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The Tea Terrace- House Of Frasier- Oxford Street

I told a work colleague I was planning a shopping trip to Oxford Street and knowing that I'm slightly fanatical about afternoon tea she recommended I try a tea room inside House of Fraiser whilst I was there.

I suggested to Jade who I was shopping with we popped into House of Fraiser when passing for a cup of tea and slice of cake not expecting much. After searching the top floor through kids clothes we arrived at The Tea Terrace and I was so impressed! Who knew this gem was in Oxford Street for everyone to enjoy.

Everything about The Tea Terrace excited me, the mismatching tables and chairs in cream and blue hues and shabby chic benches adorned with floral cushions! I was practically jumping up and down with excitement! There were beautiful patterned plates decorating the walls and a counter displaying various handmade cakes. 

Taking a seat there was a lovely placemat defining afternoon tea and providing a brief history of the tradition which I thought was a nice touch and we were presented with a menu. Realising the afternoon tea for two was priced at just £21.95 it would have been rude not to try it out especially as Jade had never had a traditional afternoon tea (shock horror). 

The afternoon tea included the choice of a variety of teas including Egyptian mint tea, Darjeeling tea and citrus camomile tea but I enjoy a milky cup of English breakfast tea with my scones so we chose to both have this. 

We could also choose a sandwhich each from: Egg mayonnaise with salad cress, cheddar cheese and handmade chutney, salmon and cream cheese or ham and tomato. I chose to have salmon and Jade went for egg. 

Shortly after ordering we were presented with the most beautiful blue and white tea pot with two matching teacups and saucers. I noticed everyone's teapot and crockery was different and it addeded such a lovely dynamic to the tea room, I spied a Royal Albert tea pot on the table next to me which I was a little envious of! We were given our afternoon tea within 10 minutes and it was clear everything was fresh and homemade and the scones were warmed through and smelt amazing! 

The sandwhiches were delicious and clearly freshly made and we each had a slice of handmade lemon drizzle cake which was yummy but I have to mention the scones. I have eaten a lot of scones and I must say these really impressed me. They were smaller and slightly taller than your average and they had such a lovely buttery flavour which wasnt too sweet, we both had a small pot of strawberry jam and clotted cream to top them with and they were divine. 

I am so glad I decided to try this afternoon tea and the whole experience sticks out in my mind as as one of the best afternoon teas i have tried.Ok so you don't get a great variety of sandwhiches cut up in fancy ways and you only get one variety of cake but the atmosphere and quality of what is presented to you can bypass that. You certainty forget you are in House of Fraiser let alone on one of the busiest streets in London, so if you are in London wanted a spot of lunch tea for under £12 I could not recommend the Tea Terrace enough! 

Tinseltown- the start of an indulgent week

As I mentioned in my last post I had a lot of appointments (mainly revolving around food) coming up..apologies for the late posting but I hope I can make up for it over the next few days. Also I am trying out a new photo arrangement let me know what you think! 

One if my sisters turned 16 on the 1st June and as she is in the middle of her GCSEs and didn't want to do anything big we decided to go for a meal a Tinseltown with our other sister.

Why we have never been here before I don't know, chocolate bars IN a milkshake? Yes please! 

First and foremost I would suggest not ordering a starter and a milkshake aswel as a main. By the time our mains arrived we were seriously struggling to find room for it as the milkshake is like a meal in itself as it is made up of ice cream and chocolate bars! We shared a starter if nachos and all ordered a burger and chips for mains. The food was very tasty and well cooked but it wasn't spectacular it was just as you would imagine from an Amerian diner. The milkshakes are what sets this diner apart from the rest! My sister had the white kinder bueno shake which I think was my favourite closely followed by the Oreo shake. I had the Terry's chocolate orange milkshake which was nice aswel and it had big chunks of chocolate in it but the other two defiantly had an edge over it. 

It was a great day trip out with my sisters but I think if I return to Tinseltown it will be a quick stop for a milkshake during a shopping trip or something not for a full meal. 

 

As we were in picturesque Hamstead and it was such a lovely warm summer evening we decided to go for a stroll after dinner and I took a few pictures below :) 

Sunday #3 on a Tuesday

Wearing 18andEast top and Primark jeans x

A belated Sunday post, I hope you all had a great bank holiday weekend! I enjoyed the snippet of sun we got and ate too many carbs but what are bank holidays for?

I have a full working week this week but have some exciting things planned for next week to do and blog about...

1. Milkshakes and burgers? Can only mean Tinseltown! My little sister will be turning 16 and what better way to celebrate than force feed her copious amounts of ice cream and meat.

2. SHOPPING! Not just a trip to Westfield's Stratford which is all I have done since it was built last year, I am venturing to Oxford Street! I am so excited about going to Selfridges and plan on making it a girly day including a tea stop at some point. Which leads me onto...

3. AFTERNOON TEA! I may or may not have mentioned a bargain afternoon tea voucher purchased a while ago for a local hotel in Brentwood. It is booked up for next week Tuesday and I am so excited to put a pretty dress on and nibble on finger sandwiches once again! 

Amongst all this fun I am going to see The Great Gatsby at the cinema, is it wrong to want to see a film purely on the basis you like the costumes? No I didn't think so. I have also ordered some new spectacles to collect on Friday so keep an eye out on Instagram for some shameless selfies. 

Feel free to contact me on curiositea23@gmail.com and follow me on Instagram- CURIOSITEA23 :) 

Rimmel salon pro nail varnish

I heard from a good source that the new Rimmel salon gel finish nail varnishes which claim to stay chip free for 10days actually chip after 2 days.

Naturally I had to see this for myself. On arrival at the Rimmel stand I am spoilt for choice in colours, and bearing in mind I have too many nail varnishes anyway I ended up going for a nude shade. It's sometimes difficult to find a good nude shade to suit your skin tone but I thought I would give it a go.

I was pleasantly surprised when I started applying this shade as it dried down to a dusty pink/nude shade which I find very flattering on my nails.

Rimmel Salon Pro with Lycra- 237 soul session

When you open this nailvarnish first you realise it's got a lovely wide application brush which really does make the application easier as you can coat a nail fully in two strokes. The formula is slightly thicker than a standard polish but I would have expected that as it boasts a gel like finish but it applys smooth and I applied three thin coat without a top coat to test the claims it will last 10days chip free. 

The polish was fully opaque after two coats and the finish is high shine and quite impressive, it dried surprisingly fast aswel! 

So the bottle claims, 'long lasting nail polish, up to 10 days. Gel like finish. Chip resistant and anti-fade colour.' 

I would say these claims aren't too far fetched the nail varnish has a quality professional gel like finish and although the nailvarnish didn't last anywhere near 10days it was anti-fade and the colour and shine was still there after 4/5 days. The polish did start chipping after about 4 days but I think I good topcoat could have sorted that out. Personally I like to change my polish after about 5 days anyway so it wasn't the end of the world.

Free Mac?!

Firstly, apologies for the delay in posting last week I had a full diary but I am back and expect some flu posts over the next week! 

When I heard you can trade in your empty Mac containers for FREE lipstick I had to check with the store and they confirmed if you take in 6 empty Mac products you will get a free lipstick!

Obviously I ran home and raided my make up collection finding I had 5 empties and was considering chopping up a lipstick and putting it in a separate container when I found an empty lipstick tube at the bottom of a bag! The joy!

Arriving back at the store with empties in tow I felt under pressure to choose a colour and there's so much choice and why are Mac stores always so hot?! So in the end I went for the brightest shades could find seen as summers coming apparently.

Mac - I'm Passioned 

I chose 'IM PASSIONED' which is a bright pink/coral shade in Amplified cream formula. I think it's a beautiful blue toned pink which would look great with a tan and the formula is really creamy and luxurious. Did I mention it was FREE? The lipstick lasts a good couple of hours before I feel it needs reapplying but even then the lips have a lovely pink stain left on them so the colour doesn't rub off completely. I love Mac lipsticks and one of the main reasons is the smell, I hate the lipstick smell of cheaper brands.

If you don't have 6 empty Mac containers you can purchase this lipstick at the normal retail price of £14.

Also, I am trying out some drugstore foundations for off duty days as I am very much a slave to Mac at the moment so expect some reviews to come! 

We heart crafts ...

I previously mentioned that I was going to a craft fair with my mum and it was so cute! It was in a little church in Enfield, north London which was the perfect setting for the vintage inspired craft fair. One of the first things I noticed arriving to the the church was a cute chalkboard outside advertising 'cafe choo choo' when I walked inside and realised it was a tiny vintage tea room I almost jumped up and down on the spot!

Cafe Choo Choo 

Cafe choo choo was so adorable multicoloured polka dot tablecloths and mismatching furniture and when I got to the counter realised the cabinets behind were red and white polka dot and had mismatching curtains hung above! All the walls were glass so you could see into the church and what was going on. I also noticed they sold Nutella cupcakes so a return visit is in order!

Clockwise from top left- Rebecca's cakes, candles, mums cards, church cushions, mums scrapbooks, sewing crafts, handmade hairclips

Naturally I migrated straight for the cupcake stall and I was not disappointed, after much deliberation I chose an Oreo cupcake. It was chocolate sponge with buttercream icing with bits of Oreo mixed in and a mini Oreo on the top. It was presented in a little clear box and I must say it was a good cake,and I would know I have eaten a lot. I would recommend checking out Rebecca's cakes if you need cupcakes/cakes in the North London/ Hertfordshire area.

I had a go on the Tom-bola as one should whenever there is an opportunity and I won the most incredible candle! It is a tall plum honeysuckle fragranced handmade candle by a company called the Candle Cellar. The candle is 9inches tall and a good width and at the moment it is still in the wrapped up but the smell is permeating the cellophane and smells amazing, this size candle is being sold for £7 which I think is very reasonable considering what price you might pay for a known brand candle and this is handmade which in my opinion is even better!

I picked up a few other bits on my way around including a handmade pomegranate lip balm which smells divine and the texture and consistency is lovely too. A father and daughter were selling these and they also had handmade soaps for sale. Check out their website here.

My mums stall did well too she sold some of her cards and did some networking. If you are interested in handmade cards she has an Etsy shop which you can view here;and she can be contacted there if you want something made to order.

Have you found any great homemade products recently?
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