The £3 Brush Perfect for Mac's Soft and Gentle

This is just a quick little post about something that a lot of people may know already, however, if you didn't, it's a lifesaver and is something I only found out quite recently.

When I bought Mac's Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle the first few times I used it it was absolutely perfect and gave the most amazing highlight, however, after a few more uses it wasn't working well for me and I felt it ended up distributing a lot of glitter onto my face. Each blog post I'd read had commented on how the product gave a glow without being glittery and so I was confused as to why mine left me looking like a four year old caught playing with craft glitter. That was until I saw a tweet (thank you random tweeter) saying how using a stippling brush with Soft and Gentle gives a much better result, so I marched upstairs, grabbed my MUA Stippling Brush from an old jam jar used to store my brushes and swirled it round the golden dome. Using this brush doesn't seem to disrupt the product as much so there isn't as much glitter that comes to the surface and, with this product, less is more and as this brush is fairly sparse it works so well. I press the brush onto the whole length of my cheekbone and then swirl it round onto the apple of my cheek and it really completes my makeup after I've contoured and applied blush.

Here I've used a tiny bit of the cream blush from Sleek's Pink Lemonade palette and Soft and Gentle on my cheekbone

I wish I knew this when I first bought Soft and Gentle as I was verging on hysterical (not really) thinking I'd wasted a lot of money on what was essentially golden glitter. Did you already know about this tip or do you find a different brush to work better?

Saving Money on Spring Makeup

It's ironic how I'm sat in my dining room with a blanket trying to find the motivation to get up and make myself a cup of tea yet I'm going to be talking about Spring appropriate makeup. THIS IS (beauty blogging) ENGLAND. All three of these products have been hyped up in the beauty world and, of course, I fell victim to positive reviews and now have my hands on these fairly new releases.

Recently my skin has been awful, I've had a lot of spots and redness yet, up until a few months ago, my skin used to be clear most of the time. I'm not entirely sure what has caused the change in my skin as my skincare consists of Simple and Johnsons', both unoffending brands, but think it could be down to the fact that I wear foundation every day and my skin can't breathe. I'd been wanting a really lightweight base and so when I saw L'Oreal's Nude Magique Eau De Teint on offer at Asda for £7 (usually £9.99 at Boots) there wasn't a better time to buy it. I've used this foundation a few times but can't give my opinion on it just yet as I haven't used it enough but I will definitely be doing a full review when I have done so. It offers SPF 18 and claims to be non-pore clogging with a formula as light as water which sounds perfect for if we ever get any warmth and sunshine as I would hate to be wearing a heavy base.

From the first time I swatched Sleek's Pink Lemonade I knew I had to have the pink filled palette to fulfill my girly needs but resisted buying it for a few months and assumed it would no longer be available as I did initially think it was limited edition. When reading Kayleigh's (Couture Girl's) review on the palette I saw she had also included an Amazon link where it was being sold at £8 with 99p shipping which is £1 (I actually had to use my phone's calculator to work out the difference between £9.99 and £8.99, THE SHAME) cheaper than it is at Superdrug so popped it in my virtual basket. Again I'm doing to do a full review on this palette but I've been trying it out everyday since it arrived and all of the shades are very pigmented and give a fresh, dewy glow to the cheeks and I can see it being as loved as my Lace palette.

Lastly is a Revlon ColorBurst Matte Balm purchase in the shade Unapologetic which I have decided is one of the nicest lip colours I own and also one of my favourites as it is a bright pinky, red which gives a lovely pop of colour. I bought this with a Boots £2 off Revlon lipstick voucher making it £5.99 instead of £7.99 and the cashier told me she didn't think these balms were supposed to be included in the offer but she did it anyway as she said they didn't specify otherwise. Whoever you are, you are a retail rebel and you have enriched my life greatly. I can see myself wearing this a lot over the coming months and also think it would be perfect with a tan as it's the type of colour that would stand out even more against a darker complexion but, until then, I will just have to substitute my dream with bronzer.

From left to right: Revlon's Unapologetic and then Sleek's Pink Lemonade: Icing Sugar, Macaroon, Pink Mint

I'm planning on wearing a combination of all of these products as a go-to Spring look a lot to give a fresh and bright look and am really excited to have some warm weather. Have you bought any of these products so far, what are your thoughts? Or have you opted for different products? Oh, and it's just started raining.

The Travelling Eye Makeup Products

I have been slacking so much with my blog recently that I think I may have actually redefined the word 'slacker'. I haven't had much time to blog as me and my mum have been house-hunting for a place for us two and my brother so over the past few weeks we've been viewing different houses which takes up quite a bit of the day travelling around having a little look. On the other days I've been at college and work and I am seriously unorganised so hats off to people who have busy lives and stick to a blogging schedule. Also I reached 200 followers a few weeks ago which is crazy so thank you to everyone who has followed!

Continuing on with the travelling makeup theme I bring you the last post (I bet everyone is thinking "finally, it's ending") in the mini series but this time focusing on what I took away with me for my eyes and the little hairs otherwise known as eyebrows; the other posts I did were on face and base products and lipsticks.

EYEBROWS

Maybelline Brow Drama Sculpting Mascara, Dark Brown- £4.99

When I first bought this product (review here) I was unsure as to whether I would get much use out of it but now it is a product I reach for on most days as it really sets my eyebrows into place and is especially useful now that I've been creating a much fuller shape with my eyebrows.

Natural Collection Eyeshadow, Crushed Walnut- £1.79

This is the powder I've been using to fill in my eyebrows non-stop for absolutely months now, the colour match is perfect and lasts all day which is essential as I don't really want to have half a eyebrow. I fill my eyebrows in a lot darker than the natural hairs regardless of whether it's day or night time but could be used sparingly to create a natural look or applied more heavily for a more dramatic and bold making it so versatile.

Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil, Dark Brown- £2.99

I use this pencil to firstly create the outline of the shape I want my eyebrows to be and then follow with the powder and brow gel to top it off. I couldn't be without the pencil as I find the powder doesn't work well directly on my skin where I like to extend my eyebrow up (this sounds remotely odd) whereas the pencil stays put.

GENERAL

Miss Sporty Studio Lash Incrediball, Extra Black- £2.99

I've been using this mascara non-stop since I bought it in February and find it gives me defined eyelashes and can be easily layered without clumping now I've mastered how to use the wand; I reviewed this mascara here and, for me, is a do it all product.

Soap and Glory Supercat Eyeliner- £6

I only used this liner once as I always get nervous that I will ruin the eyeshadow I've spent a good few minutes applying and blending by creating a monstrous flick but this felt tip liner provides an intense black colour with long-lasting power when paired with primer. 

E.L.F Essentials Eyelid Primer, Sheer- £1.95

I honestly would not be able to wear eyeshadow without this product as my eye makeup creases and wears off so quickly without a base. This is incredibly easy to apply as you just need to swipe some product onto your eyelid and then blend it out with your finger, allow it a few seconds to dry and then apply your eye products over the top. If you were ever thinking of buying Urban Decay's Primer Potion I would definitely recommend trying this primer out first as I wish I never bothered buying Urban Decay's offering as e.l.f's does an equally, if not better, job!

EYESHADOW PALETTES

MUA Undress Me Too Palette- £4

I love this palette and brought it along because I wasn't sure what shades I would use and bringing this meant I had a lot of choice. The only shade I ended up using was the matte shade Naked (the far left shade on the top row) as it is so useful for helping to blending out harsh edges as it is the same shade as my skin tone making the process a lot easier.

MUA Undressed Palette- £4

I didn't wear any eyeshadow during the day but at night I wore three shades on my eyes (ain't nobody got time for creative eyeshadow choices) from this palette: Shade 2, the second shade from the left on the top row, a shimmery pink used as my base colour, Shade 8, underneath Shade 2, an olivey brown placed on my outer corners, and then Shade 10, the fourth shade from the left on the bottom row, a dark shimmery brown, used to deepen the outer v.

I hope people enjoyed this little collection of posts I did and seeing the products I chose to take with me makes me realise that I could make do with so much less makeup than I own, but that wouldn't be any fun at all, let's face it.

Would any of these products been in your makeup kit when travelling? What items would you take for your eye makeup?