Bastille Love

So there is this British band called Bastille that for about the past 6 months I have literally not stopped listening to. I love very song and am just really enjoying them. I was going to post this on my music blog, but I feel like more people view this one and I love them so much that I feel like I want the whole world to share my joy of listening to them. So here it is. They do songs that have quite a few techno type stuff in them, but then they also do the most incredible acoustic covers with just their voices and maybe a guitar or two- and then clap and click and what not, to make it really a beautiful acoustic. I love them, and I think they are very easy listening and easy to sing along to. Like I said, I love every song, but here are some of my favourites. 

'Bad Blood'. It took me some time to get into this song but now I listen to it on repeat all the time. 

This one is called 'These Streets'. 

This song (below) 'Flaws' has been done so differently, so here are some different versions, I still can't decide which one I like the best. 

The acoustic version. 

Also a beautiful version, with mainly string instruments. 

You must excuse the absolutely weird video, I make no effort to understand it. But this is the original version, and is also very nice. 

'Things We Lost In The Fire' is another favourite. 

'The Weight of Living- Part 1', too beautiful. 

And of course, one that maybe you have heard because it has become very popular: 'Pompeii". 

(also a very weird music video)

Just a side thought, I think that this guy, Matthias Harris does a really decent cover of this song all by himself, so take a listen. 

Enjoy the music, the main singer just has the most amazing voice!

Brownie Baking

I have had a craving to bake for quite a while now, and seeing that i have a retreat day at school tomorrow (i.e.: no homework today :D) I thought this was the perfect opportunity.

I lovve brownies, like way over cupcakes and all those other goodies, they just seem to be my favourites. And for a long time I have been looking for a good recipe to make from scratch because I am usually just lazy and use a box kit. So, I did lots of searching on cooking blogs, pinterest pictures and all that and found these amazing chic-chunk brownies on this blog. 

So here is the recipe, because it is too good for me to go without sharing with you all. They are really crunchy on the outside but all chewy and fudgey in the middle.

INGREDIENTS: 

1 Stick butter

About 200g dark/milk chocolate (I used a mixture)

3 Tbs cocoa

3 eggs

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla essence

pinch of salt

1 cup of flour

1 slab of white chocolate

1 slab of milk chocolate

and any other chocolate (chic chips, etc)

HOW TO MAKE THEM: 

1) Preheat the over to 170 degrees celsius.

2) Melt the butter and chocolate in double boiler over stove or in microwave.

3) Sieve in the cocoa into this (now cooled) chocolate butter mixture.

4) In a bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt. 

5) Add chocolate/butter mix (cooled) into egg mixture and whisk. 

6) Sieve in the flour and mix.

7) Add into chocolate chopped quite roughly. 

8) Pour mixture (should be thick) into greased baking pan about 9" by 9".

Bake in over for 35-40 mins is what the recipe says, but mine took half and hour longer so depends on your oven. 

This makes about 16 good-sized ones. 

MAURITIUS

I have decided that whenever I cross something off my bucket list I want to make a little post about it, just so that one day I can remember when I did each thing, and also just for a bit of fun I guess. So as I'm sure I told you, I recently went to Club Med 'La Pointe Aux Cannonieres' in Mauritius for mid-year holidays with my family. I had the most amazing time and also managed to do a lot of things that were on my bucket list. So that was quite nice- to cross them off. 

In case you didn't know, Mauritius is a very small island off the east coast of Southern Africa, quite close to Madagascar. 

So one of the things that i crossed off was going parasailing. I was pretty scared to do this if I'm completely truthful, but it was completely worth it in the end. Your harness is attached to a parachute that has a long string attached to your boat. Then the driver speeds up and you float up into the sky and can look down at the sea from about 80 meters high! It was absolutely amazing!

The second thing that I did which was really cool was swimming with dolphins. It wasn't quite what I was expecting because it wasn't like in the movies where you can pet them and stuff, they were swimming in a pod and we had snorkels so you could see them swim under you and then also when they came up. They were very close, but it was just different from what I expected. 

The was the only one I could find with us and the dolphins in the picture.

Another thing that I crossed off was to go snorkelling in a reef. The whole island is surrounded by a beautiful coral reef with loads of amazing fish and beautiful turquoise waters. We went snorkelling everyday and it was absolutely my favourite thing to do. We saw eels, sea snakes, millions of beautiful tropical fish, dolphins, starfish and a whole lot more, not to mention the beautiful coral and sea boulders at the bottom. 

My brother and I snorkelling. 

We were staying in the north and this was the most southern tip, so we only went snorkelling there once, but it was by far the best and most incredible experience. 

Lastly, I also crossed off visit a tropical island. It was just the best trip and I think that because the resort had so many activities, friendly people and delicious food, it was actually the place that we stayed that made me see this country in such a beautiful way. 

The pool area at the resort. 

Every night, there were the most beautiful sunsets and we used to sit on the beach and watch them before dinner. 

The view from my balcony. 

Beauty Product Haul

So a week or so ago, I did a massive haul at Clicks which is kind of like a South African brand of a drugstore or highstreet. It has everything and anything. It has a really big make up section with a whole lot of different brands of make-up, then it also has beauty products like face products, body gels, and whatever else. So I needed to do this haul for a while because gradually all my things have been running out. So the reason why I did this post in not to share with you every brand of make up that I use. But rather because these products, especially that I chose for this post, have been so great. They have all worked so well for me and my skin, etc. and I fully recommend them all. 

1) 'Vaya' Smooth For Her.

 This stuff is basically an alcohol based stick that you can roll on to any skin after you have shaved and it honestly keeps it smooth for much much longer. I have found it to work so well, so if any of you share my hate for how quickly your hairs grow back after shaving, this will do the trick :) 

2) 'Yardley Oatmeal' 2-in-1 Blemish Stick

Essentially this is a concealer, and the main reason why I bought it is because my friend Caroline said she was enjoying it, when she mentioned it in a beauty haul on her blog, agirlcalledcaroline.blogspot.com. I have struggled to find a concealer in the perfect colour for my skin, for a while now and this matched perfectly- I use it in the shade oatmeal. So on the tube it says that it also heals blemishes but I never actually thought it would because I didn't think it was like a proper skin product and was just a concealer. But woah, within 5 days of using this over all my skin, it was completely clear. I am absolutely loving it and recommend it 100%. 

3) 'African Extract Rooibos' Refreshing Toner

I have found this brand really brilliant over the past few months and have been using their masks every now and then as well as the day and night moisturisers. But I just finished my Clinique toner and wanted to try a new one, so I bought this because I already know the brand well. This is so great, I just use a bit on cotton wool every morning and night and I always feel natural and fresh-faced after. I don't know if you can get it out of South Africa, but it is very good and you might do. It is also alcohol free which is really nice because it doesn't leave your face dry or tight. 

4) 'Lush' Colour Supplement in Light Yellow

I know I am cheating a bit because this is from Lush, not Clicks. I was originally quite hesitant to buy this because Lush doesn't generally make make-up and does more beauty products like stuff for the bath, etc. But I bought it by chance and am loving it. Everything about it just feels good for your skin, especially because everything at Lush is handmade and natural only. It is not heavy at all, so just gives a fresh, light converage all over. I generally use it as a light foundation on days when I don't want to cake make-up on. 

5) 'Nivea Daily Essentials' Refreshing Facial Wash Gel

I actually only bought this as a very last minute product before I left on holiday. I generally do buy expensive products when it comes to my face/skin and I have been using Dermalogica (Clean Start) for ages and enjoying it. I only intended to use this for the week while I was on holiday then was going to buy more Dermalogica, but I was surprised at how much I liked this, despite it being very cheap. It is just a normal face wash to use in the shower but always leaves my face smooth and clear. The only thing is you do need to moisturise straight after because it dries it out a tiny bit. It's otherwise really good and smells delicious. 

6) 'Essie Spring Collection' in Nice is Nice

I have had this colour before from overseas and really liked it so bought it again. It was actually a much lighter pastel purple here than in England where I bought it first. But I love how its a bit lighter and I wear it all the time. It is my new favourite. Also Essie is such a good brand and always lasts long. 

7) 'Essence' Sun Club Matt Bronzing Powder- Brunettes

I hadn't started using bronzer till this year and I am loving it. This one is essence which is a nice make-up brand that is also very reasonably priced. I am  actually more blonde than brunette but have a bit of a naturally darker skin opposed to fair, lighter skin so went with this one rather and it is perfect. 

8) 'Essence' Silky Touch Blush in #10 "Adorable"

Kind of like a baby-doll pink colour. I have a more coral, red colour too but wanted a really pink colour as well and am really happy with this one. 

9) 'Clicks Skin Essentials' 3-in-1 Facial Cleansing Wipes

Just the normal but these are nice because they have a lot of moisture in them, don't sting my eyes, and never fail to remove all my make-up. 

So those are my best beauty products from my Clicks haul, hope that you enjoy them. 

PINTEREST- Little Jewels

In honour of all the beautiful bags, jewellery and other bits and bobs. These are all pictures from my accessories board.

PINTEREST- Vintage Dreams

This is a board I created with a whole lot of vintage(y) black and white/ old fashioned pictures that I liked. You can see more here if you liked these. 

PINTEREST- Fashion Forward

Some of my favourite looks from my fashion board. 

Hope you enjoyed those :) 

PINTEREST- The Sweet Life

These pics are from my baking board on Pinterest. I am blown away at how it is even possible to bake some of these things!

Vanilla cake filled with smarties.

How cool is the layering on this cake, I have no idea how
they did it!

8 layer rainbow cake

Blue velvet cake, I have never seen this before, but
it looks even better than red.

Oreo cheesecake

I don't even know what this is, some type of
berry stuff but it looks delicious.

How pretty are these cupcakes?

Nomnomnom, happy baking <3