OOTD- work edition

I wanted to try out an OOTD post as I don't think I've done one before. As I'm at work, I thought I'd do a work edtion OOTD. The setting I work in is at a college LRC- I have an update in my life post where you can read all about it, so I can wear smart casual clothing. Smart casual is difficult to choose as some places allow jeans and others don't. I'm not allowed to wear jeans, but I can wear leggings with a long top or dress.

Today I chose to wear a skirt, blouse and a cardigan as it's cold at work. It is a thin cardigan as it does get hotduring the day.

My skirt is from New Look. I brought this a few weeks ago after not being able to get it out of my mind. The skirt has a 'checked' pattern and is grey, black and white, as well as having two zips either side- which do go up and down! It's short in lenght, but not too short that I have to keep pulling it down, and it's loose fitted round my legs.

My blouse is from forever 21. I got this top a few years back and still to this day I argue with my mum over it being hers or mine (it is most defiantely mine!) It's white and very see-through so I have to wear a vest top underneath, and it has gems on the collar. It has a Peter Pan collar which I love as it cam make any outfit look smart!

The cardigan I have on today is from forever 21 also. It's like my skirt, but not a checked pattern. It has grey, black and white colours and it's probably my favourite cardigan. As the colours are grey, black and white I can wear it with any colour clothing and it won't clash. The only downside to this cardigan is that the material is so thin that it is always catching on every small thing! I have so many pulls in this cardigan, it's unreal!!

I am just wearing a black pair of tights and some black ballet pumps from Primark. I wear flats as I find them more comfortable, but sometimes I wear black ankle boots which I picked up from Deichmann.

If there is any other type of post you would like to see, or an OOTD when I'm not at work, leave a comment and I'll make sure to post your suggestions!

Xoxo

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Post suggestions?

I've noticed that a lot of my audience is from the States. Hello USA! Seeing as you are the majority of people who read my blog, I wanted to ask you all a question- this obviously applies for any country, as I want your ideas and suggestions, what blog posts would you all like to see?

Now I'm aware that I'm sort of going back on what I said yesterday about DIYs and makeup tutorials, but I want to hear what YOU would like to see. Please feel free to give me any suggestions on here, Instagram or Twitter; I'll post the names of those below. I want you all to get involved as this blog isn't just for me, it's also for you guys. I want you to enjoy what I'm posting and think to yourself 'I suggested that' or 'that's what I asked for'. This is your blog as mush as mine, I'm just the person writing!

Xoxo

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Previous Posts

I've been looking through past posts and I've discovered that my most viewed posts are either DIYs or makeup routines. Obviously I want to make my blog as interesting as possible to my readers so I may start posting more DIYs and more makeup tutorials. I say tutorials because not much changes in my own makeup routine, but there are some looks I want to recreate and that inspire some of my own makeup ideas. For the DIYs I was thinking that I'll be creating things for birthday's, Mother's day, Father's day, Easter, Halloween, Christmas. Basically holidays and birthday's as this is a good time for people to get really creative and make something personal for someone. I will also be doing some room decor DIYs too as I love watching them on YouTube.

I just thought I'd let you know that there will be a lot more of these sort of posts, as well as normal OOTD, get ready/unready with me, hauls etc. as I know I enjoy posting them and you do as well, I just wanted to post more of what was getting the most views and it happened to be DIYs and makeup tutorials. If you have any suggestions of makeup looks or DIY ideas you wish to see, then let me know and I'll do my best to recreate your ideas!

Xoxo

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Mini superdrug haul

On Friday I went into superdrug and picked up a few items I have been wanting to try. I hadn't heard much about the Superdrug pore cleansing pads, but they looked similar to the Clearasil ultra rapid action pads and I knew that these worked with my skin. Now you only get 40 pads in the tub which is less comapired to the 65 you get in the Clearasil but the price of the Superdrug pads are much better £2.69- although the Clearasil pads are on offer at the moment for £3.59, but they're normally £5.39. This means you can buy two lots of the Superdrug pads for the same price as one Clearasil pads. Superdrug are having a buy one get a second half price at the moment with skincare, which is an even better bargain as you're able to get two of those pads for roughly £4.03, which is still a lot cheaper than two of the Clearasil pads. 

I have noticed one difference between these pads, and that is that the Clearasil pads are more exfoliating but so far I have found that the Superdrug pads work much quicker. These pads are designed to help reduce the appearance of spots in 4 hours and deep clean pores. I have only been using these since Friday night, but I can already see a difference in my nose and the spots I have on my chin, and cheek. The spot on my cheek was rather big and painful, but after I had used the pad at night and again in the morning, I noticed a massive difference. It wasn't as big or as red as it had been the day before, and I noticed that throughout the day it kept going down. I am really liking these pads so far and I will keep you all posted on how well they work over the new 2 weeks.

I also picked up the Collection pore minimiser primer. This primer gives a matte finish so you can wear it alone or under makeup. It contains Witch Hazel to help keep skin clear as it has natural anti-blemish properties. I've tried many primers which claim to minimise the look of pores, but I haven't loved the ones I've tried. I found the Benefit porefessional to be too sticky on my face, and the Maybelline babyskin left a greasy feeling, but this primer hasn't left my face feeling sticky or greasy and makes my face completely matte. I haven't worn it for a full day yet, so I'm unsure on the results but I went to Bluewater on Saturday afternoon and it seemed to hold up during the time I was there and then I went to the cinema later on in the evening and I noticed I was starting to get oily then. I have used it today under my foundation and I'm going to see how long it lasts today and keep you updated on Instagram- saralouisehxo. I did my regular skincare routine this morning and then applied this primer before applying my foundation. So far I am really liking this primer.

I picked up another Collection item as I was really drawn to the colour. The lock n hold lip gloss in the shade beatbox is a very pretty colour. It is a 'your lips but better' colour and applies smoothly on the lips. I haven't worn it for 6 hours, but it claims to last 6 hours. During the time I was wearing it, I did have something to eat and the lip gloss did come off, but thats bound to happen unless you're wearing a matte lipstick or liquid lipstick ( I was cheeky and brought one of the new MAC liquid lipsticks- I'll do a post on highend products soon). On the Superdrug website it claims to be a non-sticky formular, but I found it to be sticky when I applied it and having long hair in the wind wearing this lipgloss did not end well! It was easy to apply and felt comfortable on my lips apart from feeling a little sticky after applying. I will test this lipgloss out and see how long it lasts, then let you all know on Instagram.

If you have any suggestions of any drugstore or highend products you'd like me to try, leave a comment and I'll test it out for you guys!

Xoxo

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Clinique Sonic brush review

Back in December I purchased the Anti-Blemish Sonic brush from Clinique. Due to Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, my skin is excessively oily and prone to blemishes. I explained all of this to the girls on the counter and they suggested that the Anti-Blemish Solutions range would be best for me and my skin type due to the fact this range contains properties which will reduce the size of my spots and help with my oily skin and also help to unclog my pores.

Now at £79 I was unsure whether or not to buy it, but I decided I would as I've heard great reviews and thought it would be a great investment. I am so glad I chose to buy the Anti-Blemish Sonic Brush as it's done my skin wonders! My acne has reduced massively and my pores aren't as clogged as they were when I first started using the brush. I use the Anti-Blemish Solutions cleansing gel with this brush as it helps to clear my acne, but sometimes I switch it up and use the foaming sonic facial soap. 

When I use the foaming sonic facial soap my face feels like it's had a deep clean and feels so soft and clean! I use the foaming sonic facial soap when I want that deep clean, if I've had a busy day or if my acne isn't that bad. On days where I haven't done much or my acne is really playing up I will use my Anti-Blemish Solutions cleansing gel and I feel like it takes care of my acne. 

If anyone is thinking about getting this sonic brush then I tell them to get it! It has changed my life and I'm not sure why it took me so long to invest in this brush! Anyone who suffers with acne should defiantly invest in one.

Xoxo

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Update in my life

So I know I haven't been the best at keeping up with blogging lately, but I thought I owed you an explanation. Since December, I had hardly any time off work and with Christmas and New Years, it was difficult for me to blog while working 5 days a week . Now I will still be working 5 days a week, but I have a week off before starting a new job.

I left boots for a few reasons; 1) I wasn't enjoying it anymore. Now I enjoyed working with the people there, but I just wasn't enjoying being a beauty advisor. I'd rather do beauty via this blog and hopefully one day a YouTube channel too. 2) I felt like you only got respect if you were a manager or assistant manager. Anyone else in the store was just brushed under the rug and there was also a favourite person, who obviously had to be the person I worked with on No7- as she was a lot older than I was.

I wanted a change so I went out and had a look. I applied for an apprenticeship- so yes I will be on less money, but it's doing something I know I will enjoy. The apprenticeship is in a college in the LRC (learning resources centre) and will be helping the students as well as doing admin work, so cleaning up the books, organising shelves etc. Since I know this is something I will enjoy, I cannot wait to start, but I'm glad I have this week off. I need to catch up on blogging, sleep and just being myself again.

I am going shopping this week, so I'll be posting a haul up at the end of the week to show you what I brought and I'll also be doing a review on a few Clinique products I've bought and tested. My blogging schedule has now been changed to 3 times a week and those days are Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Xoxo

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Winter makeup routine 2016

This look is a brown smokey eye which I have been loving lately. Even though I have hooded eyes, I find that I can really work with a smokey eye because if it goes wrong I can just blend it out! I love brown smokey eyes more than black smokey eyes as it looks like I've been punched in the eye when I try to recreate a black smokey eye.

I start off with the Clinique anti-blemish solutions clarifying lotion. I then moisturise with the dramatically different moisturising gel. My routine does have a few Clinique products as I find they don't react with my skin and break me out like a lot of brands do.

I jumped on the bandwagon and got the Nivea men post shave balm. After seeing a lot of beauty gurus say how well it worked as a primer, I had to try it for myself! Now I do switch up between this and the Clinique superprimer universal primer. This is a sample I got with my foundation from them. I find my makeup lasts just as long with both of these, but I tend to be less oily with the post shave balm and I find I'm not having to powder as often as I normally do during the day.

Once I've primed my face, I use the Clinique anti-blemish solutions foundation. For Christmas I got a beauty blender and I love how my foundation now applies. I'm over the moon with my beauty blender and will definitely be buying more in the future. It gives such a great finish and doesn't leave marks on my face like a brush does. This foundation is great, the coverage is amazing without looking cakey, it has the properties in it which help to fight spots and it doesn't feel heavy on the skin. I wear the shade 01 fresh alabaster which is the lightest shade and matches me perfectly. I set my foundation with the soap and glory kick ass instant retouch pressed powder. This is a translucent powder and doesn't add any colour to my skin.

I recently got the seventeen define and conquer contour kit in the shade fair. This is a great contour kit and it isn't that expensive. For my pale skin it works well and doesn't look dirty or muddy which I found the benefit hoola bronzer did. In the pan it looks very orange and I was actually scared to use this as a colleague of mine recommended it- she's just as pale as me! It doesn't look orange at all on the skin which made me really happy and I'm glad I got this kit. I use the makeup revolution vivid baked blush in all I think about is you. This is a very natural looking blush which can be built up if I want a more intense colour, but never makes me look like a doll. I don't always use a highlighter but when I do I use the makeup revolution hidden lights. This came in the advent calendar they did at Christmas and I love it. It's not over the top but still adds that great highlight. When I got the advent calendar (as I got it when it became £20, instead of £45) I opened it as soon as I got home as I couldn't wait!

After my base is done, I move onto my eyes. I always use a primer and for Christmas I got the Urban Decay original primer potion. This stuff doesn't budge! I have super oily eyelids but with this stuff, my eye makeup lasts all day! To even out my eyelids, I use the MAC paint pot in painterly. This acts as a nice, even base and gives my shadows something to stick too. I always start with a transition shade in my crease. This just helps to blend everything together once I've applied the shadows. Once I have applied my transition shade in the crease, I go in with the lid colour. This tends to be a light, shimmer shade as I find it makes my eyes pop and works better with a smokey eye. Sometimes I use a light, matte shade but I mostly use a shimmer colour. Once I've applied the shimmer shade all over my lid, I take the same blending brush I applied the transition shade with and start to blend this out. This makes it easier to blend the darker shade. I then go in with a dark brown shade and start on the outer corner of my eye, usually in a V shape. After I have applied that, I go back to my blending brush and start using back and forth motions. I go back to the darker colour and add a bit more to intensify this shade. I then go back and blend it out. I repeat this step till I have the intensity I desire. Once I have the amount of colour I want, I go back with the lighter brown shade I used as the transition colour and blend everything together.

For brows I use the NYX micro brow in chocolate. This is great at outlining the brows and then I fill them in with the duo brow powder from freedom cosmetics. I haven't tried the Anastasia Beverly Hills duo brow powder but I'd say it's a dupe for it as it looks exactly the same! The shade I use is medium brown. For mascara I switch between the No7 velvet lash (their newest mascara) which I wear at work and the Clinique High Impact mascara. This is also a sample which I got along with the primer when I brought my foundation. I love both of these mascaras as they both give volume and length. The only difference is that the No7 makes the lashes feel soft rather than feeling like you have a lot of product on or making the lashes feel stiff.

Depending if I'm having a busy day or not, I will set my face with the makeup revolution oil control fixing spray. I've mentioned this setting spray before and I love it, would 100% recommend it for anyone with oily skin!

Xoxo


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