Weekly Make Up Challenge #3 - Real Techniques Brushes - My Thoughts

So my netbook is working again! But after using a laptop for the past week, I'm finding it difficult to get back to typing on such a small keyboard.


Anyway, here are my thoughts on the Real Techniques brushes I've been testing out this week. All of these can be purchased in the UK on love-makeup.com or cocktailcosmetics.com. 


I apologise that I've not had the time to clean these - I didn't want to wait until I'd washed them and let them dry before talking about them. 

The Winners!

I honestly don't know how I did my make up without these two brushes. The Stippling Brush and Deluxe Crease Brush (part of the Eye Starter Kit) are excellent brushes for foundation and concealer respectively. I've tried several brushes for foundation and always reverted back to using my fingers as I felt the coverage was often too cakey when using a brush and that I wasted a lot of product. With the Stippling Brush, I just put some dots of foundation on my face and buff in with this. I don't get the cakey. The Deluxe Crease Brush should have just been called Amazing Concealer Brush. I love this for blending concealer under my eyes. I was using a MAC 224 but this is much shorter and more dense which I think works better. I'm very impressed by both these brushes.

These brushes are the other four in the Eye Starter Kit, they are, from left to right: Base Shadow Brush, Brow  Brush, Accent Brush and Pixel Point Eyeliner Brush. I've yet to use the Accent Brush so can't pass comment on that just yet. I'm not sure what I'll use it for other than highlighting the inner corner. The Pixel Point Eyeliner Brush is a bit disappointing as I think it's much too thick to be used for gel liner. I'd possibly use it to conceal blemishes. The Brow Brush is nice - it's large so I can do my brows pretty quickly with it. The Base Shadow Brush is a bit more difficult to work with than other similar brushes I've used. Overall, I have mixed feelings about these four, I don't think I needed any of them but they're nice to have. 

The other two brushes I have are the Powder Brush and the Blush Brush. I like them both. The Powder Brush does exactly what it's supposed to and it's the largest brush I own so I like it for quick application of powder. The Blush Brush is a bit odd - it's very soft and not very precise. I wouldn't use this for very pigmented blushes as I'd be worried about getting them all over the place. It's okay for more subtle blushes, though.

So overall, I think these are pretty good quality for the price. I don't like the handles - I don't need my brushes to be able to stand up as I store them all in a tin so the handles actually put me off buying these for a while. The writing comes off the handles too. For synthetic brushes, the bristles are pretty soft. 

If you have any questions, please let me know! I hope this was useful!

Stace xx

Sanctuary 5 Minute Thermal Detox Mask

I got a sample of this in a set as a gift and I'm only getting around to try it now. My skin has been playing up recently and I've been breaking out a lot in my chin area so I thought I might as well give this a go.

It's an amazing colour!

It feels warm when you apply it and continues to feel a little warm but it's not uncomfortable at all. It doesn't dry out either so it's a bit more moisturising than more traditional clay masks. You only need to have it on for five minutes so this is great for using in the shower if you're in a rush. I like how this made my skin  feel and I've been looking for a new mask after running out of my others so I think I'll be picking up a full size to try out over a period of time.

It is £10.20 for 100ml from Boots.

Have any of you tried this? What's your favourite mask?

Stace xx

First Impressions: Liz Earle Sheer Skin Tint in Beach 03

I always keep little pots like these for when I get samples in sachets - it means I get more than one use out of each sample! This is a stick of three and is from Superdrug, if you're interested!

A Swatch

Blended Out

I recently did a swap and my swap partner included a sachet of this as an extra. I've been wanting to try this for a while but after reading mixed reviews I didn't want to commit to a full size tube without trying it first so it was nice to get this to try! 

First of all, this shade is too dark for me. I think, in MAC terms, its around an NC35 - NC45 sort of shade. It'd be okay for me if I was tanned in the summer. I'd be interested in trying the Beige 02 shade.

I've tried it once on it's own. I applied it with my fingers and found that even though it's quite thick, the coverage was disappointing. Now, I am not an expert when it comes to tinted moisturisers, but I expected something a bit more from this. It basically just tinted my skin orange. I put my MSF Natural powder on top to bump up the coverage and it looked okay but it was nothing amazing. One of the reasons I like the idea of a tinted moisturiser is that I expect the finish to be nice and dewy so when I have to powder them, it kind of defeats the purpose for me.

I think if you can find a shade match in this and want something very, very sheer, you'll like this. I think the thick formula is deceptive but I guess they have called it a SHEER Skin TINT so it does what it says on the tin.

Have you tried this? What did you think?

Stace xx

Weekly Make Up Challenge #3 - Real Techniques By Samantha Chapman Brushes

I've had the Powder and Stippling brushes for a while now but last week I got the Blush brush and today I received the Eye Starter Kit. I reckon these are all the brushes I'll need so I'm going to test them all out and see what I think! I'll let you know at the weekend! :)

Have you tried any of these brushes? How do you feel about them?

Stace xx

Weekly Make Up Challenge #2 - Lip Gloss - My Thoughts

This past week I've been wearing a different one of my favourite lip glosses each day. When it comes to gloss I prefer something with a little bit of colour but nothing with lots of pigmentation because I find it ends up all over my face. I'm not a huge fan of very sticky glosses but don't like it if they're very watery either. I realised that I've not been wearing gloss much over the past few months and since it's one of the products that goes off a bit more quickly, I want to get back into using them more often. Here's what I've been wearing:

L-R: NYX, 2true, E.L.F., No7., Estee Lauder

Monday - NYX Mega Shine in Beige - $3.99 (Cherry Culture) or £7 (Love Make Up) for 11ml


I really like these glosses. I have another in Smokey Look and want to get my hands on Natural and Tea Rose at some point! You get so much product for your money. I think Love Make Up keeps pushing up the price of these; I'm pretty sure a month ago they were £4.99. This smells like cherries so may not be for everyone but it doesn't bother me. The wand is pretty big so I find you only need one swipe per use. This shade has no shimmer, which I like and is pretty pigmented. This isn't sticky but does last a good three to four hours on my lips (without eating or drinking).


Tuesday - 2true in Shade 1 - £1.99 


I've had this one for a while. I picked it up along with a two other 2true products because of the 3 for £4.99 deal on 2true in Superdrug. This is a pretty colour on me - it's a nice dusty rose sort of shade. I like the smell - it's a coconut scent. This one is probably the stickiest gloss I'm trying this week so it lasts a bit longer on me. I'd say I get a good five hours out of this. The main issue I have with it is that only a very small amount of product comes out on the wand so I need to dip it back in quite a few times to get enough gloss out.


Wednesday - E.L.F. Mineral in Bare - £3 for 6.5ml


I like this gloss. It's a nice neutral shade and really suits me. It's sticky but not too sticky and the pigmentation is good enough to wear it alone. It looks like a really teeny tube but you actually get more product in this than the Estee Lauder one I used (see below!). Again I found I needed to dip the wand in several times to get enough product out.


Thursday - Poppy King for No 7 in Allure - £11


I think this is a bit expensive sounding for what it is - a drugstore lipgloss. BUT I really like this. The colour is lovely on my olive-ish skin and it lasts pretty well too. It's very creamy feeling and not sticky at all. 


Friday - Estee Lauder Pure Colour Gloss in Electric Cherry - £16 for 6ml


Okay so this is pretty pricey for a gloss but I really like it. It's not sticky at all, which means you do need to reapply quite a lot. Also, the name 'pure colour' is a bit deceptive as this is pretty sheer. It smells pretty strongly of marzipan or something like that. This only lasts an hour or so on me. It's good for topping off red lipsticks but I like it on it's own too. So, not the best value for money but still a decent gloss in my book.


I didn't wear anything other than lip balm over the weekend so only managed five this week! 




Overall...


I don't have any hits or misses as such because I like all of these glosses. The NYX is definitely the best value for money if you can get it in the US. The Estee Lauder is a nice gloss for a treat. 

Do you own any of these? What do you think?

Stace xx

PS - I'm sorry I don't have more photos - my "lovely" boyfriend spilt coke all over my laptop and now I'm using his which has some weird operating system which I can't figure out how to rotate photos on...EEP!