Beauty from the kitchen: homemade porestrips

I'm one of those who like to experiment in the kitchen, and not only the edible kind of experiments! This week I've tested out a recipe for homemade porestrips, and if you keep on reading I'll tell you if it worked or not!

You take 2cups of water and 2 tbs xanthan-gum, and blend until smooth. Apply to the area of your face you feel need a good cleanin' with a makeup brush and put a strip of tissue paper over it. Apply some more pore cleaner over it, so it's wet all the way through. And then you let it dry, make sure its completely dry though, and trust me: It takes ages. This is how it looked:

Did I feel silly sticking homemade glue and tissues to my face? Did I save a crap ton of money? Did my boyfriend laugh when he saw me? Did he later agree to let me try it on him? Did it work?

The answer to all these questions is: yes. But, I did try it a couple of days in a row and in my humble opinion it worked best the first day. Which is why I don't recommend making a big batch like it did, but rather make the amount you need from time to time. The absolute hardest part was waiting for it to dry, it took FOREVER. Then again, I'm quite impatient. Others might not find it that difficult. I didn't think to take before and after pics, so that's a slap on the hand for me. Have a great weekend! (-:

ThursdayTunes: My favorite songs this week

Video Wednesday: My current makeup routine

Well, this is going great! For the video this week I wanted too share with you guys how I've been doing my makeup lately, and my tricks for contour and highlighting as well as my trick for cancelling out the dark circles under my eyes (which are in my case actually the blood vessels showing though the skin, but that doesn't matter. It still looks as if I've had no sleep for a week, so away they go!) Even though I obviously need to work on putting on my makeup AND being in the shot and in focus at the same time I hope you will get some helpful tips from this video! (-: Here's the video, enjoy! (-:

Tasty Tuesday: Chewy chocolate chip oreo cookies (with nuts!!)

For the love of all that is holy, y'all need to try these! I was feeling a bit peckish, in the mood for something sweet, luckily my kitchen was stocked with everything I needed to bake the best cookies I have ever eaten, like ever.

You'll need (for 60-70 cookies, depending on the size):
250g butter
450g sugar
2 tbs golden syrup
500g flour (I used half wholewheat and half plain white flour)
1 ts baking powder
1/5 ts salt
200g chocolate
1 pk oreos
30g nuts (I used peanuts, cashews, pistachios and almonds)

-Start by adding butter, sugar and syrup into your mixing bowl and whack it until it's white and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one, stirring after each one. Add the rest of your ingredients and divide into four. Put each part on some wrapping plastic and roll until it looks something like this:

Put the rolls in the fridge for a couple of hours (I had them in the for 4) while you take a nap or troll the internet or, and this is what I did, clean the house.

When you can't wait any longer to cook these bad boys, take them out and remove the plastic. Cut the roll into your desired size and place them on baking trays, mine looked like this:

Cook in the middle of the oven at 175 degrees C for 8-10 minutes depending on size and oven. Enjoy! (-:

Confessions pt. 11

I've been feeling so good lately. I suspect it has got something to do with finally opening about what is going on with my anxiety rather than just saying that I struggle with it sometimes. I've started to put what I'm feeling into words, and though sharing also gives me some anxiety, it's nowhere near the frustration of having noone understand what I am actually going through. I feel like I can take on the world right now, not just dream about it. and it feels damn good!

I feel lonely. I have my family, my boyfriend and a handful of good friends who give me the time I need by myself in times when my anxiety is bad, but who still welcomes me back with open arms when I am good and ready. What I'm missing is someone who understands what anxiety feels like, someone who knows what I'm talking about and has felt the same things I do.

I was once told that people who suffer from anxiety are more selfish than others, and I refuse to accept that, which is why I tend to go in the opposite direction. I try as best I can not to bother others with my anxiety, and I'm petrified that someone might think of me as needy or someone who only complains. Instead I tend to put others needs ahead of mine, and I drop everything I'm doing should one of my friends need my help with something. I spend so much time worrying what others might think of me, and I keep wishing that I didn't care, but I do. I care a lot.

 

red lipstick takes the focus away from the dark circles under my eyes and the spots on my everywhere, right?

Anxiety and exercise

I'm sure a lot of people consider me lazy, myself included. I find hard exercise hard to do, and right now I'm going to tell you why. I don't say I get panic attacks, even though that is technically what I am having, because I don't "panic". There is usually no crying, hyperventilating or other typical signs of a panic going on.

During an anxiety attack I tend to faint. Like, full on faceplant on the floor with my eyes rolling to the back of my head. This has happened once during exercise, and now I get anxiety worrying about if it will happen again. Which usually causes me to get very dizzy and feel uncomfortable during hard exercise.

Other times the anxiety attack might cause me to get cotton mouth. My tongue feels dry and double the size, my throat closes and feels like I ate an entire beach and I feel really uncomfortable. Anxiety is different for everybody, and not knowing when I'll get anxiety next or how it will play out is causing me a lot of stress, and I tend to take the easy way out and avoid situations that might trigger my anxiety. I find it sad, because exercise is important, and I will regret it when I get older if I don't take care of my body while I still can.

What I can do is yoga, and I try to do it as often as possible, I also have got some exercise equipment at home, and I've recently started going for a slow jog in the mornings (my trick againt the cottonmouth situation is chugging a pound or so of water before leaving the house, chewinggum and those chewing mints against cottonmouth you can by at your local pharmacy). I take it slow, and I should I feel uncomfortable I immediately stop jogging, and start walking instead. Overall, I'm sure it won't trigger a massive weight loss, but I don't need it to either. I'll do what I can, within my comfort zone, and with time that line will stretch and I'll (hopefully) be comfortable doing more. Have a great night, anxiety or not. Thank you for reading (-:

Thursday Tunes: My favorite songs this week!