HOW TO: BAKE A JAPANESE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

I am a pretty lazy baker these days, but I had to share this recipe for my new favourite cake! This is a beautifully light and soft sponge (which was decorated for my SnowRunner-loving boyfriend, construction vehicle decoration is optional!). I actually doubled the recipe below to make a mega cake, so scale up if you want a cake with height!

Heads up - this recipe involves leaving the cake to rest overnight before decorating/eating, so if you are looking for a cake to bake today, you will have to skip this step. 

You will need:

Cake 

• 3 large eggs
• 115g caster sugar
• 100g plain flour
• 40ml milk
• 25g unsalted butter

Syrup

• 60ml water
• 30g sugar

Icing

• 300ml fresh whipping cream
• 20g sugar

Start by preheating your oven to 170°C and grease and line a 7 inch cake tin.

Separate the egg yolk and egg whites (it's actually easiest to do this with your hands!).  Place the egg whites in a large clean bowl and then, using an electric mixer on medium speed, gradually add the sugar into the bowl. Beat the egg whites and sugar together until stiff peaks form.

Still using the mixer, add the egg yolks into the egg white and sugar mixture. 

Then, using a big spatula, gently fold the sifted flour through this mixture until it is all mixed in. Be careful not to over-mix at this point, you want to keep all of that lovely air in the batter! 

Take a small bowl, and mix the milk and melted butter together. Now, take a small amount of the egg white mixture and stir it into the milk and melted butter. Mixing a bit of the batter with milk and butter stops the dairy from deflating the batter - the mission is to keep your sponge as airy as possible! Then add the milk/butter/batter to the rest of the egg white mixture and stir until its all mixed in.

Pour the cake batter into your cake tin, and bake for 35-40 minutes (you'll know it's ready when a skewer or sharp knife comes out of the cake clean). Resist the urge to open your oven when it is baking!

Once the cake's done, drop the cake tin onto your kitchen counter (this breaks the steam bubbles inside the cake and means your cooled cake will have a better structure). Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely. When it's cool, wrap in clingfilm and leave at room temperature overnight - this makes for a tastier cake!

The next day,  slice the cake in half (I chose to double the recipe and used two separate cake pans so I skipped this step). Mix the water and sugar to make a syrup, and brush this onto the two cut sides of sponge. 

Whip the cream and sugar until it's nice and fluffy, then decorate your cake. In the middle I layered cream, then sliced strawberries, then more cream, and I piped cream on top. Enjoy!

HALLOWEEN BAKING IDEAS

I'm a pretty lazy baker these days (my previous applying-for-Bake-Off-self wouldn't be proud), but if there's anything that's going to motivate me, it's Halloween inspired baking. I just love themed things!

I've been busy on pinterest, picking out the creepiest cakes and the most devilish of desserts, which would all be a delight, whether you are throwing a party, hanging out with pals, or just want to creep out your colleagues.

I'm particularly in love with the brushstroke ghost cake (so cute! so on-trend!), the blood-splattered cookies are simple, but very effective, and I have a sweet spot for gory things, so the gruesome anatomical heart cake is definitely a showstopper (ahem, and I'm possibly biased because I baked that myself). Whatever you choose to do, have a delicious Halloween!

Top row

Blood splattered cookies | Brushstroke ghost cake | Graveyard chocolate mousse

Middle row

Poisoned apple cake pops | Cobweb cupcakes | Monster smores

Bottom row

Ghost drip cake | Anatomical heart cupcakes | Chocolate bat bites

HOW TO: COOKIES OF CATAN

It's been an age since I last shared a baking post on here, so I wanted to share my absolute favourite thing that I baked last year... an entirely edible (and playable) Settlers of Catan cookie board. Cookies of Catan!

If you've never heard of Settlers of Catan, where have you been? It's a seriously-addictive German strategy board game. You play as a settler on the island of Catan, building houses and roads while trading and getting resources from the land you've built. It's really competitive, and you have to try and outwit your pals, whilst also keeping them on your side so you can trade with them. Does that sound mega complicated? I promise it's really fun!

My friend said she wanted to have a chilled birthday, staying in and playing Catan, so Josh and I decided to do one better and surprise her with a totally edible board. It took us HOURS to make, but it was so satisfying, the surprise totally worked,

I used a simple sugar cookie recipe to make the biscuits, as we needed something that would keep its shape pretty well, and would be sturdy enough to hold all the decorations. We actually made half the batch using a chocolate sugar cookie recipe (this one, I believe), but Nigella's was far better - if you're going to do this, I'd keep it simple!

The Catan board is made up of hexagonal tiles. I used a 3D printed cookie cutter (the benefits of being pals with Edinburgh International Science Festival!), but you can buy hexagon cutters online easily enough.

We cut the dough into hexagons and went over each cookie with the cutter again, once it was out the oven and had cooled slightly, just to make sure the lines were sharp and the cookies were the same size - the board had to slot together, so it was important to try and be as precise as possible!

The board is made up of six different types of tile: wheat, sheep, wood, red brick, stone ore and the sea (with one extra desert tile where the robber lives). For each type of tile we made a fondant base: light green for the sheep, dark green for the forest,  yellow for the wheat, a red brick pattern for the brick, and swirly grey for the stone ore and swirly blue for the sea. This obviously took AGES, but was well worth it, and much better than just using icing - I think it's so much cleaner looking and it's obvious what each tile is meant to be!

The fun bit was making decorations for each tile. We made tiny sheep out of marshmallows with fondant heads, tiny fondant trees (with little red icing dots for apples), and little fondant stones with silver decorative balls.

Each tile had to have a number - these match the dice you roll during the game, so these were made out of fondant using an edible ink pen.

It took an entire day to bake and assemble, but it was so much fun, and it totally worked as a playable board (it's a little rough around the edges, but shhh, it doesn't matter). Definitely worth trying if you also happen to share a love of intense board games, biscuits, and fiddly decorating!

HOW TO: HALLOWEEN MAKEUP USING EVERYDAY PRODUCTS

Halloween's coming! It's one of my favourite times of year because I am such a sucker for dressing up and using any excuse to pretend I can do fancy dress make up.

Last year was a Halloween dream! I was in Florida with my best pal and we went to Universal Studio's Halloween Horror Nights (which was genuinely terrifying, but really fun and definitely helped by tequila!). This year, for the first time in ages, I have no party plans, although I am planning to terrify myself by watching The Shining on the big screen at Filmhouse - maybe I need to dig out a pinafore, so I can come to work dressed as Wendy?

Anyway, as I'm not getting the chance to properly dress up this year, I thought I'd embrace #throwbackthursday and share some of my previous Halloween how to's! As ever, let me stress, I obviously am an amateur! This is just a guide to how you can do super easy Halloween looks using products you are very likely to have in your make up bag already. If I can do it, you definitely can.

Cute?

Want to dress up, but keep it cute?

Creepy doll makeup | Galaxy makeup | Bambi makeup

Creepy?

Think Halloween needs to be creepy?

Spooky face makeup | Bloody zip face makeup | Bloody staple face makeup

Aaand, just in case you don't have an excuse to dress up, but still want to mark the occasion...

Tasty? 

Definitely more tasty than makeup

Bloody anatomical heart cake | Haunted gingerbread house | Spiderweb chocolate cake

You can see the full list of my Halloween tutorials here! 

HOW TO: 60'S INSPIRED MAKE UP & WIN TICKETS TO HAIRSPRAY!

I love playing with makeup, so I was absolutely up for the challenge when Hairspray the Musical UK Tour asked me to take on a 1960's inspired make up look!

I wanted to try something that was different from my everyday look, but didn't look too costumey, so I went for dark eyes, big lashes, and a bouncy ponytail. If you fancy adding a bit of 60's inspo to your life, here's how I did it...

To start, use a neutral eyeshadow lightly on your eyelids (I used a cream pink shadow). Get a dark brown or black eyeliner, and line the crease of your eye. Get a small fluffy brush, and smudge the line so it isn't quite as harsh. 

Line your upper lash line with black eyeliner. I used a kohl pencil at first on my eyelid, smudged it slightly with my finger, then went over the line closer to my lashes with black liquid eyeliner. Wing your eyeliner into a 60's cat eye flick! (I've got an eyeliner tutorial here if you need it).

Nextine your bottom lash line with black eyeliner, and smudge slightly with your finger or a small fluffy brush. Use a white eye pencil to line your water line - this feels a bit weird if you've not done it before, but just do small strokes to avoid stabbing yourself in the eye.

Then, for a proper nod to Twiggy, get some liquid eyeliner and paint little eyelash dashes underneath your eye. Add false eyelashes and mascara, and you are done!

Hairspray is on tour around the UK until the end of May, and they've very kindly given me a a pair of tickets to their Edinburgh performance in the Edinburgh Playhouse on Monday 22nd February.

For a chance to win, just follow the instructions below! The winner will be picked on Monday 15th February. Please only enter if you can come to Edinburgh that evening (obv). Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

HOW TO: MAKE A WICKED BLOODY MARY

I'm a fairly recent convert to Bloody Marys (I've been wimpy about spicy things for a long time), but I've come round to the joy that is this ridiculous (yet acceptable) boozy weekend breakfast drink.

Last year on Boxing Day we made the most amazing Bloody Marys, served with a seafood, quail's egg and bacon garnish that was taller than the drink (I say 'we', it was actually handed to me by Joshua, Bloody Mary-extraordinaire). You don't need actual food when you've got one of these bad boys, it's the perfect Boxing Day or New Year's breakfast!

Here's how you do it...

Drink:

• Ice cubes
• Double shot of vodka
• 6 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• 3 dashes Tabasco sauce
• Tomato juice (to fill the glass)
• Lemon
• Garlic salt

Rim the glass with lemon juice and garlic salt. Put a couple of ice cubes in the glass, add the vodka, then the rest of the ingredients and mix! 

Garnish:

• King prawns
• Quail egg
• Lemon rind
• Bacon
• Celery

Hard boil the egg and pan fry the prawns and bacon. Assemble on skewers and add to your drink with a sprig of celery - it's not a Bloody Mary unless there's celery!

Enjoy (responsibly)!

HOW TO: BAKE A GIN & TONIC CAKE

A few weeks ago, my lovely friend Lucy had a gin-themed birthday party. Joshua & I turned the flat into a gin lounge with personalised cocktail menus, a very well-stocked bar, and candles everywhere, and I made a very boozy, very lovely gin and tonic birthday cake.

I've wanted to make a gin and tonic cake for AGES, after spotting this cupcake recipe on Katie Cakes, so I tweaked the recipe a little (and added considerably more gin!). It turned into a light, fluffy and zesty cake that was perfect for the party.

You will need...

Cake:

• 175g unsalted butter
• 175g caster sugar
• 175g self-raising flour
• 3 medium eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons of tonic water
• 2 tablespoons of gin (I used a 50ml miniature of Edinburgh Gin)

Start by preheating your oven to 170 degrees C, and line your cake tins - I used two 9 inch tins with parchment paper, greased with butter (there is nothing more annoying than trying to get a cake out of a pan, so I always over-grease!).

Beat the sugar and butter in a bowl until it's light and creamy. Then add the eggs, mixing them in one at a time. Add in the flour and baking powder, stir it into the mixture, and then mix in the tonic water and vanilla essence. Add the mixture to your cake tins, put them in the oven and then LEAVE THE OVEN ALONE for at least 30 minutes. My cakes took about 45 minutes to bake, but I was using a slightly old oven, so yours might be quicker - just remember that if you open the oven door too early, you'll risk flattening your poor rising cake. It's better to leave it for slightly too long, than have it collapse on you!

Once the cake is golden, and a skewer comes out clean, remove from the tins and place on a cooling rack. While tit's still hot, pierce all over the sponge with a skewer, and brush gin all over the cake.

Icing & filling:

• 500g icing sugar
• 250g butter 
• 100g lemon curd
• The rest of your little bottle of gin
• Zest of 1 lime
  

For the icing, mix icing sugar and butter until it's smooth and fluffy. Add in four tablespoons of gin and a squeeze of lime and whisk again. For the filling, mix lemon curd with the whatever gin you have left.

Then put your two sponges together with a layer of icing and lemon curd between them, add icing on top, and decorate with lime zest, lemon peel, and a few copper sprinkles. Enjoy!

HALLOWEEN HOW TO:PASTEL GOTH MAKE UP

Happy Halloween everyone! It's been such a fun month playing about with Halloween make up tutorials again this year - I've been sparkly and glittery in galaxy-inspired make up, looked a bit startled in Queen of Hearts make up, grunged up as Furiosa from Mad Max, and embraced my gory side with bloody stapled face make up. It's been a bit rough round the edges at times, but it's been fun to do, and that's sort of the whole point of these tutorials - if I can do them, you can too!

River Island got in touch to challenge me to put together a #RITrick or a #RITreat make up look, so I couldn't resist doing one more post. I was sent a selection of accessories and make up to inspire me, including this adorable comb-in hair chalk - which I knew I wanted to use! It reminded me of the type of thing I would have loved as a teenager, so that's what inspired this look - it's grungey, but still a bit pretty, and requires nothing other than a steady hand putting on eyeliner (the mantra of my teenage years!).

So, if you want to look a little spooky, and don't mind channelling 16 year old Juliet, here's what you need to use:

• Black liquid eyeliner
• Black kohl pencil eyeliner
• Eyeshadows in a variety of pastel colours (I used yellow, pinks and purples)
• Black eyeshadow (I used a NARS Shadow Stick)
• Mascara
• False eyelashes (I used Eylure volume lashes)
• Purple lipstick (I used Barry M)
• Fake spiders
• Hair chalk

Start by building up the colours of your pastel smokey eye. I used a glittery light yellow in the corner of my eye, then layered a pinky-peach colour on top of that.

I then took a fluffy little brush and a slightly darker pink, and swept this quite dramatically all around my eye, pulling the colour down onto the tops of my cheeks (I wanted to look a bit grungey - almost like the area was bruised) and sweeping out towards my ears.

I then added purple eyeshadow to the outer corners of my eyes, and used a brush to blend these all together. So far, so colourful!

Now to get a bit darker! Blend in black shadow along your lower lash, and use your finger to make it a bit smudgey (the NARS shadow stick is great for this). Take your kohl eyeliner and carefully go along your waterline, and then use liquid eyeliner to create a cat's eye with a dramatic flick.

Use your liquid eyeliner to draw on small spiders around your eyes (or the best spider-like blobs you can do!). This bit is completely inspired by Valfre - an illustrator who draws super sassy girls with star freckles (she also makes the best accessories, check out her phone cases!).

Then to finish up, put on purple lipstick (I used a light purple, and dabbed a darker purple eyeshadow onto it), and pin some spiders in your hair! Use the hair chalk to brush through the ends of your hair, for a pinky/purpley vibe. Dress top to toe in black, and scowl at anyone you see. Have fun!

HALLOWEEN HOW TO:BLOODY STAPLE FACE

I've got another Halloween tutorial for you, and this time I've gone mega gory. I love a scary Halloween costume, it's the only time of year that you have an excuse to cover yourself in blood and spook your pals (that's a normal thing to like, right?).

One of my favourite make up looks I've ever done was my bloody zip face, so I took inspiration from that to do a slightly different version. Say hello to staple face!

You will need:

• Red eyeshadow
• Black eyeshadow (I used a NARS velvet shadow stick, kindly sent to me by HQHair)
• Foundation
• Black eyeliner pencil
• Mascara
• Liquid latex 
• Staples
• Fake blood

Start by taking your red eyeshadow and putting on your eyelids, along your lower lash line, down into your cheek and into the bridge on your nose. If you've ever followed any of my zombie tutorials before, you'll recognise this step - it's my go to way of looking grim! I used a sponge applicator to add the shadow, and used my fingers to blend it into the skin.

Now get the black eyeshadow and add it to your lids and along the lower lash line. Smudge a little on top of the red shadow along the bridge of your nose (or whatever looks best for you - you just want to look grungey and a bit bruised!)

Add eyeliner along your waterline. 

Take the liquid latex and paint a strip along the bridge of your nose. Let it dry for a minute or so and paint another layer on (this bit is quite boring and you will look ridiculous). 

Once it's suitably thick and has dried, tear little holes in the middle of the latex - these are going to be your cuts, and the flaps of latex suddenly become flaps of disgusting skin (ew!). I used a kirby grip to do this bit, but you should be able to use your fingernails - just don't use scissors in case you cut yourself!

Use a sponge applicator to dab on fake blood in the latex holes. I did a few layers of fake blood to try and make it look splodgy and realistic, and also added a little bit of black eyeshadow onto the bloody bits to stop the colour looking too uniform.

Now, add your staples along the bridge of your nose. I just stretched the staple so it would comfortably slot around my 'wound', placed it on, and dabbed a little bit of liquid latex onto the ends to hold it in place.

Once your staples are on and the latex has dried, use foundation and the red and black eyeshadow to go over the latex edges. This will blend it into your face and looks SO DISGUSTING.

Enjoy freaking out your friends! 

HALLOWEEN HOW TO: GALAXY MAKE UP

Ever felt stuck for what to wear to a fancy dress party? Why not go as the ENTIRE night's sky, with this galaxy-inspired eye make up? Yes, it's ridiculous, but it's halloween! When else are you going to get away with painting your face with every colour you own?

This look takes a little bit longer than my previous tutorials, but I think it's worth it - it's so fun to do, and the finished result is a pretty and surprisingly wearable look. Plus you are pretty much guaranteed that no one else will turn up in the same costume as you.

You will need:

• Purple, blue, silver and green eyeshadows (I used the Urban Decay electric palette and some MUA eyeshadows)
• Glitter (I used an Urban Decay loose glitter)
• White face paint
• Black liquid eyeliner
• False eyelashes
• Mascara
• Pink lipstick

Start by colouring in your face! I wanted this make up to focus around my eye area, rather than taking over my ENTIRE face, so I applied eyeshadow to my forehead, around my eyes and down my cheekbones. I used a mixture of turquoise green, purple and bright blue, and blended these all together. 

Using your purple eyeshadow and a small brush, fill in your brows.

Use the purple, turquoise and green shadows on your eyelids, and sweep the colours along the lower lash line too. I had originally planned to go from a silvery blue in the inner corners to a dark purple at the outer corners, but I am rubbish at blending, and just mixed the colours together instead. I think it works!

Add a bit more depth to your starry-forehead by dotting glitter across your skin, and then using the white face paint to add little stars. I painted stars above my brows and around my eyes, and painted a little moon on my forehead, just to mix it up a little.

Then add a flick of liquid eyeliner and apply false lashes. There's a lot going on with this look, so I think it's helpful to bring out your eyes as much as you can, and massive fake lashes definitely help! I bought these ones from the halloween section at Claire's accessories, and I really like them. You can also trim them to size, if you feel they are too big for you.

Put on pink lipstick, and then dab on some purple eyeshadow over your lips.

That's it! Wear with a black outfit to let your space face do the talking, or pair with a galaxy-print dress to go full solar system.

HALLOWEEN HOW TO: QUEEN OF HEARTS MAKE UP

Next up in this year's halloween tutorials, something a bit more colourful!

Escapade fancy dress challenged me to recreate a classic halloween look (and kindly sent me some face paints to play with), so I went for the Queen of Hearts/Red Queen from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

This is such a quick and easy look to do (I might as well rename all my halloween tutorials as the lazy girl's guide to halloween!), and also works really well if you're a red head already.

You will need:

• White, blue and black face paint
• False eyelashes (I used these black pointed lashes)
• Mascara
• Red lipstick (I used a Lipstick Queen lipstick pencil, which is AMAZING)
• Small brushes

Start by covering your entire face with white face paint. I used a sponge at first, but found it was easier to get even coverage by dabbing it on with my fingers.

Then use the light blue face paint to cover your eyes, from the lids to the brows. It'll take a couple of coats to properly colour in the area, so let the face paint dry before you go over it again to stop it streaking.

Then take your black face paint (black liquid eyeliner would work for this as well), and paint thin eyebrows above your natural eyebrows. Dot a beauty spot on your cheek too.

Add the false eyelashes. Some people find it quite tricky to put lashes on, but it just takes a little bit of practice! Apply the glue to the lashes and then leave them for about 30 seconds - this means the glue will go a bit tacky, and you'll find it easier to put them on. When you've placed them in the right position, gently press them on and then keep your eye closed for another 30 seconds, to give them a chance to stick in place.

Then finally, use your lipstick to draw a small heart shape on your lips. I was kindly sent this Lipstick Queen pencil in Cupid's Bow by HQHair and I love love love it. It's a lipstick and lip liner in one, it's seriously pigmented and it stays put for HOURS without budging. It also (weirdly) smells amazing too!

Pair this look with your most regal dress and lots of heart-shaped accessories. Off with their heads!

HALLOWEEN HOW TO: FURIOSA (MAD MAX) MAKE UP

It's October, which means the countdown to Halloween can begin! I'll be posting weekly halloween tutorials every Monday in October, which should hopefully inspire you if you have a Halloween party to go to (or just fancy being spooky). I'll say again, I am obviously not a makeup artist and I don't pretend to be! This is just my take on how to do different makeup looks, using items you'll have in your makeup bag.

First up in my halloween how-to series: Furiosa from Mad Max!

I saw Mad Max earlier this year, and I absolutely loved it. Yeah, Max is the title character, but Furiosa (played by Charlize Theron) is the star of the show. She fights the patriarchy, drives fast cars, and shoots down baddies, all while looking totally badass with one arm, and a shaved head covered in black oil.

Her look is really grungey, so I thought it would be a fun one to try and recreate for Halloween. It's so easy to do, I almost feel guilty for posting this as a tutorial - it's definitely a good look if you feel lazy but want to make an impact, or have no time to get ready.

To get Furiosa's super tough look, you will need:

• Black cream eyeshadow (I used a MAC paint point)
• Black powder eyeshadow
• Black pencil eyeliner
• Black cream eyeliner (I used an amazing Urban Decay cream eyeliner)
• Mascara

Start by painting your entire forehead with the cream eyeshadow. You could use black facepaint for this too, but I like using eyeshadow - I think it looks less 'flat' than paint would. Use a brush or your fingers, and get a fairly even coverage of black, and make sure to colour in your hairline too (It'll look even better if you brush streaks of black in your hair).

Next, bring the cream eyeshadow down so it covers your eyes and the bridge of your nose. Then get the black powder eyeshadow and dab this across the whole area. This adds a bit more texture to the black area, and also helps the cream stay in place.

Finally, line your eyes heavily with the cream eyeliner and use your fingers or a small brush to smudge out the line. Use the eyepencil to fill in your waterline, and the cream pencil to go over your brows. Add mascara and that's it! To complete this look, you just need to pull your hair back into a tight ponytail, and perfect your best mad-at-the-patriarchy look.

HALLOWEEN TUTORIALS

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll know that I am the world's biggest fan of Halloween. I love that it's a chance to be creative and ridiculous and a bit spooky - I love painting daft things on my nails, and baking 'scary' cakes, and most of all, I love playing with makeup and dressing up. I may be turning 30 this year (whaaaat), but I am still a massive child.

So, every Monday in October I'll be posting a new Halloween tutorial. I always try and make my tutorials as easy as possible (I'm a total amateur, so I'm not pretending to be an expert, just explaining what I do), and I try to only use items that you'll already have in your makeup bag, or things that are very, very easy to get.

I've been doing my Halloween tutorials for three years now, so I thought it would be fun to look back on some of my favourite things so far...

Bambi makeup
I love this look and it's so easy to do - you just need white eyeshadow, bronzer and eyeliner! Hipster twig antlers are optional.

Seriously scary zip face
As much as I love cute, creative looks, I am a big fan of actually scary halloween makeup. This zip face tutorial is definitely the goriest look I've ever done.

Doll makeup
This is a fun, simple look that uses white eyeliner and clever fake eyelash placement to turn your face into a wide-eyed doll.

Anatomical heart cake
This is definitely the gooiest cake you'll ever make (cherry jam and red food colouring make for a sticky mix!), but it is surprisingly easy to make and looks SO gory and realistic, it's worth the effort.

Spooky nail art
I used to be a massive fan of nail art, and I'm still really into these super cute designs - how adorable is that little frankenstein? If you didn't want your entire manicure to be halloween-themed, these designs would also work well as accent nails. Subtle, but still spooky.

Spiderweb chocolate cake
Spiderweb icing is another easy cake decorating trick, and looks really effective. This is such a gooey, rich cake too - yum!

You can see all of my tutorials on my how to page - bring on October!

HOW TO: GRUNGEY MAKEUP

It's fun to play around with makeup. After years and years of doing the same thing with my makeup (liquid eyeliner and a fairly dramatic cat's eye) I shook off my eyeliner addiction, and have just had fun doing what I want, when I feel like it.

Usually I go for a fairly natural look (mainly because it's quick and easy), but I recently had an excuse to do really dark, grungey makeup and I loved it.

I thought it would be fun to do another makeup tutorial and show you how I did it. It's pretty easy, and most of what you'll need is probably in your makeup bag already. 

I used my favourite makeup palette (can you tell? Sorry it's so obviously used and not picture-perfect clean!). This is a Sleek Makeup palette and I love love love it, their palettes are only £7.99, have beautiful shades and are really long-lasting too.

To start, I just went through my normal makeup routine - filled in my eyebrows, used primer and foundation (which looks a bit yellow in these photos, but it was just the weird evening light when I was taking these shots!), and added a little cream blusher.

You then want to start on your smokey eyes. Use a little gold pink eyeshadow across your whole eyelid, then add a dark purple colour over the lid, using the gold pink shadow to blend it all nicely at the crease. This is a bit easier if you have actual eyeshadow brushes - I didn't, so I just used a few of these sponge applicators instead. 

Build the purple shadow to the colour you want (think grungey and dark), and then add a line of that eyeshadow to your lower lash line.

To make your smokey eye super dark, get a bit of black eyeshadow and add this to your eyelid, close to your lash line. Blend the join between the black and purple shadows. 

Then add black liquid eyeliner on your top lashes, line your waterline with a kohl eyeliner pencil, and add mascara. And that's it!