites

150g sugar

pinch of salt

tea spoon of vanilla essence

strawberry jam

lemon curd

Method:

1. Line two baking trays with baking paper and pre-heat the oven to 90 degrees C.

2. Whisk the eggs until foamy, add the salt and whisk again.

3. Slowly add the sugar and keep whisking.

4. Add the vanilla essence and whisk again until the mixture becomes stiff.

5. Use a spoon or a piping bag to when dotting them onto the baking sheets and place in the oven for up to 2 hours. I thought this sounded like a long time from the recipe I looked at but I baked mine for about 1 hour and 45 minutes.

6. When they're done allow them to cool and then choose either Strawberry Jam or Lemon Curd to spread on one and place another on top to create a sandwich/

7. Then they're ready to tuck into and eat.

Let me know if you decide to recreate this recipe, I'd love to know how it turns out!

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Summer Boots Haul

Getting all of your deposit back from you student house can sometimes be quite a surprise, so I thought I'd treat myself to a nice big order from Boots! Some of these things I've tried before which I've loved and some of these things I've never tried before. I'm hoping to write a lot of reviews and posts on these individually so don't forget to look out for those.

Soap and Glory Sugar Crush Body Scrub - The best smelling body scrub I've used so far. There may be a review coming soon comparing this body scrub to the one I've been using previously.

St Moriz Instant Self Tan Mousse - This seems to be the most recommended budget fake tan so I'm excited to try this one out. I bought the medium shade however I've seen most the reviews are about the 'dark' shade so I hope this one is just as good for my pale pale skin tone.

Maybelline Color Show Nail Polish in Green with Envy - When I chose this nail polish I didn't actually know which colour I wanted exactly, just a pale colour as I'm use to usually wearing reds or blues but this mint green seems to be perfect.

Revlon Lash Potion Mascara - My current favourite mascara repurchased, there is also a 2 for £10 offer on Revlon products so as this already retails at £9.99 it was like getting the color burst matte balm for just a penny.

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer - Every blogger's favourite budget concealer, I actually forgot this concealer existed until I realised I only have a highlighting concealer at the minute so I just had to make a repurchase of this beauty.

Rimmel London Apocalips Lip Lacquer in Nude Eclipse - I love the apocalips lip lacquer in 'big bang' which is a bright red so I thought I'd pick up another in a colour I'm not use to, so I'll let you know how this goes too.

Revlon Colour Burst Matte Balm in Elusive - I loved this shade and that it's matte which I thought is so different to any that I already own, I'm excited to try this out so I'll let you know how I get on with this.

Rimmel Exaggerate Lip Liner in Eastend Snob - I'm yet to try out this lip liner properly but the swatch seems like a good formula so I'll let you know what I think.

Radox Berry Burst Shower Gel - I've used this shower gel before and it smells sooo good. It's like all the good smelling fruits in a sweet shower smoothie.

Fleur de Force by Eylure Fleur and Fabulous Lashes - If you know me well or have been reading my blog for a long time you should know that Fleur de Force is my all time favourite blogger and vlogger and the one that really started getting me into wanting to blog myself. When I heard she was working alongside Eylure to produce her own range of eyelashes I just knew I had to get my hands on some, I originally wanted to order the 'Fleur loves' lashes but as they were sold out I opted for the 'Fleur and Fabulous' lashes which are more suited for nights out and occasions which I think I'd be wearing them for mostly anyway.

Also with my Boots order I received a free sample of the Giorgio Armani fragrance Si. I wasn't expecting a free sample as I've never received one from them before and I'm glad I did because I would never have thought about buying or even trying this fragrance but I have to say it actually smells amazing!

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Millionaire's Shortbread Recipe

It's now the Great British Bake Off season and it makes me want to bake even more than I usually do. With last week them focusing on biscuits I decided to bake Millionaire's Shortbread. I've never made this before and I was surprised it went so well, I'll definitely be trying other shortbread recipes now. I used this recipe here from BBC Good Food but just tried something a little different for the chocolate on top to make it look (and taste) even better.

Ingredients

For the shortbread:

• 225g/8oz plain flour
• 175g/6oz cold unsalted butter
• 75g/2¾oz caster sugar

For the topping:

• 150g/5oz butter
• 1 x 379g can condensed milk
• 100g/3½oz golden syrup
• 350g/12oz chocolate (I used 300g milk chocolate and 50g white chocolate)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2. Line a square cake tin with baking paper.

2. Combine the flour and butter cubes and mix until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. (Alternatively, you can rub the butter in by hand.) 

3. Add in the caster sugar and mix again until combined.

4. Tip the mixture into the lined cake tin and spread it out evenly with the back of a spoon. Then press the shortbread down firmly with your knuckles so that it is tightly packed in the tin.

5. Bake the shortbread for 30 minutes or until very light golden brown. Set aside to cool.

6. Meanwhile, for the topping, heat the butter, condensed milk and golden syrup in a saucepan, stirring occasionally until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth.

7. Increase the heat and bring the mixture to the boil, stirring frequently. The caramel will thicken and turn golden-brown. Set aside to cool slightly, then pour over the cooled shortbread. Allow to cool completely.

8. Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave.

9. Pour the melted chocolate over the caramel and set aside until the chocolate has cooled completely.

10. Cut into squares and serve. (Or broken pieces like mine)

I'm looking forward to tomorrows episode for more ideas on what to bake next.

Watch technique

0:46 min

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Water's Edge Country Park

So far during the Summer I've taken some free time to start exploring some local places and taking photographs of the animals and nature. Water's Edge is located at Barton-Upon-Humber in North Lincolnshire, where you can walk around the woodlands and meadows and the visitor centre and cute gift shop. I love taking these kind of photographs and sharing them with you. Especially ducks lately which seem to have featured in quite a few posts incase you haven't noticed....

What are your favourite places to walk around in the Summer?