Organise your keys and mail

A good tip and useful object you definitely need in your house, this 2 in 1 key holder and mail sorter but also a beautiful looking wall rack. This is a design I especially like but there are a lot of other designs out there you can choose from just type the keywords key holder or mail sorter with key hooks to search for your perfect one one any retail website online.

  

Top websites to buy shoes from for women in UK

In my opinion these are the best websites you can find affordable but yet very good quality shoes, any types of shoes like sandals, flats, trainers, slippers and boots. I always purchase from these websites mostly as they have good accurate sizes and quality is great. 

SHEIN

I especially love the flat sandals from shein they are stunning and beautiful.

Shoezone

This is a shoes only website so they know their shoe game.

Studio

I have bought very good shoe buys from here including boots and slippers and have been very impressed with them.

What you need to know about everything5pounds.com

Everything5pounds is an online only clothing website it has many varities of clothes, shoes and even accessories to offer all mostly £5 some items can be £5.50 which clothing sets or even £2.50 when items are on offer.

I enjoy shopping at everything5pounds because they have good quality clothes at a good price. However they have limited availability of items and they do sell out quite quickly depending on the demand of items, they can even sell out within 24 hours so you have to be quick if you want to buy something and its a good idea to subscribe to their newsletter to see their everyday new arrivals.

The delivery depends on total weight but with the delivery costs included it still works out to be very affordable compared to other clothing retailers and the more you buy the more you save and they do have promotions running sometimes also so it helps you save.

I definitely recommend everything5pounds as an clothing website for me it is one of the website I go to to buy affordable clothing and shoes, but because they don't have everything available all the time you have to take your chance when you see what you like.

I personally think the clothes you can buy from everything5pounds would normally cost double on other websites so they are a saving. Check them out

My current favourite makeup brand e.l.f. cosmetics

What I like about elf cosmetics is they have products that suit your budget from products as low as £3. They even have some skincare products now as well along with different types of makeup products. I haven't tested out their skincare products as of yet, just their makeup and brushs. Most of my favourite lipsticks are from elf I especially like the brown colour lipsticks but have other colours too their lipsticks are not overpowering in smell and last a good while.

Their bitesize eyeshadows were also a big hit for everyone, very affordable and pigmented. Some products which I wasn't so keen on was the concealers I have tried two out of three current concealers which are 16hr camo concealer and the flawless concealer but find them very runny and they give low coverage other than that I have enjoyed everything else about elf cosmetics and I hope they can work on their concealers.

They are able to keep their budget low as they concentrate on the product quality rather than too much on the product look that's why they keep their packaging simple for products that are affordable for example the elf eyeliner pen is £3 one of the cheapest eyeliners and I have used it, it does the job perfectly. Why pay more for just fancy packaging? 

I would definitely recommend elf as they have high quality and affordable makeup products. Elf is vegan and cruelty free as well which I love about it, it's nice to know we are using products like this that don't have any nasty stuff in them.

They do always have promotions running as well so be sure to check them out here and you can earn points by joining their elf beauty squad. 

Let me know your views on elf products.

MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Laquer Lipstick Review

Lip lacquers and matte liquid lipsticks are very popular nowadays. I have been trying lip lacquers from the brand MUA I bought three shades from Superdrug these retail for £3 each which I think is a very good and affordable price. I have seen online MUA have a lot of colours from nudes, reds, pinks, browns, and even black blue and purple they have some very unique colours but I stuck with getting everyday wear colours and dark ones.

They apply easily and once they are dry which is within a minutes they feel matte and velvety on the lips it feels as though I have got nothing on my lips and it is very lightweight. Also, they do not smudge at all.
I drank and ate and found that the lip colour did start to remove from the inner section of my lips making them look like they need a reapplication. When drinking tea it removes a lot because of the heat of the tea. Even when I did not eat and drink I did notice it would still remove from the inner section of my lips so it was not very long lasting.
They are easy to remove if you use micellar water, it will get all over your face with wipes (with me this happens). The product has a very sweet berry mixed with honey type of smell to it.

First shade Hustle
The colour is absolutely stunning a dark brown perfect for autumn but can be worn all throughout the year. This is a favourite colour of mine I love dark brown lipsticks, so I definitely loved this it was the first colour I had my eye one. It applies on really well by adding a lot of the product it will make it into a darker brown and by adding less with a lip brush it will give slightly less brown colour so the brown shade in it is controllable which is very useful and I love this colour, it will look good on everyone.

Second shade Elegance
This colour is a pink berry colour it's a pretty pink berry colour not bright at all. I thought the colour elegance would probably be a browner colour because from the packaging as it shows a brown tone and on the wand the colour is brown but when applied it was more like a pink berry but I really liked it, it was a colour I have never worn before and I think it looked great and I will keep on wearing it. I like pink colours that are not bright and sort of a berry colour but bright pinks I don't prefer I think they don't suit me because I tend to think they look better on ladies with pale skin colours rather than tanned, medium or dark. But, I was really impressed with this shade.

Third Shade Flair
For me, this shade is deep red colour which has a sort of a plum and brown hint to it. I wasn't sure how this colour would look on me but after trying it I loved it, it is a very dark colour so some areas can look patchy if the colour does not apply on properly all over the lips but that can be easily avoided. This is also a perfect colour for autumn if you are going for a dark shade. I would wear this with less makeup or no makeup at all because this colour just provides all the prettiness on the face.

You can see swatches of the lip lacquers on MUA's website which includes these three shades.

Overall I really like these lip lacquers from MUA they are affordable really pigmented and velvety when applied on the lips perfect for special occasions, for everyday wear a reapplication is probably going to be needed once or twice. I will definitely purchase more colours in the future as well.

Asian Makeup & Beauty

I have been wanting to try some Asian beauty and makeup products lately for the first reason it is really affordable but also they do have some products which are really good. I have tried some from ebay and aliexpress and looking at the price the products have been great in every way. I wanted to share a new place to shop from which is Tosave.

These are some of the items I got from the online website. Some items I got were items I needed, like the accessory bag to put makeup items in, the brush cleaner to clean brushes with. The rest were something new for me and I wanted to try out.

The lip palette has a special ingredient in which helps your lips look fuller when you apply the lip colours on so for anyone wanting to achieve that look this will be something they can try, it was affordable and includes lip liner and lip brush, the lip brush which I really like it is perfect for precision and it is not too thin so a lot can apply on.
There were different designs for brush cleaners some are in an egg style, some as mats and some a heart shape in different colours these are really helpful to clean your brushes and only cost about £1.

The makeup and accessory bag is super handy when you are travelling you can put your makeup or toiletries in this bag and it also looks cute this item is only £2.99. They also have it available in different colours and designs.

The next item which caught my eye was this eyeshadow palette it looks beautiful the packaging and the eyeshadow colours, the eyeshadows are really pigmented they apply on so well with the eyeshadow brush and blend out nicely. This eyeshadow palette is from an asian beauty brand cocosh she it has good hard packaging with a mirror which is useful. The colours are nice for everyday looks with a mix of light, medium and dark shades which are good combinations it is my favourite palette because the colours are pigmented and apply well.
I also got another palette from cocosh she because I really liked the first one this has 9 colours in and the eyeshadows again are pigmented easy to work with, there are no shimmer shades in this palette they are all matte so perfect when only wanting to work with matte colours.

I also liked the double ended eyeshadow brush with a blending brush because instead of having to carry an eyeshadow brush and blending brush separately I can have it as one brush it saves space, and I have to say this is an excellent brush it is soft but also works really well, it is a copy of the naked eyeshadow brushes but it is a lot more cheaper, this costs only £0.81 on their website currently for the price it is well worth it. I was surprised to how well the blending brush worked and the eyeshadow brush works moderately too, I think this is a brush that is very useful considering the price too.

You can really save a lot of money with Tosave they have items like makeup, jewellery and even gadgets that are good quality as well, for hair extensions there is a separate website.You can have a look around on their website for items and offers you may like plus they have free shipping too.

This post is sponsored*

Pantene Repair and Protect Shampoo Review

I previously reviewed the Pantene Smooth and Sleek shampoo & conditioner and for me, I felt as though I was losing hair with it so I stopped using that and started using a Superdrug brand one, then from family recommendations, I was told that I should try this shampoo as it is one of Pantene's best so far, so I did decide to try it out.
I have also tried Pantene classic clean but that did not help at all it caused dandruff for me so so far I think this shampoo is better than the other two.

I have kind of thick, long, dry hair, so what I was looking for was for this shampoo to control the dryness and add the shininess and make sure my hair is soft and not tangly, but also repair the split ends.

This repair and protect shampoo does make my hair feel soft it does everything the Pantene smooth and sleek did, but I have noticed it hasn't affected my hair loss in any way I do have some fallout but using the shampoo has not made it increase. I have noticed my split end have also significantly decreased. But I have not noticed any shine to my hair. It does say on the Pantene website using the Pantene shampoo on its own as well should make your hair shine, restore smoothness, treat damaged hair and make it manageable. It does make my hair manageable, improve the damaged hair and restore smoothness but the shine part does not happen for me and the dryness is still the same.

I decided not to use the conditioner because for me I feel as though the shampoo was enough and I don't normally use conditioner. The results using the shampoo for 4 weeks has been the same for me every time I use it my hair feels fresh but when my hair starts to dry it goes dry and tangly the sleekness doesn't stay in even after the next day. It has a nice smell and a soft after smell too though.

Overall, I have mixed opinions about this product some good some not so good but I think it's an ok product for me to use on my hair but would have preferred it even more if it did leave my hair shiny and not dry, so I will still be searching for the right product for my hair as I think this is not the one yet. Over the next weeks now I will be trying more of Pantene's hair products from their different ranges to see how they work out and will review them as well.

How To Make A Simple Rice Dish - Khichdi

A simple rice dish with rice and lentils is normally called khichdi in Asia, because that is where it comes from. It is typed as khichdi but called khichri. It doesn't really have a name in english it is just known as rice and lentils.
Khichdi is a soft rice and lentil dish it can be eaten any time of the day and can be given to babies as it is soft to eat. It is easy to eat and make, it isn't heavy on the spices either. It is mainly known to be given if someone is ill to make them feel better, but you can eat it whenever you want because it is part of a healthy diet.

The ratio of the rice and lentils is totally up to you I used 60% rice and 40% lentils but you can have 50% of each, it's whatever your prefer. You can use Masoor daal which comes in the colour brown and orange or moong daal which is the green lentils and even chick pea lentils, alternatively, you can even use mixed lentils. 

But do bear in mind some lentils like the moong daal may need more water and may take more time to cook than other lentils. If you would like the dish to be more dryer with less water then add less water if you would like it more softer then add more water. 

This recipe is khichdi using red lentils. Makes for 4 people in about 25 to 30 minutes.

Ingredients

Rice 3/4 of a cup (150g)

Red split lentils (Masra daal) 1/2 cup (85g)

Butter 2 tablespoon

Half Onion

Salt 2 teaspoon or to taste

Green Chillies 2 or 3 (optional)

Method

I used a saucepan with a lid to make khichdi but can be made in a pressure cooker or a pan making sure it has a lid though because you will need to steam the rice and lentils.

First of all, wash the lentils and the rice separately and soak in warm water for about 10 minutes and make sure they are drained out of the water before your cook them. 

Next, add two fully heaped tablespoons of butter and add half an onion diced into the butter. Cook the onion until it is soft and translucent and lightly brown, we don't want the onion to be brown too much. 

Once the onion is soft add one cup of water (water added to butter will make it steam up so be careful) and add the lentils in. After that, add 2 teaspoons of salt and the green chillies with the stem cut off and let it steam for about 5 minutes.  

Pinch the lentils to see if they are about cooked if yes, then add 2 more cups of water and add the rice in. 

Then cook for about 15 minutes on low heat with the lid on. You can check after 10 minutes making sure it does not stick to the bottom if you feel there is less water you can add more in and let it steam until cooked, and let it steam until the rice is cooked with the lentils.

Finally, your khichdi should be ready to eat 😊

This is optional but to add more flavour you can add black pepper, grated ginger, bay leaves or cloves. If wanting to serve to babies then you can just use rice and lentils, salt will be optional. You can accompany the khichdi with salad and yoghurt as well.

I hope you enjoy your khichdi!