&OTHERSTORIES BATH AND BODY HAUL

So since payday I've been a tad obsessed with all things bath/body/beauty. I saw Kate's all time beauty favourites video recently and instantly fell in love with the &otherstories body souffle she talked about. I've been into the &otherstories Leeds store a couple of times for a browse but I stupidly never picked anything up, just appreciated the ridiculously aesthetically pleasing packaging. So I popped straight onto the website and browsed through the bath and body section.

I added a lot of products to my basket but eventually calmed myself down and ordered three things. They arrived a couple of dates later and I couldn't hide my excitement when I got home from work to find the package on the kitchen table, cos even the packaging is perfectly instagrammable - and that's what you look for in any product really, obz.

So I ordered the Miami Muse body lotion, Punk Bouquet hand cream and Sardonyx Fire body scrub. I went forward and backward between the body scrub and the body souffle for a while but I eventually decided on the scrub because I really love a good body scrub, I love the really coarse ones that feel like they're really exfoliating my skin. The Sardonyx Fire scrub doesn't disappoint at all it smells amazing, like all the &andotherstories products do, its has a woody base smell with hints of vanilla and a floral tone without being too girly and sickly. It lathers up really nice too and it just feels so luxurious and expensive even though its only £10 and a little goes a long way so I think it's going to last quite a while!

Next up is the Miami Muse body lotion. This is probably my favourite product of the three. Every time I smell it it smells even better than I remember. It's really musky and sweet at the same time with fragrances of cotton candy and pink pepper. I've been putting it on every night and my skin is feeling so soft, sometimes I really dislike body lotions because they can leave like an oily residue on my skin but this soaks in completely leaving my skin feeling silky smooth. The body lotion is only £7 for 350ml which is such a good price for the size of the bottle and the quality, this is definitely going to be a forever product for me.

Last up is the Punk Bouquet hand cream which smells amazing too, obviously. I bought the mini tube for £4 as I just wanted to give it a go and I'm normally a bit funny about hand creams because they always seem to take forever to soak in probably and my hands always feel a bit slippy afterwards but this ones is perfect, just like the body lotion it completely soaks in without the horrible oily residue. It has a vanilla base scent with a hint of rose, and we all know how I much I love rose scented anything! You can buy the bigger bottle which is £5 for 250ml so a bit smaller than the body lotion but I prefer the handy mini tubes which are perfect for popping in your handbag, especially with the weather getting so bloomin' cold.

All in all I'm so so happy with all three products, &otherstories is now one of my favourite places to get body and bath goodies. I'm already adding a few to my Christmas list! Have you tried any of the &otherstories products?

LEMON AND ELDERFLOWER SPONGE

Hi gang! It's been a such long time since I fell off the blogging wagon and I've been preparing to throw myself back into all things blogging and Instagram recently so I thought the best way to get back into the blogosphere would be to share a new recipe with you guys! Because who doesn't love cake?!

I made this gorgeously light lemon and elderflower sponge this week and not being big headed but it was bloody UHMAZING. I adapted a Nigella Lawson recipe to create this babein' cake and just added a few extras to give it a fresh Jeranfj twist. Classic sponge cakes with a twist are always some of my favourite recipes to make whether its chucking in some chocolate powder or fruit and they're so quick and easy anyone can make them! 

Ingredients 

250g unsalted butter 

350g caster sugar

4 large eggs

zest of 2 lemons 

350g self-raising flour

8 tablespoons of milk

Lemon curd (for filling) 

2 round cake tins buttered and lines 

For the syrup

juice of 1 lemon 

2 tablespoons elderflower cordial 

For the buttercream 

500g icing sugar 

250g unsalted butter 

4 tablespoons elderflower cordial

Method

preheat the oven at 180C and butter and line your cake tins and leave to one side 

 cream together the butter and sugar and add in the lemon zest and eggs one at a time beating them in thoroughly. Gently fold in the flour, I always find it best to add a couple of tablespoons at a time to get the mixture really smooth, then add the milk and mix until smooth. Careful of any hidden flour lurking at the bottom of the bowl! 

spoon the mixture evenly between your two cake tins and pop in the oven, preferably on the same shelf for even baking, and bake for 45 minutes. Try not to curiously open the oven door while your cakes are baking or they'll sink, you can do the anxious GGBO style sit in front of the oven and stare nervously at the baking cakes if you like. 

while your cakes are baking beautifully in the oven move onto the syrup and butter cream. Mix together the juice of one lemon and 2 tablespoons of elderflower cordial in a bowl and set aside. In a large mixing bowl soften the butter and sieve in the icing sugar a couple of tablespoons at a time, this step is a tad messy so prepare for little puffs of icing sugar wafting into the air and covering every surface of the kitchen in a layer of powdered sugar. When you have mixed in the icing sugar add in the elderflower cordial a tablespoon at a time, you might not need all the elderflower cordial so be careful not to add too much and make the mixture too runny, it should be quite a stiff consistency and kinda stick to the spoon when you lift it from the bowl not just drip off. Once the mixture is smooth and ready pop it into the fridge till you're ready to add it to the cake. 

once the cakes are baked use a skewer to poke holes into the surface of the cake then pour the syrup over the two cakes and leave to cool completely in the tins. I left mine for about half an hour to make sure they were totally cool. 

when the cakes are completely cool add your lemon curd (as much as you fancy!) and buttercream and sandwich the two sponges together, finish with a sprinkling of icing sugar and lemon zest and Voila! One light zesyt lemon and elderflower cake to make even Mary Berry the queen of sponge cakes proud. Now grab a cuppa, a good book and a big chunk of cake and have a nice relaxing afternoon! 

Will you be giving this recipe a try? If so let me know how you get on!