Super quick round up

I have found some fab stuffs lately and have been dying to post about them but just haven't had the time to get them altogether, take photos, sort photos, write words - in short blog about them.  I still don't have time to do the photo stuff but I really wanted to share the fantastic brushes I have just bought which are stupidly fab and crazily inexpensive.

First up is the Eco Tools 6 piece eye brush set.  It is fantastic - I'd nick the photo from Boots website but it wont let me.  Please google image this, or if you you'd like pics shout and I'll find a few mins to take some.  I comes in a linen wallet with a mirror and includes a big brush for blending, which I use to apply shadow all over my lid, in about 3 seconds flat, its terrific for rush job eye shadow at 5.30am, a pointed crease brush, which is fantastic and great used to smudge out a darker crease colour, an angled crease brush, great for applying the crease colour, a short haired curved brush which is terrific for smudging colour onto the lash line and small brush which I tend not to use a whole big lot.  For £14.99 it is almost too good to miss.

When I bought the Eco tools eye brushes Boots were doing buy one get on half price so I also bought the Buffing Brush.  Total love.  It has quite literally transformed how my foundation looks and I love it.  And even at full price its a crazy £9.99.  The only downside with this brush is that it feels so gorgeous and plush when you buff your face that I am frequently in danger of buffing the foundation right off my face!  Again, please shout if a photo would help.

The other thing I am loving right now is Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Liner.  Since I read the post of tightlining that has transformed how I do my eye make-up this has become my absolute must use product, its up there with powdering in my, newly HD'd, brows - that good!!  It costs £7.99 and comes with a little brush which works really well.  I have never, ever, ever been any good with eyeliner.  For years I used powder shadow and cursed the bloody fall-out.  Then I tried this, after it was recommended on Twitter (and suggested as being comparable to the Bobbi Brown equivalent but a heck of a lot cheaper - thanks for that Simone!) and it is fab, for some reason having tightlined from underneath suddenly liner application along the top of the lash line becomes an absolute breeze, I am days a way from my first ever eye liner flick I think!  Above the lash line I tend to try and get it looking OK and then before it has time to set rock hard I wipe the brush on a tissue and use it to tidy up, works a treat!

I have recently decided that as my skin is no longer red, dry, flaky and sensitive - ALL thanks to using a face flannel to cleanse with my oil based cleanser, All Hail La Hirons! - that I could tackle the issue of radiance and some slight pigmentation issues.  After much Googling I opted to try NIP+FAB pigmentation fix.  Its £15.95 and comes in a one of those pump dispensers you cant break into to make sure you get the very last dregs out - I hate those - but I am really liking this product.  I have seen an improvement in a small area of sun damage on my face and in general my skin is looking very much more even toned. 
 

Oh, result, was able to borrow the photo from the NIP+FAB website, hope they don't sue me!  

I liked it so much that when I spotted their Glycolic Fix I decided I had to try that too!  
 
 I only purchased this up today so can't review it, but based on what I have picked up from some of the really clever people that blog it appears to have some pretty key ingredients including Glycolic acid to retexture and resurface and hyaluronic acid to moisturise and refresh, I notice having peeled the label off the bottom that it also contains lactic acid and which hazel both of which, I understand, are a help in the fight against ageing.  It comes as pads in a screw top tub and costs £12.99, given that this is pretty cheap I am guessing the % of the active ingredients isn't whooping but whilst it might not transform my skin it can only help!  I'll let you know!

And the reason I have had no time to do anything?  We finally finished destroying what was our lounge and turning it into our bedroom and it now looks like this:

The bedding is all wrong, it's our old bedding as I can't decide whether to go for grey or plum bedding and the door to the room and the walk-in wardrobe need fitting too but I love it!  Oh and the mirror - its my old one just stuck there til I find the one I really want! Anyway, the wall paper is just what I'd hoped it would be!
 

 

Recalcitrant matte eye shadow?

You know I mentioned that I loved MAC Copperplate once I had coaxed it from the pan and onto my eyelids, which took getting on for a week, per eye, for a reasonable amount of opacity?  This morning I really wanted to wear matte eyeshadow but didn't have a lifetime to work on it so decided to do something so outrageous true beauty lovers should look away now.  I used the sponge applicator from my Revlon matte shadow.  I know, it felt all kinds of wrong to me too.  But you know what?  It only bloody worked!  Obviously I did all the intricate stuff like blending with a brush but using the much ridiculed sponge applicator worked a dream.  So there you go, if you have a matte that wont play ball dig out a sponge applicator and give it a whirl!

Models Own Blusher brush

Having found my hg blusher (MAC Tenderling) and been taught where I should be applying my blusher I have been on a quest to find a shaped, or angled, blusher brush that didn't cost the earth.  I was in Boots last week reeling from the disappointment of discovering that the Debenhams at the White Rose centre didn't have Butter London and that the Boots wasn't carrying the Sally Hanson Complete Salon Manicure range and was laying on the floor kicking and screaming and just having a general tantrum when I spotted the rather garish Models Own Blusher Brush.  It's bright orange, with a rather weird Orange top, look

But it does have an angled head and it was £8.50.  It comes in a plastic wallet with one of those sliding, zip type, closers which I didn't think too much of at the time but of course is fantastic if you want to take your brush with you, don't own a handbag sized make up bag and dont want your lovely new blusher brush covered in old polos, bits of used tissue and the nasty detritus that gathers in the bottom of your handbag.  

What they say:

Looking for a way to create super defined and glamorous cheekbones? Our professional Angled Blush Brush is perfect for creating a fantastically sculpted look. The slanted shape of this brush offers precision contouring, is soft on your skin and is perfect for accentuating your features!

As the zippy closer thing was effectively locked by the plastic tag I wasn't able to feel the brush in the shop but frankly assumed that for £8.50 it might not be the nicest of brushes but it would give me a chance to find out if having the sloping shaped head would help with contouring and if so I could then spend shed loads more on a better quality brush.  As it happens its a cracking brush, its really soft and does a brilliant job of getting my blusher right where I want it and it really does help with the whole contouring job.  Bear in mind that with my face I'm not highlighting my stunning bone structure, more hoping to suggest to a casual glance that my face isn't actually as round as a football by painting a stripe of brown across each cheek, a la Lohan.  Well hopefully not quite like Ms Lohans infamous court appearance "corpse" face but you get my drift.  Previously I was using a big poofy powder brush which applied my blusher in a big poofy splodge on my big poofy cheeks.  This lovely brush sort of flicks the blusher up towards my eye and nose, creating a nice soft flush whilst giving a nice clean finish underneath, I am sure if you wanted to create absolute facial hollows in terms of contouring this brush would be up for it.  Did I mention it was only £8.50?!  And even the initially jarring shade of orange has turned into a boon, it's incredibly easy to spot my blusher brush lurking in the depths of my make up bag even when I am half asleep as it gives off a sort of glow. It doesn't, but its almost bright enough to.  So yep, love this and if you are looking for an affordable, neon, angled blusher brush this is your man. You can buy it here from Models Own here btw, where its only £8!

MAC foundation brush update

It's love. £25 was not a penny too much, I have used this every day since I bought it, which when you consider I am doing my make up at 6.30am every morning is a clear indication that this brush gives incredible results; if the results were less impressive I'd have reverted to slapping my foundation on by hand in 30 seconds flat! I promise that I will take some pics but, as impressive the results I get from the brush, I am having face issues at the moment and don't want to scare the crap out of you. That said given the date I guess a scary faced pic or two this weekend wouldn't hurt!

Also loving Naked Coca de mer, think thats right, shower gel - smells lovely, skin soft and non irritated and lathers well considering lack of nasty stuff in it.

Models Own nail varnish still topping my list too, wore Purple Grey the other day, just love how this looks on.

Purple Grey and Grace Green.

Organic Surge, total obsession with the skin care range and really want to try some of the shower gels, Sweet Almond sounds particularly lovely as does the Spiced Lily bath foam, one for when we move! Bought the First Class face mask last weekend and tend to whack on a slap of it before my night cream and just let it soak in, it smells fantastic and my redness seems to be reducing which is great.


Slight less impressive, bought Dream Cream from lush for Em and Steve. Em has eczema on her leg and Steve's finger tips split really really badly. Both were slapping on aqueous cream til I read that the SLS in it could be making things worse. Did a google and Dream Cream was highly rated for the eczema and I thought would be worth Steve trying on his hands. Em has reverted to Bepanthen (god knows how you spell that!) which is working really well on her leg and Steve is still suffering. As a hand cream the Dream Cream is great, it seems to really soak in well and on my normal to dry hands is fine but I don't think its quite the miracle cure all we were hoping it would be.

Meeting Em in Huds at lunch time for a big of a mooch, am after a red nail varnish, cant decide if am going deep red cream or bright red with some sparkle, will post results of shopping trip later!