Baked: Doffins with Raspberry Jam


It's been a while since I've baked, mostly because it's winter and Callum's conservatory-style kitchen is freezing and no delicious treats are worth the red nose and blue hands. But since the weather is strangely mild, we braved the kitchen and made some doffins! They're a mix between doughnuts and muffins and they are amazing. I took one bite, looked at Callum and said 'these are the best things we've ever baked.'
You can find the recipe on the asda website here. It's a really simple recipe, you can't really go wrong. It's pretty quick too so it's perfect from whipping up a last minute treat. It says to bake for 25 minutes but ours came out looking a little bit dark so you might just want to check yours at the 20 minute mark. Dipping the doffins in the butter was the bit I hated. It was so messy! You're supposed to brush the butter on but we were lacking in tools so we pretty much just dropped it in the bowl of butter and then rolled it in the icing. The good thing about it is it doesn't have to be perfect!
Next time I think we're going to try a bit of cinnamon mixed in with the granulated sugar. I love cinnamon. We've done this with doughnuts in the past and they turned out really well. Believe me, it won't be long until we're making more of these!


Anna Saccone Zodiac Necklace



I don't wear a lot of jewellery. I have a couple of special rings I like to wear but other than that I go about my days accessory-free (fashion isn't my thing, all I wear are jeans, boots and a jumper and even that's hard enough to coordinate in a morning! Add the problem of accessorising and my stress levels would be through the roof before I've even left the house). When Anna Saccone announced the launch of her zodiac necklace range before Christmas, I immediately added one to my imaginary Christmas wish list. If you don't already know, Anna Saccone is vlogger on youtube.. I love the Saccone Joly's, they are my favourite youtube family. They often make me laugh and Anna and Emelia's baking videos are my guilty pleasures. Even with a three year old Anna makes it look easy!

I ordered the necklace only a couple of days after Christmas so I wasn't expecting it to arrive for a few weeks. It came the first week of January and I've had it on every day since, I don't want to take it off. My zodiac sign is Libra (not the most exciting of Zodiac signs, in fact it's probably the most boring one!) and I went for silver so it would match the other little amount of jewellery I wear. I just love it!

I've seen zodiac necklaces and I have been tempted by a couple I've seen in Urban Outfitters in the past but I'm glad I waited and went for Anna Saccone's. The designs are beautiful so have a look at the Stilnest website. You can buy them in gold, silver or rose gold and they come in different lengths too. I went for the shortest length (45cm). 

They are quite expensive but they're good quality, personal and you can customise colour and length too so you can find a style that suits you best!


Covergirl Blast Flipstick



Happy New Year! I hope your year is off to a lovely start. Even though I haven't been posting much of here lately, I've had some lovely comments and emails and even some new followers over the Christmas holidays so thank you for that! It warms my heart!

Over the Christmas holidays, Callum and I went to visit his mum down in Wales. We only went for a couple of days but we had a good time and somehow I managed to squeeze in a makeup purchase. How do I manage it? On the second day we were there we went for breakfast at Frankie and Bennies (their pancakes are amazing, worth getting up early to go) and then did a bit of shopping afterwards. Callum's mum pointed out a beauty discount store and suggested we go in. I wasn't going to say no, was I? While rummaging through the nail varnishes and lipsticks and eyeshadow palettes, I found a collection of Covergirl lipsticks in and amongst everything else and I was drawn to them like a magnet.

When I went to New York last year I did a bit of shopping in Sephora but completely forgot to raid the CVS and Duane Reade stores for drug street brands. So I missed out on some Covergirl products that I'd been wanting to try. Covergirl is a difficult brand to find in the UK but I've been intrigued by their products for a while so I was going to snap up any chance I had to try some of their products. As soon as I spotted the Blast Flipstick, I tested out a few shades and settled on Vixen, a shimmery pink shade. 

The idea of having two shades is to create an ombre lip. I did this the first time I tested the product and while I loved the affect, I didn't love the colour. The dark pink shade was a bit too dark for me but the lighter pink shade was perfect. Instead of wearing them together I've resorted to wearing the lighter pink shade on it's own (well, with lots of vaseline!) The staying power is really good, I can't fault it. I do however think that the formula is a bit dry and as someone who generally struggles with dry lips, it disappointed me. 

I'd liked to try this product in a different colour before I completely make my mind up about it though. Hopefully I'll stumble over some more some time soon! If you want to read more about them, you can find them on the Covergirl website. Have you ever tried these products? What are your favourite lip products?