Author Archives: birdonthehill

Clinique – Gifts with purchase at Harrods

Posted in beauty, Make-up, makeup, Skin Care, Skincare, Uncategorized, Wellbeing by

Clinique GWP

Whilst Harrods caters mainly for tourists and the super wealthy, there are a few things which if you are a beauty addict like me, then Harrods is a destination for the sheer experience of exploring the Beauty and Perfume Emporiums.

About twice a year Harrods and nearby Harvey Nichols also promotes the Clinique Gift With Purchase offer.

What’s special about both Harrods and Harvey Nichols Clinique Gift with Purchase promotions is that there are usually extra items. For other department stores, Clinique Bonus Time usually contains around 5 products plus make-up bag.

For Harrods and HN, there are usually 7-8 items in the Clinique’s Gift with Purchase promotions, so well worth the effort of visiting the stores if you want to bag more with the Clinique offers.

Having seen the posters for the promotion, I knew it was time to stock-up.

The two products I purchased to get the gift were:

  1. Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector. Does what it says on the tin. I find this works to even out skin tone and lightening the dark spots that I now have. The texture is light and non-perfumed.
  2. Clinique Moisture Surge CC Cream with SPF 30. This is not only a great moisturiser, it gives just enough coverage without the need for any foundation. For work, I use this with a little concealer under the eyes and set with powder to give a natural and even finish to the skin on my face.

The Harrods offer was conditional on spending a minimum of £65. Yikes, but since I hadn’t bought any makeup for a long while, and I’d just about finished the CC cream, it was worth it because of the additional products in the Bonus offer. It included the following products:

  1. All about Eyes. I like this one as the texture is so light and under make-up, it seems to hold eyeshadow in place for the whole day.
  2. Moisture Surge Intense Fortifying Hydrator. Great moisturiser for the winter.
  3. Smart Custom Serum. I’ve not tried this one yet, it promises to adapt to your skin and works to reduce wrinkles, uneven skin tone, firmness and radiance.
  4. Rinse off Foaming Cleanser. This feels creamy and light. A great Travel size to keep for overnight stays away from home.
  5. Blusher in Precious Posey. A delicate pink colour with a just a tiny amount of shimmer.
  6. Chubby Stick Lip Balm in Mightest Maraschino – Lovely plummy shade with a lovely texture.
  7. High Impact Mascara in Black – the travel size mascaras are great to keep in the make-up bag for emergency touch-ups. Once I completely forgot to put any mascara on before going to work and was thankful that I had included a small tube of this in my bag.
  8. Aromatics in White Perfume Spray.  I’ve never been too keen on the original Aromatics. This version is lighter and less overpowering though it’s unlikely that it will become a regular perfume as I prefer making my own or Chanel and L’Occitane scents.
  9. Large make-up bag.

Not a bad haul, considering that most of these products are ones that I would choose to buy anyway. The promotion has ended now as they are gearing up for Christmas. There will be another in Spring early next year. You can sign-up online at the Clinique website here in the UK to receive their text alerts for their Bonus Time offers.

Lastly, Harrods at night just looks so pretty. Lit up, it is so over the top that there is nothing else to do but stare at it.

A blatant homage to commercialism. I think, though, every once-in-a-while, a little bit of decadence is just a bit naughty but nice.

Sunday Spa Feature – Argan Oil, Aloe Vera, Sweet Orange and Sea Salt hair styling spray

Posted in beauty, hair treatment, spa treatment, Wellbeing by

Hair Styling spray with Argan oil, Sweet Orange and Aloe Vera I debated about whether to post this, given the sombre mood this weekend. I’ve decided to keep with the British Bull Dog Spirit and to keep calm and carry on.

This Post is the regular Sunday Spa Feature for an Argan Oil, Aloe Vera with Sweet Orange and Sea Salt hair styling spray.

It is a very simple to create a styling spray that give you plenty of volume and hold for your hair.

The spray consists of  Dead Sea Salt which will provide the volume and hold. If you don’t have Dead Sea Salt, you can substitute this for Sea Salt, or Sugar, though I am not keen on the idea of using Sugar in my hair in case, well, it might attract bugs!

For moisture, since I have some Argan Oil this will protect hair from heat styling and keep your hair smooth and shiny. I’ve also included some Aloe Vera gel, also known for its mosturising properties.Hair Styling spray with Argan oil and Aloe Vera (6)

To scent the spray, I’ve added a few drops of Sweet Orange Essential Oil, you can of course choose something else. I like the scent of Oranges and since using the spray, I’ve found that the Essential Oil gives my hair added shine, it’s great to combine it with the Argan Oil.

That’s basically, it. Just spray into your hair and style as usual, you can use it for adding volume or texture (spray and leave to dry, as this will add natural definition and texture to your hair).

Not bad for a few ingredients found around the home and best of all, not a single man-made chemical or preservative went into this spray, which means better, healthier hair.

All you need are the following ingredients:

100ml spray bottle

65 ml hot water

35 ml Dead Sea Salt or Sea Salt (about 2 level tablespoons)

1 teaspoon aloe vera gel

1 teaspoon vodka

1 teaspoon argan oil

Sweet Orange Essential Oil

Simply combine all the ingredients into the Spray Bottle. It’s easier if you have a small funnel. To make sure the oil mixes in with the other ingredients, I have added a small amount of vodka (you can substitute this for Surgical Spirit or rubbing alcohol but I find that this has a strong scent and I just prefer vodka because it’s scent free).

Just shake to combine the ingredients before each use.

Enjoy!

Paris – City of love

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Pray for Paris

Last night, like everyone else I watched and heard the terrible events unfold in Paris.

Paris represents a city for love, romantics at heart come from all over the world to celebrate it as an expression of love.

I used to think the Eiffel Tower was a cliche, but when I visited Paris, a long time ago now, the atmosphere and feeling of romance was everywhere and very real.

With all the joy and beauty that it represents, it is a shock to see such violence and terror.

I have no words of my own that are adequate to express the sadness. All I can think of and hear are the words and songs of John Lennon.

 

photo credit: Eiffel Tower Through the Fog via photopin (license)

Inspiration at the Mademoselle Prive Exhibition

Posted in inspiration, lifestyle, Perfume, Places Visited, Uncategorized by

Chanel Exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery Sloane Square

The Mademoiselle Privé exhibition for Chanel arrived on 23rd October and finished on Friday 1st November at the Saatchi Gallery in Sloane Square. It was a chance to take a sneak peek at the world of Chanel.

Although we had been busy, I wanted to visit the exhibition on Sunday evening before the show closed.

When we arrived, however, there was a long, long queue of people waiting patiently to get into the exhibition. Instead, I queued up the following Monday, the last week before the exhibition closed.

I’ve always considered Gabrielle Chanel to be an inspirational business woman.

I think of her as one of the first women entrepreneurs of the 20th century. She figured out how to be successful in business at a time when it was almost impossible to succeed as a woman. I can only imagine the kind of obstacles that she must have had to overcome.

Each room was a journey through her work. As you entered, the first exhibit was about her apartment and Salon in Paris. The accompanying App for mobile devices in Android or Apple used your location and revealed more about the exhibition as you walked through each room.

What I liked about the exhibition was that it told the story of her creativity through the eyes of the current Creative Director, Karl Lagerfeld. She taking the lead, he acting as the curator in a film that was part of the exhibition.

As I walked round, it made me wonder about her life, she must have had such an extraordinary will to succeed.

The exhibition included a recreation of the staircase in her Salon. It was mirrored, faceted along the curve of the wall along on one side, with a sleek elegant metal hand rail. It is said, that she designed the staircase so that she could stand in one place and see what was happening on every floor.Faceted Mirrored Stairwell at Chanel' exhibition at the Saatchi Exhibition

There was something about the detail in the design of the stairs that reminded me of the attention to detail of the cantilevered glass stairs in Apple stores that seem suspended in air.

If you have ever visited an Apple store, each of them has the same design features and a set of glass stairs. They are similar in a way, as both have gone beyond the products they designed and made sure their surroundings were stylised and designed to showcase their brand.

If she were alive today, I wonder whether she would be in fashion or whether she would have ventured into technology.

I loved the perfume and garden room exhibits, the boxwood in the garden was laid out featuring intertwining C’s.

I was expecting the perfume not only to be on display in terms of the iconic bottle designs but also the unmistakable scent of No5.

The perfume room was designed to be a visual impact to see rather than an experience in terms of scent.

Chanel No5 was launched in the 1920s and is still one of the best-selling perfumes today. At the time, it embodied what Chanel was searching for to describe femininity:

It was what I was waiting for. A perfume like nothing else. A woman’s perfume, with the scent of a woman.”

The ingredient that makes Chanel No5 ahead of its time was the use of Aldehydes which hadn’t been used in such quantities before Chanel. She worked with the Perfumier Earnest Beaux to create the iconic perfume.

He combined the aldehydes with Ylang-Ylang, neroli, as well as Jasmine, Mayrose, Sandalwood and Vetiver.

I think she must have liked to break with tradition and must have chosen to work with Earnest Beaux because he wasn’t afraid of challenging conventions as well.

I was thinking that in this aspect again, she was ahead of her time, breaking with tradition and innovating through her perfume, fashion and jewellery.

The exhibit included a number of workshops on the top floor, the Chanel No5 workshop was an opportunity to learn more about the fragrance.

I left the exhibition inspired by the notion that she was brave, took risks and never settled for anything less than perfection, even in the smallest details of her work. I think that’s what I learned, to strive for perfection in the detail.

hmm, I think some Chanel fragrance, will be on my Christmas list this year, either to give as a gift or to receive, something to wear to remind me of the exhibition as inspiration every day. Can’t wait…..

 

Saatchi Gallery, Chanel Exhibition

 

#MademoisellePrive

A video posted by CHANEL (@chanelofficial) on

We felt as if we were in a James Bond Movie – An 80th birthday celebration

Posted in Family, inspiration, lifestyle, Places Visited, Uncategorized by

London 5 star

We knew the weekend would be special, it had been planned early on in the year. A celebration of my father in law’s 80th birthday which my mother in law had planned in great secrecy.

She had mentioned that the hotel booking was in central London, something about it being near Whitehall. This was some time ago and with getting the kids ready for school each day, work and everything else in between I forgot all about it until the weekend approached.

The address of the hotel is located at Number 2 Whitehall Court and called The Royal Horseguards Hotel.

We checked in last Saturday afternoon, that is my hubby and our two kids and headed for our rooms on the 8th floor. My parents-in-law had checked into the hotel the night before.

James Bond roof- top scene in Skyfall

As we looked out across the London skyline from our room on the 8th floor at the top of the building, we both commented almost at the same time that it vaguely reminded us of something we’d seen in a film, probably a James Bond Movie.

Turns out we were staying in a hotel a few feet away from the scene and shoot location for the Skyfall movie. The location of the shoot was at N0 3 Whitehall Place, the department of Energy and Climate Change.

Directly opposite the hotel is the street sign for New Scotland Yard, I think you can just about make this out in the photo with the Bus below.

Here’s the scene in the movie trailer:

Here’s some pics from the windows across the rooms on the 8th floor:

The Royal Horseguards Hotel  was once apartments and built in 1884. It was modelled in the style of a French Chateau and adjoins  the Liberal Club.

During both world wars, the building that is now the hotel was taken over by the Ministry of Defence and used by MI5 and MI6.

The 8th floor of the hotel is where the MOD held meetings and coordinated their activities during the wars, it was then known as Block Two.

It was easy to get carried away imagining the secrets, decisions being discussed, perhaps even, in the rooms we were staying in.

The opulence of the hotel and its history was breathtaking, we even managed to get a sneak peek into the Liberal Club, where a portrait of Sir Winston Churchill is proudly displayed amongst many portraits of national heroes.

In March of this year, the first Chief of Secret Intelligence Sir Mansfield Cumming was honored with an English Heritage Blue Plaque which commemorates his former London home and office at 2 Whitehall Court which is part of the Royal Horseguards Hotel.

He was known as “C” due to his habit of initialising papers. This tradition of adopting the pseudonym “C” continues today as each Chief of the service is called C. It inspired Ian Fleming to create the character “M” in the James Bond novels.

Nearby to the hotel are a number of London’s landmarks:

  • Trafalgar Square
  • Buckingham Palace
  • The London Eye as well as the beautiful views across the River Thames.

Although we live in London, it isn’t often that we take a moment out of the hectic daily grind to take-in the history and iconic scenery that surrounds us in everyday life.

As we looked across the rooftops, it was easy to imagine James Bond standing on the roof terrace planning a secret rendezvous. With the release of the next instalment of Bond’s adventures in Spectre this week, I’m looking forward to watching the film.

All in all, it was a fantastic way to celebrate such a big milestone for someone who has been the patriarch of the family. I couldn’t imagine anything else more fitting than this.

 

Sunday Spa Feature – Orange, Cinnamon and Ginger Cellulite Smoothing Skin Polish

Posted in beauty, Health & Wellness, inspiration, lifestyle, Skin Care, Skincare, spa treatment, Uncategorized, Wellbeing by

Orange, Ginger and Cinnamon cellulite smoothing skin polish (2)

I’ve been baking with Oranges and Cinnamon this week and the delicious scent gave me an idea for a cellulite smoothing skin polish which is easy to make at home, packed with ingredients that will help firm, tone and smooth skin which might be looking a little bumpy because of cellulite.

Whilst there are many commercial products available, most health and skincare experts would agree that a healthy diet, combined with exercise to stimulate the circulation will help eliminate toxins from your system and therefore improve skin and muscle tone.

Now, I’m not what you call a gym bunny, so to help improve skin circulation, I’ve created a cellulite smoothing skin polish that can be used once or twice a week as part of a spa experience.

The Ingredients that made it into this Cellulite Smoothing Skin Polish:

 

Dried orange peelOrange Peel

Orange Peel has excellent antioxidant property, containing Vitamin C an antioxidant found in many expensive skin care products, it also contains Calcium, Potassium, Magnesium, minerals which is great for skin. The citric acid in the orange peel that will help to exfoliate and brighten skin.

Root Ginger

Contains powerful antiseptic and cleansing properties, it increases blood circulation. With the heat from the Ginger grated into the skin polish it will gently warm and stimulate circulation to the skin.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon has been used in Asian and Chinese cultures both in food and herbal remedies for centuries.  Cinnamon will boost circulation when applied to the skin and has been shown in recent studies to rid the body of toxins and boost the immune system.

Coconut Oil

Known in it’s ability to moisturise, it’s packed full of antioxidants which work to increase skin elasticity and firmness.

Argan Oil

Rich with Vitamin A and E, Argan Oil is mainly composed of fatty acids (80%) and antioxidants such as linoleic acid. It will smooth, add moisture and rejuvenate skin, no wonder skin care and cosmetic companies have been using this in many of their products.

Dead Sea Salt

The waters of the dead sea are renowned for their therapeutic benefits. Containing lots of minerals such as Magnesium, potassium, calcium chloride and bromides, it increases circulation and helps skin to retain moisture. It has been proven to be effective for easing muscle aches and pains. As the grains of this salt are fine, it can be used as the basis of the skin scrub.

If you don’t have Sea Salt to hand, then soft brown sugar can be used as an alternative.

How to make:

This is so simple to make, as Coconut oil is solid at room temperature, I have put a tablespoon of the coconut oil in a glass jar and in a jug of hot water to melt.

Once melted, combine the Orange Peel powder with the Coconut oil. (I have dried the orange peel first before putting it into a food blender and then blitzing it so it becomes a fine pebbly mixture which will mix better with the oils.) If you don’t have the time to do this, simply grate the orange peel.

Add one teaspoon of ground cinnamon. You can either use the pre-ground powder or grate some cinnamon sticks if you have this.

Grate some fresh root ginger, about a teaspoon or more if you are feeling brave as the heat of the ginger will be very stimulating.

Combine all these ingredients and make into a paste. Add 5-6 tablespoons of Dead Sea Salt and mix together so that the paste of coconut oil, orange peel, grated ginger and ground cinnamon is mixed thoroughly into the dead sea salt.

At this point the mixture will be a little dry and crumbly. Add a teaspoon or two of Argan Oil so that the mixture is soft to the touch but remaining granular for the scrub mix.

You can either use this scrub in the bath, or in the shower, apply a little at a time, rubbing and massaging the mixture in small circular motion into your skin.

You’ll notice not only does it smell great as the scent of oranges, ginger and cinnamon is released into the warmth of a shower or bath, but your skin will get a little pink and and you may tingle all over*, this is from the heat of the spices boosting your circulation and improving lymphatic drainage. The granular salt works to polish and improve the appearance of any cellulite, lumps, bumps and skin blemishes.

The mix can also be used as a bath soak. Just sprinkle into warm running water. It is particularly great for sore aching muscles or as a treatment for the symptoms of a cold or flu.

Once you’ve finished in the bath or shower, if you want to go all out and complete the spa experience, why not try making and using the pampering body oil to lock in moisture to your skin.

*Before trying this recipe, please do a patch test first in case of any skin irritation.

 

Smells and tastes better than it looks – Orange Chocolate and Cinnamon Cake

Posted in At home, baking, Food, Home, lifestyle by

Orange, Cinnamon Chocolate Cake

This rather messy looking cake, smells and tastes so wonderful because it is full of the warming scents of Orange, Cinnamon Spice and Chocolate.

Having found two 20cm spring form cake tins, this would make a simple sponge layered cake with a thickly indulgent butter cream icing.

Ingredients for the Orange Chocolate cake:

200g Caster Sugar

200g softened butter

4tsp Orange Juice

5tsp Coca Powder

1 tsp Ground Cinnamon Powder

3 Beaten Eggs

200g Plain Flour

2 tsp Baking Powder and the Zest of 2 large Seville Oranges

Orange Marmalade (for the filling)

For the Butter Cream filling:

(I have made this using a Sunflower Margarine as my hubby doesn’t get on well with Cows Milk, and used a dash of Orange Juice)

Icing Sugar (about twice the volume to the butter)

Butter or Marge

Pinch of Salt

Orange Zest

1 tablespoon of Milk/Orange Juice to taste and loosen the consistency of the filling to your desired consistency

To make:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Mix together the softened butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. I mixed it together with a spoon rather than used an electric whisk.

Heat orange juice and then mix in 4 tablespoons of the Coca Powder to form a paste and add to the Sugar and Butter mixture, add the rest of the Coca Powder into the mixture and mix until all the ingredients are combined.

Beat in the 3 whisked eggs a little at a time until the mixture has combined to form a batter like mixture.

In a bowl add in the Strong Flour, Baking Powder Cinnamon and Grated Zest of Orange and combine. Sift this mixture into the batter like mixture and gently fold into the mixture until the two have combined into a thick cake mix.

Divide evenly between 2 Cake Tins (20cm wide). I have lined these with Grease proof paper, to help ease the cake out of the tins.

Bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes. You’ll know the cake is ready when you put a skewer through and it comes out clean.

Cool the cakes on a baking rack.

I found a tip in one of Delia’s recipe books about how to remove cakes from a spring form cake tin. Put the cake on top of a tin can and push the side of the cake tin down, it should slide off the cake, leaving the cake on the base. Use a pallet knife and gently remove from the base of the tin.

Put a tea towel over the baking rack so that you don’t get lines on the cake. (I didn’t do this bit as I thought the lines would be inside the middle of the cake.

It will take about 20 minutes for the cake to cool completely.Slice of Orange Chocolate Cake with Cinnamon

For the Buttermilk filling – I made this orangey by grating the zest off another orange and adding this to the marge. Combine in Icing sugar and keep mixing/adding icing sugar until you get the consistency you want for the cake. I added a splash of orange juice as well as some Soya Milk to make the consistency a little gooey.

Once you have the filling made, spread a thin layer of Marmalade on each side of the cakes and spread the buttermilk filling on top. Sandwich the cake together, dust icing sugar on top and the cake is ready to serve.

For people who like to decorate, the cake would look great with butter icing on top and some of those jellied orange segments or fresh oranges to decorate. But I was too eager to eat the cake, so were the kids, so it just got a coating of icing sugar before being served for last night’s tea.

Hmmm delicious!

A window renovation that turned into a room revamp

Posted in At home, Decorating, inspiration, lifestyle, Projects, Renovation, Uncategorized by

Bedroom Update (3)About a month ago, I decided that our windows were in need of repair. Seriously, they looked really bad and although neither I or my hubby were great at DIY, something had to be done as I was convinced the windows would fall out in the middle of one night.

So, with the purchase of some wood primer and white satin wood paint for wood, I started to sand down the windows. If you own an older property, you’ll understand what a relentless task it is to keep up with all the repairs that are needed.

As I painted, there were big gaps between the leaded windows and the wooden frames which needed to be filled. This was somethng I’d never done before, so looking up on YouTube I found an instructional video on how to put linseed oil putty into wood framed windows. Of course it looked easy, but was actually very fiddly. In the end, I managed to patch-up most of the big gaps, but there are a few that I haven’t managed.

Bedroom Update (5)Once painted, the windows looked fresh and clean, in stark contrast to the room which hadn’t been decorated since we first moved in over 10 years ago.

Lots of other jobs around the house had taken priority, namely my kiddies rooms first and a major extension to the side of the house to fit our growing family needs.

So, now whilst looking for the linseed putty in the DIY store, I mentioned to my hubby about getting some paint for the ceiling, where some of the paper had started to peel away and looked as if it was ready to fall.

At this point my thoughts were to just glue the paper back in place. My hubby had other ideas, he decided the paper had to come down.Bedroom Update (8)

If you’ve ever moved into a house and started to take paper off, only to find layers of paper underneath, this is bascially what we found underneath the first layer of paper. Seriously WHO puts embossed paper over more embossed paper?

So, with limited options financially, we couldn’t afford to get a decorator in. It meant painting over the ceiling to at least cover up the unsightly stains and ripped paper and bare plaster in places.

This of course meant that the walls looked tired and grubby as well. So a fresh coat of paint was needed here too.

It was actually choosing the paint colour that took the longest time.

Hubby wanted a big change, contrasting dramatic colours. Of course that would be ok if we could afford to change our drapes.

Personally I would have preferred an off white, simple neutral backdrop for our dark wood furniture. But marriage is about compromise, being in harmony.

So in the end we did choose colour, a sunny yellow for most of the walls, (my choice) with a dramatic strong accent wall colour in Teal. (Hubby’s choice)Bedroom Update (2)

Against this Teal, I think the dark wood sleigh bed looks great. (An investment purchase we made before the kids became our priority).

As for the windows, we couldn’t afford to replace the drapes or roman blinds that had been badly stained by spots of mildew from all the condensation comming off the wooden windows. I cleaned them and aired them outside in the garden. They look ok, since they were chosen for their period, vintage feel, my reasoning being if they were never trendy or in fashion to begin with, they wouldn’t look out of place with changing fashions or trends in interior design. I don’t think they’ve aged too badly.Bedroom Update (1)

There’s still a lot of work to be done of course. I’m looking out for some lovely containers to make some scented candles to fill the room with Ylang Ylang and Jasmine, scents that will remind us of our honeymoon.

Let me know if you’ve opted for strong colours in your home schemes.

Seriously easy chocolate loaf cake

Posted in At home, baking, Food, Home, inspiration, Uncategorized by

Chocolate Loaf cake

I’ve been working on the chocolate magic cake, the one where you mix the ingredients together and in one bake, a magical transformation happens during the baking and the cake mix changes into three layers, the middle is a rich chocolate custard. The only thing is, I haven’t got it quite right and it takes a lot of ingredients not to mention washing up involved.

So, whilst the effort will pay off eventually, what I wanted to do yesterday was to make something seriously simple and easy, but also rich, indulgent and fill the house with a chocolatey aroma that’s warm and comforting.

Looking through all the cookery books, I found a recipe that fulfilled all the requirements, everything in a store cupboard, and a seriously easy, no effort bake.

Hidden within Nigella’s feast recipe for Halloween called Ghoul-Graveyard cake, was the chocolate cake ingredients, all of which are in my store cupboard and fridge:

Ingredients:

250ml milk

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar (white distilled vinegar will work too)

225g plain flour

50g coca

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

200g caster sugar/soft brown sugar

110g softened butter

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of real vanilla extract

To make the Chocolate Loaf Cake:

Put all the ingredients, except for the milk and vinegar in a food processor and blitz into a soft dough.

Scrape the sides down and pour in the milk and vinegar slowly (milk and vinegar should be combined in a small jug – you’ll find that as the vinegar is added the milk starts to curdle, this is ok and I’d say looks like and has a similar consistency to buttermilk).

Once all the ingredients are combined pour into a cake tin. The instructions were for a 26 cm spring form cake tin.

As I didn’t have one to hand and I didn’t want to grease the square cake tin I had – this would have required effort…. I used a loaf tin with a paper case lining. No effort again, just poured the cake mix into the loaf tin.

In a preheated oven, I left the tin to bake for 45 mins on gas mark 3 (170c)

That’s all there is to making this cake. Once cooled, dust with some icing sugar. It doesn’t need much as it’s the richness of the chocolate thats lovely about this cake recipe.

The only thing left to do is, serve it, with a mug of hot chocolate to make it a proper guilt trip of chocolatey indulgence.

Cake Dough mix in food processor
baked cake in loaf tin
Lightly dusted with icing sugar
Chocolate Loaf
Chocolate Loaf slice
Ingredients for Chocolate Loaf
Chocolate Cake Mix
Chocolate Cake in loaf tin

 

Sunday Spa Feature – Pampering Body Oil Spray

Posted in beauty, Health & Wellness, inspiration, lifestyle, Rosewater, Scent, Skin Care, Skincare, spa treatment, Wellbeing by

Jojoba Pampering Body oil with aloe vera

With the recent haul of Jojoba and Argan Oil, I’ve been working on a new skin care recipe that is rich, packed full of ingredients to moisturise and pamper dry skin.

The ingredients that made it into this Body Oil:

Aloe Vera.  The version I have is 99.9% pure. It is packed full of nutrients that are great for the skin such as beta carotene, which is converted into Vitamin A, (found also in carrots). It also includes Vitamin C and E which improves skin tone and firmness. It is chosen by skin care brands for its ability to reduce wrinkles associated with aging. I keep a small jar of this in my medicine cupboard, as it has many uses and apply it neat to the kids skin to soothe bug bites and sunburn.

Rosewater and GlycerineGlycerine has been used traditionally in many skin care preparations, such as a facial toner. I’ve been using it in a skin care recipe as an alternative to Micellar Water. It’s a handy all in one facial cleanser and toner, that is great to take make-up off when I’m in a hurry.

As it’s used in cosmetics as a carrying ingredient and will work to carry Aloe Vera so that it can be absorbed into the skin.

Jojoba Oil is a premium oil used in aromatherapy and is used for dilutions of rare and expensive essential oils such as Rose and Jasmine, as it has no odour. It’s also packed full of Vitamin E and contains a substance called Oleic acid which is great for skin, you can read more about its benefits on the Jojoba oil site. As it’s also a non-greasy oil, it will leave a soft satiny feel to skin.

I use Rosewater in a lot of skin care, it’s so mild and gentle to use for the whole family, and is lovely drizzled over a fruit salad with some honey. You can read about some of its benefits in this Rosewater and Glycerine Toner recipe. Mostly, I love its floral fragrance.

Geranium Essential Oil has a floral fragrance similar to rose, its uplifting and keeps summer bugs away. I take a bottle of this with us when ever we go on holiday as it’s a much healthier alternative to commercial air fresheners. As it’s such a small bottle, it’s so easy to pack. Dispersed in a cup of water, it will freshen up any room, particularly useful in hotels that have had smoking guests stay.

It has antibacterial properties, balances skin that’s prone to acne and helps fade scars and marks. As it’s an all-rounder, I’m using it to help towards firmer looking skin.

Ylang Ylang Essential Oil, is one of my favourite fragrances, it’s heady and supposed to have aphrodisiac properties. A discovery whilst on honeymoon. For me this is bottled paradise and I’m always looking for ways to include it in skin care. It’s great to include in massage oils to revive and rejuvenate.

Lemon Essential Oil, another of my favourite fragrances. As Geranium and Ylang Ylang will make this body oil intensely floral, I have added this to balance out the fragrance of this body oil.

Vodka – for dispersing oil in water (it’s great as it’s odourless and natural, I like it in a cocktail too.)Jojoba and Aloe Vera Gel

The mix is simple, in a 100ml spray bottle add the following:

15 ml (1 tablespoon) Aloe Vera

15 ml (1 tablespoon) Rosewater

15 ml (1 tablespoon) Glycerine

30 ml (2 tablespoons) JoJoba Oil

15 ml Alcohol – plain vodka as this has no odour and will help disperse/mix oil with water

10 drops Geranium Essential Oil

10  drops Ylang Ylang Essential Oil

15 drops Lemon Essential Oil

Add the Jojoba oil into the bottle first, (I use a funnel to make this easier) and then add the Essential Oils, to blend together, (just swirl the bottle around), once blended, add Aloe Vera, I did this by putting in a small amount into the funnel and adding a small amount of Rosewater, until both were in the bottle then add the Glycerine.

Finally add the alcohol and put the mist spray top on and shake to combine all the ingredients.

The spray can be used immediately, to fully appreciate the fragrance, the scent from the essential oil will take about a week to fully develop. You can of course vary the essential oils to suit your own preferences.

Hmmm, there’s just one thing more, if you’d like to make this a completely indulgent experience, you might like to try the Lavender and Ylang Ylang bath soak before using this body spray.

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