Morphe Brushes 35U Palette review

Wednesday, December 30, 2015 Liyana Hanim 1 Comments

I'm not one of those girls who wears eyeshadow on a daily basis.I tend to wear them from time to time.But as of lately,I've been experimenting with my makeup and been buying more eyeshadows.

And for about 2-3 months now,I've been buying from Mysale.This is due to the fact that my sister in laws have purchased from them and it took about 1 months for their items to arrive.One day I saw that Morphe Brushes was on sale and after hearing great reviews from beauty youtubers/bloggers.. I decided to purchase one.

I choose the 35U palette which is their multi-color shimmer palette as I have sooo many brown/bronze eyeshadows and I want to branch out and try out more colours.It took more than a month for the palette to arrive and it cost me rm110 with shipping.

But I really love it and the wait was not an issue when I saw what was inside.I believe that all of the shades were shimmery except for 2 shades that were matte.They are so pigmented and smooth.The packaging is plastic and there's no mirror(that's how they managed to sell it at such a low price).
Such pretty colors!
Though the formulation can't be compared to Makeup Geek(which is even better than MAC..as mentioned by Jaclyn Hill..who used to work for MAC) but for the price point,you definitely get your money's worth.They're wayyyy better than Sephora's eyeshadow(which sucks).

There's no names for the colors though.But I've swatched them down below according to rows from top to bottom.



I tried the eyeshadows out on my eyes and again..I rarely wear eyeshadow so I clearly need more practice.But I love that you can create sooo many looks using this eyeshadow palette.It's shimmery but there's no crazy fallout.Suffice to say that this eyeshadow palette will last me a veryyyy long time.
Three different eye makeup looks
Four different eye makeup looks
I've worn some of the colors before to work and out..it lasted up to 6 hours I think.That's pretty good!It doesn't smudge on my eyelids as well and I'm not the type who uses eyeshadow primer nor do I have one :P

This palette is a great investment if you want to try using multi-colored eyeshadows and don't want to break the bank.No wonder it was highly recommended by many.

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Easy peasy homemade pizza(dough+sauce) and mushroom soup recipe

Sunday, December 20, 2015 Liyana Hanim 0 Comments

Happy weekend lovely people!I am the kind of person who loves to eat,cook and bake.I watch tons of cooking shows and even buy lots of cookbooks/baking books.So naturally I have tried a lotttt of recipes and came up with my own as well.But I rarely blog about it because it's a bit cumbersome at times.

But I thought why not I share 3 beautiful recipes that you can try on this sunny Sunday and treat your loved ones with it.The pizza dough is from Jamie Oliver while the pizza sauce and mushroom soup is something that I just "campak campak"/came up with.So let's begin!
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I love pizza.My favourite for fast food ones has got to be Dominos.But I also know that making your own pizza is wayyy better because you know what you put in it.It's fairly easy but you've to give it some time as you need to knead the pizza dough well and also to let it rise.

I make my own pizza dough and also the pizza sauce.It's worth the time to make both as it makes a whole lot of difference in the taste.To make the pizza dough,I use this simple recipe below from Jamie Oliver,which I also improvise as I didn't have semolina flour.

Basically this recipe calls for a 1kg packet of high protein flour(bread flour) which you can get from bakery supply shops like Bagus,Bake With Yen,Yummie and so forth.I've never tried it with plain flour..I bet you could but the results could be different.The recipe is below.

For the dough
800 g strong white bread flour
200 g fine ground semolina flour or strong white bread flour
1 level tablespoon fine sea salt
14gm instant dried yeast
1 tablespoon golden caster sugar
650 ml lukewarm water

To make the dough: 
A marble countertop makes it easy to knead the dough
1. Pile the flour and salt on to a clean surface and make an 18cm well in the centre. Add your yeast and sugar to the lukewarm water, mix up with a fork and leave for a few minutes, then pour into the well.
2. Using a fork and a circular movement, slowly bring in the flour from the inner edge of the well and mix into the water. It will look like thick porridge. Continue to mix, bringing in all the flour. When the dough comes together and becomes too hard to mix with your fork, flour your hands and begin to pat it into a ball.
3. Knead the dough by rolling it backward and forward, using your left hand to stretch the dough toward you and your right hand to push the dough away from you at the same time. Repeat this for 10 minutes, until you have a smooth, springy, soft dough.
4. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let double in size for about 45 minutes.



I let the dough proof for too long and it grew!haha
My tips for pizza dough

*Buy instant dried yeast that are sold in tiny packets.
*When you mix the yeast with warm water,make sure it's mixed thoroughly&no lumps.Wait patiently for the yeast to foam up as it will!
*Generously flour the surface when you want to knead your pizza dough,so that it won't stick to it.
*Be patient as the dough will come together beautifully,it just needs time and a lot of kneading.

I have an electric mixer with a dough hook but I still prefer mixing it and kneading it by hand(from the pictures above).It's much easy if you have a marble countertop/wooden surface to mix &knead it as I've tried before using Ikea's silicone mat(when I went to our aunt's house as she asked me to come over& make pizza) and it just sticks to it and basically lift the entire thing up which was a nightmare!haha

For the pizza sauce,I make my own version which is basically a basic tomato sauce.

For the pizza sauce
2-3 cloves of garlic,chopped
1 bombay/yellow onion,minced
1 canned plum tomatoes
1 canned tomato puree
Minced beef(optional)
1 bay leaf
Oregano
Salt,black pepper/smoke paprika and sugar.

To make the sauce:
1)Sautee the garlic and onion until soft.Add the spices.
2)Add the minced beef and let it cook.
3)Pour the tomato puree and plum tomatoes.Mix well,mash the tomatoes.
4)Add the seasoning and cook until it thickens.
5)Take it off from the stove and let it cool down before using.

I have a pizza crisper/pan which you can buy at baking supply stores..they're a flat round pan but with holes on the bottom.This will ensure that you get a perfect crust.

You roll the pizza dough and make sure that it's not thick..as it will puff up when you bake it.I always roll it as thinly as I can.Transfer it to the pizza pan,spread the sauce and arrange any toppings that you would like.

I tend to use onions,pineapples(I love them on my pizza!),red capsicum,pepperoni(or sliced sausages if you can't find them),sliced olives,mushrooms..just be creative!Top it off with shredded mozzarella.
Baked in a preheated oven (200 celcius)until it's golden brown.

tadaaa
Homemade mushroom soup

I love a good bowl of hot mushroom soup.It's so comforting and delicious.I'm not gonna lie that I always reach out for can from Campbell's but one night,we had none in the kitchen and I had lots of mushrooms that I bought recently so I thought..let's try and make my own mushroom soup!

I've made soups before like chicken soup and pumpkin soup..but never attempted to make mushroom soup.I don't know why I've never done it before as it's so easy.

This recipe is something that I came up with and it's really quick and simple..best of all,it requires only FOUR main ingredients.
The steps!
Ingredients:

Mushrooms--I used tiny fresh brown mushrooms and also 1 can of buttom mushrooms
1 big bombay/yellow onion
Maggi homemade chicken stock
Full cream milk(you can use cream as well if you have it)
Salt/pepper/sugar
Some water


To make the soup:
1)In a food processor(one of my fave kitchen tools&the husband bought it for me),add the brown mushrooms and 1 onion.Processed it until it's in tiny chunks.*If you don't have a food processor,you can finely minced everything with a knife*
2)Sliced the canned button mushrooms.(I didn't put this in food processor as I wanted sliced mushrooms in the soup as well)
3)Heat up some oil in a pan,and saute the onion and all of the mushrooms until the onions become translucent.
4)Add 1-2 tablespoon of chicken stock and mix it well.Add the milk.Stir and taste.If you need more chicken stock/milk,adjust accordingly.Let it simmer.
5)If it's too thick,add some water.Season it with salt/black pepper/sugar. 

Isn't that super easy!Plus,if you look at the list of ingredients at the back of your canned mushroom soup,there's so many preservatives..making your own soup is sooo easy and better for you.

I served the soup for dinner for the husband and I with homemade garlic bread and calamari caesar salad.

simple and delicious
Let me know in the comments if you see any food that I've been cooking/baking on my instagram ( @liyanahanim) that you would like for me to share the recipe here!Have a great Sunday!

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Big Bad Wolf Preview Sale+another trip there

Sunday, December 13, 2015 Liyana Hanim 0 Comments

I received a Preview Pass for Big Bad Wolf Book Sale and I brought Aimi with me(the place was only 15 mins from her office).We got there at 8pm(MIECC) and spend 2 hours there(as it closes at 10pm).It was cool being able to browse all the books before everyone got to purchase them the next day.

I love books and I grew up reading books.I have my parents to thank for because they instilled in me the love of reading by always encouraging it since I was little..bringing me to bookshops and so many books warehouse sale.

So you can imagine how I really love Big Bad Wolf Book Sale.The place is huge and there's sooo many books at such low prices.

I even went there back again when one night,at 2 am,my husband suddenly suggested that we go there as he wanted to buy books.So we were there from 2.30 am-5.30 am.The foodtrucks was still going on there and there were quite a number of people.But I had ample time to browse through all of the books compared to when I went to the preview sale.

There were 8-10 rows of cookbooks..which I love.I went through every single row of books and found a lot of amazing ones.I found a baking book from The Hummingbird Bakery (I have two from them&I love it!!)but I didn't buy it as the recipes were quite similar with the two other books that I have.

I was so so happy when I found Paul Hollywood and The Great British Bake Off baking books as I didn't find them when I went to the preview sale.If you don't know..I've been watching The Great British Bake Off for about 2-3 years now and I just love the show.If you love baking like I do,you'll seriously love it.

I also love that they're open 24-hours as if you're busy during the day,you can go there late at night.On another note as well...Big Bad Wolf sale is an example of a greatly planned sale/event.The space was huge,there was so many counter for payments and ample parking space.

I thought I'd share with you what I bought from the sale.4 cookbooks,6 fiction(yes I bought a Nancy Drew book eventhough I'm 28 because I love her!),3 autobiography/non-fiction and 2 work related books(not pictured).I got all of the books for just rm200+.Amazing deal!
My haul!

The sale will end tomorrow so you should bring your family and friends to MIECC(next to The Mines Shopping Mall) and get some great bargains.Seriously though..the books cost as low as rm8!


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Of desserts:Gula Cakery and Jaslyn Cakes

Sunday, December 06, 2015 Liyana Hanim 0 Comments

I love desserts.It's one of my weaknesses..as one shouldn't eat too much sugar.But oh well..it's not like I frequent these places every day/week.haha.

So I thought that I'd share some pictures and a little bit of a review from the desserts that I ate at both Gula Cakery(Kota Kemuning) and Jaslyn Cakes(Bangsar).

1.Gula Cakery

I found out about this place from my friend Shakira..who like me,loves to bake and also eat desserts!I trust her judgment on this.So I went with my husband one night to buy some cakes and try them with our family.


I love how beautiful the place look and that the ground floor is the kitchen(which you can see) and they do baking classes there,while the top floor is the cafe.It's very cozy and I love that the walls have sprinkles painting on them.

They serve food as well and I read on their instagram account that the food are recipes from the mum of the baker.I bought three different cakes and also some of their nutella stuffed choc chip cookies.The cakes that I bought was their chunky peanut butter cake,pistachio raspberry cake and praline cheesecake.

The cakes were all soooo good.Every single one that I bought,I love.My husband loves them as well.I shared it with my in laws and they love it too.The cookies were huge and chocolaty.You can't really taste the nutella but they were good nonetheless.

The chunky peanut butter cake was so peanut buttery and the choc sponge was so moist.I love it!My sister in law Qeema even said that they peanut butter frosting tasted like they made the peanut butter themselves.

As I ate all of them a few weeks back,I can't remember about the two other cakes other than it was really good.I would definitely come back and taste their other cakes.

2.Jaslyn Cakes

I've heard a lot about Jasyln Cakes and wanted to know what's the hype was all about.And to be honest..I was a little bit disappointed.I went there on a weekday because I had to attend a work event in Bangsar.And yes,I managed to find a parking!

Anyway,my first impression when I walked in front of Jaslyn Cakes was that..it looks pretty and quaint.When I entered the place,it was tiny!I was disappointed with the array of desserts as it was..nothing special.

They serve basic desserts like red velvet cake,madeleines,scones,and brownies.I'm sure they tasted great BUT..it was nothing exciting..not like the array of desserts at Gula Cakery.However,since I was already there and was hungry...I bought a slice of their lemon bars.

For rm8.90,it was huge!And it was really good.It took me half a day to be able to finish the entire thing.I'll give kudos to Jaslyn Cakes for being able to bake a really really good lemon bar.It had a butter base,a very tart filling(which was clearly made from real lemons--not flavourings etc) that wasn't too sweet.

If I were to go back there,I would still take away my dessert as the place was tiny.I would like to taste their vanilla bean cheesecake which they are known for.But to go all the way to Bangsar from Shah Alam and to find a bloody parking there(which is hard!)..I don't know if i'd go all the way there for their dessert.




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