UK – sarah fynn

Best Sheet Masks For All Skintypes

What are Sheet Masks?

Sheet Masks are face shaped fabric (sheet) masks that are usually soaked in a serum packed with beneficial ingredients. As with the usual masks, they target a range of concerns and you choose the depending on what you have. It’s trendy at the moment because of the very interesting selfies you can take with them and more importantly K-beauty (Korean Beauty) is becoming increasingly popular in beauty regimes everywhere! Want to know the best sheet masks for all skin types? Carry on reading!

There are tons of sheet masks on the market nowadays with almost every brand jumping on them. I love them because they are very convenient and travel-friendly and I love discovering all the different types they come in. the only issue with them is the size, it’s a one size fits all kinda deal (you can’t get it on a small or medium lol) so obviously if you are on the extreme ends of the scale you may not find a comfortable fit.

I have tried a lot but I have stuck to a few brands and repurchased these as I found them very effective and a good fit. Check out the reviews I have on sheet masks below

Collagen Gold Powder Face Sheet Mask

TT Charcoal Brightening Sheet Mask

Sephora Lotus Sheet Mask

Garnier Tissue Bomb Sheet Mask

My current Sheet Mask Collection

It’s quite obvious I love the sheet masks from Sephora! They have so many different types and I am slowly making my way through them! Because they are not available in the UK, I tend to bulk buy when I’ on holiday and there is a Sephora (they do however ship to the UK)

I have also repurchased the Garnier Tissue Bomb Sheet Mask many times, used it during a flight and back home.

The Boots Ingredients Sheet Mask was something I recently discovered in Boots. They had a good range and I am planning on using them and reviewing them pretty soon!

It’s a fun trend and definitely, one I recommend you try, especially for long haul flights or just have fun with them at home!

What are your fav sheet masks?

Christmas Gift Guide: Black British Brands

Hey, family, it’s most Christmas: one month to go! So it’s safe to say you are starting to prepare your Christmas presents list if you haven’t already. I have been working on a block of Christmas Gift Guides that will hopefully inspire you to try something different and save whilst at it!

The first of these is this post, focuses on the top Black British Brands. Collectively, they have everything from hair to skin to natural ingredients and men’s toiletries too. I have had the pleasure of working with most of these previously and I wasn’t sent any products for consideration for this post, I just really enjoyed using the products and I would much rather recommend a brand I have personally used (or heard really good reviews)

Let’s get started

The gift that keeps giving: Monthly Subscription Boxes!

The ultimate gift this season? Is the gift that keeps on giving! Monthly boxes are great because every month you get a box full of goodies that are excellent value for money! I recommend Treasure Tress for the natural hair lovers (they have a box for your little princesses too) and Gloww Beauty Box for the black beauties. What’s great about these boxes? You can cancel your subscription at any time.

My Reviews

Treasure Tress

Gloww Box

Mother Nature’s secrets: Natural Skincare

It’s no secret: Mother Nature has some amazing plants/ herbs that are great for your skin. These next two brands have products that are not only natural and organic but are infused full of skin loving ingredients! Ziyanda is your choice if you love oils (p.s. try the Kalahari Facial Oil and thank me later), body scrubs and more! Shea Butter Cottage is your one stop shop for all things natural ft. shea butter, mango butter, oils and much more! If you haven’t tried Kingsbite- Ghanaian chocolate, go on and splurge a little on that too! PreMae– how better can it get? Products that are vegan friendly and proven to be suitable for all skin types including sensitive ones! If you only try one product, check out the Harmony Face Wash.

My Reviews

Ziyanda

PreMae

Long hair don’t care: naturalistas

For my naturals out there, no one wants to be caught with dry hair! No no! These next brands are the perfect addition to your hair stash! Afrocenchix has just released their Christmas gifts and they are luxe! Even better they have travel sizes: perfect for your fro abroad! Modie haircare has taken moisture to the next level! Their moisturising crème is everything you want from a cream: leave ins, moisturisers, stylers etc. My Luxe Beauty: Kim is amazing and I totally enjoyed working with her. My Luxe Beauty has hair products from a plethora of brands including Shea Moisture which is black owned too (but American) * ok so I cheated a little but their products are soo good I had to include.

My Reviews

Afrocenchix

Honourable mentions

Tsaka Beauty

Melariche– website that stocks makeup catering for WOC

The Afro Hair and Skin Company

The Good Hair Club

Did I miss your fav Black British Brand? Comment below and let others know- dont keep it a secret! More Christmas Gift Guides to follow shortly! Keep an eye out and subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss a thing. Whilst you’re here, follow me on Instagram to keep updated with deals, products and my other shenanigans. Go on, you may as well follow me on snap chat too- itssarahfynn

Just Keep Going.

Sephora Triple Action Gentle Makeup Remover Gel Review

Hey guys, I hope all is well! Where is summer though? Why do we even expect much from British weather? Don’t we go through this every year? Lol anyway back to today’s post

I finally got to shop in Sephora whilst in Paris, YouTube made me do it! I picked up their Triple Action Gentle Makeup Remover Gel (what a mouth full) which I have been testing out ever since and I must say I am very impressed with it!

Sephora describes the gel as super gentle with a cooling appeal. It’s suitable for the face, eyes and lips and contains cornflower extract and vegetable sugar which has moisturising properties. There’s also no need to rinse after using it. I picked it up in the travel size (hand luggage restrictions) but it’s also available in a larger size.

Experience

The first thing I noticed when I started using this gel is the cooling effect it has (I didn’t even know it’s supposed to do that until I started reading the product description for this post LOL). It’s also quick acting and starts to remove makeup as soon it hits the face. The consistency is quite runny although that may be because my room is quite warm all the time lol.

It’s very effective in taking off face makeup- blush, powder, foundations etc and for lips, it removes lipsticks and matte liquid lipsticks very well (I have tested it out against Sleek Matte Me, ColourPop Ultra Matte Lip and Mac lipsticks including their liquid lipsticks). I also have to add: it doesn’t have a horrid taste! Finally, a makeup remover that doesn’t taste horrible lol.

For the eyes, I noticed although it removed some eye makeup well- eyeliners both pencil and liquid and eyeshadows, it fell a little short when removing mascara. I had to use more on the eye area to really remove all traces of mascara or else panda eyes.

I always wash my face after removing my makeup anyway (currently loving Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel) but after using the gel my face feels really soft, like I have put on a moisturiser!

Verdict– it’s totally worth it and I am planning on getting the full size soon! Check it out on Sephora’s website. Did you know they ship to the UK? Yes hunty!

How do you take off your makeup?

You can be sincere and sincerely wrong

Crystal Collagen Gold Powder Facial Sheet Mask Review

Hey guys, I hope everyone is doing great! Summer 2016 is here whopppp! So in the summer, I like to take my skincare game up a notch and do more face masks to keep my skin in good condition over the warmer months. Before I get into today’s post, check out my previous posts on face masks!

Multi-masking ft. Superdrug & Avon

TT Beauty Charcoal Detox Brightening Face Sheet Mask

I have been into the face sheet masks trend lately and I really wanted to experiment with different brands and types. I went to Amazon and picked up one of the bestselling Crystal Collagen Gold Powder Facial Mask. The reviews seemed really good and they sold it in great values packs so I decided to go for it. I got 3 for £2.74.

Whilst browsing I came across their Crystal Collagen Gold Powder Eye Masks and decided to try those too since I am starting to pay a bit more attention to my eye area lately. Again they had good reviews and a bargain deal- 10 pairs for £2.28! – review to follow soon!

Shipping was excellent; quick and free and I was really excited to try these! I must say that after using them I am not impressed at all! Here’s why

Crystal Collagen Gold Powder Facial Mask

For starters, it claims to do too many things, i.e. instant lifting &firming, moisturizes &rehydrates, whitens &illuminates, enhances face slimming & sculpting, activates cellular regeneration, collagen synthesis, skin pH balancing, soothing &anti-inflammatory and combat biological &sunlight skin aging! A whopping 16 so called benefits! FYI- when it says whitens its really brightening and evening out the skin NOT bleaching! I’m NOT trying to bleach this melanin!

You apply the mask on dry skin after cleansing and leave it on for 20 to 30 mins, followed by your normal skin routine

Experience

LOL. I mean I knew for £2.74 it wasn’t going to do all that but this is a joke lol. I haven’t tried a lot of facial sheets but the ones I have tried didn’t come in water. The ‘serum’ it comes in looks so much like water. The holes are cut wrong and too big, so it didn’t fit me properly. Its super slippery too, it wouldn’t stay in place and it kept sliding down lol so I couldn’t wear it for 30 mins! Infact when I wore this mask, it lasted for 5 mins! Trying to type and wear this mask is a myth! The only way I could have kept it on for that long was if I lied down! It also doesn’t say which part you put on your face so I played the guessing game each time.

After taking it off and the serum dries my face feels normal, just like when I dry my face after washing it and before I put on moisturiser. It doesn’t feel soft or moisturised.

I didn’t experience ANY of its 16 benefits. The only thing I can say I noticed was it’s quite cooling and left my face slightly cool- that wasn’t even on the list of benefits lol!

Verdict– Don’t waste your £2.74 lol. 1/5 (1 point because it’s a bit cooling and shipping was quick), I have used all 3 and no results. I don’t know if its travel friendly either, although its flat it’s also quite big which I found weird because most masks come folded which make it really convenient to travel with.

I purchased this from Gold Mask on Amazon

See you soon with the Eye Masks review! It should be interesting lol

Love Sarah

Exalt God above yourself . xx

Sarah Fynn X Shea Butter Cottage

Hey wonderful people, I hope you are well! My long awaited collab with Akua Wood from Shea Butter Cottage is finally ready! Thank you to Akua Wood for leaving her warm home to do my interview lol and to Taylor of CJAJ09 for providing the beautiful clothes for our photoshoot!

I contacted Akua last month regarding a collab idea I had. My vision was to talk to her about her journey with her business and what she has learnt, finally talking through some of her best sellers and a photoshoot at the end! We shot the video in her store in Reading and I love the way it turned out! (P.S- I was a bit nervous lol so I was talking fast, forgive me).

Interview

Link to Shea Butter Documentary

Shea nut and Root for colouring

Picture gallery

Giveaway Time!

Akua is giving one lucky person a chance to win some of her favourites and best sellers! All you have to do is go on my Instagram (@sarahfynn) and like the giveaway picture ( will be up from 12 midday) and comment done! Giveaway will be open till the 20^th and I will announce the winner on the 21^st! Good luck Terms- only open to UK residents. (Unfortunately Akua can’t add the Shea Body Scrub to the giveaway L but no worries, I will throw in an extra surprise! – You will receive two packages, one from Akua and one from meJ)

I want to thank Akua Wood for the opportunity and taking part in my interview series! Take a look at all the goodies she stocks online (She ships worldwide! SheaButterCottage) Medasi! Huge thanks to Taylor for providing the clothes for the shoot, visit her website for more African Print Realness- Ankara House and to Peter from the Ordinary Amazing for the video and photos!

Black Beauty and Hair Magazine!

Sarah Fynn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good News!

If you followed me on my intern diaries ( to catch you, search intern diaries), you would know I have been working at Black Beauty and Hair Magazine for the last month! Our latest issue is now out and I was SO EXCITED to see my name in print (Am I famous now? Lol) and all the pages I worked on.

If you are in the UK, make sure you pick up a copy now! Enter the freebie giveaway for a chance to win some amazing products and hampers! Click here to enter your details for a chance!

But I’m not done, there is another surprise coming soon!

Have a great night

Love Sarah

Debunking natural hair myths 3: Ignorant hairdresser!

Hey guys, I hope everyone is doing great! If you read my previous debunking natural hair myths, Part 1>> http://wp.me/p1uQOd-Ju Part 2 >>http://wp.me/p1uQOd-JM you would know it was inspired by things I heard or read. Today’s post however was inspired by a conversation I overheard lol yesterday between a ‘hairdresser’ and another man.

He said

Natural hair is just a trend that will die down soon. You know how people catch on to trends. They will realise its expensive and it’s not suitable for UK weather. Natural hair is not versatile, there’s not much you can do with it

Because I was eavesdropping (lol, well I wasn’t I was in the next room and the door was open lol) I couldn’t just barge in and lecture him. I thought about what I heard all the way home and how it’s a pity to hear this from a hairdresser. He’s probably the type to convince you to relax your hair if you walked into his salon. Anyway today’s post will focus on debunking all the myths he said

Natural hair is a trend- I think this is subjective depending on who you talk to. For instance, if you talk to someone who has seen a lot of perfectly defined twist outs and amazing voluminous hair, they are somehow led to believe that will be their case once they transition. They don’t really know what goes into that process aka pre poo, detangle, wash, deep condition, LOC then twist, dry, fluff then ROCK lol. So they transition only to find it’s not the case and give up, it is to those people that natural hair is a trend. I believe most things started off as a trend but stuck because people found it worked for them and they liked it. I also I believe if you did your research prior to transitioning and you had a personal reason/issue why you transitioned aka you had damaged hair etc, and you believe transitioning to natural hair is the only way to recovery, then you are more likely to keep your natural hair afterwards. it will not die down for those people that has become their lifestyle
Natural hair is expensive- I must confess I thought the same thing when I first became natural, and of course I thought I needed a separate conditioner to detangle and condition. I also thought I needed 10000 different oils for my hair. But now I believe it’s either more or less expensive than relaxed hair. It will cost whatever you put into it. I can have natural hair and use the bare minimum products or relaxed hair with the most products. But for the sake of this man, let’s look at some prices comparisons of natural and relaxed hair products in the same category.

Shampoos

Relaxed hair- Elasta QP shampoo for relaxed hair £2.49/237ml

Natural hair- Motions nourish and acre active moisture shampoo £2.99/473ml

Conditioner

Relaxed hair- Olive oil formula replenishing conditioner- £2.99/250ml

Natural Hair- Eco natural cocktail conditioner- £2.99/8oz

I could go on. It’s what you decide to buy. A lot of these products are suitable for all hair types too. I think the main reason people think it’s expensive is 1. Some time ago, companies that made natural hair products were very limited hence the high price 2. I believe when you transition or first become natural there is a lot of products that are thrown at you that you want to try out, hence you buy, buy, buy. Trust me when I say about 60% of products you would buy in the first year of been natural will not work for you. As you experiment and play around with different products, you will know your staple products and what works best for your hair.

If he is saying natural hair is more expensive because of all the styling products or oils we buy, once again he is wrong because we just swapped wrapping/setting lotions for curl defining cremes/gels and so forth. But again this really depends on the individual and how much they are willing to spend on their hair products

It’s not suitable for UK weather- 1^st of all, no hair is ever suitable for UK weather lol that’s why we got weaves, braids and wigs. Say no more
Natural hair is not versatile, there’s not much you can do with it- well mister take a look at the countless videos on YouTube and decide for yourself

I hope I did a good job debunking these myths, what do you guys think? I would love to hear others opinions on some stuff he said, make sure you comment below: whether you’re relaxed or natural!

Naturals do you think been natural is more expensive than when you were relaxed? People that transitioned but when back to relaxing their hair, what made you go back? Was it a trend for you or did you find it difficult/ not enough time? Do you think I am been defensive because I am natural?

It really gets on my nerves to hear ignorant stuff about natural hair, what people decide to do with their hair is their personal business so why say foolish things about something just because it’s not the norm?. Anyway let me go and drink this tea and apply my oils and sleep lol.

Love

Sarah

Natural hair and winter 101

The colder season means it’s time for chunky knits, hot chocolates and boots. It’s also time to update your hair regime for the fall/winter season. Natural hair needs more moisture and protection in the winter than those warmer months. Remember your wash and goes and cute twist outs? It’s time to say good bye to those and opt for protective styling.

With the weather dryer than usual, your hair will be affected by the elements: rain, wind and snow (not yet but hopefully we get a white Christmas!) the trick to maintaining healthy hair during this time is really simple: moisture, moisture, moisture and condition, condition and condition and throw in protective styling too. This simple guide will give advice/info on how to carry your hair ( and head) through the season.

Wash day

Pre- poo– I must confess when I am in a hurry, I completely miss this step and go straight for shampooing. In the colder seasons, you want to make sure you incorporate this into your wash regime every wash day! Hot oil treatments are the one for the season. This will help shed hair slip out easily and also provide extra moisture if you have to shampoo. Try all time favs like olive oil, coconut oil or castor oil. Of course feel free to mix and match for your perfect concoction

Co-wash – It’s to swap your shampoos for co washes (like you haven’t done so already). Creamier co-washes will ensure your hair is cleansed without stripping your hair of moisture. Try Cantu conditioning co wash, review can be seen here >> http://wp.me/p1uQOd-D2

Deep condition- I can not stress this enough. Deep condition every wash day is also a must for this season. For extra benefits, use a heat cap, steamer or warm towel to help the conditioner penetrate the shaft more. Reconstructors are ‘light’ protein treatments that will help repair any damages to your hair. Try Curl Harmony Intensive treatment

http://wp.me/p1uQOd-Fe , Boucleme curl conditioner http://wp.me/p1uQOd-FO

Finally, do not skip on your leave in conditioners (I recommend Cantu leave in, Giovanni direct leave in, heavy butters and oils to seal all that moisture in!

Protective styling

Trimming – Since many of us opt for protection styles like wigs and braids, it’s now the perfect time to get a trim. This is get rid of any split ends and ensure your hair is healthy. If you got a bit scissor happy or your stylist did, don’t worry as it will be hidden in your protective styles anyway. When wearing a protective style, remember to keep your scalp healthy by using scalp oils. My fav combo at the moment is castor oil, olive oil, rosemary and spearmint oils. This will ensure your scalp is not dry which in turn will prevent itchy scalp (Weave pat anyone?).

That’s all folks! What are your tips for maintaining your tresses in the colder seasons? Share them below! Let us know what products you’re using/loving, I am always on the hunt for new products to try ( with that been said, I will have a bunch of reviews up shortly as I have acquired a lot of new products recently, yay!)

Happy Friday

How you celebrating?

Love Sarah

September monthly products

Hey wonderful people! This is a list of stuff I got over September. I will have reviews up soon. Let me know if you have used any of these products or recommend some new ones to me! I am always on the hunt for something new to try J

I used lemon juice (Yes guys lemon juice) as a toner for a while, to help brighten my skin and help with my hyperpigmentation. It worked but I got bored of using it and wanted to try something new. I decided to pick up the Nivea pure and natural toner 0.33p (yes lol, but it’s been discontinued that’s why it’s so cheap) from Superdrug. Not a great fan of the smell but it gets the job done.

Garnier has always been my go to brand for skin care! I picked up their pure active anti-blackhead deep pore wash, £1.75 (a mouthful right?). This has salicylic acid which is known for its anti-blemish/breakout properties. I’m loving the results already.

ORS curls unleashed sulfate free shampoo and rinse out conditioner. I went to the ORS event during the Vogue Fashion night out and got these two baddies in my goody bag. A full review will be up soon on BrownBeautyTalk but one thing I have to say now is: I LOVE the SMELL! Lol. Check out my product collections series for the full product list for curls unleashed.

Superdrug body spray, £0.99. I love getting these and throwing them in my hand bag to use throughout the day. It smells really good and lasts all day.

Small stippling brush, £1.50 from Primark. I have been looking for a small stippling brush for a while now and I randomly saw this in Primark and got it! (I didn’t know they sold brushes). I really like it, I use it to apply my highlighters or use to blend my under-eye concealer.

Beauty UK gel fix nail polish £1 each, from Superdrug (please check my Facebook page for a lot of nail colour swatches)

Barry M nail paint, buy one get one half price, £2.99 each

Dermalogica products, separate post coming soon, I went to their event launch for these products yesterday

And finally my notebook, I got these to write my ideas, stories etc down as well as to plan my blog posts. Got it covered by CJAJ09, check her out on Facebook

That’s all the products I got this month, why not share yours with me

Love

Sarah

Sneak Peak! CurlHairMag Issue 2

Hey guys, so you remember the launch event of the CurlHairMag? UK’s 1^st natural hair mag!!! Check out the event cover here>> http://wp.me/p1uQOd-E1 in that post you will also find out where you can get your hands on a free copy!

Anyway issue 2 is on the way and here’s a sneak peak-behind-the-scenes post on the photo-shoot for the cover! I went along as I am writing the editorial piece (Yes you read that right!!). It was a fun shoot and I met loads of people! So without giving anything away lol, here are a few shots!

a makeup junkie's dream! — a makeup junkie’s dream!

Make sure you follow them on insta and twitter @curlyhairmag so you don’t miss the next event! Of course I will be bringing you guys up to speed on the mag and the launch event so stay close by! Follow me on my social media to keep up to date!

With Love

Sarah