HOLY GRAIL: EYE BRUSHES

Here we have round two of my holy grail brushes and this time I'm talking specifically about eye brushes. If you want to know my holy grail complexion brushes you can read my post 'here.' 
I don't use every brush mentioned, every single time that I do my make up, so they are not all essentials, but if I were to choose my favourites and most used it would be all of these. 

Brushes for packing on colour to the lid
The Urban Decay shadow brush is flat enough to pack colour onto the lid , with as little fall down as possible. The Bare minerals flat shadow end of the precision brush is also good to apply colour to the lid, it's a little thicker than the Urban Decay one, so it also blends shadow out a little more. 

Brushes for crease/blending
First, I use the Sigma E40 to apply colour to the crease. It's so big and fluffy that it makes it so quick and easy to apply colour and it blends all eye shadow so flawlessly. I then use the Sigma E25 for more precise crease blending and to add maybe a darker colour and blend it into the transition shade applied with the E40. If I want something even more precise I'll use the Real Techniques domed Shadow brush as it has a tapered end and is thinner than the E25. 

Brushes for the lower lash line
I like to use either the Models Own Blending brush to apply colour to the lower lash line as it's small enough and blends easily. I also like to use the smaller pencil brush side of the Bare Minerals double ended precision brush as it's really soft so doesn't irritate the eye. If I want to smoke the shadow out even more I'll use a fluffier brush like the Sigma E25. For definition under the eye, I use the Real Techniques accent brush as it's very dense, making it perfect for applying colour closely to the lash line. 

Brushes for the brows
I always use the Sigma E75 for my brows as it's small and dense enough to give great definition to the brows, while making it easy to control the amount of product you apply. 

Brushes for gel liner 
I received the Sigma E05 brush as a free gift with my Sigma order and it fast became my go to gel liner brush. I find it easier to use than angled brushes as it gives more precision.  

So, that is all of my favourite brushes to use for eye make up. Let me know if you have any amazing holy grail eye brushes that I need to try! 

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? 

MY SISTER GOES TO UNI AND NOW I'M SAD

Today has been a pretty emotional day; my sister Hannah moved away to university. Although she's only about an hour and a half drive away and probably half that distance from where I work, it was still very sad to see her go and to now be sat at home without her to talk to feels very lonely. I kind of wanted to film today as a 'vlog' but you can see how much Hannah hates me in these photos just by quickly trying to take photos on my phone, so any filming would have most definitely resulted in me not seeing my 22nd birthday... *p.s sorry for the photos I did manage to get, Hannah!*

The journey up to her uni was pretty straightforward and the only issue we had was my crazy nan. She was either doubting the sat nav's ability to do its one job, or flirting with the poor young guys at the uni, dropping the words 'darling' and 'sweetie' in as often as possible. Whenever an older man tried helping her with directions she would moan that he's way too old. The poor guys were probably late 40's or early 50's and she's 72... 

My crazy nan, camera shy - maybe that's where Hannah gets it from.

I think Hannah must have been the favourite child as there is no way I was bought as much stuff as she was; I'm sure she has enough food to feed the whole of her flat for the rest of the first year. Her room was pretty standard and basic, it was smaller than mine but it's still a decent size. Her kitchen is a lot worse than mine was, it's pretty small and old fashioned, even though I think the building is supposedly new... It surprised me that it already looked filthy and it didn't even have an oven which we all thought was very weird. Are uni students not known for just shoving pizzas and chips into the oven?! 

Like me, she wasn't too excited for uni as she also went mostly because it seemed the thing to do and she didn't know what else to do. I tried to say it's okay if you don't go straight away and there's so much time later on if you want to wait a year but she ended up going anyway. After setting up her room and fully stocking her cupboards and fridge space, we emotionally said goodbye. She was already very teary and I didn't want to make her worse so I tried to stay strong and not tear at all, (although a little one may have escaped), like I've said on my fresher's advice posts, I told her to just get straight in there and talk to whoever she can find as it completely takes your mind off any home sickness.

I'm going to miss her being around so much as we get on really well and it's like just having a friend around all the time. I know she'll probably be back fairly regularly as it's not too far to drive and it's also a pretty easy and fairly reasonably priced train journey. It was sad to leave her on her own but it now feels better that she's met people and is now apparently playing the good old drinking game of ring of fire! I  feel like I've lost a part of me and now all that remains is her two cats that I get to look after, that I'm not always the biggest fan of, as they are probably the most annoying cats that I have ever met.

It was very surreal taking Hannah to uni as I feel like I'm still at uni myself, having only graduated this July. For some reason I still feel like I am her age, when I think that she's 19 next year I think that's still pretty much my age, when really I'm 3 years older and have already graduated from university and now receive letters asking if I want to join a pension programme - yes kids time really does fly!

A long, long time ago & still my favourite person.  

Are any of your siblings away at uni atm? 

If you're a fresher, you can check out my fresher's guide to survival 'here' 

NEW BARRY M A/W GELLY NAIL PAINTS | SWATCHES

I've completely forgot that we ever had a summer and I wouldn't even blame you if you didn't even realise we did, as it was definitely easy to miss! I am completely ready for Autumn and have already started craving hot chocolates and Autumn fashion - which I feel like I need to stock up on. I came across Barry M's new A/W collection a couple of weeks ago and knew that I needed to add some more colours to my ever growing-already too big- collection. I initially saw the shades Mustard and Paprika and instantly knew I needed them, but then I saw the rest and as it was 3 for 2, I just had to. The only shade that I didn't get was the poor green shade which I sadly neglected;I even chose a different colour from an older collection as the free nail varnish in the offer over the green. 

As with all of the Barry M nail paints, these shades apply really smoothly, give a lovely shiny finish and look good after either one heavier coat or two layers for a completely opaque finish. I find that they last well on the nails and hardly chip; mostly I find that they still look reasonable after a weeks wear and I normally change the colour every week. 

I absolutely love the colours that they chose to release and feel that they really are quite unique in the nail varnish world. Even the red and orange shades, aren't your typical shades and instead have the perfect Autumn tone to them; the red shade (chilli), is a darker deep brown red shade and the orange (Paprika) also has the brown deepness to it. I love the Mustard shade and really have not seen anything like it before. Although grey (Chai), sounds pretty boring, it's such an easy and sophisticated shade to wear. The dark brown shade (Cocoa), looked gorgeous in the store, but looking back on it now I did wonder why I bought a brown nail varnish. I do like it on but I'm still not completely sure on it as I wear a lot of black which may not go too well. 

 So, that's nails sorted now I need to sort out my wardrobe for Autumn and Winter!

 At the moment Superdrug have a 3 for 2 offer on all Barry M and Boots have a buy 1 get 2nd half price - yes, I've done my research! What's your favourite shade from the collection?

MY HOLIDAY TO CORFU

It's now been a couple of weeks since I got back from a very relaxing week in Corfu and returning home to full time work just makes the holiday blues even more intense. I went to Corfu with my sister Hannah, we only went for a week, which really is not long enough as a week just goes by way too quickly! 

Most of the holiday was spent relaxing by the pool, soaking up the much needed sun and then trying to hide from it when you remember that your poor English skin isn't really used to anything but the cold and rain and it needs protecting! It was such a hot week in Corfu so it was really nice to be able to jump into the pool to cool down whenever you felt like you were melting. The pool was an infinity pool, which I think was the main reason Hannah decided to book this hotel. It over looked the sea, which was just so beautiful as you could relax in the pool while looking out at the sea, rather than just having the view of everyone else sun bathing. 

This was the view from our room which was pretty amazing as we hadn't even specifically booked a sea view - I could definitely wake up to this view every morning! All of the rooms were like little apartment buildings which was nice as you're more spaced out than being crammed into one huge hotel block. The hotel seemed to have a few dogs which just strolled around all day, one followed us all the way to the pool one morning and then back to our room and if he had his own way, into our room! Luckily that didn't happen as we quickly rushed in and closed the door before he could get in. 

It was so nice to just be able to relax for a whole week and have all of your food cooked for you , *note to self* must get rich and hire a chef, actually a house keeper would be better. The hotel was built up on a hill so as you can expect we did a lot of up hill walking, which was slightly tiring, especially in the heat, but probably very beneficial on the legs and essential after a couple of ice creams each day and three course meals... 

The only down side of the week was for Hannah, who somehow managed to get stung by a wasp twice in the space of about 5 minutes. It looked like either the same wasp had come back for round 2 or it's friend came to join in on the fun. Apparently, on a scale of 1-10, wasp stings are a 16... so I've been told. 

 

If you look to the left of the plant pots you may be in for a little creepy surprise - it's some kind of lizard reptile, which were actually pretty big and not something that I would feel comfortable about getting too close to. 

Obviously we had to have a selfie session, which was pretty fun. We have a thing about buying t-shirts from everywhere we go, where possible, so we bought matching Corfu shirts from one of the shops in the hotel. 

Overall, it was a great week and really nice to be able to spend the whole week with my sister as she's leaving for university very soon so it was nice to get some sister quality time in. 

I now want to go on holiday again asap and I'm already thinking about where to go next year, so where are your favourite holiday destinations? 

WHAT'S IN MY TRAVEL MAKE UP BAG

I don't normally use a make up bag at home and prefer to keep all of my make up in my draws, as I just have far too much for any make up bag to handle. Last week I had the dreaded task of having to decide which make up products to take with me on holiday - which honestly felt like I was choosing which child I wanted to take with me. I was also terrified that things would get broken during the journey, so it took me a lot longer than I'd like to admit to choose between my beloved eye shadows. 

I did take quite a bit more than what is photographed but these were the only products that I used. First, I used MAC's Prep + Prime Skin Base Visage for my primer as it is really hydrating and spending all day out in the sun means you can't get enough hydration to your skin. For my foundation I used Bare Minerals Ready foundation as it's so quick and easy to apply, gives great coverage but still doesn't look or feel heavy on the skin. I set my foundation with Bare Minerals Mineral Veil to control any extra shine, so I didn't look like a hot mess in the equally hot weather. I used MAC's Pro Longwear concealer under the eyes and on any imperfections. I also used MAC's Prep + Prime Highlighter in Radiant Rose under the eyes and as always MAC's Emphasize powder to set it. I used Bare Minerals Stroke of Light to highlight areas of my face, to look more glowy and summery. To bronze my face I used Bare Minerals The First Resort bronzer, there is also a highlight shade in there which I used as a blush and highlight. 

For my eyes I used MAC's Painterly Paint pot as a base. As I was on holiday I decided to experiment a bit more with some colour, so decided to bring Sleek's Del Mar Palette and managed to use the green, blue and the coral and orange shades.  I also used Urban Decay's Naked Basics palette to compliment the brighter shades and also used the dark brown and black on my brows. When I wasn't feeling too colourful I stuck with my trusty Make up Geek eyeshadows, in Peach Smoothie, Coco Bear, Creme Brule, Cosmopolitan and Mocha. For mascara, I like to bring a waterproof one as I'm one of those girls that does apply a little make up throughout the day, so waterproof is essential. I chose Maybelline's The Falsies mascara, as we all know Tanya Burr raves about it so I thought it would be a good time to try it. I liked it but I wouldn't rate it as highly as she does. 

I love a bright lip for summer but I didn't want to deal with applying lipstick and then worrying about eating and drinking at dinner, so I just used a tiny amount of Bare Minerals Go the Distance lipstick, by just dabbing it on my lips to give a slight stain of colour. 

Finally, The Urban Decay Chill setting spray came in very handy, both when setting my make up and to use just to refresh and cool me down throughout the day. 

Have you been away lately? What are your holiday make up must haves?