YSL Shocking !

Ooh La Laa! If I had ever thought I was in love before I was sorely mistaken. There's just something about YSL that makes me giddy inside like a little schoolgirl going through my first crush. Maybe it's the flawless packaging or my slight fetish for anything gold but to me it's perfection. I must say that it's probably a good thing that my closest counter is far, far away; otherwise I would probably have to go to rehab, Make-up Rehab- it sounds like a heavenly place HA! 

I got both of these after seeing how amazing they can work on other people. The eyeliner I chose because its what Kendall & Kylie Jenner use; I know it seems a tad superficial but their eyeliner always looks amazing and being an eyeliner novice I thought going straight to the top would make it easier {I was mistaken, but i'm finally getting the hang of it after many late night, smudgy attempts!} The tip liner makes it a lot easier to do a wing or a cats eye but works equally as well for just lining the eye. Plus once its on there it won't be budging!

I also got the mascara because when I first started watching Louise from Sprinkle of Glitter she was always raving about Shocking and how much she loved it! It's such a fabulous mascara, super black so your lashes stand out and thick enough to coat every last bit but not to much that they get that spidery look. I don't use this as my everyday mascara but it's great for nights out where you want dramatic eyes without fake lashes. How Fab!! 

Have you got a favorite YSL product or have you tried one of these and loved it as much as me ?? 

Pass the Pasta !

When I think of winter its scarves, boots and delicious, oozy, home cooked meals that are first to thought. The colder nights are a fantastic excuse to dust off that pile of cookbooks that got shoved in the corner to make room for summer cocktails; or in my case a massive bowl of limes so that I was always ready for an impromptu margarita!

One of my favourite home cooked meals is fresh pasta. Theres nothing that compares to the taste and self-satisfaction of doing it yourself! Its not the quickest but it is super easy and so versatile. 

  

I'm going to let you in on my foolproof pasta recipe! Everybody feel very privileged, I haven't even told my mum this recipe!  Sorry Mumma :(

Pens at the ready?? 

For each person do one quantity, unless your super hungry then add another serve :)

-100g of Plain Flour

-1 Egg, Whisked

-1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil

-A Pinch of salt

And thats it!

Sometimes your eggs might be a little smaller or the flour might have a higher moisture content so you may have to add a little more flour or oil but this works the best; and I've had my fair share of failed pasta HA!

So here's how you do it...

Combine the flour, whisked eggs and salt in a food processor. Whizz it together for a few seconds until it looks like breadcrumbs. Then slowly drizzle in the olive oil until it comes together to form a ball. If it feels a little sticky add some flour and vice-versa! It should feel firm and bounce back when you poke it.

Once its feeling good, kneed it on the bench until it comes into a nice looking ball. Wrap it in glad wrap and let it rest in the fridge for a few hours. This is the most important part. By letting it sit in the fridge the gluten strands in the flour relax which basically means it's going to be silky, smooth and yummo!

You could put any sauce you like with this, but I think the only way to go is homemade. So when people ask you can say ooh I made fresh pasta and homemade sauce last night! Yes, you can be jealous ;) 

My favourite is just a simple Naplolitana sauce.  

All you have to so is fry off a couple of shallots and three cloves of garlic in some oil until its golden. 

Roughly chop eight large tomatoes and add that to the frying pan. You can remove the skins and seeds - but really who has time for that! It all gets blended up in the end!

Let that all simmer together for about 15 minutes.

Once the tomatoes have gone mushy pop that into the food processor with a bunch of basil and blend that up till its as chunky or smooth as you like it.  

Now it's time for the fun stuff. The great thing about making your own pasta is if your into thick pasta like I am, you only have to run it through a couple of times or a few more if you like it thiner! Just a little FYI if you don't feel like running out and buying a pasta machine, although I highly recommend having one, I have quite successfully rolled out pasta using an old wine bottle and a pizza cutter- It was an interesting experience to say the least!

  

I went for thick fettuccine, the best way to have pasta in my opinion!

  Once the pasta is all cut, chuck it into a big pot of boiling water. It should only take three or four minutes depending on how al-dente you like it.

When its cooked strain it and toss the sauce through. Give it a generous shaving of parmesan, because let's face it, everything tastes better with a bit of cheese :)

If your not in the good books with your husband, wife, sister, brother or significant other this will definitely get you in there. If not I'll eat my shoe! 

Did you guys like this food post?? Has anyone been inspired to make your own pasta at home? 

I'd love to know if you do! xx

We got VIVID!

 Whilst I was in Sydney last week I was lucky enough to arrive smack-bang in the middle of the city's Vivid Light Festival.

The festival is in its second year and is a celebration of light, music and creativity! After dark selected buildings all over the CBD have amazing lights projected all over them. In Darling Harbour there was an insane water show complete with dancers on pontoons! Its still running for two more days, so if you have a chance definitely go check it out! Its completely free and if you have little kiddies they will be mesmerised :) 

 {Amazing water show at Darling Harbour}

 {We got drenched in a sudden downpour and had to seek refuge! Pizza and selfies were mandatory}

 {Que the awwing! What a gorgeous couple } 

  

 {The opera house was insane! }

{Scattered around the city were amazing hands on light-related activities. 

How cool!!}

If you want to check out some videos or get some more info {I've heard the final night is going to be cra-zyy} Check out the link below!

http://www.vividsydney.com/about-vivid-sydney/

Illamasqua my heart out!

WOW. 

I've been lusting over Illamasqua products for quite a few months now, but being in poor little Tassie we don't have a counter { Actually we don't have many counters down here HAHA } I also wanted to be very very sure when buying my first Matt lipstick and thankyou hesitation because if not I'd never looked twice at this gorgeous colour!! 

I've never been a red girl, the closest I've gotten is this!! and I don't think it counts as a lipstick. But WOW, just wow! I had picked out five or six pinks and Nudes to try out and they were all super pretty but the lovely lady at the counter was insistent that Liable was my colour and she was so right! It's got a gorgeous orangey undertone so it's bold but not in an overpowering vampy way! It goes on so well, doesn't dry my lips out and stays forever. YAY!

And who couldn't pass by the amazing nail polish!  I picked up Fragile and Pink Raindrops. Looking at fragile just makes me happy, It looks like the speckled eggs you get at easter and almost looks good enough to eat. Then Pink raindrops has this gorgeous holographic effect and is packed with shimmery glitter, if theres one thing that makes me happy its glitter! And the baby pink colour just makes me swoon :)

{Colours clockwise from top left Slink, Focus, Queen of the Night & Forgiveness}

Then my guilty pleasure was the complement palette. Just look at it. Look. Ohh my is it not just stunning. It's like the perfect palette with the right colours to go from an everyday natural look to a smokey eye in seconds. Focus - the dark brown colour is a creamy based shadow that blends so so well, and is great all over the lid with a little bit of slink in the inner eye makes for a easy every day look. But if your a work-to-party sort of girl you can blend in some Queen of the night {which is more of a burgundy colour} in the outer corner and a swipe of Forgiveness under the eye for a gorgeous smokey eye. To easy!

So if you lucky ladies have a Illamasqua counter near you, just go look and be in awe at how amazing these cosmetics are, Plus if your in Australia they price match with the UK so you can feel a little less guilty about picking up that second lipstick :)