Most Used Brushes

I don’t have a huge collection of brushes but since blogging I’ve bought more than ever before. I’m happy with the ones I do own and I thought I would share with you 6 of my favourite brushes (at the moment).

Favourite Brushes

1. Sonia Kashuk Duo Fibre Multipurpose Brush – This is part of a travel set I picked up whilst in San Francisco last year. I like the whole set but I have been using this one a lot for applying my blusher. I find that it picks up just the right amount of product & it’s easy to knock off any excess powder. It is soft & the brush isn’t too dense, I sweep it along my cheeks and it applies powder blush perfectly. I love the brightly coloured handle too.

2. Ecotools Full Powder Brush – Again this is part of a mini travel set & this EcoTools Fresh & Flawless Set is one of my favourite ever sets of brushes, its a gorgeous set. I use this one for applying my bronzer, this brush is quite fluffy, oval shaped and fairly dense but the brush head isn’t too big and so you can apply just the perfect amount of product to specific areas. I can often go a little OTT with bronzer when I use a big brush so this keeps me in check.

3. UBU No.35 Eyemazing Tapered Blending Brush – I use this brush for blending my eyeshadow, it is purple which makes me happy and the bristles are quite long but soft & easy to blend. I tend to only wear two colours at a time on my lids so I use this to soften the edges.

Most Used Brushes

4. Nanshy Large Shader Brush* – I use this to pack on my eyeshadow before using brush 3 to blend it out. These Nanshy Brushes are amongst the softest & best quality I have ever tried. This picks up a good amount of shadow and the dense firm bristles makes it great for precision.

5. Crown Brush C325 Large pro angled eye brush – I use this to blend shadow through my crease and outer corner, its the perfect angle for that. I have found it sheds a little to begin with but after a few washes that stops. This feels smooth on the eye, its great for getting right into the socket and blends shadow like a dream. This is the only Crown Brush I have but I would be tempted to get a few more.

6. Bobbi Brown Eye Blender – It took me a while to find the best way to use this brush as the bristles are very long and not all that dense. I didn’t get on well using it as a blending brush but I now use it to set my under eye concealer. Its large enough to lightly sweep under the eye applying just enough powder to set my concealer without looking too heavy. Its small and easy to manoeuvre and also light to softly apply the powder.

An honourable mention for my Real Techniques Stippling Brush which I use to apply my foundation, I find this brush is the perfect size for applying liquid foundation and gives me a flawless finish.

What are your must have brushes?

Products that are marked with an * have either been sent to me for my consideration or I’ve received at events. I’m under no obligation to review them on my blog. However if I do, the reviews are 100% my own.

I’ve Hit Pan On

I saw Essie Button do a post on ‘Products that have hit pan’ – so I dug mine out and discovered that the’re mostly face powders. There were only 6 products in my collection that  have hit pan. This must mean I don’t wear much makeup or I’ve too many products. Hmmmm I wonder which is true.

1. Mac Select Sheer Pressed Powder in NW25 – This is my goto face powder. I use it on top of my foundation to give a little extra coverage and I love the finish it gives.

2. Pixi Eyeshadow Trio in Miranda – (gutted this is almost finished). I don’t think this is even sold anymore. It’s the old style packaging and I love it too. I’ve completely used up the lightest colour and am almost done with the other 2. It’s such a nice trio and I’ve enjoyed it a lot

3. e.l.f Clarifying Pressed Powder in Rosy Beige – This is just an easy alternative to using my Mac powder. I tend to pop this in my bag if I’m going out as I don’t mind if it gets damaged. It’s a nice powder and does the job.

4. Bobbi Brown Corrector in Light to Medium Bisque – This has been a great investment and I’ve gotten a lot of use out of it. I see such a difference in my under eyes when i have this on. It really makes them a lot brighter. I will be very sad when this runs out. I really recommend this if you suffer from dark or discolouration under the eyes.

5. Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealor Kit in Warm Beige – This is an OK product some days I like it and others it annoys me. I think when my under eyes are a little dehydrated then it really settled in the creases & looks bad but when my skin is OK it looks really good. I’m still undecided as to whether I’m  going to repurchase. What are your thoughts on it?

6. Benefit 10 bronzing and highlighting duo – I use this so much. It is also the only bronzer / highlighter i take on my hols. It’s an old faithful and it never lets me down. I’ve hit pan on the bronzer side but its only a matter of days until I see pan on the highlighter side too. This looks so lovely on the cheeks. I will be re purchasing this for sure.

 What products have you hit pan on?

This weeks face

I’ve been wearing quite minimal makeup this week as I’ve mostly been in the house or the Post Office. Neither place being very glam or worthy if a full on face of makeup. So i kust threw on quite a simple look. I thought i’d share the limited makeup I’ve been using this week.

The Peep Show Mascara from 17 is so nice. I use 2 coats and my lashes look so long. This has been my bargain go to mascara over the last couple of months.  The elf eye primer is also something I use daily its a great price and works really well to keep my eyeshadow on all day. This Rimmel eyeshadow I picked up in the pound shop and is a lovely soft pink colour the shade is called Precious Rose 140 – its subtle and makes your eyes look bright and fresh. I’ve been using the Garnier Eye Roll On a little more, I’ve finally got used to the colour and it seems to work really well on me its great under the eye. I did a blog on it here if you fancy reading it.

Now this Bobbi Brown concealer kit is OK  i have the shade warm beige – but i won’t be repurchasing this. I do have the corrector aswell & will repurchase that. But this concealor really sits in my under eye creases and I hate that, It looks awful. I think this is too thick and not the best formula. I LOVE my Mac MSF Natural in the colour medium and use it all the time. Its such a light powder and give your face a lovely finish.

I’ve a love hate relationship with my Mac Satin Finish Foundation. I go through periods when it just doesn’t look good on my skin and them i try it again and love it. Its weird. But I’m wearing it this week and really liking it again. I wear the shade NC25.