PENDA SARR

Hey everyone, Happy New Year! May 2020 be filled with blessings, happiness, success, peace, and love for us all. We're about 3 weeks int...

Hey everyone, Happy New Year! May 2020 be filled with blessings, happiness, success, peace, and love for us all. We're about 3 weeks into the new decade and I've definitely been working hard to stick to my resolutions.

So, quick update, I've been a bit MIA because I was back home in Senegal for the holidays. This was
was probably my best December/January break yet! It was filled with the regular Christmas/New Years festivities, but there were also many weddings and birthday parties during my time yet so it was quite the eventful vacation.

Of course, I had to pack some cute outfits for the trip, so I wanted to show you guys some of my favorite looks that I wore while I was there. I hope you like them!


Look 1:

Look 5:

I had another reception to go and I wanted to step out of my comfort zone a bit, so I decided to wear this one shoulder emerald dress. The dress is fully pleated which I thought was so beautiful, that's what initially caught my eye. The fabric was light so I was able to move around throughout the reception and dance as much as I wanted to without having to worry.





Look 6:

This look was for New Years Eve. My friends and I were going to a party by the beach so I wanted to wear something that was frivolous, sexy, and cute. You can never go wrong with a little black dress, especially one that's off-shoulder and has a slit (two of my favorite things!). The dress' material is quite stretchy but it still had that nice tight fit to it.







 Outfit details:




And of course, my bag of choice was my clutch from Abidjan. I've been so obsessed with it! It was gifted to me a while ago and I wish I knew who the local artisan was, I have to ask the person who gave it to me soon! ;)

Hey guys, I hope you're all doing well and getting ready for the holidays! It's officially the cold season and of course #imnotr...

Hey guys, I hope you're all doing well and getting ready for the holidays! It's officially the cold season and of course #imnotready.

As the weather changes,  so does our skin. We are more prone to dryness and dehydration when temperatures drop, so it's important to work even harder to take care of our skin. To help you navigate through this season, I thought it would be a good idea to provide you with a list of tips that will keep your skin hydrated and moisturized.

1) Hydrate daily & layer your hydration

The first step is to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! The cold strips our skin, so it's important to hydrate twice a day (and if you workout throughout the day, make sure to wash your face and have a proper routine after your session as well).

To increase hydration levels, I recommend you "layer" your hydration. I learned this technique from beauty guru and esthetician Sean Garrette (https://www.instagram.com/seangarrette/?hl=en). Layering hydration is essentially layering the products that are aimed at providing your skin with moisture. For example,  whilst doing your skincare routine, you'd first apply a hydrating mask, then a hydrating toner, then a hydrating essence on top of it, and finally,  a hydrating serum and moisturizer. All of these products will work together and provide you with intense hydration, and an amazing glow (a win-win situation really).

I know it may be tricky to figure out what kind of products you should use, so here are some recommendations (you can click on the bold product name and it will take you to the link):

Hydrating masks

- Superberry Hydrate + Glow Dream Mask by Youth to the People
- Drink Up Intensive Overnight Hydrating Mask with Avocado & Swiss Glacier Water by Origins
- Moisturizing Moon Mask by Glossier

Hydrating toners

- Aqua Bomb Hydrating Toner by Belif
- CoQ-10 Toner by Indie Lee

Hydrating serums

- Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Serum by The Inkey List
- Honeymoon Glow AHA Resurfacing Night Serum with Hydrating Honey + Gentle Flower Acids by Farmacy

Hydrating moisturizers

- Cream Skin Toner & Moisturizer by LaNeige
- Omega + Complex Moisturizer by Paula's Choice


2) Mix your moisturizer with oils

Another way to take care of your skin during the winter months is to mix your moisturizers with oils. The oils will keep your skin supple, and help prevent dehydration. I usually do the moisturizer/oil combo at night, but if you want to do it twice a day, that's fine too. Some great oils to mix with your moisturizers are rosehip oil(especially if you have oily skin), jojoba oil, and marula oil.

3) Use chemical exfoliants

Now, in order to ensure that all of your toners, essences, serums, moisturizers, and oils penetrate well into your skin and work effectively, you have to exfoliate your skin. Chemically exfoliating is less harsh and will allow for  your dead skin to shed off. The best chemical exfoliants are those that have salicylic, glycolic, lactic, or mandelic acid in them. I know that chemical exfoliants can be confusing, so if you want me to do a thorough blogpost on that, let me know in the comments :).

4) Drink more water & avoid hot showers

Apart from skincare products, you can also take care of your skin with a few lifestyle changes. Two key things to incorporate in your everyday routine is to avoid taking long showers that are too hot and drinking at least 2 liters of water a day. Drinking water throughout the day will keep you hydrated and avoiding those 500 degree showers will keep your skin from stripping!

Thank you for reading, I hope this useful.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at sarr.penda@gmail.com. You can also connect with me on my social channels below:

Connect with me

Instagram: @pendasarr
Snapchat: @pendouchi

This weather is so weird, isn't it? Somedays it feels like it's autumn, other times it's Antarctica. Thankfully, this week was s...

This weather is so weird, isn't it? Somedays it feels like it's autumn, other times it's Antarctica. Thankfully, this week was somewhat consistent.

Hey guys, it's been a while hasn't it? I've been wanting to do this review for so long and I'm happy I finally got the time ...

Hey guys, it's been a while hasn't it? I've been wanting to do this review for so long and I'm happy I finally got the time to sit down and do it.

As some of you may know, Nigerian-American beauty influencer and youtuber Jackie Aina partnered with Anastasia Beverly Hills and created her very own eyeshadow palette. I was so happy when I heard about this because Jackie is one of my favorite beauty gurus, and Anastasia is known to have some pretty pigmented palettes.

The palette was officially released online and in stores on August 15th (yes, this review is well overdue haha) and has been a great success. The palette is all over social media, and everyone has been raving about it. I actually got it well after its release; I've used it a few times now, so I wanted to do a review for you guys.

First, as you can see in the picture below, the product's packaging is super original and unique. Jackie has a very bubbly and lively personality, so it's fitting that she created a palette that's reflective of her. The outside design is beautiful and it changes colors as you shift it, especially when it's held in sunlight.


The palette has 14 shades, and comes with a brush. What I love about the palette is how brown-girl friendly it is. Jackie is a big advocate for makeup for black girls, and I love how she made sure the palette had shades that would look amazing on everyone, including black women.


The palette is also great in terms of how versatile it is. Because of the variety of tones, it's easy to create neutral or colorful looks, depending on what you want to go for. I'm more of a neutral kind of gal, but this palette is definitely going to make me start doing more colorful looks (I mean just look at those purple tones).



Now, the best thing about all of this is the shade names haha. They're so funny! Dwollahs, Shookington & Wiggalese are my favorite ;).

It definitely stands out from traditional shadow names and I like that because it shows that Jackie wasn't afraid to make a palette that really exudes who she is.


Of course, I wanted to see how the colors would look on my skin so I swatched them all for you guys to see. Below is the top set of the palette:




(Swatch shade names from the bottom of my arm to the top: zamn, wiggalese, shookington, trust issues, edges, sponsored, ginger).