Classic Rich Christmas Cake

I wanted to do something different this christmas and decided to make and decorate my Christmas Cake from sratch. I made this cake about two months ago to allow to brandy to 'feed' into the cake I followed a Mary Berry recipe 'Classic Rich Christmas Cake' from her Baking Bible book. 

I covered the cover in marzipan a week before decorating, I used Renshaw fondant icing for decorating, I used plunger cutters to make my holly and snowflake decorations, I embossed the red ribbon with a modelling tool for an added effect. 
It is best to leave the cake for a few days before serving to allow the icing to harden.


With the marzipan leftovers I made a selection of marzipan fruits. These are a great idea for a homemade christmas gift for those marzipan lovers and so simple to make! 

How to make:
You can buy a pack of marzipan from your local supermarket.
Whether you are using a whole pack or leftovers, like myself, cover you work surface in cornflour and divide each one into the size of a golf ball.
Add your food colouring/paste (red or green) depending which fruit you want to make.
Shape your marzipan into your chosen fruits
For an added effect, gently push one clove into the top of each banana and apple, I also cut out small green leaves for the apples and tops of the strawberries (refer to the picture for more help)
Finally place each one into a small petit four cases I used gold and silver cases for a festice feel.
You can buy small boxes in cake shops to present your marzipan fruits, however I used small polythene bag and tided a red ribbon around the top. 

Classic Victoria Sandwich With Fondant Bow

This design came to mind when I was scrolling through a few websites, so I put pen to paper and jotted down a few ideas, I love anything to do with arts and crafts however when it comes to drawing, thats my downfall so they were very rough sketches!

I used a Mary Berry 'All in One Victoria Sandwich' recipe from her Baking Bible book - very simple recipe to follow. I covered the sponge in a thin layer of buttercream before covering with white fondant icing.

I used fondant icing to decorate including the bow which I embossed with a small modelling tool and the flowers around the edge were cut out using a 'small' plunger cutter.

And the birthday girl throughly enjoyed it!

MUA 'Heaven and Earth' Eyeshadow Palette

The 'Heaven and Earth' palette is my favourite, I love the beige,brown and gold tones.
Each one of the colours has a shimmery effect and the fourth and sixth colour along the bottom row are slightly glittery too which adds a bit of sparkle to the range of colour in the palette.
The colours in this palette range from light beige to darker browns, there is a variety of colours which is great as it can suit different skin tones and they all blend well together. Most of the colours are quite neutral but as soon as you add a darker brown it can look very different!
The eyeshadows have a velvety touch and are highly pigmented, making them easy to apply. I used the brush applicator (which is very handy) to apply the eyeshadow and with a few strokes I had the desired colour.
The lighter shades can be worn during the day, and for the evening the golds and browns can be used for a brown 'smokey eye' look.

The eyeshadows are very delicate so do not apply too much pressure with the brush.
I will be using this palette more often and would recommend it to anyone who likes these shades, you can do so many different eye makeup looks with this one palette as there is such variety! 

MUA extreme curl mascara BLACK.

The first thing that caught my eye about this product was the packaging, it’s sleek silver, curvy design makes it looks very expensive however it only costs £2 much cheaper than my boujour mascara im currently using!

So its perfect for people with a budget!

The curved wand gives easy application as it shapes well to the lashes so you are able to reach into the corner of the eye. The wand separated my lashes while I was applying the mascara, this stopped them from clogging together and looking false.

The consistency of the mascara is thin which avoided the mascara going clumpy whilst I was applying it, this is great as you do not have to apply a lot of product to the lashes to cover them and you are able to apply a couple of coats without it looking thick and heavy, in my opinion a thinner consistency is better as it looks more natural when applied to the lashes.

The only thing is a lot of the product sits at the end of the wand after I pulled it out the tube so I had to wiped the tip of the wand around the bottle.

I noticed when I applied the mascara it had a lengthing effect on my lashes (especially the bottom lashes) which is great for people with short lashes, this mascara adds length and a slight curl whilst not looking over the top due to its thin consistency.  

I found the mascara very easy to remove with any ordinary eye makeup remover which is excellent!

I would recommend this mascara to anyone and buy it myself as it is a great product, has a excellent price tag on it!

MUA Trio Eyeshadow 'Innocence' 'Blue Babe' 'Pink Sorbet' 'Smoke Screen'

These are some of the trio eyeshadow sets from the MUA collection.

Each one of these colours is highly pigmented and gives great colour. The texture of the eyeshadows is very smooth and some have a hint of metallic giving them great shine and reflection.

In most palettes there are three shades of one colour which all work well together and you are able to create many looks e.g. smoky eyes brown or grey/black. You can mix and match between the three colours and wear them day or night or wear them individually for a basic look. 

They all come with a handy eyeshadow brush with a thick or thin end for different applications. 

INNOCENCE

PINK SORBET

Pink sorbet, consists of three shades-a pale pink, which applies quite light with a shimmer of pink, a slightly darker shade and the third shade which I found had a slight purple pigment with shimmer and glitter. This trio palette is very girly and I would recommend it to any girl who loves pink!

BLUE BABE 
 
I like this palette because of the high levels of pigment in the two shades of blue. All three colours blend well together. The lightest of all three shades has a golden tone and they all contain a slight shimmer.

SMOKE SCREEN
This trio palette is the most common used for smoky eyes. The two darkest colours I found are very similar when I applied them - one has a slight dark blue pigment to it and the other has a grey glittery pigment causing them to blend well together. Even the white shimmery colour has a slight grey pigment to it which makes it easier to blend in with the other two colours.
My favourite trio eye shadow is 'Innocence' I love these handy eyeshadow palettes and they come in a great variety of colours.