My Freelance Makeup Brushes

I love brushes. I can't help but buy them. I managed to purchase a lot of mine through IMATS www.IMATS.net in the last 2 years. IMATS is fantastic. International makeup artist trade show. It's held in London for all those MUA's in the UK. You do not have to be a makeup artist to attend! All makeup lovers are welcome. The stalls sell makeup, beauty and equipment at trade prices. There are celebrity makeup artists that hold seminars that you can sit in whilst they carry out demonstrations etc. It's great! I always spend too much money there :( especially on brushes. Addicted!

My favourite brush belt

So, I have 2 brush belts. Both MAC. One is my backup which has my least favourite brushes in. The other is my go-to belt (above). 

My brushes include brands from MAC, Crown, Royal and Langnickel and Real Techniques. All of these brands have websites that you can purchase their stock online.

Personally, MAC is my favourite brush line. However, Crown are very affordable and still have fantastic quality bristles and handles to them. They have a wide range of brushes, styles of handles and different types of hair that you wish to use.

www.maccosmetics.co.uk

www.crownbrush.co.uk

www.royalbrush.com

www.realtechniques.com

I normally take as many brushes as I think I'll need for my freelance jobs. 
I put all my best brushes in the photo to show you guys my different branded brushes and how I store them in the belt. 
I do not normally carry this many otherwise they tend to dent the brush hair if too many are crammed in and it would be heavy to wear. 
I suggest a brush roll for any spares or extra's. EMJ sell great brush rolls! Check them out: www.theemjcompany.com

Face brushes LEFT

Eye and Lip brushes RIGHT

I tend to keep all my 'face' brushes (such as foundation, blending, contour and powder brushes) on the left hand side and all my eye/lip brushes on the right hand side (blending, laydown, precision, eyeliner and mascara wands).

I always make sure I have sponges, small scissors and lip moisturiser in the bottom half in case I need to grab it quick.

Here are a few of my all-time-favourite brushes.

Real techniques:

I bought the eye and face set from IMATS this year from the Real Techniques stand in London for my kit. When I got home that day, I heard that they were going to be stocked in Boots www.boots.com so I purchased another 2 sets for myself when they were released. 
These two brushes are my favourite from the collection, especially the one on the left. It blends out makeup flawlessly and gets into all the contours of the face. Easy to use and clean!

MAC:

• MAC 130 - £29   

I always use this brush - for me, this brush is amazing for applying foundation, powder and cream product. It gives a flawless finish and buffs the product into the skin, making the products last longer. It makes the skin appear smooth and even. I have a few of these in my kit as I know I will always use them. 
However, they are quite pricey but well worth the money as they are a great applicator and clean very well. I hardly loose any hairs from this brush which is great and have lasted me for quite some time!

• MAC 217 - £17. 

I think that everyone has heard of this brush. Its amazing. I have 5 or 6 of these in just one belt! Great buffing tool, great laydown brush, blends amazingly and can be used for all types of makeup - not just for the eyes. I like using this brush for detailed blending in areas of the face when applying foundation to make the skin look airbrushed and perfect.

• MAC 239 - £19 

Another fab brush. I use this to laydown eyeshadow, glitter or pigments and to apply dark shadow along the lashline or in the outer corners of the eye. 

• MAC 168 - £26.00 

This brush is great for contouring or sculpting the face as the angle of the brush sits perfectly into the bones of the face. I use this with powders or bronzers. The bristles of this brush are so soft and always spring back into the correct shape after washing.

ROYAL AND LANGNICKEL:

• SILK PRO range.

What I love about these two brushes - they are both domed. They are both perfect for blending and applying powder makeup. The bristles are so soft and of such good quality. The handles are lovely too - with the brand scripted into the handle - reminding you of the brushes names if you wanted to re-purchase. If looked after, these brushes will last a lifetime! They fall back into shape after cleaning and I have not had a hair drop out on me yet. They arrive in plastic packets so they are well protected in the post. Amazing brushes. They are my 'luxury' brushes as they are slightly more expensive but I can see why. I recommend attending IMATS for these or keeping an eye out for the sale on Royal and Langnickels website or from www.love-makeup.co.uk

I always clean my brushes regularly for hygiene reasons. This also keeps them intact and last longer if you take care of them over the years. MAC brush cleaner is £9.50 online or in store. I either use that or a mild gentle shampoo if I have run out of MAC.

Thanks for reading guys :)

Please leave any comments or questions below.

HD Brows Palette in Foxy

HD Brows

HD brows have become ever-so-popular in the last year. High definition to a brow entails threading, waxing, plucking, tinting and using colour to define any sparse areas of the brow. 

There are 3 different HD brows palettes. Foxy for brunettes, Bombshell for blondes and Vamp for those with very dark hair. Each palette has a brush applicator and mirror inside.

The palette I have is Foxy. www.hd-brows.co.uk

There are 4 shades inside the palette that can be used to define the brows (highlight, main fill colour etc.) and these colours can be mixed to achieve the desired colour to suit your brow colour and skin tone. See swatches below.

HD Palette in Foxy Swatches

I love this palette and will think of investing in the other 2 if I can get my hands on them! It will definitely stay in my freelance kit as I think this palette can suit most brows when mixed.
I would like to do the HD Brows course but at this moment in time, I would have to travel quite far to have the training - which is a shame.

Hope the swatches and info was useful guys.

Thanks for reading!

My new camera: Canon EOS 550D

Hi guys!

Thought I'd share my new camera that I bought this week! Needed something that would take great quality pictures for all my freelance work and blogging. 

This is the Canon EOS 550D. I bought this camera from Jessops online www.jessops.co.uk. 

Saved £200 on the original price which was fantastic. Still alot of money but definitely worth it. 

It's 18mp and has 2 lenses - one is 18-55mm (close ups) and the other is 75-300mm (long distance).

I am really happy with the quality and the editing disk that the camera comes with. Just the basics - such as contrast, brightness and sharpness etc. Gives the option to look at the before and after photo of your edit and without. It also allows for different types of shooting such as portraits, close ups, moving objects etc.

Its easy to use and the manual is straight forward to read and understand instructions. 

Good first DSLR! 

I will be posting more makeup reviews soon, with swatches and photos from this camera.

Watch this space! :)

Makeup Forever HD Blush

Makeup forever HD blushes

Hi guys!

I'm sure you can all guess where I first saw these wonderful products... 

Lisa Eldridge www.lisaeldridge.com. I adore her makeup tutorials. 

I bought mine from www.gurumakeupemporium.com for £22.50 each plus £2.95 postage. The postage is quite fast with this company which is a bonus!

It is expensive, however you only need a teeny tiny pump of product as it goes along way. Not even a pea sized amount!

Swatches of my  Makeup forever HD blushes

My shades are (from left to right):

• 6 Coral
• 5 Warm pink
• 8 Light Rosewood
• 7 Light Peach
• 2 Carmine

These blushes are very pigmented, have amazing staying power and are fantastic quality. They come in a variety of shades, which is great for all different skin tones. They photograph beautifully.

Once applied and blended, they dry matte. I love using a MAC 130 brush to apply this as it buffs into the skin really nicely and gives an airbrush finish.

I'm not sure what happened to my HD blush on the far right; I think I should have shook the bottle thoroughly before putting it onto my hand but this has never happened before - so don't let it put you off of purchasing these amazing blushes.

Here is a video on how Makeup Forever apply this blush:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofR-ekao_1Y&feature=player_embedded

I really want to try the HD foundations, powders and primer, as I think these will look amazing on the skin; especially for photoshoots or brides. I always have them in my kit now!

Hope this was useful guys!

Please leave any comments or questions below.

Thanks for reading :)

My favourite grey toned MAC eyeshadow palette

My favourite Grey toned MAC palette

I love MAC. I really do! I wouldn't use any other powder eyeshadow in my kit.

When I first went into MAC, I bought the indiviual eyeshadows which are £12 each from www.maccosmetics.com.

When I realized that I wanted to be a makeup artist, I started building my kit with MAC. I was fortunate enough to have MAC makeup artists teach me at college www.norfolkbeautytraining.co.uk and they gave me the chance to have MAC PRO student discount for a year. I recieved 15% off - which is great! Was extremely lucky!

I found out that MAC sold customizable palettes (for blush and eyeshadows).

You can buy the blush palette from MAC or www.maccosmetics.com for £11.50. 

The pro palette blush refills are £14.50 each for 6g and the palette holds 6 blushers. 

The eye palettes that I use are from MAC or www.maccosmetics.com.

They are £11.50 each and they hold 15 eyeshadows. 

The pro palette eyeshadow refill pans that you place into the container can also be found at MAC. 

They are £10 each for 1.5g and can be bought from www.maccosmetics.com or at a MAC counter. 

MAC do sell other palettes that can hold less eyeshadows. 

One costs £6.50 and holds 2 eyeshadow refills. The other costs £6.50 and holds 4 pro palette eyeshadow refills.

Close up of my MAC eyeshadows

Swatches of palette going from left to right on each ROW

Here are my shades for my grey toned palette:

(going down each column the palette)

• White Frost

• Forgery

• Brule

• Shroom

• Coquette

• Copperplate

• Concrete

• Shale

• Scene

• Electra

• Silver Ring

• Knight Divine

• Print

• Typographic

• Carbon

These eyeshadows are amazing. Brilliant quality, highly pigmented and range in all different shades and finishes. Well worth the money as they last for ages! 

Top ROW of palette:
white frost, shroom, concrete, electra, print

Second ROW of palette:
forgery, coquette, shale, sliver ring, typographic

Third ROW of palette:
brule, copperplate, scene, knight divine, carbon

Chanel Illusion D'ombre: 81 Fantasme

It was Lisa Eldridge - www.lisaeldridge.com - who got me addicted to these beautiful eyeshadows. I already have the Chanel Illusion D'ombre in shade Emerveille (which is a lovely sparkly peachy-golden colour).

One of my other favourite YouTube gurus is AModelRecommends - 

www.youtube.com/user/AModelRecommends

She used the shade 85 Mirifique to create a dark smoky eye. It is such a pretty colour. It's an almost black with lots of glitter through it. 

I went to along to a Chanel counter to see if I could purchase it but unfortunately it was sold out, so I looked at what other shades were available in the Long Wear Luminous Eyeshadow collection and chose this shade instead!

Chanel Illusion D'ombre in 82 Fantasme. It costs £23 for a 4g pot and can be purchased from any Chanel counter. 

I bought mine from Debenhams as I wanted to use my Beauty Rewards card for the points I earned. 

swatch of  Chanel Illusion D'ombre in 82 Fantasme - £23

It's such a pretty colour. Especially for gently highlighting areas of the face, using a small amount cross the eyelid or putting it in the inner corner of the eye to make the eyes appear bigger.  

The product comes in a small box and has a mini eyeshadow brush to apply the product with. I personally would use a fluffy brush or a flat lay down brush to apply this product, but the brush it comes with is great if you want to use this eyeshadow in the form as an eyeliner.


It's super long lasting and after applying it, doesn't budge one bit!
It's an almost 'bouncy' mousse texture in the pot but applys like a cream eyeshadow.


I hope to purchase shade 85 Mirifique soon and also shade 83 Illusoire but I think I'll have to order mine online from Debenhams - www.debenhams.com.

I hope that was useful or helpful guys!

Leave any questions or comments below :)

Thanks for reading!

Dior Shimmer Powder: Amber Diamond and Rose Diamond

I have a handful of makeup artists and beauty bloggers that I religiously follow and Tanya Burr is one of them! I follow her all the time on YouTube and I think she is so amazing! If you haven't seen her vlogs yet, check her out! Her YouTube username is pixi2woo).

Packaging

Dior Shimmer Powder in 001 Rose Diamond and 002 Amber Diamond

One of her all-time favourite products to use is the Dior Shimmer Powder in Amber Diamond, so I was inspired to go and buy these products to try out in my freelance kit.

The Compact comes with a pouch to keep the packaging protected (last item in picture)

The Dior Shimmer Powders costs £32 each.

I bought mine from the Dior counter within Jarolds. It can be found at any Dior counter or online from their website or stockists. 

Close up of 002 Amber Diamond

Close up of  001 Rose Diamond

Each compact has a range of beautiful shimmers going from light to dark.

Each colour within the compact can be used individually (swiping down each shade) or swept across - mixing all the shades together. I have swept across in the photo below to show the full effect and intensity of the colours when mixed together.

Swatches of both products from left to right
(Rose Diamond and Amber Diamond )

These products can be used as a highlighter taking the lighter colours in the compact and applying it to the high points on the face or blush on the apples of the cheeks. It could even be used as an eyeshadow too!

The shimmer is perfect- not 'disco-looking'. Gives a healthy, radiant glow to the face. 

Overall a great buy! Multi-purpose products that can be used for people in a hurry or makeup artists that want to condense their kits down.

Hope this was helpful or useful guys!

Leave any questions or comments below :)

MY favourite O.P.I nail polishes!

Without flash (see colours below in order)

I have hundreds of nail polish bottles from O.P.I, Essie, Dior and Chanel but I have to say, O.P.I is my favourite brand that I go to. 

I have picked out 10 of my most popular shades that I reach for (depending on my mood) and use on both my finger nails and my toe nails.

With flash (see colours below in order)

I love how these polishes last a long time without going 'gloopy' and 'lumpy'. If they do turn thick after a while, I use O.P.I nail polish thinner to even out the texture again. It's fantastic! I simply put 2 drops in and shake the bottle till the consistency is back to normal again.

From left to right :
O.P.I Avoplex, O.P.I Chip Skip, O.P.I Start to finish topcoat and basecoat, O.P.I nail envy, O.P.I files and O.P.I hand cream.

When applying the nail polishes, I make sure my nails are in good shape before applying the colour. O.P.I's Avoplex formula is great for nourishing the cuticle and the nails surface. It makes the nail smooth and hydrated before applying polish. Simply apply one drop and massage into the nail. 

I also use a shiner buffer file and nail file - both O.P.I again - to get the nail into the right shape and texture. I always think that my nail polish lasts longer when I apply it through a salon routine than just sticking it on.

Apply a thin layer of primer such as O.P.I Start to Finish base and topcoat. No fuss! It's 2 in 1 and easy to use.

Follow with 2 coats of your favourite polish and your done! 

I finish with a good moisturiser. The one above is O.P.I tropical citrus massage hand cream and it smells so gorgeous!

I always keep a nail treatment/strengthener (O.P.I nail envy comes in different strengths for different types of nails and uses) and chip resistant polish (O.P.I chip skip) in my nail bag; as it's good to treat the nails after a while if you wear polish all the time. 

Colours from RIGHT to LEFT:

• Happy anniversary
• Princesses rule!
• Heart throb
• Japanese rose garden
• Ate berries in the canaries
• Pink flamenco
• California raspberry
• Manicurist of Seville
• My chihuahua bites!
• Austin-tatious turquoise

It's hard to narrow them all down but I hope this was helpful or useful guys!

Thanks for reading :)

Please leave any comments or questions below.

Botanticals Skincare

I recently completed an intensive (one day) beauty facials course with Gateways www.gatewayworkshops.com.

The tutor I had was very friendly and gave plenty of advice and thorough training. I received a booklet with tips in how to remember each technique and all the anatomy and physiology to carry out  beauty facials. Highly recommend this course!

The products that I used on my model during the day were from a brand called Botanicals www.botanicals.co.uk.

I bought this kit from my tutor for £30 (which is a great saving). All the products have a use-by date on which is helpful to know.

The products are absolutely gorgeous and of the highest quality. The smell is so lovely - it really reminds me of when me and my mum went on a spa day together! These products feel so luxurious on the skin and when used altogether, leave the face soft, supple and glowing!

 I also love how the products are organic - not using harsh chemicals on my sensitive skin.

However, the only two problems I have come across whilst using the Botanicals kit are: 

• that products are quite expensive to buy individually 
• you do not get a lot of product within the pots/bottles

BUT - you do not need to use a lot of product during each facial! A small amount goes along way!

I received 5 products in the kit and some little wooden spatulas. The products were bedding down in shredding with small rose buds (which I thought was lovely). 

The kit consisted of:

• Botanicals Rose & Camilla facial polish 25g.

The grains of this exfoliator are really small, which is great for getting rid of dry skin or dead skin cells without harsh scraping and rubbing on the skins surface. It nourishes the skin and leaves it soft and radiant. Its great for normal, dry or mature skin types. Simply massage into the skin and remove with a warm muslin cloth or flannel.

If bought from the Botanicals website, it would cost £16.95 for a regular 50g pot, £28.90 for a large 100g pot and £70 a salon size 400g pot.

• Botanicals Rose & Camilla cleansing melt 25g.

I have to day that this cleanser is one of the best I've tried! Its so gentle on the skin but leaves it super clean and hydrated. This natural cleanser is a makeup remover too, removing all dirt and excess oil from the skin. It has the same method of use as the facial polish - massage onto the skin and remove with a warm muslin cloth or flannel. 

If bought from the Botanicals website, it would cost £16.95 for a regular 50g pot, £28.90 for a large 100g pot and £70 a salon size 400g pot.

• Botanicals Rose & Camilla organic facial serum

I love how this serum has a squeezy tube applicator which dispenses the product by droplets. It really measures how much you need and gives a controlled application - no need to waste any of the product! This serum sinks straight into the skin with no excess oily residue left on the skins outer layer. Fantastic for dry or mature skin. Simply massage into the skin. If used by a oily/combination skin type, simply blot off any residue that has not sunk into the skin with a tissue. 

Again, it smells utterly wonderful!

If bought from the Botanicals website, it would cost £18.95 Regular 30ml (28g), £26.95 Large 50ml (48g) and £48 Salon 100ml (98g)

• Botanicals Rose & Camilla organic skin tonic with white tea extracts

This product is packed with anti-oxidants. Apply to the skin by using the toner with cotton pads after cleansing. This removes all unnecessary excess oils, leaving the skin soft and hydrated. Like a barrier on the skin, it keeps the pores small to keep out dirt etc.  

If bought from the Botanicals website, it would cost £7.95 Small 70g, £14.95 regular 150ml and £28 Salon 250ml. 

• Botanicals Rose Clay nourish masque

This masque is deep cleansing, gently exfoliating and anti-ageing. It restores the skin and leaves it well hydrated - drawing toxins out of the skin. Simply apply to the skin, leave on for 10 minutes and then wipe away with a warm muslin cloth or flannel.

Great for dry or mature skins!

A small pot contains 25g and costs £11.95, a regular pot contains 45g and costs £17.45 and a salon pot contains 400g and costs £70. 

These products are great as a gift (Bontanicals offer different gift sets online to suit), to use on clients as a therapist or to use for your own use. 

Botanicals also offer different products throughout the website depending on your skin type (oily, combination etc) and the type of product you are looking for (i.e. cleanser or masque etc).

They sell 'try me' sets, samples and gift vouchers which I will definitely be purchasing in the future. Great for all those who are undecided about the brand and their products.

Overall guys, a fantastic brand that sell amazing products! Well worth the money and I highly recommend them. 

I think I will be buying a moisturiser and massage oil to go into this kit too! 

I hope this was helpful or useful :)!

Please leave any questions or comments below.

Thanks for reading!