My Bath and Body Works collection!

Hello! How are you today? I'm feeling a little better (it's still April when I'm writing this and so I still have tonsillitis) and hopefully I'll be 100% better soon! Anyway, today I have a Bath and Body Works collection, because I really wanted to do one of these. Just a quick disclaimer: I get given about 95% of this stuff for birthdays and Christmases by family and friends, and I am not trying to brag or boast in any way, shape or form. I have accumulated TONS of stuff over the past few years, because everyone knows I like Bath & Body Works so people always give me stuff from there. Also, I have had a little 'sort out' of my collection and so unopened hand sanitizers and body lotions have gone in my 'gifting bag' which is a little bag that I keep stuff in that I want to give to friends/family as presents. Now, without further ado, I will get on with it!

The first thing I have, which was a Christmas present from my parents, is the three wick Twisted Peppermint candle, I was so so close to buying the small version of this myself in the after-Christmas hugeeeeee sales where everything is so cheap, but instead I got it and I was so happy, it's burning right now and I just love it so much. It smells really pepperminty and is so lovely.

Next, I have two soaps, and I'm contemplating putting the White Pear and Fig one in the gifting bag, just because I'm not 100% sure if I really like the smell, even though I bought it myself so I must've really liked it at the time. The Japanese cherry blossom soap has lasted me so long, it was part of a gift set that I got for Christmas, and so I put it in my bathroom on Christmas day and it's still got soap in today, just over four months later, on the 27th of April. The Japanese cherry blossom range smells so so good, I would definitely recommend getting some of it if you're ever in Bath and Body Works and don't know what to get.

Next up is some shower gels, none of which I actually bought, the Japanese Cherry blossom one was a Christmas present, and the rest were birthday presents this year, all except for the lemon pomegranate were parts of sets, and they all smell so lovely, I use them in the bath/shower everyday.

Next I have a candle, which is the Lavender vanilla candle and oh my god, the candle smells so so so good, we have a bigger version in the kitchen which hasn't been burnt yet, it's my mums. This candle smells absolutely amazing, like I cannot stress how nice it is. It's not too over powering and it's not too faint a smell. It's even burning, which I love and it's honestly such an amazing candle. Sophie, my best friend in my old school (which I may be moving back to for September, I don't know yet, I have to decide) gave me this candle for my birthday, along with two others (which you will see very soon).

Next I have two hand sanitizers, which live on my dressing table in front of my little mirror (they hide the blue tack that I have to use to keep the mirror from falling down) and my dad got me these in the sales after Christmas, they were equivalent to about 25p each and I really love them, they're more for display but still.

Moving on, next I have two nourishing hand creams, one of which I paid for (the second item so far, whoo) and I planned on giving it to my aunt but then I started using it and so that was the end of that. Then my friend Jamila got me the Iced Blackberries one for my birthday this year, and the thing I like most about them is that they're such a good size for travelling, my favourite ever hand cream, which is the Soap & Glory hand food one is in such a big bottle thing that it's kind of awkward to carry around, whereas these would fit perfectly in your handbag. I used to take the Vanilla bean noel one into school (which I paid for) and then one of the girls in my year decided it would be funny to be really mean, so not only did she eat both my cheese puffs and my brownie that day, and then cover my locker key in chewing gum, she decided to start squiring hand cream everywhere which I was so cross about. Anyway, I'm done ranting.

Before I move on, I just want to apologise for the absolutely awful camera quality, my camera doesn't have any storage and I can't find a new memory stick that fits my camera anywhere, the camera on my iPod has just completely broken, my phone is out of storage and my iPad is out of storage, so I had to use my mum's iPad (which was mine first but that's a different story). Anyway, the next thing on my list is a set that my friend in year 7, Kate, got me for my birthday (I think she got me it for my birthday anyway?) and it's just the miniature golden magnolia sun set, with the little body lotion and the little body mist/perfume. These are so good because they're travel size, and they fit in your PE bag so after PE you can spritz yourself (though I don't use that body mist in school, I use a different one). I take these on holiday every year and to be honest they're just the best size ever.

Next I have a body cream, and it is the Japanese cherry blossom ultra Shea 24 hour cream. I use to put this on my legs for school (weird ikr) and they would be so soft all day, and in form time at the end of the day we use to have smooth leg competitions, which was so odd, but we'd all see wo had the smoothest legs. Anyway, aside from the weirdness, that is what we used to do and my legs always used to be really soft when I used this. Oh, and this was in the Japanese chrry blossom set that I got for Christmas, if you were wondering.

Next I have my full sized body mists, I have six, all of which were presents, I chose the Cosy Sunday Morning one and the Midnight pomegranate came free with it. I'm actually thinking of putting the Midnight pomegranate one in the gifting bag because I'm not sure I want to keep it. But they all smell really nice, the Oahu coconut sunset, pink chiffon and Japanese cherry blossom ones aren't scents I would usually go for, so I haven't used them that many times, but I still like them.

 

Pre warning: the background changes now because I accidently turned the shower on in the bath where I was taking the pictures, so I had to improvise.
So now I have body lotions, and all of these were presents, apart from the Wrapped in comfort one, which I got free in Bath and Body Works with the body mist (I think so anyway) and it smells so good. I also have a Beautiful day one, which I meant to give to a friend for her birthday, because I got two body lotions that day because one came free with the other, but in the end I gave her the one that I liked and it was a sad day. So now the Beautiful day one is in the gifting bag, along with a beautiful day hand sanitizer. Out of all the body lotions, my favourite would have to be frosted wonderland or wrapped in comfort, they just smell absolutely incredible. I think that frosted wonderland was a limited Christmas scent, I don't know if it's going to be back this year, and I don't know if wrapped in comfort is going to become a like 'staple' scent so it's always in stock, at the moment it's limited edition (so I believe).

Next I have Christmassy things, so these are the rest of my Christmas candles and all of the Christmas hand sanitizers (all of which I bought). The candles were Christmas presents, I got the Evergreen one in January, but it was supposed to be a Christmas present, and Sophie got me the Winter Candy Apple one.

Next I have more candles, all of which were birthday presents from friends, and they all smell so so good, even though I haven't burnt the two little ones yet.

Now I have the rest of my hand sanitizer collection, six of which I bought myself, one I took from the drama room in school and one my friend Bella got me for our secret santa in form.

 Now I have a room spray, this is one of the first things I ever got from Bath and Body Works and I still really like it, three years later. It smells really fresh and nice and I just really like it.

The very last thing is another hand sanitizer that I keep in my pencil case for school, it smells so nice but its almost empty, which is really sad.

That is everything! I hope you liked this and I will see you soon with another post!

Byeee x







Simple banana ice cream ☆

Hello! Today I wanted to share with you a simple banana ice cream recipe, and the beauty of it is that you don't just have to use bananas, it works with any other fruit.

Ingredients:
Five thinly sliced bananas
A couple of splashes of milk
Desired toppings

Method:
Slice up your bananas and put them in the freezer for a minimum of six hours.
When you want your ice cream, take out the bananas, let them warm up for about five minutes and then blend them with a splash or two of milk until they have a creamy consistency. Top with your desired toppings and voila!

I hope you liked this, it's so simple and so yummy, perfect for summer as it's really cold and refreshing.
Byeee x

A-ma-zing chocolate brownies!!!!!!!

Hello
Hi
Aloha
Hey
Hiya

Ok, hi. Side note: I have the hiccups right now and they're really annoying me. Oh, it now appears they've gone. Yayyyy
It's also a Wednesday as I'm writing this, and I have a doctors appointment in six hours. What's everyone doing today?
Anyway, today, as promised, I have my favourite brownie recipe, so enjoy!
This recipe makes 25 heavenly chocolate brownies
Ingredients
375g sugar
275g butter
100g self raising flour
4 eggs
100g chocolate (chocolate chips works best for these)
75g cocoa powder
12x9 inch (30x23 cm) tin
Directions
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celcius, butter the tin and line the bottom and sides with none stick baking parchment.
Measure all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix evenly until everything is blended. To make it easier for myself, I made sure all the chocolate was in squares. Spoon the mixture into the tin and make sure it is evenly spread.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until the brownies have a crusty top and a skewer comes out clean from the middle. To prevent them from burning, for the last 10 minutes I covered them with aluminium foil. Leave the brownies to cool in the tin then cut into squares.
Since my mum has a gluten intolerance I made two batches today, one gluten free and one ordinary, to make them gluten free I substituted the self raising flour for gluten free plain flour and added a quarter of a teaspoon of xanthem gum in.
Oh, side note, the reason the brownies look knobbly is because I put malteasers in them- would not recommend that, the second photo is a better representation of what they turn out like.

Enjoy!
Big love,
A x

Breakfasts

Hello! I hope you're all well and having a great day, I'm not, I have a sore throat, swollen glands, ear ache, a headache, a cough, a runny nose and a really hot neck. So I'm not in school today, and I wasn't in yesterday either. I've missed a maths test already and now I'm missing a science test today. Needless to say, I feel super guilty about it. However, not being in school gives me the opportunity to write lots of blog posts and get work and revision done, I've got two blog posts done and scheduled to go up over the summer, when I won't have wifi for five and a half weeks and I won't have access to my laptop for over two months. I'm going to Spain for five and a half weeks this summer, I'm excited, but I'm even more excited to stay in the airport hotel in Gatwick! I'm also then going to stay with my grandma for a week and a bit, and then to my great uncle and aunt's for a day, and then to my aunt and uncles for one night. My aunt and uncle are also coming to stay with us in Spain, I'm really excited to see them again, I haven't seen them since September when we went to stay with them for twelve days. Ok, I'm rambling, I'll get on with the post, but leave me a comment telling me what you're up to this summer!

So today I wanted to do a post on breakfasts, because breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I have breakfast every single day, and I now know what foods I enjoy in the morning. I do not like toast in the mornings unless it's on thick, freshly baked bread with marmalade and no butter. I just cannot stand butter one bit. Anyway, I'm still rambling.

My favourite breakfast of possibly all time is pancakes, I love pancakes so much, and I make pretty amazing pancakes, so if you want a recipe then please tell me! I sometimes make pancakes, freeze them and take them into school for my breakfast with a little tub of pancake syrup, it's honestly so funny. Pancakes are generally just delicious. The one pancakes that I don't like are the ones from IHOP (International House Of Pancakes), they were so heavy and had an odd taste. The toppings I put on my pancakes are either maple syrup, sugar and lemon, cream and cinnamon or fresh fruit. I found that they had absolutely delicious pancakes in the Intercontinental Hotel in Singapore, they were absolutely delicious, I had mine with fresh cream and raspberry compote.

 

 

In the summer months I like to vary my breakfasts, and so I will occasionally have yoghurt, although technically, because it's dairy and I'm allergic to dairy, I shouldn't really have it. When I do have it though, my favourite yoghurt is the Rachel's raspberry bio-live yoghurt, it's absolutely mouth-wateringly delicious. I also really like the Rachel's lemon yoghurt, you wouldn't necessarily expect it, but it's so nice. I like to top my yoghurt with fruit, I'll usually have blueberries, raspberries and strawberries on it, though sometimes I do have sliced green grapes.

 

Although pancakes are my favourite breakfast food, I absolutely adore English Breakfast muffins and teacakes (not the chocolate things from M&S, ewww, but proper toasted teacakes), I get so excited when I have them and ahhh I really want one now! Usually, with my breakfast muffin/toasted teacake, I will have a beer glass (don't ask, they're just my favourite type of glasses) full of Tesco apple and raspberry juice, this is like the nicest drink ever (apart from tea, obvs).

Now, the next thing I only have at my best friend Sophie's house because her mum makes them for us, and it's waffles. She honestly makes the yummiest waffles ever and I love them so much. Sophie and I have an inside joke type thing where we both think that if we ever lived together we'd basically just live off of waffles and pancakes.

Right, the last few things are drinks, I like making smoothies and juices, and I recently made a yummy juice (it wasn't that recently, probably in December) but it had watermelon, blueberries, lemon juice and lime juice in (don't quote me on that, I'll have to make it again to check) but it's really yummy and makes two big glasses full. Then I also love hot chocolate from costa coffee, in the winter I used to have this a lot when we went to town in the mornings, but obviously now I can't have hot chocolate that much. I also love to have tea for breakfast, I don't know what it is but I could happily have just tea for breakfast, realistically though, that is probably really bad for you.

That is all from me today! I hope you enjoyed this post, it was going to be a revision tips post but I think I'll do that closer to exam season (well aware that Art IGCSEs started this week but hey ho), we shall see. I'm going to have more paracetamol now, byeee.

x





March favourites 2016

Hello! I hope you're all well, are you on Easter holidays? Mine started this week, but it hasn't really felt like a holiday because it's basically just been revision, revision, revision, homework, homework. Today I am bringing you my March favourites, March is one of my favourite months as it's my birthday, my dad's birthday and a lot of my friends birthdays too, and it's also quite nice weather in March sometimes, and it's generally quite a nice month, it was Easter weekend this weekend! I love Easter, it's kind of the mark of Spring and a goodbye to Winter, and there's also chocolate involved so yum! Anyway, enough rambling, I'll just get on with it!

My first favourite is a candle that I have mentioned before, it's the Rose and Pomegranate scented candle from Debenhams, this smells amazing, and I have been burning it so much, when it runs out I will probably be buying a new one. It's even burning which pleases me so much, I hate when candles don't burn evenly. And just look at it, it's so aesthetically pleasing and it's just so lovely, so if you love candles and the scent of pomegranate then this candle is definitely for you.

 

The next thing on my list to talk to you about is a pair of pj bottoms, they're from tescos, they are just these white pyjama bottoms with blue flowers and a white frill at the bottom. Now, I'm really skinny and mine are in the size 8-10, so if you are wondering whether they'll fit and you're also quite slim then they probably will. Also, I'm sorry the pictures are the wrong way round, when I took them they were the proper way round but technology has turned them on their side.

 

Another one of my absolute favourite things this month is a make up brush, it's a mini Kabuki brush from H&M, it's so pretty, the bit you hold is a shiny rose gold and the actual brush is incredibly soft, it's so amazing, and although it should be used for bronzer, I use it for powder so I guess its a multi task brush? It's great for any newbie to makeup (like myself) and it was really cheap.

 

Okie dokes, moving on. My next favourite is a makeup bag, I have been taking this makeup bag into school for the past three months and it is a perfect size for school makeup, I stick a little mirror, blemish stick, lip balm, concealer, powder and blush in it and everything fits perfectly. It's from Bath and Body Works, it wasn't too expensive, the inside is a bright pink material, and as you can probably tell, the outside is glittery. Glitter does come off, meaning you may end up with glitter all over the inside of your school bag, like me, however it's really pretty and handy.

 

The next thing on my favourites list is a foundation powder from H&M, it gives amazing coverage and is very long lasting, and in the bottom comes a little sponge which I have used so it does look a little gross.

The last thing on my March favourites list is a lipstick from Maybelline, in the shade 140, Intense Pink. This is a beautiful, nude colour and it stays so well, I have been wearing it 24/7.

So, that is all for today, I shall be back soon with another post, goodbye!
Alice x