Sunday Round Up #7

This is what my week is looking like from tomorrow.  I can barely believe it, after three whole years, I will not know what to do with myself when I wake up on Tuesday morning as a free woman!  By the way, I'm not the only twenty-something with a personal filofax, right?  It's just so organised, I love it.

This week has been a bit of train wreck in all honesty, I had a deadline on Thursday and as soon as that essay was handed in I had to start on my next one right away.  There's been late nights, even later mornings where I'm so tired I'm turning my alarm off in my sleep... I think I'm just needing some rest.  My skin has been also feeling the stress, so I'm covered in pimples - although I've decided to step away from the acne antibiotics and try to manage it without medication, so I imagine it's also a bit of backlash!  Once I find a good skincare routine, I'll definitely do a post about it for anyone who may need some inspiration for conquering acne.  This will probably also include things which aren't necessarily products - foods, massage...

I had a mental list of things I wanted to mention in this post; I've forgotten all of them.  Curse of the final week of uni, I tell thee.

xx 

Real Techniques Release The Expert Face Brush

RealTechniques.com

You better believe it guys, Samantha Chapman's Real Techniques brushes now include a Buffing Brush alternative that can be purchased on its own.  Hooray!

I've heard no end of complaints from bloggers (and my mum) who wanted the Buffing Brush but weren't prepared to pay for the Core Collection - although the Expert Face Brush is currently retailing at £9.99 + p&p from Love-Makeup.co.uk, and I'm not sure if Boots are stocking it yet as it's not on their website.

Considering that the Core Collection retails at £21.99 (I purchased mine from Boots) for four brushes, £9.99 for one doesn't boast the same value for money.  However, if I'd had the option of the Expert Face Brush when I was purchasing, I would've probably gotten the single brush since I don't use the whole set.  If you are swayed towards the Core Collection, I must say that the case is brilliant!  I have it open with my essential daily brushes lined up and ready to go!

I'm sure loads of you (mum, you're included!) will be incredibly excited about this brush - Sam Chapman has said herself it's just like the Buffing Brush on her latest Youtube video.  And you only have to search RT Buffing Brush online to see how much (justified) hype surrounds it - personally I use it every single day.  I don't know how I managed without it.  Hopefully Boots will be stocking it soon and you can all get your hands on it without having the buy online!

xx

Friday Face

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in 53

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in Medium 3

e.l.f. Eyebrow Kit in Medium

e.l.f. Clarifying Pressed Powder in Honey (on cheeks)

17 Blusher in First Kiss (shade not on website at the moment)

Avon Glimmerstick Liqui-Glide Eyeliner in Black

Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara in Black

Since it's Friday I thought I'd treat you to a lovely FOTD, haha.  How kind of me, I know!  My face looks hideously large and the more I look at my eyes the more they're freaking me out.

I've got a few new make-up favourites which I haven't mentioned previously - but at least you can see them in action.  Let me know if you want any items reviewing!
xx

Hairy Face No More!

Epistick Epilator Facial Hair Removal Tool - £1.99 (amazon.co.uk)

Apologies for being MIA recently, uni work has been taking over my life (as it rightly should!), which has meant I've been pretty absent when it comes to my blog.  Anyway, when I popped home over Easter I saw this little contraption amongst my sister's beauty collection, wondered what on earth it was, and when she told me it was her bargain price epilator, I thought it was a joke.

It wasn't a joke.  This is another crazy little item all the way from Japan, where I think I can realistically say, anything cool comes from.  For £1.99 I wasn't expecting much, but it actually does do the job reasonably well.  I think the 62 reviews of 4.5 stars on amazon.co.uk is testament to that statement.

The majority of girls have some sort of hair on their face.  I, for one, have what I endearingly call 'peach fuzz'.  Most of the time I really couldn't give a rat's ass whether it's there or not, because I can't see it and it presumably serves some function - keeping my face warm?  I dunno.  Either way, when my sister presented this contraption to me (of which she has mastered, by the way), I suggested she 'do my face' to see whether it worked and if I was impressed.  I'm not gonna lie; it hurt.  Like little stings and prickles, and apparently I even have hair near my eyes... ouch!  But my god, my face felt so smooth afterwards - which is quite a weird sensation!  I think it picks up most hair, but not all.  So it's not exactly a professional job, but for £1.99 you can do it every day if you fancy.  I'm sure there wouldn't be much left eventually!

I decided that for the price I couldn't really go wrong, so bought my own.  It arrived quickly and well packaged, which is impressive.  I've not quite got round to using it yet, since like I said, I'm not too bothered about face hair.  But if I am, I've got my 'hairy face no more!' contraption.  It seems pretty simple - hold the handles, make a U-shape, gently push it against your skin and twist so it rolls upwards.

If you want to read a much more enlightening piece on hairy girls, click here.

xx

Get Readin' These Blogs!

As a blogger, it's clear that I'm a blog-lover.  I follow lots on GFC, bloglovin' and HelloCotton - all of which you can follow me on, by the way ;).  There are a few blogs which I really do love though.  The kind of blogs where as soon as a new post is written, I'm reading it.  I'd recommend all of these:

15 steps, then a beauty blog

A Model Recommends

BDP World

Chipped Nails & Chapped Lips

Dizzybrunette3

essie-button

Gh0stparties

HelloOctober

Makeup Savvy

Milkteef

Miss Budget Beauty

Sophie is Made Up

The Vagenda
(My most favourite blog, EVER. How did I forget to add it on!?)

Vivianna Does Makeup

Wayward Daughter

Happy reading!

xx
P.S: This has become a permanent feature as my Blogroll tab!  Keep checking it for updates!

La Roche-Posay Physiological Cleansing Milk

La Roche-Posay Physiological Cleansing Milk 200ml - £11.50

Using cleansers every day has become a staple in the battle against my seriously unbalanced skin.  I clean my face morning and night, with a cleanser being part of my routine at least once.  In Manchester city centre there's currently no stockist of Liz Earle, as John Lewis is located in the Trafford Centre - I was panic-stricken over Easter - being a mega-fan of Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish...

I visited SpaceNK where a lovely assistant suggested the best thing I could do with dry/combination/acne prone/oily skin (yes, I tick every category) is to normalise it.  I pondered this, and wandered over to Boots where I eventually decided on the La Roche-Posay Physiological Cleansing Milk as a suitable alternative.  Although it's targeted at dry skin, it's gentle and sensitive.  With combination skin as temperamental as mine it's really hard to get the balance right; I use the wrong product and I'm crying in agony when trying to moisturise (worst. pain. ever.), or I'm so oily and spotty that no make-up can hide it! 

It's quite runny, but that's to be expected for a cleansing milk.  It also smells a little bit like creamy bananas, which could put banana-haters off.  I however, like bananas, so it's not a problem!  I use two cotton wool  pads, a pump on each, and wipe away.  After the second clean my face is make-up free - although my mascara isn't always completely gone, but I can't scrub my eyes as they're so sensitive.  My skin feels really soft and smooth, and it doesn't need rinsing off either.  Hooray!  Although I presume you can rinse your face if you don't like the feeling it leaves.

This is probably the best alternative I have to my Liz Earle (although I don't think anything will ever replace it!), and is nice and easy if hot water isn't available.
xx

Sunday Round Up #6

I've been so bad and missed a week, so I thought I'd post a photo of the pup that was visiting whilst I was home in Manchester for the past two weeks.  Isn't she pretty?  I particularly like her feet, they're huge!  I'm also aware that we're now in April and I never did do a March favourites.  Mainly because I didn't actually have any, which is disappointing!

The past week has been chock-a with work experience, travel, seeing people and getting ready to move back to Norwich, which meant any spare time I had was spent sleeping rather than blogging.  Although I have been quite good and taken photos of new purchases which I'll try and get reviews written for in due course. There's been some make-up bits and skincare stuff (which I mentioned in the last Sunday Round Up...) that's made its way into my routine very quickly.  I'm so easily won over!

Sadly the next two weeks are also going to be chock-a, maybe more so than the last couple of weeks.  I have two gigantic projects to be doing for the end of my uni course.  It's upsetting in so many ways!  Just enjoy the picture of the dog until I get my act together.

xx

Are you Sure it's Maximum Protection?

Sure Maximum Protection Deodorant - £5.30

I thought I'd give my two cents on this product.  Having been really intrigued by the mass amount of sponsored blog posts popping up recently, I thought I'd give it a go.  I'm always boiling, and found that high street deodorants to be less than brilliant.  I wondered if my prayers had been answered with Sure Maximum Protection, especially since there'd been so many good reviews.

Pros: It smells really lovely - fresh and clean, rather than 'perfumey'.  It reduces sweating... Which leads on to my main con.

Cons:  It doesn't stop me from sweating, only reduces it.  To me, the marketing of it being 'for anyone who does not want to be held back by perspiration' suggests it effectively stops sweating.  There's nothing on the leaflet that says 'it might not work for everyone' either, which frustrates me somewhat.  The fact that we're only in spring in the UK, and I was using this during our less than sunny weather, suggests that come summer I'll be a sweaty mess.

I'm actually quite underwhelmed by Maximum Protection, which is a real shame!  Normally I'd use Anhydrol Forte in the warmer months, which is easy enough to buy from a pharmacy and the results are incredible... it's also cheaper.  It just doesn't smell as nice as Sure Maximum Protection, as it's a chemical liquid, which was why I was hoping Maximum Protection would work.

Unfortunately I don't think I'll be repurchasing this one!

xx

The Essential Make-Up Brushes

(L-R)

QVS Powder Brush - £5.48

e.l.f. Eye Shadow Brush - £1.50

e.l.f. Blushing, Bronzing and Blending Brush - £1.50

Real Techniques Contour Brush (Core Collection) - £21.99

e.l.f. Eyeliner Brush - £1.50

Real Techniques Buffing Brush (Core Collection)

Make-up brushes certainly require a lot of trial and error.  These are the brushes I reach for every single day, without fail.  On Monday I travelled back up to Manchester for the Easter break from uni, and it wasn't even a question to me which brushes I would be packing!

The most important ones are the RT Buffing Brush, e.l.f. Eyeliner Brush, e.l.f. Blusher Brush (although it needs replacing now!) and the RT Contour Brush.  The Real Techniques brushes are really fantastic; dense, firm enough to hold their shape, soft enough to glide over the skin, and the aluminium casing makes them light to handle too.  Plus, when washed they dry really quickly, which is an added bonus!

The e.l.f. brushes are great for the price - in particular the Eyeliner Brush is so firm that I use it to apply eyebrow wax (but fear it's way too firm for my eyelids), and it's the best brush that I've tried for the job.  The Blusher Brush is definitely on its last legs, but the angle of the bristles make both cream and powder blushes easy to apply, but I think I'm going to hunt for a denser brush next - although I certainly won't find a replacement for £1.50!

The QVS and e.l.f. Eyeshadow brushes I use a little bit less, but for setting powder or applying shadow, I find each brush is perfect for the job.  The QVS brush is huge, but I find that means powder is applied lightly and dusted on, rather than caked.  It very occasionally sheds, but it's not really been much of an issue, certainly not for the price anyway!  The e.l.f. Eyeshadow Brush is the perfect shape for my eyelid, is soft and dense enough to pick up a good amount of product, making the job easier.  It's tapered too, so I find it easy for eyelid crease blending.

I'm a firm believer that good quality products don't have to come with a price tag that makes you feel a little bit sick!  Some high street (priced) brushes are perfect for the job, don't shed and wash well - what more could you ask for?

xx

Sunday Round Up #5

Happy Sunday!  This week's been crazy as usual.  We've come to the Easter break now, which seems like it's much later than other unis - or so my Facebook newsfeed has been telling me for the past 2 weeks, with everyone else boasting about Easter relaxation!  Unfortunately my break will be less relaxation and more work, work, work.  I've got two huge projects to be getting on with and a week of work experience jammed in the middle.  No rest for the wicked, isn't that what they say!?  Even so, I'm feeling optimistic about everything.

I've had quite an exciting beauty week as I've been trialling some new products.  Both are for the face, but do completely different things, so I'll be sure to update on them in the coming weeks.  I've got a feeling that I'm in love with both of them, which is a rarity for me.  Maybe that's why I'm so excited...  I've also been enjoying a glorious (fake) tan this week whilst out with friends; the results are very impressive so I'll definitely be writing about that too.  

My hair on the other hand, despite my best efforts, is beginning to look a little frazzled.  I've been warding off split ends with a potent mixture of products, but heat and environmental damage always catches up with you, unfortunately.  I'm travelling back to Manchester tomorrow morning, so as I've already been given direction from my sister that I'll be cutting her hair at the first available opportunity, she can trim my ends for me as well!

The only sad part about breaks from uni is having to leave my boyfriend. :( He travelled home this morning, and there's a chance I won't see him for two weeks - it isn't very long, but it's always difficult when you live with someone!  As my Dad will be arriving with the dawn tomorrow (only kidding, but I'm on student time, so it feels like dawn) I better start packing...!

xx