Real Techniques: blush brush and expert face brush

Hi Guys!

Quite obvious from the title and picture but I finally got myself a couple f real technique make up brushes!

Boots had a buy one get one half price deal going on so I grabbed these two. I wanted the core collection set but I think I'll put that on my birthday/xmas wish list :)

I've been having problems with my foundation (revlon colorstay) - I'm finding it so dry and hard to apply, so I thought I'd give the expert face brush a try since everyone raves about it so much. How is it? It's ok. I think it's amazing for the price but if I won the lottery, I would definitely give other brushes a go - this is not my holy grail. I must say that I love the actual brush style/shape(?) - I've used either a traditional foundation brush and stippling brush to apply liquid foundation (on a day to day basis I prefer my fingers) but I do like this rounded/flat (can it be both?) brush.

Ok - so blush brush - to be honest I kinda picked this cos I wanted something of a similar price to make the most of the deal. I've used it everyday since I got it probbaly more out of the novelty of having something new and because by coincidence my mum gave me a blush palette (post to follow).

I gotta say this though - best thing about these brushes - drying time!!! I've had these 6 days and I've washed these 3 times because it's so easy and they dry so so so quick!!! And no shedding. Very impressive.

Review: Revlon Colorstay foundation

Hi guys!

Just wanted to let you know what I think about Revlon Colorstay foundation.

I have 3 shades/2 formulations: 

The first Colorstay I tried out was 320 True Beige in the normal/dry skin formulation. I got this ages ago (2012?...maybe 2011?!) but I've only been using it for a few months. I really liked the coverage and staying power but the colour match was not good. Colorstay oxidises on me very very badly - this shade is dark for me regardless but after about 4 hours, I'm an Oompa Loompa. Scrap that - even an Oompa Loompa would think I was too orange!!! 

Also, skin wise I've come to the conclusion that I don't have dry skin (I'm just dry at my damaged nose area); the majority of my face is normal-ish. This revelation has changed my life (well...it's changed the type of stuff I put on my face).

So anyway, I liked this but I needed a slightly lighter shade and whilst I was looking I thought I'd try out the combination/oily skin type.

First stop was Boots and Superdrugs to try to find a colour match. Can I just say that the cleanliness and overall display quality of drugstore makeup stations are utterly appalling. Disgusting. I'm sure you can catch something deadly from the testers. 

Long story short, there wasn't much of a shade range in stores but I knew from online research that Revlon foundations come in a relatively fantastic shade range. So I decided to colour match myself to a mac foundation using my Estée Lauder's double wear match (in tawny FYI) as I very recently got matched  in store. My dodgy research told me I was probably around the 35-40 mark and interestingly enough that gave me a colorstay match of true beige as the darkest. So I was on the right track I felt.

I have shade Golden Beige in Revlon Photoready and it was too light for me but reviews said that Photoready and Colorstay shades weren't the same (despite using the same names) so I decided that I'd go for this, since if it was too light I could mix it with True Beige.

But then! I realised that in the USA they had a shade 310 Warm Golden. Smack bang between 300 Golden Beige and 320 True beige. Now how do I get my hand on this 'special' shade?

Some retailers were selling Warm Golden for £17-21!!!!! (In the UK Colorstay rrp is £12-13 - and I always buy foundation when it's on offer eg 3 for 2.

I was about to lose hope but then an eBay miracle happened. A lady was selling golden beige and warm golden!!! I entered into a bidding war and slayed all my enemies. Best feeling. (Each was sold separately - total for both was £13 inc p+p - bargain!!!)

So - do I like it? Yes! I won't go on about shade anymore but I'm loving the formulation of the combination/oily skin.

Coverage - great coverage. Covers all my red bits and gives a nice even finish. 

Finish - nice and matte but doesn't leave me looking like I'm wearing a mask. And it doesn't feel tight and heavy. It's probably heavy for some people but this is a full coverage foundation so what do you expect?! Wears really nicely throughout the day. 

Oil control - Does control my oil so it was worth switching formulas. Doesn't leave me totally oil free and I do need to blot but my face is definitely less melty lol I can't make a comparison with any other foundation as I've always gone for dry skin types before.

Lasting power - this says "wears for up to 24 hours". I've never worn my make up for 24 hours but I would say definitely great for a 9-12 hour working day, and pretty fantastic for 16 hours.

I'm really happy with my choice of product and for the price this might potentially be my forever foundation. Very tempted to bulk buy but trying to remain calm and sensible!

Have you tried this? Do you like it? Any recommendations?

NOTD: matte temptation

Hi Guys!

Finally I got my hands on a matte finish polish :)

(Matte finish is used like a to coat, pop it on top of a nail colour and it will make it look matte).

Been wanting something like this for ages but wasn't sure if it was worth the bother. Well, I've had it for a day and a night and I am happy I got it.

FYI Boots are having their 3 for 2 event on beauty products (also baby products and hair products) so I grabbed two matte finishes (one for me, one for EK) and I also got a 2-in-1 top and base coat. RRP £4.59 each so I got 3 for £9.18, which equals £3.06 each.

(I was initially going to get 17's matte finish (under £4 btw) because it was the cheapest and had decent reviews, but when I saw rimmel's version I had to get it because I love the rimmel maxi brush polishes)

Anyways, enough with the words; typing is wearing down my nail tips lol ;)

As you can see, the matte finish is a...murky whitish colour. It does not lighten your polish, just makes it matte and bang on trend ;)

[BELOW PHOTO] Top thumb is with the matte finish, bottom thumb is without the matte finish...

[ABOVE photo] - Revlon's Tropical Temptation (a corally type shade) on it's own (2 coats)

[BELOW photo] - With one coat of Rimmel's matte finish

Last pic [ABOVE] taken by my mummy, both hands together.

Conclusion?

Ok so it's not curing cancer or ending world hunger but I think it's great and (hopefully) it'll encourage me to use more of my polish collection and it gives all colours a second life. And for me personally, a matte finish is the style I want - crackle top coats, nail art and glitter is all very well (and bloody fun) but matte finish in my opinion is cool and toned down, and with the right colour is, ironically, very grown up and polished.

Have you tried this? Interested or just another fad?