The perfect Christmas gift!

 

Only last week I got this ah-maaazing gift bag from Estee Lauder and I can honestly say that I have been using these products non stop ever since!

 I was so excited for this gift set, mainly because it contains 8 full sized products, which are 2 lipsticks, 2 eye shadow palettes, their best selling mascara, Sumptuous Extreme, a blush and highlight palette, the amazing Advanced Night Repair serum and the Gentle Eye makeup remover and as a little bonus, a mini Revitalizing Supreme + anti ageing face cream; and of course, that gorgeous burgundy bag! And all for something like $90 ! Considering that only their Double Wear foundation costs $40, you can imagine how much all these products would cost individually! So it was kind of a bargain for me and I knew this set had to be my Christmas present for myself!

   

The pigmentation of those eyeshadows is quite good and they last 10 hours without creasing or fading away (I've tested them!) one palette contains blue shades and the other one is a bit more warm toned and has purple shades, both matte and shimmer. The lipsticks are also lovely to wear, they are not long lasting matte lipsticks, their formula is quite creamy and moisturizing, but the colors are gorgeous! And what is Christmas without a red lipstick, am I right?

 

 I, of course, love their luxurious packaging, all gold and shiny, simple and clean.

It makes a great gift set, I mean, how could anyone say no to a free gorgeous bag and loads of makeup products?

As an ending note, I will wish you all a very Merry Christmas and maybe, a luxurious one!

Birthday girl

 

Today is my birthday! ( as if that is not clear enough from the pictures, title and balloons) I never had this kind of balloons, not when I was little - actually back then, you could barely find regular balloons -  so I thought I would treat myself not with a cake, but with some fun, colorful photos I could revisit  years later and smile with joy. 

 I hope you like them as much as I do and I wish you all have a great day as much as I will!

 

Easter cookies and cupcakes ideas!

Are you ready for Easter yet? If you haven't finished your festive meals, here are a few suggestions of something sweet, of course! One of my biggest pleasures in life is to bake cakes and sweets, so whenever there is a major holiday coming up, it is natural of me to post some recipes on this blog. Decorating cakes is so much fun! So here I am with some Easter inspired cupcakes and cookies recipes, I hope you will love them!

 

I searched all around Pinterest for some inspiration and took some idea from there and decided to create some sort of bunny shapes from frosting while making the ears from sugar paste (or marzipan).

Then I made some Easter egg nests - these are my favorite! -  a few other bunny tails and the ones with strawberries were meant to represent carrots dug up from the ground, but my glazing technique failed me this time and it did not stick to the strawberries, so let's pretend  they are carrots, ok?

I also made some gingerbread Easter egg cookies, now I cheated a bit with these, because I used a dough mix from the store and did not make it myself, but I promise you I spent more than three hours decorating these!

I worked with four bowls or frosting, each in a different color and I messed up my kitchen with glaze, tiny butterflies and food coloring, but I so loved the final result, I mean, the whole designing process gave me such satisfaction!

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Easter is all about pastel colors and fun shapes, so creating these was so much fun for me, just looking at them brings me such joy, I bet that by tomorrow they will be all gone, at least I hope they are delicious too!

Here are the ingredients I used:

For the cupcakes dough: your basic 150 g flour, 120 g caster sugar, 2 eggs, 100 ml milk, 100 g butter and a bit of almond extract - my favorite.

Mixed all these and bake them for 25 minutes at 175 degrees Celsius

For the frosting - I used the same frosting for the cookies and cupcakes:

180 g of mascarpone cheese, 200 ml of whipped cream, a bit of vanilla extract.

You also need food coloring and various cake decorations, you can find them at the baking department in any hyper market.

I hope you like them and I will leave you by wishing you a very happy (and delicious) Easter!

The sweetest Valentine

 

Cupcake ideas for a sweet Valentine's Day!

I don't normally celebrate Valentine's Day, not because I'm single, but because I was never attracted to this holiday in particular, it always felt too...pink for me. However, I decided this time I would try to make an effort an celebrate it in a way that makes me excited and by that I mean baking cupcakes! You might know I am passionate creating this dessert, especially when there is a holiday involved, as you can see here and here. I decided not to skip Valentine's Day and see what I can come up with!

I really wanted to create little marzipan hearts, but I realized I lack the skills, so I opted to use some tiny sugar hearts as decor and since it is Valentine's Day, what kind of frosting can you use if not pink? Even the dough is pink on the inside, too bad you can't see that.

Anyway, instead of creating an outfit post or some makeup tutorials for this occasion, I thought this is a more romantic (and sweet) way to celebrate this day. I hope you feel inspired and don't forget the mandatory glass of wine!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here are the ingredients I used:

For the dough: 200 g flour, 150 g sugar, 2 eggs, 120 g butter and orange zest. Baked for 25 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.

For the frosting: 200 ml whipped cream mixed with 150 g of mascarpone and 30 g of butter and a bit of vanilla extract. 

I separated the frosting in two bowls and I added some red colorant gel in one of them to make the bright pink frosting.

Easy right? I hope you are willing to try it, I bet it will be a nice surprise for your loved one!

 Good luck and bon appetit!

Christmas cupcakes ideas!

 

One more day left and Christmas is here! 

I think that actually the most joyful part of this holiday is all the preparation and anticipation for it rather than Christmas day itself - oh wait, there also the gifts opening on that day, nevermind what I just said, that is the most exciting part! 

So in honor of this holiday, as I felt very festive, I decided to make some Winter themed cupcakes which I am totally excited about. The idea came into my mind in a minute and in the next hour I was out purchasing all the necessary ingredients. The decorating ideas came into my mind as the baking process went all along, so naturally, I was missing some red pigment or some glitter, I'm also not too happy about the cupcake paper forms, they started to disintegrate in the oven, but after all this, at least they are insanely delicious and my level satisfaction was sky high!

 

I have my snowmen which I made with extreme care out of fondant and I used some pretzels and chocolate tiny bubbles as I like to call them, as decor

Next I have my polar bear paws made out of chocolate glazed biscuits and chocolate almond dragees - I actually had to glaze them myself because I could not find anywhere small chocolate biscuits with glaze on them - it was mission impossible IX

Aaaand my little reindeer and snowballs, I used the same fondant for both, some dragees and lots of coconut flakes as decor!

For these cupcakes I used simple ingredients, like 250 g flour and sugar, 3 eggs, a teaspoon of baking powder, 100 ml sour cream, 170 g of butter and some vanilla extract for the dough. Baked in the oven for 20 minutes and done!

For the white icing, I used 100 g of cream cheese, 25 g of butter and 50 g of powder sugar.

As for the brandy icing I used 200 ml of whipped cream, 30 g of powder sugar, one tablespoon of soluble coffee and a bit of brandy for flavor.

Simple right? The decorating part is the most challenging but also, fun to do!

With this, I am wishing you all a very Merry (and sweet) Christmas and I hope you are also feeling as festive and joyful as I do! 

See you soon!

6 Christmas Makeup Essentials

 

Christmas is just around the corner and I am feeling more festive than ever!

 I wanted to share with you my excitement and so, I put together a few makeup products to try out for Christmas. Or rather, my idea of a makeup for this occasion. I am going for something simple and yet daring. I am feeling attracted to the red color more than ever this time of year so I was really yearning to have a bold red lip while keeping my eye makeup rather simple.

 Scroll down to see what products I used and maybe you'll find them useful!

   

My idea of a perfect foundation is definitely the Revlon Colorstay; if you need a matte base and also a long lasting product, this foundation is the one for you. I have been using it for years and it never disappoints. Plus, now it comes with a pump, which makes the application much more easier and less messy!

 

And how about a bit of sparkle? For eyeshadow I used this gorgeous glittery pot from Glazel Visage in the shade C7, I am really sad I cannot show you how beautiful the color looks on the eyes, it has both pink and blue sparkles and it just looks really beautiful and festive, photos do not do it justice!

My go to mascara is the L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes, Feline - to be honest, what attracted me mostly was the packaging, then the brush, it doesn't stick my lashes together as most mascaras do, so that's a plus too!

As for the eyeliner,  am currently trying out the Maybelline Master Ink Matte, a product I am loving so far, the applicator is firm and very easy to use, it glides on the eyelid like a dream!

Aaaand lastly, what else is suited for this holiday than a bright red lipstick?

I opted for this matte lipstick from NARS, I brand I recently started to try out and I have to say, this is one great lip stain. My lips don't necessarily feel sticky or dry, it literally lasts for hours and I just love the fact that I can eat and drink at dinner without feeling concerned that my lipstick will fade away.

Let's not forget about the manicure! Of course, the same classic red shade, this one is from Maybelline Colorama in the shade 43.

That is it for this article, I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you are sharing my excitement for Christmas as well!