Thank you to Aude and others who signposted me to the wiki and other things that have filled-in the backstory about Sali, I am most appreciative for such a comprehensive history. She really is a piece of work.
I wear little make-up, so never really paid any attention to her Guardian column, although on occasion, if I did glance at it, I was always taken aback by how poor her make-up was anyway. It looked either caked on or too clown-like. She poor writing style meant that she just was not on my radar of anyone I would ever be interested in reading. As I had fallen foul of Caroline Hirons and wasted money on useless skincare she had recommended, I stopped taking any notice of what other so called beauty 'experts' were doing. But then Sali isn't an expert anyway, she's simply regurgitating press releases and praising whatever brand is giving her freebies.
I started to pay a little more attention to Sali when an ex-make-up artist friend told me how Sali had a habit of deleting comments she didn't like. She often picked fights with my friend (amongst others) in btl comments. I found this fascinating as my friend wasn't saying anything contentious, she was merely adding to the discussion in a polite, friendly and on topic way, but wasn't sycophantic (which clearly wasn't welcome). What I also found most interesting about Sali was her claim to be honest but her pictures proved this to be untrue as she was clearly having Botox or some other injectables, even though she claimed it was down to goo skincare and genes. It was around this time that influencers had to start declaring sponsored posts and ads, and as a result, I unfollowed the few I was following.
I loathe those who are frugal with the truth for financial gain. Sali is one such person. She is not honest or transparent. She is disingenuous and cries 'troll' at those who point this out. None of on here are trolls, we just don't have the wool in front of our eyes and she can't bear that we see her for who she is. But then she doesn't really do a terribly good job of hiding it as it's there for all the world to see; once you see through her, there's no going back. She has a habit of trying to change the conversation and use of language to suit her agenda, and she doesn't like those who post on this site because we see her for who she really is. Sali would be far better to ignore this place rather than drawing more attention to us, and in turn, herself, and the fact she's not so honest after all.