A Little Update And An Easter Themed Nails Of The Day From Sensationail*

Hi Guys x I hope you’ve all had a lovely long weekend, and if you’ve been celebrating Easter I hope you haven’t eaten too much chocolate ;) I definitely have and it’s been much needed! The last month or so has being pretty rubbish in LouLouLand. Almost exactly a month ago I woke up and the left side of my face was completely swollen, I looked as though my face and lips had been pumped up with filler, leaving my eye just a slit! A call to 111 lead to an out of hours dental appointment and as it turned out two courses of antibiotics which were to put it mildly horrible. Thankfully the gum swelling went down and I’m currently like so many people in the UK trying to find a NHS dentist after without my knowledge my own dentist removed me from their list after I had (justifiably) to cancel two appointments in a row #fuming. Anyways my mum has been too well either and another one of my relatives is now seriously ill - it’s safe to say that 2024 has been a pretty horrid year so far and it’s showing no signs that it’s going to get any better :( 

I’m still not feeling 100% but I thought I’d try and cheer myself up by sharing a little nails of the day with you. My nails have been pretty awful for a long while but I’ve recently been trying out a product that seems to be making a difference.

To celebrate the official start of summer time, and the little bit of spring sunshine that we’ve had over the weekend (although it seems to have disappeared today for some reason!) I decided to go for a lovely pastel, creamy lilac shade, the Sensationail Colour Gel Polish in Heirloom Lilac. 

Since I actually started using my gel polishes and my Sensationail kit, I keep asking myself why I didn’t start using it sooner, I find it takes about the same time as normal manicure minus the dry time. It lasts longer and it’s much more hard wearing than normal nail polish. The only down side is the removal but I can live with that 

The coverage is also superb, this is just two coats and whilst my application isn’t exactly of a professional standard, it’s so easy to apply and it looks decent.

As nice as it is on its own though I couldn’t resist giving this polish a bit of an Easter twist with some Shein nail stickers.

Nail stickers are great for livening up a tired or less than perfect manicure, and you can be as subtle or as over the top as you like.

With flowers, bunnies, carrots and sheep, it’s like Easter threw up on these nails and I love them, a touch childish maybe but so fun. I just cleanse the polished nail and the stick the sticker before applying a coat of top coat and sealing it under the lamp. You do need to apply another top coat layer every other day to keep it sealed in and to keep your mani looking fresh but it’s worth it.

As I say I got these particular stickers from Shein, who have an amazing selection of nail art bits but you can find nail stickers at various online retailers including eBay and Amazon. Sensationail polishes are getting harder to find now but there are a few bottles of Heirloom Lilac to be found on eBay.

Are you a fan of more subtle nail art or do you subscribe to my philosophy of more is more? Let me know in the comments and I’ll hopefully see you soon with another post xx 

*This Post Contains Affiliate Links 

Nails Of The Day - Ciate - 023 Speed Dial*

Hi Guys x I hope you've all had a lovely long Easter weekend, it's been a strange one not seeing family and friends again, but we've made the best of it, I've done a bit of cleaning, I've filled a few charity bags, and I've consumed just a little bit of chocolate.

Before I play Glossybox catch up again I thought I'd share another belated nails of the day with you, again from way back in October, when my nails were long and I was on the hunt for the perfect orange nail polish.

Thanks to their ever popular Mini Mani Month Advent Calendars I have quite a few mini Ciate nail polishes in my collection. They usually produce a new calendar every Christmas filled different products from their range, and 5ml mini and 13.5ml full sized bottles of nail polish. They are a great way of either starting a nail polish collection, or for trying out new colours or formulations without too much of a risk.

I haven't bought a Mini Mani Month calendar for quite a few years now, as you can probably tell from this old style Ciate bottle with the sorely missed, fabric bow, so this particular polish, 023 Speed Dial, isn't the newest polish in my collection but since it had an orange tinge in the bottle I decided to give it a try.

Alas like OPI Mod-ern Girl, although it did look quite orange in the bottle, it was much more of a coral, orange, red on the nails. 

The one good thing about Ciate minis is that they are true mini versions of the full sized polishes - Because the polish is so small, the brush handle is quite short and as a result fairly easy to control.

The first coat was pretty sheer, and you could still clearly see the white tips of my nails through it. It actually took 3 coats to achieve the finish that you can see here. It dried fairly quickly though so it was worth applying that extra coat.

As you can see the finish was super glossy, smooth and almost mirror like. As per usual when I'm testing out a polish I skipped a top coat and it stayed relatively chip free on my be it very long nails for around 3 or 4 days.

Although again the colour wasn't quite what I expected it to be, it was super pretty and it was the perfect colour to cheer up a dull autumn or even snowy! spring day. Alas like so many of the polishes in my extensive collection this one isn't the easiest shade to find now. I can imagine it would be fairly easy to dupe, but if you want to add Speed Dial to your collection that you maybe able to find it in both this 5ml mini size, and in the full 13.5ml size from various discount retailers, as well as on Amazon and eBay x Let me know your thoughts on this polish in the comments and I will see you later in the week with a skincare review x 

*This Post Contains Added Affiliate Links

Models Own Mini Egg Mani

Hey everyone x I hope you've all had a lovely Sunday, and if you celebrate, I hope the Easter Bunny was good to you. Despite the fact that I'm supposed to be on a diet I still received a large bag full of chocolaty, Easter treats, and when you throw in the chocolate cake sitting on the table in front of me and a Creme Egg Cheesecake in the fridge, you could say that I'm pretty chocolated out. 

I'd initially thought about sharing an Easter chocolate recipe with you (salted caramel truffles anyone?) but I'm starting to think there is such a thing as too much chocolate so I thought I'd be good and share an Easter themed manicure with you instead.

As the name would suggest the Models Own Speckled Egg collection contains polishes which are designed to replicate the look and feel of not only real birds eggs but also those sugar candy, coated chocolate  Mini Eggs that we all love so much.

Okay the colour isn't exactly the same but you definitely have that mini egg like feel. Models Own NP202 Swan is a beautiful lavender, blue shade, with a is crammed full of varying sizes of black, matte glitter, to give that speckled egg look.

I love the effect but I have to say this colour was a real pain to apply. The lavender base was very watery and very sheer, and it took at least 3 coats to achieve this depth of colour, and slightly textured finish. The sheer amount of polish that you had to apply obviously altered the wear time and I saw my first chip after less than 3 hours.

As I say I like the effect but for the time it takes to apply it just isn't worth it. In future I think I'll just use this polish as a top coat over a lilac or lavender block colour to achieve a similar look without the hassle. You win some, you lose some, and whilst this polish wasn't a winner, the mini eggs that I used in the pictures most certainly were - yum yum! Have you tried any polishes from the Models Own Speckled Egg line? Let me know your thoughts x 

Foodie Friday On Saturday - No Bake Creme Egg Cheesecake

It a strange thing  to say it but I have mixed feeling about this post - On one hand this is one delicious, recipe that's perfect for an Easter Weekend but on the other, I'm now loathed to associate myself with the joke that is now the Cadbury's Creme Egg.

As if a significant price hike, and changes in the size of a multi pack wasn't bad enough, they went and changed the chocolate. Some people haven't been able to taste the difference but when you have a palette as accustomed to chocolate as I do, the difference is obvious. To me they now just taste like a bowl of sugar, they are even more tooth achingly sweet than they ever were, and I personally can't even taste the chocolate any more - wahhhh - a British institution destroyed in an instant!

For the purpose of this recipe though I'm going to have get past that - they are just a small part of what is a very beautiful thing. This recipe could of course be made with any sweets that you like, I'm thinking Rolo's, Caramel Bites, or even pieces of any caramel filled chocolate bar but since it's Easter I guess I have to use these, egg shaped imposter's!

Unfortunately I can't claim this recipe as my own, I have a huge bagful of recipes torn from magazines, and recipes like this one hurriedly copied onto scraps of paper. If you know where this recipe originally came from then I'd love to know, so I can give them credit for a beautiful, if calorific invention x

No Bake Creme Egg Cheesecake

125g Butter

300g Chocolate Digestives (Mine Are Tesco Free From)

100ml Double Cream

200ml Soured Cream

700g Room Temperature Cream Cheese 

200g Icing Sugar

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

2 Bags Of Mini Cadburys Creme Eggs - Chilled

200g Milk Chocolate 

Butter For Greasing 

1. For this recipe you will need a loose bottomed cake tin x You can line the tin with clingfilm or foil but I have faith in my ancient cook wear so I just greased the base and the sides with butter and crossed my fingers very tightly!

2. Put your butter into a pan and let it melt over a low heat 

Then it's time to crush your biscuits you can either do it like I have but putting them in a food processor or you can put them into a sealed plastic bag and whack them with a rolling pin until you have nothing but crumbs. 

Then mix the crumbs with the melted butter, until you have a bowl of melted chocolate and butter coated crumbs

then press the mixture into the base of you cake tin - smooth it right to the edges and make sure you get as even a layer as possible, I usually find pressing it down with a potato masher works a treat. Then either put it in the fridge or a cool place for at least 20 minutes until it's firm.

3. You now need two mixing bowls x In the first bowl add the vanilla extract, the soured cream, and the cream cheese. I'm using Aldi's Cheese Emporium version here which is just as nice as Philadelphia and a bit cheaper, it really does need to be room temperature otherwise it just won't mix together.

Then gradually sieve in the icing sugar,

and mix everything together until it's smooth

4. In a separate bow whip the double cream until it's thick

and then carefully fold it in to the cheese mixture.

5. Open and unwrap one packet of Creme Eggs, It isn't essential that these are chilled but I think it makes them easier to cut. Cut each one in half, you can either do it anyway you like but I tend to do it width ways because they don't seem to break up as much that way.

Then carefully fold the Creme Eggs into your cheesecake mix, until they're distributed evenly.

Then pour the mix over your biscuit base, again try if you can to make sure that the Creme Eggs are distributed evenly throughout the cheesecake, Smooth out the top and then put your tin into the refrigerator or a cool place for at least 2-4 hours until it's set. I actually left mine overnight this time and it was fine. It might be worth putting your tin either on a tray or a plate just in case you get any liquid coming out of the bottom. I would also recommend that you cover the tin up either with some cling film or a plate, just to stop any drips from anything else in the fridge.

6. Once your cheesecake is set it's time for the fun, if slightly scary part. Melt your milk chocolate either in the microwave or in a bowl over a pan of boiling water.

Then, take a deep breath and pour the melted chocolate all over the top of your cheesecake - smooth it so the top of the cheesecake is completely covered. 

Then take your second bag of mini Creme Eggs and press them into the chocolate to decorate your cheesecake. You can either leave them whole or cut them in half. I like the contrast of the yellow and white against the chocolate so I chopped some of mine in half.

Wait a few moments for the chocolate to cool then return the cheesecake to the fridge for around 20 minutes or so until the chocolate has set.

7. If that was scary the next part is terrifying - it's time to take it out of the tin. In an ideal world you'll loosen the clips and a perfect cheesecake will slip from the sides of the tin. This is real life though and things don't always go to plan! I tend to loosen the clips and then go around the edges with a thin palette knife to ease it out and I nearly always end up using a palette knife to smooth the sides down. 

If all else fails  though and if it sticks or drops to pieces it's isn't the end of the world. I'm sure it will still taste fine no matter what, after all it's what's on the inside that counts.

This cheesecake is very rich and indulgent but it isn't as sweet as what you'd think. I'd  recommend cutting it with a hot knife so you get a clean cut through the chocolate layer. It's not the worlds best cutter by any means so you probably won't end up with a food stylist perfect wedges but it will still taste great even if it ends up in an untidy heap.

If you can't eat it all at once (could anyone?) it will last for a couple of day in the fridge, covered up or in an airtight container.

To be honest by the end of this Bank Holiday I think I'm going to be well and truly chocolated out what with this, and my Easter eggs but at least I'm safe in the knowledge that I won't be the only one wandering around in a brown and white, sweet and creamy haze. Never mind it is only once a year, and as they always say a little bit of what you fancy does you good, these are my cliches and I'm sticking to them ! Thanks for reading and happy scoffing x 

Easter Indulgence Without The Calories Courtesy Of Treacle Moon

My name is Louise and I have a confession to make, well it's not really a confession, it's more a well known fact - I am a chocoholic! There are two foods that I couldn't live without - chocolate and cheese. and over the long Easter weekend I aim to ignore my calorie intake and eat plenty of both.

I have no willpower but if you know someone that does, or someone that can't eat chocolate or doesn't celebrate Easter then there are a few calorie free options for those Easter and spring time gifts.

The most obvious one is a bunch of flowers, I love flowers and we currently have two vases crammed full, but like chocolate eggs they can be expensive and they don't last more than a few days. Nothing lasts forever but if you want an affordable and guilt free, gift option then it might be worth having a look at the Treacle Moon range at Tesco.

I'm a huge fan of this range of food and fruit scented bath and body products and some of their spring additions are perfect for the person that likes something a little bit sweet but without the guilt.

The new additions include bath and shower gels in Sugared Almond Tart, Marshmallow Hearts and Honeycomb Secret, and a matching Honeycomb Body Butter. The Sugared Almond Tart has a big marzipan scent so it's not for me.I personally found Marshmallow a little bit sweet, but I can definitely see myself picking up Honeycomb Secret, which has a gorgeous Crunchie, cinder toffee scent to either use on it's or to mix with one of their other new additions - Dusted Cocoa.

These new additions aren't available in my nearest little Tesco, but on a recent trip to a Tesco Express I managed to have a proper look and a sneaky sniff.  Treacle Moon Dusted Cocoa Heaven Bath and Shower Gel was by far my favourite, so it went in my trolley.

The thick formula works equally as a bath foam or as a shower gel, but if you use it as a shower gel you get the full on chocolate scent. To me this doesn't smell like say a bar of chocolate, instead I think it smells more like chocolate cake or brownie mix, or even a rich, chocolate butter cream

I guess the only problem with this is that it makes me want to bake, and therefore eat chocolate cake - not great if you're watching your weight but I guess it could work as a substitute for some, strong willed people :)

The best thing about this product is the price and size of the bottle. The majority of shower gels in the Treacle Moon line retail at just £2.99 each and come in 500ml bottles. A small amount of gel goes a long way making this product great value for money.

If none of these fragrances are for you, you can also get various fragrances including Raspberry, Blackberry, Apple Pie, Coconut, and Vanilla. Sweet Blackberry Memories and Honeycomb Secret are next on my list to try but if you've tried any of Treacle Moon products I'd love to know what you think x 

Oh and if you're lacking in willpower like me or if you like chocolate as much as I do ,then you might want to check back on Saturday for an Easter recipe to make your mouth water xx Thanks for reading and don't forget to follow xx

Foodie Friday On A Saturday - What I Ate In April 2014

Hi Guys x I'm late again but better late than never I guess. As I mentioned in my monthly weight loss round up post April was a pretty difficult month when it came to food. I ate a lot of comfort foods and a lot of what I fancied. I made a few recipes that you've seen before including this..

Yes, my winter classic, Broccoli and Stilton Soup (find my recipe here x). My mum got some reduced Stilton and a massive head of broccoli and this was the most obvious outcome. It also gave me an opportunity to try out my mums new toy.

The Bamix - a stupidly expensive but oh so worth it, hand blender and more.  I think I'm going to give it a post all of it's in the future so keep checking back for that, suffice to say though it's unbelievably amazing!

I also made my Nutty Bean Burger recipe but I had a little fiddle with the recipe and made it with chick peas instead of mixed beans. The end result was really tasty but I had real problems when it came to cooking them, the burgers just kept falling apart. I came to the conclusion that I'd probably made them too big, never mind I served them with Slimming World Chips and salad.

Usually I would just make burgers with the left over mixture but this time I decided to have a little play. Using the chick peas made me think of falafels, okay the seasonings etc. would be different but the mix worked in exactly the same way. I rolled the mixture into rough, gold fall sized, balls, then I sprayed them and an oven try with Fry Light, and popped them into a hot oven for about 15 minutes until they were crispy on the outside. It was a revelation and I definitely think that I'll cook them this way again. I served them with a sort of Greek / Middle Easter type salad, with lettuce, grated carrot, cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, black olive and feta cheese, and I served it on a gluten free wrap with homemade yogurt and mint sauce. It was sooo yummy and so filling, and the sauce was gorgeous and only a fraction of the calories of mayonnaise.

Speaking of wraps, I've tried a few different gluten free wraps over the last month or so and I've actually been pretty impressed. My Asda often does the B Free ones which are fabulous calorie wise but they don't don't always seem to be in stock so I tried something that I hadn't tried for a while - the Warburtons Newburn Bakehouse White Wraps. I really like these, you can't tell that their wheat and gluten free at all. Okay I lie you can tell, they £3.10 for 3 wraps which is way more than the normal ones. Why is gluten and wheat free food so expensive? Anyways I've played with them before using them instead of lasagna sheets and of course as wraps but this time I decided to use them to make wrap pizzas :)

All I did was spread the wraps with some tomato puree, before covering them in some sauteed vegetables, and some cheese, and them I popped them in the oven for about 10 minutes - Voila a perfect thin and crispy pizza in minutes :)

Something that I've fallen in love with over the last few months has been Diet Coke Quorn. This is seriously one of the yummiest things I've had in a long time. So I made it again only this time I added a bit of chilli to give it a bit of a kick, and to hopefully help kill off the chest infection that I had :) I'm not sure it worked but we both enjoyed it, I served the first lot with pasta, and the second lot with rice and cauliflower.

The majority of my foodie highlights from April though came from a long weekend and a few days either side of it. I'm talking about Easter of course! I was going to try and be a bit restrained and whilst I didn't go crazy and eat everything at once I did over indulge a bit.

Hot Cross Buns, something that I hated as a child but something as an adult that I can't get enough of. My mum normally makes gluten free ones for me but this year we bought them instead these were from the Tesco Free From range and they were gorgeous warmed in the microwave, with just a tiny scraping of real butter mmmmm.

It wouldn't be Easter without an egg and these were the paste eggs that me and my mum made. Isn't the colour amazing ! All you do is add loads and loads of onion skins to the water when your boiling them, and they go the most amazing reddy, brown colour.

Obviously when the eggs were boiled we ate them, this is just boiled egg mashed up with low fat salad cream, tomato, spring onion and lots of salt and pepper all on top of a gluten free white roll.

Alongside our egg sandwiches it's traditional on Easter Sunday in LouLouLand to eat cake, and this year my mum made a gluten free chocolate cake, covered with buttercream, mini eggs and chocolate buttons, which was supposed to resemble a nest haha.

Yeah, I'm no sure if that's what I'm seeing but by gum it tasted god. Originally it was supposed to have buttercream in the middle but being gluten free it refused to cooperate and crumbled so if in doubt cover the lot in icing and chocolate yum.

It wouldn't be Easter without a chocolate egg or three and I think you'll agree that mine and Mummy Lou's haul was quite impressive.

We didn't eat everything a once but it's safe to say that I was well and truly chocolated out!

Well nearly chocolated out :) I did manage to make a batch of Creme Egg Brownies with - some left over chocolate and creme eggs. This is probably the easiest recipe ever and it's something that I'll share with you soon x

A lot of families have a full on Easter Sunday but we decided to have ours on the Easter Monday instead. My mum roasted a nice chicken for her and the cats and I had a Quorn Roast, served with roasted veg that my mum cooked with fry light - sometimes the simple things are the nicest.

Afterwards we had a homemade gluten free apple pie and cream - naughty but nice!

So they were my April foodie highlights, a mixture of experimentation, sugar rushes and comfort food. I have lots of new foodie posts in the pipeline including my Bamix review, some recipes and a couple of reviews of local places to eat and drink, so I hope you'll stick around x Happy Eating x