My Holy Grail: Mascara

MAYBELLINE 'THE FALSIES- VOLUME EXPRESS' MASCARA

This is honestly the best mascara I have ever come across! And so I decided it was finally time for a blog post to share it with all of you! I have been using this mascara for quite some time now actually, but in between have tried a whole bunch of other mascaras too, but I always seem to come back to this one, because it is just so good and I've yet to find a highstreet brand of mascara that is nearly as good as this one!

This one, in the purpley-magenta tube is the original one and there are a whole bunch of other types within the "The Falsies" range, but I've tried two of the others and in my opinion, this original one is still by far the best! 

Maybelline 'The Falsies' just makes my lashes look so much longer and fuller but is also not cake-y or clumpy and so separates the lashes really nicely. I tend to avoid mascara on my bottom lashes, but the few times I have done those, this works nicely for bottom lashes too. 

The wand is not one of those horrible plastic ones and I find that it grips the lashes really well. The shape of the end is also really helpful in coating all your lashes without any smudges anywhere else on your face (this is something I tend to end up doing quite a lot usually). 

Click here, to check it out on Feel Unique where you can check out reviews and prices or order it online if you want. 

It costs about R130 here and lasts a good while! So yeah, looking for a relatively cheap, really good quality mascara? 

This is your one. 

Check out some of the other posts in the "Holy Grail" series:
Bronzer

Baking Oreo Cupcakes

A couple of weeks back, I baked these super easy and delicious Oreo cupcakes and took some pictures to share the recipe with you all, so here they are, hope you enjoy!

YOU WILL NEED:

* 1 cup of flour

* 1 cup of sugar

* 3 teaspoons of baking powder

* 3 eggs

* Half a cup of oil

* Half a cup of water

* 3 packets of Oreos

*  2 cups icing sugar (confectioners sugar)

* 125g butter

* Vanilla essence

* Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius/ 350 degrees Farenheit. 

So first thing to do is to sieve the flour, ordinary sugar and baking powder into a mixing bowl. 

Now add the oil, water and 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence. 

Next, you need to separate all three eggs. Put the whites into a fairy large bowl as we are going to whisk them just now. Toss the yolks into your flour-sugar-oil-water mixture and mix it all up with a whisk/spoon until the yolks are properly blended in. 

The egg whites need to be beaten now, and I highly suggest you use an electric whisk if you can! Beat them on high until they are stiff enough that they won't fall out the bowl if you tipped it upside down. When they are stiff, add another teaspoon of vanilla essence and mix that in. 

Fold the whites into the batter now, do so with a spatula and make sure you don't stir it any more than it needs. 

Take 3/4 of a packet of Oreos and use a food processor to make them into tiny little crumbs. You could rather do this by hand by popping them in a sandwich bag and hitting them with a rolling pin, but either way make sure they are very fine. Add the Oreo crumbs to the batter. 

They are almost ready to go into the oven. But first, put cupcake holders into your cupcake tins and at the bottom of each holder, place down a whole Oreo for a little treat at the bottom. 

Now pour the batter into the holders and put them in the oven for 15-25 minutes, it completely depends on your oven, but I'd start checking from about 15 minutes. To tell if they're done, just stick a knife or toothpick into them and they are done if it comes out clean (without any batter on it). 

When they are done, let them cool completely. Meanwhile, you can make the icing. To make this, let the butter soften (if you do this by putting it in the microwave, make sure it doesn't melt, just softens) and then combine it with the icing sugar (sifted), 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence and 3/4 of a pack of ground up Oreos again. If the Oreos make it too thick, just add a little cold water. And if it is too runny, add some more icing sugar. 

Now you can ice the cupcakes and for a little last decoration, add half an Oreo on top. 

And that's it! I hope you enjoy!

(This recipe was "inspired" by Tanya Burr's video on them, but the actual icing and cupcake recipes are mine :) ) 

Happy baking!

Room DIY Ideas

So in March this year I moved into a new room and because I didn't have much time to decorate and stuff, as I had varsity, I just haven't got around to changing it up, getting organised and making it a bit more homely. Seeing as it's relatively new, it's felt a little bare cause I never had time to add decorations/art/any other little bits and bobs, so that's what I've been doing recently. That means a lot of DIY room stuff, so I thought I might share some of these (mostly from Pinterest) with you, if any of you are looking for some quick and easy room DIY ideas. 

MY DRESSING TABLE

The first thing I did was sort out my make-up. I bought a white cake stand type thing to put all my everyday make-up on, like the stuff I really do use on a day-to-day basis. I previously kept these in an old and not-so-attractive travel bag, so I'm really happy with having this little stand, and it's just so handy having my essentials laid out and stuff. 

The next thing I did was put all my make-up brushes into a pretty mug on my dressing table. I don't have a huge amount of them, but I think they look really nice like this, and it's a good way to keep them clean and organised. 

In my re-decorating, I have truly embraced by love of candles. I really do love them, and I think that having a couple lit for an hour or so always adds such a lovely scent to the room. I bought these three vanilla scented candles in these cute little jars and I just think they look very pretty on my dressing table. 

The last thing I've added to my dressing table are some little jars. I love the idea of organising things with jars as they look so cute, and are just a great way to keep stuff in order. So I bought these three and then, inspired by an idea I saw on Pinterest, I gave them chalkboard labels. 

To make the jar labels I just painted some black acrylic chalkboard paint onto blank white paper. Once that dried, I cut the paper into equal sized labels and then used spray adhesive glue to stick them onto the jars. I also bought this really cool chalkboard pen which makes it a whole lot easier to write neatly in chalk!

On the one side of my dressing table, I attached a really pretty piece of material ribbon to the wooden edge by hammering two drawing pins into the wood. I made sure the ribbon was a little slack and then I just pushed through all my earrings. I just think this is a really simple, pretty way to store earrings, instead of in a jar or something where they get all tangled up and the butterflies lost and what not. 

And so that's it for my dressing table. The only thing I'm still wanting to do is maybe buy a pretty small vase with some fake flowers (although nice ones that look real hehe) and then also, I want to see if I can't get some draw dividers to organise my make-up and hair stuff in those drawers a bit more. 

DESK 

For my desk, I didn't want to fill it up too much because even though it looks clear now, during the semester it is a whole different story. 

So the first thing I did was buy this turquoise/teal-ish coloured wooden A4 sized box to store any loose papers, forms and bits and bobs to file, that sort of thing. I have needed something like this so badly recently, just to make sure I can keep organised, particularly during the semester, and not lose any important papers, etc. I also just painted the wooden tag on the box with chalkboard paint again, which I think is a cute little touch I guess. This was slightly pricey (particularly for Mr Price Home), but I think probably a worthy investment. 

The next thing I did (a month or two ago) was to attach some little white lanterns to the shelf above my desk. I just think that fairy lights and lanterns make everything so much warmer and homely, and so I like having these on. 

Another thing I did for my desk was to buy a couple of glass mini milk-bottle jars to store all my pens and stationary. I obviously have a different pencil case for varsity, but I just like having these to store any loose stationary, etc. I decorated the jars by adding some decorative pegs and stuff and then I also used this mug with a quote on it for other bits and pieces on my desk. 

MY SHELVES

Around my book shelves I have this big canvas of a world map, and I decided that I wanted to put this picture-bunting type thing up on the shelf above it. This definitely wasn't my idea, I saw it on Pinterest and loved the idea, so made my own one. It was super easy to make and then I just pinned it up on my shelf. 

All you need is some yarn/string, some pretty little pegs, the photos you want and some pins to pin it up.

DOOR HANDLES

The last little thing I added was these pretty little ceramic hearts on my bedroom door and patio door handles. I just thought they are a pretty little touch. 

And that's all for now! I have been wanting to make a few small changes like this to make my room more organised and also a bit more homely by adding a few pretty touches. If you  are redecorating any time soon, I hope that maybe these inspire you a little! All of this was just putting stuff together or very basic DIY (I am no craftsman haha) so it is super easy and I actually had quite a bit of fun doing it! 

Lots of love

My September/October Playlist

Time for another playlist post! I have downloaded some great music recently, hope you enjoy!

ALICE BY THE HUDSON- AJR

Kind of an indie, pop, waltzy, electro (mix of everything) song, I just really love the melody and these guys are great, so have a listen! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mUoIi3RuJc

100 YEARS- FIVE FOR FIGHTING
I don't know what it is about this song, it sounds SO familiar even though I don't think I've heard it before I downloaded it this month, anyway, it's a really lovely little song. The singer has such a great, simple voice and an amazing falsetto!

BOTTLED UP TIGHT- LUKE SITAL SINGH

Ahhh, I LOVE this song so so much! This guy is incredible, so check out his other stuff too, but this is my fave!

FASTER- MATT NATHANSON

I don't know what exactly it is about this song, but it just makes me happy, so have a little listen! 

LOVE RUNS OUT- ONE REPUBLIC

Once again, One Republic have produced a crazy catchy, great pop song! I love this one, especially the chorus!

SWEET SERENDIPITY- LEE DEWYSE

It took me a little while to get into this, because I'm not the biggest fan of the start of the song, but the rest is so good that I kinda love it anyway! It is very much a summer feel good song, so definitely one for my spring playlist :D

BALKANTO- NOMADIC ORCHESTRA

Very much an acquired/personal taste, so I don't expect you'll all like them, but I luurve this band! They are a south african band that produce a mix of electronic house stuff with classical instruments, I just think they are great, and love their style, have a listen and see what you think!

UNDERMINE- HAYDEN PANITTIERE (NASHVILLE SOUNDTRACK)

I have just started watching Nashville and because of my love of country music, I am absolutely loving it! This song was sang on the show acoustically and very raw and stripped down, but I love this studio version too.

TRY- COLBIE CALLAIT

It took me a while to get into this song, it's a bit different from Colbie's usual stuff, but I think it is such an important message and I really like the song now.

ROCKSTAR- A GREAT BIG WORLD

Oh my goodness, I am obsessed with this song! This man's voice is just SO beautiful and he plays such amazing piano, and yeah, always just keeps his songs simple, meaningful and always amazing! Have a listen!

CRAZY FOR YOU -HEDLEY

I've only just discovered this band (or guy, I don't actually know), in the past few months, but I am such a fan, and I don't know why their stuff isn't more popular! Have a listen, this song is very upbeat and just makes me happy. 

MOVE- LITTLE MIX

I actually didn't like this song the first few times I listened to it, but then suddenly, I just changed my mind and now I really like it. Very upbeat and dance-y, have a listen!

BANG BANG- JESSIE J, ARIANA GRANDE, NIKKI MINAJ

This is definitely going to be my song for the summer, I am a little obsessed, and if I've spoken to you about music at all in the last month, no doubt I would have ranted to you about how much I love this song. I don't know exactly what it is, but it's just so good! I also was SO shocked at how amazing Jessie J's voice is! I have always known what a strong singer she is, but in this, I was really taken by surprised, it is amazing! And always love me some Ariana, with that amazing range, so yeah, a pretty great song!

I'm going to leave it at that for now, but I have downloaded so much stuff that I still want to share, so expect some more music posts. Although, saying that, not in the week or two while I write exams, but after that! 

Till then xx

My First Mac Products

Something a little exciting happened, I ordered some stuff from Mac, well very little actually, but yeah, basically I have been wanting to try out some Mac make-up for ages but have never been able to bring myself to splurge on it yet. And then I discovered that you can order Mac stuff online here, I didn't realise SA did that, so was excited to try a couple of things out. 

Being very much on a student's budget, I in no way could do a haul or massive order, but I ordered two things I have been wanting for ages and were top on my Mac list, and am so happy with them so far!

1) So the first thing is a good Mac lipstick. Yeah, I guess they are a bit pricy, but I have wanted one for ages and so finally ordered this one, called Ravishing and the finish is Creme Sheen. Deciding on a colour was tough because there were SO many, and also because I couldn't swatch it (cause it was online) I didn't want to order one that may look different in the thumbnail. I knew the colour I wanted the most was a corally sort of lipstick because I didn't have one and I think it will be very pretty for spring/summer coming up! 

I have no experience in picking a finish either, and there were so many, so I sort of just went by colour, but the Creme Sheen finish is actually so amazing, because it is a little creamy and so doesn't clump on your lips and just has a very nice overall finish. I am so happy with this colour!

Mac- Ravishing (Cremesheen)

2) The second, and last thing I bought (yeah, only two things for now) was actually a brush I have heard people rave about for a long time, which is the Mac 217 blending brush. It's designed mainly for eye shadow blending and contouring I think, but can also be used with cream rather than powder, so works as a small concealer brush too. I am using it mainly for concealer because I don't wear eye shadow much, but have washed it out and tried it for both and it's just really nice! It's the perfect size for your crease and is soft and doesn't loose bristles, which is always a plus!

Mac 217 Blending Brush

So yeah, this is a very simple, quick little post, but I am so excited to finally have some Mac stuff and I am just enjoying them both so much, that I thought I'd share them with y'all :)

The bug has definitely bitten me, and I can't wait to get more Mac, I'm thinking I want a nude-y lipstick next, comment if you know of any good ones!

The Jenna Lowe Trust #GETMETO21

This is not one of my usual blog posts... It's an appeal, a desperate plea for a little help to make a small change towards solving a difficult problem. 
Jenna Lowe is my age, went to a school that I know well and have many friends at, and is a close friend to several of my friends, so while I don't even know her personally, it doesn't matter, because she needs a hand here, and so I thought, the only other thing I could do on top of sharing the links and what not on every form of social media I have, was to blog about it. Because maybe, even if it's just one of you who hears about this trust, we can actually contribute to making a change. 

Before I go into too much detail here, let me tell you the problem. Jenna has Pulmonary Hypertension, and while I really don't know the specifics, it's basically a degenerative disease that blocks up the arteries to your lungs, and can make it very hard to breathe, it mostly leads to heart failure, particularly without treatment to slow down the process. One main issue with this, is that it is virtually unheard of, particularly here is South Africa. If you are interested in the more medical side of the disease and the signs and symptoms and so on, you can read here or here. It took Jenna ages to be finally diagnosed with this because it is so rare. She now has to face the really traumatic and life-changing event of needing a lung transplant, but before this can even happen, she needs a good set of healthy lungs that are a match. 

So, why am I writing to you guys? Well, from this blog post, I guess what I am hoping for is to get more support for Jenna's trust and new campaign called 'Get Me to 21'. 

THE JENNA LOWE TRUST: 
Check the site out here!
They created the trust a while ago in order to raise awareness to help diagnosis for others, seeing as it is so rare, and also to help raise funds for the extremely expensive medication and procedures. You can help in this way by downloading a song that Jenna and her sister Kristi wrote that is available to buy on iTunes (it's a great song too!), or you can look on the website, there are really pretty bracelets that you can order and a whole bunch other other fundraisers, so please do support! 

#GETMETO21
Check this out here. 
This is a very new campaign they have created for Jenna, seeing as she now needs a lung transplant. The basic idea is to promote awareness and support of becoming an organ donor. Obviously this isn't even directly helping Jenna, but rather is just something to consider. One organ donor can save seven lives! I am not at all, asking you to do this, I understand what a very personal and big decision it is, but rather just asking that you think about it, and if not now, then maybe another day, but otherwise any form of awareness is exactly what she needs. 

I don't know how I would manage this if I was in Jenna's situation, but even though I don't know her personally, she has just been so inspiring! I thought I'd do my little part to try help out. Even if one person reads this blog and checks out the website, that will be enough, because like I said, ultimately, awareness if a very powerful tool. 

Okay, so what am I asking you to do, or hoping to get from this post?

- Please, if you have some time, check out the Jenna Lowe Trust website, it's very informative and has a blog Jenna does about coping and stuff like that.

- Check out the Get Me To 21 website and watch the YouTube video supporting that, that I posted above. 

- If you have always wanted to be an organ donor and have never gotten round to it, then sign up, but otherwise just maybe consider if you ever would, if you want. 

- If you like them, why not order one of the bracelets they're selling to raise money, this is probably limited to South Africans, but yeah, I think they're super pretty. 

- This goes for everyone (international and local), and is a very easy one for any of you who aren't from SA. Why not buy the song on iTunes to raise money, it's called "I Need More Time" by Kristi Lowe, it is really beautiful and will cost you almost nothing, like R9 or $1! 

- But lastly, most importantly, and the reason I decided to blog about this, PLEASE, pretty please, SHARE THESE LINKS, share the YouTube video and TALK ABOUT IT to your friends, etc. because even though it seems ambitious, if the YouTube video can go viral, or people from around the world, not just SA know about PH and Jenna's story, it will not only help Jenna but everyone else with the disease and those who may not even know they have it yet. Share the video on Google+, the websites on FB, blog about it, talk about it and tweet using #GETMETO21 

Thanks guys, just doing one of these things is so easy for us, so if you have a few seconds free, think about it please.

xx

Jack Kerouac

I hope one day I can say that my life was even half as crazy, adventurous, inspiring and truly refreshing as his. Some words of wisdom by this gem of an inspiration.