Everything Eleanor

This will be my last post of 2015 and I can't quite believe it. It doesn't seem five minutes ago that I was setting up this blog having not really having a clue what I was doing back during my long break in July, and now I'm back to the studious ways of sixteen-year-olds and indulging in way too much Christmas chocolate. I feel like a fitting way to round off 2015 would be to do a good old December favourites. I was lucky enough to receive very special gifts this year for Christmas, so many of them will be featured in today's post. Hope you all had lovely Christmases too and Santa was kind to you! On with the favourites... Once again, I'm am ridiculously late to the party with this product. Benefit's They're Real mascara has been all the rage since it came out many moons ago and I've just recently caught up to the trend. My Uncle, Auntie and cousins kindly bought me a Benefit gift set for Christmas that included the mascara, and now I realise what a...

I'm a big advocate of the concept 'eat-whatever-you-want-because-it's-Christmas'. As the big day draws ever closer, what more of an excuse could you need to bake these yummy biscuits? Not only are they a delicious to eat, but these cute little stars would make the perfect gift for anyone you're scrambling to find a present for 5 days before Santa arrives, or even lovely tree decorations.  I have adapted a recipe to make these treats my own, but the original recipe is linked  here .  For 17+ star biscuits, you will need: For the biscuits:  100g of diced butter - I used a Stork margarine that was apparently 'perfect for biscuits'  175g of dark muscovado sugar  80g of golden syrup 300g of plain flour, extra needed for dusting 1/2 tbsp of ground ginger  1 tsp of ground cinnamon Zest of 1 orange 1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda 1 egg  A pinch of salt For the decoration (optional) White icing, I used a pre-made icing in a pock...

Everybody knows Coldplay. Everybody loves Coldplay. Crazily enough, Chris, Jonny, Guy and Will have had a career lasting almost 20 years, yet their still as current as they were in 1996 and admired by the younger and older generations alike. Of course, keeping up to date with the modern-day musical market is a hefty challenge, but clearly these four are way ahead of the game. So what really keeps Coldplay's successes alive? Their new album, A Head Full Of Dreams, which debuted at number 2, may hold all the answers.   Coldplay are well known for their quirky and original sounding tracks - this album makes no exception. With exciting riffs, abnormal structures and a variety of topics and lyrics, its no wonder this album was as highly anticipated as all their other triumphs. The lead single, Adventure of Lifetime, sets the tone for the whole album very well. It introduces Coldplay's way of competing in today's market: a diverse, new sound. The song starts of with electrio...

Yesterday I wasn't feeling 100% and generally just a bit grotty, so I thought it was best to use a bath bomb to lift my spirits. I picked out the Star Dust bath bomb from Lush. I had heard that this product provided quite a treat, so I was excited to see what happened when I dropped this little star into the water.  Star Dust was part of my little Lush haul I did late last month, which I will link here if you haven't already read it. After doing a bit of research, I was pretty sure this one would find its way into my basket. Firstly, it looks super-cute - it's a white, shimmery star with flecks of blue, suggesting that there's more than meets the eye when it comes to this bomb. The scent is what drew me to the product. I really love the smell of Butterball or Butterbear by Lush, so when I found that they had another vanilla-y scented product out this year, I was pretty pleased. This one is a bit more subtle than Butterball and I think it has more sweet scented add...

Part of the reason why Autumn is my favourite season is for Bonfire Night. There's something so awe-inspiring about seeing magical little lights explode in every colour of the rainbow against a sheet of pitch black sky. Ever since visiting Disney World in Florida, I've looked forward to visiting every fireworks display possible. So, yesterday it was time to wack out my beanie and aim to take a few non-fuzzy shots of the fireworks.  Despite being so pretty, there are obviously some dangers that coincide with bonfire night. Please click here for safety advice around fireworks.  As always, I used my incredibly high-tech Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini to take these photos, but I'm quite pleased with the way they turned out, so enjoy!  See you soon,  From,  Eleanor 

This year for Father's Day, we booked a tour of Wembley Stadium for my dad and brother. Me, having no interest in football, took this opportunity to suggest an Oxford Street shopping trip for me and my mum. Of course, no Oxford Street shopping trip is complete without popping into Lush. Lush at this time of year is one of my favourite things, as they have all their limited edition Halloween and Christmas bits out. I took great advantage of this. These are the lovely products I bought:  1. The Comforter Bubble Bar I thought I'd get this one out of the way first because it's clearly not one of their Christmas goodies. However, this is my favourite thing in the whole shop. This gigantic pinky-berry and white bubble bar creates mountains of luxurious blackcurrant bubbles whilst smelling absolutely delicious.  It has bergamot oil for cleansing, relaxing and rejuvenating, as well as cassis absolute to give it it's distinctive fruity fragrance. Because its ginormo...

Catchy title, I know.  As many of you know, I love baking, and what better excuse to bake something exciting and creative than Halloween? These marbled chocolate orange cupcakes would be perfect for any Halloween gathering or just as a fun treat to make you feel cosy and autumnal. You can experiment with the flavours as well - instead of orange, you could use vanilla, lemon or peppermint if you prefer. Of course, you can make these all year round - just take off the pumpkin toppers! If you want to find out how to make these scrummy cakes, look no further:  For 9 cupcakes, you will need: For the Cupcakes: 175g of unsalted, softened butter 175g of caster sugar 175g of self-rasing flour 3 medium eggs Grated zest and 2tbsp of the juice of one orange 2 tbsp of cocoa powder  Bake-able orange and black food colour (I used the Dr. Oetker Gell Food Colours in Jet Black and Neon Orange) For the Chocolate Icing/Decoration:  150g of unsalted butter, ...

  Nothing but Thieves are an English five-piece, consisting of vocalist Conor Mason, Joe Langridge-Brown and Dominic Craik on guitar, bassist Philip Blake and drummer James Price. Their career, that began in 2012, has already proved successful, with supporting the likes of George Ezra and Awolnation, as well as their single Itch being one of Radio One's 'Hottest Records.' On Friday 16th October, their released their debut self-titled album.  Its not often you hear an album like this one. The diversity, the easy-to-listen-to vibe and the freshness of it all - you know it will be special as soon as Conor's powerful vocals explode into the chorus of the first track,  Excuse Me. Following Excuse Me is the single Ban All The Music, a track already completely different to the previous, yet still carrying the exciting, rock-music-for-everyone feeling. I can imagine the songs being the perfect for people who want to expand their music taste. It ranges from the beautiful gu...

Remember last week when I said "Expect to see a lot more Autumnal posts in the future"? Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the first of many. Once again I am extremely late the to the party and doing my Autumn/Winter edit a good few weeks after many other bloggers. Better late than never, I suppose. If you're not sure what this is, my Autumn/Winter edit is 5 things I have chosen to that transition your style to suit the colder weather. This includes clothes, makeup and fragrance. Obviously, you don't have to go along with any of my suggestions, this is just what I like to do to update my look for this time of year. Hope you enjoy!  1. The High-Neck Top  Everyone went crazy for high-neck tops in 2014, and they're back with vengeance again this year. Personally, I really like them. I'm not a huge fan of great big turtle necks just because I'm quite petite and they drown me a little bit, but high-neck tops add quite a sophisticated edge to any look. I...

I've never known what my favourite season is, but I think I'm pretty sure now that it is Autumn. The trees turn colourful, there's always the excuse to throw on a blanket by the fire and drink every hot chocolate going, and you're almost in touching distance of the festive season. Autumn is definitely the most beautiful season. I love photography, and though I may not have the most high-tech camera in the world (it's the one attached to my Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini), I was really up for capturing the lovely Autumnal scenes outside. Below are some of my favourites. Hope you like them! If you're not a fan of trees, this probably isn't your ideal post. Expect to see a lot more Autumnal posts in the future - it's my favourite time of year for fashion and I have some exciting baking posts lined up inspired by Halloween. See you soon! From, Eleanor (P.S. I apologise for the amount of times I've said 'season', 'Autumn', or ...

Expect me to say this every month, but I can't believe it's October. It's crazy. This year has gone so so so quickly and I don't quite understand. But I guess I can't complain that much, because the quicker the months go, the quicker Christmas comes around. Yes I am already starting to think about it. I started in July. Before we get too ahead of ourselves, its time to recap September and discuss my monthly favourites with you lovely lot. My first favourite is BBC Radio One's Live Lounge. Every year I look forward to their 'Live Lounge Month', which is when every day in September, an artist or band plays a set at Radio One consisting of their own song and a mystery cover. Not only does it give a really stripped-back approach to all the music you know and love,  but it gives you an insight into the artist's taste in music as well as their creativity in remixing a song to make it truly their own. My favourites are often the ones where you can only...