I should explain.......

Hey guys, so I know I've been sort of MIA for a while and I should just explain that I've just started the first year of GCSE's and it's like my teachers have hit me over the head with one of my new GCSE textbooks and was like... "here you go have all this work!" So I've been pretty swamped with work at the moment. Having said that, I do think that once you've settled down and got yourself organised, it's really not that bad. So now I've got that all down and sorted, I decided I should start my blog up again. Also, as it so happens, I'm really excited because a new Space NK has opened in my town, which makes me so happy, because I'm  now able to get hold of some things that I would have to drive hours to get there.
so, to recap:
.re-launching the blog
.lots of new exciting posts coming soon

Dream on ❤️
Dolly x

benefit lip balms

 These are two of the benefit lip balms. I really like the texture of them because the give a good amount of pigment for a balm ,but are not as pigmented as a lipstick, so they are the perfect mix. There are four in the range. I have posie balm and lolli balm. Posiebalm is a poppy-pink colour and lolli balm is a blue-toned pink. I don't usually like blue-toned pinks as they wash out my complexion, but lollibalm hasn't got too much blue in it so that it looks great on every complexion. I really want to get the other two in the range: chachabalm and benebalm. Chachabalm is an apricot/mango colour and benebalm is a red. As son as I get the other tow I will do another post if the live up to the standard of the others. I have to admit they are really pricey for a lip balm, but they are definitely worth it. Because they are lip balms they are great for everyday use. I get loads of wear out of them.
I'm so sorry I haven't posted in a while. It's because I've had my end-of-year exams.
I'm hoping to be doing lots more blog posts in the next week, so look out for them
Dream on ❤️
Dolly xx

Yes to Tomatoes moisturiser

OK, so this is the Yes to Tomatoes oil balancing moisturiser, and it is the best moisturiser I've ever had. This is because it is really hydrating eventhough it is oil balancing which is really good because I have a feeling that, eventhough I have some oily patches, I have dehydrated skin. It also doesn't leave that sticky, almost sweaty feeling. I hate it when moisturisers don't sink into the skin properly and just sit on top of the skin, but this absolutely does not do that. It has a sort of matte finish so if you decide to use this in the morning it doesn't leave your face looking shiny. I cannot recommend this moisturiser enough. It is £11.99 from Boots. I Hope this helped in some way.

Dream on ❤️

Dolly xxx

Favourite Powder

This is my favourtite powder ever! AND it's a highstreet product! The Rimmel STAY MATTE powder is majorly hyped about in the blogging world, and it's understandable why.

It has a really good finish; it isn't chalky but it gets rid of any oil, and trust me my nose is the most oily thing in the world!

Another thing about this powder that makes me love it so much is that when I want to keep my concealer in place all day, it will do just that! And it won't budge! I REALLY recommend this powder and think you should definitely go and check it out. I have been through about 5 of these and still can't get enough! Every time I finish a STAY MATTE, I can never be bothered to go out and find a different one because I just love this one so much! I genuinely can't sing its praises enough. It is and always will be my favourite powder. You can get this powder practically everywhere, you can even get it in the supermarket! The only downside to it is the packaging; it is quite cheap and the lid has smashed on me every one I've had. It is a real shame as it would be a million times better if it had a thicker packaging!

Hope this helps in some way!

Dream on ❤️

Dolly xx

Apple Pie

I made this apple pie a couple of days ago and I can't tell you how great it tasted! I found it on the Delia Online website and it was really easy to make, however I was in a hurry, so I didn't manage to make the pastry myself because I didn't have enough time before my family came over for Sunday lunch! I will list the ingredients but I will leave a link to the website above.
Ingredients:
for the pastry
. 175g plain flour plus a little extra for dusting
. a pinch of salt
. 40g of softened butter
. a little cold water
for the filling
. 1 heaped tablespoon of semolina
. 500g Cox's apples
. 400g Bramley apples
. 50g golden caster sugar
. 6 whole cloves
 (I added a little ground cloves and some ground cinnamon because I LOVE cinnamon!)
. the juice of half a lemon
. 1 egg white to glaze
. 1 tbsp. demerara sugar

Dream on ❤️

Dolly xx

Clinique Pep-start

So this is the new eye cream that has been big news in the beauty world. Clinque made quite a big deal about launching this new eye cream. It's called pep-start by Clinique, and to be honest I know why they made suck a big deal! This eye cream is absolutely great! I love it! It is really hydrating and makes my under-eyes look brighter because in the eye cream is a small amount of shimmer but not too much because I know that if I put too much glitter on my eyes they get irritated. But because of the shimmer I tend not to use this at night because there's no need for your eyes to be bright at night!

Clinique products are really easy to find. They are on most beauty websites and are in stores like Boots and Debenhams. It is £22 but it is really good and I would definitely recommend it.

I hope this helps and that you guys go out and buy it!

Dream on ❤️

Dolly xx

Olapex

Hey guys! This is Olaplex. I must admit it is quite hard to get hold, but I have to say it has improved my hair amazingly! It has reduced my split ends, and makes your hair much more healthy. I know that this is a bold statement to make, but I think this is the best hair treatment I have ever used! Before getting in the bath/shower wet your hair then towel-dry it and squeeze a 50p sized blob and run through the mid-lengths and ends. You leave it in for at least 10 minutes, then wash as normal. I really recommend this product, I think you can get this on Amazon for around £20.

I hope you guys try this out, I know it made a real difference on my hair.

Dream on ❤️

Dolly xx

Heat protectants

So today I'm going to talk about heat protectants. Now, this is a SUPER important part to haircare. You must make sure every time you use a hair dryer or hair straighteners or any type of hair appliance, you use a heat protectant. So here I've got two different ones, high end and high street/drugstore. 

The first one is the high end option. This is the Kérastase Ciment Thermique, it is AMAZING! 

You put it on the ends of your towel dried hair and blow dry/style as usual. It is an anti breakage treatment that does exactly what it says on the bottle. And I must say that I haven't noticed as many split ends as I did before, but I've only just started using this so I'm sure I can still look forward to more great results. When you've blow dried your hair, it feels weightless and just so HEALTHY! This is definitely more expensive than the other one, but I can really say it's worth it, no matter how old you are. AND it's recommended by two of London's top salons. It's £20.90 on Feel Unique, but I think it's on sale at the moment.

The other one is Tresemmé Keratin Smooth Heat Protection Spray. This is just a highstreet heat protector, nothing special, it just works. I can't say I've noticed a difference in my hair because I haven't. You can get this in Boots for about £6.

I hope this has helped in some way and I would really recommend the Kerestase heat protectant. It really is amazing. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to post on Sunday. I was really busy.

Dream on ❤️

Dolly xx

Favourite perfumes/mists

So these are my favourite perfumes and mists EVER! I'm going to talk about them from least favourite, to favourite, even though I love them all!

First is the Zoella's Blissful Mistful. I think this scent is really fresh and almost smells a bit sweet as well. This is a mist, so it is slightly lighter than a perfume, this makes it a lot more wearable. This was £8 from superdrug. Even though I've said this is my least favourite of the three, I still think it smells amazing, I just wear it the least.

Second is The Body Shop Indian Night Jasmine perfume. This is a really beautiful scent which is floral and really fresh. I always find that jasmine is my favourite floral scent. This also last lasts a really long time because the scent is really strong so you only have to use a little at a time. This was £8.50 from The Body Shop.

My favourite of all is Ghost Eclipse perfume. I would describe this as fresh and fruity and floral all at the same time. I think this perfume is really good quality because it lasts all day and the scent is really strong, but not in a bad way. The perfume in the pictures is the 30ml which is £20 in Superdrug. I know this on the pricier side, but I absolutely LOVE this perfume and wear it every day.

I hope this helped in some way and you guys go out and buy one of these!

Dream on💗

Dolly xx

Current skincare faves

As you can probably see everything here has suddenly turned a lot more festive. I cannot tell you how excited I am for Christmas!

As the season changes, so does our skincare and over roughly the last month my skincare has changed dramatically! My Elemis cleanser has been finished and out the window and instead I have been using the slightly more pricey, Liz Earle cleanse and polish. This is the nicest cleanser I have ever used! I do realise that I am very late on the band wagon with this, but I thought I would give it a try and jump on! I find it doesn't leave my face dry or irritated and my face is always super soft and feels like it has that really clean feeling. It comes out like a cream, but when you put it on your face and start rubbing it in, it has more of a balmy consistency, but it's not oily. I have oily/combination skin so this would not be good! I think that this would be great for all skin types. You apply it all over your face (with make up on) and the oils in the product break down the make up on your face. Wait for like 30 seconds, and then wash off with a muslin cloth or flannel. I have to admit that it is quite expensive. As a product by itself it's £14 in Boots or if you want you can get it in a little pack with a muslin cloth, but because I already had a few and loads of flannels I thought it would be better to get it by itself. The pack is £15.50 in Boots. I promise you that if you buy this you won't be disappointed.

The other one in the picture is the Pixi Glow Tonic. Over about the past month, this has probably been my most loved skincare product. It is an exfoliating facial tonic, aka it's a toner that you wipe across your face, that gently exfoliates your skin with glycolic acid. Glycolic acid is great because it stimulates the production of collagen so it evens out your skin-tone and is great for resurfacing. I use this every evening. You can use this morning AND evening but it is expensive so I try to savour every bit! I got this in Liberty in London, so it isn't easy to get hold of, but I think you can get it online on Cult Beauty AND M&S have recently upped their game in the beauty department and you can now get it online their website and in some stores, like on Oxford Street. It is £18 *grits teeth*. I do understand that you might not want to spend this much on both of these products, but I think if you're going to spend money on anything then you should spend it on good skincare because if you do then when you're older you won't have to wear a blanket of foundation and when you're EVEN older you won't have as many wrinkles on your face.

Dream on ❤️
Dolly x

Gingerbread Recipe

I have tried many a gingerbread man in my time, and I have to say that this recipe is my absolute favourite! This is from Delia's Cakes recipe book. I love this book because it has a HUGE variety of recipes and I make and love every single one! I would definitely recommend buying this book. To make these gingerbread I used the gingerbread recipe in Delia's book and for the icing is used a recipe I found online. To find the recipe I will leave the link to her website at the bottom.

Gingerbread

Ingredients:

.75g light brown soft sugar

.2 tablespoons of golden syrup

.1 tablespoon of black treacle

.1 tablespoon of water

.1 teaspoon of cinnamon

.1teaspoon of ginger (but I always add a little more!)

.a pinch or 2 of ground cloves

.95g butter, cut into lumps

.1/2 a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

.225g plain flour, sifted (plus a little extra if needed)

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/european/english/gingerbread-men.html

Icing

Ingredients

.115g icing sugar

.1 egg white

.1/8 of teaspoon of cream of tartar

.1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla extract

.water (if needed)

Method

In a large bowl or stand-alone mixer combine the icing sugar, cream of tartar and egg white. Mix on a low until combined. Add the vanilla and mix on a high for one minute. In the recipe I found online, it said at this point it should be thick, sticky and glue-like, although I always find that it is fine. But if you think it is sticky like it should be then at some water and if it is too thin than add more icing sugar. The icing should have a "5 second consistency", this means that when you drizzle some of the icing on the surface of the rest of the icing. From here you can colour it with food colouring. I use disposable piping bags just because it's easier. I used to use fabric ones, but it is sooooo much easier to chuck the used one in the bin! When it comes to flooding (the icing on the stars) I piped the outline. Waited for a couple of minutes, and then I filled in the middle. The icing spreads a bit so you can leave a few gaps between the lines of icing.

I hope you make this recipe, and check out Delia Online because it has a HUGE selection of great recipes.

Dream on <3 

Dolly x