So, it seems a little strange for me to write that 2017 is near enough over. Done and Dusted. Just thinking about that scares me. Where the heck has 2017 gone?

Whilst having sometime to myself one Friday afternoon, I was flicking through some pictures of the past year and seeing that 2017 has actually been a wonderful year that’s treated me very well. Of course, I’ve had my ups and downs just like every human does but those bad days build better days.

I often think that we focus more on the next step in our lives that we sometimes forget to take a break and reflect. So, without further ado. Here are the highlights of my pretty wonderful year. 

Glossier. Worth the hype?

If you haven’t already heard of Glossier then where have you been? I understand that I’m a little bit late on the trend here however everybody and their mother has been raving about this brand which has recently launched in the UK.

I placed a Glossier order myself and officially fell into the Glossier hype. The brand sells a range of skincare and beauty products. I did a ton of research on which products I thought I would benefit from because let’s be real here, they are a bit pricey (in my own personal opinion).

In all honesty, none of the makeup items really stood out to me as much as some of the skincare products did however what stood out to me the most with this brand as a whole was the simplistic yet beautiful packaging. Also the fact that I knew my purchase would come with a packet of cute stickers in which I can customize onto my products brought me a lot of joy, and of course it was the first thing I did when I opened the package.

The Perfect Autumn Palette with Juvia's Place

I’m pretty sure that I’m a little bit late on the bandwagon with this product. Juvia’s Place is a brand that provides us with the most vibrant, rich and highly pigmented eyeshadow palettes. I’ve heard and seen a ton of YouTube videos featuring some of the incredible eyeshadows and I wanted to get my hands on them straight away. Don’t quote me on this but I believe Juvia’s Place was only available in the United States however Beauty Bay have recently launched the products in the UK.  

Little Life Update: New Beginnings, Custom Media Kits & September Goals

Oh hey, September. Can we just take a moment to acknowledge the fact that it’s already September? Where has the time gone? I honestly feel like this year has completely flown by and it’s kind of scary. Can we also just acknowledge that I’m actually writing a blog post, for those of you that read my little blog and follow me on social media then 1) Thank you and 2) You’d know that I have been having some blogging struggles when it comes down to producing content and just genuinely trying to find the time. 

Skincare Saviours

For a while my skin has been playing up and has been having frequent mood swings I guess you can say. One day, I’d wake up with normal skin and a glowing complexion then next day it would be full of redness and the occasional spot. Even I have no idea what’s been going on but it’s been very annoying to say the least.

Although it’s finally starting to control itself, I have been using these two products which I feel like have been making a huge difference within the appearance of my skin. 

Improving My Skin with Palmer's Skincare Range

For someone who suffers with dry skin, I have an obsession with hydrating skincare products. I am a huge fan of the original Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula lotion so as you could imagine, I was super excited when Palmers offered to send me some goodies from their skincare range. So if you’re anything like me and you’re wanting to improve dehydrated skin, then look no further than these affordable products. Warning: You will become obsessed.

I seem to go on and on about how I don’t like using wipes for makeup removal as I find it too harsh on my skin therefore as an alternative, I stick to micellar waters or oil based cleansers. This is where Palmer’s UltraGentle Facial Cleansing Oil* comes in handy. I use two generous pumps of this to massage in circular motions on a damp, makeup-caked face then I rinse thoroughly with warm water. Despite wearing waterproof mascara, this cleanser dissolved impurities and all traces of makeup within seconds leaving my skin feeling soft and cleansed whilst also giving it that glorious Palmer’s Cocoa Butter smell which I adore. This cleanser contains 8 pure oils: Apricot, Argan, Soybean, Sesame, Sweet Almond, Grape Seed, Jojoba and Rice Bran oil. The cleanser doesn’t leave any excess oil on the skin which is something I’m very fussy about and it claims to be suitable for all skin types as well as safe for sensitive skin AND it’s cruelty free!

To me, there’s nothing better than pampering your skin with a face mask once a week and I’m pretty sure I have found my new favourite mask. Palmer’s Purifying Enzyme Mask* helps to purify, exfoliate and smooth your skin. I don’t know why but clay masks are my all-time favourites, I get a weird sense of satisfaction every time I use one (is that weird lol?). This mask uses natural Kaolin Clay which lifts out impurities within minutes to deeply purify and cleanse the skin whilst Papaya Enzyme gently exfoliates resulting in baby soft skin. It says you can use this mask up to 3 times a week however I only like to use it once a week for an extra pampering treat! You only need to apply a thin layer of this and it completely dries in the next 10-15 minutes. You can then rinse off with warm water to reveal your soft and cleansed skin. I loved how this mask didn’t seem to dry my skin out any more than what it already was.

This next product is what I was most excited about trying. I’m going to admit that I have never tried any face oils in the past purely for the fact that most of them seem very expensive. Palmer’s Multi-Effect Perfecting Facial Oil* is on the market for just £9.99 which I think is an amazing price considering it contains the added benefits of Retinol (Vitamin A) which is an extremely effective ingredient that helps to visibly increases the appearance of firmness, diminish the look of fine lines and wrinkles, smooths and refines the surface of the skin and improves uneven skin tone. It’s very hard to find a product which contains Retinol for such an affordable price range these days! I have seen a massive improvement with my skin right from day one. My redness has reduced and the pores on my nose seems less noticeable. I suffer with major smile lines around my mouth which I have always been self-conscious about however I’ve noticed a huge improvement in which I don’t notice them as much anymore, not forgetting to mention that my skin appears more radiant and healthy. I use around 3-4 drop of this on my skin every night before I go to sleep so that I give it a good amount of time for it to do its job and sink in.

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Have you tried anything from Palmer’s NEW Skincare Range yet?

Cherishing Memories with Printiki

Sometimes we forget about all the amazing things we’ve done in life so we like to take pictures to treasure those memories. I have an Instax Mini Polaroid camera however it’s quite chunky and I don’t always like to carry it around with me wherever I go, instead I tend to just take pictures on my iPhone. Polaroid style pictures are everywhere right now, they have never gone out of fashion. Ever since I could remember I’ve been wanting to create a scrapbook full of all my favourite memories and life events which I can happily look back on through pictures. When the lovely lady Beatriz over at Printiki* contacted me, I jumped at the chance to work with them after seeing all the amazing reviews and the gorgeous prints.

If you haven’t guessed already, Printiki is a photo printing service which can link straight to your social media accounts so that you can print off some of your favourite pictures. Printiki offers many fashionable print styles to choose from such as:

• Retro Square M (4x4”)
• Retro Regular M (6x4”)
• Retro Square L (5x5”)
• Retro Regular L (7x5”)
• Retro Regular XL (8x6”)
• Square M (4x4”)
• Regular M (6x4”)
• Square L (5x5”)
• Regular L (7x5”)
• Regular XL (8x6”) 

As well as being able to create a variety of posters and photo books. The retro prints are more of a polaroid style whereas the square prints have a thin white boarder around them, making it a perfect fit for your Instagram photos.

I am very fussy when it comes down to the cost of prints which is why I don’t tend to use photo printing companies that much as I can find some to be very overpriced for what they are. Printiki is a service that I will never stop using as it’s only £5.50 for 20 M prints and you can add an extra 10 for just £2.75… such a huge bargain! Not to mention that my prints arrived just 3 days after I ordered them. This is such a great price point especially as the quality of the pictures are insanely good. You have the option to choose either a matte or glossy finish, I optioned for the gloss and it gave my photos a more professional look to them with the beautiful added shine.

There’s so much that you can do with your prints. I went for a scrapbook as I’ve always been a very creative person therefore I enjoy decorating and adding to a scrapbook but it also gives me a chance to constantly look back on some of my favourite moments. You could make DIY wall art, photo bunting or a photo collage, the options are endless.

If you’d like to have a look around and buy some prints for yourself or even as a gift to someone special then head straight over to the Printiki website. As a special little treat for you guys, I have an exclusive voucher code that first time buyers can use at the checkout to receive FREE SHIPPING which means you get 20 medium prints for just the price of £5.50!

Voucher Code: X77JNFE8

Also, don’t forget to follow Printiki on their social media platforms for some photo print inspiration:

• Twitter
• Pinterest
• Instagram
• Faceook

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I hope you have tons of fun creating some super cute prints for yourself! 

Let's Talk: Body Confidence and Learning to Love Myself

*All photos were taken by Sarah: ohitssare 

Twitter: @ohitssare

Instagram: ohitssare_*

I’ve been sat here looking at a blank page for a while now. You know when you have so much that you want to say but you’re not sure how to put those thoughts into words? That’s me right this moment. I’m also quite anxious about writing this post as 1) it’s a lot different to what I normally write and 2) I have never been very open about this subject therefore the thought of sharing it on the internet seems daunting.

My body weight is something I have constantly struggled with back in school which was 5 years ago and it’s been an ongoing battle ever since. Let’s just say, I wasn’t exactly the slimmest of girls and I’m still not. I’ve lost weight since but I’m still not what you would consider as ‘slim’. During school, I got bullied about my weight in person and over social media. The words ‘fat’ came out of people’s mouths like word vomit and when someone starts saying something about you constantly, you start to believe it for yourself. That’s when the anxiety kicks in.

I’ve never been a confident person as it is, therefore being put down and made to feel small just makes everything worse. I’m the sort of person that tries to find the positive in every situation possible but sometimes that’s hard to do when you’re getting such nasty words thrown at you. I remember I would always try to just ignore them and brush it off but as soon as I got home, I’d break down and cry for hours on end. Thinking to myself “Why do I have to be so fat?” or “I need to stop eating” – thinking back to that point in my life makes me sad and angry. To think that I let such heartless people get to me like that just angers me. I was very shy and if I’m honest, I didn’t know how to stick up for myself back then and I didn’t really want to give them the light of day as I knew they were trying to get a reaction out of me. I wasn’t willing to give it to them.

For years I have battled with my weight shifting up and down due to contraceptive pills, stress and just generally eating either less or more. There was a point in my life where I wasn’t eating enough therefore I was always tired and would occasionally faint and it still scares me to this day that I let myself get like that. I am finally at a weight I’m comfortable with, I’m a happy size 12 and I have learnt to accept that I’m never going to be a size 8 but that’s okay. It does make me sad however that I feel like social media has played a huge part in making my self-esteem lower as I remember seeing so many magazines on how to achieve the “perfect” body or magazines ripping apart other celebrities just because they put a bit of weight on. It makes me so upset thinking younger girls are reading stuff like that probably thinking to themselves that they need to look a certain way.

With the support of my wonderful friends, family and fiancé, I have learnt to accept my body for what it is. Of course, I still get those days where I feel insecure (just like everyone has those days) but each day I try to think of the positives. I’m learning to love my stretch marks and embracing my curves, and I’m slowly learning not to give a crap about what other people think of me. I need to worry about loving myself first instead of loving the idea of other people loving me.

I guess what I’m trying to get across in this post is, you are all beautiful. No matter what shape or size you are. I think it’s time we all start appreciating how we look and learn to love ourselves instead of comparing ourselves to others. Never did I ever think I’d be sat here posting pictures of full body shots over the internet, it would be something I didn’t have the confidence for back in the day. It just goes to show how far I’ve come.

                                                                                                                                                                       

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“Self-confidence is the best outfit”

“To me, beauty is about being comfortable in your own skin. It’s about knowing and accepting who you are”

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Making The Most Out of iPhone Photography

Guess what? I’ve been blogging for over 3 years and I still shoot blog photography with my trusty iPhone 6. I know that my photos aren’t the best and yes, I constantly find myself drooling over others blog photos wishing I had perfect pictures just like that but unfortunately I’m not that talented. Funny thing is, I actually have a perfectly fine Nikon L310 sitting around in my room but I refuse to use it as I find iPhone’s easier and quicker to use.

I believe a lot of people really underestimate the power of an iPhone/Android and I admit, sometimes at first glance the photos can look a little poor however with a ton of editing apps and bit of playing around with, you can end up achieving some awesome images. 

THE GRID OPTION

If I’m being completely honest here, I had no idea about this feature until I saw someone talking about it on social media. Cleaaaarly I’m not great with technology these days. This has completely changed my photography game for the better, the grid helps to make sure all your photos are level making sure the rules of third is applied with ease. This took a bit of practicing and bit of getting used to but in the end you can achieve visually pleasing photos. To enable this feature head to Settings > Photos & Camera > Grid and select it green.

TAP TO FOCUS

Probably my most used and useful feature when it comes to taking my photos. Simply tap the screen where you want the image to focus creating a clean and sharp image. Don’t worry about having shaky hands (I have the most unsteady hands ever) it will automatically focus to wherever you end up tapping without a problem. 

ALL ABOUT THAT LIGHTING

If you can, try and take photos in natural lighting which is for me personally the best. I find that with artificial lighting, my photos can look more on the yellow toned side and it becomes a lot harder to edit. I try to shoot my photos at around 10am-11am where the lighting is usually at its best and I also like to make sure the window is in front of me when taking them to get the best results as I possibly can. 

EDIT, EDIT, EDIT

I can never post a photo without editing it a bit beforehand, I always feel like my photos look somewhat ‘unfinished’ if it’s not edited. I understand that editing all comes down to personal preference however, here are some of the apps that I use to edit my photos with PLUS THEY’RE ALL FREE!

SNAPSEED: I mainly use this app for when I want to brighten the background of my pictures especially when I feel like I’ve taken some shots in awful lighting. This app contains a selective feature which allows you to select in detail where you want to either brighten, change the contrast or change the saturation. That’s not all though! It comes with a bunch of other features like tuning your image and changing the structure.

COLOURSTORY: This is pretty much similar to SnapSeed in terms of allowing to play around with the brightness, contrast and saturation. Completely changing the brightness of my whole photo is what I use this for. The app also contains a selection of effects such as flare and light leaks whilst giving you a variety of choices in the filter sections.

VSCO CAM: I feel like everyone and their mother has heard about this editing app as it’s so popular within the blogging community. I use this whenever I want to add a universal filter to my photos (A5, HB1 and HB2 all being my personal favourites). Like any other photo editing app, it also allows you to change the basics like sharpness and clarity to make your photos look more like they were taken off a DSLR camera, what a bonus! 

What do you use to take blog photos? 

A New Favourite Mascara?

When it comes to mascaras, I never really venture out to try new releases as I like to stick to the same ones that I know will always work for me. If I’m honest, I’m quite fussy with my mascaras which is probably why I haven’t tried a great deal of them. The lovely people over at Essence Cosmetics sent me a ton of goodies to try out and to my surprise, the I Love Extreme Waterproof mascara was my favourite of the bunch.

Before using this I did a bit of research for some reviews like I would normally do, however there wasn’t a wide variety of them, although I did manage to find some first impression videos on YouTube and some of them seemed a bit disappointing which meant I didn’t set my hopes up high for this one. Boy was I wrong! I love everything about this mascara from the formula, to the applicator and to how it made my eyelashes look. 

I like the blue and pink packaging that this product comes in and the tube seems a lot wider and ‘fatter’ than any of my other mascaras that I own. The bristles on the applicator are quite dense and thick which worried me at first because I thought it was going to clump my lashes together however it did the complete opposite – it separated my lashes beautifully whilst giving them a good amount of volume and lift (bearing in mind, I used an eyelash curler beforehand). It’s also waterproof which means you won’t need to worry about smudges, I wore this product for a good 10 hours the other day and it held up perfectly. The only thing I will address was that it took AGES to remove at the end of the day which is understandable considering it being waterproof. I used my regular Garnier Micellar Water and a good few cotton pads to get rid of it, but I sometimes found myself rubbing at my lashes too forcefully so I would highly recommend using something more oil based to help breakdown the product. 

You can find this mascara over at Wilkinson’s for just £2.80 which is possibly the cheapest mascara I own and it’s a bargain considering it works like a charm. I think it’s safe to say that I will defiantly be re-purchasing this product once I’ve ran out.

Have you tried any Essence products? What’s your go-to mascara?

Must Have Carry-On Travel Essentials

With my holiday only being 11 days away, I think it’s safe to say that am very excited yet super nervous at the same time. I am such a nervous flyer. Well, I’m an anxious traveler in general. In my mind I believe that my comfort on a flight begins with how you pack your carry-on bag, I need to make sure I pack everything which will keep me feeling content and comfortable for the flight (and hopefully pass the time a bit quicker).

The Basics

Travel Bag: I currently use a plain black rucksack which I got for £10 in Primark and it has done me wonders. It’s the perfect size and I manage to fit quite a lot of stuff in there. I love how it has front pockets and also two more compartments inside for even more extra storage. I use this as my main travel bag and also my staying over bag for when I’m round a friend/family house for the evenings.

Travel Wallet: The boyfriend and I picked one of these up from eBay last year before we headed off to Amsterdam. I believe it cost around £5/£6 which I thought was very reasonable considering the ones we looked at were more on the £12 side of things. It fits all of our boarding passes, passports, ID cards and travel money inside, leaving plenty more room for any other extra cards and details you want to take along with you.

What I bring to keep comfortable

Flip Flops: If I’m going away on a summer holiday, I always love to either wear flip flops for the whole journey or bring a pair with me in my bag so I can change into them halfway through ready to face the hot weather when I get to the other side.

Sunglasses: There’s nothing worse than getting off the plane to bright, sunny weather and not having any sunglasses for protection therefore you end up squinting the whole way to your hotel/villa. I like to think ahead and bring a pair with me so that I can chuck them of once we’ve gotten off the plane.

Travel Pillow: I get neck aches whenever I sit down for a long amount of time. My brother bought a travel pillow recently and it’s the most comfy thing ever and I’m definitely going to be bringing it on the flight with me. We have an early morning flight therefore I will most probably end up having a little nap on the plane with this pillow as my support.

Lip Balm and Hand Cream: During flights, I always get super dry lips and hands therefore bringing lip balm & hand cream along with me is essential.

How I keep entertained

iPad: With the recently new download Netflix feature, I am definitely going to be catching up with some shows on my iPad to make the time go a bit faster.

Headphones: I don’t know what I would do without my headphones on a flight. I’ve always had problems with my ears where I’ve had to go to the doctors numerous amount of times, therefore headphones do me the world of good. There’s nothing worse than having blocked ears for days whilst you’re trying to enjoy your holiday.

Books: I have always loved reading ever since I was little. Getting stuck into a book is a good way to pass the time. I’m currently reading 13 Reasons Why after watching the show on Netflix and I’m loving it so far, it’s defiantly the book that I’m bringing on holiday with me.

Snacks: Of course you’re bound to get a bit peckish on the plane therefore I like to stock up with some snacks to help keep me content. (I get a bit ‘hangry’ otherwise lol).

What is on your ‘must have carry-on essentials’ list when it comes down to travelling?

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8 Things That Happen When You Get Engaged

If you follow me on social media then you would’ve seen that I got engaged on Monday and yes, it still feels super weird to say that however it was honestly one of the best days of my life. What I thought was a normal day off work ended up being completely different, Alex surprised me with breakfast at the shard and then tickets to London Zoo to feed the cute little monkeys. After a walk around Regents Park, he got on one knee to propose and I cried so many happy tears. I feel like nobody talks about the things that happen right after you get engaged, even though we’re a newly engaged couple these are some of the things that happen after you get engaged (well, at least these are the things that have happened to me):

       1.      You over-use the word fiancé - An hour after he proposed, I couldn’t help but say ‘Oh hey Fiancé!’ multiple times until it got very annoying (but I secretly loved every minute of it). You find yourself constantly using this word all the time just because you can! I wake up every morning with a ‘Morning fiancé’ in the most girliest voice possible and he laughs at it and replies back but you can tell on his face that it gets a bit annoying after a while lol.

      2.      You want to tell EVERYONE – Yes, even strangers. I couldn’t stop showing off my ring to the whole world afterwards. I was paying in Primark and I handed over my money whilst showing off my ring as if to say “Yep. He put a ring on it”. You will want to put the news out there on everything whether that’s Twitter, Facebook or Instagram with the most amount of engagement hashtags as possible. EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW.

      3.      You will become super over-protective of the ring – It’s gotten to the point where I’ll take my ring off before bed and put it back into its perfect little box because I’m too scared in case it falls off whilst I’m asleep (even though it probably won’t). You will also get very paranoid if anyone wants to hold the ring, in the back of your mind you’ll be saying ‘omg please don’t drop it, ok that’s enough. Okay give it back now’ haha!

      4.      You will immediately start planning your wedding – Even though we don’t plan on getting married until a good few more years yet, I instantly took to Pinterest and made a wedding board so I could pin all the cute and quirky wedding ideas. Then you’ll share all your marvelous ideas with your fiancé to the point where he’ll get so bored and fed up of looking at wedding stuff when you’re nowhere near getting married yet lol. It’s just fun to do and omg let’s not forget about how many wedding dresses you’ll end up looking at.

      5.      You’ll tell the engagement story over and over again – At first, it’ll be fun and exciting to tell all your family and friends the famous story of how he proposed, but once you get asked for the thousandth time, it will start to get a tad annoying.

      6.      You will get excited every time you hear Beyoncé’s song – All the single ladies will start playing and you’ll end up doing some crazy dance whilst pointing to your ring with that hand flip move to show everyone that he did put a ring on it.

      7.      You’ll constantly keep up with painting your nails – I’m the type of girl who hates painting my nails and if you know me then you’d know that I always have chipped, ugly nails. Not anymore. I feel like a changed women and I constantly want to buy prettier nail varnish so I can get those perfect nails for when I show everyone the ring.

      8.      You will feel so overwhelmed yet super happy – At one point you will actually realise that you’re going to be marrying the person you love the most and spending the rest of your life with them. It’s such an overwhelming feeling of happiness and excitement. 

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Why I Love Makeup Sponges

Although I have an undying love for my flat top kabuki brush for giving me such a flawless finish with foundation, I will always have a place in my heart for beauty blenders/makeup sponges. The first makeup sponge I ever heard of was the beauty blender however I found a cheaper alternative and went for the Real Techniques Complexion Sponge and I’ve never looked back since. Nowadays, a variety of brands are bringing out different sized makeup sponges all for different uses and I have found they’ve made a huge difference in my makeup application. Here are a few reasons as to why I love makeup sponges and why I will continue to re-purchase them in the future:

They have unique shapes | Most beauty sponges will come in a sort of oval shape which makes the rounder side perfect for bouncing foundation over the main parts of your face, then you have the little point which makes it easier to get the foundation blended around your nose and underneath your eyes.

You can use them wet or dry | I like to use my complexion sponge when it’s a bit damp as I find it’s easier to blend my foundation out, also the sponge becomes softer and more flexible making it a whole lot easier to use. The only time I tend to use a dry beauty sponge is when I’m baking with loose powder, I like to pick up a good amount of product and bake underneath my eyes, my nose and my smile lines. It works perfectly and my makeup doesn’t budge for the rest of the day.

Cleaning them is super easy | Although makeup sponges claim to last a few months, they can actually last a lot longer if you take great care of them and clean them on a regular basis. I am the type of person who despises cleaning makeup brushes as I have way too many and I find it very time consuming, however I L O V E cleaning makeup sponges because they’re super easy to clean. Baby shampoo and a bit of olive oil works perfectly to deep clean and get out any staining that the makeup may have left.

Sponges give me the most natural yet flawless finish | My flat top kabuki brush will always be my favourite for foundation application however, it gives me a super full coverage that I don’t always want on a daily basis. Makeup sponges are for the days where I want a natural looking skin day but I still want to look healthy and flawless. It’s also great to use when my skin is dry as it doesn’t disrupt the skin as much as a brush would.

I spend less time applying foundation | Using a makeup sponge I found has been the quickest and most efficient way to apply foundation with especially if I’m in a rush. They blend out the foundation super quick without the worry of having to try and blend away brush strokes or any dry patches.

I believe that everyone should have some sort of makeup sponge in their collection or at least try it, because I guarantee you’ll become obsessed with them just like I did. What are your thoughts on makeup sponges?

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5 Ways to Switch Off After a Stressful Week

Last week was full of stressful moments for me. I don’t deal with stress very well as I’m one of those people who tends to break down into tears the minute I get stressed about something and it truly is horrible. As I was casually scrolling through Pinterest one evening, I came across a short quote that completely stood out to me: 

                                                      

  “It is ok to take a break”

Sometimes we get so piled up with stuff that we feel like our heads may explode. It’s so important to pause and really think about what is most important at that moment in time. Yes. It’s okay to take a break from everything once in a while, to switch off from the world and focus on yourself for a change. How do we switch off? Well, everyone has their own ways of relaxing and winding down at the end of the day. Here are 6 things that I like to do: 

Read a book | Reading a book is one of the most relaxing things to do in my opinion. Getting stuck into a good story helps me to forget about all my worries and de-stresses my mind from any negativity. I recently picked up a new book to start reading called: Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland which is beautifully written Young Adult book about love and loss.

Switch off from Social Media | This is something I have been trying to add into my life recently. We use social media every single day for an excessive amount of hours (well, I do anyways) and that’s not a bad thing however it can become too much sometimes especially when it starts to affect your social life. It would get to the point where I’d come home from work and instead of spending time with my boyfriend who I haven’t seen for the day, we’d both end up on our phones for hours catching up. I’ve been starting to switch off from my social media for a few hours each day, and it honestly makes such a difference with my stress levels.

Talk to someone | I have always noticed that it’s much better to let your feelings out to someone you can trust rather than boxing them up on the inside and actually making you feel worse. It’s okay to get a second opinion sometimes and it’s also okay to ask for some help and advice when you need it the most. When I’m stressed, I’ll either turn to my boyfriend for help or I’ll end up ranting to my best friend over WhatsApp and that instantly makes me feel better.

Organising things |Bit of a strange one, but it’s always helped me. When I’m stressed and mind is completely puzzled, I like to organise my stuff. Whether that’d be my makeup drawers, my wardrobe or just cleaning around the house in general. I feel 100 times more organised afterwards and having some sort of order in my stuff makes me less stressed out in the future.

Go to bed early |When I’m tired, I tend to get a bit more ‘cranky’ and agitated which is where most of my stress comes into the picture. I used to go to sleep at around 2am which was never good as I would wake up and feel super irritated for the rest of the day. I’ve been trying to get into bed earlier than normal, probably around 9pm on work days or 8pm on my days off. I never force myself to sleep as that doesn’t work, I like to lay in bed until I feel tired – going to be earlier helps me to have a better and more productive day the next morning.

What are some of your favourite ways to switch off during a stressful day/week? 

A Round Up Of My Favourite Cream Contour Products

Oh I do love a good contour. It’s become part of my daily makeup routine and I genuinely feel ‘naked’ or ‘not put together’ if I skip this step. Don’t get me wrong, I still love powder products however I feel like cream products look more natural and gives my skin radiance rather than the matte look. During the spring and summer I like my skin to look glowy and healthy and these are some of my favourite cream contour products which help me to achieve that look:

Clinique Chubby Stick | This is one of the first cream contour products I ever purchased, and I also bought the highlighter chubby stick to go with it however I wasn’t a big fan of that one. Without even exaggerating here, this product has lasted me a good two years and it’s most likely out of date however I can’t bring myself to throw it away until I’ve used it all up. This sculpting contour contains no shimmer and the shade is more on the warmer side which I prefer as I don’t like grey, cool tone contours. The pigmentation is great and you only need to use the tiniest amount which is why it’s lasted me such a long time and its fab considering it cost £19. It blends into my skin nicely leaving me with natural looking sculpted cheek bones.

Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel | If you haven’t heard of this product then where the heck have you been?! This was all the hype a few years back and I feel like pretty much everyone had this in their makeup collection. With the price range being £32, is it really worth it? YES. You can use this product underneath foundation for a bronzing base or use it on top as a cream bronzer. The velvety finish of this product keeps your skin looking radiant and sun kissed. It’s a light cream-gel formula which blends beautifully into the skin. It’s a very subtle product however it’s super buildable and just like the Clinique Chubby Stick, it has a warm undertone and lasts a very long time.

Technic Contour Stix | This contour stick comes in a set of three alongside a pink champagne cream highlighter and a yellow toned concealer. Technic is one of the more affordable brands with the set only costing around £7 and even cheaper on some sites such as eBay or Amazon. I was hesitant at first as I wasn’t sure if I like the colour of the contour itself, it’s more on the cooler side of things however it seems to work perfectly for my skin tone which I was super happy about. The product blends into my skin seamlessly and has amazing longevity power as it doesn’t seem to budge throughout the day. I also own Technic’s cream contour palette which insists of 8 shades to help you get the perfect contour, it retails for £5 and all the shades are super creamy and pigmented.

Benefit Dew the Hoola | I received this mini Dew the Hoola product in a Birchbox one month and of course, I was super excited about it. For someone who is a huge fan of the original Hoola bronzer I also cannot get enough of this product either. It’s unlike any of the other cream products I’ve mentioned so far as this one is a full on liquid bronzer… Yep, it’s a liquid. The consistency is not runny yet not too thick either. I like to apply one pump onto the back on my hand and then get a flat brush to apply it into the hollows of my cheeks, I like to blend it in with my Real Techniques expert face brush or sometimes I just like using the warmth of my fingers. It’s a warm toned shade, exactly the same shade as the original Hoola bronzer but just in a liquid form. This is a sample size however the real deal costs £24.50.

I am wanting to try out more cream contour products that are on the market today as I feel that more and more brands are starting to come out with them. I’d love to know some of your recommendations.

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