Honey and Milk Pore Strips

"homemade pore stripes without gelatin or eggs. 1 tbsp honey mixed with 1 1/2 tbsp milk, microwave ten seconds or until warm (not hot) and apply to area with cotton ball or makeup brush. Let dry 15 minutes and peel off." 

I'm sure we've all seen a couple different ways to make homemade pore strips on Pinterest. Everything from gelatin to school glue seems to be mentioned. I've been meaning to test some of these out, but I've been wanting to wait until I  get a decent microscope so I can examine them closely enough to see if they really do work. 

However, this is one I don't even need to test to say it won't work. The pin suggestions a simple mixture of milk and honey. Looking over the link it goes to, the website suggests all it takes is 1 tablespoon of honey with 1.5 tablespoons of milk, microwave for 10 seconds, then dab onto your face where you need to clear your pores. Within 15 minutes it should set up into a hard layer that can be easily peeled off.

The problem? Honey doesn't set up like that, especially when mixed with milk. The only thing this will accomplish is a leaving your face a big gooey mess. Honey can and will solidify over time, but ironically as soon as you heat it up, it's going to go back to being liquid. Add liquid to that and place on a warm face, and there is no way this is going to set up enough to clear your pores. 

On the other hand, honey has been used as a skin treatment for thousands of years, and I personally love it as a face scrub (mix equal parts sugar and honey for a great DIY exfoliant), but a pore strip? I don't think so.

Cocoa and Lotion Self Tanner

"Homemade tanning lotion: lasts for 3 days.. It fades a little after every shower/bath. What to do:- 1-Get some cocoa powder-2tbsp. 2-any moisturiser you have 3-an empty bottle 4-cotton buds, or anything that can help you apply the cream 5-mix it all together you should end up with a brown mix. Don't worry, it won't be that dark on your skin. Good for super light girls!"

--- Edited Feb 2016 - at the request of the original owner of the image that is shared misleadingly on Pinterest, I have removed the image. She was concerned people would think her blog, or the image, was "false" The original image depicted a set of legs, showing a before and after with the after being noticeably tanner than the first image. It originally was posted on her blog, and was talking about a type of tanning cream she had used, to help accelerate the tan one gets from the natural sun. Somehow it of course found it's way to being shared on Pinterest, with a completely wrong and misleading idea that it was fake tanner, done with the above recipe, which is what this blog post of mine is addressing ---

A fan requested this one, and since it's the hey day of summer I know quite a few of you are probably wondering.. can you give yourself a great real looking tan with products from your kitchen? This is another classic example of a bad pin. Not only does it go with the "take something from your kitchen and smear it on you" idea, but after a quick search that isn't what the image is showing. 

and it's her before and after photos of using a tanning cream. Not a sunless tanning cream, but the kind you put on before you go sunbathing to give yourself a deeper tan. 

But, in the name of science, I decided to go ahead and test this out myself. I learned my lesson after the Brown Sugar Straightener post I did, and took photos to share with you all. I followed the instructions, mixing up some unsweetened cocoa powder and lotion and set to putting it on my legs. 

My legs : Before

The first thing I noticed was that it felt really gross and it was making me think I was smearing chocolate pudding on my leg. I took about a quarter size amount and started working it into my left leg. No amount of rubbing however, was getting it to rub in. So with my other leg I took just a dab, mixed it with some more lotion, and set about trying to rub that in. My right leg looked less dark, but no less streaky and dirty looking. I kept rubbing and rubbing both legs but finally gave up and took a photo. 

My legs : After

At this point I'm sure my neighbors are wondering why I'm laying in my yard with dirty legs taking photos of them, so I headed back inside to shower it off. On the way to the bathroom however my dog took a great interest in my legs, which is also another factor making this a bad idea -- if you have a dog, they might try to lick it off your legs, which is a really bad idea.

And for those wondering: it doesn't stain your skin like the pin suggests. It came right off in the shower with just your basic soap and bath poof. My legs are back to their typical color after just one shower.

So all in all, bad idea. It's not true, it's the old switcharoo -- the image is real, of a woman with a tan from a commercial product, not of chocolate and lotion. I know there are a lot of these ideas on pinterest that use coffee and tea, and I will be testing those out in the following weeks as well, so stay posted! 

Toilet Seat Covers to Blot Oily Face

"Use a toilet seat cover to blot the oil from a greasy face."

So the idea behind this suggestion is that the thin, dry tissue like seat covers in bathroom stalls can act the same way as facial blotting papers can. Sure the paper texture is similar enough, that it might just work. That's not the problem with the suggestion though. So what is? Well it's a commonly known fact (or at least I assumed it was) that there is a spray radius from toilets. It's one of the reasons they suggest you always put the seat down before flushing. In fact, the Mythbusters did a show on this. Their results? It's true. Not only that, these seat covers are usually found in public restrooms, where there aren't lids for the toilets. 

So you're best bet is to skip on trying to use these are facial blotting paper. Stick with using rice paper which works great and can be bought online for fairly cheap.