High End Make Up Haul

Hi Everyone. Back with a haul for you today. These are the more expensive make up bits I have purchased over the past few months.

Benefit Cheeky Sweet Spot 

I absolutley adore this product! It was part of Benefits Christmas Collection and I was lucky enough to get the very last one on the House Of Fraser website after hunting everywhere for it. It contains 6 very generous sized blushers, Dandelion, Bella Bamba, Sugarbomb, Hoola (Bronzer), Coralista and Rockateur. A 1.5g sample of Watts Up Highligher and a teeny tiny brush. All for the amazing prize of just £29.50. The Rockateur blush in here is actaully full size and would cost £23.50 alone so you can see just how great value for money this product really is. I know you can't get hold of it anymore but I couldn't not share it with you all.

MAC Studio Fix Fluid

Next up is a old favourite of mine, MAC's Studio Fix Fluid in NC15. I used to swear by this foundation but haven't actually purchased one for a number of years now. The coverage is excellent and the staying power is one of the best I have come across. Many people find this foundation too heavy and cakey but for my combination skin it is just right. The pump is actually one I bought a few years back hence why it looks so grubby but it works, so why buy a new one right? I bought this in the Selfridges sale for around £19 the price it was when I first started buying it!

Urban Decay Naked 2

   

I seem to be working my way backwards when it comes to the Urban Decay Naked Palettes. I started with Naked 3, I then decided this one was a must buy and I'm sure I will eventually purchase the original to complete the collection. Naked 2 is the more cool toned of the 3 palettes and suits my pale complexion perfectly. Since buying this, the 3rd palette which I absolutely adored has well and truely taken a back seat, and rarely sees the light of day. This one is much more wearable and is by far my favourite out of the 2. No.3 is definitely a speacial occasion kinda palette nowadays.

MAC 217

 

It's about time I got my hands on this blogger favourite. Gorgeously soft and perfect for blending eye shadow, I definitely understand the hype now. This brush is an absolute gem. Although I am rather disappointed of how wispy some of the bristles seem to have gone after a few washes, a few of them now point in different directions instead of being nice and straight. Very disappointing for the price of this little thing but I love it all the same, I'm just praying it doesn't get any worse.

The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer

Another firm blogger favourite, The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer is officially one of my favourite highlighters. Its the most perfect champagne highlight that looks great on my pale skin. It's super pigmented, you really only need a tiny touch of this to add a lovely glow to the face. This is going to last me a very long time. I'm still yet to even make a dent in it.

MAC Show Orchid & Rebel. YSL Rouge Pur Couture Le Mats 207

Last but certaintly not least, 3 beautiful lipsticks that I'm sure you have all heard of. MAC's Show Orchid is a very vivid fuschia pink with a somewhat blueish shimmer running through it. It is amazingly pigmented and I am so happy to finally own it after MAC made Pro Products more readily available to us here in the UK, once again I am in love! MAC Rebel is another much hyped product and once again for great reason. As with all MAC lipsticks I own the pigmentation is great and you only need one quick swipe for great colour pay off, and built up it is even more stunning. Rebel is a gorgeous berry colour that leans more towards pink on my lips. It is nothing like this picture that makes it look almost black, my apologies for that. And finally YSL Rouge Pur Couture Le Mats in 207 is a very on trend lipstick shade at the minute. Which I 100% purchased because I saw the beautiful Amelia Liana raving about it. It's a lovely dusky rose colour and is perfect for mimicing Kylie Jenner's famous 90's style pout. Although this is a matte shade it is not drying at all, it glides on and sits on the lips perfectly and feels like any other lipstick. Staying power is excellent and I very rarely need to top this up.

As you can tell I have been treating myself quite a lot since getting my new job and these are the more expensive picks from the bunch.

I hope you are all having a lovely day and enjoyed this post. Please do let me know of any posts you would like to see here on my blog as I am just getting back into the swing of things and would appreciate any ideas you may have.

Much Love Gemma 

My Everyday Makeup Look

Today I have decided to share with you, what I put onto my face on a daily basis. I don't wear makeup every single day, but when I am going shopping, for a casual day with my friends or running other errands this is the look I will go for. It literally takes me about 10-15 minutes and is super simple to create.

 

  (Sorry I forgot to clean the products before photographing!!)

 

For my face I have recently been using Max Factor Facefinity All Day Flawless, which is a 3 in 1 primer foundation and concealer. The coverage is medium to full and lasts all day on me. My skin doesn't look at all cakey with this, and it blends in easily. I always spend the longest time blending in my foundation (anything up to 5 minutes) to make sure I have a smooth even finish with no harsh lines. I then dot the amazing Collection Lasting Perfection concealer on any blemishes or marks my foundation doesn't cover. After this I use my Sleek Face Form palette, to lightly contour and highlight my cheekbones and add a little bit of colour. This doesn't show up in these pictures because I do it so lightly, I only go for a heavy contour on nights out or other occasion where I like to look more 'done up'.

 

 For my eyes and brows I use the MUA Undress Me Too eyeshadow palette. On my brows I use the shade Lavish which is a perfect match for me. I have severely hit pan on this because I use this constantly instead of my HD Brow Palette that I save for special occasions. On my lids I sweep Wink all over this is a gorgeous shimmery rose gold/bronze colour. In the outer corner and crease I blend in Obsessed a deep brown with shimmer (that doesn't actually show in my swatch). I used to always use black eyeliner on my waterline but I've recently decided to stop doing that, as it can look a bit too heavy and I now just smudge a bit of Obsessed along my bottom lash line. I then use Devotion in the inner corners to make my eyes stand out.

 

 

For my lashes recently I have been swapping and changing the mascara I use on my top lashes to try and decrease the amount of drugstore mascaras I have in my collection. Today I have used the Maybelline Mega Plush Volume Express, which gives me some length and volume but it's not the best I've ever tried. And of course on my bottom lashes I have the Maybelline Big Eyes bottom lash mascara. On my lips I sometimes use a lip balm or gloss, but today I haven't bothered with anything.

 

 

Brush wise I use, Real Techniques Buffing Brush for my foundation, and the Deluxe Crease Brush for concealer. On my cheeks I use the Real Techniques Contour Brush for my contour and blush. And for highlighter I use a Fan Brush from my brush set from my college Beauty Therapy kit. For eyeshadow I use the Crown Brush C417 Chubby Shadow Brush to pack on the colour all over my lid. Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush for the crease and outer corner colour, then Crown Brush C441 Pro Blending Crease to blend the two colours together. For the gold inner corners I use the Real Techniques Fine Liner Brush bringing it down onto my bottom lash line and the Accent Brush for the darker colour on the rest of my lash line. And finally the Brow Brush again from Real Techniques to fill in my brows. Wow that's a lotta brushes for such a minimal makeup look!!

 

 

I hope you like my first ever post showing me actually wearing make up. Any feed back will be greatly appreciated. And next time I will let my hair down for the pictures instead of keeping it up away from my face! I can not believe I forgot my hair was up like that!!

Much Love

Gemma xo.



How I Clean My Make Up Brushes

Hi Everyone. Today I thought I'd share with you how I clean my make up brushes. I don't do anything special with them and in all honesty I am down right lazy when it comes to brush cleaning! Only doing it every so often when I finally remember! It's pretty disgusting and shameful I know. I'm sorry!

All I use to clean my brushes is a cheap baby shampoo and a sponge.

To be precise I use this Wilkinson's own baby shampoo and a cheap Wilkinsons bath sponge. In total they probably cost less than £2 to buy. So you really don't need buckets of money to keep your brushes clean and hygienic! This is what I do every month or so to get my brushes nice and clean. I know I should really do it once a week but like I said I'm lazy :| -

Step 1 - 

I run the brush under luke warm water. Not hot! Trying to only wet the bristles so I don't remove any of the glue holding the brush together which could potentially ruin the whole thing.

Step 2 - 

Wet the sponge and apply a blob of shampoo on to it. Swirl the brush in it and rinse, continuing to do so until the water runs clear, and all make up is removed.

Step 4 - 

Finally I re shape my brushes and lie them flat on a towel to dry over night. If I need my brushes in a hurry. Eg, I'm going on a night out and decide hours before leaving the house, I need to clean my brushes. I will clean them as normal and set them out on a window sill where the sunlight can dry them! Which probably isn't good for my brushes and isn't always possible. So I need some kind of spot cleaning product to help me out in times like these and to also keep my brushes cleaner and more hygenic! If you use a spot cleaner please let me know which one you use so I can take a look at them. I'm thinking of buying the MAC Brush Cleanser so please give me your opinions on that.

For reference the majority of my brushes are Real Techniques, which I absolutely adore!! I also have a brush roll of around 24 brushes from when I did Beauty Therapy at college, these are the pinky/purple handled ones. I only ever use them when I am desperate, because they really are pretty rubbish! Hence why there's only 4 of them here. And that little black brush is the brush that came with my Maybelline Gel Eyeliner! I love it. I'd love to know your favourite brushes, because I am looking to buy some new ones.

I hope you enjoyed this post and some of you may have a better idea of how to clean your brushes now.

Much Love Gemma xo.