Beauty haul

I've been collecting a few beauty items for a while now and some I have done posts about already, but I wanted to do a haul and I had written those posts before I collected enough items. Some are old loves and some are new discoveries. 

My old loves include the body shop seaweed pore-cleansing facial exfoliator. I briefly touched on this in my skincare routine. This exfoliator is great. It does as says and cleanses the pores. I notice the blackheads I have start becoming not less and less visible. It cleanses them amazingly and I have gone back to using it, and I'm glad I have! 

Another old love is the garnier micellar water. I tried this when it first came out and I'm glad I did. As soon as j start running low, I stick up! It takes seconds to remove my makeup and it's so easy! I repurchased the exfoliator a few weeks back and the micellar water a couple of months back- which triggered the 'haul'. 

Some new discoveries have been found within the past month, one being last week! As you've probably seen, I'm obsessing over the makeup revolution oil control fixing spray. Now as I have a full review in this product, I won't go into too much detail, but I will mention that when I don't use this, I am one big, oily mess!! 

Another discovery for me- even though it's been out for some time is the Urban Decay smoky palette. The colour pay off for these shadows is great and they blend so easily. The palette is featuring in a 'get ready with me' post and should be up within the next day or too! 

This foundation I discovered was an accident. Normally foundation samples are WAY too dark for me- #paleprobs, but the Vichy dermablend foundation I received in my Youbeauty discovery box in the shade 15 opal (I wear NW13 in mac studio fix fluid, calico in No7, 01 in Clinique and N1 in L'oreal true match.. For those of you who're interested in colour matching) is spot on! It's my colour, it's not too orange it too pink and has great coverage. I used the sample in my get ready post and fell in love. I'll be posting a review on it soon as I brought the full size today. 

These will be repurchased when I run out! 

If there are any products you recommend, let me know! I'm always on the look out for new products to try and review. 

Xoxo

Twitter- xosaratalks

Instagram- sara_harpum

Makeup revolution pro fix oil control fixing spray review

I brought this product simply out of curiosity. I hadn't seen it before in superdrug or on their Instagram page, maybe it's because I just wasn't looking for a setting spray. A few years back I brought the travel sized urban decay setting spray and wasn't 100% sure on it. 

I have combination skin, so anything which helps control my shine, I'm all for! I was sucked in by the 'oil control' which made my brain think I NEED this! As its only £5, I thought it wasn't a bad price compared to the urban decay setting spray. 

Upon using the makeup revolution fixing spray, I noticed one big difference from the UD setting spray. From what I remember (and I big part of why I wasn't 100% sure) was that the UD took forever to dry and once it was dry, it was very sticky on my face. When I sprayed the MR, it dried almost instantly and didn't leave a sticky feeling on my face. 

I was a bit skeptical at first as I thought it would be like the UD, but I was very surprised to find it was completely different. I fell in love with it! I spray it all over my face after my moisturiser has soaked in and again after I've completed my face makeup. The reason I used it twice was because I wanted my face to remain matte throughout the day and it locks in moisture. 

I would 100% recommend this for anyone on a budget, with combination/oily skin or just looking for a setting spray. They do have a regular fixing spray got every other skin type, so if you want to try this spray out but haven't got combination/oily skin, give that one a go! It also retails at £5 so is still a bargain! 

Xoxo

Twitter- xosaratalks 

Instagram- sara_harpum

September favourites

My September favourites have been put into categories: food, haircare, skincare and makeup. 

I'll start with food. I only have one item for this category and that's the new galaxy cookie and cream bar. These came out the same time I was on my period (TMI, sorry) but I had one and craved them for the rest of the month! A fact I found out thanks to Nikki Phillippi is that the reason you crave chocolate around that certain time of the month is because you're body wants more magnesium which is found in chocolate! Crazy right? 

I've always relied on dry shampoo on the days where I'm just too lazy to wash and dry my hair. Because I have thick hair the process takes me at least an hour to wash and dry my hair. I recently discovered this amazing dry shampoo. It's the Tresemmé instant refresh dry shampoo. It gives volume, it doesn't make my hair go white, I can use my fingers to work it into my roots and it smells good. I just love it! My hair looks refreshed instantly!

I wash my hair every other day (or if I'm not going out every third day) and when I do, I use the herbal essences beautiful ends shampoo and conditioner. This smells so good too. It's got a pomegranate scent which smells so good and it leaves my hair feeling soft and the ends feeling super healthy! The conditioner just tops it off, leaving my hair looking shiny and feeling soft. I always struggle to find a shampoo and conditioner where the scent will last and one brand I've found which does is the Aussie range, but this also lasts in my hair and I'm constantly smelling my hair in public because it smells that good! 

If you've read my skincare routine you'll recognise these products. I won't go into too much detail about them as I did that in my skincare routine but I'll tell you which products I've been loving. First is the garnier pure active micellar water. I've gone through bottles of this stuff, it's that great! The second is the Clinique take the day off balm. I love how effortlessly this removes my makeup. The third is the origins zero oil oil-free moisturiser. This hydrates my skin without feeling greasy and makes my skin feel soft. 

I have a real big problem when it comes to makeup, I mean it's more of an addiction than a problem. It's an addiction I need to stop as it's the beginning of the month and I'm already skint! A couple of these are samples and a couple were presents for Christmas and birthday so it's not all that bad. I'll start with the samples. Each month I receive a box from Youbeauty discovery which gives you two samples of your choice and two which come with every box. A few months back I woke up specifically at 7am to pick the toofaced better than sex mascara. I had to wake up extra early as products like that are normally sold out by midday. I have been loving this mascara! It gives so much volume to the point I've had customers at work ask what false lashes I use! 

The other sample I have is the Clinique antiblemish foundation. As I work in boots next to a Clinique counter I was talking to the girl about how my skin is always getting worse. She gave me a few other samples- check out my skincare routine to find out what they are, and gave me a sample of this foundation. I've been using this foundation for over a month (she filled the sample pot right too the top) and I love it! It's full coverage without looking like you've got a lot of makeup on! The first day I wore the sample, one of my colleagues said how amazing my skin looked and asked what I had done to get it to look like that. I told her about the foundation and later that day she went and got a sample too. It covers my spots and my skin just looks instantly better. This would be a product I would 100% recommend for anyone with problematic skin. 

As my dad works for an American company, he travels out there a lot. He was over there just before last Christmas so of course I took advantage and asked for makeup which is difficult to get over here in the UK. I asked for a few Mac products as they're cheaper over there and I also asked for the Anastasia Beverly Hills dipbrow pomade. The shade I got was soft brown as I had darker hair then. I still use it but I have to use a very light hand otherwise my brows are really dark! I love the consistency of this product. It goes on so easily and blends really well. It is however a pain to get off at the end of the day as its waterproof so I have to use wipes and rub back and forth on my brows- which does pull some out. After I have blended it, it looks really natural compared too a pencil. 

I love benefit oroducts and one I've been wanting to try out for ages was the hoola bronzer. I'm really pale so watching youtubers who have the same skin tone as me use it got me wondering. It doesn't look too orange or ashy when I contour, it looks natural. A little does go a long way, I overdid it the first time I wore it as I had been longing for this product for a long time. It has become my favourite bronzer and I can't get enough of it! 

I'm not sure if this product can be considered a cream contour product or not, but I have been loving the smashbox contour stick trio. It comes with a contour stick, a bronze stick and a highlighter stick, which as always is too dark for me! I apply the contour stick to the hollows of my cheeks, my temples and under my jaw line. I also apply the bronze stick in the same places to add a bit of warmth. It blends out seamlessly with either a brush or a sponge. I prefer a brush as I can really work it in but there are days where I feel like using a sponge and I get the same results, I just have to work that tad bit harder to really work it in. After I've blended it, I always go over the top with my hoola bronzer. 

I've seen loads of youtubers rave on about the nars creamy concealer. I jumped onto the bandwagon not too long ago and must say it's great for highlighting. I have the lightest shade- chantilly, which is slightly too light when I highlight. I always use a sponge when blending this out as it soaks in some of the product so it doesn't look too light and I find it blends better with a sponge. I use a dry disposable sponge to blend this is as I've found a damp sponge wipes off my foundation. After I've blended it in, I always set it with loose translucent powder. If I'm feeling it, I 'bake' the concealer but when I'm lazy I just set it in place. 

Xoxo

Twitter- xosaratalks

Instagram- sara_harpum

Updated skincare routine

When I say 'updated', it's updated to me. I've always struggled to find and stick to a skincare routine as I'm lazy, but when o haven't given my face a proper clean and I see and feel the difference. 

I switch between using the garnier pure active micellar cleansing water and the Clinique take the day off cleansing balm. I use this as my first cleanse. On my more lazy days when I just want my makeup off, I use the micellar water. I love this stuff! It takes no time at all to take off the layers of mascara and removes my face makeup effortlessly. On days I want to take my time I use my Clinique take the day off cleansing balm. This stuff is amazing! It's a solid ball which changes to a fluid when applied to the skin. To remove this I rinse a flannel under hot water.

After my first cleanse I use either the origins checks and balances frothy face wash or the Clinique anti blemish solutions cleansing gel. The origins checks and balances frothy face wash has been designed to find the balance in your skin. It's formulated to remove excess oils and dirt as well as protect dry patches. This is great as I have combination skin- oily and dry skin. I larger this up and apply it to my face. I then take my No7 beautiful skin cleansing brush. This brush has two settings- the slower speed just cleanses the skin, whereas the faster speed gently exfoliates and gives a deeper clean. I always start off with the slower speed to distribute the product over my face. I then use the faster speed to give a deeper clean. I rinse my face with a flannel. If I opt for the Clinique anti blemish solutions cleansing gel, it's because my skin is playing up. This cleanser really helps when I have a spot forming it an area of spots on my face. It stops the spot from developing and reduces the areas where I already have spots. It says it in clogs pores, but as I switch between the two I haven't noticed any changes. I do the same as the origins and lather it up, then use my brush. 

Once a week it every two weeks I use the No7 total renewal micro-deem abrasion face exfoliator. Now the reason I do t use this very often is because it makes my skin sensitive as it's very abrasive. When I do use this though, I absolutely love it. My skin feels soft, the patches of dry skin have been removed and it gives a radiant glow to my face. Another exfoliator I love is the body shop seaweed pore-cleansing facial exfoliator. It contains plea europaea- olives, well the olive pitt to be exact which is the abrasive agent. I was able to use this exfoliator twice a week as it wasn't too abrasive but still removed excess oil and dead skin cells. 

After I have washed the exfoliator off I splash my face with cold water to close my pores. I pay my face dry and then apply my origins super spot remover blemish treatment gel. I'm so glad I found this product! It removes my spots and prevents more from developing. While I'm letting that soak in I use the sample of the ginzing refreshing eye cream. Once both the spot treatment and eye cream have soaked into my skin I use the origins zero oil oil-free moisturiser. I finish off by applying lip balm to keep my lips moisturised. 

Xoxo

Twitter- missBbeautyy

Sorry for lack of posts

I'm so sorry that I've been MIA lately. I've had a lot of things go on in my life which put me outta the mood of blogging for a bit but I'm back now! 

I forgot to tell you guys, I have a Twitter! I made it ages ago for my old blog but decided to stop using it, so I changed it for this blog! If you want to follow me my Twitter @ is @missBbeautyy 

Go give me a follow and I'll follow back! 

Ps I'm off work next week so I'll be getting back into the swing of blogging again!

Xoxo

Origins samples review

When I went shopping a few weeks back and brought my Origins zero oil oil-free moisturiser, I was given some samples as I spent over £30- don't worry, the moisturiser didn't cost me over £30, I brought the super spot remover blemish treatment gel too! 

I was given the skin renewal serum, checks and balances frothy face wash and ginzing refreshing eye cream. I love the checks and balances frothy face wash. I use it with my No7 facial brush and it makes my skin feel squeaky clean! I don't use this all the time as I have another sample of the Clinique anti blemish solutions clearing gel, so I switch between the two (I will do an updated skincare routine). 

The serum I wasn't 100% sure on as I ran out of it within 3ish days. I've been told that when applying serum, you should use a pea sized amount and press it into the skin. I would like to take a minute to apologise to the customers I have given this false information too. I tried this and there wasn't enough serum to cover my whole face, to which I squeezed more out and simply rubbed into my skin. From what I did use I liked but as I ran out so quickly, I didn't notice any big changes. 

This eye cream works wonders! I applied it before my makeup and straight away noticed a difference. The creasing under my eyes seemed to vanish before my eyes- well technically vanish under my eyes hehe. It made my makeup apply smoothly and I get hardly any creasing with my concealer. 

I would 100% recommend these products! 

Xoxo

How to juggle a blog around a full time job

This is something I'm not very good at. My first alarm goes off at 5:30am! I'm not exactly the best at getting an early night either, so when it comes to blog planning I'm too tired. Being on my feet all day doesn't help me either as it makes me more tired, but I've come up with a great solution! 

Each night when I get into bed, I'm going to physically write out my blog for the next day. That way all I have to do is copy word for word what I've written. It also helps with blog planning (I will start that up again) and knowing what I've written down. There will be some non-beauty related posts e.g. this one. By writing this every night, I'll be able to finally juggle my blog and my full time job! 

I'll be taking my 'blogging book' with me on a daily basis, so if I get any spare time to type up or write up I can. It'll also mean that the blog or planning is done for the next day! 

I hope this post has been helpful if people want to start up a blog and don't know where to begin or if like me, you struggle with having a blog and other full time commitments, it's easy to take this on the go!

Xoxo