22 Jul 2010

Best Apple Pie Ever



I love this apple pie recipe! It's versatile and can be adjusted for lots of different kinds of fruits. In this video I make an apple-nectarine pie, but I've also tried it with just apples, or apple-rhubarb, strawberry-rhubarb and apple-peach; all combinations were delicious! This recipe is perfect for using up various summer fruit.





Ingredients:



  • 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch crust pie (28cm)
  • 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoons (25g) all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup (100g) white sugar
  • 1/2 cup (110g) packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) water
  • 8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced*

* In the video I used 5 apples and 5 nectarines, you can mix the fruit as you like.


  • Melt butter in a sauce pan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add white sugar, brown sugar and water; bring to a boil. Reduce temperature, and simmer 5 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. (Optional: Cover with a lattice work of crust. I skipped this part because I don't like so much dough.) Evenly pour the sauce over the fruits, and the lattice crust if you made one.
  • Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes.



This pie is really simple to make, ready in no time at all, and is so delicious! Every time I make this I get nothing but compliments!

Link to the video tutorial

16 Jul 2010

China Glaze Vintage Vixen Swatches


Clockwise Thumb to Pinkie: Jitterbug, Midnight Mission, First Class Ticket, Emerald Fitzgerald, Bogie

Clockwise Thumb to Pinkie: Riveter Rouge, Foxy, Goin' My Way, Hey Doll, Ingrid

Top to Bottom: Classic Camel, Swing Baby





Here you can see all the nailpolishes swatched from the China Glaze Vintage Vixen collection for Fall 2010 - all without topcoat. At first when I heard these were mostly frost finishes, I was a bit skeptical, but in fact the finishes are pretty varied. Some have a very metallic, foil texture, while others have a more glass flecked finish. Riveter Rouge is a bit bumpy so you would need a good topcoat to smooth it out, and Goin' My Way and Hey Doll were a bit on the runny side. But other than that, the formula of these is really good. Definitely check out the collection in nail salons, beauty supply stores, or online retailers because there are some great colors in here for fall.

Watch my video review on Youtube

15 Jul 2010

Vacation Time + Upcoming Videos


Just letting you know that I'm going on holidays for 3 weeks to Vancouver on Saturday with my boyfriend, and I can't wait! I'm really looking forward to having some time off, and doing some traveling. We'll be going on a road- and camping trip to Vancouver Island as well, which is an absolutely beautiful part of Canada, and maybe even up to Whistler for a few days. Summer is definitely my favorite season to be in Vancouver because of the great weather and plethora of activities: biking, swimming, kiting, picnicking, hiking, camping, etc.

This means I'll be away from Youtube for 3 weeks, BUT I have pre-recorded lots of videos to upload during my holidays. (Not looking forward to uploading from my parent's slow Internet connection though, oy!)

Here's a list of upcoming videos, in random order:

Lime Crime Lipstick review
China Glaze Vintage Vixen Polish Overview
Soft, Wearable Colors for Summer Makeup Tutorial
Makeup Tutorial in German language
5 Minute Summer Updo Hair Tutorial
Cirque du Soleil Makeup Tutorial
My first cooking tutorial!

So fret not, there's bound to be something for everyone, and you'll be sure to get your "MissChievous fix" in those 3 weeks. (Not like you can't live without my videos, but you know what I mean, haha!) Now I still have to run some last minute errands, buy some gifts for family and friends, wash laundry and pack. Our flight is very early Saturday morning, so we'll probably have to get up at 5am or some inhuman hour.

OK so that's it, I'm off! See you soon :)

You can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook for updates and pictures during my time on holiday.

12 Jul 2010

Purple Naughty Eyes



I saw the following editorial pic on MAC's website, for their Naughty Lash collection, and I just thought it was sooo pretty and dramatic, so I decided to do my own version. Here is the MAC picture:



Well, mine is a bit different but I have no idea what that picture actually looked like before photoshoping and what products were used, so I just took a guess. I also changed the brows a bit because they were too drag queen-ish for my taste. Not an everyday look by any means, but why wear "everyday" makeup every day? :p




Face & Cheek
Revlon Photo Ready and Colorstay foundation both in Ivory, La Femme Lilac Champagne blush, Illamasqua Intrigue blush

Eyes
MAC Bare Canvas Paint, Ben Nye Cosmic Violet, Makeup Forever Nr. 92 , MAC Carbon, NYX White, Essence Black Mania kohl pencil, MAC Blacktrack Fluidline, lashes from ebay (generic brand), cosmetic glitter, Ben Nye Glitter Glue

Brows
MAC Brows in Spiked, MAC Carbon

Lips
Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss in Absorb

Link to the video tutorial on Youtube

8 Jul 2010

My Makeup Collection

After so many requests on Facebook, I decided to film an updated makeup collection and storage ideas videos. I'm really happy with my current set-up, so hopefully this will give you some ideas on how to create your own beauty space! I realize a lot of this stuff is from IKEA, but even places like Office Depot, Target and Walmart might have some good storage solutions.



I don't go crazy with buying too much makeup anymore, but I like to add new pieces now and then that will further my variety. So I won't buy my 10th nude color lipstick, but rather now I'd buy stuff that is very unique and I don't already have a similar product.

Link to the video.

4 Jul 2010

Eyeko Nailpolishes



Today I've got some Eyeko nailpolishes that were sent to me for review, so I gave them a whirl and also swatched the colors for you on my hand. Picture first, thoughts later!

Clockwise from thumb to pinkie: Eyeko polishes in Coral, Tea Rose, Posh, Vampira, Petite

My favorite from this collection is definitely Coral, it's such a bright, eye-popping shade, just the right blend of coral and red. I've seen swatch comparisons and it's a lot like MAC Scorcher nailpolish from the recent To The Beach collection, maybe a tinge less red and more coral. I've worn this several times as a manicure already and it also would look great on toes for the summer. I really do love this one!

Posh reminds me a lot of Sephora by OPI Metro Chic, it's in that mushroom taupe vein with a grey and brown undertone.

Vampira, which is hard to capture, is a black polish with lots of red glitter and shimmer inside. It didn't photograph so well on here, but it's in the same vein as China Glaze Lubu Heels.

Tea Rose is a slightly dusty pink-mauve shade, and Petite is a sheer light milky pink, great for French manicures. They were my least favorite of the bunch as these aren't the type of polishes I usually go for and I didn't find them unique or original in the slightest.

As for the quality, all except the sheer one were completely opaque in two coats with no visible nail line whatsoever. The texture is a bit on the thick side; they sort of remind me of Essie polishes but not streaky at all. The thing I didn't like so much is the inconsistency in the brushes, some had loose ends that make it hard to make a very neat application. But all in all, the quality was acceptable, even good.

Aside from Coral, I have to admit that I wasn't wowed in the originality department. While these are pretty shades, I feel like I've seen all of the colors before from other brands and they are easily duped, even with drugstore nailpolishes such as Barry M, Models Own, Sally Hansen, etc. I would be interested to see if Eyeko comes up with some more unique shades, instead of just following the current top nailpolish trends, to set themselves apart from other brands. Don't get me wrong, I like some of the colors, but I don't know how often I'll be reaching for these over more unique shades and finishes I have in my polish collection. Not exactly OMG-I-HAVE-TO-HAVE-IT colors, if you know what I mean, but nice nonetheless, and cute packaging if that's something you like.

These retail for £3.50 each for 8.5ml of product and are available at eyeko.com

Link to my video review

2 Jul 2010

DIY: Hair Extension Storage

Ever since I acquired some new hair extensions (review to come soon) I've been trying to figure out a way to store them in between use so they don't get all tangled. I didn't like the idea of laying them out in a drawer, or folding or tying them up somewhere, so I decided to make a DIY hair extension holder out of a coat hanger!

To do this you will need an enclosed coat hanger, some sturdy string, and scissors. Tie the string on one end of the hanger, and then wrap it multiple times around the hanger. At each end, wrap once around the hanger to make sure the strings stay in place and don't just slip off. Then when you have a few layers of the string, tie the end with a few knots and cut it off. This way each piece of the extension will have its own space, you won't have to clip multiple wefts onto one string.

And voila! Extension hanger extraordinaire! You could even cover this with a duster bag, the kind you get at the dry cleaners, but I don't have one.