February Beauty Buys

A nice sultry scent, a mask that makes you feel like you're in a spa at home and a lipstick to make you look fierce and glamorous were my choices of cold, dreary february weather. I hope you'll enjoy them!

1.  I got this elegant, cool and sophisticated fragrance as a present for Valentine's day and it is amazing! This oriental - floral perfume begins with fresh accords of bergamot, mandarin, apple, pink pepper and pineapple. Its floral heart includes rose, peony and lily of the valley. The base is oriental and woody with notes of sandalwood, patchouli and musk - my favourite mix of scents all year round. The perfume bottle symbolizes chic style of Massimo Dutti's house combining classic and modernity and the black bow is just so pretty. Thumbs up!!!

 2. Before anything else let me tell you that by opening this jar I was flooded with an amazing scent of chocolat-y, coconut fruit or exotic drink that just compelled me to wanting to actually taste it a bite - yes, it was this good, but don't worry , I really didn't! This Glam Glow's Thirsty Mud Hydrating mask  is more like a soft gel-like consistency that’s creamy and it smells delightfully as I said. Well accordingto  Glamglow this mask is supposed to give your skin an extreme boast of hydration thanks to something they call Dewdration that locks in moisture and instantly leaves skin moist. Youa can applu it two different ways but I always wear it as a sleeping mak -  I simply apply it on my face, head to sleep, and in the morninh I feel my combination skin supple, even and hydrated.

 3. I has been dying to try this deep brown colour since it became do hype again, specially because during the 90's I was my go-to on a daily basis, until I completely stopped using it. The creamy and smooth colour glides on easily and the hue is beautiful, strong and bold. It is a deep cinammon brown that looks sophisticated and sultry sexy and I've been wearing it a lot!

Heart-Shaped Pasta & Mozzarella For Valentine's

If you're a sucker either for pasta or Valentine's day or both [I am ] this will come as the perfect basis [since you can accompany it with canned tuna fish, roasted pork loin, spicy steaks, roasted hazelnuts, nuts and spinaches, gratin cauliflower, sauté bacon, chicken breasts in garlic ...- whatever you're into] for a comforting, intimate and delicious meal and romantic night in . Easy to assemble and quick to prepare it is simple but quite satisfying. This delicious pasta really is the total package: hearty, easy, full of cheese, and bursting with carbs. Plus he/ she will find it most loving  the effort you've put into finding heart-shaped pasta! Cheesy much!? ;)

Ingredientes:

• Massa em forma de coração 500gr [no LIDL's]
• 2 colheres de chá de manteiga
• água
• sal
• Queijo muozzarella desfiado [400gr]

Ferva a água com sal e manteiga. Adicione o macarrão e deixe cozinhar por cerca de 8m, al dente é melhor. De seguida, drenar toda a água e colocar a massa num tabuleiro pirex de ir ao forno e colocar o mozzarella por cima. Levar a um forno pré-aquecido a 200º até derreter. Sirva imediatamente.

Ingredients:

• heart shaped pasta 500gr [at LIDL's]
• 2 teaspoons  butter
• water 
• salt
• shredded mozzarella cheese [400gr]

Boil the water with salt and butter. Add the pasta and let it cook for about 8m , al dente is better. Then drain all the water and place it into a glass baking tray and put the mozzarella all over. Take to a pre heated oven at 200º until it melts. Serve immediately. 

Hungarian Heart-Shaped Cookies

I decided to dedicate this whole week to Valentine's celebration and not only one day so if you're also into it it's still time for you to bake these delicious cookies for a cozy romantic movies night in. In Portugal you can easily find these famously amazing cookies in any given pastry but they are usually in a square or round shape. As one of my favourite treats I've searched for an easy, as closes to the original as possible and foolproof recipe on the internet, bought heart-shaped cutters and went for it. The result were these soft, buttery and chocolaty cookes that truly melted his heart!

 Ingredients:

•  75 g powdered sugar
•  125 g margarine for cakes
•  4 cooked egg yolks + 1 to brush
•  200 g baking powder
•  40 g corn starch (Maizena)
•  1 black cooking chocolate to merge [Nestlé]

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Bake 4 eggs and reserve the egg yolks. In the mixer, put the sugar and margarine and beat well. Add the egg yolks, then the flour. Remove the dough, shape it into a ball and spread it with the roll on a floured surface until you get the desired thickness. Use the heart-shaped cutters to make the cookies and distribute them on trays lined with parchment paper. With a fork, lightly scratch the surface of the wafers and brush with a beaten egg yolk. Bring to bake about 8/10 minutes. Go peeking out the oven as this dough bakes fast. Remove the cookies from the oven, lift them carefully with a thin spatula and let cool on a pastry grill. Bring the chocolate to melt in a water bath (the water in the bottom bowl should not touch the chocolate containercookies into the chocolate covering half of the cookie and putting it to dry in a tray lined with parchment paper. Then take the tray to the refrigerator so that the chocolate solidifies more quickly.

Ingredientes:

• 75 g de açúcar em pó
• 125 g margarina para bolos [Vaqueiro]
• 4 gemas cozidas + 1 para pincelar
• 200 g farinha com fermento
• 40 g de amido de milho (Maizena)
• 1 chocolate negro de culinária [Nestlé] para fundir

Pré-aquecer o forno nos 200º. Cozer 4 ovos e reservar as gemas. Na batedeira, colocar o açúcar e a margarina e bater bem. Juntar as gemas  e , depois, as farinhas.Retire a massa, dê-lhe a forma de uma bola e estenda-a com o rolo numa superfície enfarinhada até obter a espessura desejada.Use os cortadores em forma de coração para fazer as bolachas e distribua-as por tabuleiros forrados com papel vegetal. Com um garfo, fazer umas riscas leves na superfície das bolachas e pincelar com gema batida.Leve a cozer cerca de 8/10 minutos. Vá espreitando o forno, pois esta massa coze rápido.Retire as bolachas do forno, levante-as cuidadosamente com uma espátula fina e deixe arrefecer sobre uma grade de pastelaria. Leve o chocolate a derreter em banho-maria (a água do recipiente de baixo não deve tocar no recipiente do chocolate).

Coloque o chocolate derretido numa taça relativamente estreita mas onde caiba uma bolacha de cada vez. Vá mergulhando as bolachas no chocolate cobrindo metade da bolacha e colocando a secar num tabuleiro forrado com papel vegetal. Leve depois o tabuleiro ao frigorífico para que o chocolate solidifique mais rapidamente.