Spritz!!

Hello lovelies!

Today I'm writing about something a bit different to my usual content. I recently heard about a new technology called Spritz which condenses the time it takes to read text by flashing up the words on top of each other rather than side by side. This reduces the amount of time your eye spends moving along to the next word and therefore reduces the time it takes to read. You have to 'practise' this new style of reading a bit to get used to it (give it a go: click here!) but its cleverly based on finding the centre point of the word and lining that up with the following word. 

Spritz has been developed but is currently waiting on developers to take forward the technology but hopefully it will be available soon! 

I know some people won't like this new way of reading, after all there's nothing like picking up a good book, however I think the real niche where this technology could prosper would be for textbooks and maybe even journal articles or papers! Imagine how much quicker it would be to read through a chapter of a textbook using Spritz! One of the major time constraints I find at uni is reading through loads of journal articles just to find out they aren't relevant to the topic I'm writing about but with Spritz, that would become a whole lot quicker (and easier!). 

I don't think this will ever replace the relaxing act of leisurely reading, at least not for me, but it paves the way for future technologies and I'm a massive fan of that! 

Thanks for reading, I know this is a bit different to normal, but I hope you enjoyed it! Check out the Spritz website here to find out more :)  

Soph xxx

The BEST Body Butter!

Hello lovelies! 

So I simply HAD to write a blog post about my latest beauty find! I'm sure every person reading this has used a body butter or at least a moisturiser once or twice - heck I've tried loads! But they all produce the same sort of result for me - short lasting moisturisation often with a sticky residue. Sure, some have been better than others but none have really stood out and I have NEVER repurchased any particular one. 

But things have changed! For my birthday last month my parents gave me, amongst many other generous gifts, the Strawberry Shower, Scrub & Soften Luxury Gift set from The Body Shop and oh my days the Strawberry Body Butter is INCREDIBLE! Never before have I felt such long lasting moisturisation without that sticky, gel-like feel! It makes my skin luxuriously soft and no word of a lie it lasts a good 24 hours! Now I totally sound like some paid promotor of this product but I'm honestly not! (Although I wish I was - hint hint Body Shop ;) 

The smell of this butter is intense and it lasts for as long as it keeps your skin supple (in my experience at least 24 hours) so be sure to choose a smell that you like! The strawberry scent is lovely and when combined with the strawberry body wash that I also received in the set I now smell of strawberries all the time. The only downside is that I connected the scent to that of Calpol (I literally don't know why as no-one else I've mentioned this to believes the connection) and now I can't get that out of my head! 

The body butter comes in Cocoa Butter, Coconut, Coconut Shimmer, Hemp, Moringa, Olive, Pink Grapefruit, Satsuma, Shea, Strawberry, Vitamin E and White Musk although I've only tried the Strawberry so I can't vouch for any of the others - yet! I've got my eye on Cocoa Butter though and the way I'm getting through the Strawberry it won't be long before I get to try it! The staff at all the Body Shop stores I've been to are delightfully friendly and helpful and there are always testers out for pretty much everything so go and try them out to see what you fancy! 

The consistency of this butter is deliciously thick but it glides on the skin beautifully and a little goes a long way! It leaves absolutely no residue and honestly keeps your skin supple for hours (okay I'll stop banging on about that now). 

The Body Shop retails these butters for £13 but they are frequently on offer in store and online. Even though I think these are amazing (as you now know), I think £13 is a bit pricey for any body butter personally, so I'm going to wait until they are on offer again and then buy a few! 

Let me know if you've tried these butters and what you think!

Thanks for reading, 

Soph xxx

Cream Egg Brownies

Hello lovelies! 

I'm back with another food-related blog post. Normally I would separate these out to give you a mix of different things from my blog, however I just had to share these gems of gooey, chocolatey, deliciousness with you! 

I made the brownies without using solid chocolate, instead I used cocoa powder, because I didn't want them to be too sweet when I added the cream egg! 

I know it's a long time before Easter, but as easter eggs are already in the shop, why not go ahead and bake these delicious treats for your loved ones! I also understand that this 'cream egg brownie' concept was around last year, but why not recreate it this year?? Trust me when I say you won't regret it! 

This recipe is completely adaptable to your preferences! You can remove the nuts, and/or add chocolate chips or chunks, bake it without the cream eggs or cocoa nibs, swap the white sugar for brown - just be creative! 

Anyways now I'm going to stop nattering and actually give you the recipe I have been banging on about! 

Enjoy! 

Soph xxx

Cream Egg Brownies!

Makes anywhere from 9 to 16 brownies - depending on how big portions you want to cut it into! 

Ingredients 
145g butter (10tbls)
250g sugar (1.25 cups)
65g cocoa powder (3/4 cup)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
70g plain flour (1/2 cup)
75g chopped nuts (2/3 cup) - I used walnuts, cashews and almonds
Cream eggs! (I made 9 brownies so used 4.5 eggs split in half and I have no idea where the leftover half went ;) )
Sprinkle of cocoa nibs 

Preheat oven to 160c (325F). Line the bottom and sides of a square baking tin (I used an 8 inch one) with baking paper. Put the butter, sugar, cocoa powder and salt in a bowl placed over a simmering pan of water (making sure the bowl doesn't touch the water). Stir the ingredients until they are all melted and combined. 

Take the bowl off the heat and let it cool for about 10 minutes (I used this time to line the baking tin). Then add the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time, stirring them in completely. The mix should now look smoother and more shiny. 

Stir in the flour, and once completely incorporated, stir in the nuts (or chocolate chips if using). Pour the mix out into the tin and bake for 15 minutes. 

Remove from the oven and its time to add the toppings! I like to sprinkle over some cocoa nibs (they are available from health food shops) to make the top of the brownies crunchy and crispy. Then chop the cream eggs in half and place them on top of the brownie in lines so that each person gets one half of delicious cream egg! 

Then bake the brownie for about another 10 minutes (you can test if its done using a skewer although if you want it to be gooey, the skewer will come out slightly wet). 

Once they've come out of the oven, leave them to cool for about 10 minutes in the tin then take them out and leave to cool for a further 5-10 minutes before cutting - this will allow cleaner cutting lines. 

All thats left is to tuck in and enjoy! 

If you bake these delicious brownies, I'd love to see them! Use the hashtag #bakingwithsoph on twitter (@sophiespotlight) or instagram (sophiespotlights) or tag me in the photos so I can see them :)

Thanks for reading, I hope you bake and enjoy these - the ones I made had disappeared by the next day! 

Soph xx 

Valentine's Day Bakes!

Well hello there lovelies! I am truly apologetic for being absent for so long but I'm back with a bang and some delicious recipes! 

Before Valentines Day I decided to make some tempting themed treats for my friends and family to enjoy, and I wanted to share them with you too! I made red velvet cupcakes, crumbly cookies and some heart shaped strawberries to add something light and refreshing! 

I filmed a video whilst baking these moreish treats and I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I did filming it! :) 

The recipes for the bakes in this video are in the description box underneath the video. If you do recreate any of these tempting treats use the hashtag #vdaybakingwithsoph so I can see them! 

Enjoy!! 


Soph xx

My first...MAC Lipstick! Plus a guide to MAC lipstick finishes!

Hey guys!

So the other day I decided to take the plunge and purchase my first ever MAC lipstick. Now, these lippys are on the pricey side at £15 each, however they are adored by women the world over and they come in a staggering 139 shades! I already have the perfect red (Rimmel 'Alarm') and the perfect nude (Collection 'Satin Bow') so I though I'd live life on the wild side and get myself a bright orange!

So I went for Morange - a bright orange in their 'Amplified' collection. This isn't actually the first one I bought, as the original was already broken when I bought it :( but I took it back and they were very good about exchanging it for me. 

Click the photo if you're viewing this on Bloglovin' ;)

There are several collections in the MAC lipstick range, and here's a quick guide to each of the different finishes:

- Amplified creme: (this is the type I bought!) these are opaque and less drying than the matte lipsticks and have a creamy finish to them 

- Cremesheen: these are deliciously creamy and glossy and are usually nude colours

- Frost: many people don't like this finish and I'm not a huge fan myself. These lipsticks are really shimmery which I think is what scares people off, but if you like them then rock it girl!

- Glaze: this is the smallest range of lipsticks from MAC and these are quite sheer, but provide a nice natural glossy finish (and the name reminds me of glazed donuts - yum!) 

- Lustre: these are similar to the glaze lipsticks but there is a wider range of colours 

- Matte: these are quite drying I've heard but who doesn't love a matte lipstick? (Tip! apply any lipstick then put a tissue over your lips and use a brush to apply normal setting powder to the tissue and it'll come through the tissue and make any lipstick matte and longer lasting!)

- Retro matte: these lipsticks are bright with a capital B! They have a matte finish (obviously) and are long lasting too!

- Satin: similar to the matte lipsticks but with a very slight gloss

So there we have it. I'm £15 out of pocket but sporting a bright orange smile! Ooo as a side note, if you take back 6 MAC containers to their store, they reward you with a free lipstick! So if you're low of cash this close to christmas and have some old MAC containers or pots lying around then make a trip to one of their stores!

I hope you enjoyed reading this post, I certainly enjoyed writing it! 

Thanks, 

Sophie xxx

Need a quick, no hassle Halloween look?

So about a week ago I uploaded my first Halloween tutorial to YouTube. I wanted to do something that could be easily replicated with a variety of different products that you would probably already have lying around at the bottom of your makeup stash. I thought it was also important to create a look that was cheap (by using products you already had), easy (the video is a step by step tutorial) and fast! (it seems like every Halloween I leave my costume/makeup until the last minute!) 

I decided to make a zombie/mummy makeup and hair tutorial with the idea that you could make it into either depending on what you wore (so for a zombie then some old clothes with torn edges and lightly sprinkle flour over to make them look dusty or for an ancient mummy look then where any white/cream dress and add over torn up kitchen roll/toilet paper, a torn up bed sheet or anything really!)

I would love it if you would check out my video and I hope you enjoy it :) 

If you liked this video then please head on over to my YouTube channel 'sophiespotlights' as you might enjoy my other videos too (and I'd really appreciate it!)

Anyway thanks for reading/watching, 

Sophie xxx

Feeling Autumnal!

So this weekend my boyfriend and I did the most autumnal thing I've done so far this year - we carved pumpkins! (Actually, that's not the MOST autumnal thing I've done as I had a pumpkin spice latte today in Starbucks..) Anyway, I wanted to share with you some photos of our creations!

These little orange beauties were only £1 from Lidl! What a bargain! Bigger ones are available from the supermarket but I thought these were just so cute!

Pumpkin carving tips:

• Use SHARP knifes
• Be super careful!
• Lines are much easier to cut than curves
• Draw an outline in pen first (this is the first year I've done this and my design looks so much more in proportion to previous years!)
• Get as much of the stringy stuff out before you start
• Make sure you have tea lights to put in (this is a major disappointment if you carve a fantastic pumpkin then cant find any candles)
• Cut quite a lot of the 'face' out - you're going to need oxygen to get to the flame in the candle and in my boyfriend's one you can see that the mouth is just a narrow line - this meant that not enough oxygen could get to the flame and so the candle kept going out
• Enjoy - and tag me in any photos you put up of your pumpkins this season on instagram, facebook, pinterest, tumblr or twitter #sophiespotlights

Enjoy! And happy autumn!

Sophie xxx