Tag Archives: makeup brushes

Beauty: Real Techniques Powder Bleu Brush Collection #PowderBleu

Posted on August 1, 2017

Hi Guys!

It seems like a really long time since I’ve mentioned Real Techniques on the blog – as in years. Even though I actually use their standard brushes quite frequently, it’s been a while since they’ve launched any products that have caught my eye – so I was really excited when I heard about their brand new Powder Bleu collection…

The Powder Bleu range of brushes have been specifically designed by Real Techniques to apply, blend, buff and set powders without disturbing the make-up underneath. They have the signature Real Techniques long sleek handles, similar to the Bold Metals range, but this time the colour-way is navy blue, bleeding into black for an ombre effect on the brush handles.

You probably wouldn’t have guessed, but this brush collection is in fact based on blue squirrel hair, which is known for its fine filaments, luxurious softness, and flawless powder application. It’s said to be quite rare, and used in only the most expensive makeup brushes. Real Techniques have re-created their own synthetic version of blue squirrel hair with their new FauxBleu™ Technology – they promise their synthetic bristles perform just as well as the real thing.

Starting with the B05 Soft Kabuki Brush (£25.00) – This super large kabuki brush has been designed to buff and blend powders into the skin, anywhere on the face and body. The handle is solid and easy to hold, and the bristles are super soft. Personally for me I find this a little too large for use on the face, but it’s perfect for buffing in both bronzer and highlighter on the neck, chest and shoulders.

Next the Plush Powder Puff (£12.00) – This soft, velvety powder puff has been designed to help tap on just the right amount of powder to set any makeup look. Again this is pretty large, but it’s also flexible so I don’t mind the size. The finish is amazingly soft, almost like velvet, and it does a great job of pressing loose powder into the skin for both baking and setting your makeup.

And now on to the brushes, from left to right above starting with the B03 Soft Complexion Brush (£22.00) – this brush has a domed, soft yet dense head that has been designed specifically to blend and buff powder foundation into skin for buildable, customizable shine-free coverage.

Next the B01 Soft Powder Brush (£22.00) has has a large tapered head and is perfect for applying powder bronzers and highlighters, as well as loose powder foundations and finishing powders. Again as this is quite a large brush, it will work really well on both the face and body.

The B04 Soft Shadow Brush (£15.00) is the only eyeshadow brush in the collection. This is perfect for layering and blending out powder eye shadows. The long soft bristles help to gently spread powder eyeshadow while blending it into the skin for a naturally diffused look. You can also use this brush for applying more detailed powder highlighter to smaller areas of the face such as the brow bone, tip of the nose, or chin.

And lastly the B02 Soft Finishing Brush (£22.00) – this is very much like a mini version of the B01 Soft Powder Brush, but this time with a small tapered head. This brush is perfect for sweeping on powder blush or highlighter without upsetting any product underneath. This brush is just the right size to apply a light cheek contour too.

The Real Techniques Powder Bleu Collection is available now exclusively at Boots.

I hope you enjoyed my post xxx

This post contains press samples

The Artis Oval 4 Brush vs an Ebay Dupe

Posted on March 1, 2016

3 Lovely Comments

Hi Guys!

If you’re a fan of watching youtube tutorials, you may have noticed some rather odd looking makeup brushes popping up of late – kind of like a spoon but with a brush head at the end! These are Artis brushes, and it seems like plenty a Youtuber swears by them now. Unfortunately though, these brushes are not cheap by anyones standards – single brushes start from £25, and if you fancy splurging on the full set, ten brushes will set you back an eye-watering £280.

So what’s so special about them? Well they have a unique forward facing head, kind of like a toothbrush, and it completely changes the way you apply your makeup. As well as that, the bristles are a worth noting too, the CosmeFibre® trademarked bristles are created using high-tech machines that produce completely consistent, man-made fibres. Each fibre has a microscopically tapered end, which Artis says allows for more consistent application.

So basically I really wanted to try these brushes out, to see if they’re really as good as they sound. The price did put me off though, and as I don’t actually need any more makeup brushes right now, so I couldn’t justify picking up the full set. Then, something magical happened and I noticed some very similar brushes on ebay, for a fraction of the cost – and when I say fraction, I mean a tiny fraction. So I did what any good beauty blogger would do, and I bought just one of the Artis brushes and one from ebay so I could compare them.

So I ordered the Artis Oval 4 brush, which was from Space NK, and this arrived first. This brush is designed for use on and around the eye area, so you can use it for applying eyeshadow, or for concealer.

I then found an identical looking brush on ebay, it looked like it would be bigger than the Artis Oval 4, but at that point in time I couldn’t see any other size options. I thought it would be worth a punt though, so I ordered it and waited patiently for it to arrive.

When it landed on my doorstep a few weeks later, I compared it to my Artis brush and you can see it really is quite a lot bigger. I’d say it’s counterpart would actually be the Artis Oval 7 brush, which is £48 – and I really didn’t want to pick up another one at that price, so I thought I’d persevere and compare them anyway!

So on first look, the Artis brush is definitely more visually appealing. It has a high shine chrome finish, with a white embossed section for easy grip featuring the Artis logo. It also comes in an expensive looking box too. The ebay dupe on the other hand, has a black glossy finish, with no branding and no box, this one just came in a clear cellophane wrapper.

The fibres of both brushes are SO fine, I don’t think I’ve seen anything like them before. The fibres are completely uniform and flexible on both brushes, and both brush heads have been shaped to a curve, so they move easier over the contours of the face.

As mentioned before, the Artis brushes use their trademarked CosmeFibre synthetic bristles, and it’s interesting to note that each of their brushes has on average 3 to 10 times as many individual fibres as conventional animal hair brushes – which Artis promises results in superior blending and smoother makeup application.

Even though the bristles on both brushes are man made, the Artis brush fibres have a more natural feel, with the ebay dupe feeling more silky and synthetic. Both are equally densely packed into the brush head – the density really is an important factor as you lose less product into the brush when applying it to the face.

I decided to try both brushes with a powder and also with a liquid foundation just too see what would happen, and it turns out the brushes are very similar indeed. When applying both powder and liquid foundation, they both spread the product easily, and glide over the surface of the skin to give an even finish. I found the Artis brush worked really well on the eye area due to its size, and the ebay brush was a bit too big for the eyes, but this worked well for the cheeks and forehead.

One think I love about both brushes, is due to the bristles being packed so densely, they take in less product, so you don’t need to use as much product to begin with – you’re actually saving money by using them!

And now for the prices. So the Artis brush was £32 – ouch. But how much would you say the ebay dupe was? Well this brush cost me £1.18, including free shipping from Hong Kong. At the time of buying this, I couldn’t see any information on other sizes available, but I’ve checked again and I’ve found a UK seller offering a set of 10 brushes for £18.86, which really is a bargain, you can see the set here.

They may not have the fancy packaging or branding of the Artis brushes, but they ebay dupes are a fantastic alternative, and definitely worth trying – I think I’ll be picking up the full set next!

I hope you enjoyed my post xxx

The New Zoeva Spectrum Collection

Posted on February 24, 2016

2 Lovely Comments

Hi Guys!

My love for Zoeva products has officially been revived with the release of their brand new range – the Spectrum Collection.

The Spectrum Collection is a beautiful range of products including three eyeshadow palettes, in Warm, Neutral and Cool, and three blush palettes in Pink, Nude and Coral. Each palette is based on elements in nature, with the Warm palette (which I have) being inspired by ‘the spectacle of an erupting volcano.’

‘ZOEVA Warm Spectrum Eyshadow Palette blazes with matte and shimmering ash brown and rock gray shades from the depth of the earth, consumed by a lava-like flood of hot terra cotta based hues and dark mauve tints. Immerse yourself in an explosion of color and set your lids on fire – for dangerously hot and daring looks.’

The Warm palette includes a wide range of colours as well as finishes, and the eyeshadows feature Zoeva’s new ultra micronised formula, for ease of application and a seamless finish.

Up until now I’ve only had the pleasure of owning one Zoeva palette, which is to Rose Gold one. This is really is fantastic, and one of my go-to palettes, so I’m hoping the standard is just as high with the Warm Spectrum Palette. Let’s take a close up look at the shadows –

WR010 – A teal / brown duochrome.
WR020 – A muted light matte taupe.
WR030 – Intense matte black.
WR040 – Bright matte orange.
WR050 – Pearl shimmer muted rose pink.
WR060 – Matte chocolate brown.

The first two rows are a real eclectic mix! The first shadow has to be my favourite though, a brown and teal duochrome that’s buttery soft and looks stunning when it catches the light.

WR070 – Light peachy coral with shimmer.
WR080 – Warm muted mauve brown satin.
WR090 – Matte royal purple.
WR100 – Light nude cream matte.
WR110 – White satin.
WR120 – Caramel brown matte.

Again there’s a good mix of colours and finishes in the second two rows. WR070 is a gorgeous light peachy coral that instantly grabbed my attention, and WR080 is also a lovely, wearable shade.

(Bottom row only)

WR130 – Matte creamy white with pink undertones.
WR140 – Matte creamy white with yellow undertones.
WR150 – Light caramel with pearlised shimmer.

And lastly the bottom row. I’ve pictured it here with the row above it also, as from afar the lighter shades do look pretty similar – and I wanted to show you that they’re not! I’m obviously on a bit of a shimmer mission at the moment because I’m loving WR150, it’s a beautiful shimmery caramel that would suit most if not all skin tones.

The Blush Palette in Coral Spectrum is also a bit of a stunner. This contains four pans of varying shades of peach and coral, with both matte and satin finishes. Zoeva’s aim here was to capture beauty of lush, tropical reefs, revealing a fantastic array of fresh nuances ranging from light peach to coral pink. These blushers are super soft and easily buildable.

CR010 – Intense bright coral.
CR020 – Mid peachy pink.
CR030 – Warm peach with a golden shimmer.
CR040 – Light warm beige.

Zoeva have also extended their Rose Gold Vol.2 brush range by adding a massive thirty beautiful rose gold individual brushes. I have three of them here (top to bottom) –

221 Luxe Soft Crease Brush – This is a fantastic blending brush made with the finest natural-synthetic hair.
222 Luxe All Over Shader Brush – This is a multi-functional eye shadow brush, allowing you to apply, blend and shade eye shadow onto the entire eyelid.
231 Luxe Petite Crease Brush – Similar to the 221 brush, this petite version is also tapered into a point at the tip for creating a sharp cut crease.

I really hoped I’d be impressed with these palettes, and I’m so pleased to say that I was. The Warm Spectrum palette has such a fantastic range of shades, you could create almost never-ending looks with this! The shadows are all well pigmented and easy to apply, and the shimmers and duo chrome pans really are superb. The Coral Spectrum blush palette is also a winner. The shades are all super pretty and perfect for a flush of colour on the cheeks.

The Spectrum palettes are £28.50, the blush palettes are £15.00, and the single rose gold brushes start from £6.50 at Beauty Bay.

I’d love to hear if you’ve tried any Zoeva products? I hope you enjoyed my post xxx

This post contains press samples

Beauty For a Good Cause

Posted on November 15, 2015

0 Lovely Comments

Hi Guys!

One of the many things I love about beauty – makeup especially, is the feel good factor. When it comes to the shopping experience, makeup will fit you, it won’t get stuck around your knees and refuse to pull up. Makeup won’t sag at the waist, or stretch too much across your bust. Makeup won’t ‘not go up to your size’ – you see what I’m getting at? And makeup doesn’t have to be expensive either; just popping in Superdrug for a £3 lipgloss can really cheer you up. Who says retail therapy is a load of rubbish hey?

On that note, I’ve gathered together a collection of products that are taking the feel good factor one step further. With these products your well spent cash will pick you up some fantastic products, as well as supporting some very worthwhile causes. Take a look, and happy shopping…

1. Foreo LUNA Mini Special Edition – Save the Sea.

I have the original Foreo LUNA – but did you know they also have a special Save The Sea Limited Edition Mini Luna? This is basically a mini (and cheaper) version of the standard LUNA, which has been specially produced in a bid to help ‘Save the Sea’.

FOREO will donate net proceeds of this LUNA mini Special Edition to their newly established Board of Ocean Conservation charity partners, including GreenWave and SEA LIFE Trust to raise funds and awareness to preserve our seas.

I’m a big fan of Foreo’s LUNA, it’s a fantastic facial brush that channels T-Sonic pulsations through soft silicone for deep and gentle cleansing. The LUNA mini is suitable for all skin types, with thicker touch-points on the reverse side designed to deeply cleanse oilier skin, particularly on the T-zone. The thinner touch-points gently channel pulsations and are best used for sensitive or dry skin. The LUNA is perfect for removing dead skin cells and un-clogging pores – which it does fantastically well. It also enhances the absorption of skincare products and delivers visibly brighter, more radiant skin.

This is sold out in the UK now (as far as I can tell) but it’s still available from Sephora.

2. Kiehls X Tinie Tempah Limited Edition Ultra Facial Cream.

Skincare brand Kiehl’s have teamed up with the one and only MTV Staying Alive ambassador, Tinie Tempah to create this Ultra Facial Cream with a limited edition label.

The MTV Staying Alive Foundation provides funding and training to youth-led HIV prevention projects around the world. Their work helps these projects and their young leaders to develop vital skills to build innovative, culturally relevant and sustainable organisations that lead the fight against HIV on the ground.

And any Kiehl’s fan will be aware of their iconic Ultra Facial Cream, it’s the perfect light-textured day cream, offering up to 24-hour moisture, leaving skin feeling comfortable and well-balanced.

Kiehl’s UK will be donating £2 for each purchase of this limited edition product to the MTV Staying Alive Foundation. Help spread the word for this great cause by sharing the message on Twitter and Instagram – let’s stop HIV before it starts. #TINIExKIEHLS @kiehlsuk @tinietempah @mtvstayingalive

The Limited Edition Ultra Facial Cream is available now from Kiehls.

3. Radical Skincare Advanced Peptide Antioxidant Serum.

In case you haven’t heard of Radical Skincare, their heritage stems from founders Liz and Rachels’ father and his pioneering work treating burn survivors. Now they are on a mission to continue his legacy with The Katie Piper Foundation. For each purchase of their Advanced Peptide Antioxidant Serum or Skin Perfecting Screen, £2.50 will be donated to The Katie Piper Foundation – a charity offering help and support to burn survivors. You can read more about what they do here.

I have their Advanced Peptide Antioxidant Serum – this is a serum for all skin types and ages, designed to fight 16 identified causes of ageing, reduce wrinkles, improve skin elasticity and increase hydration.

This product shields against free radicals, whilst repairing past damage and preventing future damage. It includes 13 carefully selected and individually tested ingredients and 9 powerful antioxidants, and it’s also perfect for those with sensitive skin and those prone to breakouts.

I’m really looking froward to trying this product out, fingers crossed I’ll see some fantastic results!

Radical Skincare’s Skin Perfecting Screen and Advanced Peptide Antioxidant Serum are available now from Space NK and Fenwick Stores.

4. Look Good Feel Better Makeup Brushes.

Look Good Feel Better is a cancer support charity specifically helping women and teenagers combat the visible side effects of their treatment.

They run free skincare and make-up workshops in over 77 hospitals and cancer support centres nationwide, and more than 150 Masterclasses are held each year – which enabled them to support 14,500 women and teenagers in 2014. Which really is amazing.

Their makeup brush range features 12 high quality professional brushes which have been developed with beauty industry experts. Apart from looking the part, these brushes really are top quality, and amazingly affordable. They have sleek black weighted handles, and each precision cut brush head has been hand-made using super softtalkon bristles, a special polyester derivative free of any protein component; making them allergy free, environmentally friendly and suitable for sensitive skin, and an 8% – 12% donation will be made from the sale of each brush and set.

The Look Good Feel Better range of brushes are available now from Feel Unique.

I also wanted to mention at this point, that lovely blogger Kirstie from A Yellow Brick Blog is raising money for Crisis – a charity for single homeless people. She’s encouraging people to donate as little as £1 to go towards this fantastic cause, you can see her Just Giving page here. Kirsty is currently at 86% of her target at the time of writing this, so please spare a couple of £’s to help her reach her goal!

I hope you enjoyed my post xxx

This post contains press samples

Zoeva Bon Voyage Travel Brush Set

Posted on August 20, 2015

3 Lovely Comments

Hi Guys!

Now you know I’m a big fan of Zoeva brushes, when the Rose Gold Luxury Vol 2 Set was released, I bought pretty much everything, including the matching brush holders. And they were just so pretty I actually bought some extra ones just to use in the background of my blog photos – I must be mad! 🙂

One of Zoeva’s latest offerings is the lovely Bon Voyage Set…

This is a mini set of four full sized brushes, with their own makeup bag which can also be used as a clutch if you wish. The idea of the Bon Voyage Set is you have a set of essential brushes to cover makeup application basics, in a small enough bag that’s perfect for travel.

The bag is of course, beautiful. It’s made of a super high quality faux leather (I actually thought it was real leather to begin with and had to double check). It has a hot pink lining, with an interior zipped compartment, silver hard wear, and a silver Zoeva logo. This bag just oozes quality, and there’s something really nice about the chunky zip – it pulls really smoothly, like the zip on a designer handbag.

Anyway, I think I’ve drooled enough over the bag, let’s take a look at the brushes, which are made of both natural and synthetic fibres –

First up is the 125 Stippling Brush – this is designed to give an airbrushed finish to the application of your foundation. The brush head itself is made of shorter, finer black bristles, dispersed with longer, slightly thicker and firmer bristles specifically designed for stippling.

Next is the 128 Cream Cheek Brush – this is perfect brush for cream and powder blush application. It has a slanted head, with super soft flexible bristles.

And onto the eyes we have the 228 Luxe Crease Brush – this is designed for blending and shading eyeshadow in the crease. This brush is just the right size to get right into the crease for blending, with long and super soft bristles.

And lastly the 237 Detail Shader Brush – which is perfect for the detailed application of eyeshadow. This brush has a small, flat head, with short sturdy bristles.

What a gorgeous set, hey? I’d love to hear if you have any Zoeva brushes?

The Bon Voyage Brush Set is £30.95 and available now from Beauty Bay.

I hope you enjoyed my post xxx

This post contains press samples

A Little Zoeva Haul…

Posted on March 21, 2015

2 Lovely Comments

Hi Guys!

I’ve had my eye on Zoeva brushes ever since I first discovered them. My first lusting was the original Rose Gold collection sets with the brown handles – I’m a sucker for anything rose gold. Then I heard they were recently releasing the Rose Gold Vol.2 sets, so I saved up my pennies for the release date, and then I stocked up!

I went for both sets, as well as the corresponding brush pots, the Rose Gold Eyeshdow Palette and also a fan brush which I wanted from the standard brush range. I ordered direct from the German Zoeva site, as it seemed to work out cheaper than in the UK, and my parcel also arrived the same week! (Also Germany is in the EU, so no import taxes or fees – result!)

The brush sets were EUR 70 each including the brush holders, which works out at just over £50 each, compared to the same sets which are £61.50 each from Love Makeup in the UK. Shipping on the German site was EUR 7.50 (£5.43) so it definitely worked out to be the cheaper option purchasing from there.

This may sound expensive, but with one set including eight brushes, and the other including twelve, they’re actually really good value for money, averaging out at just over a fiver each.

The brushes are most definitely amazing – as expected. Apart from being beautiful to look at, they really are top quality too, the bristles are soft but firm, and they’re synthetic too in case you were wondering. I now have literally every eye brush a girl could ever want or need! The face brushes were slightly more limited so I also purchased a fan brush separately which I had my eye on. The sets also come in beautiful rose gold metallic leather cases, with shiny rose gold zips. The cases are fantastic quality too, so I’m now wondering what I can use them for!

I’ll briefly touch on the Rose Gold Eyeshadow Palette, which at EUR 17.50 (£12.66) for ten good sized shadows is a complete bargain. I’ll being reviewing this separately though so you can get a good look at it.

I really can’t recommend these brushes enough, I’d love to hear what your favourite brushes are? xxx

Zoeva Rose Golden Vol. 2 Collection

Posted on February 5, 2015

2 Lovely Comments

Hi Guys!

I’ve just heard about the brand new Zoeva collection and I had to share!

I’ve had my eye on Zoeva brushes for a long time now, and I’ve been on their site adding brushes to my bag, taking them out and changing them, adding different ones, and just generally being unable to make a decision about which ones to go for! And I’m kind of glad I didn’t take the plunge yet because they’re launching a brand new rose gold collection at the end of February!

The Rose Golden Vol. 2 collection contains some really exciting and unusual products. There are two new brush sets, a brand new eyeshadow palette, brush holder pots, and even a bracelet!

Rose Golden Vol. 2 Luxury Set

Contains 8 brushes: 104, 109, 126, 226, 228, 234, 317, 322 + Brush Clutch Large Rose Golden (£55)

Rose Golden Vol. 2 Complete Eye Set

Contains 12 brushes: 142, 221, 227, 228, 230, 231, 232, 235, 238, 310, 322, 325 + Brush Clutch Small Rose Golden (£55)

The ZOEVA Brush Holder is a custom brush holder for the Rose Golden brushes. Decorated with the precious key symbol, which runs through the entire Rose Golden Vol. 2 Collection, it is a jewel on every makeup table. (£7.50)

The Brush Holder is also available as a set with the Rose Golden Vol. 2 brush collections:

Brush Holder Rose Golden + Rose Golden Vol. 2 Luxury Set (£59)

Brush Holder Rose Golden + Rose Golden Vol. 2 Complete Eye Set (£59)

The Princess Palette.

The ZOEVA Rose Golden Palette is inspired by a woman’s gentle side – a harmony of lustrous hues in rose golden and royally dark browns for shimmery natural and dramatic glamour makeup looks. The Rose Golden Palette underlines the feminine side and reminds one – being a woman is a pleasure. A woman, who is in love with a special someone or life itself. (£15)

The ZOE BANGLE is the first ZOEVA jewellry item.

The rose golden bangle signifies modern femininity. Beautified with the ZOEVA symbol, it embodies the essence of soft elegance. It shows the world who you are – a unique character with a passion for aesthetics and a beautiful, simple design. Made of brass and enamel, nickel free Measurements : width 2 cm, diameter 7 cm. (£32)

I can’t tell you how excited I am for this collection! I’m definitely going to buy the brush sets, DEFINITELY. But I’m also really tempted by the brush holder, and the palette too!

The Zoeva Rose Golden Vol. 2 Collection will be on sale from 23rd February.

I hope you enjoyed my post xxx

Zoeva Rose Gold Luxury Brush Set GIVEAWAY!

Posted on August 27, 2014

42 Lovely Comments

Hi Guys!

Well I have a feeling today’s post is going to be a popular one! The lovely people at Legal and General asked me to think about which item(s) I think are worth investing in. What would I spend a bit more money on if I could? What would I choose to invest in if I had the choice? Well of course makeup and skincare sprang to mind – funny that! One of the things that I first thought of was makeup brushes. I’ve had countless cheap sets of makeup brushes over the years that just don’t last. Apart from the obvious bristle shedding – and yes I have ended up with a beard when applying my bronzer – I’ve also had handles fall off, and brushes appear to completely disintegrate before my eyes. There are loads of brands out there offering fab makeup brushes these days, but decent brushes often come at a price, and great brushes are usually out of my price range! A while ago I created this Rose Gold themed wish list including my dream makeup brush set – the Rose Gold Luxury Set by Zoeva. These brushes are of course gorgeous, but as well as looking great they’re of the highest quality too. Legal and General would like to give this amazing set away worth €65 to one lucky winner, and all you have to do is enter via the rafflecopter widget below – please also leave me a comment for extra entries!

This giveaway will run for two weeks, and it’s open internationally. The brush set on offer is the one you see in this post, I have opened it to photograph only. If you have any questions please feel free to drop me a line. Good luck! xxx

a Rafflecopter giveaway