1st Brush Review

Daniel Sandler - Waterbrush

I bought this fantastic blusher brush off Amazon as it was £5 down from £15.50 (bargain alert!!). This brush is specially designed (made with synthetic hair) to be used with the waterblush that I reviewed in an earlier post, hence why it is called a waterbrush.

This has the softest bristles and feels gorgeous on you skin. As I hadn't mastered the waterblush I thought I'd get this to go with it and see if it gives "perfectly flushed cheeks with ease" as stated on Amazon.

I'd say yes it does work and is brilliant for applying the waterblush because it is so soft and applies it really well to the skin. Again I had to buff it out as I put too much blush on the brush, but overall I'd say that it's definitely worth buying especially if you have purchased the waterblush as the two go hand in hand basically.

This is me wearing the blush on top of my new fave foundation Illamasqua skin base. The blush has buffed into a lovely pale flushed cheek which is nice against my skin tone.

Possibly the best foundation????

Illamasqua - Skin Base Foundation in No 02

After hearing great things about this foundation I decided to give it a whirl, partly because there was a sale on Illamasqua and I got over excited and thought while I'm on I'll try the foundation and kill two birds with one stone so to speak.

As I said in my post about my Illamasqua purchases I am weary of buying foundation online if you haven't had a colour match from a counter previously, however the website does give you guidance on the shades and what they match against other premium brands. I knew I was porcelain for Bobbi Brown foundation from a colour match so it matched me to this shade which is No 02.

I don't really have anything negative to say on this foundation, it applies well, the colour matches almost perfectly (may be on the tad bit lighter than my skin tone (a statement you won't often hear me say) but I love it), it gives fantastic coverage and lasts really well on the skin (better than any foundation I have tried). The only thing negative to say is that when applying it you have to really buff it in with your foundation brush and my foundation brush is not that great (I am on a hunt for new brushes, fancying some Mac and Real Techniques ones), but i have succeeded with it and buffed it into the skin to give lasting coverage. I have also found that I didn't need as much concealer as I would normally use because of the excellent coverage it gives, I only needed more on where I have a couple of blemishes but other than that none really needed. For any one with pale skin this a must foundation to try for good pale shades and I think this could be a major Holy Grail product!!

This is a picture of me on New Years Eve wearing the foundation and my Georgia blusher, you can't see very well but I am also wearing the Illamasqua eyeshadow cream and pure pigment which are great and reviews will follow!

My Make-up Box




I have a couple of boxes that I use to store my make-up, two of which are empty Glossybox boxes which I thought would be perfect storage, and the other is the above which is a fantastic vintage Barbour's box, complete with folding mirror on the inside of the lid!! I cannot express how much I love this box, it's quirky, unusual and perfect for storing lots of items in, I have had jewellery in it, nail varnishes and now it's been allocated my Make-up to look after :-), I love anything that is unusual for storing things in, it makes something ordinary seem more interesting and whimsical if it's in interesting storage do you not think??

Do you keep your make-up in anything unusual, special or funky???

Anyway the make-up box is going to be part of a new item on my blog which will happen weekly and I hope you will like it and join in on the posts :-)!

A Healthy Glow!

Pixi - Flawless Beauty Primer in No1 Even Skin

I have had this product for about a year now, hence the dishevelled looking packaging and since taking this photo it has depleated rapidly as I went through a phase of using it almost everyday! I got it from Boots (one of my favourite shops) in Newcastle as they along with the Metro Centre Boots have more Brands than my local store in Durham. This is basically a skin primer which can be used under foundation, on it's own, mixed in with foundation or even as a highlighter so very multi-tasking which is good if you are looking for value for money in a product.

Now I don't often use things with bronze/gold undertones on my skin as thye don't suit my skin tone, however this product is quite nice to give a nice healthy glow to my face (rather than pasty paleness aka my normal face!). I favour it mixed in with a foundation rather than underneath as it tends to work better like that, I have as well used it on a couple of occasions used it on and then concealer for coverage in certain areas but I think this is better for Summer rather than Winter for me personally anyway.

The product is easy to apply, you don't need a lot to cover the whole face but it is buildable if you wish for more glow in certain areas than others such as cheekbones. Overall it sinks into the skin well and leaves you with a nice youthful dewy glow and like I said is perfect for Summer skin as it has a slight bronze undertone, so if you have a darker skin tone or like to fake tan this would be a lovely product for to add shimmer to your tanned skin!

I'd say it's a product that is well worth a try!

Rosey flush

Daniel Sandler  - Watercolour Blush in Flush

I bought this a while ago using some points on my Littlewoods account, I got it as I have never tried Daniel Sandler products before and was intrigued by this product being a watercolour blusher which is different to the normal cream or powder blushers that are normally on the market.

I like the product and the concept of it but I have yet to master the art of applying it to my cheeks properly. I have been too heavy handed with it the couple of times I have tried it and I had to quickly blend it out so as not to end up looking too Aunt Sally which wouldn't be good at all!

Due to the product being water based you have to shake the bottle up for the colour to mix and then squeeze a tiny amount out onto your hand, I used my finger to apply it to my cheek, a brush may work better if you have the right one to hand. I blended it again using my finger, and then resorted to my foundation brush to try and blend the colour out so it wasn't too bright. Because it is water based it does blend brilliantly into the skin which is great if you are too heavy handed, and also good if you like to layer products up for more lasting make-up. I like the colour once it is blended in and does give a fresh rosy glow which is especially nice on my pale skin tone, however if it is not blended in it is too bright for my personal taste anyway!

It's a good product if you are wanting to try something different with your blusher, and if you are a master of cream blushers this may be the product for you as it's along the same lines but not as heavy. It does come in other shades apart from Flush which is good if you are not an overly pink blusher fan.

Sale Purchases :-)

Illamasqua - Skin Base, Cream Eyeshadow and Pure Pigment

I have wanted to try Illamasqua products for ages, even more so since watching pixiwoo tutorials and they often use Skin Base Foundation and rate it really high. Seen as how I am on a quest for a good foundation I decided to give it a whirl and check out the illamasqua website and was very suprised to see they had a sale on (excitement :-)), hence lots of ooohing and aahing a deliberating over what to buy!

I obviously got the foundation which I will review for you in a later post, what was great was they have a comparison page, so if you know what shade you are in certain other brands then it will tell what shade is best for you in their brand which I thought was really good as a first time buyer of their product. I knew what shade I was in Bobbi Brown (even though I haven't bought a Bobbi Brown foundation I have had a skin match at one of their counters) so this made it better for finding my shade as buying foundation online without trying is not necessarily a good idea unless you know which shade you are!

Then came the impulse sale purchases of the cream eyeshadow (£5 down from £15.50) and pure pigment (£7.50 down from £15.50) absolute bargains! 

I also got a free sample of their perfume (below) to try as well which was an added bonus.

Reviews will be posted soon, happy sale shopping :-)

x 

As pale as a peach

Benefit - Georgia Blusher

This is the lovely Georgia blusher that I got for Christmas from my Sister. As can be seen it's a lovely pale peach colour which is absolutely perfect for my skin tone! It's very soft and quite sheer, it's basically the peach equivalent of their Dandelion blusher which means that it is subtle and perfect for day wear.

You can probably see from the picture that it has a very subtle sparkle to it as well which helps to reflect light and highlight your cheekbones when it is applied. You can probably see my finger print in it as well as I couldn't resist trying it on the back of my hand before I took the above picture!

I used the brush it came with to apply it to my cheekbones and it went out smooth and blended well and didn't feel OTT at all, it's a completely different look to what I normally wear blusher wise of which I am really happy with and will be using a lot for my work make-up, and it's a possible contender for my wedding make-up as well so double bonus!