July 2014 Favourites

I've been asked to do a July monthly favourites this month and I hope I could do this regularly. It's great to share what I've been loving over the past month with readers in the hope they could give me tips on what they've liked and new things to try as well. This month, I've been trying a lot of beauty items because it's summer and the parties and outings have begun! I hope you like it!

**Disclaimer: All products have been bought by me and their places on this blog post are not sponsored in any way.**

1. Nail Polish: Sally Hansen. Shade: 370 I Lilac You

Not only is the name of the shade cute... but the shade itself. I normally shy away from pastel colours when choosing a nail polish but this one attracted me from day one. It's a nice pastel lilac that is not to white and chalky (which I love)! This has been my go-to summer colour on my nails.

2. Sally Hanson :  Insta-Dri Topcoat

I am a very impatient person. That is especially shown during manicures. I aways touch something or rub my fingers together or do something that makes it all go tits up. As a consequence, I've tried numerous quick-dry topcoats, each of which has had a shared Achilles' Heel: they tend to make your manicure chip within three days. I found this especially with the O.P.I. quick dry topcoat. However, I tried this one and just loved it! It applies really smoothly, dries completely within thirty seconds and does what a topcoat is supposed to do-- lengthen your manicure. I've had colours on my nails for upwards of  a week with this top coat and it has earned a place at the top of my nail polish collection.

3. INGLOT- Blush: Shade 67

 I'm black. If you haven't noticed that from the picture of my hand above then...sorry. As a result of my pigmentation I found it irresponsible for me to justify putting a blusher on knowing fully well it would look like an ashy, pink mess or not be visible at all... until I found this. This is a part of INGLOT's freedom system where you can make your own palette  of eyeshadows and blushes which snap into the casing magnetically. 

This blush is VERY pigmented, a little goes a long way. But, it blends in really nicely and gives a soft flush of life to the cheeks. 

4. Nyx- The Curve Eyeliner: Black

I love eyeliner-- especially cat eyes. This is an affordable, dark, liquid eyeliner that shows up jet black on my skin instead of a nonchalant grey. The shape is a little weird and you have to get used to it, but now I've become an expert at the cat eye. This is also good for just a line near to the lash-line to make your lashes look fuller.

5. Clinique: Eyeshadow Palette. Shade: 03 Morning Java

I rarely wear eyeshadow, but this had me as soon as I saw it in Sephora. This is what I consider a brown, nude-esque eyeshadow palette with as the name suggests, an array of coffee- inspired colours. It has a handy guide on the mirror for using all of the colours to obtain a nude smoke eye, but as I am lazy and prefer no fuss I use mainly number (the gold colour) on my lid and the brown in my crease for definition. 

 5. Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on eye pencil- Shade: Perversion

This eyeliner is in my monthly faves for reasons other it's saucy name. It goes on smoothly and smudges really well for a more smokey look. The colour is really pigmented and really the blackest of the black pencil liners I've seen. Love it!

6. No 7 Mascara: Exquisite Curl. Colour: Black

I love this mascara. It is an oldie, but a good one.  It gives my eyelashes volume and definition without looking like  I'm wearing falsies, which is a look I aim for.

7. Chloé: Eau de Parfum

Whilst travelling I always pop into duty free now and then. After hearing buzz about this perfume for a while, I tried it and it's now my signature scent! It has a very floral scent without being too sickening or over bearing. The scent lasts all day without being obnoxious. With notes of Lilly of the Valley, roses and honey it's a sweet scent that I really love.

And that's is for my July 2014 monthly favourites! 

I hope I've introduced you to some gems.

I'm Wanted?

I've applied to  a few place, one of which is a successful start up  blogging company called Tremr.com. I was contacted and put up a few articles which got a good response.

Recently I just got  this sacred e-mail:


This email was  allowing me to enter the Apple Beta-tester program OS X Yosemite.  I left it over night to download and installed it. On Tremr.com, i put up my findings here:

https://www.tremr.com/george-ann-ryan/hands-on-with-os-x-yosemite

Took me forever to finish with me dealing with the beta being all beta-like. Hope you enjoy!

CHANGE IN SUBDOMAIN NAME

I have been approached by a lovely lady called Allison who wanted to start a blog on unicrons, but her beloved desired domain name "UnicornChatting" was taken by me, someone who loves unicorns, but rarely blogs about them. As a result I've decided to give my domain name to her and refer to my blog as "tunaann" because that 's a nickname I had in my early teens that has quite stuck.

Just a notification for those who may have seen the change and experienced confusion.

Yummy Gooey Vegan Brownies

I have made a vegan brownie that doesn't taste like shit.2 minI am one of those lucky people who have a lot of food intolerances. Dairy and eggs make me feel the need to cry and an abundance of gluten makes my tummy hate me. As a result I miss out on a lot of fun treats and indulgences. However, I have finally perfected a vegan brownie recipe that is so rich and scrumptious you don't even realise there are no eggs. This recipe makes 12 cup-cake sized brownies.

For this recipe you'll need:3 Tablespoons of Flaxseed (optional: I just wanted a little omega-3)

1 3/4 cups of Rice Flour

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

7 tablespoons of 100% cocoa powder

4 Ounces of 60% or higher grade Chocolate

1 teaspoon of instant coffee

1/4 Boiling water

1 Teaspoon of Salt

1 cup of brown sugar

4 Table spoons of vegetable oil

1 1/2 table spoons of vanilla extract

Almonds.. As much as you please.

1 twelve-hole muffin tinCoconut Oil

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Mix together all of the dry ingredients except for the almonds in a large mixing bowl        (rice flour, salt, sugar, cocoa powder etc.).

3. Cut the chocolate up into chunks and add to the dry ingredients.4. Add the wet ingredients (vegetable oil, boiling water etc.)  

Boiling water helps the chocolate to get to that gooey lava-centre stage quickly.

5. Halve the almonds and add them to the brownie batter.

6. Stir until the mixture is a smooth consistency much like a cake batter.

7. Lubricate the muffin tin cups with coconut oil using two fingers to coat the sides and base of the cups.

8. Fill each cup of the muffin tin with the batter to about 3/4 the volume of the cup.

9. More almonds may be added to the top of each brownie.10. Put the brownies into the oven to bake for 15-17 minutes or until the top is smooth and just beginning to crackWhen finished, the brownies should be chewy with a gooey chocolatey centre.

11. Leave them to rest for ten minutes.
12. Garnish with icing sugar or chopped mint (optional)

Ah Holidays!

I'm on holiday in the Caribbean with family right now. I thought I'd love it but the sun is seriously starting to get on my collective tits.

However with views like this, it's nearly worth it.

It's good to be where I spent so much of my childhood limbing fruit trees for mangoes and having fun with childhood mates. Bikinis and cocktails all around, my friends!

Sherlock is Back?

Hi,

Sorry I haven't written in a while. School, work, you get the gist. 

But, I couldn't give up the opportunity to spread the word. After a fairly mundane day of writer's block and bad customer service, I checked twitter to see this :

Sherlock is back! The well loved adaption to the beloved books starring Benedict Cumberbatch (yum!) and Martin Freeman will begin shooting in early 2015  for a Special episode (presumably a Christmas Special) and a fourth series with the new episodes. I'm really excited for this after seeing the scene pictured in the tweet above with Moriarty's face in the cab display (really, no one ever dies for real).

And there I was thinking I could be mentally stable until August's Doctor Who premiere.