Hadaya Handmade Jewellery

I love jewellery, which I think stems from the fact that my father was a jeweller for many years, and also of course because I am a girl. I love diamonds and other gemstones such as rubies and sapphires, naturally, but I have strong views on stones being ethically sourced and also the cost can be a deterrent to actually buying them.  I also love silver jewellery and specifically silver bangles. I had a gold and silver Tiffany one I wore for years, but got tired of it and wanted something a bit different. A friend of mine introduced me to a jewellery company based in Israel called Hadaya. I looked on their website and found a gorgeous silver bangle on which they hand carve your own personal message in Hebrew.  Mine says “Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is Mystery, and Today is Gift” and inside is my name is inscribed in Hebrew.  My parents bought me this for my birthday last year and I love it.  To check out other quirky handmade jewellery by Hadaya, this is their website: http://oneofakind-store.com/main.sc

My Bangle:

How cute is this gold bagle pendant?!

L'oreal Lash Renewal Serum

Hi crumpets! Hope you are having a lovely Sunday afternoon :)

Today's post is about eyelashes. Unfortunately I was born with straight, fine, and short eyelashes-every girl's worst nightmare. And it really annoys me when men (such as my brother and boyfriend) have gorgeous, thick and curly lashes. What a waste!!!! So I use expensive mascaras (YSL False Lash Effect when I can afford it) and expensive eyelash curlers (She Uemura of course!) to try and bring my eyes out as much as possible. Recently I was reading Sophie Beresiner's beauty blog, she is the beauty editor of LOOK magazine. She said that she found a product called RapidLash to be very effective at lengthening her lashes. So I looked it up and it seems to have quite mixed reviews, but upon reading that some found their eyelashes started falling out, I decided maybe I shouldn't give it a go after all. So I then found that L'oreal also do eyelash serums, and I read some good things about their Lash Renewal Serum. Priced at just £11.29 at Boots I thought I'd give it a try. I have only used it for three nights so far and apparently it can take up to a couple of months to work. So, no news yet! But I will keep you updated on my progress! :)

Roberto Cavalli Giraffe China Dish

I have always loved TK Maxx, and used to spend many an afternoon roaming around the large branch on the bottom floor of the Exchange in Ilford when I was young and carefree. You can find many a designer bargain in this treasure trove of goodies with brand names from French Connection to Emilio Pucci. I also love thier homeware range which I think is a great, varied selection of good quality products at generally very low prices. So, imagine my delight when it was brought to my attention that TK Maxx have their own stores selling just homeware! Homesense, which was launched in 2008 now has 24 stores in the UK. One of which is relatively close to me :) While in Homesense recently I found they were selling a wonderful range of Roberto Cavalli Giraffe chinaware. I picked up this cute dish for £15.99 (apparantly the RRP is £130!) I keep naughty little sweeties in here and it sits nicely on my coffee table in the lounge. They had lots of other lovely Roberto Cavalli homeware, but I limited myself to this....for now :)

Check out Homesense at http://www.tkmaxx.com/home-hs/home-hs/page/homesense/

Whittard of Chelsea Banoffee Hot Chocolate

I do love me a hot chocolate on occasion, and generally I use the Cadbury's Hot Chocolate Powder which is nice and creamy with hot milk (never water!) In the winter there is nothing more I love than snuggling up on my sofa watching TV with a milky drink of an evening.

Recently my dear brother returned from a trip in London with a big tub of Whittard Banoffee Hot Chocolate Powder, which naturally I had to give a try. And ooooh it doesn't disappoint! Very rich, and chocolatey (tastes like dark chocolate) with a subtle banana taste along with toffee and caramel. Such a lovely drink and a nice change to bog standard Cadbury's! So upon my next trip to Tottenham Court Road I purchased some myself. At £5 it is not too cheap, but a nice treat. Also, I wouldn't say you need the recommended 5 teaspoons of powder per cup (more like 3 at most), so this should make it last a bit longer. If you try it let me know what you think! What Hot Chocolates can you recommend? Enjoy!

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Face Cream

I have always loved the Palmer's Cocoa Butter range. Their products are so smooth, rich, and yummy smelling, and are reasonably priced too. I needed a new facecream (with spf of course) and thought I'd give this a go.

It is very thick and creamy and has a slight and subtle cocoa smell. It absorbes quite fast and feels like it sinks nicely into the skin. My skin feels nice and smooth and my blemishes have faded slightly. I wear it every morning under my makeup, and am so pleased it is spf 15. In my old age I have taken to wearing spf everyday to try and keep those wrinkles at bay, and when I go away on holiday I never expose my face to the sun.

Overall I'd say this is a lovely product, and priced at just £5.69 it is a steal.

Marilyn Monroe 'Fragments'

Since I was about 15 I have been a big Marilyn Monroe fan. I fell in love with her for her simple beauty, her ambition and determination, and her talent for comedy. But most of all, I love that she was an intelligent woman. I have read most published books on her and have quite a collection. It seems she was a troubled, and sensitive person with deep rooted issues on security and love. She was also a complex and depressive character who didn't have the best start to life. While mooching in a bookshop on my local high street I came across this wonderful new book titled "Fragments." It is a large hardback containing personal notes, letters, poems, drawings, and general musings from Marilyn. It is very good insight into the emotions and troubles of a legend, and at times it is quite sad, but also moving. It contains some lovely photographs too. I  keep this on my coffee table and my friends, family and I always flick through it. I think it is lovely and if you are a fan I would recommend.

Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb

Since sniffing the delightful Flowerbomb perfume by Viktor and Rolf a few years ago on the House af Fraser shop floor, I have only worn this gorgeously yummy perfume. It is quite pricey (especially for the pure perfume), so luckily my good friend bought me a small bottle for my birthday. This lasted quite a while, and I was quite tearful when it eventually run out. Soon after, I departed on a business trip to Germany. The airline I flew with bumped me off the flight (apparantly I was too late even though I had pre-booked my ticket and got there an hour and half before take off) As you can imagine I was furious! Upon kicking up a stink, they offered me a small token of compensation in the form or 250EUR cash. So, I wasn't so angry anymore and thought of all the lovely things I might be able to purchase in Duty Free. Upon wafting into the Duty Free shop with an air of smugness at my (kind of) fortune, I set my eyes on a big, pink 100ml glass bottle of pure Flowerbomb wonder. At 96EUR it was not cheap. But this was free, so why not? So it was purchased, and to my amazement, over 2 years later, I still have about 1/4 of the bottle left. So anyway, my lovely friend (who bought the first bottle for me) went to Las Vegas late last year, and returned with a gift for me in the shape of a Flowerbomb rollerball travel stick. You can imagine how delighted I was especially as I am fast running out of my big bottle! I carry this around in my handbag at all times and use it for quick freshen ups, or on days I decide to venture out for dinner after work I just roll some on. It is quite strong and lasts a long time, and as the name suggests it is floral and sweet. Yummy!

See more at: http://www.viktor-rolf.com/_en/_ww/fragrances.htm

And now for my first "proper" post....Hummingbird Heartbeat

While wandering around South Kensington last weekend with my Boyfriend, I stumbled across a small Hummingbird Bakery shop. South Kensington is not the place you usually find things to be inexpensive-these cakes are no exception. It is also usually the place you would expect more style than substance- but these are an exception. I was talked into buying four Strawberry Cheescake (muffin things) by the ever so helpful sales assistant. There I was merrily peering into my bag and pulling out the coppers and coins to pay for these cakes....and then I was told the price. To have to pull out the credit card for four cupcakes was a shock- a very embarrassing shock amongst the hoity toity in South Kensington who curled thier noses in distaste! (I like that one), especially when I asked the sales assistant if this was some sort of sick joke.


So anyway, I got home and tasted them with a nice cup of tea. I must say they were delicious, and my family and I agreed they were probably worth the £3 per cake. Were the biscuits dusted on top some kind of magical gold dust sourced out of Aladdin's cave I pondered? Or were the strawberries picked straight out of the garden of Strawberry Shortcake from TV? Or have I just been watching too much children's TV? Well, it turns out that anyone can bake these cakes with a little help from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, which I invested in.


Today my Mother and I set to work making the exact cheesecakes I had purchased. And I must say they were pretty easy and quick. AND they tasted moreorless the same as from the bakery. I was impressed! It is a much cheaper alternative, and you will be so pleased with yourself for coming anywhere near to the sheer deliciousness of the masterchefs at Hummingbird Bakery!

http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/tarek+malouf/the+hummingbird+bakery+cookbook/6420607/

So here we go, my first post....

Having never acknowledged the online blogging world, a friend of mine recently announced she was to start her own blog on living life fabulously in London. I was intrigued, and when she offered for me to write a guest post for her, I curled up my nose in distaste and an overwhelming feeling of laziness washed over me with thoughts of how much time this would take up. I couldn't help but feel just like Naomi Campbell must have on her recent war crime trial- a sheer inconvenience. But there was a secret side to me that felt excited by this prospect; and with my nose un-curled I succumbed to the idea and decided to help a sista out!

After writing three articles for her in one week, it became apparent I was taking over her blog at a fast pace. Problem is, I've got too much to say about many different things. So, here I am now, with my very own blog; a far cry from the sceptical and nose-curled woman I once was. Hope you enjoy!