Dreaming about......

Hello, 

Hope you are all having a fantastic weekend and it hasn't been to wet where ever you are? Thanks to YouTube, Blogs, Instagram and Pintrest I seem to have a never ending and ever growing wish list, hopefully I am not the only one?

I love reading wish lists, it normally results in my wishlist growing again, so I thought I would share with you some of the top picks on my wishlist at the moment.

Dreaming about...... by emma-louise1402 featuring a zara coat

1. Kate Spade watch, as much as I love my Michael Kors rose gold watch I would love to have a bit of wrist candy with a pop of colour, and Kate Spade is the best designer for a pop of colour.

2. Tarte Amazon 12 hour Clay Blush, in 'Natural beauty'. This was purely added to my wish list thank to Laura from Buy now Blog later, Laura is one of my favourite beauty and fashion bloggers you can see her review here, it instanstly made me think 'I need this blush....right now'.

3. Laura Mercier translucent setting powder, I have heard some many good reviews about this powder and its been on my wish list for so long.

4. How cute is this instax mini camera, one its pink, but I would love a camera that instantly prints phots. Thanks to social media most of photos say online or on my computer but an actually paper copy never surfaces, which is so sad really when I think about it, because I have so many childhood memories of looking through family albums and photo boxes.

5. NYX butter lipglosses, I was sold at the word butter, anything glossy but with a butter like feel and finish it perfect for my makeup collection.

6. The Zara yellow coat, oh my godness even my fiance has noticed my obsession with this coat, although he still hasn't bought it for me, must hint harder. Again I fell in love with this after seeing it at 'Buy now, Blog later'.

7. The Balm Betty Lou Highlighter, I have seen this popping up on my blogger feed quite a lot recently and I am really keen to give this a try. I am always a tad cautious about buying high end highlighters and spending money on them, as I am in love with my Mac mineralize skinfinish in 'soft and gentle', I did a full review here so I am not sure if any other highlighter will compare.

8. Yet another 'Bloggers made me do it' item on my wishlist I have seen some much hype about Nars radiant creamy concealer, I have convinced myself I need it.

9. Oh the Naked 3 palette so long I have lusted after your array of rose gold shades, hopefully the wait will soon be over and you will be mine soon enough.

10. This blush from two faced looks beautiful, I promise its nothing to do with the pink heart shaped packaging, honest!!

11. I really need a new cover for my I pad for travelling and this cover from Ted Baker is just so cute and girly and will look lovely in my hand bag.

So there you have it a sneak peek of my ridiculously long wish list, I may well treat myself to a few bits and pieces this month but will see if my bank balance allows it.

Thanks for reading, have you tried any of the products on my wish list? What's on your wish list?

MAC Soft and Gentle Mineralize Skinfinish

Today I want to share with you one of my favourite pieces in my makeup collection. Mac soft and gentle is one of the few products in my collection I would give the ‘Holy Grail’ title, even though I really dislike the term HG, I can think of no other label to give it that justifies just how much I love this mineralized skin finish from Mac.

‘Soft and Gentle’ is a finely milled shimmering high lighter powder from Mac, it’s an attractive soft 'gilded peach bronze' shade. This highlighter looks beautiful in the pan and transfers exquisitely onto the skin giving you glistening and soft champagne glow.

 Now £22 may seem steep for a highlighter but as with all mineralize skin finishes from MAC there is a lot of product in the pan and a little really does go a long way, so I cant see myself having to repurchase this highlighter for a long time. So I personally don't mind the price tag at all.

I have found the trick with 'Soft and Gentle' is using the right tools. I have seen lots of reviews complaining that this highlighter just left glitter all over the face, and yes a large brush all over the cheeks is not the way to apply this one. Personally I have found the contour brush from real techniques is the perfect sized brush to apply just the right amount of product to give you a beautiful warm glow. I use this highlighter on my cheek bones, cupid's bow and brow bone to highlight and enhance my face and bone structure.  This highlighter can be used for a day and night look, I just use a very light hand for an everyday glow but build up the colour for a more dramatic glittering evening look. Sometimes I use this as an all over lid colour for a softer smokey eye if I am wearing a bright lip and I don't want to go too heavy on the eye make up. Can you tell this is a well used product in my collection? 

I adore this mineralize skin finish its my go to highlighter to give my complexion an instant pick me up and radiant glow, its a permanent staple in my highlighting and contouring routine and cant imagine finding a highlighter that will replace it in my make up bag anytime soon.

Have you tried 'Soft and Gentle'? Or do you have a different mineralize skinfinish favourite from MAC?

Calling All Beauty Professionals-Introducing Pamper Pad*

Hello everyone, I hope your all recovering nicely from a chocolate filled Easter weekend. If only every weekend was a four day weekend, I would be a very happy girl.

Today's post is a guest post from Samantha at Coco Butter, for more posts from Samantha check out her beauty and fashion blog here. She was the one who convinced me to set up Emma Louise Dreams and I love reading her blog. 

So enough rambling from me, over to Sam, 

Online beauty hub,PamperPad, to launch in April 2014

The website is aimed at professionals interested in raising their profile

With 70% of self-employed people working in the beauty sector, PamperPad has been created to bridge the gap between beauty and hair professionals and the general public. The website, which will act as a hub for those offering and seeking beauty and pampering services, is set to launch in April 2014.

All regions are encourage to join PamperPad from the offset, but the beauty hub will primarily roll out acrossLondon and Birmingham from April 2014, followed shortly after by a roll out in other regions across the UK.

PamperPad will allow people in need of a little pamper to pick up deals and offers from local professionals and review the service that they receive. PamperPadmembers will be able to post images, prices and offers online to attract new clients.

Working in partnership with the British Association of Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology (BABTAC),PamperPad will provide invaluable resources for start-up businesses, Spokesperson from the BABTAC, Kelly Ramsay says: ‘We believe that PamperPad can do a lot for our industry. Finding reputable beauty professionals will become easier and more convenient with this website, and it’ll help self-employed professionals to get their voice heard.’

As well as bringing professionals together with the public, PamperPad will also work as a vital marketing tool. Its user-friendly dashboard will offer PamperPadmembers handy statistics, such as how many visitors have viewed their profiles. Such figures will give the member an idea of what offers, images and informationentices the public, and this is something that they can then incorporate into their business as a whole.

The dashboard also allows members to see how many referrals they’ve had as a result of PamperPad. HayleeBenton, creator of the website, explains: “For us, being able to offer the self-employed beauty industry a chance to grow their business is paramount. I know how hard it can be to get your name out there, specifically when the industry is so saturated. PamperPad will act as a shared platform bringing the public and industry together.”

PamperPad is proving to be very popular, with a host of professionals on the waiting list already. Hayleecontinues, “We’ve had a great response to the website, which fills me with confidence that this is going to help a lot of self-employed professionals. We can’t wait for the site to launch in April 2014.”

Editors Notes

PamperPad allows you to promote your business in a professional and innovative way. The user-friendly website will help self-employed hair and beauty professionals to build a strong brand identity and interact with potential clients.

Contact Information

For further information, images or interview slots with Haylee Benton, please contact Caroline Elvin at Branch PR:

Email: caroline@branchpr.co.uk ​Telephone:07557041827

Egg-tastic Baking

Hope you are having a Eggs-tra special Easter weekend.

Emma Louise Dreams is usually full of beauty and make up rambles from yours truly but this weekend I am going to introduce another one of my passions to my blog....baking. 

I have always loved baking whether it was decorating cupcakes with my mum and sister,( I always remember the cupcakes with the editable stickers of barbie or Tom and Jerry, anyone else remember those) baking bread with my grandma or just testing out new recipes now I have own my place. I love trying new things and I find baking really therapeutic and good fun. 

I am in the Easter spirit today and my flat is full of creme eggs and chocolate treats so this was the perfect opportunity to whip up some Easter themed baked goods. My bake of choice today was Cream Egg brownies. 

My sister was actually the one who introduced me to recipe (she knows me well), after she sent me an article about 10 Recipes using Creme Eggs, which left my mouth watering, here is a link if you would like to take a look. Credit to expatwomen.com for the recipe. This is a very easy recipe but will impress a crowd with the gooey melted Creme egg goodness mixed in. 

So lets get cracking on and get baking. 

What you will need:
185g dark chocolate
185g unsalted butter
85g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
3 eggs
275g caster sugar
6 Cadbury creme eggs

What to do:

• Firstly preheat the oven to 180oc. Then, melt the butter and chocolate together until it’s a runny consistency. 
• In a separate bowl, mix the egg and sugar until it turns to a mouse-like consistency. It will take a while but keep at it,(at this point I wish I had an electric whisk! Must buy a new one). Next up mix together the cooled chocolate and the fluffy egg mixtures.
• Then, sift in the flour and cocoa powder together and gently fold it into the mixture.
• Poor it all into a greased baking tray and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.
• Cut the crème eggs in half then remove from the brownies cake from oven and gently place the halves onto the brownies – evenly spaced.
• Pop it all back into the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes to melt the creme eggs into the cake.
• Finally, let them cool and enjoy.

Here's my Egg-tastic creation....sorry I will stop with the easter reated puns, maybe!

So I hope you enjoyed this baked themed post, these brownies are super easy to make and taste A-mazing, they got a big thumbs up from my fiance who is my top taster. If you enjoyed this post, I may well treat you to some more baked themed posts. 

Let me know if you have tried this recipe or any other Easter themed baking, I am always wanted to try new recipes, so send your inspiration my way.

Thanks for reading lovlies. 

Sleek Pout Polish

Gone are the days when lip products were simply available in stick form. My lip products collections has a whole host of have lip butters, crayon style lip balms, matte glosses, glossy lip cream and now I have added a Pout Polish by Sleek to my collection.

So what is a pout polish I hear you ask? A pout polish is a creamy tinted lip conditioning balm; it leaves your lips nourished but with a subtle hint of colour, so in a few words a tinted lip balm.

I picked up the pout polish in ‘Raspberry Rhapsody’ for £4.49 from super drug. The shade is a purple toned baby pink, it looks very bright and vibrant in the tin but once applied to the lips it leaves a soft pink shine to the lips. This polish leaves your lips glossy for around 30 minutes and it sinks into the lips leave you with a sheer tint for a good few hours.  For a balm product the pigmentation is really good and it great for adding a pop of colour that it’s too bold for a more natural stained lip look.

The pout polish is formulated with natural oils including almond oil and shea butter, which gives the polish a lovely soft and cream texture, which left my lips feeling, conditioned and nourished.  The polish also has added SPF so will be great for the summer time, I can definitely see me wearing this on my holidays this year to give me a hint of colour but it will also keep my lips protected from the sun and moisturised.

The pout polish does have quite a strong vanilla and coconut scent, for some it may be too over powering but I love both those scents so I didn't mind at all. The packaging is a sleek little tin which looks a lot more high end then the small high street price tag. It’s a good sized product to pop in your hand bag or for travelling. My only small moan about the packaging is that I am not a fan of sticking my fingers in lip products but that’s just me being a tad OCD and I am sure most people don’t mind this.

So if you’re looking for a conditioning lip balm with a glow of glossy colour this Summer  I would definitely recommend the pout polish from Sleek, it won’t break the bank and there are nine shades to choose from so something for everyone.

Thanks for reading beauts I would love to hear if you have tried this pout polish or any other summer lip product recommendations.

What's in my bag? London edition

What's in my bag posts are some of my favourite posts to read, purely because I a tad nosey and I realised last week I have never actually written my own 'What's in my bag post', which is crazy seeing as I enjoy reading them so much. 

Last weekend me and Gary treated his Nan to a day trip to London for her 70th birthday. Gary's Nan has never been to the capital before so we spent the day sight seeing and then we went to watch Phantom of the Opera, which was fantastic, I have seen it twice now and it was still briliiant the second time around. We finished the day off with a lovely meal at the Brumus resturant at the Haymarket hotel, birthday cake included. We had a fantastic day, Gary's Nan enjoyed it so much and was so excited, its hands down the best present I have ever bought anyone.

So I thought I would do a 'What's in my bag, London edition' basically what I took to London with me.

The bag itself in the mini office city bag from Zara. Now we all remember the original office city hype last year, yes I was part of the obsession of the Prada inspired over sized handbag. I purchased the office city bag in black and still use it daily for work, its perfect for fitting in all my essentials for a day in the office. The mini version of the city bag, however, is great miniature version for everyday use. I have had a look online this morning and I think its sold out, but they do restock regularly so keep an key out if you want to purchase this little bag. I love Zara's range of high end looking affordable bags, I seriously had to stop myself purchasing more this morning.

Ok so what's inside I hear you ask?

First the essentials my Mulberry tan purse, this was a Christmas present from my dad and I love it. I the Mulberry satchel bag in tan to match but the strap has broken so its off being fixed at the moment. I Can't wait to be reunited with her. Then my keys and back combing hair brush, pretty self explanatory. There was also my iPhone, but I am using my phone to take blog pictures at the moment, until I have purchased a good camera to fulfil my snap happy requirements. 

Next is my travel wallet, I love this bright and vibrant wallet, its the great travel companion if you an over organised girl like me. I like that it has sections for everything. Inside here I had our travel tickets, theatre tickets and restaurant conformation. I bought this little travel wallet from Accessorize last summer, I don't think they still sell this particular wallet anymore but there are other pieces available from the 'Love London' collection here which are really cute and pretty. 

Also I have a little hand sanitizer from bath and body works. My flat is full of these handy pocket sized gel sanitisers. I am a big germ freak so these are an essential in my hand bag, and its pink and sparkly...so what's not to love? There is also a breath freshener spray, I picked this up from boots for a couple of pounds. I find these really handy because I like to drink coffee but hate the after taste and smell so this is great for giving me fresh minty breath.

Then I fished out a cream egg from the bottom of bag, I cant believe this was in here all day and I didn't eat it, especially when I ate a not so appetizing fruit based cereal bar to keep my hunger at bay till lunch. What a waste of calories when there was chocolate available. Ahh well its been eaten and enjoyed now, do not worry.  Then I took a copy of Cosmo to keep me entertained on the journey to and from London. I also found my theatre tickets inside the magazine, I am a bit sad and hang on to keep sacks like tickets from trips.

Then a few little handbag beauty essentials, first a little travel sized Victoria Beckaham perfume, I think this came as part of a set I got for Christmas, its the perfect sized spray to fit in my hand bag. Then there is a hand bag sized Elizabeth Arden 8 hour hand cream. The packaging has seen better days, but it is one of my favourite hand creams its thick and rich consistency leaves my hands feels soft and smooth. Then a milk and honey lip balm to keep my lips in tip top condition, I did a full review of this lovely little balm here.

Then I took along with me a cute little Paris design notebook I use for my blogging ideas and notes, so I like to keep it with me at all times because inspiration can hit at any time, I also have a matching pencil case. I always have a pencil case in my bag, being the over organzised blogger I am, firstly you always need a pen and secondly I hate having pens lying at the bottom of my bag which may possibly ruin the lining of my pretty bag, so having a pencil case is just good sense. I blogged about both these in my stationary haul from Wilkonson here.

Now lets move onto the exciting bit.....my make up bag. I am currently using a small Vivienne Westwood clutch bag to hold my 'on the go' make up at the moment, its a good size and cant fit lots of products inside but still fits snuggly inside my bag. Lets see whats inside?

So for face and base products I just took a few bits and pieces to touch up. For concealer I took Rimmel's wake me up concealer which I love for brightening under the eyes, and then my collection concealer to cover and imperfections and dark spots. Then to keep any oily areas at bay I took my Bourjois healthy balance powder, its a great handbag, compact powder it has a good hand sized mirror for reapplication, but its slim line packaging its great for travelling, I did a full review here. Sticking with Bourjois I have fallen back in love with an old favourite, the chocolate bronzer, its a really good matte every day bronzer and it smells and looks like chocolate, Mmmm. Then I took along Mac soft and gentle mineralise skin finish, for any high lighting needs, I use this on my cheek bones, cupids bow and brow bone. I really love this shimmering highlighter so I might treat you to a full review of this very soon. Then finally my Santa Rose long lasting blush by Rimmel which is my current favourite every day blush, giving me a rosy natural flush, I did a full review of this beautiful blush here.

For eye products I didn't take any shadows, I used some neutral colours from my Mac palette and these last all day and don't need any retouching. So I kept it to a minimum for eye products and brought along my trusty falsies mascara by Maybeline this has been my favourite volumising mascara for well over a year now and it has never let me down. I also brought along my NYX jumbo eye pencil in milk, you can use this as a shadow base, but personally I am enjoying using this on my water line. With a very light hand, i repeat very light hand this is an amazing product for brightening and opening up my eyes.

Then finally lip products...my favourite. I took along with me my most worn  everyday lip colour creme cup from Mac, its a beautiful natural nude pale pink shade, it glides on the lips effortlessly and has a creamy buttery consistency. I also took along my NYX lipgloss in beige which compliments Creme cup perfectly, its a dusty mauve pink toned gloss, which isn't beige at all despite the name and it smells so yummy and sweet. Then just in case I get bored of this combination I brought along a new addition to my lip collect the Revlon colourburst Lacquer balm in demure, which has been a firm favourite since purchasing, again this is an everyday nude pink balm but has a glosdy glittering finish.

So that's it, other than a few reciets thats everything in my bag that I took to London with me. I had a fantastic day sight seeing and cant wait to go bac to London. Like many bloggers I dream of living in the big city, but for now a day or weekend trip every once and a while will keep me happy. 

If your interested in London themeed post, I blogged about the Mad Hatter's Afternoon Tea at the Sanderson Hotel here. It was without a doubt the best afternoon tea I have ever indulged in and cant recommend it enough.

Thanks for reading. I would love to hear about your hand bag essentials in the comment section below.

Thanks for reading lovelies and enjoy the rest of the weekend. 

Revlon Colorburst Balms

Revlon have done it again! They have released yet another range of lip products I just can’t get enough of. You know what I am talking about right? Yeah you guessed it, the new Revlon Colorburst balms both in a lacquer and a matte finish have found their way in my makeup collection. It seems like I am not the only one, there has been a lot of hype about this crayon style lip products.

Like any good blogger I made the most of the 3 for 2 offer in boots and purchased three of these balms, to be honest the temptation to get 6 was pretty high, but I managed to resist.  I purchased demure and coquette in the lacquer balm and showy in the matte balm.

The lacquer balms are a high shine formula, intensely pigmented and leave your lips with a glossy and crystal shine finish. Unlike some lacquer like lip products this isn't over sparkly and has just the right amount of glitter to give you lips a subtle sheen, but still leave your lips hydrated and with a buttery texture. The lasting powder of the lacquer option is not as long lasting as the matte balm but for a glossy product it has a good staying powder and I find it lasts a good few hours on the lips before I need to reapply. Demure is pale nude pink it’s a great every day colour and I have been reaching for this wearable shade daily, I actually find this shade to be very similar to Mac hue which is a favourite of mine, this is definitely my favourite of the Lacquer balms. Coquette is a medium pink shade, with orange undertones, this is really dynamic shade and can be worn more sheer for a day time look or build up for a bright bold lip for a night out.

The matte balms have a velvety opaque finish but with a balm like feel. I will be honest I am always a bit dubious when it comes to matte formulas but unlike so many matte products I was really impressed with this balm, it wasn’t drying on the lips, or clung to dry patches and actually left my lips feeling moisturised and creamy. The pigmentation is really good and has amazing colour pay off. Showy is bright bubble gum pink with blue under tones, I think this will be a perfect bright lip colour for summer, if we ever get some sunshine here in the UK.  I actually think I prefer the matte balms so I can’t wait to try some more out.

All of the Revlon lip butters have mango, shae and coconut butter in the formula, hence the buttery and conditioning feel that these left on the lips. They have a peppermint scent but I didn’t find them over powering in any way.

The great thing about these balms is there just so easy to use, the twist up crayon literally just swipes effortlessly across the lips, and I have even managed to reapply these without a mirror.

I am really impressed with the Revlon Colorburst lacquer and matte balms, for £7.99 they are easy to use, highly pigmented, there is a beautiful array of colours available to suit every skin tone and they are the perfect on the go handbag lip product. I can’t wait to try more.

Thanks for reading beauties, have you tried the Colorburst balms? What do you think?