Recent favourites

There have been a few products that I have been using lately that I wanted to blog about, and I decided the best way was to do a bit of a 'recent favourites' type post.  I do sometimes worry my reviews get a little long winded anyway, so I figured that by doing several in one go, it will (hopefully) make me get to the point a bit quicker!

So here they are..ta-dahhhh.  What a good looking little bunch.  I'll start with a few products I've 'rediscovered' lately...

MAC Studio Sculpt in NC25 £25.00

I can't remember if I have reviewed this before on my blog, but I have owned this foundation for literally years.  I bought it from Macy's in New York about 5 years ago (and yes, I know you aren't meant to keep foundations that long).  I bought it because it was hailed as MAC's dry-skin foundation, and if there's one thing I have in spades, it's dry skin.

When I first used this I hated it.  I found it cakey and it sat on top of my skin like a mask.  It  cracked and looked chalky and dry and I was so disappointed in it.  So to the bottom of my make-up bag it went.

It wasn't until I was watching some old Zoella youtube videos, I noticed that back in the day, she literally swore by this foundation.  I was so surprised, especially as her make-up always looks flawless.  One thing she did say was that you barely need any of this.  *hello lightbulb moment*.  So I gave it another try, with literally the teeniest amount of product, and used my Real Techniques expert face brush, and the difference was unreal!!  I still do find this to err a little on the side of drying - it gives quite a matte finish and it looks very 'make-uppy' - it definitely isn't a 'second skin' type foundation.  It has a nice creamy, almost mousse-like consistency though, and for these winter months I've been loving the coverage and the flawless finish it gives.  Not sure I would repurchase due to the price, but I totally take back my previous negative reviews of this.  Just use it sparingly and you'll get the right result.

Maybelline Gel Eyeliner in Black £7.99

 I love, love, love this gel eyeliner.  I finally ran out of my first pot after using it practically everyday for easily over a year (such good value for money).  I own the Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner as well, and in my opinion, this is way superior.  The Bobbi Brown one is too soft for my liking.  It doesn't last as long and smudges around my eye much more.  Whereas this one, ah I love it.  It's such a dark, pigmented, inky black and the formula is just the right balance between stiff-thick and creamy-soft.  The balance makes it so much easier to apply, and if you're new to gel eyeliners I would definitely recommend it.  I also think the consistency contributes to how long lasting it is.  I wear this quite happily all day and it's still intact by the end of the evening, with minimal smudging.  It comes with a brush which is a decent eyeliner brush, but I much prefer the Zoeva Fine Liner brush.  I swear by this eyeliner.  It is my make-up bag staple.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum foundations in 51 and 53 £9.99

I've been a fan of this foundation for a while, but recently I have noticed it has been gathering steam in the blogging world as a high street dupe for foundations such as Nars Sheer Glow, Chanel Vitalumiere and Giorgio Armani's Luminous Silk.  They're some big old names to be touted next to. But I can see where the hype comes from.  For a third of the price of the big-hitters, this is such a good performer.  I'd say it is medium coverage, and you'd probably need a decent concealer for any blemishes, but it gives such a nice dewy finish.  I have very dry skin and this doesn't tend to cling too much to my dry patches and it keeps my face looking plump and hydrated.  I always end up coming back to this foundation, it is such a staple product for me.  I also like the colour range as they tend to err on the yellow-based side and I am obsessed with yellow-based foundations.  I mix 51 and 53 together to get my ideal colour. I use either my beauty blender or my RT Expert Face brush, and both of them give a nice coverage and finish.  Seriously if you have been tempted by the higher end hydrating foundations, I'd give this a try first.  I've only owned the Chanel one before, but there's barely any difference between the finish of the Chanel one and the Bourjois one.

 Tangle Teezer Compact £11.95 and Tresemme Deep Cleansing shampoo £3.79

 Regular followers of my blog will know my hair regularly causes a hole in my bank balance, mainly because it has been bleached heavily and so needs a lot of tender loving care.

A couple of products I have been loving using lately are the Compact Tangle Teezer and the Tresemme Deep Cleansing shampoo.

I've owned the original tangle teezer for some time and would never go back to using a regular brush on my hair.  It gets through my knotty, thick hair so much easier, and the reduction in breakage is obvious.  I used to have so much hair wrapped round my regular brush, and although I do still get hair on my tangle teezer, it is so much less.  I've got all my girly friends into using these - they really are such a revolutionary product for long, knotty hair.  I got the compact one for Christmas, and I much prefer it to the original.  It fits in my hand much better which means I fling it across the room much less (I'm a vigorous hair brusher) and it comes with a 'lid' to protect the bristles.  If you're looking to buy one, I'd definitely say go for a compact over the original.

The Tresemme Deep Cleansing shampoo is something I bought for a bit of a naughty reason.  I recently had my hair dyed a darker blonde, and I'm just not feeling it at all.  My hairdresser said that as my hair is bleached, the dark blonde will fade quickly.  Soooo.....I bought a deep cleansing shampoo to kind of help it along the way.  Naughty.  But I've fallen in love with this!!  It lathers up so nicely, and leaves my hair so clean and soft.  You'd expect a cleansing shampoo to strip the hair, but this definitely doesn't.  I've noticed my hair stays cleaner for longer too which is a bonus.  I got this on half-price offer for about £1.95 and it is SO worth it.  It's a little hair wonder bargain!

Sleek Blush in Rose Gold £4.49



Rose Gold blusher blended

I got this little Sleek blusher for Christmas, and I have been using it sooo much.  It is really pigmented and is a gorgeous bright rose pink with gold shimmer.  You can kind of see the gold shimmer in the photo above (by the way I had to enhance the contrast a bit to get a true reflection of the blush colour, but it has in the process, made my sister's arm look really weird!  Sorry about that Rachy!) 

For how cheap this is, it has a lot of colour depth and blends quite easily.  It looks so pretty paired with a nice bronzer, as it has almost mauve-y type undertones.  I've been loving wearing this with a basic, black feline eye, and leaving the blusher to be the focal point.  It's going to look really nice in spring/summer too.  It really 'pops' on your cheeks and is such a flattering shade.  I normally hate glittery-shimmer in cosmetics, but I like this because the gold shimmer is quite fine, and when you blend it out it doesn't just leave glitter on your face like some products too.  You keep the nice rose pink still.  

Maxfactor 2000 Calorie curved brush £7.99



Regular followers of my blog will know I am one loyal young lady when it comes to mascara, and I have been using Maxfactor's 2000 Calorie mascara for as long as I can remember.  Any time I have been tempted to stray from my old faithful, I've always found other mascaras to just not be up to the job.  But I did notice that Maxfactor had brought out a slight revision, with the 2000 Calorie Curved Brush mascara.  It intrigued me, so I thought I'd give it a try.  And I actually really like this.  I think the curved brush actually improves the 2000 Calorie design, for two reasons.  Number 1, the curve makes the brush sit easier around the lashes and also it seems to lift the lashes better, improving their curl.  I also think the curve makes the hump of the brush closer to the inside of the tube, so it picks up all that mascara that clings around the walls of the tube.  When you pull the wand out, the hump always has more product on it, so I use that to really ramp up the volume, and then use the inner curve to separate and lift the lashes.

If you're a fan of the original 2000 Calorie mascara then I'd definitely say this one is worth a look.  It's got everything the original one has, and then just that little bit more.

MAC Cremesheen Lipglass in Boy Bait £17.50

I got this lip gloss as a birthday present from my boyfriend, and it is definitely my go-to.  It is such a perfect pink-nude shade and makes a make-up look appear really polished.  It is a bit on the steep side, and I'm not going to lie, I'm glad I'm not the one who had to shell out for this.  But as a present..ah it was such a good present.  The applicator is a small plastic brush, about a centimetre or so in length, and it applies really easily.  I do tend to prefer sponge applicators for lipgloss, but this is MAC, and they don't tend to do a bad applicator - so the brush works.

 

The shine is good, but in all honesty I think high street lip glosses have evolved so much that you tend to get the same 'shininess' from a lot of glosses on the market.  This isn't too sticky though, which sets it apart a bit as a more high-end product.  You're aware if it on your lips for the first half an hour or so, but it isn't uncomfortable.

 

But it is the shade itself that makes this a winner for me.  It is such a gorgeous colour, and even when the shine wears off (which is inevitable with any lipgloss) it leaves your lips looking all hydrated and plump and a pretty nude colour.  Despite the price, I know I'll end up repurchasing this as I've never found a nude lipgloss that is the perfect shade for me.  They're always either too pale, or look a weird grey-based colour, or are too dark or pinky or orangey - you get the jist.  Ah but this is perfect.  It's the ideal shade to pull together a more classy or polished look and I love it.

Brush reviews - E.L.F. and Zoeva

OK so recently I decided that I need to beef my brush collection up a bit.  My little sister went on a bit of a MAC brush splurge, and I noticed that her eye shadow especially was going on so much better with a decent brush. 

I'm a strong believer in tools being really important for make-up application but I definitely concentrate far too much on my face brush collection - I have about three different foundation brushes (my Real Techniques Expert Face brush is hands down the best), an array of blusher/bronzer brushes, but probably the most pathetic collection of eye shadow brushes.  My boyfriend bought me two MAC 219 pencil brushes, and I keep one for lighter colours and one for darker colours - but I feel I needed a bit more of a blending type jobby.

I did a lot of research online, and two brush ranges that kept popping up were Zoeva and E.L.F. (Eyes Lips Face).

I purchased some Zoeva ones first, then buckled and bought some E.L.F. ones too as they are sooo cheap.

ZOEVA

Zoeva is a German make-up brand, and the only place I could get the brushes was direct from the Zoeva website at www.zoeva-shop.de . Only bummer with this is the £7 postage cost. Ouch. They've only been going since 2009 and they're brushes aren't massively well-known.  I couldn't find them on any other major make-up websites etc, but they did seem to be causing a bit of a stir in the blogging world as a cheap MAC alternative.

The brushes I went for were the 142 concealer buffer, 227 soft definer and the 315 fine liner.  My little sister bought the 230 pencil brush.

When they arrived, they did get me a little excited, as they were all boxed up with tissue paper like proper expensive brushes (which, they aren't). Each brush came in a clear plastic sleeve, in its own black and pink zip-top soft-plastic bag, labelled up with the brush type.  So cute!  And totally unexpected seeing as they were only around a fiver.

142 concealer buffer £6.50

I have seen a few people using concealer brushes on youtube tutorials, and was intrigued because one of the few things I hate about doing my make-up is patting my concealer in with my finger.  Drives. Me. Mad.  So the brush seemed a good one to try.  Having said that, I've gone back to the finger-patting.  This brush is really soft, very densely packed and with the white tips it looks a dead ringer for the MAC brushes. I found the brush blended my concealer too much though, exactly the same as if I used my foundation brush to blend it.  I do think concealer needs some stippling action to keep it high coverage.  I'm going to wash this brush out though, and use it for my eyeshadow as I think it will work well.  It has such a nice densely packed 'bulb' type brush head, and although I didn't like it for my concealer, I think I'd have reached the same conclusion from a mega expensive concealer brush.  Concealer and brushes apparently just don't work for me.

 

 

227 Soft Definer £5.00

 

The Soft Definer brush is meant to be a dupe for the MAC 217, and at £13 less than the MAC version, I was realllllyyyyy hoping this would work.  My younger sister has the MAC 217 so we were able to do a bit of a comparison between the Zoeva one and the MAC one, and I can honestly say there was barely any difference.  The MAC one probably takes the edge with regard to softness, but the Zoeva one is still very, very soft.  It has the same kind of density of bristles, the same length, the same spread etc.  I really like this brush, it applies eyeshadow with ease and packs the colour on well.  It is also excellent at blending colour out evenly.  I probably wouldn't bother to waste money on the more expensive MAC version as this does the job perfectly fine.  At a fiver, it's a bargain and I'm definitely going to buy some more to build up my eyeshadow brush collection.

 

 



315 Fine liner £5.00

Save the best till last for definite.  I am literally in. love. with. this. brush.

Regular readers of my blog will know I swear by the Topshop eyeliner brush for my gel eyeliner application.  I had no intention of buying a new eyeliner brush till I saw this on the website and was massively intrigued by the shape of the brush and the way it was bent at the end.  It was only a fiver (so £1 more than the Topshop one) so I thought I'd give it a punt.  And oh my god I flipping love it.  The bend genuinely makes it easier to apply the eyeliner as  you can get right in there, close to your lash line, without the handle getting in the way.  The actual brush tip is tapered to such a fine point, that you can apply a mega thin line of gel eyeliner, and when you have small eyes like me, you need a nice fine line.  It is definitely the thinnest eyeliner brush I have come across before.  I've used it religiously since I bought it and it isn't splaying yet at all - in fact I'm not sure it will as it is so thin there aren't many bristles to actually splay.  I wouldn't go back to using a generic eyeliner brush, I am so sold on this.  It does take some getting used to due to the thin application - I actually think it is harder to get an even line because the brush is so thin you have to build up the line and this can lead to issues with even-ness.  With a thicker brush you just go for the line and the thickness tends to hide any imperfections.  But once you get the hang of it with the fine liner brush, I guarantee you won't go back.  It's an absolute little beauty.

E.L.F

Ah, and now we turn to the ELF brushes.  I've heard so much about this brand (including its brushes) on online blogs and video tutorials.  Their brushes range between £1.50-£4, and I figured if they are good then that's the kind of bargain you just can't pass up on.

I bought 2 eyeshadow brushes, 1 smudge brush, 1 small angled brush and 1 blending eye brush.  They arrived in little clear plastic sleeves in a jiffy bag and I bought them direct from ELF at www.eyeslipsface.co.uk .

I do really enjoy the way the brushes look - they mainly came in white (other than the angled eye brush) with the name of the brush in silver on the handle.  They look really high end.

But this is kind of where the love affair ended for me......


Small Angled Brush £3.75

I'm sorry, I really struggled to get a good close-up photo of the brush, but you can see which one it is from the photos above as it is the only black one.  I bought this as I needed something to apply my Smashbox eyebrow powder with, and at £3.75 it was a bargain.  But I wasn't a big fan of this brush.  The brush bristles weren't stiff and densely packed enough to give a really precise application of my brow powder.  It does work reasonably well, and I suppose for £3.75 you shouldn't expect too much, but I definitely wouldn't buy it again.  It was already splaying when it arrived and the bristles feel quite cheap.

Eyeshadow Brush £1.50

I was quite surprised by how short the bristles were for this brush, I feel like you need a bit more length to pack colour onto the whole eyelid.  I did find this applied colour evenly though, and is probably much better suited to more precise eyeshadow application, rather than all-over-eyelid colour washing.

Again, the bristles felt a tad on the cheap side for my liking, but then it was £1.50....go figure.

I wouldn't repurchase this.  I'll use it for eyeshadow application but it isn't a brilliant blender and I found the Zoeva Soft Definer to be so much more versatile.

If you're someone who does a lot of defined crease-work or likes to darken the corners of your eyes, then this could be useful.  But I just don't do complicated eye looks enough to need such a specific brush.

Smudge Brush £1.50

I bought this for applying eyeshadow under my eyes, as I have teeny tiny eyes and most brushes leave me with too thick a 'smudge'. 

Of all the brushes I bought from E.L.F. I think this is the one I will use the most.  It has mega short bristles, and is really densely packed and tapered to a slim edge.

Again, the bristles feel cheap to the touch, but because you're not doing as much blending with it, this doesn't seem to matter as much as with the other brushes.

I really liked the way this put a neat, gentle smudge of eyeshadow under my eye, or across my lashline. It's probably a bit too small for the creaseline - I'd say this is definitely a dedicated under-eye brush.  At £1.50, it's a bargain and a useful addition to any brush kit.  I've seen people use it to pack on dense eyeshadow colour to their eyelid too, but I haven't tried that out myself yet. 

Blending Eye Brush £1.50

Oh god, the Blending Eye Brush.

I literally hated this brush so much.  When it arrived I was surprised by how much it was already splaying, and with the longest bristles of all the brushes, you really notice the cheap feeling.

It did have a similar spread and density though to the MAC 217 brush so I thought I'd give it a pop.  The main issue I had with this was how much it malted and shed.  I was only gently blending my eyeshadow and the bristles were literally dropping out all over the place.  I managed to get a couple in my eye which was annoying and uncomfortable and led to much eye watering (always a pain when you're applying eye make up).  I also could feel them all over my face, they were itchy and irritating and I was constantly brushing away at my face.

You barely have to pull at the bristles and they come out in your fingers.  I'm so unimpressed with it.  It sheds, it feels cheap - I can't even tell you if it works well as I'd barely been blending for two seconds when I was like woah what's with the bristle shower!?  I know it's only £1.50 but I'd say save your pennies.