Chocolate treats and strobing your makeup

Pinning for perfection

I‘m just going to go ahead and apologize to your caloriecounting, waistline-watching selves right off the bat.

Sometimes, you’ve just got to go for it. Is anyone else a stress eater? I can put away gobs of food when I’m under pressure, and mainly it’s really gooey, sweet deliciousness that somehow soothes my soul.

Yes, I realize I have a problem, and yes, I’m trying to work on it, but this summer doesn’t seem to be that time. Isn’t this when you’re supposed to be working out more, eating healthy, enjoying the sun with a healthy tan and a mango in your hand? Instead, for me it’s been a summer of seclusion, locked up inside a classroom for six hours a day taking notes. Most of that time I spent wondering what deliciousness I could put together when I got home, and boy, did I have some success.

Oh, and I tried a new makeup trick, too. Strobing.

But we will get to that in good time.

I made some out of the park bars the other day. If you put chocolate and peanut butter on anything, I would probably eat it; it’s absolutely my favorite combination of sweets. In browsing through Pinterest, I ran across a picture of pure chocolate/peanut butter heaven, and honestly, I may have made some sort of approval noise out loud. The gorgeous pin led me to a website called www.hugsandcookiesxoxo.com (Go there with caution; you will get sucked in. It’s a dangerous, dangerous place). The “name” of these bars is “Peanut butter cheesecake over peanut butter cups sitting on a graham cracker crust and topped with peanut butter ganache and a chocolate drizzle.” I’m serious. Direct and to the point. But I shall, from here on out, call them “The Devil.” These are the richest, craziest and quite possibly the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten. While I don’t even want to know the calorie count, the light at the end of this indulgence rainbow is that you can’t really eat more than one at a time, so you don’t have to feel too guilty. I have a hard time eating more than a couple of peanut butter cups on their own, so add cheesecake and (my favorite part) peanut butter ganache, and you’re set for a while. They are a little time consuming to make since you have to let the cheesecake set and then the ganache has to cool before you can cut them, but all the work is worth it, I promise.

Somewhere between feeling like I was living in a fluorescent cave of learning and devouring as many calories as possible, I had a moment of needing to feel pretty ... even if it was just for a moment. I am always intrigued by new makeup techniques, and strobing has been popping up everywhere from Facebook, to Instagram, and of course, my beloved Pinterest. Unlike the Kardashian Kontouring I tried a few months back, the cool thing about strobing is that it doesn’t take any special skill, you really can’t overdo it, and it looks a heck of a lot more natural than contouring. Contouring is using both dark and light colors to create depth and highlight your face. You are to use a color that’s darker than your skin tone (by a lot, actually), apply and blend where you would like some depth – like under your cheekbones to make them pop or where you would like the illusion of something being smaller – like the bridge of your nose or even your jawline. This includes a ridiculous amount of blending, and then highlight to make the depth even more apparent. So. Much. Work.

Strobing is highlighting only but to the max. They are making special strobing creams now (I saw an advertisement for one by MAC), but I used a Nars stick I already had. I really actually loved this look. Minus all the contouring, it almost made my face, dare I say it, look younger. It gave a glow that I haven’t seen in a while, and it was so easy. Just highlight the top of the cheekbones, down the bridge of your nose, tip of the chin, brow bone, cupid’s bow (that little divot above your lip), and the middle of the forehead. I think using a cream (I found my Nars Multiple to be perfect for the job.) is crucial for anyone who is a little older (read: might have a wrinkle or two) as it really makes your face glow. I highly recommend!

May as well put your best, glowy, pretty face forward.

Mandy Byrd is a stay-at-home mom originally from Colorado.

She is mother to Gracie and wife to her handsome devil-of-aman, Eric. Send Pinterest ideas and comments to Mandy at mandybyrd@icloud.com.