Alternative Fashion~ Spring/ Summer 2013

Hi little bats, i have created a collection of alternative fashion and jewellery for the spring summer seasons of 2013 (coincidentally picked 13 items spooky) , i hope you love these pieces as much as i do. Rottentouch x

Items from left to right
1. Ladies Lace Floral Jeans, Mary Jane Fashion~ £21.99 Amazon.co.uk
2. Mechanical Moth Hairclip, Restyle~ £8.81 Restyle.pl
3. United Forces of Death, Crime City Clothing~ £14.37 +The Gothic Shop
4. Chanel 5171 Sunglasses~ £160 Pretavoir.co.uk
5. Intrepid Stripe Bag, Banned~ £22.99 Attitudeclothing.co.uk
6. Black Satin and Lace Widow Skirt~ £29.50 +The Gothic Shop
7. Oxford Boots in Black, Hades~ £160 Shophades.com
8. Red Heart Necklace, Robinhoodcouture~ £18.50 +Etsy
9. Red Rose Hair Clip, Kreepy Krypt~ £8.99 ebay.co.uk
10. Mandarin Lace Collar Top, Jawbreaker~ £23.99 Attitudeclothing.co.uk
11. Bat Tattoo Tights, Tattoo Socks~ £15.99 +Etsy
12. Square Neck Lace Top, +Spiral Direct ~ £18.95 +The Gothic Shop
13. Lace Front Bolero, Banned~ £23.99 Attitudeclothing.co.uk

April's Pirate Plunder!

I was a very greedy pirate this month, there's plenty of booty to show you all this month including a luxury treasure. Enjoy, Rottentouch x

Lemonliscious Cupcakes

You guys probably don't know that i am a huge fan of baking, i can make anything from teeny petit fours to big birthday cakes, but my favourite thing to make will always be cupcakes. So i press play on ever appropriate baking metal playlist and put on my  biker pinny (yes i have one of those)

Here's the recipe for my favourite Lemonliscious cupcakes

Ingredients:
11/2 cups plain flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 cup caster sugar
2oz cream cheese
2oz unsalted butter
Lemon curd
2tbsp Cointreau/ Limoncello/ fruity liquor of choice
1/2 cup buttermilk (1 tbsp lemon juice per cup of milk, left for 10 minutes)
Zest of a lemon

Cream Cheese Frosting:
2oz unsalted butter
4oz cream cheese
1tbsp fruit liquor
2 cups icing sugar (sifted)

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and position a rack in the center. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until light and creamy, 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add your liquor and beat an additional minute. On low speed, add flour mixture and buttermilk alternatively, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Add the lemon zest and mix on low speed just until incorporated. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with cake cases ( i chose some nifty looking ghost ones). Divide the batter between 12 muffin tins (don't worry it should look runny). Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely. 

2.  In a bowl beat the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until light and creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Add your liquor and beat for an additional minute. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the sifted powdered sugar and beat until fully incorporated and smooth.

3. Cut a hole into each cupcake with a sharp knife. Fill each cavity with the lemon curd. Fill a pastry bag with a star tip with the cream cheese frosting and pipe onto each cupcake. Decorate with lemon and berries, if desired.

April Glossybox in Collaboration with Pearl Lowe

I was really excited about this months Glossybox especially with the collaboration of Pearl Lowe. I have always loved Pearls designs and i share her love of all things lace, her dresses have a vintage feel and the cuts and shapes are perfection. The box itself has a beautiful design of roses peonies and other flowers reflecting Pearls vintage inspiration. This months box contains 5 really good sized products each of a good quality.

1. Essie Nail Lacquer~ Nice is Nice
I have to say I've been wanting to try Essie nail lacquers for a while having heard positive things from a lot of bloggers and youtubers. This isn't the most ideal colour for me (pastels icky) but after applying it i have to say it has grown on me a little. I think this colour is so pale that its not quite a pastel, almost an off white pink colour. The formulation is quite thin which i have found makes the varnish last longer and chip far less (as with Illamasqua and Nails inc polishes). This is a full sized product which retails for £7.99

2. Sunsense~ Tinted SPF 50+
I'm really glad that this was in the Glossybox, its one of those things that i never would have thought of trying before. I use a lot of SPF lotions all year round (i actually burnt on a day it snowed) but i hate applying them on top of makeup because it makes my skin look an feel greasy. This however is a mattifying lightly tinted formula which i have to say made my skin look pretty flawless. It is very lightly fragranced compared to that icky sun cream smell and while it costs £18.50 for 75g i would say that if you are pale like me it should be your summer must have.

3. Yves Rocher~ So Elixir Purple
Its really nice to see a good sized fragrance sample, the vials are nice but if you like the fragrance it lasts about 2 applications. On first impressions this a nice fragrance, definitely for the older woman but it is wearable. The fragrance is quite floral upon application but after an hour or so i found it to have quite a woody scent which i wasn't so keen on. Nice enough fragrance but if you like fruity floral scents like me then you should give this one a miss. This fragrance costs £44 for a 50ml bottle.

4. Nip + Fab~ Coconut Latte Body Butter
I love my body butters so i knew that this would be for me, the coconut latte scent is very similar to Palmers cocoa butter but with a slightly nutty undertone. The butter feels incredibly soothing when applies to the skin, it also doesn't feel greasy like a lot of other body butters do. My skin feels soft. nourished and smells beautiful, this one is a must have. This is a 50ml product and the full sized 200ml (must last a long time) RRP's at £9.95

5. Model Co~ Cheek and Lip Tint in Rosie Red
I was terrified to try this stuff, my skin in so pale i expected to look like a pantomime dame. I applied it to my hand first and found out that it blends really well and is easy to build up for more colour. The colour looks really good on my cheeks and lasts quite a long time. I also tried it on my lips but found the colour really didn't go on well and just stuck onto my finger instead. For a cheek tint it smells really good, if it wasn't tinted red i would apply it to my pulse points =). I would recommend this if you want to try something between a blush and a cheek stain.This is the full sized 10ml product which retails for £15

The total worth of this months box is £32.33, I payed for this months box using my Glossydots so it was free which is a bonus. I like all of the products this month other than the fragrance so i am a very happy bunny. Glossybox really have been delivering great boxes lately so I'm sticking with them.

I hope this review is useful to any of you contemplating signing up to Glossybox and i will speak again soon.

Rottentouch x

April Glossybox Video

It's that time again, here's the un-boxing of the April Glossybox, in collaboration with Pearl Lowe. Also witness my camera passing out =)

                                                              Speak again soon. Rottentouch x

Luxbox March

This months Luxbox is a really boring one. So much so that i'm not going to waste my time making a video on it, i'm pretty sure no-one would enjoy me ranting for 20 minutes. Some of the products are good sizes but it just doesn't have that wow factor that previous boxes have had. This months box included

1. Dr.Bronner's Magic Liquid Soap in Almond~ I saw this and thought oh dear god, why would you put this in a beauty box! However it claims to be 18 in 1, yes that's right. It doesn't have all 18 uses written on the bottle or even on the website... the only use explained on the bottle is a way to use it as a face pack with a hot steaming cloth. It has a nice smell if you like the smell of the alcohol Dissorono, don't think i fancy smelling like i'v been on the drink though. This is a 59ml sample and RRP's at £8.49 for 473ml

2. Weleda Smoothing Night Cream in Rose~ I'v had this in a box before (perhaps a glossybox), it smells and feels nice but doesn't seem to do a lot to my skin. This is a small 5ml sample and RRP's at £14.95 for 30ml

3. Weleda Almond Soothing Cleansing Lotion~ This claims to be fragrance free yet it does have a very faint smell of almonds which is pleasant enough. I like to experiment with different cleansers as i wear a lot of dark makeup and it's not always easy to remove. This is a good enough product but i have used much better (i currently use the Vichy Normaderm 3 in 1 cleanser). This came in a 10ml sample tube but the RRP is £9.95 for 75ml.

4. Dr. Hauschka Neem Oil Nail Pen~ What the hell is this crap luxbox! A strengthening pen for brittle nails that has a lid designed to push back cuticles (doesn't everyone own an a cuticle stick). This product contains a measly 4ml, which is actually full sized. So if i actually did enjoy this product it would last me all of 5 minutes and cost £15.95. I'm sorry but give me some good old sally hansen and an orange stick over this any day.

5. Beyond Organic Firming Eye Cream~ This product comes in a nice sized jar and is quite generously filled. I'm still rather skeptical about anti wrinkle and eye creams not having found anything that's really shown signs of improvement to my skin. This has a pleasant enough smell to actually want to apply it to my eye area and is an award winning organic cream. This is the full sized product which has a retail price of £9.60

The overall worth of this box is £30.41 which seems good value as long as you would actually use most of these products. I can see myself trying the eye creams and possibly trying to work out some of the 18 uses of the almond soap but overall i'm really unimpressed with this month's box. I have now unsubscribed from Luxbox but will receive on last box next month. I may resubscribe in the future as they have had some good boxes in the past but at the moment i am happy enough with Glossybox. I hope my negativity made for an interesting read, hopefully i will be blogging about something a little more exciting next time.
                                                                     Speak Soon Rottentouch x

I'm Back

My laptop has been risen from the dead! Here's My march pirate plunder video, featuring my pirate alter ego and some of my favourite purchases this month. 

Enjoy

Rottentouch x