Zara Haul - Autumn 2014

               Hello Everybody! So I've been eyeing a lot of stuff from Zara to buy over this fall. Autumn is also my favorite time of year because of layering! How cool is it to wear something light, and something a little heavier over it or two light things and a big scarf, and some day-heels to go along with them? It's just awesome. You always feel pretty and sophisticated. That's what I miss during the summer time, dressing pretty, as sometimes it gets so hot and sticky that everything just feels wrong. And itchy!

So my first purchase and big blow-out was this super soft leather sheepskin jacket in black & rose gold. Rose gold, enough said, I was sold! 

It was the pricey-est piece of clothing I've ever gotten but I've been living in it ever since and every day I love it more - this is something I'll never regret buying. It's an investment! (At least that's what I tell myself)

The second thing(s) I got was 2 little long sleeved tee-shirts! They are 100% very very thin cotton. They also feel so soft, and they hang so well around your figure, it's one of those tops you can wear anywhere with the right accessories and you will look & feel amazing! I got one black & one grey. You can't see it on this photo but they have little  patches around their elbow too.



And yes, that's my "independent woman" pose. God!

The last thing, that I didn't purchase in Zara but in H&M is a lovely blanket-scarf that goes perfectly with all the above. For what it is, it was a complete bargain for only 14.99!

This photo might not be selling it as much as it should, but I don't think this blog could hold another posing selfie :) It is such a nice scarf, extra thick and long, one side is slightly darker patches and the other is more light pastel. It's the perfect colour combination for my autumn closet so I can pop it on with any arrangement! Thank youuuu H&M!!

There will definitely be a reoccurring colour theme for my autumn & winter closet which will be washed out browns, grays and monochrome, but I will make sure to always add a pop of colour to make it that bit interesting!
Hope you enjoyed this small autumn haul and that it gave you some inspiration for this season! :)

                                                                     

                                                                          Carmi

Jamie Oliver's Butternut Squash Muffins (Healthy Option)

Sometimes when I get unmotivated or a little bit moody, I like to bake something nice for my family or boyfriend. It's the process of laying out all the ingredients, (or shopping for them) and mixing it altogether, decorating the finished product... something about it is so satisfying!
So since it is nearly my faaavourite time of the year, the other day I decided to make my favorite treats of all time, Jamie Oliver's Butternut Squash Muffins in.. HALLOWEEN edition!

These cupcakes always cheer me up so much, they smell like the beginning of autumn, crisp and warm at the same time, so cinnamon-y it makes you wanna live in fallen leaves and chili weather forever! Light some candles on the side, and the cheering up is good to go!
Here are Jamie's ingredients & recipe (instead of flour and sugar, I use coconut flour or almond flour and honey! They never grow into fat muffins this way, as regular flour is easily risen but I guess that's the price you have to pay for trying to be healthy. Skimpy looking but nice muffins! And this way, there is nothing bad in there that you shouldn't eat!) slightly edited:

• 400 g butternut squash, cooked soft in the oven than mashed up!
• 200 g organic honey
• 4 large free-range egg whites
• pinch of pink Himalayan salt
• 250 g coconut or almond flour
• 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder
• 1 handful walnuts, crushed
• 1,5 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 175 ml extra virgin olive oil or organic coconut oil

• For the frosted cream topping

• zest of 1 clementine
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of ½ lemon
• 140 ml soured cream
• 2 heaped tablespoons icing sugar, sifted
• lavender flowers or rose petals, optional
• 1 vanilla pod, split length ways and seeds scraped out

The rest of the "method" is quite straight forward, mix wet ingredients then mix  dry ingredients. Mix the two together, and put into cupcake holders. Put into the preheated oven at 220 Celsius, for about 25-30 minutes (coconut and almond flour always take longer to bake!)

I have left a link to Jamie's original recipe down bellow. This is such a good option for the whole family, don't be frightened by the "vegetable ingredient"... It's so sweet!
I put mine into little Halloween cupcake holders and left them out for the whole family to enjoy :)

Jamie Oliver's Butternut Squash Muffins

My Morning Routine

So I'm sure as you all do, I have a pretty usual but necessary morning routine before I can walk out the door feeling comfortable. It is essential for me to do this as without, I will feel weird and probably rushed / uncomfortable for the rest of the day and I will even go out of my way and wake up slightly earlier so The Routine can be comfortably done.. weird huh?

Every morning when I wake up, either by the alarm or by a panicky girlfriend over the weekend, I'm usually bursting to go to the bathroom, resulting from the pint of water I drink before going to sleep the evening before. Detailed I may be, drinking is very important before sleep as it regenerates your cells while you rest!

After releasing my bodily fluids, I have to, need to brush my teeth. I will do this before consuming anything as I hate the thought of swallowing all your morning breath and whatever has been swirling around in your mouth while you sleep - eeew! Brush it out.

Than I will clean my face with a gentle cleansing gel, currently the Neutrogena Visibly Clear Pink Grapefruit Gel Wash, which smells zesty and has been doing an OK job but I'm not sure about the texture - it feels very plastic and maybe all that fragrance is just a little too much if you have sensitive skin. As it has just ran out, (although I gotta say it's bottle and pump has been great, no gel went to waste as most of them do when they near end) I will be roaming Boots for a more efficient morning wash. Rant.

I then usually wipe my face through with the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water which I think could be a new kid on the block but oh so amazing! This stuff cleanses your face, firms and tones it, sweeps away excess shine and wipes away makeup mistakes with one small sweep, whatever's in it, it's magic.

While I walk to the kitchen, I would leave my face to breathe a little bit and later apply my eye cream (Bobbi Brown which I have mentioned in a previous post) and daily anti shine moisturizer in Soap & Glory The Fab Pore, which is really great for tightening pores if you have a case of large gaping pores (ew) but not so sure about the shine removal, although I really do have extra shiny skin. I mean I usually have to wipe excess oil off my forehead a few times daily so I don't look like I'm wearing glitter / sweating buckets, not sure why this is? I do eat quite well and usually go without makeup during work times, exercise, don't drink, etc etc...

Have also tried going off using cleansing products all together and just go Brooke Shields a la Blue Lagoon, but that was even worse. 

While all the above may seem like it could take a half an hour, it literally takes 10 minutes or less. 

Next thing, breakfast & coffee, my favorite time of the day!! A good breakfast is really important because it will help you think / work / feel great for the rest of the day, but the emphasis in this sentence is on GOOD.

As I'm quite into my training, healthy stuff, I will have a good quality ground black coffee, no sug, no milk!

Usually eggs, some sort of greens and a handful of nuts or spoonful of nut-butter / half an avocado for my fat intake.

This combination of protein, antioxidants and fats will make my body and brain soooo happy, without this I would go grumpy old man style for the rest of the day. Yay for food!

By this time I will have probably wasted so much precious morning time embracing sleepiness, sitting around in my onesie, that I will probably be really late.

In I go to take a quick shower, throw on some appropriate clothes, do my hair and makeup and run off for work or for other daily chores with a happy smile. :)

Of coarse some days are more rushed and some days more laid back, but these are the things in the morning that make me a happy bunny. What is your morning routine? 

Beauty Day

Good day ninimushas! As I'm sure you all have done, or just about to do so, I had a beauty day today.

I kind of just slouched around in my pyjamas as it was raining outside and felt like it would be nice to catch up on replying emails and claim my tax back! Whoo! Having done the productive duties of my day, I decided I'm going to award myself and a week's hard work with some pampering!

First I heat up a pan of wax on the stove. Who doesn't want shiny (but sore) legs and tidy eyebrows? 

I like to start with the wax as it obviously sticks better to your skin before applying any creams.

Then I ran myself a nice hot bath while filling a wine glass with some ice and kombucha tea. If any of you don't know, kombucha is a sweet black tea fermented from a special type of mushroom (eek, sounds absolutely horrible but trust me it's nice and so beneficial) that contains over 50 different types of probiotics, organic enzymes and vitamins.. Yeah baby! Wine glass optional, it looks way classier than a dirty big pint glass though innit? :)

Before I get into the bath, I like to clean all my makeup off as it's better to sit in there with clean pores, just like you wouldn't sit into a sauna with makeup on, would you? Hope not!

I always use and swear by all Soap & Glory stuff, and so my bath today smelt of brown sugar, almond and milk cookies! Whaaaat?? Life doesn't get better than that (Soap & Glory - Foamous Body Wash).

When you're done with all your bath fun, like reading a book (I read Inferno written by Dan Brown) or listening to music, you can start cleaning off and buffering your skin.

Today I opted for a home made scrub as I tend to scrub once a week and do it reeeeal good. This recipe is really strange but gets the best results! Mix whatever body wash you're using (Foamous mmm!) with some finely ground coffee (not the instant one guys!) to the consistency you want. Scrub hack; don't overload on coffee as this stuff is reeeally efficient anyway. Leaves your skin as soft as a little fluffy kitten! It even gives you a hint of colour because of the coffee. It's a must try, and so cheap to create.

I washed my hair with Trèsemme Renew Scalp Shampoo & Conditioner because it contains sunflower oil - this little oil is really beneficial for your hair and I know every time I have used it, my hair really really thanked me for it.

I always put on a face mask after my bath, as I think my pores are now nice and wide from the hot bath and will be able to receive as many benefits from the mask as possible. I tend to use drugstore (Boots!) face masks because they're cheap but today I opted for a FRESH Lush product called 'Love Lettuce'. Lush have such a wide variety of face masks that are so so super, my next quest is going to be to try them all - starting with the famous chocolatey 'Cupcake!' Sounds so delish... Have you guys tried any of the Lush face masks?

                               While the mask dries, it's lotion time! I can't go anywhere without moisturizing my skin after every shower / bath. Before, I really hated moisturizing and thought I would never have nice, flawless skin because it was such a chore - but I think the key is finding the right moisturizer and keep buffing until it seeps into your morning routine! Mine is yet again a Soap & Glory product, the 'Smoothie Star' just to go with my body wash. I swear, this product smells so amazing and it lingers on your skin for a long time making you smell like a giant walking Christmas muffin! It's quite thick for a body lotion but surprisingly absorbs relevantly fast - it's just perfect.

Wash the face mask off, and it's time to apply some face food! After a big regime like today, I apply a vitamin E oil to my skin (can be purchased at a pharmacy or health story, not sure what brand it is sorry!). After leaving this soak in for a few minutes, I massage some Soap & Glory 'Beauty Sleep Accelerator - Night & Flight Facial Cream' which really leaves my skin so soft and even, and smells like a burst of fruitey bubblegum... This wasn't going to be a Soap & Glory "plug" but... If it's good it's good!

I also dab a little Bobbi Brown eye cream on which has been the best eye cream I've ever come across so far - it doesn't claim to be anything superficial, just moisturizing and that's exactly what it does! It's a little pricey but whoever has used Bobbi's products before knows she only puts the best into her bottles and your skin feels airbrushed after every treatment! Remember not to ever overload on eye cream as you only need a small amount on the outer and lover corners of your eyes!  

Then it was time to settle down in a light onesie -it's quite cold here in Dublin considering it's the end of May - boo weather!- to watch a film and paint your nails! Tonight I'm going to opt for some cherry pie coloured nails and the season finale of Hannibal! So very excited!

Let me know how you spend your beauty night or if you have any special tips for me to try! Hope you enjoy this blog post, don't forget to smile and.. moisturize!
Happy Skin, Happy Soul ;)