How to get rid of puffiness and darkness around your eyes

I am very sorry for the late post, but I did promise a daily blog post so finally it is up. Tonight I will be posting about how to get rid of puffy and dark circles around your eyes. One of my friends was recently complaining about her puffy eyes and asked me to post this. For me I always get dark circles around my eyes especially in the morning. I used to try to cover it up with a foundation, but for me it didn't work very well and made my skin feel quite tight and greasy. Whereas now, I stick to a few of these steps and it reduces the puffiness and darkness around my eyes quickly.

1. Get your sleep. It is called beauty sleep for a reason, having too little sleep can cause your face to look paler and lower the circulation in your eyes causing the dark colour.

2. Treat your allergies. Allergies are a common reason why people get puffiness and darkness around their eyes, so try and treat your allergies ASAP.

3. Get rid of a your cold. If you have one, a blocked nasal congestion can cause your eyes to look darker so treat your blocked nose (Look at my previous post to see how to get rid of a cold fast).

4. Accept what you cannot change. Some people may have naturally darker eyes due to sun exposure, heredity and thinning due to age.

5. Use a frozen spoon. Put a teaspoon in to the freezer for 10-15 minutes and then place on your eye until the spoon has warmed up.

6. Use cucumbers. Cucumbers reduce puffiness of the eye and brighten the appearance of your eye.

7. Use a concealer. Make sure you use one that is lighter or the same colour as your skin tone. After applying the concealer dust some powder over your eyes to maintain it throughout the day.

Hope these seven tips will help you reduce the puffiness and darkness around your eyes!

Following on from my earlier post, I decided I would share with you my pancake from tonight...

 

Soooo tasty! Unfortunately I did not make the M&M pancake but I did make the choc chip pancake and the nutella and strawberry one. Hope everyone made delicious pancakes too.

How to make pancakes

Hello readers, as it is pancake day I decided a 'How to make pancakes' would be a helpful article. However, basic pancakes are extremely boring and even though I love a plain lemon and sugar one, an adventurous one is always tastier. So I am going to show you how to make my three favourite pancakes, which I will be making tonight. My recipes will make 12-14 pancakes, so please carry on reading and get some inspiration for when you make them later on.

Basic recipe-

Ingredients:

1. 110g plain flour sifted
2. Pinch of salt
3. 2 eggs
4. 200ml milk mixed with 75ml water
5. 50g butter

Method:

1. Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl with a sieve, held high above the bowl so that the flour gets an airing.
2. Make a well (a hole made with your finger) in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it. Then begin whisking the eggs, making sure you use the flour from around the edge of the bowl as you do.
3. Gradually add small quantities of the milk and water mixture and keep whisking. When all of the liquid has been added, use a spatula to scrape any bits of flour around the edge into the centre, then whisk once more until the batter is nice and smooth.
4. Melt the butter into a pan. Spoon 2 tbsp. of it into the batter and whisk into it.
5. With the rest of the butter, pour it into a bowl. You will use this butter to smear it around the pan before making each pancake.
6. Now get the pan really hot and then turn down to medium. To start with, a test pancake would be a good idea so you get an idea on how much batter to use. I find that 2 tbsp. is about the right amount for a 18cm pan. Also, make sure you use a ladle as it can be poured into the hot pan in one go.
7. As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip it around from side to side to get a lovely shaped pancake.
8. It should only take a minute or so to cook, you can lift the edge with a palette knife to see if its a tingled gold as it should be.
9. Flip the pancake over with a pan slice or palette knife- the other side will need a few seconds only. Then plate up your delicious pancake.

This is only a basic recipe that I found online, if you make the pancakes a different way that is perfectly fine, you can still copy my pancakes. Now for the fun part...

1. My number 1 favourite pancake is chocolate chip with whipped cream. To make this, add chocolate chips to your pancake batter before you cook them. I always go overboard with the whipped cream and chocolate sauce every year whilst decorating and when I'm ready to eat it, it looks more like a sweet mountain than a pancake. Delicious!

2. Another pancake I absolutely love is nutella and strawberry. To make this, simply add nutella (Go crazy and add lots and lots) and strawberries. Whenever I do this pancake, I put the nutella and strawberries in the centre and fold the pancake over to make a crepe. Extremely tasty!

3. My final pancake I love to make is an M&M pancake. All my family find me very strange when I make this, but I LOVE it. To make this pancake, add M&Ms to the pancake batter before you cook them. Also add whipped cream and chocolate sauce on the pancake before eating and sprinkle over some M&M's.  It's heavenly!

I hope the pancakes above will help you make the best pancakes ever ! Have a great time making them!

How to get rid of a cold fast

As it is snowing as I am writing this, well it is in London, I decided a 'how to get rid of a cold fast' article would be a good idea. It may not be snowing where you live however, it is February and almost everyone goes through the horrible stages of a cold. I have recently had a cold and this really helped me get rid of it fast. So hopefully you will get rid of your cold in no time. Below are a few instructions to follow if you want to get rid of it ASAP.

1. Immediately try and get rid of it. If you ignore it and carry on working and running around it will get worst meaning it will be harder to get rid of it later.
2. Take a bath. As soon as you get home, have a nice hot bath and clean yourself. This will relax you and the steam of the bath will help clear your congestion.
3. Wash your hands often. This is probably the reason why you got the cold, because you didn't wash your hands enough, so it will definitely be a way to get rid of it.
4. Lie down. If you are not too ill to sleep, then sleep as much as possible. If not then lie down watching TV or with a book, it will help your body concentrate on getting better.
5. Eat well. If you are sick, you will not feel like eating, but you must. You need the right amount of nutrients so the body can get rid of the illness, without it, it will take longer for the body to get rid of the cold.
6. Drink lots of water. When you are ill, the body gets dehydrated but you need water for the body to break down the food which will make you feel better.
7. Take medicine. When you take medicine you believe that you will get better, if this is what you have to do to think that you will get better, then do.

Feel better soon!

 

 

 

 

 

How to make the perfect hot chocolate

I'm currently writing my first blog post whilst it is raining outside, so I thought a 'How to make the perfect hot chocolate' post would be very appropriate. Personally, I can never make a perfect hot chocolate, it's either too creamy, too watery or even too chocolatey. However, I recently found a recipe online and now I make a delicious hot chocolate every time, so hopefully this blog will help you make that perfect hot chocolate. Remember that this is just a guideline, please go overboard on the marshmallows, chocolate like I did.

Ingredients:

• 565ml full cream or semi-skimmed milk
• 2 tablespoons hot chocolate powder
• 1 handful marshmallows
• Sugar, to taste

Method:

1. Put the milk or cream into a pan. Bring to simmer, not a boil.
2. Whilst its heating put a tablespoon of choccie powder and sugar to taste into each mug.
3. Add a little bit of the milk into each mug, just enough to dissolve the chocolate powder
4. Plonk a few marshmallows into each mug
5. When the milk is at a simmer, carefully pour it into a plastic jug or flask. Younger readers, please get an adult to help you with this. (My trick is to have a big enough jug or flask so the milk only half fills it because you need the extra space for shaking and frothing)
6. Pour a lid over the flask and place a cloth over the top for extra safety and shake well for a minute. 
7. Remove the lid and pour into the mugs. 

Enjoy your little mugs of chocolate heaven!

If any of the viewers are on a calorie count diet, there are 276kcal per serving, so treat yourself. Relax and drink your perfect mug of hot chocolate.