My favourites so far this year..

Here they are:

Holy over saturation of colours, Batman!

I use all these products on either a daily or weekly basis which is pretty rare for me as I have so much crap.

MAC 239 brush: I really don't know how I managed to get my eye makeup looking decent before I had this (I probably didn't).  With regards to brush hair density, it does very well.  They're tightly packed but you can get away with laying down and blending too.  It's not my blending brush, simply because it's not meant for blending.  If you're lazy/doing a look with bright colours, get this brush and you won't be sorry.  You can use it for crease work too, I switch it up between the 239 and the Revlon brush.

Maybelline Colossal mascara: This is probably my all time favourite High Street mascara.  I use this every day and it has been going strong for a long long time.  I love this and my Prestige mascara but I think this slightly has the edge as it's foolproof and I get the same results regardless of how I apply it.  Thick, long, black lashes.

YSL Teint Parfait: I blab on about this foundation a lot.  It was the first thing I ever reviewed on my blog but I'll give you a quick review of it now.  It's an oil free "foundation".  I say " " because you can use it as a primer if your skin is not behaving.  I like the fact that it has a dual personality like that because once I put it on, it doesn't come off unless you take it off.  If you have oily/combo skin and want a foundation which makes you look dewy, buy this and you won't be sorry.  The single best thing about this foundation is being photographed..you look airbrushed.

I've got a swatch for you and it's clear it doesn't match the skin on my hand but it blends in seamlessly on my face.

Dove Therapy Heat Defence spray: I really like this.  I feel that it does protect my hair from heat and it leaves my hair looking shiny after I've straightened it and it smells quite nice.  It makes my hair feel softer too so I've started using it even when I keep my hair curly.  The best thing about it is that you can be heavy handed and it won't grease your hair up which is brilliant.

The Body Shop Facial Massager: I was intrigued with this when I first saw it online and decided to buy it when I saw it in store.  I use this on a weekly basis.  It smoothes my skin out a treat.  I also find that after using it, my skin absorbs moisturiser a lot better and it feels clean, like it's been drained of toxins.  It leaves my skin nice and pink after using it so I can feel that there is some massagey benefit there.  There's a full review here.

Korres Zea Mays blusher: This has fast become my "brown girl's can blush too" blush.  When I wear it, it actually looks like I'm blushing which is brilliant.  It does contain glitter but use a light hand and you're good to go.  It looks practically untouched but I've been using it more often than not..  You can buy it here and read my review here.

YSL Palette Pop: I have had this for a long long time and it's a tester. I don't know why I'm always saying that..but it is.  I think it's because I'm in shock that a tester lasts so long.  I use this on a daily basis, it's my "no effort" blush.  It looks so natural on me that you can't even tell that I'm wearing it most of the time.  People only notice that I don't look so perky when I don't have it on.

See? You wouldn't think that was WOC friendly but it is brilliant for my skintone.  It also looks pretty chalky but applies like a dream.

I haven't had these brushes for too long but they have found their way into my makeup bag.

Revlon Foundation brush: There's a full review here.  It's all good.  The brush is totally foolproof and works brilliant when the operator is functioning on around 5 hours sleep.  It costs about a tenner from Superdrug.

Revlon Blusher brush: I'm sure this brush was made just for me.  It fits the cheek area perfectly, stays soft and yet is dense enough to pick up just enough product.  The full review is here.  I think this comes in at around a fiver or so..it's less than a tenner!

What have your favourites been so far this year?

Best.Eyeshdow.Brush.Everrrrrrr.

This little beauty:

It's a travel size brush but it's the same size as my No7 brushes and I like this size, it's perfect for putting in makeup bags and it gives you the right amount of control as you don't have to hold the mirror too far away so you can see what you're doing.

You're meant to use this brush to pack on the colour and then use another brush to blend but I find that you can do a fair bit of blending with this but to get "proper" results, you do need a blender brush. The one "issue" I had was that I needed to make sure that I'd blended the colour a bit with this brush before using the blender as otherwise it all fell in on itself and I ended up with a massive smudge on my eye.

If I used my other brush, I'd have had to apply colour a million times but with this brush, it's far easier.

Here are a few blending experiments I've done with it, all colours are from the Sleek Original palette:

I'm still a blending noob but I think I'm seeing some serious improvement and it's mainly down to this brush.  I also know that there is a lot of fallout around the eye area, if I was going out with my eyes like that, I would have tidied it up..

What do you guys think? Tell me you're seeing improvement, if only to inflate my ego ;)

What do you get when you cross Basil Brush and MAC?

In short, this:

(You'd have to pay for this comedic genius in a club but here you get it for free!)

This is my first ever high end brush and I can't wait to start using it so I can improve on my blending.

I got it from Shifa's blog sale and the bristles on it are so flipping soft.  I condition my No7 brushes but the bristles (hairs?) on this brush far surpass them.

Remember my Blending 101 post? Well, in the video the 239 brush was the one I should have used to apply and blend the darker colour.  It looked similar to the No7 brush I ended up using but now I have my very own 239, I can see it is totally different.

To those of you who own MAC brushes, which are your favourites?  Which do you find are overrated?
To those of you who do not own any, which would you like to own?

Review update

I was putting my face on today and realised that my current mascara (which is now no longer HG) wasn't really doing anything for me.  I remembered how thick my lashes were when I used my L'oreal mascara..I also remember that I said I wouldn't buy it because it made my lashes feel hard and that it smelt..so why was I reaching for it this morning?

So, with this in mind I decided to do a review of my reviews.  It' worked out pretty well because I have been using these items and my mind has changed about some as time went on..I think this kind of thing is useful for those of you, who, like me, take ages deciding whether or not to buy something and also equally useful for those who don't want to trawl through all my posts to find out about certain items.

By the way, if you click on the link it will take you to my original review.

Sleek palettes

• Still in love with these, falling more and more in love with them as the days pass.  I don't think theres an occasion where you CAN'T use them.

Benefit Badgal mascara

• Still not loving this, have tried it a few more times since the review but it has done nothing at all for me.

Maybelline Lash Stiletto mascara

• Have been teaming this up with the Maybelline Colossal and also using it alone.  I'd still buy it again as it makes my lashes longer.  No patent shine though.

Prestige My Biggest Lashes mascara

• Used this time and time again when I needed knockout lashes and it still works.  I have to remind myself that 2 coats is the magic key.  I'd still buy it again.

 Clearasil Pore Cleansing Pads and Boots Time Delay Balm

• I finished one tub of the cleansing pads and am half way through another.  I won't be buying these again, not because they don't work but because I've found something much better and also that the smell of these is VERY strong.  They're excellent if you have really oily skin and are prone to spots.
• I haven't finished a tub of the Boots balm as I have been using other cleansers but I have three backups which I will get through in time.  If I didn't have them, I'd buy it again.

Urban Decay eye shadows

• I loved these then and I still love them now.  The Illegal shade has been getting some serious love from me recently.  It's nice and matte and is my "my eyes but better" go to shade.  I'm going to incease my collection of these.

Biore Warming Blackhead Fighting Cream Wash

•  This was my lover back then and it still is now.  It's the only face scrub/wash that I've used consistently for more than a week.  I have half left and will buy it again.  The only issue I had with it was the fact that it gave me tiny whiteheads all around my nose..maybe because I used it despite having no blackheads? Anyway, if you do like me and do this, do not fear because I've found a cure..the things I do for you guys!

 MAC paint pot in Indianwood

• I wasn't too happy with how this looked in pics before but assured you guys it looked good IRL..which it did.  I tried it on many times since with varying amounts of UDPP and it just won't stick to my lids.  The colour is gorgeous but I just wish it would stay put! I won't be buying another one of these when the tub is finished.

Boots 17 Bronzed and Gorgeous palette

• Probably my all time fave freebie.  My current HG shadow has well and truly hit pan and I've been using my 17 palette for a while now and I'm loving the goldeny shade in it.  If they brought this out as perm, I'd buy it...or I'd buy £5 worth of products to get it free.

Boots No7 Eyeshadow Colour and Contour brush

• My thoughts on this brush are still exactly the same.  It's the shizz.  It's fluffy (but not too fluffy), it helps you blend like a pro and because the hairs are white, you can tell how much product you've picked up.  I'm buying it again when this one fails me.
  

Anatomicals Help the Paw hand cream and Badger Balm

• Nearly finished one "packet" of handcream and the Balm has well and truly finished.  Glad I bought backups of the hand cream, the sweet smell hasn't put me off yet!  I'd buy the Balm again too.

L'oreal Telescopic Explosion mascara

• I said I wouldn't buy it and honestly, I don't think I would.  It smells funny (this coming from a girl who has both the Colossal and Stiletto) and it made my lashes really really hard.  I wouldn't call it HG as I have Prestige for that so my opinion stays the same.
  

Review: MAC paint pot in Indianwood

I bought this from a seller on Specktra for the grand sum of £6 and I fell in love with it the day it came through the post. I was itching to try it on that very day but when your brows are growing out the last thing you want to do is bring attention to them.

I applied some UDPP and then the paintpot on top of it and I must say that the jury is still out. On one hand the colour is gorgeous and it looks really nice IRL but in the photographs I took it looks like it has settled into my eye creases. My current HG neutral shade is Heather Mauve Shimmer Wash by Bobbi Brown but with that you can still see my natural lid colour peaking through but I've only tried it without UDPP so it might be different with it.

Application is a bit tricky if you're a noob like me. Firstly, it's a solidy wet eyeshadow and so a normal eyeshadow brush won't do much. I was advised to use a stiff MAC brush but the only stiff brush I have is a Bobbi Brown eyeliner brush so I used that and it worked out pretty ok. The brush became really soft with the product on it so I may retry with the new brush and see if that holds up. I've been out and bought a stiff brush from Boots with my money off voucher and it works pretty well, it's a dupe for a Bobbi Brown brush so look out for a post on that soon.

The only issue I had was that it applied a bit unevenly but that's easy to fix, just swipe the colour more one way with the first bit of colour you put on and the other way with the second bit of colour.

Here's the picturey part:

Both eyes:
This is how my eyes look IRL if you were to see me.

Individuals:
As you can see I should have dragged out the application on both lids but I didn't' but at least they look uniform in that respect. The paint pot creased with UDPP under it but I think that can be solved by applying a bit more UDPP. As I said, IRL you can't tell the difference and the colour is a really nice subtle shimmer improvement on my lids.

Repurchase?
I would rebuy this but I think this pot will take ages to use up as it's not a powder and non powders take me longer to use, I've used to crap out of my Bobbi Brown gel liner and there's still tonnes left in it. The problem of creasing can be solved by using more UDPP and application will improve with the new brush I have.

On another note, there won't be as many blog updates coming from me in the future as I'm back at work now and I have two major cases to work on, both have been in the news recently and my line of work doesn't let me say the name of the companies but those of you who know what I do will soon be able to figure it out.

My next review will be on anatomicals, a range I've wanted to try for ages :)

My first MAC orientated post: MAC Graphic Garden

I've never in my life paid for anything from MAC before, I've been given some products by friends and family in the past but have never really used them as much as MAC-aholics do. I do like them but I don't really reach for them that often. I suppose that would change had I actually gone out and bought shades which I LOVED.

I'm not sure how new/old this collection is to MAC but I do love the stuff I've pasted below.

So, here's what MAC have to say about the collection:

"A modern graphic garden grows like a haute hologram in black-and-white chic. Sleek metal compacts with lenticular Op-Art plaques and kits that trick the eye, delight the senses. Glossy black-and-white Lip bags, indispensable Brush Sets."

Here's what I want from the collection:

Graphic Garden palette:

Graphic Garden palette, which contains the following shades:

• Social Climber

• Botanical Blue

• Straight Hedge

• Wild Wisteria

• Linear Lilac

• Graphic Garden

I've taken an objective look and have realised that I could use all these colours and more importantly, I don't have more than half in my collection. I'd use the black colour for setting liner/smokey eyes, the grey colour as a lid wash, the rest compliment brown eyes and the white-ish one could be used as a highlighter/inner eye brightener. There was another palette which would suit lighter skins as it contained light oranges and peaches but this would work best for me as oranges and peaches look like chalk on my skin most of the time.

Quite the bargain at only £28.50.

Brush sets:

"A black and white patent-finished twill bag (7” x 4.5”) featuring Graphic Garden’s signature rose pattern. Contains a separate zip-up brush holder with five brushes to help shade and define your look: the 129SE, 190SE, 209SE, 219SE and 252SE (All brush sizes are w/ 6.5” x 2.5”)."

I think, THINK I can see the 219 there which I'm told is the HG shadow brush if you just want an overall wash so this is why I'm swayed by this bag over the other one. Plus, the second bag contains an eyeliner brush which I already have in this design and a blusher brush. My blusher brush is from the pound shop but I do use a Kabuki brush generally (which fares slightly better as it is from Boots) so I don't even think I'd need the blusher brush. I'm not sure what that brush on the end does, the skunky looking one..so if anyone knows, do let me know :)

I just realised it's a bit silly me saying I thought I could see the 219 there when the list clearly states it is in there, I did clock it before reading the brush numbers, honest Miss!


"A black and white patent-finished twill bag (7” x 4.5”) featuring Graphic Garden’s signature poppy pattern. Contains a separate zip-up brush holder with five brushes specially selected to help shape and perfect your look: the 168SE, 187SE, 194SE, 212SE and 275SE (All brush sizes are w/ 6.5” x 2.5”)."

OK, two became three but in my defence I need to choose between which brush set is best for someone who already has a foundation brush, a lip brush, three eyeliner brushes and a basic eye shadow brush..none of which are MAC.

Both brush sets retail at £39.50

This is where you lovely readers come in, which collection would you suggest for someone who mainly wears eyeshadow, blusher and foundation? I'm leaning towards the first one but the two brushes at the top scare me..Also, are these brushes full size or a smaller size?