Once upon a hot chocolate...

As the brisk air has slowly began to settle upon the small town I live in, what better snack to indulge in than a hot chocolate? Whether you have just got back from a day in the cold, have just woke up and want to start your day, or are settling down with netflix and your duvet: then this is for you!

All the things you'll need...

• A little mug, of course, to pop it into. It can be your favourite one that your nan bought you last year for Christmas, or even something as quaint as a little kilner jar. As long as it's safe for hot liquids, then it's perfect. 
• Some Alpro Hazelnut milk. I'm no maths genius but there truly is no specific measurement for this: just enough to fill a mug, or as much hot chocolate you'd like.
• Hot cocoa or hot chocolate powder. I went with the good ol' Cadbury's one but there are some really cool ones you can get like galaxy etc. Basically choose your fave chocolate!
• A teaspoon of nutella. All the apologies if you are allergic to nuts, perhaps you could take away the parts of this that could affect you. 
• Whipped cream for decoration
• Mini Marshmallows
• Extra hot chocolate powder to sprinkle, or you can purchase a fine powder especially for on top of your drink,

What to do?

1. First of all, take your mug or glass of choice, and fill it with as much hazelnut milk as you wish. I usually leave a small space at the top as when you add powder and nutella later on it may rise slightly (keep this in mind!). 
2. Pop it in your microwave for approximately 2 minutes so that it will melt the said nutella and hot chocolate or cocoa.
3. Once it's done, stir in three heaped teaspoons of hot chocolate powder and one teaspoon of nutella.
4. Top with whipped cream and mini marshmallows, and sprinkle a pinch of the powder on top.
5. Voila! Enjoy your hot chocolate. 

Hopefully this recipe will come in handy for you someday. This is how mine turned out. Let me know what your favourite snack is this time of the year too!

Autumnal 'Crunchy Leaves' Makeup

I think one of my favourite things about this season especially is the spicy hues that accompany it: be it golden browns, or tangerine shades, I think it all looks so natural yet picturesque. Although we are in the time period where you are trying to capture the final glimpses of fall, I have been dying to write about my fave makeup look lately, so that's what I will be sharing today...

YSL touche eclat foundation ('B10')

At first I was super sceptical about investing in this, as it's the first time I've opted for a full high end foundation. Long story short - i was pleasantly surprised, and now I just love the radiant finish and moisturise it gives my skin, and it never feels at all like a mask, just a comfortable everyday foundation.

Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer ('fair neutral')

 I've been placing this concealer on my chin, nose and forehead and under those eyes to tackle my lack of sleep and then I blend it out with the Real Techniques expert face brush. This gives me a much brighter, healthier base without feeling heavy.

Collection Sheer Loose Powder ('Translucent')

Powder can sometimes be rather drying, but my shiny nose is just looking for it, so I go with this extremely affordable one from collection. What I love about it is that it's super fine and as the name would suggest 'sheer', so it will keep shine away whilst still not taking all the glow away from your skin. I sweep this on with a Makeup Revolution Powder brush across where I put my concealer, and I'm all set! (get it, haha, I'm sorry!)

Benefit Hoola Bronzing Powder

As somebody who is naturally very fair, I find bronzer to be very useful to give my face a bit more colour. This is nice for the autumn as it's super ashy in tone and never fails to look natural, even when I'm half asleep in the mornings and been particularly heavy handed. I apply this with the Real Techniques blush brush, which is meant for blush but when I sweep this in the hollows of my cheeks it's much fluffier and I generally prefer it to a denser brush.

Sleek Blush ('Rose Gold')

Sleeks rose gold blush has always been one of my favourites, mostly for its pigmentation, but with this look I just love the golden, highlighter like undertones that radiate from underneath it. I sweep it onto the apples of my cheeks via a Makeup Revolution Fluffy Contour Brush and it just adds a natural flush to my cheeks.

The Balm Mary Lou Manizer Highlighter

For highlighter, this or Nars Copacabana is always the way for me. Mary Lou is somewhat fitting for this look as it's almost yellow in tone, and just fits in with most of the shades. I apply this to the tip of my nose, cupids bow, brow bone and the high points of my cheeks with the Real Techniques contour brush (again, I'm not using it for it's real purpose but I love the precision from this). 

Benefit Gimme Brow Gel ('Dark Blonde')

I'm still sort of testing this out, and it's not always my fave, but I will say it makes my brows look like they have a fullness I never knew they could achieve. Most blondes will understand these terrible struggles, but gliding this throughout your brows works wonders!

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette

So now, the eyes, one of the main focuses of this look. I begin by taking 'Salted Caramel' on a Makeup Revolution Fluffy Blending Brush and gently run this almost just above my crease as a light transition shade. I then on that same brush go in with the shade 'Milk Chocolate' just to deepen that slightly, so when I do put a shade in my crease it's a little less harsh. Speaking of which, I go with 'Semi - Sweet' in the crease as it creates a lot of depth without being too dark and 'full on'. To finish off, I will run some of that underneath my lash line before sweeping the shade 'Marzipan' across my lid for the shimmery part. (My fave part?)

Maybelline 'The Falsies' Mascara

A few coats of mascara always make me feel a little more human, and they always open my already huge eyes up that little bit extra. I tend to get this everywhere so I'm super careful with it, but eventually I do end up with lifted lashes.

Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in 'Liar'

This lipstick from Urban Decay is the perfect finishing touch to this look. It's a really wearable nude, with orangey brown undertones that make it all so autumnal. The lipstick itself is really long wearing and leaves my lips with plenty of moisture -perfect for this season.

And that concludes this look. I hope you are all enjoying my blog so far, and do let me know what you've been loving lately in the comments - I'd love to hear!

Introducing Lily Mae! A whole new blog

As it is slowly coming up to a year of me totally falling in love with blogging, it's being a real shame I haven't been doing as much as it as I would like to. For a while I felt unhappy and perhaps just not 'content' with the way my now old blog was going, and a fresh start has made me feel much more motivated towards writing posts and the blogger community on a whole.

One thing I have always found essential about blogging is being completely honest, open and sharing my realistic thoughts and feelings, and over at my old blog I just didn't feel satisfied that I was doing that. Considering it's not the first time I have transferred to a new blog, I was sceptical about launching an entire new one, however hopefully those who read my old blog don't mind and I will continue to return all the love and support to them too!

Across this blog, expect to see the following three things;

Beauty - Lotsa beauty. Be it makeup, skincare, or even something as simple as a new body butter I've been enjoying, it's something I consider as a hobby of mine and thoroughly enjoy. I know not everybody is into this kind of niche, so that's why there will be other things such as...

Fashion - Another thing I absolutely love. I don't think I've touched on this much in the past, however it's another thing I wish to discuss and describe in plenty of detail despite me not quite reaching a vogue level of style yet (maybe one day, hey?).

Life - Life is something we all experience, right? Perhaps it will be me talking about emotions, confidence, things I think we all handle, and could perhaps use support and guidance with every now and then. TLC is essential, non?

Travel - Although travel doesn't play the biggest part in my life, I also really enjoy it. Perhaps these posts will be slightly more occasional than frequent, nevertheless I'll be happy to share the photos with you whether they are from the Sea side, or the Cities.

Food - Love, love and more love. I'm a bit of a foodie, and I quite enjoy making food and all of that good stuff. I hope to try and encourage myself to eat healthier - but me and dairy milk are in an exclusive relationship, I must admit. 

So of course, I cannot wait for this new and fresh start. and hopefully it will make me feel a lot more confident about my blog. Thank you so much for reading this post, and here's to all of the posts to come!