Uni foodie :)

As a student in halls it is important to me that I eat well even though I'm not living at home.
At first when I moved out I slacked massively with food. I either couldn't be bothered to cook or didn't want to go shopping for ingredients so I was a bit lazy and rubbish.
However, after watching various youtubers cook and read different blogs I have actually started to really enjoy cooking my meals!
As well as cooking my own meals, I look forward to my fortnightly shop I tend to plan ahead in meal groups as well as the odd snack and treat of course!
My lovely grandmother sent me a great cook book called 'From Pasta to Pancakes, the Ultimate Student Cookbook'. I love it as it combines some healthy meals with salads, sweet treats and cooking for the masses.

However, after cooking most of the recipes in the book I started looking for more meals to make but the problem is, a lot of them are way too complicated, time consuming and expensive!
So, I've complied a few of my fave meals to cook at University :)
The pictures are a bit crap but I may make this a regular fixture if it goes down well!

Enjoy!
Emma xoxo


The first recipe is for Tuna pasta bake.
Ingredients used: Frozen mixed vegetables
Milk
Tuna bake sachet (cheat way of making the sauce)
Tinned tuna
Cheese

All you do, is mix the sachet with the milk etc that is on the packet over the hobb in a saucepan. Mix in the vegetables untill heated through then pop in the tuna. Transfer it into a glass or ceramic dish, grate the cheese on top and put under the grill until the cheese melts/crisps up and voila!

The next recipe is Butter Chicken.
I used a jar of Pataks Butter Chicken sauce as it is much easier than making a sauce.
Boil in the bag rice - as this helps portion control
Onions
Chicken Breast or Thigh
Rocket salad

All I did was cut the chicken into pieces, fry some onions around in a little oil.
Then brown the chicken in with the onions.
I then added the sauce to the onions and  chicken and cooked until piping hot.
To cook the rice, you basically follow the instructions on the box!
Easy peasy, and I threw some rocket and watercress on top.
Yummy!


My next recipe is Chilli Con Carne.

You will need:
Chilli Con Carne seasoning sachet, mine was made by colmans. You follow the instructions on the packet - I'm pretty sure it just involves water!
You need to brown the mince in a little oil - you can chose to fry onions just before that if you wish.
I then chose to add a tin of ratatouille which is a combination of tomato, peppers and courgette; or if you prefer just tinned tomatoes.
I then added red kidney beans for more texture and finally the sachet mixture.
Again I used packet seasoning but this is honestly cheaper and gives a better result!
You boil the rice to the time it says on the box :)
I always grate cheese on my chilli but the traditional way would be with sour cream or guacamole.

This next meal is one which I created with the remains of my fridge before a shop. This was so so easy but i thought it tasted amazing!
It's Philadelphia cream cheese, with red salmon and rocket salad.
I boiled penne pasta first and while it was cooking I added two tablespoons of cream cheese into a pan with one tablespoon of milk.
I then seasoned it and stirred until it was to my desired texture.
I then stirred in tinned red salmon and once the pasta was cooked I simply stirred it through.
Top with salad and thats it!

My final recipe is probably the tastiest and simplest meal that I've cooked since moving to University.
All I did was boil pasta.
Cooked down some tinned tomatoes in a saucepan with a teaspoon of sugar.
Added some fresh plum tomatoes, black olives and chopped chorizo and that is literally it.
Not to toot my own horn but it tasted so flavourful and took about 10 minutes to make.

I know this blog post is not make-up related but I just thought I'd share my recipes with you guys!

Thanks for taking time to read!:) 

Emma xoxo

Boots 3 for 2

Despite being an incredibly poor (we're talking minus money going into an overdraft poor) student; somehow, the lovely Megan from My Pretty Apparel http://myprettyapparel.blogspot.co.uk/ persuaded me to 'pop in' for a 'quick look' and we ended up in the glorious Soap & Glory section.

I honestly couldn't resist. I was going to use the 3 for 2 to buy make-up but then I figured I already have so so much that it would actually be a waste of the offer to buy it. Whereas Soap and Glory products are normally a once in a while treat.

However, I didn't strictly just buy that, I threw in a nail polish to update my collection for spring.

Anyway, I needed to replace my sugar crush body wash so I went ahead and grabbed a couple of things which I'm going to share with you.


I picked up the sugar crush bodywash first. I adore this product. The scent is "Lime oil, coolcapsule x (an ingredient owned by them), Kiwi Juice water and skin softening omega-rich veggie oil". I use it everyday hence why I need to replace it and it makes me feel refreshed, happy and really uplifted!
The bottle is mega- carrying 500ml of delicious freshness and looks gorgeous - a combination of lime green and baby pink.
It retails for £6.50 which to be honest I don't find unreasonable at all!

To go with the body wash I purchased the sugar crush body scrub which I have been lusting after for AGES.
It's a gentle scrub which you apply in the shower and rinse leaving soft, clean skin.  It has a dlightly different smell to the wash as it is made with smashed brown sugar, sweet lime, almond oil and macadamia grains- all of which are nourishing for the skin and smell like HEAVEN.
The scrub is a little dearer at £8 a tub but in my opinion is worth every pound.

The final part of the offer I decided that although it didn't make the most of the offer as it was significantly cheaper than the soap and glory products; I did have my eye on it and felt it would refresh my polish collection for the spring season. The polish is Barry M's Gelly Hi- Shine nail paint. The colour isn't as immediately opaque as some of the other shades in the line but after a couple of coats it becomes just a good. The colour is called Prickly Pear and is a soft lilac/blue shade. I simply adore it. I feel very happy every time I look at my hands.

Anyway lovelies, I hope you found this post interesting.
Do take a look at Meg's blog - I've linked it above :) I'm sure she'll be posting about her buys!

Love, Emma xoxo

Anxiety Talk

Hello,
This is a very different blog post for my blog but it's something which has been really strongly present in my life in the last four months or so.
And that has been my anxiety.
I have been suffering with anxiety and panic for about 6 months now but have always mildly had a very trigger specific form of anxiety in direct relation to food.
I have never had a good relationship with food for as long as I can remember. I'm not comfortable eating at other peoples houses, restaurants, parties - even if I'm with family. Which has always been an issue in my life.
I would get a massive hit of panic, I'd feel sick to my stomach and sometimes would actually throw up if I know I'm eating somewhere I'm not comfortable.
I can remember whenever I had to eat around a past boyfriend and his family I would become very cold and sweat, I'd feel sick, tearful and generally like I wanted to run. They had very strict eating rules too, they considered it rude if you couldn't finish all of your food or if you refused to eat and they didn't understand the way I was feeling. It basically resulted in me sitting at the table for a good hour hoping they would take the plate away. It had nothing to do with the food I was eating. His parents were great cooks and I'm not a fussy eater at all. I just couldn't eat!
More recently it has become eating anywhere other than my own house or my current boyfriends house. I feel completely happy and relaxed when I'm in either of those two places and eat away happily! However I panic when I have to eat in a restaurant even if I'm with my immediate family. Not good.
The most recent development in relation to my anxiety is being recently diagnosed with IBS which is Irritable Bowel Syndrome. It is VERY random and attacks can spring on me at any time of the day. However, my form of IBS is very much linked to anxiety, stress or pressure. If I have to go to work, lectures at Uni, meetings or social events I will get a severe bout of my IBS. Theres no real polite way to say this but let's just say I HAVE to get to a bathroom asap or bad things happen! Some people get strong cramps with constipation but with me it's the opposite.
As you can imagine this effects my whole life. It makes it almost impossible to do anything. Often my anxiety and IBS is so bad I can't even pop to my local shops or meet a friend for a coffee - things which I have never had a problem with until recently.
I am now seeing a counsellor and a mental health advisor at my University and after just one session I immediately feel more positive and calm. I've got a long way to go with coping and managing my anxiety but I hope it will eventually be sorted.
The only practical advice I can give for both topics is have safety nets for yourself. For example if I know I'm going somewhere where I'm likely to have an IBS attack or anxiety attack I'll take Imodium with me to calm my stomach and give me peace of mind, water to sip for my nausea and just let the people I'm going with or meeting with know in advance event though it can be difficult and embarrassing to admit. This takes some of the pressure off and helps to ease my symptoms.
If you would like to know more about how I'm affected or if you simply need advice or to know you're not alone then feel free to comment below and I'll try my best to answer any of your questions :)

It will get better!
Emma xoxox

Review: Loreal Miss Manga Mascara

Hello Lovelies,

This is a quick review on the new Mascara from Loreal Paris.
I spotted this mascara in my beloved Boots (a highstreet make-up store in the UK) whilst purchasing a back up stay matte powder. (My holy grail face powder) I purchased it during it's introductory period for £5.99 but the mascara full price retails at £8.99 and thought I'd better snap it up while it's cheap!

The first thing that struck me about this product is the packaging. I love the shape of the bottle as it is slightly different to other cylinder shaped ones and it fits nicely into a small make-up bag.
The second thing I love about the design is the wand shape.
It is a fibre wand as opposed to a plastic wand which many people find works better with their lashes and I have to say with this product I definitely agree.


Another perk of this wand design is that there is a 360 degree bend in the wand which means it bends with your natural lashes to ensure and even application from the roots to the ends. AWESOME.
The colour is jet black and the formulation of the mascara is thick but not overly clumpy so you can achieve sumptuous, full lashes.

I love the idea of the mascara as a Manga doll look as it's a really cute and playful concept. I do find that the mascara gives my bottom lashes more of a 'Manga' look than the top lashes but that's fine by me!
One negative that I have found personally with this product is that it does dry out on the lashes and flakes a little which is distracting for me as I have a problem with picking mascara off of my lashes. Oops:/ Very naughty , I know, I'll try and stop!

Price wise, I think £8.99 is a fair price for this mascara. It holds its' own in the high street market, but even so I'm glad I got it on offer - after all, I am a student!

Finally the longevity of this mascara is pretty good as far as I can tell. I normally have a massive issue with mascara lasting and this is one of the best mascaras for this. I've worn it for a guaranteed 8 hours without a need to touch up with an extra coat.

All in all, this is an amazing product, fun concept, long lasting, full lashes and I would highly recommend stocking up before it goes up to it's full price!
If you would like to see the full review and demonstration of the mascara on my lashes just click on the video below from my youtube channel :)
Lots of love,
Emma xox

 

My top 5 lipsticks

Hello there!

Today I was sorting through my lipstick drawer and decided I would swatch my Top 5 lipsticks. They are all pink/ red shades with a couple of fairly natural shades.

I don't know if you can definitely get them all still but hopefully you will be able to!

From left to right; Rimmel Lasting finish lipstick in 038 'In vogue'
Rimmel Kate Moss in 110, Miss Sporty 'Innocence' 009, E.L.F. 'Seductive' and finally Estee Lauder 301, 'Crystal Baby'

The first lipstick is ultra pigmented and smells like cherries. I love the colour however you need a good lip liner all over the lips to make it last as it doesn't live up to it's 'Lasting finish' name.

I love Kate Moss' collection with Rimmel and this one is no exception. The colour is a beautiful bright, orange toned red and it lasts for a long time on the lips. I also like the fact that it is a matte finish but still moisturising.

The next lipstick is an old favourite of mine. It's quite a dolly pink and very bright. It is more of a statement colour and looks best with a flawless skin and a gold eye shadow. It's highly creamy and again well pigmented.

I had never tried or owned an E.L.F lipstick and this was one from the £1 or $1 range I believe. It is a very my lips but better shade and I love it for an everyday look or if I'm wearing heavy eye make-up. For the price it is long lasting and has wonderful colour pay-off.

Finally, a more high-end lipstick is Estee Lauders crystal baby which I first purchased maybe 2 years ago after Tanya Burr used it in a tutorial. It's a sheer but build-able colour and it's so natural and leaves a glossy look to the lips.


I hope you enjoyed me sharing my favourite lipsticks with you!

Emma xxx

Ethereal, space themed, gold make-up look

Hi guys,

I haven't posted much about make-up yet and have been itching to create some make-up looks!
Thought I'd share some pictures of the look and if you would like a YouTube tutorial on how I achieved this then comment on the post!
Emma xxx


Products Used:
Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation - Ivory
Eyeshadow- Urban Decay - Baked (on lips and above/through eyebrows and as a contour)
Urban Decay shadow - Gunmetal
Urban Decay Shadow- Zephyr
Benefit - They're real mascara

My new found perfect glowing skin combination

Hey guys!
Thank you for viewing my videos - I really appreciate it and I'm so excited to be part of the beauty community online!!! *insert squeal*

I've been playing around with tons of different products and doing lots of fun fun makeup/beauty shopping so that I can help other people discover them!
I will most likely film a haul video on recent products of mine aswell as a monthly favourites video so comment if you would like that please :)

So this is a review of the products I have bought and discovered in order to create a new glowing summer skin.

So these are pictures of the products! I couldn't take a picture which did justice to the make-up as I don't have special lights so I will do a tutorial on how to create the look soon.

Step One:
Use the bourjois bronzing primer in harsh lines on the sides of the nose, the temples and under the cheekbones.
Step Two:
Highlight the high points of the face with collection perfection concealer in 1 Fair - cheekbones, between the brows. centre of the nose and anywhere you like a highlight.
Step 3( forgot a picture) but I used Rimmel wake-me up in ivory on my real techniques buffing brush in order to buff all make-up in. This allowed the bronzer and concealer to peek through gently.
Step 4: Then apply the highlight from the sleek contour kit onto cheek bones - dust the contour shade where you put the bronzer to set and enhance and then finally sweep the blush colour onto the apples of the cheeks.
Step 5: Finally set where needed with Rimmel stay matte.



I love all of these products and now swear by them all!
I hope this was interesting and I will make a tutorial if people would like them! :)


Please visit my youtube channel and suggest videos you'd like to see as I love making them!(apologies for the funny thumbnail I can't make nice ones yet!)

Love Emma x