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Wednesday 30 July 2014

Wore It Wednesday

Random mix & match nails!

My nails were a hot mess and as I want them to grow for my holiday in a couple of months, I went with something fun with Nubar's Gelicure gel polish.


Happy humpday all!

Love & Stuff
Sal xXx


If you're in the Surrey/North Hants area and want a funky Gelicure mani or pedi, check out my salon's Facebook Page! or Website :)

THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON LOVE-LIPSTICK.BLOGSPOT.COM

Tuesday 22 July 2014

Some of My Favourite Makeup Brushes

Today's post is some info about some of my favourite makeup brushes. It's much easier now to get vegan brushes, with brands like Real Techniques, Eco Tools and Barry M (all being synthetic or having synthetic options) now widely available in Superdrug/Boots.  Also there's loads of options online; we no longer have to pay over the odds for brushes that are not even animal friendly.

So here's just a few of mine; I have tonnes of brushes so this doesn't cover every  brush I love, or we'd be here all freakin day.

EYES

This is a great little brush for precise crease work but I mainly use if for highlighting under the brow, the inner corner and for blending out the lower lash line.  MUG brushes are all vegan and very reasonably priced.  The only downside for us on this side of the pond is customs charges.



So because of the customs charges, I thought I'd show you a very similar brush. This is the Deluxe Crease brush from the Crown Brush Syntho range.  A tiny bit bigger bristles, but very very similar in fluffiness and size, only with a shorter handle.


Again, Furless are not a UK company, you have to order from Australia. However, I've ordered from them lots of times and they are really quick to ship and I don't think there are customs charges from Aus. I could be wrong on that though.  Furless brushes are fantastic quality and they usually chuck a freeby in with your order. More on that in a minute!  They do vegan mineral makeup too!

I use this for more precise work and for smudging liner etc. Sometimes for blending out small areas of concealer.

A good flat brush is necessary for packing on colour to the lid, especially matte colours which tend to not be so pigmented, or for loose pigments and glitters. I never use this for concealer, but I love it for the lid.  I have loads of flat brushes but I like the size of this one, as it's nice and small.



I'm excited about this one. I've been searching for a synthetic dupe for the MAC 217 ever since I went vegan and so far, this is the closest I've found!  I know that other brands like Sigma and I think Coastal Scents have dupes of this brush but neither are synthetic.

Here it is side by side with the 217.  You can see that size and shape wise, they're very very similar!  The 217 is fluffier than the bdellium which is a wee bit firmer. But it's a great brush and a brilliant alternative for those looking for a cruelty free dupe of the 217.


This is a lovely fluffy blending brush that I use for laying down my transition colour and blending all my other crease colours into it.  I have about 4 of these, I like it so much!


I got sent this as a freeby with another order from Furless and I ended up ordering 2 more for my kit. It's such a lovely brush. It's make a smokey eye a breeze, great for picking up colour and blending. Also, because of the pinched ferrule, it's good for a wash of colour on the lid.


Everyone needs a small angle brush and I was going to mention my Furless ones. But actually this brush is as good, if not better. It's lovely and thin and is great for brows or for that lovely cat-eye liner! Plus it's cheap and it's available in your local superdrug - win!


Louise Young LY25 Fine Liner Brush
There's a few finer liner brushes in Louise Young's range, the LY25 is the synthetic one. Can you see how battered my brush is?  I have 2 of these and I LOVE it.  It's super fine and keeps it's shape really well. So it makes eyeliner as easy as is possible!

Props also go to the Real Techniques fine liner brush, which is my very close second favourite!

Does what is says on the tin and does it very well. Nice dense but fluffy brush, doesn't apply too much product and is good for blending out too.  I also like this brush for powder.


I use this for bronzer mainly. I like a bit fat fluffy brush for that and this is perfect. It's also good for powder.


I like this for it's intended purpose but also I love it for highlighting with cream or powder. It's a lovely brush and just the right size for a contour or highlight! The only downside to this brush is that you can't buy it alone, it's part of the Core Collection; however, that set is brilliant because it also has a tiny detailer brush and the buffing brush, which is excellent. The little foundation brush you get with the set is a bit of a waste of space, but ok for concealer etc.


I love this for blending cream shadow on the lids or for blending out concealer. It's a mini version of the F80 face brush, which I also love dearly.

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It's clean I swear it! It's just a bit stained because it's well loved!  I use this every day pretty much to apply my GOSH CC Cream Foundation. I find this works the best with that foundation.  I also love this brush for other foundations and for applying and working in primers like the GOSH one that is in a tub.


This is my absolute favourite powder brush.  If like me you don't like to be overly matte, then this is the brush for you. It doesn't pick up too much product so it gives you a lovely light dusting. This is also part of a set but it's a brilliant set - a set I have 3 of as I love it so much! :)



This is a fabulous brush for foundation; it really buffs it into the skin and gives you that flawless finish.  I also love the Real Techniques Buffing Brush for this, which is a bit softer. But this one just pips it!


I use this brush for precision powdering, so basically small areas like under my eyes and around my nose etc.  I've also seen people use it for blending out concealer, but I really use it just for powder.



Another one from the Duo Fibre collection. This is my absolute favourite brush for blending out cream/liquid concealer. It just makes such and easy job of it. It's also great for highlighting.


I'm not that fussy when it comes to lip brushes but I do hate when they're teeny. I like this one because it's a bit bigger and gets the product on quicker.


For cleaning my brushes, I am currently using Parian Spirit to spot clean, which I've been googling like crazy to check it's cruelty free and finding nothing (I've had it ages and have only just used up my pre-china supply of MAC's brush cleanser, so I've gone back to this - I'll update this when I find out!)

But anyway I like it. It dries quick and it smells of oranges.

For a full deep clean I use baby shampoo; the one I'm using right now is this one from Superdrug.

And because I'm too cheap to pay £25 or whatever for the Sigma brush cleaning mitt, I bought this one instead. It's basically a silicone oven mitt that I got off ebay for about a fiver and it works a treat, for a fraction of the price of the Sigma one! Win.


So that's it for my favourite brushes.  Let me know what some of your favourites are!

Love & Stuff
Sal xXx

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Saturday 19 July 2014

A Friday Favourite...

I know I know... it's Saturday but I didn't have time to get this up yesterday. So my favourite for this week has been Bronzey eyes!

I need fast makeup in the mornings because I am always running late, after dragging myself out of bed later than I should.

So pretty much every day this week, I've gone for this eye look. Basically I quickly run the Barry M Eyeshadow Pencil (V) in the bronzey shade (EP2) over my lid and then set it with Fiery from the MUA Undress Me Too Palette (AV) - that's the 3rd shade from the right on the top row.
This palette is a dupe of the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette, so if you have that, Fiery is the dupe for Chopper. It's pretty close too.

The pencil - I like a lot. They are supposed to be long wearing and waterproof and they do wear well. I put it in the waterline too and it lasted pretty well.  It did crease a wee bit in the socket of my eye, even with a primer, but nothing too bad.

Also please note that not all the eyeshadow pencils are vegan, 4 of them are, the others are not. Take a look at the product ingredients list to see which shades are good to go.

So here's a close up of the eye look. I also used some other shades from the MUA palette: Lavish in the crease (the shade to the right of Fiery) and Shy in the inner corner (the shade to the left of Fiery).  I used Naked (the 1st shade on the left of the top row) on the brow bone. 

For £4, I think the MUA palettes are brilliant alternatives to Urban Decay's offerings which are 10 times the price and also they're owned by L'Oreal, boo sucks to you UD!! haha

Have a good weekend all.

Love & Stuff
Sal xXx

Wednesday 16 July 2014

July Empties

I thought I'd do something a bit different today and do an empties / mini review post as I seem to have run out of a lot of stuff this month.  Sorry for the quality, or lack thereof, of the pics, I took them on my bed and the lighting's not so great in there!  

Firstly is the GOSH CC Cream Illuminating Foundation (CV).  I absolutely LOVE this stuff. It's my everyday foundation, I literally wear this every single day to work.  It's got a lovely texture, I love the finish of it and it just evens out my skin tone without making my face look cakey or like I'm wearing any makeup. LOVE!  My shade is Ivory and I like applying it with a Real Techniques Stippling Brush.

Would I repurchase? 
Pretty obvious that the answer is yes. In fact I already am on to my next one.

Secondly, my absolute favourite drugstore concealer, Collection Lasting Perfection, in Shade 2 - Light (CV). I think this is a fabulous concealer. Better than some high end ones I've tried. I still don't love it as much as my old MAC Pro Longwear, but I continue the search to find something cruelty free that is as good as that one.But anyway, this is a great concealer. I use it pretty much every day.

Would I repurchase?
Yes - I already have

ELF HD Undereye Setting Powder (V).  I love this stuff, I hated it at first because of the glitter but now I adore it. I think the key was just changing the brush I was using to something a little less fluffy, which kind of sweeps off some of the sparkles.

Would I repurchase? 
Yes, definitely. 
I just don't want to place an ELF order for 1 item, so I'm open to suggestions of other ELF items to buy...?

Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Wash (CV). My favourite shower gel. I've tried others and I still don't love any as much as this one.  It has even taken over as favourite from my beloved Lush Snow Fairy and unlike SF, it's available all year round.

Would I repurchase?
Yes, actually the picture is of the new one I bought yesterday!

Barry M Lash Vegas with Fibres (V). Not technically empty but it's time to replace it. This is my favourite drugstore mascara. I think it's brilliant. I also like the waterproof mascara (I use it on brides and their mothers :o) !) but I wasn't a huge fan of the original non-waterproof formula of this mascara. However, I got this free with a purchase one day and I absolutely love it.

Would I repurchase? 
Yes, I'll be buying one this week probably.

Superdrug Baby Shampoo (V). I use this to clean my makeup brushes so I'm not overly bothered about which one I buy, as long as it's vegan. I've used other brands in the past but I like the fact that this one's labelled vegan.

Would I repurchase?
Probably, this is the new bottle as you probably gathered. But to be honest I'd buy another brand if it was vegan and I liked the smell or something better. I'm not too fussed about it, it's just for makeup brush cleaning.

Lee Stafford Detangling Spray (CV). I have mentioned this before in my Lee Stafford Post because I love it. This + my tangle teaser = much less trauma combing out my knotty wet hair.

Would I repurchase?
Yes.

Batiste Dry Conditioner (AV).
Since posting this I've found out that Batiste are owned by a company that test on animals, so I won't be buying them anymore. :(

I am a massive fan of Batiste's dry shampoo so when I saw this I thought I'd give it a go.  Eh. That's pretty much all I have to say about it, it smells nice.

Would I repurchase?
No. I didn't think it did much really. It added a bit of shine but to be honest I prefer my Lee Stafford Shine Spray and that lasts a lot longer than this tin did anyway!

B. Radiant Rejuvinating Serum (V). This is the second one of these I've used up and although I'm not sure if it really does anything for the condition of my skin, I like the way it feels and it's nice to add some extra moisture before my moisturiser goes on.

Would I repurchase?
Yes, I will do this week.

Lush Silky Underwear Dusting Powder (V). I bought this because I wanted something better for you than talc, because I love talc but everyone's always bangin on about how bad it is for you.

This smells gorgeous and I like that it's a small enough bottle to travel with / put in handbag for hot days! I much prefer the smell of the to regular baby powder too.

Would I repurchase?
Yes. Although to be honest I'm not sure if Lush still make it. But if they do I will definitely be repurchasing!

So that's it for my July empties.

Happy humpday all.

Love & Stuff
Sal xXx

THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON LOVE-LIPSTICK.BLOGSPOT.COM