Tantastic: Rimmel Sunshimmer Instant Tan

Hi lovelies, so I'm sure from my pictures you are able to tell that I have tan/olive coloured skin - well if not I have tan/olive coloured skin. Hence why I am someone who does not need to wear tan. However, one of my best buddies came round to my house a couple weeks back to get ready for a night out and she decided to rub a small amount of her tan product on my arm and that's where she got me and I decided to use it all over my legs. It was brilliant I absolutely loved it and I even went and bought myself a tube! 

Reasons to grab one yourself:

*No mess
*Easy to apply
*Inexpensive (£3.32 Superdrug U.K store)
*Fast dry
*Washes off easily
*Can be worn all year round for a bit of colour
*Available in water-resistant

What tan products do you swear by? Or ones that you don't ... let me know. 

Priya♥

His and Hers Christmas Jumpers

Ho Ho Ho, hope you are all getting in the festive spirit because unfortunately I'm feeling like the Grinch this year, not big on the festive spirit of Christmas but maybe its because I'm an atheist or maybe it's because there's only me and the mother at home and not even a tree this year :( . Well anyway enough of that jibber jabber nonsense... I still love the great old cheesy Christmas jumpers hence why I grabbed  one at Primark for £9 which was quite exciting and its in a crop style which I totally love. Nowadays though its not really a cheesy jumpers fest but more of a fashion statement but oh well its all for the joys of Christmas.

Here are a few jumpers to give you some ideas on whatever tickles your pickle bastes your Turkey?

Top line:
New Look
Topshop
Ebay

Bottom line:
Next
Ebay
Next

My Christmas Jumper

Primark £9

What festive jumpers did you find this Winter? 

Priya ♥

Lush: Father Christmas

Father Christmas

I recently got a Lush Father Christmas bath bomb from my loved one and unfortunately like the goon I am I didn't use it correctly, so in other words I failed to enjoy it. To be fair its more annoying when there is no description attached when purchasing these products. For example, when receiving it as a gift your not to know what to do with them, hence I didn't know what to do until I got in the bath and decided to Google it, as I did begin to think where are the bubbles... and the annoying part where I read 'Bath Bomb' and compared the picture on the Lush website to how my bath was looking - which was nothing alike. Next time I receive a gift from Lush I will be sure to read it on the website as I am not talented enough to know that it was a bath bomb. So yes, very gutted about that but I still thought I'd show you what mine turned out like and to warn you in case you make the same mistake as myself which I'm pretty sure you won't.

Any Lush products that I should give a go?
+
How did your Father Christmas turn out?



Priya♥

Cut out boots

Three things I love about cut out boots

• Edgy look to spice up an outfit *buckles and gold detailing*
• Comfortable
• Wear all year round

I am so loving the cut out boots this season, these bad boys are big on trend after making quite a statement in the short summer we had in the U.K. Even better for my favourite season, Autumn/Winter 2013 they are bigger, better and bolder :) so flaunt a bit'a flesh haha. 

I love winter wear because its all layers and more layers but these cut out boots just knock that out the window with its cut out style! 

I've put together a collection of cut out boots from different places on the internet to give you an idea of what is out there, with a little description by me along with my verdict.

1. AMARIE Cut Out Boots

£68.00

Suede boots can get muggy in this kind of weather so I try to stay away from these. They are different to the rock and roll look as there more feminine with it being a pointy toe style. I feel like the pointy toe also elongates the front of the shoe making the foot look big from the side. However the gold buckled straps are different to the others that I have seen which are really pretty but again I prefer the bold look. Also unsure of comfortability, looking at the collection this pair do not have a platform heel which I tend to find difficult to wear all day.
 

Verdict: 3/5

2. Jasmine Ornate Boot

• £65.00

First point > Expensive boots! I think these are a lovely pair of boots again different to some others considering the unusual cut out shape, gold toe detailing, two different buckle straps, and the detail on the back of the boots. I do feel like the gold toe detail elongates the shoe and making the foot look longer.

Verdict: 3/5

3. Cut Out Chunky Biker Gold Buckle Boots 

£24.99

The more grungy look! I love it, I love the placement of the gold detail and the fact that they are available on Ebay makes it even better as I am ever so gutted about missing out on the Topshop Anchor cut out boots but these make it that little bit less painful! 

Verdict: 5/5
 * W I N N E R * 

4. Womens Ladies Cut Out zip up buckles faux leather block Chelsea ankle boots

£24.99

Best choice for versatile wear because there are just so many different types out there and so the fact that they are just a pair of the classic Chelsea boots but they are a lot snazzier with cut out detailing and gold buckles. Great in the rain too - fabric wise, not in including the cut out of course and easier to clean then suede.
(Dupe: 7. Shanwee Leather Buckled Cut Out Boots In Black)

Verdict: 4/5

5. ASOS ALBERT Cut Out Ankle Boots

£40.00

A little less crazy than some, very plain old Jane for the price. Again, similar to the classic Chelsea boots with silver pin buckles.

Verdict: 2/5

6. Heather Black Suede Cut Out Chelsea Boots

£30.00

Again, another kind of Chelsea styled boots in Suede material with plain Jane silver pin buckles. I must say I do love the cut out detail and although they are not quite as pointy as the Topshop ones (N.o 1) they give it a much nicer feminine look, very casual but easy to glam up an outfit for evening wear.

Verdict: 4/5


So what is your verdict?

Also, I recently found these two low-heeled pair of cut out boots that I believe are very swanky.

Arabel2 Cut Out Boots

Almo Black Double Buckle

Have you got your eye on any?

Priya♥

Stood Stud on the edge

At the moment I am currently adoring my new Zara studded boots which I picked up on the online sale for only £20.00. It was a splurge of the moment as I had an email to tell me at midnight the sale would hit. I don't usually shop in Zara unless I know what I want. I was so excited to get these seeing as to me they were like the coolest things I was about to own - even though I had no idea what I would wear them with or how I'd style them. I have been after ankle length boots with a mid heel like these for ages seeing as I can never stick to the same item after sometime such as my wedged ankle boots from 'H and M' last year and bought two pairs. 

In verdict after having them for a month or so now they are very comfortable to wear but like any heeled shoes after a long period of time of course my feet seem to cave in.
They've made a sweet addition to my autumn wear. What's even better is pairing them with Topshop's frilly ankle socks (*3 for £8 baby) for the cold weather and so much to choose from!

For those in the U.K or more specifically in the West these boots or any other kind of ankle boots they pair so nicely with midi skirts and dresses, ankle grazer jeans/jeggings, leggings and tights! 

- Autumn / Winter 2013 - 2014 -
C U T  O U T  B O O T S
Cropping up more this season
Here Soon...

Priya♥

Parma Violet

I find it to be a true battle when it comes to trying to find complimentary nail colours that suit my skin. Most of my nail varnish collection varies from Barry M, No7, Essie, Rimmel London, Seche Vite and Topshop . I love purchasing nail polishes from Topshop because the colours that I have at the moment are so nice especially on my skin and this month I have been loving Topshops 'Parma Violet'. I think the best thing about this product is purely down to the fact that Ume picked it and bought it for me *feeling loved*. It goes on ever so nicely and doesn't look streaky with one coat. However,  I like to double up on the coats because it gives it a fuller effect of the colour. The price however is a bit of a pickle for me as £5.00 for a bottle of nail polish seems a bit much ... although my boyfriends student discount is also always a bonus. To be fair the price is worth it seeing as I was totally drawn by it. There a quite a few polishes I always have my eyes on at Topshop which is a downer because I want them all *not being greedy* keep your eyes peeled for my Autumn nail hot picks.

Parma Violet with low flash

Priya♥

When Life Gives You Lemons... MAKE A CAKE

Lemon Madeira Cake

I have been dying to bake a cake since the last time, which was quite a few months back and especially after spending quite a lot of money on the new Cake Decorating magazines (issues 1-18) I needed to make use of the utensils with the magazines. 

Me and Ume wanted to start off basic but not too basic like a sponge cake so a Madeira cake it was and lemon is another love of mine. 

We followed the recipe from BBC Food

Click here for the recipe

It was a delight if I say so myself

Priya ♥

Birmingham International Food Fair

Om nom nom nom nom nom nom

Yes the Birmingham International Food Fair was here for a week and five days and today it has unfortunately ended.

Me and my boyfriend Ume had gone on the first day and were hoping to go back on the last day but never made it back.
Our first stall was the Olives *olives galore*. We picked out a few as it was a help yourself kind of service and we didn't think it would be £**.** (oops). But it was worth it and still expensive. 

It seemed that a lot of the stalls were just duplicated such as Caribbean/Indian/Thai cuisines and more.
Like Ume said that there's not much point in spending a lot of money on certain foods that are available to you on a daily basis such as noodles or paella and with reasonable prices. Unlike the goat curry which we haven't really spotted around Birmingham it was worth our while and inexpensive. 

"Visitors will have the opportunity to try out the different specialities and flavours from countries including France, Germany, Poland, Holland, Italy and Spain as well as further afield such as Australia and the Far East.

Exotic dry fruits from Iran, breads and pastries from Austria and a typical Australian barbeque can be found alongside Sicilian biscuits and nougat, Thai noodles, fine French bread, cheeses and wine as well as a good hearty German grill.  These are just some of the foods for visitors to try and buy to take home.

The Best of the Midlands will also be represented with traditional produce and locally brewed drinks and food from local restaurants with a Regional Food Fair and includes award winning local cheeses, ostrich burgers and traditional pork scratchings."

 Birmingham International Food Fair

The olives were a big 10 out of 10 because we love our olives and my favourites were stuffed garlic,and stuffed feta cheese.

As we have never tried Goat curry from the Caribbean range we gave it a go and again we had another 10 out 10 dish served with rice and salad. To me the texture of the goat meat was a similar texture to the texture of lamb.

I think know that the highlight of my day was a cold, refreshing can of G R A P E  S O D A!

Did you get yourself down there or ever been to something similar?

Priya ♥

Bloglovin

Follow my updated blog with bloglovin

Welcome to Cosmo Cube!

That's right I'm back so long peeping beauty - its all about the comso-ness!

A huge apology for my AWOL

But I'm back now but I'm still trying to juggle working everyday, with seeing family and friends and then blogging and plenty other stuff.

So anyway the news behind Cosmo cube is purely because when I say I'm no expert in beauty or fashion I am not an expert haha its just my personal interest's and opinion's but I'm still blogging my fashion and beauty loves. Therefore the reason we now have Cosmo cube is to write about anything I want, to share stuff such as beauty to food recipes, from food recipes to TV shows and so forth.

Hope the UK-ers have enjoyed our somewhat scorching summer, weather update for those in the West Midlands that the forecast shows a sunny/clear week ahead.


Embrace what you have

Priya ♥

As versatile as a pair of black pumps

H&M strappy sandals


Hi guys, hope you are all well. These baby's are my pair of strappy sandals that I knew I just had to pick these up because of the price, the block (easy walking) heel and  the velcro fastening (again easy).


These beauties are my latest fashion love because as I said in my previous post on strappy sandals they go with anything that you can make work. I have only yet paired them with my Easy A American Apparel Jeans from Asos and rolled them up to ankle height to show a bit of skin  which gives the elongation effect on my legs and giving it more of elegant and feminine look.


+ a better way to show off this summers nail pots on your tippy toes - unlike peep toes !!


on a scale one 1 being comfortable and 10 being painful I would say the comfort of these shoes fall on a number 4.
The strap at the front of the shoe does tend to rub quite a bit on the toe where I have had to wear plasters which don't really stay put (annoying). I've lasted well in these heels for 9 hours the most and  personally I'm usually in ankle wedged boots most days rather than flats.


H&M are also doing other colours in these shoes * metallic silver *


I definitely still want to invest in the Zara strappy sandals out the lot and even the new look ones maybe, but then I hate getting similar dupes because I think I'll fall in love with one specific item and forget about the other one (which has happened and I do a lot of that). Also to be honest with the weather being all wet and wild  I feel as though I'd rather invest in something I can get use out of. But they are still ever so pretty to wear at any occasion :)

Sorry for the poor quality just thought I'd show how they looked on me,


xxxx

What would you pair them with?

Boyfriends Buntastic BBQ for two

Hey guys so I thought to share you with you a few pictures I took last Friday when the weather was raring to go..* unlike today * 

I've never really had a proper big family type BBQ probably for the obvious reason - Big Family, which is why I can't wait to have a family of my own and make it big whether its a small number or big. I must say I enjoyed this one thoroughly. Its even better because although my family is scattered I fortunately get to enjoy the other halves family get-together's. I can remember two BBQ's one of which was at my Uncle and Aunts house back in Manchester which is amazing because my auntie knows how to make everything sparkle and she even made her own punch. The second time was three years back now to my first year at uni where it was the end of exams and all that hard work had been accomplished...myself, Ume, and a few other uni mates decided to kick back at uni halls garden with the little portable BBQ's. We even had to warm up the food in the oven first because of how awful those little BBQ's were but it was a pleasant time and something I miss dearly *so much fun*.

So this Friday just gone was absolutely amazing even with the two of us it was just ever so nice and as it was a spur of the moment thing, as Ume called me after I finished work asking if I was up for it I didn't really see any good reason in turning it down, especially with the weather. We managed to catch somewhat of the sun as we shot off to the shops to grab a few things. The only let down was the fact that we were disappointed because we couldn't find anything lamb type to grill (and we love lamb) in all the places we went. But it was still such an epic time with the frankfurters, the sausages, the chicken wings, the Mediterranean vegetables and the quorn burgers (that came out amazing thanks to my amazing chef).  Yup, that's the boyfriend. 

I just love BBQ's its just the best way to eat food hot off the trot, all the glorious sunshine and just being outdoors.