Real Techniques Role Reversal

The Real Techniques range is my favourite brand of makeup brushes. There are so many to choose from, they're affordable, they look pretty, they're easy to clean, they dry quickly and I love the way they make my makeup look.

Two of the brushes I own are the Brush Blush and the Contour Brush which is part of the Core Collections kit. I adore both of these brushes and use them daily, however I do use them for different things. The blush brush I find is best for contouring, and the contour brush is brilliant for applying blush, so there's a role reversal going on!

The blush brush is practically just a larger version of the contour brush. They both have those tapered bristles which make them great for blending in your product. You apply the powder to the top bristles and then the bristles on the outer part of the brush will help to blend it all in, so you're not left with an awful harsh line.
The reason I prefer to use the blush brush to contour is because it is larger and has more bristles to help blend my bronzer. Although the contour brush is perfectly great at doing it's job I found I was sometimes left with too harsh a line, it was too precise for a daytime look, so I'd always go in afterwards trying to blend it out…but I don't need to do that with the blush brush!
The contour brush is amazing for applying blush though, it's the perfect size! It's also a dream to apply highlighter with and even help to blend in concealer.

If you have both of these brushes I suggest swapping the uses around and seeing how you get on!
If you don't have these brushes I highly recommend them…and any of the others from the Real Techniques range!

Best Hair Products Of 2013

During 2013 I experimented with quite a few different hair products. My hair is naturally very thick..there's lots of it, curly, and can get quite dry or frizzy. I wanted to get that under control and have beautiful, sleek, more manageable hair and finally I think I have found products that really work for me.

The first being TRESemme Naturals Vibrantly Smoothing Conditioner . This stuff is amazing. I've never used a conditioner that makes my hair feel so incredibly soft, and look so shiny, I noticed a change after just one wash. The best thing is for a massive bottle it's only £4.50.
Next up is TRESemme Oil Elixir. This is an oil you apply to wet hair after washing it. It contains macadamia oil and grape seed oil which both help to leave your hair feeling soft, looking shiny and a lot healthier. It's a bit pricier at £9.99 but it's definitely worth it. I've had a lot of compliments on my hair after I started using this!
I can be quite fussy when it comes to heat defence sprays, I don't like it when they weigh my hair down, leave it looking greasy or smell chemically. The Aussie Take The Heat spray does none of those things - it works really well and I love it.
As I said before, I have thick hair and it can look very voluminous, however I sometimes find I want more volume on top so my hair doesn't look weighed down. The VO5 Plump It Up Dry Backcomb Spray has been a god send. You spray this into the roots of your hair, rub it in and taa-daa! It gives your roots a boost without the damage that real back-combing does. The can lasts ages as well, so for the mere price of £3.79 you can't go wrong.
After I use the back-combing spray I like to secure my hairstyle with Fudge Urban Iced Raspberry and Vanilla Hair Spray. Hairspray is another thing I'm quite fussy about. Why do they have to make hairsprays smell SO vile and strong? Why do they have to make your hair crunchy? This one doesn't!
The smell is amazing, but not overpowering. Fudge claim this has a 'soft touch finish' - which I half agree with. It doesn't make your hair feel crunchy, but you can feel you have hairspray in, which I overlook because this spray really does hold my hair in place brilliantly!

What's your number one

hair product?

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Explaining My Absence And A Little Catch Up

Remember me? It's been a while!

You have or may not have noticed my absence over the last month, but I definitely have missed this site, the people that comment on my posts, and reading everyone else's posts.

The reason why I've been away is that my internet broke (hurrah…). Just before Christmas everything just went wrong at my house, first the Sky box broke so we had no TV over the Christmas period, then our telephone line went, which of course meant the internet went as well. Definitely not an ideal situation, although it did mean I got round to reading a lot of books, which was a joy!

All is okay now… internet has just been fixed, it's still rather slow but it's useable and we'll be getting a new provider very soon which I'm thankful for.

So, what have I missed? I know I've missed all the Christmas posts which I'm gutted about, and sad I didn't get to write mine as well, I was looking forward to it. But all the beauty related things I got for Christmas will be making their way onto my blog in some way I'm sure…whether it's in review form, favourites or 'What's On My Face' form, they'll be here.

As from tomorrow I'm back with beauty posts, but for todays I thought I'd just fill you in on what happened and share with you some of my photos from the last month.

The end of December was filled with DVD watching, reading, eating lots and family time. I love Christmas a lot, it was a busy one this year but I enjoyed it, if I'm honest I still feel like it's Christmas now, I don't want to let go! January has been good so far as well, I went up to London to meet my friend Suzanne who lives in Canada. It was so lovely to see her, we walked around London all day, showed her the sights and took a little trip to Winter Wonderland. 

It was also one of my best friends birthday's the other day so we had a really good night out celebrating that with her…I even wore a dress, shock horror (picture proof below).

I'll leave you with the pictures that sum up my last month..

Oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas

and New Year

x

Rimmel Wake Me Up Vs Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation

Rimmel foundations are, in my opinion, the best high street/drugstore foundations. I find the colour range to be good, the price to be excellent and the product you get is fantastic quality.
I own and regularly wear both their Wake Me Up foundation and the Match Perfection foundation and I thought I'd do a little comparison post about them!

Without a doubt Wake Me Up is the most popular of the two, with practically every beauty blogger raving about it, and the hype that surrounds it is deserved but I can't help but feel it's a bit exaggerated.
Wake Me Up claims to have an anti-fatigue and radiant effect on the skin, which is achieved by the dewy finish and the sparkly particles that run through the liquid….which I'm not a fan of. If you're wearing this foundation and you're under strong light, or bright sunlight you will end up looking like Edward Cullen, I just find it a bit too shimmery. The coverage is medium and buildable, and I love how smoothly it glides on. If you have dry skin though I do find this sticks a little bit, so exfoliating before is a must. The wear lasts all day on me (I have normal, sometimes dry, skin).

Match Perfection is the less talked about foundation of the two, but I prefer it. The colour range of this foundation is great, if you're super pale go check it out because they have a shade that is very very pale! I have the shade 100 Ivory. This foundation I find gives me a more anti-fatigue look than Wake Me Up, however it contains no glittery bits! The liquid goes on really smoothly and is a dream to blend, it looks lovely and natural on the skin while still giving a good coverage - I'd say this is  medium coverage foundation, but it can be sheered out or built up a bit as well. It's quite dewy but with a little bit of powder over the top it looks perfect. The wear is amazing too, lasts all day on me and my skin continues to have a healthy look about it. Another thing I adore about this is it doesn't make my skin feel clogged up, with some foundations I feel like I just want to get a cleanser and get everything off my face, but with Match Perfection that isn't the case at all. I also find you need less of this compared to WMU.

Wake Me Up is £8.99 and Match Perfection is £6.99.
Overall I'd definitely say Match Perfection is my favourite, and it's my most worn foundation.

What's your favourite highstreet

foundation?

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BARGAIN ALERT - Soap & Glory Yule Monty Gift Set!

Every year Soap & Glory bring out the best range of gift sets, with prices ranging from brilliantly affordable to a bit more expensive. One of their more expensive gift sets - The Yule Monty Gift Set - is being reduced from £60 to only £27 tomorrow (Friday 13th December)!

This limited edition gift set has 9 full sized Soap & Glory products in it, and is packaged in a beautiful zip up toiltery bag designed by Jonathan Saunders.
The products are -
• Hand Food hand cream
• Sugar Crush body wash
• The Righteous Body Butter
• Peaches and Clean face cleanser
• Heel Genius foot cream
• Butter Yourself lotion
• The Scrub Of Your Life body buffer
• Thick and Fast mascara
• Sexy Mother Pucker XL Lip Plumping Gloss in Pink Out Loud

This would be an ultimate Christmas gift for someone, or treat for yourself! But I imagine they'll sell out VERY quickly as the price is so low for all the products you get.

This deal is EXCLUSIVELY at BOOTS from tomorrow!

Will you be picking 

one up?

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