Category Archives: sarahfynn

Ritual Mind Oasis Experience

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Hihi everyone I hope all is well. I went down to the Rituals Mind Oasis in Oxford Street for some much need relaxation. I saw this place on my fyp by chance and I decided to look more into it

I love Rituals as a brand so I was very keen to experience the mind Oasis, especially the brain massage. I booked the ultimate wellbeing experience which is a combination treatment of a 25min hydro massage and a 30 mins mind massage.
Firstly the direction via the website takes you to the wrong Rituals on oxford street lol. You want the Rituals opposite the John Lewis not the one towards Tottenham court road.

I arrived 10 mins late for my 2pm appointment but they were very understanding and explained its a usual occurrence. I was offered tea and shown to my 1st therapy room. This was for the hydro massage. I didn’t know what to expect.

The hydro massage was a warm water bed which combines aromatherapy, red light therapy and sound for relaxation and you can control the intensity of the each. I turned off the red light – can anyone actually confirm the benefits of this lol. And increased the intensity of the aromatherapy and massage.
The massage was better than expected. It really feels like knuckles been dragged across my back. The medium intensity felt nice but I do like stronger intensity for my massages. It covered my whole body as well which was surprising, well up to the calves

The room was clean and there was only 1 other person there so it felt very exclusive for me

Next we went over the other side for the brain massage. This is what I was very keen on. This is in a private pod with sounds to help massage your brain. The anti gravity chair also vibrates and there are some breathing exercises to start you off because 30 mins of calming sounds to help you relax and mediate or turn off your mind.

I found this quite relaxing. I have a hard time turning off my mind but I was very happy for the time to calm and meditate.

Before I knew it the experience was over.

This was such a lovely experience. The staff were amazing. I still got my full 55 mins experience even though I was late. There was no rushing. I signed up to be a member nd recieved a free beach bag which feels like amazing quality

Overall this is truly an Oasis in the middle of one of the most busiest streets in London. The services were super affordable too. £58 for both treatments which is pretty great for London.

I highly highly recommend and will definitely go back for a little treat. Find out more here

Garnier Ideal Bronze Sun Cream Milk-In Spray SPF50 Review

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hihi everyone, I hope all is well! Its been a tumultuous start to the summer (like always) but hopefully its smooth riding from now. i know summer is the time most people use sunscreen below the shoulders lool so today I’m reviewing one of my fav body SPFs.

There are SO many affordable sunscreen options in Boots and Superdrug! I feel like, this is one area the drugstore does really well. Over the last couple of years, the amount of sunscreens without any white cast on dark skin have almost double so you can be sure you will find a suitable one!

Garnier Ideal suncream milk in spray SPF 50 is a lightweight milk that feels amazing on the skin and smells GREAT. the scent is tropical, reminds me of coconuts and masks the sunscreen scent well. the scent lingers through the day. the sunscreen scent isnt as strong as some others Ive used in the past.

Is it invisible on the skin? YES- this sinks into the skin so quickly and easily and leaves 0 cast! I’ve noticed it leaves my skin looking bronzy and this is due to the vita-melanin formula. there’s no pigment in the SPF but it helps to get an even tan. I used this SPF when I was vacationing in Antigua back in April and 0 sun burn ( never been sun burnt and I am hoping to stay that way). It layers on well- there’s no sticky feeling and no heavy or greasy feel on the skin- this is particularly important when reapplying especially when its so hot! It rinses off well- i do have to wash twice to ensure it comes off which is a good thing! you don’t want SPF that easily comes off. I have it on in the pics and there isn’t a trace of cast anywhere!

Verdict

I wont lie I was very skeptical when I first recieved this from Garnier sometime last year or the year before but after that initial use, Ive repurchased twice and on my 3rd bottle now! this has become my fav body SPF and I have been recommending to everyone. it comes in SPF30 and 50 but I always stick to the latter. Its also availble in aerosol mist which I also have been using and will bring a review soon.

At the £7 price its so affordable and effective to not try! Its available from boots

catch you later! Make sure you are wearing your sunscreen

Estee Lauder Advanced Cleansing Balm Review

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hey hey everyone, if double cleansing is on your list this summer then this post is for you! I finally finished the Estee lauder cleansing balm and Ive been wanting to share my thoughts on it.

I love Estee Lauder so i was very excited to try something new (to me) from the brand. The cleansing balm came free as a gift with purchase sometime last year (or the year before) but I started using it in Jan this year and just finished it last month.

Experience

This is a balm cleanser that transforms into a oil once warmed up then into a milk when emulsified. The balm is buttery soft and is very easy to massage onto the skin. The oil it transforms to is slippery and it works well to breakdown makeup, SPF and dirt. it also becomes milky very easily with water and finally rinses off easily, leaving very little residue on the skin.

I was using this as a first cleanse in my routine for removing makeup and layers of sunscreen. it works well for that. i think it struggles a bit against waterproof mascara and lash glue, I find i have to use a little bit extra around the eye area or massage for slightly longer compared to other cleansing balms but it isn’t a big enough difference that i think the Estee lauder balm isn’t good. A little goes a long way with this product and i find when I’m heavy handed with it it leaves a bit of a residue when rinsing away

Verdict

This is a nice balm cleanser. Its the first balm cleanser I’ve used for a while after switching to oil cleansers. Is it the BEST balm cleanser I’ve used? No and Ive also used better cleansers from Estee Lauder.

As much as i love Estee Lauder for the ANR serum, I would not spend £46 on this cleanser especially when you can get much more affordable k beauty ones that are slightly better in my opinion.

I enjoyed using it, very happy i got it for free but I wont purchase this.

Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Cleansing Balm with Lipid-Rich Oil Infusion is £46 at Boots

Loreal Revitalift Face Toner

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hey hey everyone, I hope all is well with you. Today I have a review on the Loreal Revitalift face toner that I have been using for a while.

The toner is part of the revitalift range that promises younger looking skin. One of the main ingredients in the range and the toner is hyaluronic acid known for its hydrating and plumping benefits. This toner promises to leave the skin hydrated, younger looking and feeling refreshed.

Experience

I purchased this on a whim because i was looking for a hydrating toner under £5 from Boots that was very easy to fit into my routine. This one was on offer for £3.99 so I decided to try it. I’m very happy I did! It feels great on the skin leaving it nice and hydrated after cleansing. It has a pleasant scent, it has got fragrance so if that’s something that irritates your skin, the toner may not be for you.

Verdict

This is a very nice easy going toner that fits well into any routine, especially one with a lot of actives. I’ve had no issues with it. I’ve repurchased it a few times, this review comes after my 3 or 4th bottle probably and i will continue to get it. Its always on offer too, I’ve never paid the full £7.99 price for it. Has it left my skin looking younger or plumped? I don’t know lol, my skin looks the same but I didn’t really buy it for that.

if you’re looking for a cheap easily accessible toner, that is hydrating and nice on the skin, you can try this one out.

It’s currently £3.99 at Boots

Josh Hair & Beauty Salon Croydon

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hi hi everyone, I hope all is well with you.

Im back with a new post in my salon series. My goal this year was to visit at least 2 new hair salons, I went to Elevate Brixton back in January, you can catch my full review here then I went to Josh Hair and Beauty the very next day lmao. So yes another very late post HOWEVER, I’ve been to Josh 2 more times since then with the latest visit in April so this will be a full review of all the services I’ve done so far with them. Might be a long post, grab a snack!

My first visit to Josh was for a weave with closure and my stylist was Bimpie. I absolutely loved the service and my weave but gosh I forgot how long weave is lool. I really loved my stylist, we spoke about what I wanted and I wanted to try a new technique I had seen on TT for sewing on the closure, instead of using the elastic band, use weaving net instead and she was very happy to oblige! (btw this technique is 10/10 especially for less tension on the hairline). I was seen right away, I had a mini consultation with the owner Sharon before my service started. I went already wash, blow-dried and trimmed thanks to my visit the day before at Elevate Brixton lol. The salon does offer these services but I had already booked Elevate way before I decided( on a whim btw) to get a weave done lol. I used 1 and half bundles of coarse kinky straight from Curlsqueen and a matching closure. We used a weaving net for the base, my cornrows weren’t extremely tight and my edges were left out as requested. I didn’t have to pay extra for the loose curls. The hair was already layered from a previous style. The weave was £170 I believe

I went back to Josh 3 weeks later, on vals for a weave wash, condition and style with the same stylist. Again I was seen quickly and my service was great. My weave was washed, conditioned and I went again with loose weaves. My closure was also retightened. I was done in about 2-3 hours with no issues. This service was about £80 or £85 I think.

My recent visit to Josh was last month for my routine wash, blow-dry, treatment and trim service. This is my usual service I have at all new salons to really get a feel of the place. I had booked the owner Sharon but on the day she wasn’t in so I had 2 stylists: one that washed and blow-dried my hair and the other for the trim. My hair was lightly detangled before washing with the creme of nature argan leave in. I cant remember if she clarified my hair but she did recommend a restructuring treatment instead of a moisture one as my hair had some damage. I sat under the dryer for a while maybe a little bit longer than necessary. The salon was busier that day at least compared to my previous visits. She also did my blow dry using the Keracare silken glaze and the leave in. I did ask for a dedicated heat protectant even though the former products did offer heat protection simply because my hair is very fine so she used the Keracare Thermal wonder. I cant also remember if my hair was detangled prior to blow-drying but I wasn’t too happy with the way my hair was handled during the blow dry. It wasn’t rough or anything but I just felt the technique could be better compared to other blow dries I’ve had. I also feel like she used too product. When I look at the pictures comparing the Josh blow dry and Elevate (Jan 26) I can see my blowdry at Elevate left my hair smoother and sleeker and the Josh blow dry was fluffier. My trim was done by the 2nd stylist and was fine. She recommended some treatments i could use for repair. This service was £100 or £90 i think

Verdict

Will I go back to Josh hair and beauty? YES. Overall my service has been good. its so convenient for me as well and cheap parking lmao. I definitely go back for weave with Bimpie.

I’m testing out trimming my hair on a 4 monthly schedule instead of 3 or I will be heading to a new salon in the 1st week of August. I already know where I want to go, I will be back with a (timely) review for that lol. Honestly I cant really tell if I’m retaining length because the length looks the same even though I cant really think of something I’m doing wrong. I think I will book a proper consultation at my next salon visit to discuss this in depth.

Summer is almost here!

Take care