Tag: brushes

MAC Nutcracker Sweet Basic Brush Set.

As someone who has loved and used makeup for quite a few years, with time comes experience, learning and the realization that how you apply your makeup is just as important as the finished creation. To sum up my introduction – brushes and blenders are a must have for application!

When I really started getting into perfecting my makeup and skills of some sort, I discovered the wonderful Real Techniques and have been using them for years. However, it was with sheer delight and utter surprise that for Christmas I received the MAC Nutcracker Sweet Basic Brush Set  – which in my opinion, is without doubt their best packaging yet! I must add, as the season is sadly well and truly over – this product is on sale for £31.50, saving around £15. Although some may find this price pretty expensive for, “brushes” I know that some products can often cost near the £100 mark! So for five applicators from a very established brand this is most definitely a great deal.

Within this set you get a lip, foundation or blush, eye liner, fluff and powder brush set all included in a beautiful matching pink and purple bag. Also, not only did my wonderful mum get me this for Christmas – she also picked up a MAC  Fan Brush for highlighting. As expected from this brand, the quality of the product is absolutely wonderful – the brushes are so fine and soft! But yes, with quality you do often pay a fair bit extra and at £20, this was definitely not the cheapest. However, I always think to myself that if you want a long lasting product then sometimes you do have to pay that little bit extra. The packaging is classic MAC – black and silver and most definitely bold and iconic, oozing every inch of style.

This product is perfect for your everyday make up and a wonderful starter pack if you’re just getting into makeup brushes and want something that will stand the test of time. Furthermore, it’s such a great size to take with you whether you’re travelling or simply off out for the day. Although my fan brush was bought separately, it happily fits in the bag with the other products so that’s definitely an extra bonus.

Furthermore, not only is the packaging and each brush absolutely stunning – like seriously beautiful, but the box the set comes in matches the bag and each product! So naturally, I’ve kept that too and I can justify that by the extra packaging keeping the products even safer.

The MAC Nutcracker Sweet Collection is just a dream for makeup lovers or for people who appreciate pretty things and I will be using it all year round for sure! So, I’d definitely grab it whilst you can as it won’t be in stock for much longer – sobs. However, I can’t wait to see what they release next!

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Real Techniques.

I adore applying my make up, but what makes it even more fun is using brushes! My favourite brand that I have been using for years are the wonderful Real Techniques! Not only is it less messy, but brushes are key for blending and using your products to the best of their purpose.


For years I’ve used their brushes for applying my foundation, blusher and powder and they’ve lasted wonderfully! Therefore, I was thrilled when I opened up a Birthday present and received a gift set of five brushes with a lovely glam clutch to keep them all together! I’ve already watched some of my favourite YouTubers; TheRoxetera and MyPaleSkinBlog use some of these products so I couldn’t wait to try them out whilst applying my every day make up.

As well as the silver clutch bag, you get five different brushes; a fine liner brush, a base shadow brush, an angled highlighter brush, a foundation brush and a multi task brush which I use for applying my blusher. The other brushes I already own are; a powder brush, a lipstick brush and a silicone eyeliner brush.

When I finally tried the brushes, I was far from disappointed, not only is the quality of each product exceptional, they look absolutely beautiful. Each brush is a specific colour for a reason, example being all of the purple brushes are for your eye make up. They are all perfectly shaped to apply to the contours of your face and since I have used the brushes, not one bristle has came out! Anyone who has used a cheaper make up brush will know what a pet peeve that can be.

Although I love all of the brushes, my favourite one would probably be the fine liner brush. A few months ago I bought a silicone liner brush from the same brand, which I was very impressed with. However, I prefer the fine liner style, I feel the brush can be applied further into the crease of your top lid and the brushes take the eyeliner better than the silicone style brush. It’s nice to have the option to use either one though!

Ever since I started using the retractable lip brush, I’ve noticed how much quicker I can apply my lipstick. I also produce a much cleaner result! In using a brush I can blend different shades together without mixing the actually lipstick and I find it a lot easier extending my lip line!

The great thing about the eye shadow brushes is the different available sizes in product! Some of the brushes are wider and shaped bigger whilst some of the brushes are petite and better for applying eye shadow to the inner crease of your eyelid.

The blush brush is a lot different to my original and I must say that I definitely prefer my new product. It’s a lot thicker and fuller and instead of just applying it by brushing it on I can now press the blush on my cheeks and blend it in better. It’s also great that it’s made to apply bronzer and powder too, not just blusher. Plus, it’s my first pink brush so I find it very aesthetically pleasing!

As soon as I tried my new foundation brush I knew I would no longer be using my old one. Nothing was wrong with it, however I love the curved brushes, the wider shape and thicker bristles. It’s great for blending and very soft on your face. I recommend Real Techniques to all who appreciate good products for applying make up!

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Floral Fever.

Flowers always brighten your day, therefore, I’m a firm believer in wearing them in your hair even when you’re not in San Francisco! I’ve always loved flower accessories, I’ve worn them for around eight years in my hair, maybe it stems my love of 1960s fashion, who knows? Maybe I just like to try and be creative.

I absolutely adore Accessorize, this shop is without doubt my go to for hair accessories, it’s so unique and quirky and I’d recommend it everyone! My mums favourite accessory are earrings and she shares my love for Accessorize too, sadly she didn’t find anything, but I did find some lovely flowers!  I hadn’t bought any in quite a while as I’m pretty picky with the sizes and shapes and try not to get the same old colours.

To my surprise I found a beautiful set of turquoise, blue and silver flowers, not your everyday colours and knew that I had to add them to my collection. My favourite colour to wear is blue and I knew I had a few outfits at home that they would compliment. I also found a large red rose flower, my other favourite colour to wear because of my love for red lipstick and so I bought that one also. Sadly the prices for flowers can be fairly expensive, these were around £8.99, but for all the years you get out of them it’s worth it.

 I have a set of four red flowers, which are very similar to my new blue and silver ones, so I was pretty confident that I would like the way my new flowers fitted. However, I think I had my hopes set too high for the red rose, although I think it’s beautiful, I’m not sure if I think it’s too big. I guess I found it quite hard to place in my hair, but practice makes perfect, so I haven’t gave up hope on it yet.

I also found the most adorable key-ring, a beautiful red lipstick! Being that red is my favourite shade to wear, I was very pleased, however, that’s the only one available as far as I’m aware. Hopefully they will bring other shades out soon! The classic black and gold case make it feel like a true vintage lipstick!

My favourite make up brushes to use are the wonderful Real Techniques, I’ve used their Foundation, Blusher and Powder brush for years and I’ve recently started using their Lipstick brush too which I also love. I’ve had their Eye Shadow and Eyeliner brush on my to buy list for quite a while now, but every time I’ve been to Boots – they’ve been out of stock! However, luck was in my favour this time as not only did I see both brushes in stock, there was an offer for buy one get one half price, yay!

I first tried both today and was very impressed, not only are they very aesthetically pleasing, but they’re so quality made! The difference in using my Real Techniques Eye Shadow brush compared to my other one was very noticeable, none of the bristles came off and they were incredibly soft. The brush was shaped very well for shading and contouring on my eyelid and I can’t wait to use it again!

The Eye Liner brush is definitely my favourite, I love using the Maybelline Eye Studio Gel Liner, the only problem is that with the original brush, I find it can be quite hard on the eyelid and too thick. Therefore, I was so pleased to try this new one, it’s made out of silicone and shaped very thinly, which is great if you like to build up the eyeliner like myself. I will be trying the brush with my liquid eyeliner too, hopefully I will have the same result!

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