Neal's Yard Remedies: Skincare Haul/ Review

Ok this is a very bold opening statement; I honestly think the Neal's Yard skincare range contain the best products I have ever used and have transformed my skin completely. (So far of course you never know I may find something better but blimey it's fab). They are made in the Uk and I believe that almost all the products I mention are at least 90% organic and I'm fairly certain that most of them are also vegan, which I think is one of the reasons my skin has responded so amazingly. Neals Yard Remedies have never tested their products on animals which is always something I try to look out for when wanting a product. I like the keep as many chemicals off my face as possible.

I'm going to quickly give you some background on my skin type and I also want to clarify that these products may give different results on your own skin. Also this is more on the higher end prices of skincare because I prefer to spend a little more on my skin care as I feel that it is worth it when you get good results. I have slightly oily blemish prone skin. I have suffered with acne (or spots) for around 6 years so I try out so so many products to try and at least calm it and make it less frequent. Using these products has almost entirely got rid of my spots. I still have one or two a week or so but I've noticed that these fade much faster and the improvement is unreal to me because a couple of months ago my spots were at their worst.  I have fairly sensitive skin and not one of these products have reacted badly to my skin.

Organic Facial Wipes: RRP - £5.50 for 25 wipes
I'm not usually a fan of face wipes but because I received these for free due to spending a certain amount of money so I'm not complaining!! These face wipes are 98% organic and they are biodegradable (saving the planet one face wipe at a time!). I tend to use these if I am taking off a large amount of makeup before I do the rest of my skin care or just throughout the day if I'm wearing no makeup and I want to freshen up my skin. They feel so refreshing on my skin which I think is down to the white tea. I would definitely repurchase these. You can purchase them here.

This is the sample size NOT the full product - this came free with my order

Wild Rose Beauty Balm: Full size product RRP - £37
Oh my gosh I'm not even kidding, I've tried the sample of this before and it does wonders to your skin even after the first application. This beauty balm is 99% organic and can be used in so many different ways but the way I tend to use it is applying it like a cleanser then taking it off with a damp muslin cloth to gently exfoliate. A tiny bit goes a long way so if you used this efficiently you could probably get 2 uses out of this one sample sachet. It works so well that I'm saving this until the night before my prom as it works so well. The full size is incredibly expensive which I'm not sure if I could justify but as both me and my mum love this we are thinking of splitting the price as that is more justifiable. But if you can afford to splash out you will not regret it. You can purchase it here.

The next few products are targeted at specifically oily/ combination/ blemish prone skin.

Purifying Palmarosa Daily Moisture: RRP - £23.75
I adore this moisturiser! Even though I have oily skin it is still so important to apply moisturising products towards the end of you skin care routine or your skin starts to produce even more oils which I want to avoid. This sinks into your skin so quickly and brightens up dull looking skin. It's 90% organic and you can purchase it here.

Palmarosa Facial Wash: RRP - £15.50
I always have some sort of face wash as a part of my skincare routine but an awful lot seem to break me out. I started to use this Palmarosa Facial Wash and it has never broken me out and it's 83% organic. It foams up really quickly and once I have finished using it I feel like all my make up has completely left my face. (after I have used make up remover and cleanser prior to using this of course). This has never given me any dramatic improvements but it definitely helps to purify pores and keep breakouts to a minimum. You can purchase it here.

Clarifying Mahonia Skin Gel: RRP - £16.50
I have defiantly saved the best till last. I am in love with this stuff, you wouldn't even believe. I can't remember the last time I've gone without it and when I'm close to running out I get another straight away. This skin gel is basically a spot gel. It's 97% organic and the way I love to use this is to put 1-2 pumps on my fingers and mix it with a little bit of Germoline (which is an antiseptic cream) and apply it at the end of my skincare routine all over my face. It makes the spots I do get fade so fast but mainly prevents almost all spots appearing on my face. The only downside to this gel is it does smell a little funky but it does an amazing job and once it has been rubbed in the smell goes. You can purchase it here.

I'll speak to you all soon,
Sarah x

Class of 2009 - 2014 ♡

I would like to firstly like to mention this will probably be a deep and soppy post, you have been warned...
So on Friday 13th June 2014 (lucky date I know) I LEFT SECONDARY SCHOOL!

I cropped the other people out of the photo - not to be obnoxious and be like 'LOOK AT ME ON MY LAST DAY AT SCHOOL!! but I wasn't sure if they would be ok with being on my blog, sorry! I just had to mention that ♡

The idea of leaving school is still completely overwhelming to me since I had been there from 11 - 16 years old, and I don't even know where to begin with this blog post there are so many things I want to say. 

Ok, so after pondering a little bit the first thing I wanted to discuss is the incredible friendships I have formed and I am so so grateful for having such amazing people in my life right now. I'm not going to lie, year 7 was the worst year of my schooling life. Despite having a small close group of friends (of which some are still my very bestest friends) I was bullied for no reason at all (not that bulling should require a reason, it shouldn't happen at all) which I wont go into, but this resulted in me going into a shell and feeling like I couldn't be myself around most people, even my friends. But then a year or so later I decided standing up for myself and not being afraid to be the person I actually am is the only way forward if I wanted to be happy - and I have not looked back in regret since making that decision. From the end of year 8 and onwards I have stuck with the most amazing friends anyone could ever ask for and I love absolutely every single one of them with all my heart and I hope we never lose contact (being cheesy is what I do best). They have helped me through some of the toughest times in my life that no one should ever experience and we have all shared hilarious and happy memories. My friends are the reason I will miss school insane amounts because not seeing them every day is already so difficult! Trust me there have been many tears shed.

And this may come as a bit of a shock but some of the teachers at my school is a main factor as to why I will miss it so much. I went through about 4 years of school having a few 'nice' teachers and a few I didn't particularly like. But when I came to the end of my time there I realised a most of them were some of the kindest/ most inspiring people I have ever met which completely shocked me. I would have lessons where teachers would moan and complain in the class, even occasional making seating plans and handing out detentions (not so fun, fun fact - I went through school getting a total of 0 detentions and I don't know if that makes me  'bad-ass' or just a bit boring?!). But I realised for the most part they only do this because they want you to do well  because they are responsible for your future and they want to make it the best they can for everyone. Although contraindicating myself here there were one or two teachers that definitely didn't care and I will not miss ;) From my experience if you genuinely think a teacher is doing something wrong you go out there and tell them, You cannot be or at least shouldn't get in trouble for standing up for yourself if you truly believe you are right. 'pick your battles' is a key thing I learnt.
Of course recently I have finished my GCSE's. I have no idea how I have done which is the scariest part but the most important thing you can think (and I also think this could apply to lots of different situations) is that even if you have or have not done the best you can in the build up. as long as in the moment you try the best you can  that is all that matters and you should be proud regardless.

At school I got involved in quite a few things but the main thing that I feel like has shaped my future in some way was becoming a 'student supporter' which basically means sitting down with students to talk about their problems and help make them feel better. The training I had by the Samaritans to help me be able to take part in this role made me realise I am so passionate about wanting the help people which could potentially be a career option?!? But the point I am trying to get across is take all the opportunities you can because it could inspire you to find out where you want your future to go. 

When people say 'your school years are the best years of your life' for me I can luckily completely agree, despite the low points I would never change anything because it has all made me the person I am today. I've learnt that it is ok to make the same mistakes over and over, as longs as you stay grounded and try the best you can. I wish everyone who is soon to be leaving school the best luck ever!

I'll speak to you all soon,
Sarah x

Real Techniques: Duo-Fibre Brushes

I'm sure many of you are already familiar with the amazing 'Real Techniques' brushes created by the Pixiwoo sisters; Sam and Nic Chapman. I have fallen in love with other brushes that they have created so I bit the bullet and decided to purchase these from boots a couple of weeks ago. The set retails at around £23.99 and includes 3 brushes;

- The duo-fiber face brush

-The duo-fiber contour brush

-The duo-fiber eye brush

You can purchase the set at Boots and Superdrug but you can also find them slightly cheaper on the Real Techniques website that ships world wide.  Be sure the get them quickly as they are limited edition! The high-street price of these brushes are phenomenal due to the amazing quality - personally I would pay even more due to how amazing they are as they average out at about £8 per brush which for the quality is SO cheap. 

It was quite difficult to show in a picture, but what makes these brushes unique is that they are 'duo-fiber'. This means that (at least for these in particular) there are two layers of synthetic fibers, with one layer being longer than the other. This basically means that some 'bristles' are longer than others. The varying lengths of the fibers in these brushes are shown by colour. The longer fibers are white and the shorter fibers are black. 

Duo-fibre bristles work with almost any kind of make-up including; Cream, liquid or powder and give the most amazing finish ever!
After I read that they can be used for liquid I grabbed my duo-fiber face brush and attempted to use it with my L'Oreal true match foundation (I love this foundation by the way). I was very sceptical to see if this would work due to the brush not being very dense but I tried it out any way and WOW! My foundation looked so amazing on my skin. I'm not going to lie and say it made me look flawless because it didn't due to my hormonal teenage skin, but it blended my foundation perfectly and despite it being medium coverage my skin looked like skin whilst still hiding most imperfections and ever since I have not used any other brush for my foundation.
And of course I am also in love with the two other brushes in the set. The duo-fiber contour brush is perfect for picking up the exact amount of product you need and is slightly tapered so it fits just under your cheekbone and is also great for bronzing up your whole face (as is the face brush). And the duo-fiber eye brush is perfect for blending out eye-shadow.

The handles of the brush are made from aluminium so they are very light weight and as they are fairly long it makes them easier to use, the design of the brushes is also lovely. And also since using these not one single bristle has escaped even when washing them!
A fact you may or may not know about Real Techniques is that the synthetic bristles are hand-cut and 100% cruelty-free! I absolutely love that Sam and Nic chose to do this as it means that whichever brush you purchase is unique to you and the cruelty-free aspect is just an added bonus and is even more of a reason to purchase these brushes!

I'll speak to you all soon,

Sarah x

Welcome to 'SarahShinings'

Hello everyone my name is Sarah!

Before we even start I would like to mention that I already know I will live to regret my username in the near distant future but lets all look past that.

Anyway! Yes... so I'm Sarah, I live in the land of tea and scones (England) and I'm 16 years old. I love all things beauty/ fashion related so I thought (with the help of a friend) ''hey, why not start a blog?'', so here it goes.

I really hope if anyone is actually reading this that you enjoy what I have to share. Of course not everything will be about beauty and fashion but that will probably be the majority.

I'll speak to you all soon,

Sarah x