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HOCUS POCUS waves wand - Halloween Cookie-ness!

GREETINGS PUMPKIN HEADS! Since Halloween is just two days away, and every year I plan to be super creative and bake lots of snazzy festive goods that I have seen on Pinterest and I usually never end up getting the time to, this week I decided I would make my best effort to do so. Since I'm off work this week (mid-term) I decided last night to attempt some Halloween-esque cookies, complete with coloured frosting. I must say I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out! I will leave the recipe below. P.s. Apologies about the crappy lighting in some of the photos, it's literally been dark all day here - no idea what's going on. Natural light was not on my side today. Anyway, I'm rambling as per usual. ENJOY!

('The Owl and the Pussycat' .. does anyone remember that nursery rhyme type thing?)

(She's not made of cookie dough, she is one of my Mom's MANY MANY Halloween decorations!)

Recipe: Sugar Cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour (I used plain)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

(The frosting is just the Betty Crocker cream cheese one in the tub, split into different bowls with different colour food dyes added. The black icing is black Candy Buttons I got in Decobake which just melt in the microwave to the perfect frosting consistency!)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius/375 degrees Farenheit

Combine butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Mix together dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then sift into the butter mixture. Mix until well blended (I use a spatula/wooden spoon for this - some help may be needed if you are lacking in the upper body strength department like I am). The dough should be very stiff. Divide dough into quarters and pat into flat disks (I usually kneed the dough - with my hands, not my knees - a bit at this point to make it smooth and not cracked, making it easier to work with later). Wrap in plastic wrap/cling film. Chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours. Roll out one piece of dough at a time on a lightly floured board (TIP: Put flour on the rolling pin too so it doesn't stick!) Cut into shapes using cookie cutters (the fun part). Place cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for approx 8-10 minutes or until cookies are browning around the edges. Cool on a wire rack. Makes about 20ish cookies. - (Recipe by William's-Sonoma, not made up by me!)

Hope you enjoyed this post, and HAPPY HALLOWEEEEEN!

Thank you for reading,

Síofra

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My Autumn/Winter Make-Up Favourites

When it comes to Autumn and Winter time my main foundation routine usually stays the same but I like to change up other areas of my make-up - usually on the eyes,lips and nails. These are a few of my favourite things to wear when it comes into the Autumn/Winter seasons - I love the deep berry colours that are so popular around this time of year especially.

1. Maybelline Colour Tattoo in 'Permanent Taupe' - This is a matte, neutral, grey/taupey shade (as the name would suggest). I tend to wear this as a base for other shadows as it stays put all day and generally wards off creasing. You could also wear this product on its own without layering other shadows over it.

2. Naked Palette 'Toasted' and 'Buck' - I have loved my Naked Palette (the first one) for quite a few years now. The one I currently own is actually relatively new as the mirror smashed in my last one and all the glass went into the eyeshadows and I didn't really want glass in my eyeballs so I decided it was worth getting a new one. ANYWAYS. The two colours in this palette I have been loving at the moment are 'Toasted' on the lid - a warm mauvey brown shimmery shade, and 'Buck' as a blending shade through the crease - a warm matte brown shade (I often mix it with the lighter shade 'Naked' aswell). I use these shadows on top of my base (mentioned above in #1) and I really love the effect it gives. Smudge a bit of brown liner into the lashline and whack on some mascara and you're good to go with an easy to wear Autumnal eye make up!

3. Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in 380 'Dark Night Waterl-oops!' (on the left in the below photo) - This is a gorgeous, really dark, vampy, plum colour. I would recommend using a lip-liner with this (I think 'Night Moth' by MAC would probably be perfect but unfortuantely I do not own it so I have been using a dark red or brown one instead) as it is very easy to go outside the lines with such a dark shade - and very obvious when you do so! I like to apply the lip-liner all over the lip first as a base, then apply the lipstick using a lip brush, and then a second layer dabbing from the actual bullet. I usually blot it once and re-apply, to ensure longer staying power! As it is part of the Moisture Renew collection is feels hydrating on the lips and has quite a sheen to it on the lips.

4. Kate Moss for Rimmel Lipstick in '107' (on right in above photo) - Another gorgeous shade for Autumn/Winter - not as dark as the aforementioned one but just as lovely. This is more of a dark red shade which is quite matte rather than a deep purple like the 'Dark Knight Waterl-oops!' which has more of a sheen to it - a dark red can also be easier to wear sometimes if you're having a not-so-brave day lipstick-wise. I use a dark red lip liner all over the lip first and then apply it in the same way as the above lipstick. Sometimes, when I'm feeling too lazy to go find a lip brush I just dab it on straight from the bullet - it's easier to do as it's not such a scary dark shade! (I'm a rebel without a cause - I know).

5. MAC 'Brick' Lip Pencil - This is the perfect lip liner to go with the Kate Moss '107' lipstick, and plenty of other red shades, but I also like to wear it on it's own sometimes - just colouring in the entire lip with the pencil itself. It gives a sophisticated Matte finish which I really love, and can be less WOAH INTENSE than, say, an actual lipstick in that colour. Ya feel me? (Please don't).

(Top - Kate Moss 107, Middle - Dark Night Waterl-oops!, Bottom - Brick Lip Pencil)

6. MAC Studio Nail Lacquer in 'Sunset Sky' (on my nails in the photos) - One of my best friends Alison got me this for my birthday and I have been LOVING it ever since. It's the perfect Autumnal/Wintery shade and it's so easy to apply, 2 coats of the polish and you are good to go. It lasts well on the nails, and if you add a top coat it will last even longer! It is such a beautiful shade and I love the name - when you look at it in the bottle you can see shimmery purple red going through it which I assume is what the name was inspired by. I think this is a shade I will rarely take off in the coming months!

Also, shout out to my props making these photos look pretty - Yankee Candle in Red Velvet (making my entire room smell exactly like CAKE, what could be better than that?) and my little fake flower thingy that reminds me of the one in Beauty and the Beast kind of.. (it's from TK Maxx).

I hope you enjoyed this post and that it gave you some inspiration to change up your look a bit for the Autumn/Winter months without having to do anything too dramatic or crazy if that's not your thang. Then again, if it is, GO FOR IT.

Thank you for reading!

Síofra

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It's my PARDAAAY

A couple of weeks ago it was my 21st birthday, and instead of having a MASSIVE party I decided to do something a bit smaller and just have a bunch of my closest friends over for some food and drinks and going out. There were tonnes of photos from the night but I just decided to add some of my favourites (I know there's loads, apologies!)

One of my very best friend's Niamh made my cake - how perfect is it? A Tiffany box! She can literally make a cake in any shape or form you can think of - I have even witnessed one in the shape of a Teapot, a perfectly detailed rugby ball and also a Red Hot Chilli Peppers themed one, to name a few. She is extremely talented and I felt very privileged to have a cake made so perfectly and personally by her, as she knows all too well how attached I am to my Tiffany necklace which I NEVER take off! :)

Another one of my very best friend's Mary Kiely is a make-up artist and she did my make up for me on the night! She is also extremely talented at what she does, and I have been part of quite a few shoots she has done in the past (I plan to do a whole blog post about how amazing she is!) so I knew it would turn out perfectly and it did! She used 'All That Glitters' eyeshadow from MAC, along with Swiss Chocolate eyeshadow from MAC, and MAC's Ruby Woo on my lips with 'Kiss Me Quick' pro-longwear lip liner. Mary, if you are reading this, you are amazing - thank you so much :) I will leave all her details down at the end of this post so you can follow her social media and check out how amazing she is at make-up artistry!

(Just F.Y.I., I am not in fact with child in the above photo, the dress was SUPER tight and I posed at a bad angle. Cripes I must work on that in future photo-angling situations)...

Dress - Missguided (there was a last minute dress CATASTROPHE from which Sarah (on the left in the above photo) SAVED THE DAY by giving me this dress. All hail Sarah.

(I took ages to decide on my wish, but finally blew the candles out!)

^^ The famous Niamh, baker and cake designer EXTROARDINAIRE!)

I felt so lucky to have been able to spend my birthday with some of my very favourite people - family, friends and neighbours alike (unfortunately we did not all get a photo together - the cocktails were strong...) and they made it an amazing night. Niamh continued to document the night when we went out - photos which were amusing to look back on, including myself and one of my wonderful friends Niall, attempting to do THE 'Dirty Dancing' lift when 'Time of my life' came on... Needless to say we weren't 100% successful considering how little space we had, but I can't remember the last time I laughed so much!

(Not sure what happened here, somebody clearly pissed me off ... WOOPS. Niamh always manages to catch interesting moments!)

(apologies about the blurryness, there was another clearer one but it was a bit...MUCH let's just say).

(F-I-E-R-C-E posing happening stage left with GG and Niall here)

Again sorry about the photo over-load that makes this post quite long and I am aware that they are not the most perfectly taken photos lighting-wise and all that jazz.

Mary Kiely (Make up Artist):

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marykielymakeupartist

Instagram:@marykiely

Twitter:https://twitter.com/kielymary

Thank you for reading!

Síofra

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