Sharkett Sisters

SOAP AND GLORY HAUL

March 23, 2016

After watching Lucy and Lydia’s Soap and Glory haul video we both had a lot of products on our wish lists. Soap and Glory have launched quite a lot of new products recently and they all look amazing, so we made a trip to boots to stock up and ended up going a little overboard! Boots currently have a 3 for 2 offer on Soap and Glory products, so if you have a wish list full, like us, now is the time to go!

Antonia - The Sexy Mother Pucker Matte Lip sticks are one of the new arrivals and they have six of amazing colours to choose from. I got four of them (although I’m tempted to go back and get the other two!) in Pretty Muted, Fire Cracker, Berry-Much and Chocoberry (left to right above). They are only £3.50, which I think is a really great price! They have a really nice matte finish (as the name would suggest) but they don’t feel dry on the lips, as so many matte lipsticks do, they almost have a balm like texture. The colours are really pretty and incredibly bright! My favourite is definitely Fire Cracker, it’s so bright its almost neon and I love it!

Imogen - I chose to try Firecracker and Chocoberry. They are super pigmented and I think that these are both beautiful colours. Firecracker will look amazing in the summer!

Imogen - Also in the new arrivals are the new four Kick Ass concealers. There are four different types. We both have the Just Bright concealer, which brightens tired skin and is pink to counteract the dark green/blue under eye circles, and then I have the All is Calm concealer which is to mask redness. The other two are Fake Awake for dark circles and Super-Blur Eraser to blur away imperfections. I think I’m going to have to go back and buy the last two as well but for now I’ll just stick to the first two! The Just Bright concealer does really brighten up your under eyes but not as much as I sometimes need! I think that both the concealers I have blend pretty well and leave the skin with a smooth finish but, as recommended by Soap and Glory, you do need to use them underneath another concealer or foundation otherwise you could end up looking a little green (or pink).

As I don’t really ever wear a foundation, on top of these I have been using the Kick Ass Blur and Brighten in the shade light, which is a concealer crayon. I really love this concealer and think that it’s the best one I have used for years! It’s really super smooth and creamy and easily covers any blemishes and dark circles. I couldn’t recommend this more to be honest, I love it and it’s amazing!

Antonia - I totally agree with what Imogen said about the concealer! It’s really good! It’s incredibly brightening and does a really good job at hiding any redness and any blemishes on the skin.

I also got the pink Just Bright concealer. I agree with Imogen’s comments in that it is very brightening and works well to combat the dark areas under the eyes but I think it takes quite a lot of blending! Paired with the Kick Ass Concealer Crayon it makes for a really bright under-eye!

Antonia – I was very excited to try the One Heck of a Blot Foundation, it has a matte finish, which I really like as I have quite oily skin around my T-zone. I’ve only used it a couple of times so far but on first impressions I quite like it. It claims to control shine for 12 hours and give a full-coverage, flawless finish but personally I wouldn’t say it gives a particularly full coverage, perhaps if I spent a little more time to build it up it would, but I actually don’t mind that at all. I’m really happy with the coverage it does give me.

I also got the One Heck of a Blot Mattifying Powder to help combat my oily skin. It’s translucent which I really like, I’m too lazy to go out and find a powder that actually matches my skin tone so this is great for me. It does look really matte and perfect at first but I find that even on top of the matte foundation it doesn’t last 12 hours (although I haven’t timed it so I can’t say how long I does last). Maybe it’s just that my skin is particularly oily but I do end up needing to top up throughout the day. This doesn’t stop me from loving this product though!

Another of the new releases is the Highlight and Sculpt Cheek Sticks there are three in the collection, a highlighter, a bronzer and a blusher. They are a creamy textured stick that you can apply straight onto your cheeks and blend in with your fingers, super easy! I decided to try the blusher ‘Love at First Blush’ and I really like it. It’s really shimmery so it kind of works as a highlighter as well as a blush and it’s really easy to blend in. It gives a really nice healthy glow and I would definitely recommend it!

Imogen - I picked up the highlighter Glow All Out cheek stick. It’s a lovely champagne colour highlight, which is pretty neutral and perfect for a subtle touch of glow in a hurry. The swatch above doesn't fully do the shine of the highlight justice.

Antonia – Finally, I wanted try the Archery Brow Putty, I have heard great things about the Brow Archery products and thought it was about time that I tried one. I can confirm that I am not disappointed! It has a screw off pot at one end, containing the product and a small brush at the other. It’s really easy to use and stays put all day! It comes in three different colours; I chose ‘Brownie Points’ which is a medium brown. The only concern I have is that I could have taken the darker colour, so I might try that next time!

We are in love with all of our products and will probably be back buying more of the different shades very soon!

We hope you enjoyed this post and that it gives you the urge to give some a try too!

Please leave a comment letting us know what you think about these products and if there are any new products you would like us to give a try!

Don't forget to follow us on Instagram and Bloglovin'!

Love, Antonia and Imogen

baking

PROSCIUTTO, MANCHEGO AND BALSAMIC ONION SODA BREAD

March 20, 2016

We have been craving this delicious loaf for a few weeks now and so decided that we should make it and share it with you!
Last summer we decided to bake along with The Great British Bake Off, and bake one thing from each show every week. This recipe is a manchego cheese, prosciutto and caramelised red onion soda bread loaf by Alvin from bread week. It is the most amazing mix of flavours in one big yummy loaf and was the best thing we made from the series! Since it's soda bread, it doesn't use yeast and so it's much quicker and simpler to make than normal bread. This is the tastiest bread that we're yet to make and the smell is to absolutely die for!

Here's what you'll need:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large red onion, finely sliced

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 tbsp soft brown sugar

450g/1lb plain white flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp table salt
30g/1oz cold unsalted butter, diced
80g/2¾oz prosciutto, torn
200g/7oz Manchego cheese, diced
small handful basil leaves, torn into small pieces
300ml/10fl oz buttermilk
1 tbsp butter, melted

First, preheat your oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas Mark 6 and then line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

Warm the oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the red onions and stir. Then reduce the heat and cover with a lid and cook for 15 minutes. Add the vinegar and sugar, increase the heat slightly, and cook, uncovered, for a further 5 minutes. Then set this aside to cool completely.

Next, sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into flour mixture until it looks a bit like breadcrumbs.

The next step for us was to sit and have a cup of tea while we waited for the onions to cool a little more but feel free to miss that step.
Keeping back 1 tablespoon of the cooked onions, a small handful of cheese and a small amount of prosciutto for the topping, add the remaining onions, prosciutto, cheese and the basil to the flour mixture and toss to incorporate.

In a jug mix the buttermilk with 25ml/1fl oz water. Then make a little well in the middle of the flour mixture and add three-quarters of the thinned buttermilk. Mix using a lightly floured hand or a table knife until it comes together into a rough but soft and sticky dough. Add a little more thinned buttermilk if the dough feels dry and won’t come together. We ended up using all of the buttermilk so don't worry if you need to do that too.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, roughly shape and then move onto the prepared baking tray. Flatten the loaf to about 4cm thick. Dust the loaf with a little flour and score the top using a sharp knife. Now, top with the leftover onions, prosciutto and cheese.

Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown. The original recipe only says for 35-40 minutes but both times we have made it so far it needs much longer than that. The best way to check that it is done is to check that the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the base. You will probably need to cover the loaf with some kitchen foil at around 40 minutes to make sure that it doesn't brown too much!

When ready, take the loaf out of the oven and move it onto a wire rack. We actually missed this next step as we were too over-excited and completely forgot! But you should now brush the loaf generously with the melted butter and then leave to cool before eating.

This bread is delicious with or without butter (or any topping at all really!) and we think it would be perfect if you're having family and friends round over the Easter weekend!
Please leave a comment and tag us on our new Instagram 'sharkettsisters' if you give this tasty bread a try!
Don't forget to follow us on Bloglovin'!
See you soon!
Love, Antonia and Imogen