What's On My Dressing Table: October

1. Kate Moss Rimmel Lipstick in 107 - I love the Kate Moss lipsticks and have recently bought a deep berry red shade for autumn - number 107. I was always wary of buying dark red lipsticks as I have such pale skin but at just over a fiver this one wasn't too much to risk. Guess what? I love it! It's a great shade and perfect for autumn. The matte finish is one of my favourite things about these lipsticks and I also find they're really long lasting. Check out the Kate Moss lipstick range here

2. Anastasia Beverly Hills - I bought a couple of ABH products earlier this month and have been loving them all! The highlighter is more for special occasions and not everyday use but I've used it a few times and think it's lovely. The highlighting duo however is for everyday use and I've been using this to give my brows an extra little lift, read my full post about ABH here

3. Real Techniques Sculpting Brush - I bought this brush to use with my ABH highlighter and it seems to be working pretty well. This is the first Real Techniques brush I've bought as I usually buy Bobbi Brown brushes, but as I won't be using this highlighter very often I didn't want to invest in an expensive brush. The shape of the brush is perfect for sculpting and you can't really go wrong at £11.99 (although it was a little bit hard to find one that was in stock!) Read more about the sculpting brush here

4. Mamonde Rose Honey Sleeping Mask - I received this face mask in my Kawaii Panda Box (you can read about that here) and I've only used it a couple of times but my skin certainly looks refreshed after applying it. I'd love to try some more Korean face masks as the ingredients are often different and more advanced than UK products

Spooky Ghost Mega Marshmallows

This is probably the easiest Halloween DIY ever! Simple but effective these are absolutely perfect for a last minute Halloween party (or if you just fancy eating loads of marshmallows). But these aren't just any marshmallows, they are mega marshmallows! That basically means those huge squishy marshmallows that you get in America, but luckily for me my local Tesco sell them, yum.

I simply decorated each marshmallow with a spooky face or phrase using a black icing pen. You can decorate them however you like, go all out! I think they look great on wooden skewers, which also makes them easier to eat, or they look just as effective in a big bowl. Have you tried making any spooky Halloween treats?

DIY Mini Kawaii Pumpkins

I know, I know....Halloween is meant to be spooky, and there's nothing spooky about pastel colours and kawaii faces but aww they're so cute! I thought I'd try something a little bit different for my pumpkins this year so decided to give them a lick of paint and a cute face, cos why not. Halloween DIY's can be so much fun and this is quite a nice way to decorate pumpkins without having the mess of carving them.

I bought these mini pumpkins from Waitrose and they're actually called 'munchkins' (I almost fainted from cuteness in the shop). You could also use plastic pumpkins which I know you can buy quite cheaply on eBay. I mixed acrylic paints to make pastel colours and then gave the little munchkins two coats. Once dry I used a black marker pen to draw the faces and there you go...cute Halloween decorations. What do you think of my alternative pumpkins? Have you tried any Halloween DIY's?

Halloween Pumpkin Cookies

Halloween is now only a week away! Have you got your costume yet? I love this spooky time of year, what is it with bloggers and Halloween?! Of course it would only be right to bake some Halloween themed biscuits so I have gone for the classic pumpkin/jack o lantern. I also seem to get a little bit obsessed with pumpkins at this time of year and end up buying about 10 (I think one would suffice, maybe 2).

I thought these biscuits were going to be really easy to make but they actually turned out to be pretty difficult, mainly because of the face and cutting all the little triangles out. Nevertheless I think they look pretty cool and would be perfect for a Halloween party. I do quite a few biscuit posts so I won't post the recipe again but if you're interested you can find it in a previous post here. I bought this spiderweb bowl from Tiger for only £1 which is ideal for keeping all my Halloween goodies in.

Have you tried any Halloween baking? Also what are you dressing up as for Halloween? Im excited about my costume!

A Mini Anastasia Beverly Hills Haul

I don't write beauty posts too often, after all I'm not a beauty blogger, so when I do it's usually about a product or brand that I think is amazing....cue Anastasia Beverly Hills! Of course I have read all the rave reviews about this brand but it wasn't until I bought the Brow Wiz for my mum for her birthday that I was truly won over. My mum told me it was amazing and that I needed to get one, so I did, along with two other treats...oops!

♥ Brow Wiz - this eyebrow pencil really is amazing it makes my eyebrows looks effortlessly flawless. It' so easy to use and stays in place all day. I like that one end has a spooly so you can brush your brows and blend the colour. I think I've found my new fave eyebrow pencil!

♥ Illuminator in Starlight - I fell in love with this highlighter when I read reviews online, it just looked so amazing and glowy. I don't own many highlighters but this one really won me over. I went for the shade 'Starlight' as I have really pale skin. It's really pigmented which means you don't need to apply much and the colour is lovely

♥ Highlighting Duo Pencil - this is a two ended pencil that highlights and enhances. I specifically bought it for the arch under my brows and so far I'm impressed - it definitely enhances the shape of my brows and also helps to cover up any unruly hairs that you might have missed 

ABH is one of those brands that's still annoyingly difficult to get hold on in the UK, but I ordered all this stuff from Cult Beauty which I find has the best selection. Have you tried anything from the ABH range?

Super Easy DIY Vintage Teacup Candles

There is the cutest little stall at my local market that sells lots of dreamy vintage china. I recently bought some vintage teacups and saucers from there just because they were pretty, and when wondering what to do with them I thought I could give candle making a go. I've seen loads of teacup candles around on Pinterest and thought it looked like a nice easy DIY.

The lady on the stall told me that these particular teacups are from the 1950's and 1960's and are Czecheslovakian, which is nice to know a little bit of the history behind them. I went straight to Amazon in search of candle making equipment (oh how I miss Hobby Craft :( no Hobby Craft in London booo). I found some blocks of pre-coloured and pre-scented wax which meant making these candles would be super easy. Usually you would buy wax pellets and then colour and scent them yourself, but this was already done for me!

What you'll need...

♥ Teacups

♥ 2 pans

♥ Pre waxed wicks

♥ Wax blocks (or wax pellets, colour and fragrance)

♥ Superglue

♥ Sticks

What to do...

♥ Make sure tea cups are clean and dry

♥ Glue wick to the bottom of the teacup using superglue

♥ Wind wick around a stick that can rest on top of the teacup - this will keep the wick upright and straight while the wax dries

♥ Melt wax - I did this in a small pan on top of another pan with boiling water in

♥ Carefully pour melted wax into teacup

♥ Leave wax to set for several hours

♥ Trim week to approx. 1 inch

I'm really pleased with the way they turned out, I will definitely be making more in future, especially as I still have some wax left over. I think these are also a great gift idea, especially with Christmas coming up! Have you tried making candles before?

MAC Make Up Cookies

No this is not my new blusher collection, I made MAC cookies! My obsession with making biscuits has now been combined with make-up, which has resulted in these cuties. They were pretty simple to make and I used ready roll icing in black, light pink and fuchsia for the decoration. The base is just a simple biscuit recipe. For the MAC logo I used a stamp which came with the cookie cutter I bought from eBay. It really is amazing how many cool cookie cutters you can buy these days!

I think these biscuits looks really effective and would be perfect as a present for make-up lovers or at a party. It's ironic that I love making all these novelty biscuits but that I don't actually like icing! (apart from cream cheese icing, because that's just amazing right?) At least it means I don't feel bad about eating the cute biscuits I've just made, although I also don't want to throw them out! Have you done any baking recently? What novelty biscuits would like to see me bake next? 

Kawaii Panda Box: Korean Cosmetics Review

If you're a regular reader of my blog then you'll know that I love Korean cosmetics! (you can read about that here and here if you fancy). They are just so quirky and fun and what girl doesn't love trying out new beauty products? So when I saw that new beauty box Kawaii Panda Box were looking for people to review their September box I jumped at the opportunity. All of the products are sourced direct from Korea and when I received the box I couldn't believe how many products there were - there were 6 full size products, no samples, all full size. Here's what the box included...

♥ Tony Moly Bamboo Fresh Water Soothing Mist - a refreshing spray made from natural bamboo water
♥ Mamonde Rose Honey Sleeping Mask - apply at night to moisturise and protect skin
♥ Secret Key 24K Gold Premium First Cream - revives skin and improves the appearance of wrinkles. Includes real pieces of 24k gold (how awesome is that!)
♥ Etude House Perfect Multi Cleansing Foam - a foam wash that removes make-up and dirt
♥ Tony Moly Kiss Kiss Lip Scrub - a moisturising exfoliator for lips with jojoba and macadamia oils
♥ Innisfree Hand Cream - pocket sized hand cream using shea butter to moisturise hands

I've tried some of these brands before (I am a big Tony Moly fan!) but I haven't heard of Mamonde or Secret Key so it was really nice to discover some new brands. A lot of the products included are quite hard to find in the UK and you'd usually have to get them imported. My favourite product is the Mamonde Rose Honey Sleeping Mask - it smells amazing and I love a face mask.

I am seriously impressed with this box. I think it's such good value as it costs £18 but I did a bit of research and altogether the contents comes to about £35, so you're pretty much getting everything for half price. If you fancy trying something a little smaller though you can also purchase the 'mask only box' which includes 5 Korean sheet masks and costs £8. Also if you are a vegetarian or vegan you can specify this when ordering which I think is great as I haven't seen a box offer this option before.

I would highly recommend this box, it's a little bit different but full of fantastic goodies. I'm really tempted to try the mask box next.  if you're interested in this box then you can purchase it here. What do you think of this box? Have you tried any Korean cosmetics brands before?

Sophia Webster Butterfly Shoes

Sophia Webster designs the most beautiful shoes I have ever seen. I could leave this post at that and let the photos do the rest of the talking as personally I could look at them all day, but I'll tell you a little bit more about Sophia Webster first. If you haven't heard of the designer before then that's probably because she's fairly new to the fashion world, I first came across her shoes in Selfridges in AW13, which was only her second season, and have pined for a pair ever since. Prior to launching her own range she worked as design assistant to Nicholas Kirkwood, which explains a lot about her style and the influences behind her designs.

I just love the fun and quirky style of SW shoe's, they are so me! I recently came across Bibi Butterfly black flats and just couldn't say no. They are practical yet fun, smart yet quirky, the perfect combination for everyday. They are black suede with rose gold butterfly embroidery and a small rose gold heel. The quality is excellent and all of the shoes are made in a factory in Brazil. I think I am in love with a pair of shoes and I can see myself getting loads of use out of these. If you would also like to pine over lots of fabulous shoes then have a little nosey around the website here. What do you think of Sophia Webster shoes? Do you like their quirky style?

Happiness Boutique: Statement Flower Necklace

Have you heard of the website Happiness Boutique? I hadn't until recently but now I'm a bit obsessed with it as their statement necklaces are just so beautiful and such reasonable prices. I love statement necklaces but sometimes it's hard to justify the price, but with Happiness Boutique that's not a problem. They recently contacted me and asked whether I would like to review one of their necklaces, which of course I couldn't say no to! I was able to choose a necklace of my choice from their site which was soooo difficult as they are all so lovely. After much deliberation I settled on the Beautiful Flowers Statement Necklace as I love the classic pearl style but with the floral twist. The parcel only took a couple of days to arrive and was packaged beautifully in a little box with tissue paper. The necklace is really good quality, not flimsy at all and it looks even prettier in real life. I can imagine getting a lot of use out of this as you can dress it either up or down for different occasions.

Happiness Boutique are based in Berlin, Germany but they offer free worldwide shipping! I love it when a company offers free shipping as it really does make a difference to me, no one wants to be spending their hard earned money on postage after all! They also have a rewards programme which I think is great as you can earn points every time you shop/write a review and receive goodies in exchange (think Tesco clubcard but for jewellery!). You can have a look at all of Happiness Boutique's treasures here and they also have a bi-monthly giveaway where you could win a necklace! Have you bought anything from Happiness Boutique before?