Sesame Biscuits

I wanted to call these sesame cookies but the word 'cookies' just sounds too ang-moh for them. Some how biscuits suit them better no? Anyway, my exams are around the corner so I've been off baking recently cause of my schedule. I did however manage to squeeze in some time for these lovelies.

Not that they took up much time anyway. To be honest I sort of baked them on a whim. I just used whatever ingredients I had on hand. Surprisingly, they actually turned out pretty good. The sesame taste isn't overpowering at all. I ran out of brown sugar so I used muscovado instead. For those of you guys who don't know what muscovado sugar is, basically, its a very very dark type of sugar, bordering on bittersweet. Its pretty moist so don't use too much of it or you'll end up over-browning your cookies. I've tried using it to bake a carrot cake once and the whole thing came out a big brown mess (although it tasted amazing ha). But if used in moderation with white sugar, it does work out fine so don't worry.

Anyway, here's the recipe I came up with:

Ingredients 


125g unsalted butter, room temperature
125g white sugar
2 tbsp muscovado sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup plain flour
3/4 cup self-raising flour
25g black sesame seeds (or more if you like)

Cream butter, sugars and salt until smooth. Add in the egg and almond extract blend until well incorporated. Sift in the flour 1/2 a cup at a time. Fold until batter is smooth. Add in the black sesame seeds and fold again until seeds are evenly distributed throughout the batter. Cover and chill the batter in the fridge for one hour.

Heat oven up to 180 degrees Celsius. Position rack in the middle. From but the teaspoon onto a prepared baking sheet. Bake for 17 mins until top is golden. Remove and cool before eating/storing.

Enjoy!
Judy

make up palettes = happiness

Hey guys!

So as promised, i want to share with you guys some of my favourite eyeshadow palettes! Some of them aren't available anymore but i'm sure there are great dupes around and if you need any help finding something, just email me and i'll try my best to help you guys out with it! :)

MAC Spring Colour 4 Forecast (Colour 4), $65

Ok so sorry about the swatches. The colours are really close to my skin tone so i know they don't come up well! 

When Chanel came up with their Spring quad of neutrals i was like, you know what, every girl needs a neutral eye shadow quad. I think its the most useful quad you can have because you can create smoked looks, neutral looks, dark and light looks, a whole bunch of stuff with just your neutral brown quad. Thing was, the Chanel palette was $88. So when i saw this at MAC, i had to get it! And i'm loving it :) I think this quad might be sold out though so you can try eBay or just go to your favourite make up store, grab a 4 piece palette and start filling it up with these type of browns and create your own neutral palette!

Manila Paper (veluxe pearl finish): This is the highlight colour of the quad and a close dupe would probably be Nylon. I think this is really pretty for just an all over wash of colour and a nice coloured eyeliner.

Flip (frost finish): I love this. Its a champagne gold colour that leaves a nice suttle gold sheen to your lids that is not too overwhelming so it can be used in the daytime. I would totally use this everyday and for every occasion. Its so pretty.

Aztec Brick (veluxe pearl finish): This is a bronze, very warm eyeshadow. I'm not the biggest fan of reddish brown eye shadows so this was my least favourite of the lot. But of course it goes very well in creating a nice smokey eye with the rest of the colours.

Creole Beauty (frost finish): Medium dark bronze with a nice bronze gold shimmer. Its really pretty and i like to use this as a crease colour with flip as an all over colour underneath. I think its the perfect brown eyeshadow. It will suit every skin tone and its buildable for a dark smokey look and its also light enough to blend into your crease as a soft crease colour.

Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Palette, $88

The palette comes with two 24/7 glide on eye pencils and a mini Primer Potion! I am a HUGE Alice in Wonderland fan so i started buying all the merchandise. This was the most fun :) 

The beauty about this palette is that the colours are normal Urban Decay eye shadows that you can buy separately. So if there's one colour you really love, you don't have to worry about it ever running out :) I've put the names of the actual colours in brackets. The colours are swatched in the order that they appear in the palette

Flipside (turquoise) : This would give a really nice pop of colour to your eyes on days when you don't want to use eye shadows! I've been into the whole coloured liner, no eyeshadow thing lately so this is great :) You can even try a black liqud liner on your upper lash line and a coloured pencil on your bottom lash line. 

Zero: Only one of the best selling black eye pencils in the world. Its creamy enough that it can be blended out but these pencils also have amazing staying power.

From left to right:

1st row: Underland(Flash), Alice(Painkiller), Oraculum(Baked), Queen(Last Call)

2nd row: Chessur(Chopper), White Rabbit(Polyester Bride), Wonderland(Maui Wowie), Curiouser(Grifter)

From left to right:

1st row: Muchness(X), Mushroom(Mushroom), Midnight Tea Party(Midnight Cowboy Rides Again), Vorpal(S&M)

2nd row: Absolem(Homegrown), Drink Me, Eat Me(Sin), Mad Hatter(Twice Baked), Jabberwocky(Oil Slick)

Coastal Scents 88 Piece Makeup Palette, USD18.95

http://www.coastalscents.com/cfwebstore/index.cfm/product/1677_122/88-piece-makeup-palette.cfm

I think this is a great palette for people who are just starting out with colours! There are a great range of colours, the pigmentation is good and the colours are very blendable. When i help my friends out with shoots or anything, i bring this palette cause its all i need! Its not very expensive but its well worth the money. I know it seems like there isn't much of each eyeshadow but i honestly think you don't need that much of a particular eyeshadow if you have this kind of variety. This palette is also available in the 88 piece shimmer palette and there is an 88 piece warm palette for those of you who are into neutrals! I think i paid about $40 after conversion to SGD and after shipping.

Sigma Makeup Beauty On The Go Kit Smokey Eyes Palette, USD25

http://www.sigmamakeup.com/products/7022.html

I got into Sigma makeup after watching TiffanyD talk about the Sigma Makeup Series. I think she's one of the ambassadors for Sigma makeup. So the first thing i bought from them was the brush set and i was so impressed. So when the make up came out i thought why not give it a try! This is the smokey eyes kit from the beauty on the go kit and its not my go to for a black and silver smokey eye. Now the colours are really shimmery so if you're not into the whole shimmer thing, this is not for you. But the shadows are really soft, really blendable and really good quality. I really like them :)

From left to right:

Shine A Light: Its the highlight shade of the quad. Its a white shimmery shadow and i also use it as an all over colour with some eyeliner and it works great as well.

Start Me Up: Silver shimmery shadow but its a lot lighter than You Got The Silver. I think this is almost exactly like Nars Night Life eyeshadow which i love, so of course i love this too. I usually use really dark colours for going out at night but sometimes i like to change it up for a nice silver and this is really pretty :)

You Got The Silver: I love this colour. I think this is the nicest silver eyeshadow i have come across. Its a dark silver and its really nice on its own. And to jazz it up a little, mix in a bit of paint it black on the outer half of your lid, smoke it out and you're good to go.

Paint It Black: Hello Rolling Stones. Ok anyway, so this is a dark shimmery black and its really pretty as well. I match this with MAC's paint pot in black ground just for that extra intensity. The shimmer gives it enough dimension so you don't have to add any other colours with it.

Of course you can use the whole kit and create an awesome smokey eye. I like Tiffany's version of this smokey eye so you guys can go watch that for some ideas! 

Estee Lauder Signature Eyeshadow Quad M08 Blue Smoke

I've had this for a long time and i never used it till my birthday this year. And then i was like, heyyyyyyyyyyyy. Hahaha. So yes, sometimes a normal black smokey eye can be boring so, try something different. You can do a smokey eye with ANY colours you want. I like the silver and blue combination, i think its really pretty :)

There are a million ways to use this quad but what i like to do is to use the last two colours, the silver and the dark blue. I'll use the silver on my entire lid and then blend in the black to the outer third of my lid. Or another way would be to use the blue all over your eye lid and then to blend out the edges with the silver. I havent really touched the light blue (the second colour) and i think i'm phasing out of the highlight thing. Haha. So go grab your silvers and your blues and try it out! Oh and this quad is still available!

So thats all i have for you today! I hope you guys had fun :) Talk soon!

Love, Tasha

April NUYOU Feature!

Hey guys!

Wanted to share something fun with you all :) I'm in April's NUYOU magazine for a piece on Elizabeth Arden! Check out the article :) I will review the products along with some other Elizabeth Arden stuff so watch out for that! :) BIG THANKS TO ELIZABETH ARDEN FOR THE OPPORTUNITY :)

I talked about the Intervene Eye and the Intervene 3-in-1 cleanser :) Will do a proper write up on the products. Tara was the girl who interviewed me and i gotta say, she was really nice! She asked me what my daily skin care routine was and what the more important things to me were.

I spoke about make up removers! I think that sometimes, we get caught up in buying make up that we don't spend enough time on a good cleanser. I told her i would never sleep in my make up and i always make sure i remove all my make up with a remover that suits my skin type. I also spoke about the importance of eye care and that the first signs of mature skin show in your eyes! So its very important to keep your eye area hydrated and bright. I also use a brightening eye cream for my eyes. I don't use a specific anti ageing product yet but i know i will have to look into it soon! Remember, don't wait till the lines come up to do something about it. We have to take care of ourselves from today to prevent any damage in the long run.

My little bit for today :) Tomorrow i'm going to share with you guys some of my favorite make up palettes! Till then.

Love, Tasha

*Just a note, we were not paid to do this shoot. They did give us products and lots of fun stuff as a thank you. We were also only asked to do this because we had already been using these products, so they gave us the opportunity to share what we felt about them. 

March Favourties!

Hey guys!

Ok so i wanted to share with you guys some of my new LOVES for March! Some of these things are new, some aren't and some are things that i think are great for the coming summer!

My new favourite moisturizer! Shiseido Pureness matifying moisturizer and its oil-free. Its part of the Pureness series for Shiseido but i only use the moisturizer. They gave me samples of the facial wash and toner but i have yet to use it yet because i'm still stuck with my Kose wash! It's a fluid like liquid that feels light and moisturizing. It leaves a nice matt kinda velvety finish to your skin and i think its just the right consistency to make your skin feel moisturized by not oily. I LOVE THIS. It was $50 from the Shiseido counter but i think it's well worth the money. I use 2 pumps per application and the lady who worked there told me it would last for about 2 to 3 months or so. I've been using it for about 3 weeks and i really love it. I think i will continue using this from now on! I also break out pretty easily but this has not caused me any problems at all. It's also a great base for applying foundation over. Love. Love love love.

This is my new favourite make up remover. MAC Gently Off Eye and Lip Makeup Remover. I was formerly using the Kose make up remover but when that ran out i decided to try something new. Now i know it says gentle but that means its gentle on your skin but tough on the waterproof mascara. Most removers that proclaim themselves 'gentle' always don't really work and i find myself having to drown my face in make up remover just to get my eyeliner and mascara off. This is wonderful. I just soak a cotton pad with a bit of this and leave it on my eyes for about 15 seconds. Its breaks down the make up and you'll see all your mascara and everything come off. Now i don't use this on my face because i don't think its oil free so i use a balm type remover for the rest of my face. But whether your skin is dry, combination or oily, i'd say this is an awesome make up remover. It was about $38 and you can get it from any MAC counter. This is the make up remover that most of the make up artists at MAC use!

Everyone needs this foundation. Clinique superfit makeup oil free, long wearing foundation. I think this is fantastic for our weather. I wore it out last night for the first time (and i had a really long night) and it lasted the whole night and did not get all shiny and stuff like my Chanel Mat Lumiere does to me. This is the first Clinique foundation i've tried and i have to say i was really impressed. I love the finish of this. It made my blush, contour and highlight look awesome because it has such a smooth finish. And i didn't use much powder over this (just in the areas where i would get oily). The only thing that bugs me is that it was $50 for a 30ml bottle so if you're gonna use this often, it really is not going to last very long. But i think its still great. I would definitely get another one of these when this is finished! I bought the shade 65 Super Neutral which was a little bit light for my skin tone so the next buy, i'm gonna get one shade darker.

I got this using the $40 Sephora voucher that you get when you spent $240 at Sephora from Jan to March. Too Faced The Bronzed and The Beautiful Bronzing Powder palette. The palette has 3 of their best selling bronzers! Snow Bunny, Sun Bunny and Pink Leopard (which is the prettiest thing ever). It also comes with a really awesome, soft, flat kabuki brush which is great for both all over  bronzing or for contouring. It was $64 but i only paid $24 which was a great deal for a 3 piece bronzing palette! I think this is great for summer when you want a healthy bronzed, glowy look. I think the pink leopard is more of a highlight though. Its really light and shimmery and i don't think it would work well as a bronzer. The Sun Bunny (the one with the brown halves) is great for a bronzer and for contouring. The Snow Bunny (the striped one) is great for all over. I used it as a kinda blush that day when i wanted a natural look. This is just something really fun to have and its really pretty!

MAC Lady Gaga Lipstick in Viva Glam Gaga. I died and went to heaven with this lipstick. Its so pretty! Its a really baby pick which is great for now considering pastels are in. But its not overwhelming. I know it looks quite intense in the picture but when you use it, its more of a sheer pink gloss looking lipstick. Its a Lustre lipstick and it was $28 from MAC. I know its sold out everywhere now so if you really want to get one, try eBay because i know people definitely bought more than one of these.It has her signature on the box and on the lipstick and its a great thing to keep even when its finished. Definitely love.

Sigma SS224 (the MAC 224 would work the same). I wanted to talk about this brush because i found another awesome use for it. Concealer. Yup. I use the MAC Select Moisturecover concealer in NW20 so what i do it i put a bit on my under eye circles and then i use the SS224 to blend it out. It gives a nice even finish to the concealer and leaves it looking even and not cakey. I usually go over it again with my finger to ensure the make up is broken down and evenly spread out.

Coloured eyeliners :) Quite awhile, Anna Sui came up with this range of coloured liquid liners. The brush is perfect and the colours are really vibrant and have a touch of shimmer in them. Since summer is approaching, i thought it would be the perfect time to bring out the coloured liners! So for summer, why not try something different. A coloured liner would really brighten up your eyes and give a nice fresh look for day wear :) The lighter colours look great over a black or dark blue eyeliner. 

So those were my March favourites! Its time to take the colours and pastels out of your make up kit and bring summer in with a blast. Have a great weekend everyone!

Rock on,

Tasha