Sunday Favourites

Here's all the little things making me smile in this week that has been full of stressful dissertation writing...

Planning and shopping for my holiday! I got this awesome polka dot bikini and I can't wait to wear it on the beach (although I've never been on a beach holiday and so never worn a bikini before, so feeling a little self-conscious..) We don't often go out shopping and buy things as we are on a budget so it has been lovely to go out just once and say, 'hey, I'M BUYING THAT!'

Catching up on all the newer books from the last year or so I never got round to reading.

Getting my sewing machine out and making this super cute sleeveless tie shirt. I've got all my pattern pieces ready and I've started sewing - I'm a bit baffled by the instructions at the moment though (I picked what I thought was the simplest shirt pattern!), but hopefully I'll finish it before my holiday. If you're a genius at deciphering mysterious sewing patterns, do let me know in the comments!

My Lucky Dip Club box arrival, which you can read about here.

Bringing home more of my favourite Strawberry and Kiwi fruit infusion from work - I ran out ages ago and have missed it! Tea time <3

Let me know all your Sunday favourites below! If you haven't already, it would be great if you could follow via Bloglovin'. You can also now follow me on Twitter (yes, I do that now!). See buttons on the right :)

Facemask Friday

I used to have a favourite Lush fresh face mask, called Oatifix, but as much as I love Lush products, they are pretty pricey and are only an occasional treat. However, a while ago I received this book as a gift, Carla Oates' Feeding Your Skin, a collection of DIY natural chemical-free recipes for every type of  beauty product possible, from masks and scrubs to the more unexpected hair dyes and nail polish, using things in your kitchen cupboards.

Being on a budget at the moment, I decided to forgo the expensive Lush products for my poor dry skin, and instead raided the cupboards to see what I could make myself. As it turned out, I had everything I needed for the Lemon Tea Mask recipe.. 

Whittards finest English Breakfast, some might say, is a bit too fancy for slapping on your face, but as I've worked there for years it seems I have acquired a lot of loose leaf tea in my house that doesn't get used nearly often enough, so a use might as well be found for it. The book actually uses tea in a lot of the recipes - there's a black tea and apple cider vinegar tint for dark hair I'm keen to try out! Oats, as it happens, weren't actually in the mask recipe above, but in the name of experimentation and trying to replicate my Lush favourite, I chucked a handful in anyway. It actually made the rather sloppy mixture much thicker and easier to use as a mask. 

What I effectively ended up with was a sort of tea-and-lemon-flavoured porridge mix. On the face it went, and it wasn't a half bad replica actually - after 20 minutes my dry skin is looking a bit less hopeless. I'd love to share a picture of the mask in action, but unfortunately -  in the style of Mrs Doubtfire - great lumps kept falling off if I dared to move. I think this could be rectified by perhaps more milk powder or oats to thicken it up, but I think the recipe, and others in the book, are a great starting point to adapt and add to. I'll certainly be making up batches of my own products regularly and testing them out! 

Any great facemask recipes I should try out?

Vintage Tea Set

This is part of an exciting new acquisition - a beautiful vintage teaset, given to me by my nan. It's the first time I've had any nice cups and saucers that matched, all my others are odd mismatched ones (although all beautiful in their own way). They are lovely bright spring colours, and I'm looking forward to afternoon tea in my teacups and a slice of cake on my matching tea plates!