GLOW BOOSTING WITH SOAP & GLORY'S 'BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL' SERUM!

My skin has certainly been a little lacklustre as we slowly creep out of the colder months of the year in the UK. My skin isn't dry, but it is dehydrated and frequently not getting enough sleep doesn't help!

I picked up this '6-in-1 energising radiance serum'  (£13) from Soap and Glory hoping that it could help make me look a little more awake when I head out the door at 7:30. I've never tried anything from Soap and Glory that I didn't like, so I had high hopes. 

I have to admit, initially when I used this underneath moisturiser... I didn't really think it did much - or at least not enough that it would show through my foundation. 

So... I switched up my method. I'm currently using the L'Oreal Infallible Matte foundation which does set down to a very matte, mid-high coverage finish. If I feel like I need a little more glow to my skin (aka most days), I'll mix 2 parts foundation with 1 part serum and make my own super-glowy non oily foundation combination. This way the glow from the serum doesn't get masked by the foundation! I've not tried this with other foundations - I'd imagine that it might not work so well with foundations which are already leaning towards the 'dewy' side. 

I love the finish this product gives when mixed into my foundations - for me I loved the longevity and colour match of the Infallible matte foundation but thought it was just a little too matte for my skin type. 

I'd love to know if you have any glow-boosting recommendations for me!

xxx

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The 15p Brush Cleanser Alternative.

If you're looking for a great budget brush cleanser, look no further. 

I've tried a lot of different products when it comes to cleaning my make up brushes. It's one of my least favourites chores, so I'm always on the hunt to find alternatives that will thoroughly clean my brushes in record time. I'd heard Nikkie (of Nikkie Tutorials) briefly talk about how 'hotel soap' was one of the best things to clean your brushes, so I thought I would put a plain white soap to the test on my brushes. I popped into my local Tesco and picked up their Everyday Value Soap at only 15p and, without being overly dramatic, IT IS THE BEST BRUSH CLEANSER I HAVE EVER USED!

Filthy brushes. Lovely. 

This soap is all you need guys. AND 15p!

I can't vouch for how this fares with sensitive skin as it does have a slight 'soap' fragrance, so if you are especially sensitive it may be best to check the ingredients. It does, however, imply that it can be used with babies, which implies to me that it should be sensitive skin friendly - but don't quote me on that! 

Ooh, working up a lather...

I use the soap in a similar way to how you would use a Beauty Blender Solid Cleanser, so I will draw my main comparison from that. Firstly, the price difference is HUGE - with the Beauty Blender Solid Cleanser coming in at around £15. It is also only a fraction of the size and quite simply just awkward to store, whereas the Tesco soap can just be popped in a soap dish to the side. As the soap bar is so much larger, it is a lot easier to work up a lather, too! 

I really struggle to see why solid make up cleansers cost so much after trying this. Personally I think this is better than the Beauty Blender Solid Cleanser, so much so that I feel a little bit angry for having potentially paid quite a bit to be sold what was essentially a teeny bit of soap. 

If you have a particularly stubborn foundation that you can't shift, then maybe you would need a little extra help still (although I am yet to find a cleansing product which does any better). A little drop of Olive oil does the trick to help lift it off before you give it a good clean with soap though. 

Ah, all clean.. that's better. 

I am honestly totally blown away with how good this is for cleaning brushes and will be in no rush to try any more over-priced soaps any time soon. I really hope I can convince at least one of you to pick it up - it's only 15p so no loss if you aren't a fan (although, I'm pretty sure you will be!)

xxx

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Faking a Winter Glow with Make Up Revolution

I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to highlighting. As someone with an oily t-zone, I was always a fan of keeping my skin as matte as possible, regardless of how half-dead I looked as a result. Over the past year or so though, I have built up a decent collection of highlighters and have come to use them on a daily basis to add a bit more glow to my face (and disguise the sleep-deprived parent look that I'm usually rocking...)

Make Up Revolution have some great highlight offerings which I thought I would share with you today, if you're looking for an affordable way to add a little bit of glow to your skin now that the winter is drawing in! 

Radiance Palette Swatches: Left-Right - Breathe, Exhale, Glow

If I was going to suggest a 'must-have', it would be the radiance palette (£8). As you can probably tell I get A LOT of use out of the two highlighting shades, and despite having used this almost every day for a few months I am yet to hit pan.

I haven't tried the hourglass ambient lighting powders, but these are supposedly a dupe for those at a tiny fraction of the price! They are more subtle than regular highlighters and without any chunks of glitter, instead they just add a beautiful sheen to the skin. I use the first shade 'Breathe' around the under eye area and tops of cheek bones and the centre of the forehead then the second shade 'Exhale' to add a little extra glow to the tops of the cheeks and the brow bone. The third shade 'Glow' is a great bronzey shade for the summer months, too!

Left - Goddess of Love, Right - Peach Lights

Two of the separate highlighters Make Up Revolution offer are the Goddess of Love highlight (£4.99) and the 'Peach Lights' baked highlighter (£3) which both offer a light pinky glow - perfect for cool skin tones like mine. The Goddess of Love highlighter comes in gorgeous packaging (very similar to the Too Faced blushes...) and seems to have a little more depth to the colour which doesn't seem to show up in the swatches. Peach Lights is very similar though and a great affordable alternative.

I'm forever being impressed by Make Up Revolution. I'd love to know if you have any recommendations for me to try!

xxx

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Ben Nye Neutral Set Colorless Powder DUPE!

Hello everybody!

Today I have an exciting discovery to share with you all... a dupe of the Ben Nye Neutral Set Colorless Powder! Now this powder normally retails at around £6.50 for a small tub, or £12.50 for the large. It's not really expensive, but it's not a bargain either. It's not the easiest to get hold of, either. Unfortunately... the Dupe is a little bit hard to get your hands on as well... but now that E.L.F. are back online in the UK it can be yours in a few clicks! 

Now as far as E.L.F. goes, their High Definition Powder is actually at the pricier end of the spectrum with the RRP of £7.50, however if you're a savvy shopped like me, you'll know they run promotions all the time, so you can probably pick this up at a fraction of the price if you just wait for a promo code to land in your inbox. 

I love a translucent powder. I'm so pale that I think it's necessary to not make my foundation look patchy and weird. I picked the Ben Nye powder up at IMATS this year, and whilst I seem to have barely made a dent in it with frequent use, I'm still a little scared of using it up. So recently, I started to delve into my make up collection and found the long forgotten E.L.F. powder. I picked it up ages ago when they had their store in Cardiff, but for some reason never got around to giving it a go. 

I'm not into looking super-matte, but rather use these powders to set my undereyes and oily areas. I actually like to apply both, lightly, with a sponge. I feel like this moulds it better with the make up than with a brush and makes your base look a little more seamless. 

The only differences I can tell between these powders is that the E.L.F. one seem to be a little bit more finely milled... more like a bright white dust, than the Ben Nye which resembles more of a flour-y texture (okay, describing powders is weird - they both look a little bit like cocaine too, if that appeals to you). Despite being more finely milled, I think the E.L.F. powder is slightly more visible on the skin, but with good application you should be able to achieve seamless blending. 

OH, and let's not forget the elephant in the room. Ben Nye powders have the most annoying packaging ever. Guys at Ben Nye, can we sort this out please. You end up having to sort of dab a little bit into the lid and end up wasting loads / making a mess... So E.L.F. definitely win on the packaging front!

I'd love to know your translucent powder recommendations!

xxx

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ECOTOOLS Complexion Collection Correcting Concealer Brush + GIVEAWAY!

Although I haven't tried many of them, all of the Ecotools brushes I own I really enjoy and use on a nearly daily basis. When I saw they had released a new range of 'Complexion Correcting' brushes I was really keen to give them a go!

I decided to opt for the concealer brush ($4.99) as I tend to suffer with blemishes more often than I would like! I usually find applying concealer to these areas quite tricky as often the brush can just move the concealer around on the area rather than actually making it stick to the area. This is the problem this brush aims to tackle as it allows you to stipple the concealer on to the area without moving it around.

The brush is vegan, made with recycled aluminium and bamboo handles and has a dual fibre synthetic head. I use predominantly synthetic brushes and most furs cause me to have an allergic reaction and I think Ecotools make some of the softest brushes I have tried. This brush isn't SUPER soft, as it is intended for stippling and some rigidity is required, but it is certainly comfortable to use on the skin.

All in all, for general concealer use I will still stick with my Real Techniques Setting Brush, but for tackling tricky blemishes this brush has become my right hand man!

I was surprised to see that these are no longer available to buy in the UK (although I picked it up from Boots about a month ago). The good news, however, is that I have an extra one to giveaway to one of my readers! Hoorah!

GIVEAWAY RULES 

• Anyone can enter, I am happy to post internationally.
• Entries must be in by 12th October.
• A winner will be chosen at random using Rafflecopter
• I will contact the winner privately and as long as they are happy for me to share that they have won I will announce on Twitter and/or Facebook also. If I do not receive a response within 28 days, a new winner will be drawn. 
• You can enter via Rafflecopter by following on Twitter, following on Bloglovin, visiting my Facebook page and tweeting about the giveaway (this can be done once a day to increase your odds of winning!)
• GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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The Body Shop Honey Bronze Highlighting Dome

I was rather intrigued when I saw The Body Shop release their highlighting domes (£8) recently. What mostly appealed to me is the fact you can apply the dome directly to the face without the need for brushes which makes it the perfect handbag or travel staple! 

The domes come in three shades - golden, pink and bronze. Today I'm sharing the pink shade with you - the perfect blush / highlight hybrid to give you a gorgeous summer glow! 

As usual with highlighters, it's almost impossible to capture in a photo as they will be captured differently in all lights. Alas, you can tell the dome is a beautiful coral toned pink with good pigmentation - definitely steering towards a blush rather than a highlight. 

The domes are obviously not super creamy as they need to be pretty firm to retain their dome-y shape, but once you apply them to your skin you can easily blend them out with your finger. Applying a little at a time is key! 

I think these highlighting domes are perfect for summer evenings, or maybe for faking the sunkissed look once the Autumn rolls around again! 

Have you tried these?

xxx

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The £4 Travel Beauty Bargain!

EVERYTHING FITS!

I wouldn't normally designate an entire post to a purchase like this, but I have been loving this so much that I simply had to share it with you! 

If you don't already know, Archer and I are currently staying at my Mother's house in West Dorset whilst we wait for our new house to be ready for us to move into. 

A few days prior to leaving, I realised I didn't really have anything suitable for transporting a few weeks worth of make up in. I decided Primark was my best bet for picking up something cheap and cheerful and I found this floral number at an absolute steal of £4!

I'm not usually a floral kinda girl, but something about this bag I just love. The print it quite diffuse and arty - I love the blues in it! 

But what I really love about this bag is the shape. It's essentially an oversized make up bag - and anything oversized is a good thing in my books. You can fit LOADS in this, including bulky palettes, foundations, tools etc... There's also a zip pouch inside as well which is so handy for little bits like bobby pins and hairbands! Because the bag itself is quite flat, it fits snugly into my suitcase without taking up much space (which is very much necessary when travelling with a toddler who requires a ridiculous amount of everything).

The quality of this bag seems really good as well, it's thick and sturdy and doesn't scream Primark. 

All in all, if you're looking for something to store a large amount of make up / beauty bits in, then this will be up your street!

What do you guys think of this bag?

xxx

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Nanshy 4 Piece Face Brush Set

Nanshy is a brand I actually hadn't heard of until I visited their counter at IMATs. I'm always after synthetic brushes, both because they are cruelty free and because my skin is sensitive to real hair, so when I saw their brushes were 100% vegan and they had a great range of face brushes I was pretty excited! I finally decided to pick up the four piece Gobsmack Gorgoues set (you can buy these on Amazon here)

I think we should just start by taking a moment to appreciate how cool these brushes look - I love their branding!

I can tell a lot of thought went in to creating 4 brushes which, together, are perfect for getting a flawless and blended complexion. They can all be used for foundation application, although they also serve other purposes too. The 'Flawless Foundation' brush is similar to the Real Techniques buffing brush (and better in my opinion) and is great for foundation application - especially if you prefer a little more coverage. The 'Buffed Base' is a multi-purpose brush which can be used for foundations or powder products - I like to use this to set my under eye area with powder. The 'Angled Airbrush' is, again, a foundation brush but it can be used to apply cream contour or blush products. Finally, the 'Conceal Perfector' is obviously a great tool for seamless concealer application.

These brushes are all quite dense and certainly good quality. I have washed them a few times and have seen no shredding either. 

This is a fantastic foursome, and a great addition for anyone looking to expand their range of face brushes. 

Have you tried anything from Nanshy? 

xxx

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Beauty Blender Micro Mini Review

Left - damp, Right - dry 

So whilst I was at IMATs I finally had the chance to pick up some of the Beauty Blender Micro Mini's . I love the original Beauty Blender and use it most days, so it's safe to say I was pretty excited to try these out. 

Like the original Beauty Blender these are pretty versatile and can be used for most cream products, although they are mainly intended for applying foundation and concealer in those smaller areas. 

They work best when damp, much like the original, but I was surprised to see that they didn't expand very much as shown in the photograph above. You can see, however, that they become much smoother as a result making application more seamless. 

The application of these didn't overwhelm me. Don't get me wrong, they're good and provide seamless coverage I just didn't particularly think there was an improvement on using the original Beauty Blender - especially for buffing concealer in. If you like to use separate blending tools for different jobs, i.e. one for foundation, then one for concealer and one for highlight then these may be worth investing in. 

If you're new to using Beauty Blenders then I would definitely recommend purchasing the original one as I think it does everything the Micro Mini's can do! 

Have you tried these?

xxx

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So I Went To IMATS London 2015..

So on Saturday 11th July I finally went to my first IMATS London! I've been keeping an eye on the IMATS event for the past few years since getting interested in make up, but finally got to go this time.

After a long travel-sicking-inducing Megabus trip, myself and Ellie arrived in London and pretty much immediately got lost. We eventually made it to IMATs at the Olympia Kensingson about 2 hours later than planned and started to make the rounds. 

IMATS is BUSY. Like really busy. We had to abandon a lot of stands because the queues were just insane (NYX and Beauty Bay, I'm looking at you...). We were only in London for the day, so quieing for half an hour to get some discounted brushes didn't really seem worth it. 

I did, however, get my hands on some make up I can't normally get - Make Up Forever, Ben Nye, Beauty Blender etc. and they have a lot of the big names - NARS, MAC, Urban Decay, YSL etc. although these aren't too heavily discounted. I would say the discounts were between 10-30%, which is good if you buy a lot of stuff (bearing in mind the IMATS ticket itself will set you back £50). I'm definitely regretting not buying multiples of the stuff I bought - if I go again I will definitely be stocking up on the Make Up Forever foundation! 

The make up demonstrations going on over the event were incredible. There is a big focus on stage / film / SFX make up and the artistry is just mesmerising! 

If you're a make up artist or just love buying an obscene around of make up then I would definitely recommend going! 

I posted this photograph of my haul... (although it includes a few extra London bits!) 

xxx

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