Motivational monday #4

There's someone I've been spending too much time with recently whose immediate reaction is always negativity. 

Before every activity is a list of risks and things that could go wrong and the idea they might be bad at it. I just think it must be so exhausting to think that way. 

Being negative is so time consuming and energy consuming, it takes over your life leaving you with not enough time to so anything apart from breed more negativity. 

Being around this negative person has started impacting me, making me nervous and unsure, as a result I have got so much less done and then berated myself for being unproductive. 

I am training myself to let go of that, to do things without imagining the worst and to embrace the idea of crossing that bridge when I get to it, and not visualise myself falling off. 

5 ways to celebrate the summer solstice

This summer solstice is a pretty important one as there is also a full moon so it would be a waste not to celebrate it, but it can be overwhelming knowing what to do so I've put together a list of simple and easy ideas below.

1:  Create an altar. you could use candles, oranges bright flowers and also add some crystals if you have them to charge them full of energy.

2: Collect tools and potion materials, it is said that herbs collected on the solstice are more powerful than those that are not, and traditionally the solstice is a day to gather herbs for the winter, you could also gather rain water and other 

3: Light a fire, whether you have a big bonfire or simply light some candles, fire is an excellent method of cleansing and you could also write down some wishes to burn or add herbs to the flames

4: Remove negative energy from your home, being at home on the solstice isn't a bad thing and you could either cleanse by burning dried herbs around your home or cleanse with wet herbs by bundling sage and lavender together, dipping the tips in water (or rain water) and sprinkle about your home. 

5: Leave gifts and offerings, this year I will be leaving gifts for the faeries but you could make an offering to any deity or spirit you like. 

Motivational Monday #3

One of the biggest contributions to my insecurity has always been comparing myself to others but as I've gotten older I've realized that there are so many different types of beautiful and that there is so many beautiful people in the world, but their beauty doesn't make me any less beautiful, even if I am nothing like them, and changing myself to be like someone considered beautiful simply takes away from my unique beauty.
I think a lot of this comparison based insecurity is because society constantly pits women against each other in order to sell us things, from magazines comparing which celebrity wore the best dress rather than acknowledging how beautiful they both looked to telling us that buying from certain brands will make us more like the model in the advert and therefore make us more beautiful.
Disregard the idea that being like someone else will make you more beautiful, the thing that makes you the most beautiful is your individuality.

Urban Decay De-Slick setting spray review

If you've read some of my other posts you will know that I recently purchased the Urban Decay De-slick oil control setting spray, this was a bit of an impulse buy because it was starting to feel like I'd tried every single 'oil control' and 'mattifying' foundation under the sun and still not managed to keep my makeup firmly on my face because of my pesky pores and I was getting sick to the back teeth of constantly having to cake on powder.

I have combination to oily skin and wear quite a lot of makeup on a daily basis so I was really curious to see if this worked for me, and I have to say I'm pretty impressed.
This for sure helps with oil production as I'm no longer facing the dreaded 2pm shine and it really creates a barrier over the face, almost like a hairspray. It doesn't solve my makeup disappearing problems totally but it means that I only need to re-powder once during the day rather than three or four times a day.

But the main thing I love about this product is the versatility, as well as using it to set my makeup I have had amazing results using it before my makeup, mixing it into my primer and using it to wet my beauty blender to apply my foundation, all of these methods have worked really well and I definitely recommend using this as a base product as well as a setting spray.

I think if you have really oily skin this may not be as effective for you, but you could use this as an oil controlling base and set with the all nighter setting spray as well.

I definitely want to repurchase this product as it is so easy to use and effective enough to justify the cost, I also find that all of my makeup looks better and lasts longer (even my eye makeup) and my skin has improved since using this product too!

Let me know if you've used this product and what you thought!

5 ways to make fashion hair colour last longer

I feel like anyone who has dyed their hair has faced the frustration of feeling amazing for the first week then realizing just how much the colour has faded.
Luckily, as a hair dye veteran, I have a few top tips to keep your locks looking luscious.

1- wash your hair less often
Ideally don't wash your hair more than every other day as this will cause the colour to fade, invest in some dry shampoo or check out my Instagram for some cute second-day hair style inspiration.

2-wash your hair in colder water
Cold/ lukewarm water will remove much less colour than using hot water to wash you hair, it will also make your hair look shinier when it's dry too. It might be a bit unpleasant to wash your hair in colder water but I opt for putting my head upside down so the water doesn't drip down me.

3- avoid heat where possible 
This doesn't just go for the temperature of the water you wash your hair with but also styling methods, make sure your blow dryer, straighteners/curlers are on a low heat setting and try to use heatless styling methods when you can. Make sure you use a good heat protection method when styling and going out in hot weather.

4- use gentle or colour preserving products
Using products formulated for coloured hair is something I never did but it's really worth it as it has made such a difference to me. Products made for coloured hair will be gentle on the colour and will add moisture back into your hair which will help your hair grip the colour for longer.

5- Don't shampoo immediately after colouring
After having my hair coloured I like refrain from washing it again for at least 48 hours to let the colour settle in. This is a super easy tip but definitely one of the most effective.

If you have any more haircare tips and tricks I would love to know!

collective haul

Before I left to go to download festival I treated myself to some lovely goodies and bits I needed so I thought I'd show you what I got.

Sunglasses

Primark Black round sunglasses  - I see so many cool alternative girls looking amazing in round sunglasses so I decided to try them to see if they'd suit me, I really like them and they're a bargain at £1 which is great as I have a habit of leaving sunglasses in silly places.

Black and red sunglasses- mum actually got me these as a treat so I'm not sure where they're from, they're a black and red tortoise shell design with a cat-eye style frame which makes them feel quite vintage-esque, these are much brighter than the picture and as they match my hair they create a real statement look. 

Beauty/ hair

Lush 'lava lamp' bath bomb - as the Mr and I were headed off to download and knew we'd be feeling really grubby and disgusting we wanted to pamper ourselves before we left with a nice bath. This one is gorgeous and citrus-y which is our favourite kind of scent, and it makes for an amazing bath (other than having to clean the purple stains afterwards)

Fudge Urban Iced raspberry and vanilla hairspray - Normally I go for a cheap hairspray, probably superdrug own brand or something but this was on sale and after smelling it I just had to have it. It has great hold and lasts for ages as well as leaving a lingering smell. 

Schwartzkopf live ultra brights hair dye (pillar box red)- I really needed the red in my hair topping up so bought two boxes of this dye for £7.50 it's worked really nicely and is incredibly vibrant for such an affordable dye. 

Biore baking soda cleansing scrub - I really rate Biore skincare products so decided to branch out and try something new, I'm still a bit unsure about this product as it feels very drying but I think it could be good to use before a conditioning face mask or something. 

Luxury purchases

Ghost Deep night eau de toilette- I've been itching to try a new perfume and I was drawn in by the bottle of this one but the scent is just perfect, I will be posting a full review pretty soon!

Paperchase planner-  I've been trying really hard to get on top of blogging recently so decided to treat myself to a fancy planner to help with that and generally keep me organised, this one comes with so many useful sections and additions! 

I hope you enjoyed this collective haul, I posted a sneak peek of this on instagram (@sabina.salemx) and you can follow me there for more behind the scenes action! 

Motivational monday #2

I am a person who doesn't deal very well with stress and has a tendency to make problems bigger than they are but if I have learnt anything in the last year or so it's that a cup of tea and a biscuit solves everything. 

It may not solve the problem itself, but it gives you the time to step back from a stressful situation and focus on liquidy goodness in the form of tea, and since having this epiphany I have become a lot calmer and happier. Sometimes a cup of tea is all you need to think logically about a situation or mull the situation over with someone. No problem is too big to contemplate over a cup of tea, and no problem is too pressing that you can't escape from it with tea. 

Go and grab a cuppa and click these links to find tea related joy from Twinings (not sponsored, I just love their tea) 

Salted caramel green tea 

Lady Grey

Winter spice tea