Autumn Recipe: Hot Mulled Apple Juice

You rarely see me blog more than once a day, but this is a completely worthy & delicious post. I promise! I have one of my favorite autumn drinks. The perfect thing to come home to after a long day in college, work, or school. This hot mulled apple juice drink is divine & yummy!

Ingredients (serves 6)

1.5L (2 1/2 pints) apple juice

4 table spoons maple syrup

2 cinnamon sticks

6 whole cloves

6 whole allspice berries

peel of 1 orange, cut into strips

peel of 1 lemon, cut into strips

Preparation 

5 mins prep, 10 mins cook

1. Pour le apple juice & maple syrup into a large stainless steel saucepan.
2. Put the cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice berries, orange peel, & lemon peel into a muslin spice bag. Tie the bag with kitchen string & pop into the saucepan with the juice.
3. Place the saucepan over a medium heat for 5-10 minutes or until the juice is hot, hot but not boiling. 
4. Take the pan off the heat & get rid of the spice bag. Pour the fancy cider into mugs, add a new cinnamon stick if you want!

And there you have the most delicious juice recipe ever! Hope you enjoy!

XOX

Jeyne

Art Deco

Here is my long overdue postie on my little Art Deco haul from Germany! Side note, I really should know by now not to make promises about having a post up on a certain date or time because in all honesty, I suck at keeping those kind of promises. Now, continuing with this review!

Like I said in my previous post, I got a couple of things from the Art Deco line when I was at my Dad's. One thing I will say about buying make-up, perfume, & other beauty things in Munich, is it is so cheap compared to here, Ireland. For example, True Match foundation costs just under €15.00 in Ireland but when I was in Germany I spotted it for €9.00 & that's just the tip of the iceberg. Crazy! I know! Of course, the higher end brands such as Benefit are still quiet expensive but not as dear as they are in Ireland. 

What I picked up: 

1. Art Deco Long-lasting Foundation oil-free SPF20
2. Art Deco Camouflage Stick 
3. Art Deco Dita Von Teese Compact Powder

Long-lasting Foundation:

I picked this foundation up in shade 04. I've only used it a couple of times but every single time I am beyond happy with how amazing this foundation is. It gives even coverage & the foundation doesn't look like it was caked on, if you get me! It gives a matte finish which I love in a foundation & it stays on all day too! No touch ups or any of that. The other thing I love about this foundation is it feels light, your skin is able to breath & you almost forget you've put on any foundation. Which is just magical!  Plus, the SPF 20 means you don't have to mess around with putting on sunscreen under all your make-up which is always a big plus!  

Camouflage Stick:

I bought this concealer stick in 1. Normally, when I want to buy a non-chemist concealer, you know to treat myself to something fancy, I tend to buy the Urban Decay concealer pencil. Since I've started using the camouflage stick, I feel like that time has passed. I love how creamy this stick is for starts & secondly, I just adore how this effortlessly covers up those icky patchy spots. 

Compact Powder:

Shade 1. I'll admit, the reason I was drawn to this brand was the big Dita Von Teese sign over the Art Deco counter/area in the shop. That aside, I love this powder. It's just the perfect finish to my make-up routine. The powder itself comes in a cute case (can not think of the right word at the moment for the life of me) & the mirror has "beauty is art"  inscribed on it in cute, girly typography. I know that's just the packaging but I'm a sucker for packaging. The powder it's self doesn't feel like, I don't know powder? It feels soft on the skin & it stays put. Of course, you have to top it up as the day goes on but that's normal with any powder. I could harp on about why I love this powder but I don't want to bore you!

Overall, I was and still am beyond impressed with the items I picked up. I will most definitely be re-purchasing these products when I hit pan or run out. The quality alone is enough for me plus the overall result. Normally, I'd say oh I'll try that product & be unimpressed with it or stay true to my old faithful brands such as Urban Decay but seriously, that ship has sailed. I have been converted to this brand for the foreseeable future!

XOX

Jeyne

Where I've Been!

So, lack of posts, eh? Well, there is an explanation for that. It's probably not a very good one but here it is. I've been in Germany for a while at my Dad's. That's where I've been. And when I'm in Ireland, at home home, our internet is just rubbish. Like it takes what seems like forever to load a page & then it takes an eternity to upload anything. 

Silly excuses I know but there is a bright side to my German escapades. I bought some Art Deco make-up today, Friday. A brand I have never heard of before. Let me regale you with the not so interesting story of how I came to find this brand:

I was walking through the Galeria & all of a sudden I see the lovely Dita Von Teese's face on an advertising stand. I, being a lover of Miss Von Teese, made a beeline for said stand & was rewarded with seeing her make-up line. In need of some essentials, I made a promise that if I couldn't find my regular foundation, concealer, & powder I would buy some of these products. Long story short, I went to Douglas (a store that sells make-up, perfume, & all things us ladies love) & couldn't find my regular L'Oreal products. I did note that the Art Deco products in this store were a lot more expensive than back in the Galeria. I did buy a Benefit product which I've never used before, which you know is always good. Back at the Galeria, I meandered over to the Art Deco section where I picked up some foundation, camouflage pen (which is a fancy way of naming a concealer), & some powder. The foundation & camouflage pen were from the regular line but the powder comes for Dita Von Teese's own line of make-up.

When I get back to Ireland, I shall do a review on Art Deco. Hopefully, it was money well spent. For now, I am going to finish packing & make my way to the airport. On a completely different note, why are airports one of the most depressing places in the world?

XOXO

Jeyne

Mixtape

Lately, the weather has been pretty depressing here in Ireland. Even though it's summer, it feels like winter has come early. There's not much to do here when it rains. The one thing I have been doing is listening to a lot of music. I've put together a short list of what I've been listening to over the past few weeks.

• Ed Sheeran- Traktor (Wretch 32 Cover)
• Jonathan Stark- Good Medicine
• Jacko Hooper- You Are The Forest
• Maps & Atlases- Fever
• Canon Blue- Bows & Arrows
• Saint Saviour- Midnight City (M83 Cover)
• Empires- Can't Steal Your Heart Away
• Bat For Lashes- Siren Song
• VITEX- Legs
• Natives- This Island

XO

Jeyen

Good Practices

Being a student, for me at least, means having to sacrifice somethings. Among things that I've had to forgo has unfortunately been beauty products. I can do without chocolate or a trip to the cinema but the one thing I can not do without is beauty products. Over the past two years, I have been on the hunt for homemade beauty products. 

I've had some success in with my homemade beauty products project, which I am quiet proud of. One of the things I love most about making the following things at home is I know what's going into what I put on my body. It's all natural ingredients which means your body is going to love you for it! Different products that I've bought in the supermarket or chemist have a tendency to make my skin break out, become overly dry, overly oily etc. I can't really win with any product that has a lot of chemicals in it. Things I make at home, well, my sin actually feels a lot better, I have less breakouts, and my skin doesn't over or underproduce oils. Plus, everything needed for these homemade products are pretty cheep and easily found in any supermarket! So, without further ado, I give you the homemade products that I have discovered over the past two years!

• Honey and apple cider vinegar mixed with water improves your energy, strengthens your immune system, helps to clear up skin conditions and removes toxins from your body (dilute one tablespoon of honey and one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in one cup of warm water and drink it first thing in the morning.)
• Olive oil treats split ends, reduces static, controls dandruff, smooths the hair cuticle, and improve the overall health of your hair and scalp (warm one tablespoon of olive oil and apply to hair. Leave it in for thirty minutes or overnight before rinsing.)
• Avocados prevents hair loss and promotes hair growth (mash one avocado with one tablespoon of olive oil and apply to hair. Leave it in for thirty minutes before rinsing.)
• Lemon is a natural hair lightener (squeeze lemon juice into a spray bottle and dilute it with a bit of water. Spray it liberally on your hair and sit in the sun for a while. *The change is gradual so you’ll have to do it a couple of times.)
• Coffee naturally darkens hair (pour black coffee into a spray bottle and spray it liberally on your hair. Leave it in for thirty minutes before rinsing. *The change is gradual so you’ll have to do it a couple of times.)
• Vaseline on eyelashes makes them softer, stronger, and longer (coat your lashline and eyelashes with vaseline before going to bed.)
• Lemon is a natural skin lightener. It does wonders with acne scars!
• Sugar is good for exfoliating skin.
• Brushing with baking soda helps to whiten teeth.
• Aloe vera gel helps relieve sunburns, mosquito bites, and just burns in general.
• Finally, oats, olive oil, and warm water makes for an excellent facial scrub. Not only do the oats exfoliate skin but the olive oil with soften skin. 

XO

Jayne