Real Techniques Core Collection

Real Techniques Core Collection, £21.99, Boots

'The Real Techniques Core Collection kit by Samantha Chapman includes 4 coverage essentials: detailer brush, pointed foundation brush, buffing brush and contour brush. All of these tools are held in a professional case & stand.'

The Real Technique brushes by Samantha Chapman seem to be a hot topic at the moment. I like the Pixiwoo girls, so when I saw the rave reviews these brushes were getting I was very intrigued. My personal brush collection was severely lacking foundation brushes and I decided to purchase the Core Collection, costing £21.99 for 4 brushes. The price of the set is pretty reasonable when compared to the likes of Mac's brushes however they are not as cheap as brands such as Eco Tools (whose brushes I love!), a single RT brush also costs around the £10 mark, so buying a set makes financial sense....or at least that's what I told myself!

Initially I was surprised at how small the brushes were, even though I had read that they were small they just seemed....small! The brushes come in a black pouch which also transforms into a brush holder, I have kept the pouch but chosen not to use it as a holder, as I like to keep all my brushes together in one place. The brushes are made out of a lightweight metal with a black rubber bottom and feel sturdy, the bristles are Taklon and are nice and soft on the skin, I also haven't experienced any shedding. These are nice quality brushes and the small size makes them perfect for using on all areas of the face.

The Core Collection set consists of (From left to right in the photo):

Contour Brush: Recommended to use for applying highlighter, I also like to use this brush to apply bronzer and I'm a big fan of the tapered end. 

Pointed Foundation Brush: This is a pretty standard foundation brush and probably the brush I have used the least from the set, however it's always handy to have an extra foundation brush on hand. 

Detailer Brush: A brush recommended for use with concealer or lipstick. I have used this with concealer and found it great for targeting individual blemishes that may need a bit of extra concealing. 

Buffing Brush: This is my favourite brush from the collection and the one I use the most. I have found it great for buffing in foundation, powder blushers and cream blushes as well as face powder and highlighter, it's a very versatile brush and the flat head helps produce a flawless finish. 

I have to say I love these brushes and the buffing brush has found it's way into my everyday make up routine. I have noticed from seeing these brushes in Boots that the single brushes seem to be bigger than the ones that feature in the sets, I have most definitely got my eye on the blush brush, stippling brush and powder brush!

Elf Brushes

**PICTURE HEAVY**

I decided to take full advantage of one of Elf's last 50% off sales and ended up purchasing 8 of their brushes. I have been trying them out for a while and here are my thoughts on each one. As the sale is not going on anymore I have listed all brushes at their full price.

Elf Studio Angled Foundation Brush £3.50, eyeslipsface.co.uk

This is probably the smallest foundation brush I own and it's slanted bristles make it perfect for blending in harder to reach areas, such as around the nose. Due to its size I don't think this brush is very suited to applying foundation to the whole face as it's just that little bit too small, instead I like to use this to apply liquid highlighter, such as Benefit's High Beam, to the top of my cheekbones.

New Brushes

New Brushes!

Due to a recent birthday and various shopping trips I have acquired six new make up brushes, which in my mind is always a good thing. 

Ruby & Millie i-brush,i-Define brush £1.66 each, Boots

First up are two Ruby and Millie brushes, these must be discontinued as they were priced at a mere £1.66 each and I'm sure I remember a time when they were floating around the £6/£7 mark. I like the look of these brushes, the silver is sleek and I think they look quite professional. 

The top brush in the picture is called the i-brush, whilst the bristles look quite cheap they are relatively soft. I like the size of this brush and the fact the bristles aren't too tightly packed together, I find it ideal for blending above and below the eye.

The bottom brush is the i-Define brush and I bought it to use for gel eyeliners. The bristles are nice and firm,  although the head is pretty dinky. Whilst the small size makes it ideal for getting close to the lash line, I think the size is a bit too small for me as I prefer a slightly bigger brush for applying gel liner to my lids. This size brush would be more suited to applying gel liner to the water line, or if you wanted to draw a very thin line of eyeliner along the lash line. I think this would also make an excellent concealer brush.

(Top) No 7 Smokey Eyeliner Brush, (Bottom) Precision Eyeliner Brush £7.25 each, Boots

These two brushes were bought courtesy of the £5 No 7 Boots vouchers. I already own both these brushes but they come in so handy I decided to purchase some more. I find No 7 brushes are really great quality for a high street band, well priced (especially with a No 7 voucher) and I use them pretty much everyday.

The top brush is the Smokey Eyeliner Brush, normally priced at £7.25 it cost me £2.25 with the voucher. I use this brush pretty much everyday on my bottom lash line as I find it's the perfect size to blend shadow underneath the eye. I do on occasion use it close to my top lash line to create a smokey eye effect. The bristles are nicely packed together so I find that this brush picks up quite a bit of product giving an intense colour pay off.

The bottom brush is the Precision Eyeliner Brush, normal retail price £7.25. This is great for using with gel or liquid eyeliners but I also use it with normal eyeshadow as it allows you to get into those harder to reach places such as the inner corner, because of the flat shape of this brush I also find it perfect to use on my waterline.

I generally only buy No 7 brushes with my £5 vouchers, when you consider with a voucher the majority of them cost around £2 it really is a bargain for such lovely brushes.

(Top) Eco Tools Bamboo Powder Brush £10.71, (Bottom) Bamboo Eye
Shadow Brush £5.61, Boots

I received these two brushes as birthday presents, having never owned any Eco Tools brushes before I was super happy to receive them. Oh.My.Gosh these are sooo unbelievably soft and fluffy....they are gorgeous! The brushes look fab too, I love the wooden handles and they feel very well made.

With a name like Eco Tools it's not surprising the find out the company are eco friendly - the brushes are made from natural and recycled materials and the bristles are cruelty free. I also like the fact on the back of the packaging there is a 'green tip' one of the mine was:

'Find new uses for old things. Wrap gifts in old Sunday comics instead of store bought wrapping paper.'

The top brush is the Bamboo Powder Brush, it is huge and fluffy which makes it perfect for applying blusher and powder. It gives a nice even distribution of product on the skin but because of the size you have to be careful not to apply too much product to you face - overdone blusher is never a good look! I absolutely adore this brush and have been using it everyday. 

The second brush is the Bamboo Eye Shadow Brush. Like the powder brush this is pretty sizable and has very soft but compact bristles. I like to use it to apply shadow all over my lid, It also comes in handy when applying eye shadow to the crease and highlighting under the brow bone. 

I love the Eco Tools brushes and will definitely be adding more to my collection in the future!

e.l.f. Make Up Brushes

Elf is a much discussed, very affordable cosmetic brand whose products I had, until recently, only admired from afar. However, during one of their recent free delivery offers (you have to hand it to elf...they are very generous at dishing out the free delivery offers and discount codes) I decided to finally take the plunge and place an order. I ended up purchasing four brushes from the elf range, three from the studio line priced at £3.50 each and one regular brush priced at £1.50. In total my order came to £12 and postage was free. Now, £12 for four brushes is what I can only describe as an absolute bargain, seriously where else would you get four brushes for that price?! 

Studio Line Complexion Brush £3.50

My first purchase was the Complexion Brush from the studio line, I have to say I love the look of the studio line brushes, the black colour is very sleek and makes them look more expensive than they are. This brush is what I would describe as a large blusher brush, the synthetic Taklon bristles are soft which makes the brush lovely to use on the face, they are also densely packed making it easy to collect and distribute product onto the skin.  I have not experienced any shedding from this brush, which I find amazing considering that some of my other (pricier) blusher brushes shed like crazy.....so irritating to have to pick black hairs off your face! Whilst this brush has been designed for applying powder, it's pretty multifunctional and I also use it to apply blusher and highlighter, it gives a lovely even layer of colour.

Studio Line Powder Brush £3.50

The second brush I bought is the Powder brush from the Studio Line, like the Complexion Brush it is priced at a very reasonable £3.50. I wanted to purchase this brush as I don't think I have read a bad review of it anywhere! I don't own anything similar to the powder brush so a flat topped brush was a welcome addition to my collection. Once again the bristles are densely packed and SO soft....seriously cannot stress enough how lovely and soft these brushes are! This brush is great for buffing products into the skin, I mainly use it to dust on my setting powder but I also use it to apply bronzer or buff out the colour when I have been a bit heavy handed with the blusher. This brush can also be used with liquid foundation, with a stippling action being most effective, I would really recommend this brush seeing as it is so multi functional!

Studio Line Eyeshadow 'C' Brush £3.50

The Eyeshadow 'C' brush is my final purchase from the studio line. I have quite a few eyeshadow brushes but like the fact that this one is designed to be used on the crease. I don't think i've quite got the hang of using this brush yet as the densly packed bristles pick up a lot of product and I end up applying too much eyeshadow leaving my crease looking pretty messy....I think this brush requires a lighter touch and less product or maybe I'm just not blending enough?! I have taken to using this brush to apply shadow to my lid and also below my lower lash line as I am currently loving the smudgy bronzed!

Concealer Brush £1.50

This concealer brush priced at £1.50 was my last purchase, I had been on the hunt for a concealer brush with a small head for a long time, so when I spotted this one I snapped it up right away. The brush head is tiny which makes it perfect for individually targeting spots and imperfections, the other concealer brushes I own are a lot bigger and unable to give the same finish as a smaller brush. I have started using this brush everyday and it has become my favourite concealer brush. This brush is so small and precise that I think it could also be used for applying gel eye liner, filling in eyebrows and applying highlighter to the inner corner of the eye.

I am really impressed with my elf purchases and am in no doubt that I will be going back for more in the future, not only is the pricing unbelievable good, the quality is comparable with other brushes including those from pricier brands. I also cannot fault the order or (v. efficient!) delivery process, I can now see why so many people rave about the brand!

Cosmopolitan Blend Perfection Sponge

"For amazingly flawless foundation application"

I rarely used to use anything more than my fingers to apply foundation, brushes never seemed to work well enough and make up sponges were always a bit too flimsy. I started seeing great reviews about the Cosmopolitan Blend Perfection Sponge, and thought I would give it a go....I have to say, it has completely changed my make up routine.

This sponge is a lot studier and firmer than any other make up sponge I have tried, the shape makes it easy to hold and it is perfect for using in a variety of ways. I like to use a stippling action with the base of the sponge on my t-zone, the cone shaped tip is perfect for using on those hard to reach areas such as around the nose and under the eyes, I also turn the sponge on its side and use a bounce/rolling motion along my jawline and forehead. The texture of the sponge leaves your skin with an airbrushed finish, it gives an even coverage of foundation, leaving skin with a healthy look. I love this sponge so much that I have started using it with other products including concealer, liquid and cream blushers and liquid highlighter....the Cosmopolitan sponge blends them all in flawlessly. 

One downside to this sponge is that because it is so big (as far as make up sponges go) it sucks up a lot of product and as a result wastes a lot of foundation. To combat this problem I roughly apply foundation to my face using a brush/fingers and then use the sponge to simply blend in. Also, because of the size it takes ages to clean and my foundation seems to have stained the sponge....which isn't ideal!

The Blend Perfection sponge costs £4.99, which I initially thought was a bit pricey for a make up sponge, especially when you can buy a multipack of 15 for under £3 in Superdrug.  However, the results you get from this sponge are second to none and I personally don't believe you could achieve such a flawless finish using a brush or your fingers. In my opinion this sponge is well worth the money, especially when you consider foundation brushes cost from £10 up, it has changed my make up routine and I would hate to apply foundation without it.

Blog Favourites

Whilst I have only been blogging for a few months, I have been reading beauty blogs for a good couple of years now. When reading other peoples blogs I like to make a note of products I want or those that have received rave reviews....and so the wish list is born.

My wish list is currently a couple of pages long and it's made up of a range of products from shampoo to make up, perfume to tooth whitening products. I have recently made some purchases and ticked a few items off the list, so I wanted to share them here.

Eau Thermale Avene Water Spray £6.50, Boots

I was always really intrigued by the Evian version of this and never got round to purchasing. Then I started to read good reviews of both the Avene and Vichy water sprays. I'm not sure why I chose Avene version, i guess I like the packaging more (yes I am a complete marketing tool!). This is probably the most expensive 'bottle' of water I have ever bought in my life, but I've been amazed at how much I have used this product since purchase. It comes in handy for dampening make up sponges and brushes, calming irritated skin and I have taken to spraying it on my face after cleansing and toning....kind of a second toner if you will.

I think I say this about every product but this will be so handy in the summer, especially on those sticky nights when I have trouble sleeping! After I have used this bottle I think I'll try the Vichy and Evian version, although I can't imagine there will be much difference between them.