feelunique – sarah fynn

Christmas Gift Guide: Skincare Sets

Hey, beauty lovers this one’s for you (like this whole blog isn’t lol) get a pen and some paper ready!

One of the many reasons I love Christmas is all the excellent value for money gifts sets and all the pretty packaging. There’s something about getting a gift set with everything neatly arranged that gets me very excited (and in doing research for this post, I have had to refrain from buying some lol).

Here goes, some of the best value sets and top brands out there this season and where to get them! There’s are LITERALLY tons of gift sets out there so no doubt it may prove difficult (for some) to navigate through: online or in store? Boots or Superdrug? What about FeelUnique? 3 for 2? Buy 1, get one half price? Here are some quick tips to you make the most of your shopping trip

Set a budget- how much can you afford to spend?
Find out the receiver’s fav brands- this could cut your time in the shop by half! (if the gift’s a surprise take a look on their social media pages, they’re bound to mention something on there!)
Compare prices- type what you’re thinking of buying into Google and hit the shopping tab. It will list the places and prices you can get them from
Shop where you could earn loyalty card points (for use later. This is the best time to rack out some serious points!)
If all else fails and you are short for time, a gift card won’t hurt!

To give you some inspiration here are my top picks( PS- I really want any (or all) of these so in case you wanted to get me something but were stuck for ideas :))

DHC Christmas Beauty Bento Box, £13

No7 Youthful Skincare Collection, £20

The Body Shop The Finest Mask Duo, £25

Clinique Pep Perfect Set, £24.50 *exclusive to Boots.

I hope this helps steer you in the right direction. Affordable, effective and very popular brands. I am working on a guide for makeup too stay tuned for that. I may even throw in a haircare set too. Make sure you check out the 1^st post in the series featuring Black British Brands.

Christmas is coming…

Love

Sarah

First Aid Beauty Review

First aid beauty is a brand I heard a lot about and as usual couldn’t wait to try. I purchased two of their most popular items: the Facial Radiance Pads and the Vitamin Hydrating Mist a few months back and I can now bring my full review.

Facial Radiance Pads

Since I started using acid toners, I have been on the hunt for the best drugstore ones. The Facial Radiance Pads from First Aid Beauty is one I have heard off and comes with a reasonable price tag. The pads promise to exfoliate, tone and brighten the skin. It comes in two sizes a 60 pack and 28 pack.

Experience

The pads are slightly bigger than the NIP FAB pads I tried some time ago however these are not effective for me. I’m not sure of the acid content as it doesn’t say on the product or online. From the ingredient list, it does have lactic and glycolic acid in it but I haven’t noticed a difference in my skin, which leads me to think the acid content is very low and maybe lower than the Nip Fab pads which were only 2%. It made no difference to my pores either and although it hasn’t broken me out, it hasn’t prevented breakouts either I still get my random one here and there. I do like that they have stayed wet and haven’t dried out but overall very disappointed with its effectiveness.

Vitamin Hydrating Mist

The Hydrating Mist says it will hydrate, revive and refresh your skin and safe for sensitive skin.

Experience

I like to use to over my makeup to take away the powdery look. It’s great at that, it doesn’t necessarily leave a dewy finish but the finish is quite nice. It comes out in a very fine mist so doesn’t leave white spots on your face or disturb your makeup. It has a lovely subtle scent. The slim line bottle makes it perfect for traveling and its only 59ml (quite small)

My only con- it would be nice to know which vitamins it has as it doesn’t actually say this on the product and I wish i was slightly bigger

Verdict

It’s bittersweet for me: First Aid Beauty has been on my brand hit list for a while and whilst I’m happy to finally try some items I’m quite disappointed with the effectiveness. Overall I love the mist but not a fan of the Facial Radiance Pads. I guess its but to the drawing board for searching for the drugstore best aid toner!

Facial Radiance Pads (28 pack) is priced at £12 and the Vitamin Hydrating Mist is £10. Both available from FeelUnique

Love

Sarah

It’s ok not to be ok

Top Skincare under £5

A good skincare regime will help you put your best face forward- healthy, radiant and well moisturised! Prepping your skin before makeup does a lot to ensure your makeup looks its best, no matter how many high end products you use!

Don’t fall for the hype! Your skin care products do not have to cost an arm or a leg. I have found as long as you have a good routine (cleanse, treat, protect and moisturise) you can get away with using drugstore stores which can give you the same or dare I say better results! Research is key when trying out skincare products, whether it’s a well-known brand or not, make sure you read as many reviews as possible or speak to a professional. For optimal results, make sure you are buying products for your skin type e.g. only buying products for normal/combo skin types if that’s your type.

I have for you 16 great skincare products under £5! That’s 16 products covering a lot of categories like creams, makeup removers and treatments. I have included all the products I have used and you will have reviews in my review index, so much sure you check them out!

Face Wash

A staple in your skincare routine to wash away make up residue, dirt etc. a good one will gently cleanse your face without stripping it of its oils. I have tried loads but my top 3 are:

Garnier Pure Active Anti Black Head Deep Pre Wash, £4.28

Simple Refreshing facial Wash £3.39

Simple Triple Action Face Wash, £3.75

Day cream

After your morning cleansing, it’s a good idea to follow with a light day cream with SPF to help protect from the sun and provide moisture and hydration underneath your makeup. Try these budget friendly picks

Simple Vital Vitamin Day Cream SPF 15, £4.99 Waitrose

Superdrug Vitamin E SPF 15, £2.99

Night cream

They say night time is when your skin renews itself. A rich night cream is perfect for providing optimal moisture and aiding in that process. Make your beauty sleep go further with these night creams

Simple Vital Vitamin Night Cream, £4.99, Waitrose

Nivea Rich Regenerating Night Cream, £4.35 Superdrug

Toners

Essential to balancing skin pH and removing any makeup residue. My picks are

Simple Pore Minimising Toner, £4.79

Formula Daily Care Toner, £3.50 M&S

Makeup removers

This is probably one of the most important steps in your skincare regime. I have included wipes in this post but feel free to check out my micellar water post for great drugstore alternative and under £5

B.Pure Micellar Water Cleansing Wipes, £1. Superdrug

Garnier Simply Essentials, £2.99 Superdrug

Face masks

Perfect pampering treats. There are face masks for a wide range of problems: dry skin, blemish prone, detox etc

Garnier Pure Self Heating Sauna Mask, £1.29 Superdrug

Simple Deep Cleansing Face Mask, £3.99 Superdrug

Masker Aide Hydrating Facial Sheet Mask, £5. M&S

Exfoliators/scrubs

Deep cleansing for brighter clearer skin. These are perfect and within budget too

St Ives Apricot Scrub, £4.19 Boots

Garnier Pure Active Exfoliating Scrub, 2.33 Amazon

Phew! That was a lot. The drugstore has tons of effective skincare products. Don’t knock it off till you try.

Did I miss your favourite drugstore brand? Let me know below

Palmer’s Coconut Formula Co-Wash Review

Palmer's Coconut Cowash — Palmer’s Coconut Oil Formula Cowash

Hey guys, this will be a review on the Palmer’s Coconut Oil Co-wash. The product is the latest addition to the Coconut Oil family. Want to know more about the whole collection? Click here to read about it and where to purchase in the UK!

Palmer’s describes the product as a non-lathering shampoo alternative and free of sulfates, detergents, lather, parabens, phthalates, petrolatum, mineral oil, gluten and dyes! As with all the other products in this collection, the main ingredients are

Pure coconut oil

Keratin

Vitamin E

They also claim it to be an all in one product that will replace your shampoo, conditioner, hair mask and leave in conditioner!

Main Ingredients in Palmers Coconut Cowash — Main Ingredients

How did it perform?

Very well actually. I really like that it has a pump which makes it so much easier to use. It says to apply directly to your scalp but I applied to my hair as applying co-washes/conditioners to my scalp makes it itch. But it gently cleansed my hair and scalp.

cowashing with the Palmers cowash — Co-washing with the Palmers coconut cowash

It really does make your hair soft! As soon as I applied it, I could feel my hair softening lol and yes you don’t need a conditioner afterwards, but because I am very extra( and my 4c hair needs every moisture it can get) I did lightly condition afterwards. You will get a bit of slip to detangle with but I found adding some water gave me more slip. It has a yoghurt consistency, not too thick or runny and the smell! It smells really good.

After rinsing, my hair felt really soft. ( yes almost every natural washes their hair in sections lol, dont you hate it when you think you have washed out every bit of conditioner thenn you go to apply your leave ins etc and you realise actually you havent!)

4c shrinkage is real! curl definition or nah?? (probably not!) — 4c shrinkage! but that one curl is poppppinggg!

Verdict

This makes me a big fan of co-washing! This is the 2^nd one I have used which I really enjoyed using. I think it’s perfect when you want to cleanse your hair you but you don’t have a lot of product build up. It’s a generous size too, 473ml will last you a while especially if you have shorter/finer hair. It’s definitely worth a try!

Want to know all the dees on co-washing? How and why you should add it to your hair regime? Click here to find out more!

This product is available from Feelunique

Christmas Guide Gift: Boxed Beauties

Check out part 1 of the gift guide for all the latest gift sets for everyone! From makeup to natural beauty!

This time I am spilling the deats on the best limited edition Christmas beauty boxes! There’s a lot to choose from but I have narrowed it down to 5 of the best boxes that give you more bang for your buck and are hella cute too plus products from well down brands ( now you can take out all the guess work!)

Which one will you choose? Head over to Black Beauty and Hair to read the post. Click here to go straight to the article!

Autumn/Winter Beauty Trends 2015

Hey my loves how’s everyone doing? Good I hope!

So the autumn hasn’t officially started (I believe the 1^st official day of fall is 23 September, but I could be wrong) but I’m here with some serious fall/winter trends you may want to start thinking about! After all it’s getting colder!

I will include some products recommendations which will suit every budget, from ‘I’m on a serious tight budget’ to ‘where the stuff at? I got money to spare’ so get a notepad ready and let’s go shopping together!

Nails

Just because we will be hiding our hands in our pockets or pretty gloves doesn’t mean we should neglect them! Switch from the bold and bright nail colours for the spring/summer and paint your talons with some dark and mysterious colours.

Try nails

Collection’s Blackberry, £1.99 from Superdrug (This polish gives you up to 7 days of wear!)

Essie’s nail colour in chocolate cakes, £8.00 from Debenhams

OPI in Russian navy, £12.50 from Debenhams

Lips

Lip gloss is back this season and was seen on all over the runaway of Rag & Bone and Fendi (Raise your hand if you hate lip gloss or anything remotely shiny on the lips lol) as always dark vampy colours are back and better than ever. Remember the most important aspect of wearing any lipstick (including lip gloss, urgh) is exfoliation, exfoliation and more exfoliation then moisturise, moisturise and moisturise! Fall/winter also means dry, chapped or cracked lips which equals doom for any lip colour esp. matte colours ( have you ever tried wearing MAC ruby woo on cracked lips?) make sure you regularly have a handy lip balm on deck and you exfoliate frequently. From experience I noticed if you regularly moisturise your lips, exfoliation a 10x easier and quicker!

If you detest lip gloss like me you can try lipstick with a sheer/lustre finish or use Vaseline on top of your fav matte lip colour as a D.I.Y sheer lip colour. To be fair, I will give recommendations for both lip gloss (urgh) and lipsticks

Try

Lip gloss lipgloss

Makeup Revolution salvation intense lacquer in Rebel, £3 from Superdrug

B. Brilliant lip gloss in Morello, £6.99 from Superdrug

MAC vamplify, £18 from Debenhams

Lip Stick

It was hard, oh so hard to narrow it down to 3 choices! So I narrowed it down to 6 (so I cheated a little) I won’t include the classic ruby woo or heroine or cyber or rebel from MAC £15.50, (Ok so I cheated a lot) because I am sure by now everyone and their sister’s boyfriend’s side chick has that but I will give you an alternative and cheaper red!

Try

Makeup revolution in make me tonight, £1.00 from Superdrug

MUA Luxe velvet lips lacquer in kooky, £3 from Superdrug

Barry M Lip paint in black cherry, £4.49 from Superdrug

Sleek’s rioja red, £4.99 from Sleekmakeup.com

MAC’s matte royal (For the brave ones), £15.50 from Debenhams

Bobbi brown lip colour in black raspberry (This is a very popular shade!), £19.50 from Debenhams

Lashes

Bigger than life lashes were very popular too. For this trend the easiest way out is to pop on your fav pair of falsies and go right? But what happens when you can’t seem to get it right? Like never? Mascara and go! Finding a mascara that gives you the maximum length and volume with zero clumps is as hard as finding your perfect red shade (Ok maybe not as hard but you get the point), here are my tried and tested recommendations that will leave you with puppy eyes!

Try

Maybelline Great lash, £4.99 from Superdrug

Maybelline colossal volume express, £6.99 from Superdrug

Clinique high impact mascara, £17.50 from feelunique.com

Benefit they’re real, £17.55 from feelunique.com

By Terry growth booster (my current fav), £33.50 from feelunique.com

That’s all folks! Let me know what you will be rocking this season! I tried to give products suitable for different budgets and I think I did well. What trends have you seen and are loving?

Until next time

Love

Sarah