MY CAKE CREATIONS

This is the first cake I made using fondant icing, slight mistake with the colour of the butter icing on the top of the bow. Should have coloured the butter icing to match with the bow but nevermind - a lesson not to be forgotten!

This was my second cake creation - a soaked lemon cake decorated as a bee hive with chocolate cupcakes, fondant icing bees and home made honeycomb. I got the idea of this cake from The Great British Bake off Red Nose Special and because my Dad is a sucker for honeycomb!

My third cake two tiered Minnie Mouse cake for a 16th Birthday party. Went down a treat =) Bottom level was a simple vanilla sponge and the top layer was devils chocolate cake (the secret is to use melted chocolate instead of cocoa powder, makes the cake much lighter and moist).

Here was my biggest cake to date - a four tiered engagement cake, each tier was in the shape of a hear and I made icing roses cascading down the front. Alternated the layers between vanilla sponge and chocolate cake. Took about 10 hours but was so worth it =)

This was a three tiered heart shaped cake with chocolate butter cream roses and edible pearls for a wedding anniversary. Such a simple technique but adds so much to the appearance of the cake.

A two tiered vanilla sponge for a lovely lady's 100th Birthday! Very simple construction with blue centre daisy's. 

One of my favourites - my step sisters favourite animal is an octopus so what better way to decorate a cake!

I really enjoy baking and recently decorating cakes into all types of spectacular creations! Do any of you bake? Have you tried working with fondant icing? Would love to see some photos!

MY FLORIDA DIARIES: PUNTA GORDA FISHING VILLAGE

Hello lovelies!

I recently came back from my two week summer holiday to Engelwood, Sarasota in Florida. We did so much there that I want to blog about but thought to make it easier I’d break it down into mini blog posts.

Punta Gorda Fishermans Village is located on the Port Charlotte Harbour and consists of a variety of shops and restaurants overlooking the pier. 

At the end of the parade of shops is Harpoon Harry’s  a gorgeous little restaurant bar overlooking the water. The food is freshly cooked to order and naturally being positioned on a pier the menu is heavily laden with fish.

After eating (the food was absolutely delicious every time) and watching the boats go out to sea for an hour or so we hit the shops. My two favourite shops were The Naples Soap Company and Dana Tyler Jewellery. Now if any of you have visited America before I don’t need to mention the impeccable customer service (if you haven’t it is unlike any customer service you will ever experience) however I felt the service in these two particular shops was above and beyond. 

I mentioned the Naples Soap Company in my previous post about Skin Care as I bought an incredible, natural face cream for $16. Along with the face cream I bought one of their supposedly famous Loofa Soaps  in key west lime. This product is fantastic to have, it smells incredible and is so handy to use on the feet or anywhere on the body you wish to exfoliate. They do wonderful loofa soap bags that you can mix and match the colours that would do perfectly as gifts. While in the shop we also tried their sea salt scrubs - I know there are a lot of these out there but honestly my hands felt like silk once I had dried them!                        I am always on the hunt for a new company that uses all natural products and doesn’t cost the earth I just wish they were here in the UK too! 

Dana Tyler jewellery was a shop that caught my eye straight away - mainly the shiny, glistening necklaces in the window! 

“We specialize in quality costume jewelry featuring high-end cubic zirconia, rhodium and 14kt gold plated collections.  We find great pleasure in sourcing the latest trends in fashion jewelry and we invite you to experience for yourself, our enthusiasm for exciting new styles by visiting one of our three boutiques located in Southwest Florida.” (http://danatyler.com/about-danatyler) 

After learning all about the company from the charming sales assistant I set about choosing my jewellery and I came away with two beautiful pieces.

The quality of these jewellery pieces is stunning, they look beautiful on and wear really well, I have worn the ring every day since I bought it and although I remove it to moisturise any other daily job it has come through unharmed!

I really would recommend this beautiful quaint fishermans village for the stunning views, delicious food (restaurants, frozen yoghurt, fresh icecream, fudge and sweets) and variety of gorgeous shops.

Have you been to Florida? Where are your unlikely finds?

Nicola x

SKIN CARE TAG

My lovely friend Chloe  tagged me to do the skin care post, it has taken me a while as I’ve been on holiday (blog coming soon!) but here it is, I hope you like it =)

Describe your skin care routine in 5 words.

Exfoliate, wash, tone, moisturise, massage ( technically massage and moisturise come hand in hand, I tend to massage my face cream into my skin - I read somewhere it helps the blood flow in your face but to be honest I just do it because it feels nice!)

What’s your skin type?

Combination but more towards oily. I get some dry patches and terrible eczema in the winter but have a very oily tzone (until recently!).

Top blemish zapper?

Sudocrem - I have relied on this for as long as I can remember!

Face wipes - yay or nay?

For me its definitely a no - they leave my skin feeling sticky and my pores clogged - they also make me lazy, if I have face wipes lying around the house and I get back late or am too tired I tend to head for these in favour of my normal skin care routine, not good!

Toner - yay or nay?

I love toner I have always used it and I feel like my pores are tighter after using it - think its just me thought!

High-end skin care or high-end makeup?

I can’t say I’ve actually used much of either - I used to use a lot of Clinique make-up and have used YSL touch éclat but apart from that I am definitely a high-street girl (my bank account is very happy with this fact!). However if I had to choose I would go with high-end skin care as not only have I heard very good things about skin care from Clinique and Liz Earl but I believe that no matter how expensive the make up is if your base isn’t right it will never feel perfect. 

What’s the most unusual skin care product you’ve tried?

Apart from using numerous different face masks and washes I haven’t really experimented much apart from using lemon juice to try and reduce spots and take away streaky fake tan, toothpaste on spots and cold tea bags on my eyes! 

Tell us your top skin care tip.

Moisturise! I was always under the impression that if you had oily skin you shouldn’t moisturise but I couldn’t have been more wrong. This week I returned from my summer holiday to America with this fantastic face moisturiser from The Naples Soap Company - my skin feels so soft and smooth afterwards and my oily skin has been significantly reduced!

I hope you enjoyed my skin care post - nothing revolutionary but just what works for me =)

I now tag :

Leanne from lipsticksoflove.blogspot.co.uk

Shannon from raspberrykiss.co.uk

Becki from right-up-my-street.blogspot.co.uk

Beth from bethanyworall.com

Nicola x

A POLICEMANS RETIREMENT

I absolutely love baking and making cakes that are a little bit different - with my Step-dad retiring from his job as a dog handler I couldn't resist making this..

BOURJOIS 123 PERFECT MATCH FOUNDATION: A REVIEW

As someone who suffers from oily skin and has to use blotting sheets numerous times a day (problems!) I am forever trying out new foundations sucked in by their claims of “all day matt finish” and “no more shine” but have yet to find one that stays true to its claim.
After trying a few Bourjois products - adore their nail varnishes and shimmer shine liquid eye shadows - I thought I’d try one of theirs. I tweeted Bourjois asking which of their foundations they would recommend and within no time at all they replied to try their 123 perfect match foundation. Naturally I ran straight over to boots to grab a bottle. I had no problem finding my colour match (I usually find even the lightest is too dark for my skin) paid and couldn’t wait to try it.
It comes in a glass bottle with a fitted pump - love the packaging feels expensive and worth the £10.99 price tag!
One pump is plenty for the coverage I like - the foundation smells slightly fruity not at all like a cosmetic which I LOVE! It has quite a runny consistency which makes it very easy to blend in using my favourite too - Nanshy flat top kabooki brush- and feels almost like there is no product on your skin at all, making it perfect for the summer. The coverage is easily build-able and looks very natural on the skin. I applied the foundation on top of my primer and set it with my MUA translucent powder, added my blush and was ready for the day.
Usually I have to blot a couple of hours into the day around my nose, chin, cheeks and forehead however I was completely surprised to find that my skin FINALLY had that matt finish I have been after for so long.
I must add a note here that I still had to blot my forehead but I have a full thick fringe so this would happen with any product.

I cannot say a word against this product, if you struggle with oily skin or are looking for a new lightweight foundation to experiment with this is definitely worth a try!