The Clocktower

Balancing my family life with the business has always been one bit easier thanks to the home office!

Our garden annexe is lovingly referred to as The Clocktower, and it’s the head office for Clockface Beauty. Mum and I work from there every day, we hold meetings with our marketing team, we test products, and we even pack orders. And when we’re done for the day, we’re one short walk across the garden away from the house.

It’s a game-changer for our working day, as I’m such a big believer in creating the right setting for work. If my space feels right, I feel motivated and inspired to deliver.

So here are just some of my top tips for creating the perfect workspace at home.

1. Have a designated workspace.

This doesn’t have to be an entire room, but you do need a space to make your own. A space at the dining table or at the kitchen table can even be packed away each night – but make it your own when you’re working. Put all of the things you need out ready, once you’re at the space, you’re in work mode.

2. Think of the ambience.

Ideally, you’re locking yourself with some peace and quiet. But that’s not always doable. So when you can’t shut the door to block out the external noise, try using some headphones. If Mum’s on a work call, I listen to a relaxing soundtrack (nothing with words cause I just sing along!) which works as relaxing white noise for me. My current favourite is the Bridgerton Instrumental soundtrack, but let me know what works for you!

3. Use fragrance to inspire.

The right fragrance in the room can completely lift your mood. We always have oil burning in our office with notes that are chosen to lift us! We of course opt for the Clockface Beauty Essential Oil Blend in Rejuvenate, but you can choose anything which ignites your mind. Perhaps a citrus candle, or even a spritz of your favourite perfume.

4. Keep things tidy.

A tidy desk makes for a tidy mind! You have to get into the habit of clearing your office on a night. Future you will love you for it! Even if you’re in the position to close your door on the office, opt for tidying the desk, filing away any papers and leave the room the way you want to enjoy it tomorrow.

5. Stay inspired.

This is one of my favourites! When you work, you have to stay inspired. In The Clocktower, we have photography on the walls which shows off our journey so far. We have a magazine rack filled with all of our features and reviews. We have the product on display. And we have a huge board that highlights some of our goals for the future. Surround yourself with inspiration. And if you’re working from a shared space, try smaller things such as changing your desktop photo to a montage of inspiring pics.

Top ELA London Picks for Summer 2021

I’ve well and truly fallen in love with ELA London. Their curated collections feature beautiful emerging and established brands from everywhere from London to LA.

I can’t tell you how proud I was to have Clockface Beauty stocked in their store, and to see our products lined up beside so many exceptional indie brands. You can visit their site or pop into their store, and browse a beautiful range of our products including the Cleansing Balm and Facial Serum.

But today I want to share with you some of the other beautiful pieces you can pick up from ELA London! I can sit and browse their site for hours, but I’ve pulled together a handful of some of my favourite pieces to share with you. Now I just need to fill my diary with social engagements!

Elisabetta Franchi SS21 Skinny Trousers

Celia B Azucena Dress in Pink

Elena Antoniades Elva Frill Midi Dress

Clockface Beauty Face Moisturising Balm

ELA London Three Drop Earrings in Gold

Bec & Bridge Versailles Knit Top

ELA London Three Colour Ventalia Drop Earrings

Elisabetta Franchi Bodysuit-style Blouse with Horse Bit Print

Celia B Hortensia Mini Dress

I’d love to hear what you think of my choices, or if you’ve found something even more special, send them over for me to see.

Enjoy!

Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Scones Filled with Chocolate Mousse

I’ve loved my journey of learning to bake, and have been adapting my own recipes for a while now. I’ve been experimenting and playing around with new flavour combinations and ingredients which at first seem a little different or unusual. And I love figuring out new ways to make my food pop!

I thought I’d share this one which is certainly a favourite in the Thomas household. Delicious Chocolate Chip Scones filled with an indulgent Chocolate Mousse. You can imagine how much the boys love getting involved in the measuring and mixing, and of course…licking the bowl!

INGREDIENTS

Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Scones

275g plain flour
50g granulated sugar
1 heaped teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
85g unsalted butter
100g milk chocolate chips
150ml sour cream
1 large egg
1tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milk

Chocolate Mousse

150g mascarpone
75g milk chocolate
50g Philadelphia
1 tbsp icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD

Heat oven (fan) to 215 degrees and line a baking tray.
(I use my Magimix for this next bit, but you can use a large bowl and your fingertips). Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add cubed, cold butter and mix until you have small crumbs. Add the chocolate chips and mix. Make a well in the centre.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, egg and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture, using a fork gently stir, try not to over mix. Bring to a dough ball.
Flour your work surface and shape into around 1 inch thick, cut into 8 wedges, separate and put them on your baking tray.
Brush with milk and bake for 10-12 mins until golden brown. Once cooked, cool on a wire rack.
Whilst cooling, make the chocolate mousse. Melt your chocolate in the microwave slowly, stirring after each 30 second burst. Leave to cool slightly.
Whisk mascarpone, Philadelphia, icing sugar and vanilla extract together in one bowl. Add the cooled melted chocolate and whisk until fully combined.
Cut the cooled scones in half and spread a generous layer of mousse, place the scones back together. Dust in icing sugar.

ENJOY! If you opt for Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Scones for your next homemade afternoon tea, please do share a picture!

No Makeup, Makeup Routine

I’ve obviously got a bit of a passion for skincare. I love learning about what our skin needs to thrive, what will give us that healthy glow, and what will give us the long terms nourishment that we need.

I always follow my routine. So I cleanse twice a day, I moisturise religiously, I treat my skin with masks and I use the Clary Sage & Juniper Berry Face Scrub to slough away dead skin cells. So during lockdown, I really enjoyed not covering up my skin with makeup. I let my skin breathe but I still wanted to look put together, especially as I was jumping on Instagram Live a lot and responding to Ask Sarah videos throughout the day.

So I started to get experimental with my skincare and came up with the following tips!

Highlighter

My skin looked glowy and even after moisturising with the Signature Facial Serum, but I missed that pop of sheen that my highlighter gives me. So I used our Moisturising Balm and patted a tiny amount across my cheekbones. It bounces off the light perfectly for a healthy highlight affect, and gives a gorgeous dose of hydration too.

Eyebrow Gel

This is one of my favourite techniques! Grab our Lip Balm and use a small amount to smooth your eyebrows into place. Your brows will look perfectly groomed, and you’ll get a beautiful boost of nourishment and hydration.

Foundation

On any days when I really needed a bit of coverage for example after a late night with the boys – I made my own CC cream by mixing a couple of drops of my usual foundation with a small amount of Moisturising Balm. This gives the perfect dewy base which conceals any redness or blemishes, plus our Moisturising Balm has antiseptic properties which will help heal your blemishes throughout the day.

Lipstick

The Signature Lip Balm is all I need. Especially when having to wear a mask so much throughout the day, a good lip balm will keep your skin soft and hydrated. If I really need a pop of colour though, I fill in my lips with a deeper toned lip pencil for a really chic lip stain.

Click HERE to watch my full no makeup, makeup routine. And if you’ve got your own tips for how to adapt your skincare into the perfect makeup product, I’d love to hear it!

Since the release of this video on our IGTV, we decided to package together the products you’d need to recreate this natural look, which you can now shop HERE.

5 ways to use your Essential Oil Blends

The Clockface Beauty Essential Oil Blends are one of my favourite products that we launched towards the end of 2020. We loved the idea of surrounding yourself with Clockface Beauty. Natural fragrance that can transform the mind is such a key part of our brand, so the idea of furthering upon this was very exciting. These natural oils have a range of benefits, one being that their scent and essence can be used to destress and calm the mind.

We developed three beautiful blends, Sleep, Rejuvenate and our Signature Blend, as well as a limited-edition warming Winter Blend. Beautiful fragrances that can relax the mind, ignite your senses and transform your mood.

What’s wonderful about the Clockface Beauty Essential Oil blends is that there are so many uses for them around your home. So I thought I’d share my top 5 ways to surround yourself in Clockface Beauty.

1. Turning the home into a twilight spa

On a night, once the children are in bed and the house is quiet, I add a few drops of the Signature Blend to an oil burner. The fragrance is delicately released into the air and it transforms my home into a calming haven.

2. A relaxing bath

I love adding a few drops o foil to my bath for a spa-like experience! You can either add a few drops to the bath water, or mix with your favourite bubble bath then pour under running water. Your skin will be left hydrated and the steamy bathroom will be filled with the most beautiful, calming fragrance.

3. Enhance the workspace

This feels like such a luxury, and why not? When I’m working at my desk and trying to motivate myself to get through admin or paperwork, I love to use the Rejuvenate Blend in my oil burner. This vibrant fragrance is so invigorating and absolutely lifts my mood and productivity levels.

4. Finishing touches

Spread across my home are bowls of acorns which the boys love to pick around autumn time. I add a few drops of my favourite oils to the bowl which fills the room with delicious scents of chamomile, cedarwood and mandarin. I love this tip, and you can even add a few drops to your pot pourri to freshen it up.

5. A soothing sleep

If you’re like me, it can sometimes be difficult to switch off after a busy day. My mind will be running through the day, and I start processing what tomorrow will bring. If you’re in a similar position, try adding a few drops of the Sleep Blend to an oil burner in your bedroom an hour before bed. The room will be filled with the most soothing, calming scent that will honestly carry you into a cosy sleep.

If you’ve got your own ideas for how to use the range, I’d absolutely love to hear it. And if you’d like to purchase an Essential Oil Blend, simply head to the Clockface Beauty website!

Easy Lemon Tart

As much as I really love baking, sometimes all you want is a quick and easy recipe that can still look impressive and give you that sugar hit! This sharp and refreshing lemon tart is perfect if you have last minute summer garden plans for the next day. It can be prepped in 20 minutes then just left to set in the fridge for a few hours ready for eating later.

INGREDIENTS

600ml double cream
225g caster sugar
Zest of 3 lemons
Juice of 2 lemons
1 pack of hobnobs
250g butter

For decoration:

200ml double cream
50g icing sugar

METHOD

Blitz the hobnobs in an electric chopper to a crumb, or bash with a rolling pin in a bowl.
Melt the butter in the microwave and mix in fully in to the hobnobs.
Tip the biscuit mixture into a round pie dish and pat down flat on the base and up the sides.
Combine cream and sugar in a saucepan, heat on a medium heat until boiling, whisk using a balloon whisk throughout.
Once boiling remove from heat and whisk in the lemon juice and zest.
Pour over the biscuit tart base and leave to set in the fridge for a few hours.
Optional – once set, whisk the cream and icing sugar until firm peaks are formed, pipe on the edge of the tart

Enjoy! ?

Chocolate and Cherry Flapjacks

Bakes don’t get much easier than this! Flapjack is Henry’s absolute favourite and has to be his most requested bake. Due to the ratio of butter, syrup and sugar, you’ll find that these flapjacks are soft and chewy as I’m not the biggest fan of crunchy ones. As always if you make it, please tag me in your pictures!

INGREDIENTS

300g butter
180g golden syrup
200g light soft brown sugar
400g porridge oats
200g glacé cherries
300g melted milk chocolate

METHOD

Line and grease a traybake tin and preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
In a saucepan melt the butter, golden syrup and light brown sugar.
In a large bowl, put the oats in and add the melted butter mixture. Then add the glacé cherries.
Combine thoroughly and pour into the baking tin.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Take out and leave to completely cool in the tin.
Once cooled pour over the melted chocolate and set in the fridge. Once hard it’s ready to slice up and serve!

Notes – I add a tablespoon of smooth peanut butter into the melted chocolate as everyone in this house is obsessed with it!

Let me know your thoughts! What did you think of the final secret ingredient we add in the Thomas household?

Pulled Chilli Chicken

Finding a warm, fulfilling dish that pleases the whole family is so much easier said than done. I just had to share this one with you as it has become one of the boys’ most requested meals! It’s full of hearty goodness that warms you from the inside, plus it’s another quick and easy recipe you can whip up in no time.

INGREDIENTS

Serves 4

2 tbsps olive oil
2 onions finely chopped
2 red peppers chopped
250g cherry tomatoes chopped
3 garlic cloves sliced
1 tbsp oregano
2 tsp cumin seeds
4 skinless boneless chicken thighs
1 chicken stock cube
400g passata (& 100ml boiling water)
400g black beans drained but don’t rinse
1 lime zest and juice

Served with Jamie Oliver’s “Easy Flat Bread Recipe”.

METHOD

Heat the oil on high heat in a casserole dish with a lid, fry the onions and cook on a high heat for 3-5 minutes.
Add in the chicken, sliced garlic and peppers and fry for another couple of minutes.
Lower the heat and add the cumin seeds and oregano, seasoning well. Stir through then add the passata, tomatoes, water and stock cube. Combine well then add a pinch of sugar, lime zest and bring to a simmer.
Leave to simmer with a lid on for around 40 mins, then shred the chicken with two forks.
Add the black beans and lime juice and simmer for about another 5-10 mins.
Serve with flatbreads and enjoy!

I really do love hearing your thoughts, so if you make this dish one evening, please do share your pictures with me!

Need a dessert to follow? Check out some of my other recipes.