HOLY GRAIL: COMPLEXION BRUSHES

Only 2-3 years ago all I owned in the brush department was a few scratchy brushes. Fast forward and brushes have become some kind of obsession for me now and I still feel like I want/need more, even though I now have so many that I actually have to sit there and chose which foundation brush I want to use today. I thought I would share some of my favourite complexion brushes. These are the brushes that I find myself reaching for most. 

Clock-wise: Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge, Real Techniques Duo Fiber Powder, Urban Decay Powder, Bare Minerals Fan Brush, Sigma F80, Bare Minerals Blush Brush, Real Techniques Domed Shadow, Real Techniques Duo Fiber Contour, Real Techniques Blush Brush.

Sigma F80 
I use this brush for foundation as it's so good at packing on the product in a stippling motion, to achieve a good amount of coverage. The denseness of it makes it really easy to buff the remaining product into the skin, without any streaky lines or anything. 

Real Techniques Duo Fiber - Powder
I completely adore this brush, so much so that I want another one! I like to use it mostly for bronzer to lightly contour and warm up the skin. The shape makes it so easy to apply bronzer as it's quite thin yet fluffy? It applies the product really evenly as it really buffs it into the skin, so you're not left with any harsh lines like you can be with a more dense brush. I also use this for powder, as it allows you to apply a light amount to set your foundation, without a heavy amount being applied.

Real Techniques Duo Fiber - Contour 
It's just hit me that I feel like I haven't found 'the one' when it comes to contour brushes. This brush is classified as being a contour brush, however I never use it for that, I can't even remember how it worked for contouring as obviously at some point I must have tried it... I may have to re visit this brush for contouring! Anyway, I always use this brush to set my under eye concealer, it works amazingly as like the other duo fiber, it allows you to buff on the product lightly so it never looks cakey at all. It's also soft enough to not irritate the under eye or move the underneath concealer. I cannot do my make up without this brush! 

Bare Minerals Blush Brush 
As I've said, I haven't found the perfect contour brush, but this one from Bare Minerals is definitely my favourite so far for a deeper contoured look. As it's smaller in size you can be more precise with it yet it's still fluffy enough to really buff in the product. 

Real Techniques Blush Brush 
I love this brush for blush, as it's so soft and buffs in  the product seamlessly. I also use it for bronzer sometimes, but  the duo fiber is still my overall favourite for bronzer. 

Urban Decay Powder brush 
This brush is literally the softest brush you will ever feel (if you've found softer, tell me)! It's really good to use for powder and to just generally buff over your face to smooth everything out, or to just feel how heavenly it is... 

Real Techniques Miracle Sponge
The only sponge I've ever tried, but I love how easy and quick it is to blend concealer with it, especially under the eyes. 

Bare Minerals Fan Brush 
This is such a great brush for highlighter, as it's a smaller brush so it just hits the cheek bones and doesn't leave you with a huge streak of shimmer just chilling there on your face. 

Real Techniques Domed Shadow Brush 
This is supposed to be an eye shadow brush, but I cannot use this for eye shadow at all as it's just too dense. This does however make it ideal for concealer on the face. I also like to use it around the eyes, along side the Real Techniques sponge, just on the inner corner, as it's more precise and easier to use in tiny areas. 

I hope thats given you some brush'spiration... I'll be posting a second instalment to my holy grail brushes soon, to talk about my favourite eye brushes, so keep your eyes peeled! 

EMPTIES: THE BODY SHOP

The fact that there are not one but three empty body butters in this post kind of demonstrates just how long I've been hoarding what most would call rubbish, in my bedroom. I recently moved in with my boyfriend and upon finding my bag of 'empties' his response was, "is that something people actually want to read about? Is it like OMG I actually used something up!" I guess I can see his point...

I have been working hard to decrease my beauty products stash, from looking like the stockroom of Boots to a more reasonable size. I'm pretty proud to say that it's been hard not buying five extra face cleansers and moisturisers, just in case... but I've finally managed it. Going off topic a little there but my point is, I've managed to use so much up that it was too much for one post so I'm going to break it down a little, starting with The Body Shop. I actually never shop in The Body Shop - okay rarely ever, but the body butters are just too good to ignore. 

My boyfriend bought me the Moringa body butter and I repurchased it for that reason as it was cute that he picked out a smell that he liked. It always reminds me of Summer as it's a floral but fresh scent that just screams sunshine. The Rasberry body butter was given to me by my sister as I was suffering with really dry, sore skin and like me, she has a tendency to 'collect' beauty products, so could spare me this one. This worked so well and smells gorgeous. I was a little apprehensive of the Coconut shimmer body butter and it wouldn't be something that I would have chosen myself but my mum bought me it for Christmas last year and I really loved it. I like the smell of coconut anyway but surprisingly also grew to love the shimmer effect it left on the skin. The shimmer is noticeable but still subtle so don't worry if resembling Edward Cullen isn't your thing, you're fairly safe. I would repurchase all three as they all smell gorgeous and left my skin very hydrated and as for the shimmer, well who can say no to looking a little prettier all over. 

I bought the Camomile cleansing oil before it became a hyped product and I would repurchase it again. It's great at removing make up and leaving your skin feeling really hydrated, soft and fresh. It also lasted quite a long time as you don't need to use too much for it to be effective. I'm currently using a different cleansing oil, but I much prefer this one, so it would definitely be the one I would repurchase. The Camomile eye make up remover came in a set with the cleansing oil - I wouldn't normally buy eye make up remover from the body shop as I tend to just get the cheapest. What can I say, it took off my eye make up easily, it did its job - there really isn't anything interesting to say about eye make up remover. Finally, the Hemp Hand Protector, hand cream formulated for very dry skin. This is where it all goes down hill. I did not like this hand cream at all; considering it is for 'very dry skin,' when I used it when my hands were quite sore it didn't seem to do very well. It feels okay on normal conditioned hands but then that isn't what it's apparently intended for. Another annoying aspect of the hand cream was that it looked empty after a couple of uses and I'm sure I only used it no more than 10 times before it was empty. Which brings me onto moaning about the packaging - as who can put on a fiddly screw top after applying hand cream! To top it off, I don't like the smell.

I can now finally chuck these products out for good! What are your favourite products from The Body Shop and which do you find yourself constantly repurchasing?