Cinnamon Rolls

"Cinnabon" Cinnamon Rolls
I sort of have a thing for cinnamon, like i do for Oreo. Oreo is my life, the fact that it looks exactly like my life too, with black part for my sad sad life and white layer of cream for the happiness i can't be more thankful for. Cinnamon is my next favorite flavor, okay maybe blueberry is my second favorite and then comes Cinnamon, let's just say i'm a big fat sweet tooth and i crave for every desert in the world, except the ones with fruit in it. I am not a big fan of fruit. (except for blueberries)
These pillowy cinnamon rolls are like clouds in your mouth, totally to die for. And the cream cheese frosting is sweet and light and cloudy. The thing is, to keep these rolls soft and fluffy you'll have to be very patient with the dough and careful with the preheated oven and temperature. The first time i made these, i ended up with not-so-soft rolls, turned out i added a little more flour and my oven was too hot, my dough developed a crust too quick and therefore it discouraged a full rise and it got harder. But they weren't hard as concrete, they tasted exactly like the one's i made today, today's rolls were, i-just-can't-put-them-in-words, i want more of them. Yeah. They were, delicious! simple as that.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

3/4 cup warm water

2 and 1/4 teaspoon dry active yeast

half cup granulated or caster sugar

half teaspoon salt

1/4 cup buttermilk (to make your own buttermilk, see the end of the recipe)

1 egg

1/3 cup oil

4 and 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour (self rising will work too)

For the filling:

1 and 1/4 cups light brown sugar

2 and half tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour)

half cup unsalted butter

For the cream cheese frosting:

half cup cream cheese

4 tablespoons butter

vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 and 1/4 cups powdered/icing sugar.

Directions:

In a bowl, add water, yeast and 1 tablespoon caster sugar. Stir together , then let the yeast rise for about 5 to 10 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, and oil until well mixed. After 10 minutes pour buttermilk mixture to the yeast mixture and stir together for 10 to 15 minutes, add the rest of the sugar and mix again.
Pour in 2 cups of flour and stir with a dough hook blender on low speed. Keep adding flour and blend on low until the dough is thick and a little sticky. Your dough reaches its perfect thickness when you touch it with your fingers and it does not stick to them.

Transfer dough to a greased bowl and cover it with plastic food wrap. Let it set for about 1 to 2 hours or until it doubles in size.

Prepare the filling: In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch. Put it aside.

Butter a baking tray and line it with butter paper and grease it with butter again

Once dough has risen, flour a large area and roll the dough, try to make it as rectangular as possible. Roll until the dough is half inch thick. Spread the butter on the dough leaving 1 inch area on the edges. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the butter. Then start to roll the dough over the mixture and slightly press it into butter. Roll up the dough into a tight log, cut off any uneven ends. Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into small equal rolls. Put the rolls in greased baking tray and leave for 2 more hours in a warm place, to let the dough rise a little more.

Bake the rolls in preheated 180 to 200 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. DO NOT OVER BAKE! Or they turn hard. 

When rolls are baking, make the frosting: In a bowl add the cream cheese and butter and whisk with a hand electric mixer. Add vanilla and lemon juice and mix again. Pour in powdered sugar and whisk again. Then increase speed of mixer to full and mix for 5 minutes.

Take out the baked rolls and use a fork to take them off the tray. Pour the frost over the rolls, not to cover them completely though, use a spoon to make a lines of frosting on top of rolls like shown in the pictures. 

And there you have your rolls!

Buttermilk Recipe:
Things you need:
One cup Milk
4 tablespoons white vinegar or fresh lemon juice

Directions:
In a cup of milk, add vinegar or lemon juice, mix. (i prefer adding vinegar instead of lemon juice) Leave the mixture for 10 to 15 minutes before you can use it! This is buttermilk, if it's not available anywhere in the market where you live, you can make it at home this way.

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The No-makeup Makeup

Glowing Everyday Makeup Look
With just some regular makeup products you can get your everyday glowing makeup look. If you ask me i prefer matte look more than i prefer shimmery glowing makeup, but in winters a little bit of glow on the face looks picture perfect and gives a fresh feel. And that glow comes from the perfect highlighter and a rosy blush (rosy shimmery blush is the magic product here). This make up look does not require any kind of bronzer, it's a very light and fresh look for everyday routine, perfect for college girls ;)

Before i start with the tutorial let me introduce you to the best highlighter products in town. 

Liquid highlighters are like my favoruite, and the best one is elf. In pressed powder form, one of the very best highlighter that's not mentioned above is Diorskin Nude highlighter and that's like the best thing ever, for fair skin go with pink and light gold and for tan skin a shade darker of rose gold/metallic gold.

Now let's begin with the tutorial, shall we?

So for the products, you'll need:

- Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse (i have fair skin)

- Mac extra dimension skinfinish Whisper of gilt 

- essence all about CURL mascara

- essence white eye pencil

- essence silky touch blush baby doll

- Bourjois 3D effect lipgloss 07

Step #1

Cover your entire face with Dream Mousse foundation, specially under eye area, create an upside down triangle under the eye and blend, this way your dark circles will be covered perfectly. For the nose, use your finger tip to draw a straight line and blend downwards. On the forehead, cover the area between your eyebrows and the area right above them, blending it upwards to your hair line. 

Step #2

After you're done with your face, do the eyes first, what i did here is i painted my lower lash line with essence white eye pencil and applied mascara, that's it. Though for a fancier look you can apply eyeliner, i skipped it here though.

Step #3

Next comes the Blush and highlighter. Using angled contour brush apply highlighter on the cheek bones, nose, above the eyebrows, a little bit on the chin followed by essence silk touch blush on the cheeks and a bit on chin and under hair line. See the picture for help. Oh and a bit of highlighter above the lips too.

RED: Highlighter

BLUE: blush

Step #4

The lips. Apply Burjois 3D lipgloss on you lips and you're ready!

Here's something to help you.

Enjoy!

Fall Fashion

Winter Wardrobe!

When it comes to fashion in winter, i prefer dressing comfortable and cosy and of-course modern. Well, my post is about the 3 things that you should really have this winters that can change you entire wardrobe style!, the 3 things that are cosy, comfortable and very much new in style! So stay updated and stay stylish. Happy winters! 

1- Leather Jacket!

What i love about leather jackets is that you can wear them casually, biker or bomber, however you style it, you'll love the look! And not just that, they'll keep you warm and cosy! I got my jacket from Forestblu, it was on sale, so i got lucky! ;)

Black tights, black boots, white plain top and my leather jacket, and i'm good to go! Here are some more outfits with lather jackets.

2- Infinity scarf!

I LOVE INFINITY SCARVES! If it was on me i could wear them all wear round haha! Tribal printed, Chevron or crochet style, i love them all. Wear it with a plain shirt, ripped jeans and boots! 

Or a maxi and a bun, and it'll give you a very boho chic look!

And some more looks i found over the internet!

3- Burgundy Bottoms!

I'm kind of, tired of those old blue jeans and i'm not found of wearing colourful, neon pants, or even those with floral prints on them, just not my style, so i found these amazing new jeans, in burgundy! and they looks so good no matter how you style them, check it out!

Oh plus, Chiara Ferragni is wearing them too! Did i mention i LOVE HER? I totally adore her, she's amazing, my inspiration! 

So with these three things in your wardrobe, you can stay in style and rock the show this winters! zoom zoom. 

 

Hair Care

All you need to know!
Maintaining your hair is not an easy task, selecting the right products to use, from shampoos to Oils and conditioners can be very tricky. Knowing what type of hair you have is important in selecting products for hair. Hair is made of protein, so keeping a healthy diet is essential too. My post tells you about what you can do at home to get unbelievably beautiful hair! Also, it'll be guiding you about the right products you should be using.

For hair growth, may i present you the miracle mask! Trust me, this one's plain magic. I recently had my hair cut, Inverted bob, and not that i didn't like it or anything, but i wanted my hair to grow as fast as it can and with this mask, my hair happen to grow faster then ever! In like a month i noticed my hair growth was fast and my hair were thicker and fuller! You can see the difference in the picture below, two months later results. (p.s i know i gained weight in my second picture so ignore my fat face, haha)
Mask recipe is very simple, based on the fact that Mustard powder warms the skin of head and causes a rush of blood to the hair follicles.

Magic of Mustard powder.

Things you need:

2 tablespoons of dry Mustard powder

4 tblspns of hot water (not boiling)

1 egg yolk

2 teaspoons of olive oil

2 teaspoons of sugar

Directions:

Add water to mustard powder till its smooth and mixed properly, add the yolk, mix, add oil and sugar and mix. Apply to the roots. You can use a thick brush to apply it evenly. Let the mask on for about an hour and then wash your hair with shampoo, twice to get every bit of the mask washed away. Do this twice every week and you'll be noticing the result in a month!

Next comes, Hair Repair Mask.

For softer, lighter hair, may i present you the hair repair mask that won't disappoint you, na-ah, it can't. I do this very often and this one's my favorite! It's very simple and has just three ingredients that you can easily find in your very own kitchen!

Things you need:

2 tbsp honey (organic)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl until they are well combined. On dry, unwashed hair, apply to the roots and through combing your hair distribute evenly. Clip you hair up and leave the mask on for an hour. Wash, shampoo well and use conditioner if you would like. Happy healthy hair!

MORE MASKS

1- A little Olive oil plus a little honey can make a good hair mask too. For beautiful, SOFT, manageable hair.

2- Maple syrup plus coconut Oil is perfect too for soft shiny hair, leave the mask on for an hour, wash, shampoo and yaay!

DIY leave-in-conditioner 

You can now make your own leave-in-conditioner for damp hair with just three things! 

Things you need:

- Conditioner (i used palmers)

- Coconut oil

- Warm water

Directions:

Empty a spray bottle and wash it properly. Add conditioner in it, half cup, and fill half bottle with warm water, shake well to mix. Then add coconut oil and mix again.

Spray it to damp hair and enjoy silky way all day long!

Oils for hair

Olive Oil:

1- prevents hair loss

2- promote scalp health. It can keep the skin of your scalp in a better shape

3- Naturally condition the hair

4- Fights off Fungi and bacteria

5- Improves blood circulation

Coconut Oil:

1- Prevents hair loss

2- It keeps hair moist and soft

3- Conditions hair

4- Cool and soothe people with hot heads

5- Anti-dandruff 

6- lice protection

7- hair toning 

8- reduces split ends

9- Prevents baldness and grey hair

Mustard seed oil

1- Stimulates hair growth

2- Prevents pre-mature greying

3- Prevents hair loss

Products for hair

Shampoos

1- Kiss my face Big Body Volumizing shampoo

2- Paul Mitchell lemon sage thickening shampoo

3- Aveda pure abundance volumizing shampoo

4- Suave professionals volumizing shampoo

5- John Frieda full repair body shampoo

6- Finesse volumizing shampoo

7- Aussie aussome volume 2-in-1 shampoo

7- Nexxus Diametress volumizing shampoo

Lipstick and Luxury: Fall Makeup Tutorial

Winter Makeup
So i found this beautiful lipstick shade from Color Studio and it's exactly what i wanted for winters! Its bold and beautiful. Simply luxurious look with bold eyeliner. I mean who doesn't like eyeliner? In winters it's a must for me.

Things you need:

- NAKED 2 urban decay

- ARTDECO 15 eye shade

- color studio eye stylist liquid eyeliner

- essence I<3EXTREME mascara

- Bourjois waterproof contour clubbing golden eye pencil

- MAC eye shadow brushes

- Bobbi brown eye shadow brushes

- color studio PURE MATT wicked 117 lipstick 

- Bourjois depuis 1863 blush

- Loreal paris infallible long lasting 16h foundation (15 porcelaine, for my skin color, fair)

Step #1

Cover you entire face with foundation, specially under eye area. You can use primer before this if you want. But this foundation feels very light and gives a matt fresh look.

Step #2

 Apply ARTDECO's 15 on the entire eye lid. As much as you can. The shade is very light and natural. I'm using MAC's eye shadow applicator brush for this.

Step #3

 Use NAKED 2's busted shade on the outer eye lids and as well as in the inner deep area of your eye, I'm using the brush that comes with Naked 2 for this.

Step #4

Then comes eyeliner, apply and thick line of eye liner and if you like, make a cat eye.

Than comes the golden eye pencil.

Apply golden eye pencil in the inner lower eye lid. 

Than:

Apply mascara and your eye make is done! 

Step #6

My favourite part! LIPS! Apply color studio's Wicked 117 and voila! you're ready!