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Amazing salted caramel brownies

20 Tuesday Sep 2016

Posted by alifrankle in Baking blog, Uncategorized

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Tags

bake, baking, bbloggers, blog, brownies, caramel, chocolate, recipe, saltedcaramel, saltedcaramelbrownies, tanyaburr

I recently baked the best brownies I’ve ever baked.. twice! These salted caramel chocolate brownies are chocolatey oozy goodness that you really need to try. They are pretty quick to make and so far loved by all who’ve tried them, definitely a recipe I will keep to hand for the future.

salted caramel 01.jpg

Ingredients:

200g butter

4 eggs

160g plain flour

60g cocoa powder

1x tin of Carnation caramel

1 tsp of flaked sea salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

300g dark chocolate

300g

salted caramel 02.jpg

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C

A 30cm x 20cm non-stick tin is recommended, lined with greaseproof paper.

Step 1

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Break all of the chocolate into chunks, add to a bowl with butter and melt over a pan of simmering water. Make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water.

Step 2

Remove the bowl from the heat, whisk the sugar into the melted mixture.

Step 3

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Add the eggs and vanilla extract, whisk until light and bubbly.

Step 4

Sieve the flour and cocoa powder into the mix, then gently fold, be gentle so as not to knock out the air.

Step 5

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Pour half the mix into the tin, spread evenly. Then spread the tin of caramel over the mix in the tin, sprinkle evenly with the salt.

Step 6

Add the rest of the chocolate mix to the tin, then bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

After the 20-25 minutes the brownie will still be soft, this is fine. Just take out and leave to cool completely in the tin.

salted caramel 06.jpg

This is a Tanya Burr recipe, it’s available in her recipe book.

 

Let me know what you think, Ali xx

 

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder

17 Friday Jun 2016

Posted by alifrankle in Beauty blog, Lifestyle, Uncategorized

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Tags

ambientpowder, bbloggers, beauty, blog, bloggers, makeup, powder, pretty, Space.NK, transluscent

“You’ve paid how much for nothing?!” a quote from one of my best friends after I told her I’d just bought a translucent powder for £38 (insert monkey covering its face emoji here).

I purchased the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder, probably the most I’ve ever spent on a single piece of makeup, no, make that definitely the most. To some of you, that might not be much, but for one powder it was to me. But, I was in SpaceNK and thought why not?!

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This wasn’t quite as a compulsive buy as it sounds, I’ve actually heard good things about this powder so wanted to give it a try. The lady in the shop helped me pick the right one for my skin tone, so the palest one of course.

I LOVE it, I actually love it. It’s described as “a wardrobe of six universal finishing powders that recreate the most exquisitely flattering light.” Honestly, that’s a true statement, I have to admit I read that and though psssht yeah right, but it really is amazing. I use the powder after foundation just like you would with any other translucent powder, I tend to use my biggest brush to get the best coverage. It sets foundation really nicely and just gives my face this really nice glow. Since using it, I’ve actually had some comments about my complexion and how good it looks recently, and that to me means this is a winner and is here to stay!

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I have been using it every day for almost a month and it still looks almost untouched. It definitely gives you the money worth. Try it 🙂

Ali xx

 

 

 

I have heard many good things about Hourglass’ lighting powders, so when I found my self in Space. NK recently I couldn’t help but pore over the pretty make up and was parti

Mascara & hairbrushes

02 Thursday Jun 2016

Posted by alifrankle in Beauty blog, Lifestyle, Uncategorized

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Tags

bblog, bbloggers, beauty, blog, hair bursh, leobancroft, mascara, review, rimmel

Just a little review of a couple of things I’ve been using recently; I left my most favourite hairbrush at my Mum’s house a while ago so had to find a replacement to use in the meantime. All my others are round brushes or just used for styling rather than every day brushing. I decided to try out the Leo Bancroft Detangle Brush. The main reason I picked this is because it’s purple, I am notorious for losing / forgetting my hair brush and I thought as it’s bright purple it would probably decrease the chances of this happening. Turns out not only is it good for that, but it’s actually a really decent hair brush.

01.06 brush.jpg

I like it because it’s completely made out of plastic, it’s all one piece rather than having a cushion with the bristles attached. Being totally plastic means it’s really lightweight, which is perfect for me as I take a brush with me wherever I go. Also, it means it is SO easy to keep clean and it dries within a minute. I have really thick hair, so often find that brushes don’t make it all the way through to detangle it, but this one really does the job. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking to try something new.

Next up is the new Rimmel Volume Colourist Mascara in black; I have used this for just over a month now and would buy it again. I like to try different mascara’s and as usual I was a sucker for it being a new one. The first thing I noticed about it is the shape of the tube, it’s shaped in a way that gives great grip so is easy to open and hold. (I don’t know if it’s just me but I’ve dropped many a mascara mid-application in my time.)

01.06 mascara.jpg

The unique selling point of this mascara is that it tints your lashes over time, why has no one done this before?! I am a red head who has practically invisible eye lashes, so sans mascara I look ill, this could be the answer. I’ve tried semi-permanent eyelashes before and loved that you wake up looking ready for the day, but hated the fact you can’t rub your eyes, ever. Anyway, over the first two weeks of using this mascara daily I definitely noticed that my lashes were becoming darker and staying that way. It was working! Not only were they darker when mascara-less but when I was wearing the mascara they looked great; full and really long. Also, due to it having a plastic brush it means it gives a really nice clump free finish.

My only negative thought about this mascara is I found that in the morning, after removing it the night before there was still A LOT of black on my eyes. I’m used to there always being a trace the next day, but this was almost as if I hadn’t removed it in the first place. I assume this is due to it tinting my lashes. Other than that I really like this mascara and at only £8 it’s good value for money.

So that’s two products I would recommend for you. I am of course in the process of trying out others, so expect more reviews 🙂

Ali xx

 

Been a while

29 Sunday May 2016

Posted by alifrankle in Lifestyle, Uncategorized

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Tags

bbloggers, beautybloggers, blog, bloggers, competition, garnier, model, photos, shampoo, superdrug, ultimateblends

I haven’t written in a while, so thought I would give a little update. I have been on holiday and just busy seeing friends and family, but I am getting back into my blog. 🙂

My first post was about winning the competition with Garnier, this has now taken place, I was in Superdrug stores across the country and it really was fantastic. I posted on Facebook & Instagram asking if anyone saw me in there to take a picture and tag me in it, the response was brilliant. I got lots and lots of tags, so was really pleased about that.

For any of you who haven’t seen, this is the photo that Garnier decided to use of me:

FullSizeRender.jpg

Garnier also used all of us on their Instagram page which was really cool to see, they posted a couple of videos and photos. This was my fave; we all look genuinely happy and I think they are lovely pictures.

FullSizeRender(1).jpg

Just wanted to give another big thanks to Garnier for making it happen, it really was an amazing experience and definitely gave me something to talk about!

Ali xx

Feb faves

03 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by alifrankle in Beauty blog, German Shepherd, Uncategorized

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Tags

bbloggers, beauty, benefit, blog, blusher, candle, favourites, garnier, germanshepherd, hand cream, kate moss, lipstick, puppy, rimmel, salt spray, schwarzkopf, ultimate blends

I see a lot of monthly favourite blogs and vlogs so thought I’d give it a go myself. I did actually film a video of this, but haven’t put it up yet, not sure if I will or not… such a tease ha.

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I of course had to start my February favourites with the Garnier Ultimate Blends Shampoo, The delicate soother – 1, because it genuinely is the shampoo I’ve been using throughout February, and has become my favourite, and 2, because I really like it! (See my previous blog post :))

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Next up, is my Blogger box! I won this in a competition (see my first blog post) and so I thought it deserved a mention. This arrived with some really helpful blogging items; a tripod for your phone, fairy lights, a candle, some photo props, and of course the shampoo, conditioner & heat protector. It all came nestled neatly inside the box, with gold tissue paper, very exciting! I am keeping the box as I’m sure it will come in handy, it’s sturdy too.

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This Garnier Miracle Wake Up Cream, was a little freebie from L’Oréal from the photo shoot. I have been using the same day cream/ moisturiser for a couple of years now so I thought I’d give this one a go. I firstly really enjoy the fact that it’s pink. Since using it, I’ve found my skin has been a lot softer and has helped with the general eye-bagginess that I have been getting.

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I recently had my hair cut from quite long, to just above my shoulder, and as I had a new hair length, I decided to try a new style too, so went on the hunt for some salt spray. I didn’t have to hunt very far as the shops are full of them, I chose the Schwarzkopf beach matt MERMAID look texturizing salt spray. I may have been slightly persuaded by the mermaid look part of the description…but it basically is great. You just spray onto wet hair, dry it, and then style how you want. I’ve found whatever style you want to do, it helps keep it that way, I’ve curled it, made it wavy, straightened it, gone outside with it half dry in the wind (as suggested on the bottle) and it works all ways.

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This is the lovely candle that came in the bloggers box, it’s called Green Tea & Fig and it’s by Fashion Fiend. I haven’t heard of this make of candle before, but I’m definitely going to seek some more out. It smells incredible. I mean, even when it’s not lit, you can still smell it when you walk into the room, which is pretty good for an unlit candle. Another great thing about this candle is that it’s made with natural oils and soy wax so there are no horrible fumes emitted when lit.

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This Garnier Hand Intensive 7 Days smoothing hand cream, was another little freebie from L’Oréal (thank you) and I do mean thank you, I have been using this SO much. I wash my hands countless times throughout the day due to Bella being so blimmin’ messy, and slobbery. Also, due to cleaning and other general hand washing reasons. So I have dry hands and am forever applying hand cream. However, this is brilliant. I have been using it for over 7 days now and I don’t have horrible dry hands anymore, yay!

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Three little make-up bits I’ve been loving this month are;

1 – Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 hour foundation. I find this gives excellent coverage and does last a long time. I haven’t actually tested to see if it lasts the full 25 hours as I remove my make-up at night.

2 – Collection Lasting Perfection concealer. This really does its job, it covers up my dark circles really well and I’ve actually worn this out without any foundation on top, so definitely a winner for me.

3 – The Benefit Rockateur blusher mini. For Christmas I received the Benefit selection box (not sure of its official name as I got rid of the box, kept the minis obv) and this blusher was one of the minis. I have been using it ever since, and considering it is a mini, I didn’t think it would last long, but it looks almost untouched. I really love the peachy pink colour and again, this really lasts long. I wear blusher, pretty much every single day as being so pale I feel I need something to brighten up my face or everyone, including me, thinks I look ill. This one works a treat and goes well with my skin tone.

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The photo made me laugh, I did actually take a more professional one, but had to use this one as it shows just how nosey (see what I did there?) Bella is. Excuse the foot. I was trying to take a photo of my lipsticks to add to this blog and she couldn’t help herself and stuck her nose in too! Bless her.

Anyway, these are the Rimmel Kate Moss lipsticks in 38 and 16. Now, lipstick is a new edition to my life and I’ve got to say why didn’t anyone make me try it before?!?!?!?! I’ve always, always, always worn Vaseline, and on occasion lip gloss, but lipstick is fantastic. I still wear Vaseline all the time, but lipstick on top of Vaseline, is so much better than lip gloss. Lip gloss is so sticky and, your hair gets stuck to it, and it doesn’t last very long and yeah, lipstick is definitely the way forward. It lasts way longer, and isn’t sticky! What’s not to love? As you can see by the colours that I picked, they aren’t very daring, but to be honest I got a little over-whelmed from the ginormous range of lipsticks available that I chose two pinky, nudey colours to start with. I will be buying more to try out in March, so make sure you check out my March favourites too!

Ali xx

PS follow me on Instagram and Twitter using @alifrankle 🙂

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