B. Powder Brush

Makeup only looks as good as the tools it is applied with. As a general rule, I tend to stick to 'you get what you pay for' with regards to brushes. While there are some exceptions on either end of the price spectrum, this find is definitely a worthwhile budget purchase. 

Sueprdrug's B. Powder Brush comes in at £9.99 and is often on a 3 for 2 or buy one get one half price deal. So even better value for money if you have a few things to pick up! 

The brush itself feels well made and sturdy. It is lighter in weight than higher priced alternatives but the brush head itself is actually better than some premium brands that I have tried in the past. The 100% Synthetic hair (the brand is cruelty free) feels so soft on the skin. It picks up just the right amount of powder and when you gently roll the brush and product across the face to set you get an even deposit of product and no hair fallout. I have had this brush for about 3 months now and have had no hair fallout at all. Top marks from me, Superdrug. 

Targeted Spot Concealing

Every woman (and man) needs to have a few tricks up their sleeve when it comes to looking their best. When working on cosmetic counters even though neither role I held focused on makeup artistry, I still dealt regularly with people who just didn't know what to do when it came to concealing blemishes. 

I thought that I would share with you my favourite concealer for spots and blemishes, the tools that I like to apply and my tips for application. 

As for concealer, my fail safe spot corrector is Benefit Boi-ing. I use this in shade 01-Light and find it is a good match for my skin, not to pink, not too yellow. I would recommend getting matched for a shade if you are unsure on the colour. This is a very creamy concealer which makes it pretty malleable and easy to blend. The real selling point for me though is that it is industrial strength. Seriously, this stuff does not budge all day. I know that I can use this on a blemish and not need to worry about it as I go about my day.  

To apply, I use two brushes from my Real Techniques Eye Kit. The liner brush is used to pick up the concealer and then used to 'pinpoint' the blemish. You do not need as much concealer as you think for spots. Using a fine brush to apply the product in a small area concentrates the colour-correcting pigments where they are needed so refrain from covering your entire chin in concealer to hide that single spot. Once you have 'pinpointed' your blemish, use a fluffy blending brush to lightly buff the product seamlessly into the complexion. Use light, circular movements for a flawless finish. Apply a light dusting of your face powder and voila. Blemish concealed! 

Glowing Summer Skin for Pale People

You can still have a summer-time glow even if you are pale like me. You know that I love being pale, I hid under big hats, kimonos and factor 50 for near enough the full two weeks while in Florida in a bid not to get a tan (I think everyone else who was with us thought I was a nutter - what can I say?!). Since arriving back home, I have been smothering myself in sun cream before leaving the house because for some bizarre reason Glasgow seems to be getting some summer weather - I know, I'm just as shocked as you are. Now despite wanting to remain pale, I do like to have a slight summer glow. Allow me to introduce you to my glowing dream team.

I have been starting out by applying my SPF 50 all over my face and neck and waiting around 15 minutes for it to fully absorb, after this I apply a layer of Lush's Enzymion which is a new favourite of mine. This has lemon juice and papaya in it which makes it smell so summery and it really uplifts you when you open the pot and apply it. These ingredients also help to brighten the skin and leave you with a lovely matte base. After this I have been applying Jackie Oates with the Complexion Blending Brush from the EcoTools Fresh and Flawless kit to even out my skin tone. This gives a great natural finish and also contains titanium dioxide which helps to block out the sun on the skin, bonus! To finish off the glowing skin, I take the Full Powder Brush from the same EcoTools kit and run the Physicians Formula 100% Natural Origin Bronzer (I have the light shade) across my forehead, cheeks and nose. 

When all added together, these work together to give a natural, light sunkissed glow which looks great alone or can easily be a base for a full makeup look. These three products were my staples while on holiday as they were quick and made gave me a healthy glow. 

What are your 'go-to' summer glow products?

Top Illamasqua Products

I have developed a bit of a love for Illamasqua recently. I have been picking up bits and pieces from them over the last few weeks and thought I would share the stand out products for me so far - there will be more making appearances on the blog soon!

Skin Base Lift in Light 1 (£17.50) is perfect for concealing and brightening under the eyes. It corrects uneven pigmentation and the peach tones work wonders at brightening those dark circles. This is a very creamy formula which blends in easily to the rest of your makeup. I ind that it works best applied with a blending brush and then set with a small amount of loose powder. It stays put all day and doesn't cause mascara to run around the bottom of your eyes which a lot of under eye concealers can do. 

The Blending Brush (£22) is perfect for working in conjunction with Skin Base Lift. It works brilliantly at blending and diffusing the product out and into the rest of your makeup. The brush is made out of incredibly soft synthetic fibers which are a dream to use on the delicate skin around the eye, not to mention the brushes are 100% cruelty-free. 

The Reflection Palette (£34) is a little gem if you ask me. The shadows are so well pigmented and feel totally luxurious on application. The shadows have a buttery soft texture which makes them a total dream to apply and blend. They give a brilliant effect when used to create a gorgeous eye look together but work equally as well as single shadows on their own. Final note on the shadows is the fact that they last absolutely ages before looking slightly 'worn' (I'm talking 8+ hours!).

A gel liner is something I use most days. The Precision Gel Eyeliner (£18.50) is so soft, it glides on to the eye without any hassle. It is a great, strong black or the duration of the day and doesn't start to bleed or run as the day goes on. Only thing with this is that it doesn't come with a brush like some similar products do, but i have my favourite gel liner brush which I always use anyway so that didn't bother me much.

Illamasqua do blusher so well. Their Powder Blusher in 'Lover' (£21.50) is the perfect apricot colour for a pale girl like me. It gives a natural colour which can be built with ease for a more dramatic look. This again lasts really well after application meaning there are minimal touch-ups required. Another thing on this - it is huge and so will last you absolutely ages as a little goes a long way!

You know that I love lipstick. I ventured slightly outwith my normal comfort zone with this one and chose Lipstick in 'Flare' (£18.50) which is a bright orange. I must say, I love this product. The lipstick lasts amazingly well - I normally opt for lipstains and laquers as they last longer, but when applied properly this can match the time that other products last. I also love the colour, it is so summery and bright, it is just fab!

What are your favourite Illamasqua products?

Best Makeup Brushes

Brushes make your makeup work harder. You can spend hundreds upon hundreds of pounds on designer, all singing and all dancing makeup products, but it you apply it with poor makeup brushes it certainly won't look that way once you have finished.

I have quite a collection of makeup brushes. I grudge throwing any that are in good condition away as 'you never know when I might need it...' but there are a few which I find myself using everyday and find myself lost without if I have forgotten to take them away with me.

Going from left to right across the above picture we start off with Real Techniques Blush Brush 1407 (£9.99) which, as far as I know is the best blush brush. Ever. It is so ridiculously soft (no risk of scratchiness on your cheeks) and it follows the shape of your cheekbones perfectly. It creates a natural flush without that racing-stripe that you can end up sporting with a smaller brush. Not the best of looks.

Next, we have the Real Techniques Multi-Tasking Brush (From Sam's Picks Brush Set) (£29.99 for set) which I use for powder. It is fluffy yet still has a slight density to it making targeting areas which need a little more powder a lot easier. Again, this is super-soft and feels so lovely on your face.

I love the Real Techniques Blending Eye Brush (From Starter Set) (£21.99 for set). I use it to do a final blend on my eye makeup to help smoke it out a little bit more. Like all the Real Techniques brushes, this is super-soft and is great quality. It really is fab for smoothing out harsh lines and perfecting eyeshadow.

The next two bushes are both from the EcoTools Bamboo 6 Piece Eye Brush Set (£14.99 for set). Firstly we have the 'blend' brush which I use to apply my base colour all across the eye. I love this as the brush it quite big and makes applying your neutralising shade so easy as it only takes a couple of stokes to get it perfect. The other brush from this set that I use almost everyday is the 'crease' brush. As you might expect this is the brush that I pick up to define the crease of my eye, it is perfectly sized and perfectly shaped for the job, and it lays shadow well on the eye.

I received a collection of brushes from e.l.f. as a free gift with purchase before Christmas, which is where the next two brushes come from. Unfortunately they don't seem to have the same collection anymore and seem to have stopped the spoolie brush altogether. I use that to tame my eyebrows and to help blend and brow powder that I might apply. I prefer this to the disposable ones as it doesn't feel as flimsy, but the disposable ones work just as well. The other brush from the collection that I use daily is the Small Precision Brush (£3.95) which is perfect for applying concealer to blemishes as it doesn't cover the surrounding area with product, it hits it spot on (ha!) and makes the blemish blend (almost) seamlessly.

For applying my base product I always reach for the Real Techniques Buffing Brush from the Core Collection (£21.99 for set). This makes quick work of buffing foundation on to the skin and leaves such a natural finish from any liquid base product. Up until getting this I always use my fingers to apply foundation as I never found a brush that gave a finish that I liked. I now feel lost without this one, it is fab.

Last up I have the EcoTools Bamboo Domed Bronzer Brush (£9.99) which I use for applying my brightening face powder over the top of my makeup. Whether it be the Bourjois Java Rice Powder or a bareMinerals all over face colour that I use to give my complexion a boost, I always apply it with this brush. In truth it is probably to stiff to use for that purpose, bit I love the buffed finish that it gives and have never had any issues so it is my 'go-to' tool for that.

Do you use any of these brushes? Which are your 'go-to' tools everyday?

Shop My Stash

You know when you go hunting through your makeup collection and go 'oooohhh, I forgot about this!' as you are raking through trying to find what you were looking for in the first place? I do that quite often. I have too much makeup, and I'm not even sorry about it, I love the stuff. 

I was hunting for my Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Liner in Nude to try and disguise this lovely eye infection that I have in both eyes before going to work on Saturday (I'm sporting beautifully red, bloodshot and inflamed eyes right now, and they are bloody itchy!). Nude liner is my 'go-to' product if I have any redness so a bit of this around my eyes and I look marginally better (if I can avoid rubbing my eyes all day!).

During my travels through the depths of my makeup case, however I came across a few forgotten gems that had fallen to the bottom. Maybelline Colour Tattoo Cream Gel Eyeshadow in And On Bronze  for example, this is an amazing base for a neutral smokey eye which I has totally forgotten about (I had forgotten about the six colours of this product that I have, actually. Like I said, too much makeup.) But these cream shadows are amoung the best I've used, the colour stays on and doesn't crease and they are very well pigmented (especially when compared to the Benefit equivalent). For £4.99 I remember why I bought a good few shades, and I do plan on hitting Superdrug in the morning (don't judge me!) to pick up a few others, they are fab as bases for shadow or as stand alone colour themselves, I'm very pleased I found these again!

MUA are one of my favourite budget brands I think that I have just about every palette that MUA have released and I love them all, sure the product isn't in the prettiest of packaging and the eye shadow is a little chalky in the pan, but for £4 a palette, who is complaining? The Undressed palette had fallen to the bottom of my stash and I was so pleased to come across it again. A complete dupe of Urban Decay's Naked palette (shade for shade) owning this made running out of the Urban Decay one that little more bearable. Urban Decay do eyeshadow extremely well. However I do struggle to justify paying £37 when you can get one which may not be as velvety smooth on application, but has pretty much the same colour payoff for £4.

Another little gem from MUA is the Conceal and Brighten Kit at £3.50 it is all you need for any unexpected spots, or to hide a night with little sleep. After finding this it has made it on to my shortlist of products I am taking on holiday with me (I am genuinely getting stressed about this, and we don't go away until July. I am far too attached to makeup). The two concealers in this kit are great, you have a peach based tone and a yellow one so that you have the two key colour correctors that you need. The highlighter is actually pretty nice too, it looks very dewy on the skin and I think that on holiday it will look quite pretty.

Cream blush is something I love one day and despise the next. It all depends on what kind of base I have on my skin. Bourjois Cream Blush in Healthy Glow is one that when I like cream blush, I really get on well with. This shade suits my skin tone well and the formula is very smooth and it blends really well.  I find it works best either under foundation or on top of a sheer tinted moisturiser to stop it removing your foundation and making you look exceptionally patchy.

I also found my EcoTools blending eye brush from this kit while digging through my box of makeup brushes. I forgot just how smooth it it and how well it works for applying your base shade and blending darker shade in. It is now in with my Real Techniques eye brushes that I use daily again. The whole kit is actually brilliant, EcoTools make their brushes really well and they last forever and a day. I have quite a large collection and use most of them regularly.

Have you tried any of these products? Or are you like me and forget about things that you have because you own too much makeup?