FIFI'S CHRISTMAS WISH LIST

The season of gorgeous limited edition beauty goodies is here and I wanted to share my top picks...well it's more of a beauty wish list and some of these are already purchased and wrapped up with the usual:

Most of these are high end products and that's simply because they're the type of brands that bring out these beautiful limited edition sets and it's always nice to receive high end products.

Benefit Cheeky Sweet Spot £29.50

 This has got to be one of the best gift sets that Benefit has ever made! Firstly this is amazing value for money as each powder bought separately is £23.50 and this palette has nearly full sized blushers. It includes the shades dandelion, bellabama, sugarbomb, coraliasta and rockateur along with hoola bronzer and watt's up highlighter.
This is one that I have already bought at the Boots points event and I can't wait to use it for travel as I already own all of these individualy. Anyone who loves make-up will be delighted with this product! 

Benefit Sweet Tintations £19.50

Sweet tintations is another lovely gift set which includes a full sized benebalm and lollibalm which if bought separately are £14.50 each so again this is good value for money. These are super moisturising tinted lip balms in gorgeous packaging! It also comes with deluxe samples of benetint and lollitint which are stains that can be used on both lips and cheeks.

Charlotte Tilbury Mini Lipstick Charms £29

Charlotte Tilbury has an array of gift sets available but this one caught my eye for a few reasons...firstly I love anything "mini" and all the colours seem really wearable. These are lipsticks from Charlotte's KISSING lipstick collection and includes the colours Penelope Pink, Bitch Perfect and So Marilyn.
With beautiful rose gold casing these feel super luxurious and are perfect for your handbag. It's also a nice way to try out the lipsticks if you haven't done so before.

Clinique Whole Lotta Chubby Set £20

For those who aren't fans of full on lipsticks this Clinique Chubby Stick set is perfect. You get 4 tinted balms which provide a sheer wash of colour and are super moisturising. The colours in this set are Woppin' Watermelon, Plushest Punch, Pudgy Peony and Grandest Grape and they come in a little make-up bag. A great way to try out different shades before committing to a full size chubby stick!

MAC Keepsakes Studio Brush Kit £42

Every year MAC deliveries some amazing limited edition gifts and this year is no exception! These beauties are the perfect travel sized brushes. In this kit you get a 129SE Powder Blush Brush, 190SE Foundation Brush, 224SE Tapered Blending Brush, 213SE Fluff Brush and 209SE Eye Liner Brush in a lovely white make-up bag. Now the make-up bag itself probably isn't in the most practical colour but the brushes are divine! They are now sold out on the MAC website but try the MAC counter as some may still be available.

Nails Inc The Alexa Editions Collection £45

For those obsessed with all things nails this is the perfect gift! A beautifully packaged set of 7 nail polishes which include a range of different finishes. The set contains:

Alexa Stars – luxe gold stars top coat

Alexa Hearts – bright red and pink hearts top coat

Alexa Cashmere – soft pink Cashmere effect polish

Alexa Edit Night Sky - Alexa’s favourite deep dark navy polish 

Alexa Winter Lilac - Alexa’s favourite lilac polish 

Alexa Holographic - a shimmering top coat to transform your favourite polishes

Alexa Snowflake – Snowflake is a sparkling top coat full of rose gold coloured snowflakes

This is a great set and I hope Santa decides to surprise me with this! 

Nars Virtual Domination Palette £45

Blusher obsessed? This is your new must-have! This face palette from NARS contains 4 gorgeous blushers in the shades Miss Liberty, Sex Fantasy, Deep Throat & Final Cut along with the ever popular Laguna bronzer. This set is great value as you nearly get a full sized Laguna and again this is perfect for travelling. Want want want!

Mavala Nail Polish Bauble £5

If you are looking for a cute little stocking filler then this nail polish bauble from Mavala will do the job. It's super affordable at £5 and it can also double up as a Christmas decoration. This glittery shade is also perfect to add some sparkle to your Christmas mani!

I hope you have enjoyed my beauty picks...there are so many good sets out this year! Hope Santa brings you all you wanted! x

CHRISTMAS JUMPERS!

My favourite time of the year is nearly upon us! Woohoo!

To get myself even more excited I have been looking at Christmas jumpers and I have bought two already...Think that this will probably be it as I still have some from last year. 

They're both from Topshop who has come up with some jumpers that aren't too in-your-face (or at least that's what I think!).

TOPSHOP SEASONS GREETINGS SWEATER £40

The first one is a super cute light grey sweat top with the slogan "seasons greetings" on the front. It has cute sequin stars and red fold over cuffs at the end of the sleeves. It's a baggy fit which is super comfy to wear!

TOPSHOP SEQUIN CHRISTMAS TREE SWEATER £46

The second is a charcoal grey super soft jumper with sequin applique Christmas trees on the body and arms. This beauty has 6% wool making it really cosy and warm despite the material being quite thin.

I can't wait to wear these out and about along with the rest of my Christmas themed clothes! Yes I have socks and lounge wear bottoms too! 

Here are some other festive jumpers that I'm resisting the urge to buy:

 

L-R
Grey Christmas Pudding Jumper by Dorothy Perkins £26
Mint Green Fairisle Penguin Print Jumper by New Look £22.99
 Stone Santa Paws Christmas Jumper £14.99

L-R
Teal Christmas Tree Jumper by Monsoon £59
Medon Polar Bear Fairisle Jumper by Ted Baker £99
Grey London Scene Christmas Jumper by Monsoon £59

If you're after some more inspiration Cosmopolitan Magazine has a good article to get you in the festive jumper mood which can be found here!

I would love to see your Christmas jumpers!
#fromfifiwithlove and share your pics on Twitter & Instagram! 

FIFI BAKES: WHITE CHOCOLATE & RASPBERRY CAKE

During this grim rainy Sunday in London I decided to get my bake-on and make this lovely White Chocolate and Raspberry cake filled with white chocolate ganache.  I used one of John Whaite's recipes who for those of you not in the know won the Great British Bake-Off back in 2012.

You can find the full recipe here but below I have done a little story board of how I made this cake.

Ingredients

L-R: Butter, White Chocolate, Eggs

L-R: Caster Sugar, Self-Raising Flour, Raspberries

For the filling you will need more white chocolate and some double cream!  

Method

 Line your baking tins, pre-heat your oven and melt the butter and chocolate together.

 Beat together the melted butter & white chocolate, eggs and caster sugar before gently folding in the flour.

Carefully fold in the raspberries taking care not to break them and then spilt the mixture equally between the lined tins.

Bake in the oven until golden brown and turn out onto a cooling rack.

To make the white chocolate ganache melt white chocolate and double cream together. Let it cool to room temp and then beat more double cream into it until it's thick and creamy.

Assemble the cake by topping one layer with the ganache and then sandwiching the other one on top.

Finish off with a sprinkling of icing sugar!

This turned out quite yummy! 

I was a bit worried about the amount of white chocolate in it but the raspberries cut through the sweetness nicely.

This is one I'll definitely be baking again!

ADVENT CALENDARS

The Christmas countdown is nearly upon us and it is now time to go out and get your treat-filled advent calendars! 

I've learnt to buy them before December as I recall my Christmas 5 years ago in Brighton where I went out looking for one on December 1st and they had all disappeared from the shelves! *Gasp*

Hence why it's mid-November and I'm all stocked up! *Phew!*

This year I have chosen to get a few different ones:

THE SWEET ONE:

Jelly Belly Advent Calendar £11.50

As a non lover of chocolate this one grabbed my attention as it's filled with 24 bags of Jelly Beans which is perfect for my sweet tooth. It has an image of Santa Claus made of jelly beans which almost looks like a pointillist artwork! I can't wait to open this one up!

THE BEAUTY ONE:

No7 Advent Calendar £35

Beauty Advent calendars have gained momentum in recent years and most come with ridiculous price tags namely the Benefit one which is £60! This soon left my wish list when I discovered that some of the windows have stuff like hairbands and cheap looking bracelets inside. 

Instead I have gone for No7's offering which I thought would double as a little pressie for my mum who uses No7 skincare. This one is great value for money as all the windows have a range of skincare, make-up, nail polishes and make-up brushes. Mum and I will share this one as I can have the make-up bits that she doesn't use. 

This one has 25 windows so you get a little pressie on Christmas day too!

If you want some more beauty advent calendar inspiration Cosmopolitan Magazine have a great link here! 

THE KITTY ONE:

Pets at Home Cat Advent Calendar £2

We shouldn't forget our furry friends when it comes to Christmas and for Daisy I have picked up the Pets at Home cat advent calendar. This one has catnip choc treats behind every window which I'm sure Daisy will enjoy!

THE ONE FOR THE HOME:

John Lewis Snowflake Advent Candle £8 

For the home I picked up an advent candle from John Lewis for us to burn during our cosy evenings in the living room. It is a white candle with beautiful silver snowflakes printed on it along with the numbered days along the length of the candle.

This really is my favourite time of the year and these calendars will add some more excitement to the month and after all who doesn't love a daily treat?

MANI MONDAY- METALLIC PLUM

Plums have really been on my nail radar this season which is a change from my usual bright pinks. 

This gorgeous colour from No7 fulfills my magpie-like cravings by having a lovely metallic finish and I decided to add a glittery gold accent nail to add some extra sparkle!

Products used:

No7 Stay Perfect Nail Colour in  Damson Dream £6.00

Mavala Nail Colour in 227 Sparkling Gold £4.75

Nails Inc Gel Effect Topcoat £12

 All of the above are available at larger Boots stores.

CUSTOM MAC PALETTE

After envying people's MAC eye shadow collection on Pinterest I decided to make my own MAC eye palette- what can I say, I'm easily influenced by pretty images!

 They are super easy to create online where you can buy the palette case and all the single pro-pan eye shadows to go inside. 

I went for a 4 pan palette and the lovely thing about these is that they slot in using magnets which makes them easy to remove and pop back in again. 

This is super handy if you want to change up the colours in the palette. 

The palette itself is reasonably priced at £5 and they come in different sizes from 2 shadows to 15!

Pro-Palette Eye shadow x4 can be bought here.

The shades I went for are :

Stars 'N' Rockets              All That Glitters

Pink Freeze                      Dazzlelight

Stars 'N' Rockets and Pink Freeze are purple / pink hues while All That Glitters and Dazzelight are great neutral shades. 

Now you might be wondering how I came to these choices seeing as there are loads and loads of colours and finishes to pick from. Well, I came across a picture on Pinterest that had every single shade available which led me to a blog post with all the info I needed. 

It is also easy to do a quick search of "MAC eyeshadow swatches" which will bring up many shades swatched on different skintones. 

The eyeshadow pans themselves cost £10 each and they slot into the palette holes with ease. So far I am enjoying using the palette as it's really clean and professional looking and the slim design makes it easy to pop into my make-up bag.

I'm already eyeing up more colours from the range...it seems that a girl can never have enough eyeshadow!

MANI MONDAY- VAMPY PLUM

As Autumn looms I decided to go to the dark side and use this lovely Nails Inc shade called St Martin's Lane. This is a deep wine shade that came out last winter but hasn't really seen the light of day as I am more of a bright nail kind of girl!

Products used:

• Nails Inc Hyde Park Base Coat- strengthens weak & bendy nails.
• Nails Inc polish in St Martin's Lane (no longer available to purchase) but the shades "Grosvenor Crescent" & "New Oxford Street" are similar plumy shades.
• Nails Inc "Kensington Caviar" Gel Effect Plumping Top Coat- creates a gel-like finish & helps prevent colour fading, chipping & breakage.
• Nails Inc Corrector Pen- to wipe away the many mistakes I made!
   

I definitely needed the corrector pen with this colour as my nails are short and as you can see my application ain't all that! haha

 I must say that I like this colour more than I thought I would and maybe I'll be tempted to wear shades like this more often and leave the pinks for the Summer time!

x Thanks for reading my lovelies! x

SEPHORA HAUL ♡ PART 2 ♡

As promised here is the second instalment of my Sephora haul with a variety of make-up goodies!

SEPHORA MOONSHADOW BAKED PALETTE-

IN THE TROPICS

This beautiful palette had been on my radar for months but it was always sold out *sad face*  but finally it was back in stock!
I can see why it was hard to get hold of and as bonus for waiting so long it was on sale! :D
 The colours are divine! You get a selection of gorgeous purple, bronze, gold and peachy shades that are all named after tropical islands/places like Bermuda, Fiji & Seychelles.

 These are baked eye shadows and they have decent pigmentation but there is a lot of fall out as you can see in the picture so before application I tap the brush on the back of my hand to get rid of the excess shadow.
 This is more of a summery palette colour-wise but there are some shades that I will be using as base shadows during the winter months. 

TOO FACED SWEETHEARTS PERFECT FLUSH BLUSH-

PEACH BEACH

This is my second Too Faced "Sweethearts" blush and I decided to purchase another shade as I liked the first one (candy glow) so much. I went for the shade "Peach Beach" which as the name suggests has 3 gorgeous peach shades to swirl together.
 It warms up my complexion beautifully and will be perfect for those pasty winter months that we have coming up.
 I really would recommend these blushes to everyone as they have a subtle shimmer (not glittery at all) that makes your cheeks glow.

TOO FACED CAT EYES PALETTE

As a lover of all things cat related I knew that this needed to be mine! What do you mean that's not good enough reason? 

I also love all of my Too Faced palettes and this one didn't disappoint! The packaging is super cute in their standard metal case with a tutorial inside on how to create 3 different looks that they call day, classic and fashion. You get 3 base shades, 3 crease shades and 3 liner shades that can be used with a wet or dry brush.

The shades have catty names like purr, meow, pussy cat and kitty glitter. Love Love Love!

 This a palette I can't wait to use and as you can see in the pic Daisy the cat approves!

BENEFIT SPEED BROW

CLINIQUE BOTTOM LASH MASCARA

As a lover of all things Benefit and Clinique I decided to re-purchase these two products that I always have in my make-up bag.
 The first is Benefit's "Speed Brow" which is a light brown brow gel that helps set your brows into their perfect shape and as an owner of ridiculously long brow hairs this is a must for me!

The second thing is the only product that I use on my lower lashes- Clinique's Lower lash mascara in Black. This is has been with me since it first came out a few years back and I love it as it has a small wand that is perfect to reach those little lashes without looking like a panda!

BEAUTY BLENDER

I gave into the hype and purchased the original Beauty Blender to see what all the fuss was about. After a few uses I can say that none of the dupes of this even compare!

Once damp this blends make-up beautifully and is really soft and bouncy on the skin.
I have been using this to blend out concealer underneath my eyes and I'm loving  it.
Definitely worth investing in! 

SEPHORA VIB ROUGE GIFT

As I might have mentioned Sephora is my all time favourite place to be in and every time I go state-side I end up having multiple trips into this magical store. For this reason I have acquired a Sephora VIB card which is a bit like a Boots Points card but instead of using the points to buy anything in store you get a selection of beauty gifts and samples to choose from.

This time round I was upgraded to a Rouge VIP which is the highest level available and this entitled me to this cute Benefit gift featuring the following deluxe samples:

Watt's Up

Lollitint

Hoola Bronzer

They're Real Mascara

Porefessional

I have most of these in full size so these are perfect  travel size goodies to save space in my make up bag!

The good thing about Sephora is that they now deliver to the UK meaning that my points won't go to waste! Whoop Whoop! 

 And there you have it, my last instalment of my Sephora haul! Have you tried any of these?

Let me know what you are loving!

FYI you can get everything apart from the Sephora Eye Palette in the UK either in department stores or online. 

Thanks for reading. X