It’s been 476 days since I last sat on the laptop and wrote a post. 

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? 

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? 

Current Non-Beauty Favourites

Before we get started with the post, can we just take a minute to realise that we are nearly at the end of March!? It’s been something that has crossed my mind a lot recently and its crazy how quickly time flies. Moving on, I can’t even remember the last time I did a favourites post. I usually write about what sort of beauty products I am currently loving however for today’s post, I want to write about some non-beauty favourites that I have been obsessing over recently and I feel like this would be an awesome way of getting to know me better on a more personal level.

H&M STRIPED JUMPER

I went to Chichester not too long ago and I saw a girl wearing this exact jumper with a cute black denim dungarees and I was completely obsessed with the whole outfit. Of course, me being me I was too anxious to go over to her and ask where it was from (lol) so I ended up spending what seemed like f o r e v e r online trying to find that exact jumper. I had no luck until the other day; I took a trip into Brighton with the boyfriend and I found the jumper sitting in the sale section and there was only two left. I grabbed it as soon as my eyes caught it and I did a little excited squeak and told my boyfriend how I’ve been wanting this for ages! As you can imagine, I cannot stop wearing it. I’m obsessed and it’s the comfiest jumper ever AND for £10, who’s complaining? Not me.

HOOP EARRINGS

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to my best friend Taylor (tmaemakeup) for getting me into hoop earrings. I’ve had my ears pierced since I was 2 yet I have just never really been an earring kind of gal. My friend wears the prettiest earrings and I love when she wears hoops as they look amazing on her. We went shopping a while back and I decided to pick up a pack of 5 different sized hoops for just £1 in Primark (oh Primark, you absolute gem) and I have been wearing them non-stop. I don’t know why I was too scared to wear them, I guess it was because they were very out of my comfort zone and I was nervous in case they didn’t suit me but at the moment, I’m very happy with them.

RIVERDALE

If you haven’t heard about this new show then WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN? Riverdale is without a doubt one of my favourite shows on Netflix at the moment although I am a bit annoyed by the fact that we have to wait until the 31^st until the next episode. Nevertheless, I still love it. The show is set in a small American town and it follows the murder of Jason Blossom, a football captain at Riverdale high school. That’s literally all I’m going to say about it because I think that EVERYONE needs to watch this show and find out how amazing it is for themselves, it’s full of twists and turns. If you love Pretty Little Liars then you’ll definitely love this.

TOBY CARVERY

Who doesn’t love a good roast dinner? I have no regrets when I say that I went to Toby Carvery 3 times in the space of a week and a half lol please don’t judge me. Whenever there’s an opportunity for a roast or even just food in that matter, I can’t resist. Plus it’s a cheap alternative as it only costs like £7 for a massive plate of meats and crispy potatoes and that huge Yorkshire pudding you get and just ugh, I’m getting way too ahead of myself now. Just go to Toby’s yourself and then you’ll realise why I’m so in love.

What have been your current non-beauty favourites?

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My Current Go-To Makeup Removers

Back in the day I was a disgusting little human and never took my makeup off before bed. I would apply makeup before school, sleep with it on and apply more over the top the next morning. I know, I’m cringing at the thought of it too. Nowadays I cannot go a day without taking my makeup off at the end of the day (except for those nights where I go out clubbing and completely forget to oops). I switch and change when it comes to makeup removers, there’s so many different ones out there on the markets now, and I just love trying a bunch out. I have rounded up a few of my go-to makeup removers that I’ve been reaching for more often recently.

GARNIER SKIN ACTIVE MICELLER CLEANSING WATER

I have never been a great fan of makeup wipes and I tend to stick to the micellar waters/oil based cleansers as I feel they are much gentler for my sensitive skin. Garnier have a massive selection of Micellar Waters available in Boots and Superdrug, I can say that I have tried every single one from the collection and I love them all. I mainly go for the oil infused micellar water however if I’m honest, it wasn’t in my local shops so I just picked this one up instead. It works just as well as the others and it leaves your skin feeling hydrated and free from any makeup residue.

SIMPLE KIND TO SKIN HYDRATING CLEANSING OIL

For someone who has normal to dry skin, I like to use products that will help to hydrate my dry patches. Oil based cleansers have been one of my favourites to use on those days where my skin needs a bit of a ‘pick me up’. Before trying this cleanser, I was very skeptical about it as I thought it was just going to leave me looking like a huge greasy mess but I was wrong. Once you rinse this off, your skin is left feeling soft, smooth and hydrated without any greasy residue left. It breaks down and dissolves your makeup nicely and it’s gentle to use on and around your eye area.

CLINIQUE TAKE THE DAY OFF CLEANSING MILK

Clinique have always been one of my favourite high end skincare brands. I tend to get a fair few of allergic reactions when trying out some new products however this has never happened with a Clinique product. This product is a gentle, milky cleanser which can be used with or without water to dissolve makeup. I would say that I don’t like using this for removing eye makeup as such because it doesn’t seem to get rid of that stubborn mascara very well. For face makeup though? Works like a dream. Massaging this over dry skin gives and rinsing off with warm water gives the best results.

GARNIER MICELLAR CLEANSING GEL WASH

Can you tell I love Garnier skincare? This was a recent purchase of mine and when I say recent, I mean I bought it 2 days ago however I feel like it needs to have its own little mention as I adore this product. It’s basically the exact same as the original micellar water but in a gel wash form and I actually think it works a lot better when it comes down to removing makeup. I have been using this for the past two days since I bought it, and so far it hasn’t broke me out which is always a good sign. I cannot explain how easy and quick it is to take my makeup off with this. It dissolved my makeup within seconds and rinsed off easily with warm water. The one thing I would say is that it stung my eyes a tad but I think that was purely down to the fact I used way too much. I felt like there was no need to moisturise afterwards either as it left me with the perfect amount of hydration for my skin.

What are your favourite makeup removers?

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Liquid Lipsticks That I'm Currently Obsessed With

A few years back you would never catch me wearing a liquid lipstick. Shocker. For someone who suffers with extremely dry lips, of course I found them to be an absolute pain to wear. They were uncomfortable and they made my lips crack and flake. I know, gross. Fast forward two years later, and I love them so much to the point where I literally wear them almost every day. I discovered the wonderful joys of lip scrub and lip balm which helped tons with my dry lips. I am now slowly building up my own little collection of liquid lipsticks and I have picked out a few of my favourites which I have currently been obsessed with recently…

              NYX Lip Lingerie – Bedtime Flirt

This was definitely a ‘Blogger made me buy it’ product as I saw so many great reviews about these liquid lipsticks that I wanted to join in and not feel left out lol. The texture of these lipsticks are kind of mousse like at first and then they dry down completely moments later. I have 4 different shades however my favourite is ‘Bedtime Flirt’ which is a gorgeous pinky nude that I find perfect for an everyday use. After a while, it does start to show all the fine lines on your lips but it’s nothing a lip balm over the top can’t fix! The longevity of these are great, they last for a good few hours and they don’t transfer.

2          Jeffree Star Liquid Lipstick – Leo

These liquid lipsticks have one of my favourite formulas ever! Unlike the lip lingerie’s, these ones are much more liquid in texture and they feel very smooth when you first apply them on to your lips. They feel quite tacky at first but then they dry down to a matte finish within a few minutes. They aren’t completely transfer proof so keep that in mind and they can tend to come off around the inside of your lips after eating or drinking which is something most liquid lipsticks tend to do after a few hours. I have two shades out of his collection – ‘Posh Spice and Leo’ with Leo being my favourite as it’s more of a warm toned brown. If you didn’t know, I am literally obsessed with brown lipsticks.

3          MUA Velvet Lip Lacquer – Flair

I discovered these a few weeks back and I thought as the price range was only £3, these were going to be crap. I was very wrong. They work just as good and wear just as long as any other liquid lipstick that I have tried, it’s a bonus that they’re just extremely cheap! After a few hours of wearing this, the colour does fade a bit so you do have to re-apply once throughout the day. I have mine in the shade ‘Flair’ which is a dark burgundy colour, perfect for the autumn months (although I do love wearing this all year round). I wore this so many times throughout November/December and I got a hell of a lot of compliments on it.

4          NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams – London

I rave about these all the time to everyone. If you’re not much of a liquid lipstick lover due to how drying they can be, then I definitely recommend in picking up some of these bad boys. These are what got me into liking liquid lipsticks. They’re lip creams which don’t dry down completely on your lips yet still giving you the appearance of wearing a matte lipstick. It feels like soft velvet on your lips and they are very comfortable to wear. They cost £5.50 each which is an absolute bargain. My favourite shade is ‘London’ – it’s a perfect nude which works with a lot of different skin tones. I also love the shades Amsterdam which is a bright red and I have also got Moscow which is a dark blue… BLUE. I bought it because I thought it would be perfect for Halloween, but I seem to wear it on a daily basis when I’m feeling very daring.

I’m always on the hunt for some more liquid lipsticks, what are your favourites?

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