I have heard people say that stress can cause one to experience bouts of baking...
This was kind of one of those times and a first for myself.
Since the Corona Quarantine I've been cooking so many more meals and one night I decided I was going to give myself a break and bake the blues away.
Luckily My Love and I have had plenty of things to keep us busy so we've been very blessed through out the whole process.
I’ve made cake a couple of times and always from a box but after watching many seasons of BBC/Netflix The Great British Bake Off I thought, well I’ve got the time, let's try from scratch.
After checking out a few recipes I found the one I wanted to attempt and boy am I glad that I did!!!
Since the recipe is not my own I'll provide the exact recipe I followed.
It’s the Hershey's chocolate double layer cake and if you love chocolate this is the cake for you!
Since I don’t bake too often I didn’t have two round baking pans so I decided to do one round and one square. I’ve since made sure I have multiple pans just for this recipe!
If you try out the recipe let me know in the comments what you thought!
I used organic cane sugar in place of granulated sugar, organic eggs and butter, I used white lily flour(my mom insists it's the best) and organic non GMO raw cane powdered sugar.
I also didn't have any buttermilk so I used the milk and vinegar trick that the recipe recommended.
This beautiful dress is available from chicwish and I will provide an affiliate link if you would like to shop it.
Instead of putting together a gift guide I put together some of my favorite skincare, makeup and beauty tools!
That's because good skin is the gift that keeps on giving!
#Treatyourself
SKINCARE
Two of the items are mini's I was trying out and I love them so much already that I included them! :)
I'll start with the skincare list!
Glossier's solution has been an awesome addition to my acne treatment. It's one of those products that tends to break you out before you start seeing a difference. Once I got passed that point I would get little breakouts if I ever missed using it so I use it every night after cleansing.
Going along with the acne regimen is my homemade clay mask I use the Redmond clay brand since my husband bought a giant tub but the Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay works great. The mask works double duty when used with apple cider vinegar to create a paste.
This is my secret weapon when I have to clear up a breakout ASAP.
It's not magic... but it is! I use it as a full face as well as a spot treatment when I'm in a rush.
SK-II gets a lot of hype and it's for good reason!
After I started using this essence I noticed my skin tone evening out, I had a small red spot on my nose that I had for over a year, it looked like a nose piercing and I was pretty self-conscious about it. It became less and less noticeable until it completely disappeared.
Caudalie Vinoperfect Radiance Serum gave me bouncy, hydrated skin for a youthful appearance.
Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Night Oil.
This is one of the minis that blew me away enough to make the list, I'm buying the full sized bottle once it's finished. This made a difference after my very first use, and I made the hubs touch my face! lol
Belif The True Cream Aqua Bomb soaks into my skin like a dream.
Dewycel eye cream, this stuff was sent to me and I started to get a dry patch on my eyelid, the cream cleared it up. Your eyelids are a different kind of skin from the rest of your face and should be treated with products designed with them in mind.
MAKEUP
This year the Urban Decay Born To Run eyeshadow pallet came out, naturally, I had to have it.
This pallet is my new favorite and the reasons include: formula, versatility and amount of product for the price. 21 shades to be exact! If I had to bring one pallet on a trip with multiple occasions to prepare for, this is my 1st choice.
Dose Of Colors in the shade Truffle.
This was used on me for a photo shoot and I immediately went out and bought it for myself!
Lip colors are personal so you can try out swatches of your favorite colors at Ulta.
My absolute favorite mascara has not changed since I swiped my first brush of Chanel le volume over my eyelashes.
This is the first mascara that keeps my eyelashes up without being waterproof.
This product was also sent to me to try and I love the unique warm color as well as the creaminess.
Lique Creme Lipstick in Flawless, these are available at Kohl's and online.
For eyebrows I always just used a brown eyeshadow to fill in where I had gaps and a brow gel to keep them in place. The Ka-Brow by Benefit is a brow changer and helps create the brows I want.
I have oily skin that doesn't help with makeup longevity throughout the day, that's where this Urban Decay All Nighter setting spray comes in.
My makeup stays all day and it is more vibrant.
BEAUTY TOOLS
The Clarisonic is a fabulous exfoliator and I use it every other morning with my facial cleanser.
I use the Rose Quartz Beauty Roller after keeping it in the fridge, it reduces puffiness as well as reducing signs of wrinkles.
The it cosmetics velvet luxe foundation buffing brush is my all time favorite brush and I use it when I want more coverage than my beauty blender allows.
The eyebrow razors are my favorite way to deal with facial hair...
Yes I said it!
I have very dark thick hair on my head so it stands to reason that if gone unattended I could get a peach fuzzy mustache.
I found that hair removal creams designed for the face were to harsh for my skin and even made me feel that they were speeding up the aging process on the places applied.
So long explanation aside, I shave my upper lip.
I would also like to point out that everyone has different feelings about facial hair in women and its entirely up to yourself to decide for you. :)
I'm almost to the end guys!!!
The Tweezerman tweezers are award winning tweezers for a reason.
Yes they are more expensive than typical tweezers but they are worth every penny!!!
When I lived at home my brothers had their own tweezers but would steal mine, now my husband does it!
They have regular tweezers and yet they have seen the amazing difference, it cuts tweezing time down because the hairs don't slip from the grip of these bad boys!!!
Last but not least I love my Hello Kitty pencil sharpener.
This is a regular sharpener that I use for my lip pencils, it doesn't have any amazing functions that make it state of the art, it's just adorable and makes me smile.
That is what all of this stuff is about really, pampering and taking care of ourselves to show a little self love.
Happy Christmas and all of the other Holidays that I know you will all be celebrating.
I hope you are spending it with the ones you love.
I'll put links below so that if you want to check any of these products out you can do so.
These are my personal opinions and everyone's skin type and tone are different, find what works best for you! :)
