My 2 favourite winter/christmas nail polishes

I love nail polish all year round but I especially love the change to winter/Christmas colours.  I have so many christmas and winter favourites and if I wrote about them all you would be reading for days so I have managed to narrow it down to my 2 favourite nail polishes that I have been loving this winter/christmas! Like I find with a lot of other beauty products there are tons of brands and colours making it quite hard to choose. I am not an expert and these are all my personal opinions but I hope this helps anyone out there looking for a new decent nail polish to wear for Christmas.

Firstly I recommend using a top and base coat as the base coat helps protect your nail from staining and it helps pro long your polish and a top coat will also prolong your polish as well as providing you with an amazing shine and a lovely finish to any colour.

The ones I am currently using which I am loving are the opi natural nail base coat and the Leighton Denny crystal finish fast drying top coat.

Now to the colours

1. Magazine cover mouse - which is a red liquid sand by opi.

It is the perfect shade of red and has a gold and pink shimmer through it making it extremely sparkly and shiny. The reasons why I love the liquid sand range by opi and in particular this red:

■ Extremely good coverage
■ Really sparkly
■Amazing shine and finish
■ Has gold and pink shimmer through it
■ Lasts really well and is indestructible, so no denting     or smudging

My only drawback is that it takes a little longer to remove and therefore requires a bit of patience but in my point of view it is worth it because of how good the polish is.

2. Rouge noir by Chanel

For me this is the perfect deep dark shade of red which you can wear not only for Christmas but all through the winter. The colour has a real depth to it and has a lovely shiny finish. 

Reasons I love rouge noir: 

■ Really good coverage

■ Amazing depth in the colour

■ Really shiny and looks almost velvety on the nail

■ Colour looks the same on the nail as in the bottle

■ Easy to apply

■ Lasts for ages 

Emily

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Early Christmas in London

I knew I wasn't going to be at home for Christmas this year in London as I am spending it in Australia. I am so excited for australia as I am seeing family that I haven't seen in years and it is somewhere new to explore. However i didnt want to miss out on a traditional cold christmas and so I prepared early and had a very christmasy November. I took quite a few pictures because I absolutely love Christmas and I wanted to have photos I could look back on. I hope these help you get in the christmas spirit if your not already. Enjoy.

Emily

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My London Christmas in pictures

My Christmas tree

My snowman decoration

Christmas table

My Christmas tree 

A little Christmas scene 

My fave christmas jumper

My other fave christmas jumper

Cartier shop front looking amazing 

Christmas lights in london

More christmas lights in london 

Lights on Oxford street 

Tower bridge 

Carnaby Street lights 

Claridges

Claridges afternoon tea

Claridges burberry tree

An amazing afternoon in Claridges 

Gingerbread latte in Costa 

Christmas baking. These are amazing vegan christmas puddings. Recipe from Niomi Smart. 

I love baking all year round but especially at christmas time. These are my Strawberry milkshake cupcakes

Caramel fudge hot chocolate from costa 

Amazing Hazelnut Brownies. Recipe on another blog post!!!

I went to see elf which was amazing and the perfect thing to get into the Christmas spirit. 

Christmas nails. I used opi liquid sand and it is the perfect sparkly red for Christmas.  

Melting Moments

Melting Moments
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2 melt in the mouth shortbread style biscuits, sandwiched together with buttercream and dipped in chocolate, what is not to like about that. I hope you enjoy this recipe and happy baking!! 
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Ingredients

For the biscuits:
180g Unsalted butter 
1 tsp vanilla extract
60g Icing sugar
60g Corn flour
2 tsp Baking powder
180g plain flour

For the buttercream:
120g Butter
225g Icing sugar
1-2 tbsp milk 

Decoration:
200g dark 70% cocoa chocolate
100g milk chocolate

Method
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1. Line 2 baking trays with baking parchment and pre heat oven to 180c fan.
2. Beat the butter and vanilla extract until pale and creamy.
3. Sift in the icing sugar, corn flour, baking powder and flour, then fold it in until it's smooth and well combined.
4. Next roll the mixture into 24 balls (which will make 12 complete biscuits) and place on baking tray. I find about a tbsp of mixture creates the perfect size biscuit.
5. Using a fork dipped in icing sugar slightly squash each biscuit.

6. Bake for 12 mins or until golden brown.
7. To make the buttercream, beat the butter until it is pale and light and creamy. Next add in the icing sugar and beat until it's all combined. Finally add in the milk and beat until it's light and fluffy.

8. Next sandwich the halves together
9. Melt the chocolate and dip half of the biscuit in the chocolate and set aside to allow the chocolate to set and then enjoy.

Emily
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Hazelnut Brownies

The perfect hazelnut brownies

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You will not be disappointed if you make this recipe as these brownies taste absolutely amazing.  They are the perfect fudgey gooey consistency that melts in your mouth. Not only that but they are so easy to make therefore making them the perfect treat!!!!!

Makes 16
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Ingredients:

16 Ferrero rocher

250g Salted butter

250g/9oz Caster sugar

225g/8oz Light brown muscovado sugar

100g/4oz Cocoa powder

4 eggs

100g/4oz Self raising flour

85g/3oz Chopped hazelnuts

 1. Unwrap the 16 chocolates, and put them in the freezer.

2. Preheat the oven to 180c/160c fan/gas 4

3. Grease and line the base and sides of a 26/20cm tin with baking parchment.

4. Put the butter, both sugars and Cocoa into a saucepan and melt over a low heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. 

Before its melted

After it's melted

5. Once it's all combined remove from the heat and pour it into a bowl to cool for 5 mins.

6. Once it has cooled beat in the eggs one by one, mixing thoroughly until the mixture is nice and smooth.

7. Then, mix in the flour and chopped hazelnuts until it's thoroughly combined. 

Mixture with all ingredients added 

8. Next, pour the mixture into the prepared tin, and place it in the pre heated oven to bake for 35 mins. 

Before baking

After baking for 35 mins



9. Remove from oven and score into 16 pieces but do not cut all the way through, it's just a guide. Then using the back of a spoon, make a dent in the centre of each brownie.

10. Next remove the ferrero rochers from the freezer and place one in each dent. 

11. Place the tin back in the oven for a further 3 mins. Then remove the tin from the oven and set aside to cool completely. 

13. Once cool remove from the tin and cut into the 16 brownies already marked out and enjoy!!!! 

Happy baking

Emily

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