My first dip into MAC Pigments

I've always swooned over the MAC pigments from afar.. they have such beautiful colours, they have a jewel-like appearance. But it was only a couple of weeks ago that I took the plunge and bought one - I think a part of me had always thought I'd end up spilling the pot over. I ended up choosing the shade 'Tan', as I love a really glossy, shimmery bronze gold smokey eye, and although I have similar colours in my makeup collection, I don't have anything that packs such a shimmery pigmented (d'uh!) punch! On the MAC website, its described as 'muted pinky brown bronze' [Frost] - I think 'rose gold bronze' would be a good description too.

MAC Pigment 'Tan'

So far, I've been verrrrrry careful when opening and closing the pot, and only lightly tapped my finger into the powder so not to create too much residue falling onto my cheeks, and I've been really pleased with the results. I always have to wear an eyelid primer (as I have such greasy eyelids), but I think the primer really helps to adhere the powder in a precise way. I pop the colour onto my eyelids, then blend a soft matte brown into the creased to blend it out. It also goes well with a brown gel liner (I used Laura Mercier Creme Eye Liner in 'Espresso'.

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Brush Spring Clean

I love many aspects of makeup, but when it comes to cleaning my makeup brushes, I'm always trying to think of ways to make the process quicker and easier.

However, I now have Sigma's Spa Brush Cleaning Glove, and it has certainly sped things up, and I probably use less shampoo to clean it (so saving money), but when I pair it with the Bobbi Brown Conditioning Brush Cleanser - its a brush cleaning dream team!

I'll talk about the Cleaning Glove first..

'Face' Brush cleaning side

'Eye' Brush cleaning side

The glove is designed to work for both left and right hands, and is made up of an arrangement of different textures to help gently work into the bristles of your brushes to massage out the makeup residue that has built up. I squeeze a small amount of my brush cleaning product, whether thats baby shampoo or a specific brush cleanser, damp the brush slightly under gently running tepid tap water, then start to swirl the brush around on the glove to build up a lather. Sometimes it lathers so much, you can just add your next brush straight into the soap and swirl a 2 or 3 around together; which really helps to speed things up. Depending on how hard the makeup is to remove from the glove, you may have to repeat this process a couple of times, with a gentle rinse in between (being careful not to let the water run up into the neck of the brush), and its worth trying out different sections of the glove, to see which cleans it the best. I then gently squeeze out any excess water with a towel, and leave the brushes to dry on a flat surface, ideally near a radiator or window.

The two sides of the glove are aimed at 'Face' brushes (e.g. big powder and foundation brushes), and 'Eye' brushes (e.g. smaller, fluffier blending brushes). Although I'm sure its fine to use either side on any brush. I really like the fact that this glove doesn't let your hands get wet or hurt them at all in the brush cleaning process. 

So now lets talk about the Conditioning Brush Cleanser.. When I first used this on its own, it was really noticeable how quickly it broke down the makeup in the brush, and was left with a sparkly clean brush. Its menthol smell makes you believe you're giving your brush a really deep clean. It creates a powerful lather, so you only have to use a small amount. And because its more expensive (£12), than a standard baby shampoo, I tend to save this for brushes that have been using foundation and concealer, as these are what I normally find quite hard to clean.

So I really have no excuse to keep my brushes sparkly clean..

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Eyeko's Brow Tidier

For the days that you just want to groom your eyebrows and not have to spend 10 minutes having to fill them out perfectly, this Brow Gel from Eyeko really comes in handy. Its brown/green colour is universally flattering, with ingredients such as keratin and protein to condition and strengthen your hairs - so it actually works as a treatment as well as a hair tamer/tint. 

You really only need a small amount of product for it to work, so its best to wipe off the excess on the top of the tube, and you may even need to run through your brows with a clean spooly brush to remove the excess, so it doesn't dry too crispy. Its great for your 'no-makeup' makeup days, and then also as a finishing touch to when you do want to spend time filling in your brows. At £18 it isn't cheap, but the tube has so far lasted me over a year, and I don't think I'm near finishing it!

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Budget Colour Corrector Concealer

I was recently in Berlin, and after scooping up Vivianna (Does Makeup) recommendation of getting the Catrice Cosmetics Baby Doll Waterproof mascara, I spotted a colour corrector compact, called the 'Allround Concealer', that I think was only 2 Euros! I didn't have high hopes for this product with it being ridiculously cheap, but I was pleasantly surprised. The orange and green shades definitely do their job of balancing out redness and dark circles before you apply your usual concealer. I think the 3 shades on the right do an 'ok' job at standard concealing, but I think these will be saved for when my skin is in a good condition already, because I don't think they are that heavy duty. Its definitely a great introduction palette to colour correcting, so if you're in Germany (I'm not sure where else this brand is sold in Europe), then I'd definitely recommend a purchase!

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The Bobbi Brown Brush Edit

Towards the end of last year I successfully applied for the Bobbi Brown Pro discount, so as you can probably tell from this blog, a few BB purchases have been made since then!

I wanted to broaden my brush collection and decided on getting these three beauties:

Top: Sheer Powder

Middle: Eye Blender

Bottom: Eye Smudge

So far I'm really pleased with all of the brushes - all of them are really soft and have multiple uses for each. 

Here's what I've enjoyed the most..

Sheer Powder - this is the best at being a multi-purpose brush - it can be used for blusher, precise bronzer application along the temples and cheekbones, to apply highlighter along the cheekbones and to use setting powder all over the face. Its also handy to use to blend out products if you've applied them a heavily, as using it 'dry' can help diffuse the product already on the face.

Eye Blender - this brush is very soft and flexible, so is really nice to use in the socket. Its quite large (I feel its slightly bigger than the Mac 224 - but 100x softer!), so this works well is you're in a rush and want to apply quickly to a large area, although because its so soft I find I often have to apply the eye shadow a few times for it to make the desired impact. This brush is also great at setting powder underneath the eyes and apply precise powder highlight along the cheekbone.

Eye Smudge - this is great for when you want that dragged out smokey eye along the bottom lash because of its round and quite large tip. Its also a really good size for applying a darker eye shadow right into the outer corner of the socket, and then also a highlight shade just below the brow bone.

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Bobbi Brown Bespoke Blush Palette

I love creating my own make-up palettes, as you can take your time choosing shades that suit your needs, and therefore shouldn't ever neglect any shades in the set, which I think works out to be better value for money!

When building my make-up kit, I wanted to pick shades that were flattering to most skin tones, and have the versatility to suit different occasions and seasons.

I already owned the Shimmer Blush from Bobbi Brown in 'Coral' (left), so I decided to buy the empty 3 pan palette and start creating my own. After chatting with the online make-up artists on the Bobbi Brown website and to the store assistant in Covent Garden, I decided to go with the shades 'Tawny' (right), and 'Desert Pink' (middle). 

'Coral' is great for summer, especially with a gold/bronze natural eyelid and a soft coral lip. The hint of shimmer, very subtly catches the light too.

'Desert Pink' is a great for those with an 'English Rose' complexion. It complements both dark and neutral eye makeup, maybe when you want to wear cooler tones.

'Tawny' looks really good with a rusty coloured eyelid and brown/red lips.

All three colours are very buildable, needing only a small amount to get a hint of colour. To apply, I like to use either the Bobbi Brown Face Blender Brush or the Sheer Powder Brush, for a softer and more diffused application.

Plus, its great having the long mirror for on-the go touch-ups too.

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Anastasia Beverly Hills 'Self-Made' Palette

This limited edition was definitely worth the hype. After pretty much selling out everywhere towards the end of 2015, I feel pretty lucky to have it as its been a great addition to my kit.

                                          

It has a great variety of shades, from being able to create everyday natural looks using the nudes, copper, gold and brown, some fun colourful looks with the purples, aqua and pale orange, and also plenty of sultry smokey evening eye options too. All shades are highly pigmented and the metallics have a great 'sheen' to them. For £27 I thought it was an absolute bargain.

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