My Travel Makeup Bag!

Heya lovelies!
Hopefully by the time this post is up i shall be in sunny Florida so thought it was apt to show you what i pack in my travel makeup bag! The bag itself if i remember rightly is Benefit's Gabbi Bag that i picked up many years ago and to be perfectly honest i kinda regret buying it, i think it was over £20 and has been used all of once... bad, i know! So i really wanted to try and get some use out of it, its sturdier than the rest of my makeup bags and has a little more padding which makes it great for trying to get bits and bobs home in one piece. I just wish i owned a few more travel sized brushes to pop in it!

For me this is packing light!

For normal trips around the UK my makeup bag is considerably bigger and I'd probably cart around a brush roll on top of all that. But bearing in mind the Florida heat and my love of shopping i thought packing the bare minimum was probably the best idea, if i desperately need something its just yet another excuse to go shopping! hehe! I spent a good while going through my collection working out what would be the best products to take, working out what could get damaged in travel or melt in the heat that i wouldn't die over if i lost, so i came up with this little lot.

See? It really is the bare minimum!

I'm quite pleased i managed to get this down to four brushes. My Elf Kabuki for blush, my Royal and Langnickel kabuki for powder, Crown Small Chisel Blush for contour and a travel size Sigma E25. I don't think I've ever gone with such a small range of brushes, but since you'll see my lack of eyeshadow later on that pretty much explains it. But these are just the basic four, so that if needs be, i can whack on a whole face of makeup pretty easily.

Okay, so i am a dinlo and have missed one of the key items out of this photo... My Sleek Contour Kit! There was no way i was lugging Lightscapade and Laguna round with me because there would be tears if i smashed or lost either of those, but Sleek's little kit is the perfect replacement!

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser and Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream are the only two base products I'm taking and honestly it was a real struggle for me not to pack more. I'm a foundation whore and wear multiple ones each week, but the Laura Mercier one is perfect for day wear as it has light coverage and if i need a little more coverage I'll whack out the Missha Perfect! The Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Conceal is  MUST, it hides my dark circles a treat and Maybelline Stay Matte powder thrown in to set it all. Deciding on blush was another hard one but in the end it came down to one powder, one cream! Nars Orgasm and Stila Petunia.

Again minimal products for lips and eyes, just enough to tame my brows, do a winged eyeliner and orangey-coral lip! All photographed it looks a hell of a lot more than it really is, i mean... no shadow?!

Hopefully I'll have a nice haul to share soon!

What are your travel essentials?

Thanks for reading!

xox

My Top 5 Eye Brushes

 

Hello Lovelies!

So today I've got the next instalment of my "Top 5" series! Like i mentioned in the first post i wasn't really keen on doing a "Collection" post, so i decided to do a Top 5 of all the things i love, which seemed like a much better idea than me! Although i may do a post on my storage, when i can finally manage to get it all tidy!

I'm not too fussy when it comes to eye brushes, I'm much more likely to spend a bit more on face brushes since shadow isn't something i wear every day. But even so I've got some firm favourites in my collection and i don't see these changing any time soon!

Crown Brush C433 Pro Blending Fluff
Now its not the particular brand of brush i like on this one, its the shape. As you're probably all aware its very similar to a popular Mac blending brush and there are plenty of copies or dupes available. I have similar brushes from Sigma and Bdellium Tools and love them all pretty much equally! I love the fact its multipurpose, i can use it for concealer, i can use it for blending or I've even used it for an entire lazy smokey eye in the past just using both sides of the brush. Personally, i think this type of brush is a collection staple, everyone should own one!

Sigma Small Angle E65

Again i have a Crown brush that works just as well as this one, but this is my brow staple! Its the only thing it gets used for as I'm not fond of gel liner. Its firm enough to be precise but not too firm its scratchy. Not too much to say about this one really.

Elf Professional Blending Eye Brush

This brush gets a LOT of love, and for good reason too! Okay so its not the softest brush in the world and it has shed slightly but i absolutely LOVE it for blending / crease work. I have 5 or 6 of these beauties as i went a little mad at the last 50% off sale but i don't regret buying them one bit. I have smaller eyes so this makes blending a dream and fits perfectly into my crease. For people with smaller eyes, or for more detailed work they do a crease brush that works wonders too. Its not fancy, but at £1.50 you can't complain!

Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush

 This is a little bit of a cheat brush for this category. Its designed as an eye brush, but i mainly use it for concealer. But that's under the eye, so that counts, right? It blends concealer like a dream, better than i dare say the crown brush does. Real Techniques have brought out some corkers when it comes to brushes and although the face ones are my favourites, this one does not disappoint! I also love it for applying highlight to the brow bone.

Elf Professional Eye Shadow Brush

 Another great, no frills, bargain brush from Elf. Again i have about 5 or 6 of these and i wouldn't be without them. Yes they shed slightly, but for a basic lay down brush, they do the job! If you're after fancy brushes, this one isn't for you but if your after a bargain I'd go check their website!

So thats it for Eye Brushes! I did have a little trouble narrowing these down to 5 brushes, but if i had an extra I'd certainly pop in a pencil brush! Next in the series, Lipsticks!

Are these any of your favourites? What do you recommend?

 

xox

My Top 5 Face Brushes

Heya lovelies!

I thought I'd start a little series today, "My Top Five...", starting with my favourite face brushes!

Thinking back to a few years ago i actually only owned one brush, an Avon Kabuki that i used for powder and blush and was a bit lapse on cleaning (ewww). But now I've got quite a small collection of different brushes so i thought I'd share some of my favourites. Most of these are relatively budget friendly, i don't own Mac brushes because i am just too stingy to part with that much money. But the ones i have, i love, and they do the job!

Real Techniques Contour Brush

I've got into highlighter in a big way recently, and this little beauty has probably been half the reason so. I personally find it too small for its suggested purpose but i adore it for highlighting. If I'd of done this post a month or so ago it'd be 60% different. Real Techniques brushes are my new love. Okay, so some of the sets have a few less great brushes but the couple of gems in the face set more than make up for it! This brush is a tapered, gorgeously soft beauty that just works perfectly for powder highlighters!

Real Techniques Buffing Brush

There's a good reason why this brush is so hyped about! Works perfectly for most of my liquid foundations and tinted moisturisers and leaves a beautifully blended, airbrushed finish. Again, a month or so ago i would of sworn by my Sigma F80, as i guess a lot of people would of been before discovering this brush. Like all the others its wonderfully soft, and just applies liquid foundation like a dream. Its not overly dense which i think is actually a good thing, since this drys a hell of a lot faster than other brushes. I'm SO glad i purchased this!

Real Techniques Powder Brush
So now I'm starting to sound repetitive, right? This is probably my favourite brush right now. I'd been trying so hard to keep loving my Sigma F20, but the dye had started to run whilst it was washed and it shed so much it looked like i had facial hair! Seriously, it was that bad! So this brush was a welcome addition to my collection. I've been wearing less powder recently but I've been loving this for a quick, less precise application of bronzer.

Crown C141 Small Chisel Blush
I picked this beauty up at IMATS earlier in the year and has been a staple in my makeup bag ever since. Its great for contouring and precise application of blush. I've had this almost constantly in my handbag for blush touch ups while I'm out as its small enough to shove in a small makeup bag. I think i only payed around £5 for it too, bargain!

Sigma F40 Large Angled Contour

Whilst having a love / hate relationship with a lot of my other Sigma brushes this one has remained a firm favourite. My only slight niggle is that it does slightly splay at the edges and stains particularly easy. Other than that its one of my most reached for brushes, perfect for contour and blush.

So i didn't want this post to be essay long but i thought I'd add a few honourable mentions:

Bdellium Tools - 953 Small Duo Fibre
Sigma F05 - Small Contour

Elf- Complexion Brush
Elf - Powder Brush
Sigma F80 - Flat Top Synthetic Kabuki

I'm really looking forward to writing this series, as I'd never really wanted to do a collection post but this gives me the opportunity to share more of my favourite products in different categories. Up next, eye brushes and lipsticks!

What are your favourite face brushes?


xox

Bargain Beauty - Brush Holders

Hello lovelies!

Just a quick post from me today!
I'm always on the hunt for cheap brush holders, and apart from making my own I've not had too much luck. My sigma Make Me Blush holders and my small Elf brush holder were getting a tad full when i spotted these in Ikea.

Not the prettiest of holders, but they do the job! They easily hold most of my brushes and fit in with the girly theme of my room, so I'm happy! My next little project is to turn one of my Yankee Candles (when i eventually finish it) into a little eyeliner/pencil holder.

Available for just £3.29 for the pair from Ikea.

xox

Sigma - Make Me Blush Kit Review

So this post is long overdue... ooops! I wanted to give these brushes a good old testing before i shared my opinion. I was lucky enough to get this set for my birthday and had previously only tried their Sigmax collection of kabukis (which i adore!) and the free little E25 blending brush you get free with orders over $30. I'd been lusting over this kit for quite some time and for one reason or another I'd put off buying it.

The set comes in various different colours so there's a choice for everyone. Although i never wear pink i had to opt for these since they match everything else in my room! Priced at $99 for 12 brushes and the holder i don't think this is an overly expensive set, and is significantly cheaper than a lot of other brands. Sigma also frequently have 10% off codes up online, so keep your eye open for those! The holder is perfect for travel and makes two cute brush holders for your vanity. 

 

All of these have made their way into my regular makeup routine although i have to admit i was a little disappointed with a few. The F30 has shed quite a bit, i thought it'd get better with a few washes but i still find myself picking hairs off my face. I've had these well over a month now and they've had a good 5-6 washes, it's not a massive issue for me as it's now only the odd hair but it wasn't something i was expecting as i haven't had that problem with my current Sigma brushes. My second issue is with the F40, along with a little shedding (nowhere near as much as the large powder brush) it hasn't really kept it's shape. If you've had one of the E25's you'll know what i mean. It's slightly splayed out which again isn't a massive issue I'm just a little bit of a perfectionist! 

Forgetting my little grumble overall i think this is a pretty decent set. I can't compare them to Mac brushes as i don't own any but I'm really enjoying using them and they hands down beat any of my other brushes! I'm looking forward to grabbing a couple more brushes from Sigma in the future like the Large Tapered Blending and their new additions to the Sigmax range.

If you're interested in reading my review on the Synthetic Face Kit click here.

You can have a looky at all the Sigma brushes available on their website here.

Which Sigma brushes are your favourites? Let me know!

Thanks for reading.

xox

Sigma Synthetic Face Kit Review

Hello m'lovelies! I've been meaning to do this post all week and now i have some time off work (yay!) I've been able to get round to it. These are probably one of my favourite beauty purchases ever, so i thought I'd do a review and let you all know why!

I've had my eye on some Sigma goodies for quite some time but I've been a little cautious due to not wanting to wait a long time for them to arrive and not wanting to pay customs fee's. I eventually couldn't resist any longer and decided on buying the Synthetic Face Kit as it was at the top of my wishlist! Using the cheapest shipping to my surprise they arrived in just a week with no evil customs charges. I was ecstatic! And to top if off they come in a remarkably cute blue pouch with instructions and details of the brushes. In total these came to about £30, that's including the fast, low cost shipping!

Here's what Sigma say about these:

"F80 - Flat Top Kabuki

The F80 Flat Top Kabuki brush is perfect for applying and blending liquid, cream, and powder products onto the skin. The flat surface allows perfect buffing with flawless results. Features synthetic Sigmax HD fibers.

F82 - Round Top Kabuki

The F82 Round Top Kabuki brush simplifies precise makeup application under the eyes and around the nose. This brush is also perfect for achieving flawless coverage using liquid and powder products. Features synthetic Sigmax HD fibers.

F84 - Angled Top Kabuki

The F84 Angled Top Kabuki brush is the perfect brush for precise, yet blended application of products on the cheeks. It seamlessly applies cream, powder and liquid products. Features synthetic Sigmax HD fibers."

The F80 has been a new favourite in my daily routine, using it to apply liquid foundation mainly my Skin79 BB cream and it's made me love that product even more! It leaves all my uneven skin tone covered beautifully without feeling like I've got a layer of foundation on, giving a flawless finish. I've been using it for a good few weeks now and I've had literally no shedding even after washing them a few times, the bristles have stayed in shape and are super soft. I'm absolutely in love with this brush.

The F82 and F84 haven't gotten as much use as i would like so far as my routine has been a little boring as I've done little else but go to work the last few weeks. So I'm determined to have a good play with these soon. Again they have both stayed soft and in shape but I've had a little shedding with the F84, but i mean under 10 hairs which i really can't complain about.

Everyone loves a free gift and this one was definitely not to be sniffed at. Every purchase on the Sigma website over $30 receives a free E25 blending brush, and like the F80 this has managed to work its way into my daily routine and given me an excuse to place another order to get a few more! Although it did shed quite a bit initially and has splayed out ever so slightly this is a fantastic blending brush in my opinion. Although I'm only used to the E.l.f ones so I'm not sure how much my opinion is worth on the subject! :P

All in all i think this set is fabulous and well worth looking at if you're looking to invest in some good quality brushes. Always look out for promotion codes when purchasing anything off the Sigma website as there are generally a few 10% off codes flying around at any given time.

This set can be purchased off the Sigma website for $42 + Shipping here.

Let me know through comments if you guys have any reviews on Sigma brushes as I'd love to read them!

xx