Happy Blogday! ~ Pina Colada Cupcake Recipe

It's When Darkness Fall's 1st birthday today. This calls for cake and cocktails for everyone (well recipes anyway, they would get pretty messy in the post now wouldn't they). Here's a Wendy Sweetser recipe which includes my all time favourite cocktail in the form of a cupcake. Enjoy

Pina Colada Cupcake

Ingredients

For the cupcakes
*175 g unsalted butter, softened
*175 g  golden caster sugar
*3 large eggs, beaten
*75 g  fresh pineapple or 2 rings in juice, chopped into tiny pieces
*175 g self-raising flour
*50 g desiccated coconut
*2 tbsp coconut cream

For the rum frosting

115 g (4 oz) unsalted butter, softened*

225 g (8 oz) icing sugar*

2 tbsp light rum or Malibu*

Method

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 and line a 12-cup muffin tray with paper cases.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy. Gradually mix in the eggs, beating well after each addition.
3. Dust the pineapple pieces in a little of the flour and stir into the creamed mixture with the rest of the flour, the desiccated coconut and the coconut cream.
4. Spoon into cases and bake for 20–25 minutes. Leave to cool before adding frosting.
5. To make the frosting, beat the butter until creamy. Gradually sieve in the icing sugar, beating well after each addition. Stir in the rum or Malibu and spread the frosting over the cupcakes.

I like to decorate mine with a thin slice of pineapple and a paper umbrella to make it look a little more tropical.

Thank you all for reading my little blog, i never saw it as something i would stick too but i really look forward to each new post i put out there. I look forward to posting more ramblings for you all soon.

Luna x

Image: http://p.twimg.com/A3KVFbACAAAtzqT.jpg:large

January Favourites

Apologies for the lateness, a rather mischievous kitty stole my camera cable, i found it in his stash of strange objects that he hides under the bed.

Love Me Beauty~ January Box

Seeing as this months Glossybox was depressingly sparse i decided to treat myself to a Love Me Beauty box instead. Any of my followers may remember the Beauteco box, this is the very same box, renamed and made over. As i may have stated in a past post each month you have the choice of 3 boxes each containing a selection of 5 products. The perks of this box are that you can see what is in each box before you get it in the post plus you can cancel at any time if you don't fancy any of the three. I adored the Beauteco box, however there was one month where i didn't feel that i needed any of the products so i unsubscribed and somehow forgot the company existed. Here is this months box number 2 which contains some of the most gorgeous makeup products i have ever received in a box. I have been given my monthly dose of beauty box greatness!!

NYX Cosmetics ~Cryptonite (This is the full size product which retails at £5.00)

Looks like someone made my dream eyeshadow, it has my two favourite things; black and glitter! So naturally when i saw this in the box i was already over the moon. This is my first ever NYX product (yes i know i must have been living under a rock) and I'm super happy with it. It looks gorgeous on and has the perfect amount of glitter, i usually get a little glitter fallout which isn't the easiest to remove but it's hardly noticeable. I would give this product a 5/5 because it was clearly made with me in mind!

Lord & Berry~ Paillettes Eye Pencil in Sparkle Black (Another full sized product worth £8.99)

More black and more glitter! I love this so much, i have been looking for a good quality pencil liner for a while, i have previously been using the Artdeco waterproof liner which i love but i have been craving bright coloured and glitter liners lately. I wasted no time in applying this, i thought i might find the glitter a little irritating as i have sensitive eyes but alas this was no problem. The glitter is so beautiful i can't see myself going back to a black pencil liner ever again. Obviously this one gets a 5/5 too.

Pureology~ Colour Stylist Silk Bodyfier (65ml, full size 250ml costs £15.00)

Another product that seems to have been made with me in mind, i have brightly coloured hair that is always flat, i sometimes curl and backcomb my hair and it still lacks volume. I have used this product a couple of times following the instructions (apply to damp hair, massage from root to tip and style) but it's not as easy to create styles as a would have hoped. On the plus side it gives my hair great volume and a nice shape, it smells nice too. Pureology gets a 4/5

A La Carte Cosmetics~ Divine Lash Mascara (most expensive full sized product in the box costs £23)

This is the most expensive product in the box so i had very high hopes for this mascara. I think that the mascara is a good product but nothing i use ever seems to match the effects of my favourite Bourjois yes to volume no to clumps mascara which was discontinued several years ago. This gave me a good amount of length and didn't cause any clumps which at £23 you would definitely expect. The only negative i have is the smell, it is a little unusual and i can't quite put my finger on it. I am giving this mascara a 4/5, it is a good product but in my opinion it's not quite worth £23

Weleda~ Sea Buckthorn Hand Cream (sample sized 10ml, full size 50ml costs £8.99)

Since using Glossybox's disgusting yu-be moisturiser i have been a little less gun ho about smelling lotions and potions (pretty sure that stuff almost killed my sense of smell). This was a lovely little treat for my nose, i have no idea what the hell sea buckthorn is and i live on the coast but it smells wonderful. If i had to describe the scent it would be gingery with a hint of clementine and spice, so a little christmassy. My skin felt nice after using this but can't compare to the yves rocher cocoa orange hand cream. I think £8.99 is a little more than i would be willing to pay for a hand cream but I'm glad i get to give it a try. Weleda gets a 4/5 from me.

This amazing box cost me £12.95 with p&p (same as Glossybox) and had a total worth of £42.69 which when compared with Glossybox's £17.12 is a clearly the better choice. This box trumps GB on both quality and value, check them out lovely people.

Luna x

My bloody valentine

I love valentine's day, not because of the romcom's and heart shaped everything's that you find all over the place but for the opportunity to get creative with gothic gifts. In today's post i will be focusing on gifts for your gothic girls, i'm not one of those people that believes men should spoil us rotten on Vday, i treat my boyfriend equally each year. It's just difficult finding gothic gifts for men let alone valentines themed ones (they are a tricky species!). But obviously the most important thing is to share each other's company (regardless of what day it is) or if you are single why not treat yourself. Here are my top 5 romantic gifts for your bloody valentine.

1.Anatomically Correct Heart Cookies- I have always hated those cheesy heart shaped chocolates and lollipops they just look so tacky. I found these delicious looking hand made anatomical heart cookies on the wonderful world of etsy. Personally i would bake these myself but i know there are few others who would take the time to make these. It's romantic to let your lover to know your heart belongs to them even if you didn't bake them yourself.

2. Wuthering Heights- Nothing says be my gothic valentine like a romantic tragedy. Barnes and Noble leather bound books would make a beautiful addition to anyone's book collection. Each book contains beautiful illustrations and each book is covered in beautiful embossed leather. The leather bound classics collection also includes Dracula, Frankenstein and the Complete Tales of Edgar Allen Poe

3. Luv Bunnies- Many people like to give stuffed animals to their lover on valentines day, personally i think it's a little cheesy but here is my goth friendly alternative. Love bunnies come in different colours and styles, some have bandages on their ears too (so you feel sorry for them and take them home). I would also suggest looking at some cute stuffed bats or a skelanimals plushies if that's her thing.

4. Alchemy Gothic Jewellery~ There are so many beautiful pendants from bats to skeletons and just about anything gothic you could think of. One of my favourite pieces is the Reliquary Heart locket, it is the perfect piece of valentines jewellery for someone with dark taste. The inside contains a mirror and an engraved quote although you could fit a good sized picture inside as well.

5. Goth Gift Basket for Her- This gifts takes a lot more thought to prepare than the other's but your other half is likely to appreciate it much more. Find out what her favourite makeup products are, other small items such as skull shaped
candles, jewellery or body jewellery if she has piercings, stripey long socks or Halloween tights would also make a nice addition. Place these items in a nicely decorated box, plastic cauldron or if your feeling creative you could even make a coffin shaped gift box.

Happy Valentines to you all weather you are spending it at a nice restaurant together or watching horror movies alone.

 Luna x

Love Me Beauty~ January Unboxing Video

This is probably the best beauty box i have ever received, all of the products are perfect for me and of a very good size. Feel free to have a nose at my unboxing video.

Nails Of The Day: Illamasqua in shade Jan

High end cosmetics company Illamasqua have been creating a gorgeous array of highly pigmented cosmetics since 2008. The brand encourages people to express their individuality and creativity by using some more unusual shades. My polish of the day, Jan (lovely name for my January nails) is the perfect subtle shade for me to wear to work as its a neutral pink. Jan dries seriously quickly, my first hand is always dry by the time i have finished the second. I usually find that a single coat gives a good coverage but i often add a second to prevent chipping. My only criticism is that for the price of £14.50 it should have a much better chip resistance.

Luna x

January's Glossybox Back To Basics

Glossybox time as come around once again, although be it a little late this month. I was really looking forward to this months box, especially as the american's got some pretty great things in their boxes (vichy skin creams and bella pierre cosmetics). As you can see in the picture Glossybox have given their boxes a bit of an update with new ribbon and their name on the box, the box is slightly pinker than the older ones too. Upon opening my box i was hit with a wave of disappointment, nearly all sample sized products and boring ones at that. It really seems like all focus has gone on the more expensive wedding box which was featured on their website. Here's what i think of each product.

Yu-Be~ Moisturising Skin Cream (two 3g tubes)

A multi use moisturizing skin cream that is a big cult product over in Japan, i love Japanese things so i was really looking forward to testing these out. Honestly i put this on my skin, took one sniff and hated it. I don't know if i had a bad product but it is the most vile smelling product i have ever used. That kind of put me off testing it any further.          

This product deserves a meager 1/5

The full sized 33g tube retails at £13.50

Vintage Cosmetics Company Tweezers

Hallelujah, it was about time my eyebrows got a nice new pair of tweezers to replace the weapons of torture in my makeup box. I'm not over the moon for the design but that's just personal preference, i'm just not a floral girl. I have given them a test run and have found them to be pretty accurate due to the fact they are slightly angled at the tip.

It's a 4/5 for these vintage lovelies

This is the full sized product which costs £8.00

Vaseline Essential Moisture Lotion (50ml)

I'm not very happy about having a vaseline product in this months glossybox, i always thought the idea of the box was to try products that you either can't afford or haven't heard of before. The product itself is good and very moisturizing basically does what it says on the tin, but it just doesn't have that excitement factor for me.

Vaseline lotion gets an average 3/5

The full sized 400ml product costs £4.99

Anatomical~ Puffy The Eyebag Slayer Wake Up Under Eye Patches (pack of 2)

This isn't my first time using under eye patches (i recently used a collagen gold eye mask) so i was really looking forward to using these again. First of all they feel rubbery, cold and look utterly bizarre which is a bit of a novelty at first. These did a pretty good job on my under eye bags, i had 2 hours sleep the night before so they were well needed. My bags were reduced and my under eye area appeared to have brightened a little.

Puffy the eye bag slayer deserves a 4/5

The full sized product (pack of 3) retails at £6

Balance Me~ Toning Body Wash (50ml)

Beauty boxes love including balance me products so i have had a lot of past experiences with the company. I looked forward to trying this out but i was very skeptical about the price. This product claims to improve skin tone and boost circulation two things that i am in need of.  Firstly i noticed the smell (or lack of) ever so slightly lavender but i doubt i would have picked up on this if it weren't written on the bottle. The body wash felt incredibly creamy, not something i have found with any other high end body wash. My skin did feel very soft after use but i just couldn't justify spending £10 on a bottle of body wash. I can't say i noticed any improvement to my skin tone or circulation but i suspect that would take a great deal of use.

And last but not least i give a 4/5 to my final product

The full sized 250ml retails for £10.25

The total of this months box is £17.12 which in my opinion could have been spent on some much better products. £17.12 could get you 17 MUA eye shadows or 5 full sized products worth an average of £3.42. Sorry glossybox but it's a big thumbs down from me. I have resubscribed to Lovemebeauty (formerly known as beauteco) and ordered a box which looks 10 times better than this box of junk.

See you again soon

Luna x