Dinner At Berners Tavern

I recently experienced Private Dining at the Michelin Star Chef  Jason Atherton's restaurant Berners Tavern at the London Edition Hotel. Situated just off Oxford street, Berners Tavern is a gastronomy gem. Billed as a place for all day dining and entertainment, the restaurant offers a contemporary British menu that is simple yet elegant. The setting is chic, stylish yet relaxed.

On the night that I went (a weekday) it had a great buzzy atmosphere and was full of beautiful, glamorous people. I have heard that George Clooney is a fan...

We were taken to the Private Dining Room above the restaurant.

I chose the following options from the menu

Starter

Middle white pork and pistachio pate, spiced pear puree, toasted sourdough

The starter was a course pate and it was a fantastic choice to start the meal, there was plenty of bread for the pate and the pear puree was a perfect balance of sweet and spice. Very nice.

Main 

Creedy Carver duck, braised leg, caramel apples, pickled plum puree, turnips

The main was deceivingly filling. The duck was succulent and melt in your mouth. The vegetables the ideal accompaniment and the sweet caramel apples completed the meal. Absolutely delicious.

Dessert 

Caramel apple and Calvados éclair, Devon 

A beautiful dessert. This looked pretty on the plate and was a taste explosion in the mouth. The eclair was light. The salted caramel ice cream..to die for. I am a huge pudding person and this hit the spot entirely.

Exceptional food, a venue that you won't want to leave. I was seduced and I think you will  be too. Try it, you won't be disappointed.

Berners Tavern -10 Berners Street, London W1T 3NP Tel: +44 (0)20 7908 7979

Instant Radiance With Too Faced Sweetheart Beads Radiant Glow Face Powder

I do love glowing, radiant skin and although I do have a strict beauty routine that I rarely skip on there are of course times when my skin can do with a quick fix/boost of radiance. The fastest way to cheat your way to radiant skin that positively glows is with a highlighting product. I have many liquids, sticks and powders exactly for this purpose and I tend to use them mostly on my cheekbones...

However, right now I am absolutely loving this pretty heart beads from Too Faced. Too Faced Sweetheart Beads Radiant Glow Face Powder is a pretty, vintage style tin that looks like it should contain sweeties.. what it does contain however is cute radiance imparting hearts of varying shades of pinks, golds, bronzes and browns.

Too Faced say

- Blendable multi-coloured heart pearls for a natural glow
- Can be used for buildable colour or a hint of shimmer
- To illuminate and brighten the skin

My thoughts

Swirling your brush around in the pot, you can apply all over the face for the most beautiful subtle sheen of radiance, or just apply as you would as a highlighter. It is completely buildable for more depth and warmth if required. I personally love the pretty gleam it provides, my face looks fantastically healthy and glowing without leaving an oily or greasy appearance.

Illuminate, brighten, shimmer and glow. The Radiant Glow Face Powder does it all.

Very, very nice product.

Too Faced Sweetheart Beads Radiant Glow Face Powder £26

*PR Sample

Pond's Institute Cold Cream Cleanser Review

Pond's Cold Cream Cleanser was my very first recommendation and review on BeautySwot.com and four years down the line I am returning full circle and am pleased to say that I still recommend it.

Rebranded Pond's Institute and the pot having undergone a little makeover the contents are just as good as they always were...

Pond's Institute say

The Cold Cream Cleanser cleanses the skin deep down without drying it and leaves your skin perfectly clean.

The deep cleansing action removes hidden dirt and make up, even stubborn waterproof mascara.

Its special blend of ingredients softens the skin as they deep cleanse so your complexion feels smooth- never tight or dry.

My thoughts 

The cream has a delicate rose scent, to use you apply a layer of cold cream and massage it in, then I use a warm, wet muslin to wash it off and then finish with a splash of cold water. It removes makeup, including my eye make up effectively and skin feels so clean after. Skin is left super soft and positively glowing, looking and feeling clean it doesn't feel tight at all.

A classic cleanser at an incredibly budget, bargain price.

A winner in my book.

Pond's Institute Cold Cream Cleanser 50ml £3.40

January GlossyBox 2014 - Back To Basics

January's GlossyBox is themed 'Back To Basics' with a range of products 'designed to get you back on the road to moisturised, toned, healthy skin, bright eyes and sculpted eyebrows' ..all sounds good doesn't it?

What's Inside The January 2014 GlossyBox 

So what did I get in my GlossyBox this month?

Yu-Be Moisturising Skin Cream 2 x 3g mini samples (full size product £13.50 for 33g)

Described as a skincare essential, I recently reviewed this product and I can confirm I do love it. Enriched with vitamins E and B2, a high glycerine content and camphor this really works. However it would have been fantastic if it had been a full sized product.

Balance Me Super Toning Body Wash 50ml (full size £10.25 for 250ml)

I haven't had a chance to try this body wash yet but it smells good and it comes in a generous sample size. Excellent for a weekend away. It contains a blend of juniper, bergamot, geranium and lavender essential oils and is paraben free.

The Vintage Cosmetic Company Floral Slanted Tweezers £8 

These are pretty tweezers. I must admit I am a Tweezerman girl through and through but I have already used these and so far so good and they look perfect in my Cath Kidston makeup bag!

Anatomicals Puffy The Eye Bag Slayer Wake-Up Under Eye Patches pack of 2 (£6 for pack of 3)

These under eye patches will apparently reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and revitalise the skin around the eyes.. I am looking forward to pepping my peepers so watch this space for a review of these very soon!

Montagne Jeunesse Passion Peel Off Masque & Blemish Mud Masque £1.09 each

Deep cleansing masks. I stopped using masks when I got psoriasis on my face a couple of months ago. Now it has cleared up I will be giving these a go. I do like MJ masks, the Passion Peel sounds very fruity and who doesn't love a mud pack :)

Final thoughts 

Opening up this box I thought it looked pretty empty, the products were tiny and there wasn't any pretty makeup to reel me in. However what GlossyBox has delivered this month is a box full of useful items and products that I will be using so actually it is a pretty good box this month. Yes I would have loved a full size beauty product somewhere in there but value wise it is not a bad box and for the theme .. it is a perfect fit.

Roll on February Box

A Spring Makeup Look

This was my make-up look on Saturday. I saw a glimmer of Sun and fancied something a little brighter than my usual taupe/neutral go to on the eyes.. I opted for a splash of Spring with this gorgeous Kiko Loose Pigment in Sunny Coral. 

I kept it very simple.

I prepped the area with Kiko Pearly Eye Base £6.90, a gorgeous and light eye brightening base that can be worn alone or under eye shadow.. it also keeps eye make-up in place all day. I followed by applying the Kiki Loose Pigment in Sunny Coral £5.90 all over the eyelid. I used the really rather brilliant Kiko Eyes 203 Flat Base Brush to apply the loose pigment and it kept all the product on the brush so I experienced no fall out and it blended nicely. I completed the look by lining my eyes with Clinique Quickliner Intense in Intense Plum £15. I love the Quickliner as it really is so quick to apply a strong line and it stays put. Finally I used Max Factor Masterpiece Max Mascara £9.99 for pretty, soft defined lashes. The wand coats all my lashes creating more volume. Fabulous.

What do you think?

Remington Keratin Therapy Pro Curl Tong Review

I use the Remington Therapy Pro Straightener to straighten my hair, I am really happy with how easy it is to use and the results it gives, having used it for quite a while now I am confident that it protects my hair.

A couple of days ago I dried my hair, then straightened it as I normally do and it did look lovely but as I had a spare 10 minutes I thought I might try something a little different..I dug out the Remington Keratin Therapy Pro Curl Tong, had a quick look online for how to use it. I plugged it in, it took just seconds to heat up and away I went. Although the tong temperature can be set from 130 degrees up to 210 degrees (in 20 degree increments) I opted for 190 as this was my first time and I wanted to get a feel for the tool. The look I was trying to create was soft waves and a bit of volume as opposed to tight curls. For this I took wider sections of hair and wrapped it around the barrel, holding it in place for 10 seconds (mine were fast 10 seconds, blame the fear of the unknown ;-))

The result you can see is above.

Remington say 

You can style to your heart’s content whilst creating stunning curls with the Keratin Therapy Pro Curl Tong. The Advanced Keratin Ceramic coated barrel is infused with Keratin Micro Conditioners that transfer to your hair as you style. With a 19mm barrel, 210°C heat up and five different heat settings to tailor the temperature to your hair type, achieving enviable, healthy looking curls couldn’t be easier.

Features 

Professional 19mm curling tong
Advanced Keratin Ceramic coated barrel
Integrated digital temperature display, 5 setting 130°-210°C
Heat up in 30 seconds
Ready indicator – display stops flashing
Auto shut off after 60 minutes
Heat resistant pouch
Worldwide voltage
Swivel cord – 2.5M
5 year guarantee

My thoughts 

I was surprised as to just how easy the Pro Curl Tong was to use. How I could create a different look so quickly, with very little effort. This is exactly the kind of hair tool I like, I hate fuss and fiddly things so this is perfect. It is light to hold, has a lovely long cord and you can adjust the heat setting based on your hair type.

Big thumbs up from me!

Remington Keratin Therapy Pro Curl Tong £29.99 

*PR Sample 

Maybelline Color Show Nail Polish in Mauve Kiss - Nails Of The Day

Maybelline Color Show Nail Polish is described as their first transparent gel based formula combining bold, crisp color with a runway-inspired wardrobe for your nails.

Mauve Kiss is a brown shade with a purple accent, a perfect warm Winter colour. Depending on how much product is on the brush you can paint your nails with just one coat..bizarrely one of my hands I applied one coat to and the other I needed two to achieve opacity. The brush is good for easy application and it dried quite quickly.

Maybelline Color Show Nail Polish costs £2.99 and is available in 41 shades