Real Techniques Sculpting Set | Review

#reallifegrubbybrushes


Disclaimer: I both use and wash my make-up brushes, unfortunately, these three were not all clean at the same time. Apologies.


This is a lovely Real Techniques set I received for my birthday - it's definitely not one  you hear about much, or one that I had even seen very much in the shops or online - but it really is great and an all-round good selection.


I'm not one for contour, I have fairly pronounced cheekbones which make me look dead at the best of times without me creating even more of a shadow, and I don't believe this set of brushes needs to used for contouring or sculpting at all.


The angled face brush - probably meant for contour - is ah-mazing for foundation. Like, literally so good - its really dense so it really blends the product into your skin without leaving horrible streaky marks, and it's quite skinny; making it easy to get around the nose, eyes and eyelids. You could definitely use this for contour too if you were that way inclined, but I definitely count this as a flawless base brush.


The next brush, in the photo, is the fan brush, which is something I didn't think I needed... what the hell was I doing with highlight before this brush? I will never know. Amazing for highlighting cheekbones, under the brow, topline, bottom lip, all the lips (oo-er). I luff it.


Lastly, a brush I already had in some form or another, but definitely an absolutely essential for so many things. This is the setting brush, and it's perfect for just that -setting the under eyes- as well as being totally brill for blending concealer under the eyes, around the nose and wherever else you might find it. Having two of these still isn't enough, I need 10.


So yeah, definitely a brush set I would strongly recommend, and one which could probably cover absolutely all bases if you needed it to - foundation, concealer, powder, bronzer, highlight, and probably blush as well.


Thanks for reading! x

Make-up tool storage

Being a brush enthusiast, storage is very important to me, and I love to browse Amazon looking for new pots and mugs... pretty much to give me an excuse to buy even more brushes.

At the moment I'm using these H&M handle-less mugs, one for face brushes, one for eye brushes. I would definitely recommend having a look at H&M homeware if you're after storage like this - I picked these up for a steal at £2 each I think. Or maybe they were £1...
Primark is another good place to look, they always have mugs and pots which could be handy for this sort of thing. TK Maxx too.

For my sponge, I use this little glass pot which is actually a candle holder but works really well to pop my sponge in. Also, because its glass, it gets pretty grubby fairly quickly, so it really encourages me to keep it clean.

So yeah, bit of a random post, buuuut...thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed :)

Lou xxx

The £1.50 brush you all need

You would never think to look in Primark for make-up brushes, would you? However, having previously had a lot of luck with a mini powder brush back in my teenage days, I took a chance with this £1.50 small flat-topped stippling brush and I'm actually really impressed with it.
To give you an idea of size, here is my face:

It's absolutely perfect for blending cream blushes, bronzers or highlighters, and is soft and wash-able at the same time.
I love it so much that I might have to buy (a few) more.

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

Travel Brush Edit

Being away from my full selection of make-up brushes really stresses me out, and I find it just as hard to limit my brushes as my actual make- up when I go away.
I always limit my selection to whatever I can fit into one of these Real Techniques pouches, which can comfortably hold these 9 brushes.
I also carry my travel powder brush in my bag at all times, so I have no need to pack an extra one when I go away.
It goes without saying that most of my brushes in general are Real Techniques, and when I go away I tend to take my favourites...which, funnily enough, are Real Techniques too.

Face brushes

Face brush wise, on this trip, I took my sponge, which I don't normally do because it's so annoying to travel with.
My Buffing Brush is my pick for base application. It blends in my foundation or whatever I'm putting on my face really well, and its nice and big and easy to use.
I use the Expert Face Brush for bronzer. I find that the dense bristles blend and buff a soft bronzer (normally the Body Shop Honey Bronzer) into my skin really well.
The Multi Tasker brush is fab for blusher; nice and big and cheek shaped. It doesn't plonk too much product on your chops, but if it does, you can always wack out the expert face brush for an extra blend.
The Elf Blush Brush is fabulous for highlight. If I'm using a powder highlight I will normally reach for this brush to swipe it along my cheekbones and blend  into the rest of my face products. Really cheap too! If you're really good with setting your under-eyes, this is a great one for that too.
The RT duo- fibre eye brush is my favourite for concealer. Either under my eyes or around a blemish, this is a really good one for softly buffing in product for a seamless finish.

Eyes

Eyes- wise (oo-er), I managed to pack almost the whole essential eye kit from Real Techniques without meaning to.
The Base shadow Brush is great for exactly that- getting the base of your shadow down. It's great for packing or brushing product onto the lids.
The Domed shadow Brush is fabulous for the crease. It's just the right size so that you get just enough in the right place, and just the right consistency to blend everything out beautifully.
The Duluxe Crease Brush is perfect for blending. Dodgy edges, complicated blending and colour-layering, this brush does it all.
The Accent Brush gets right up under the bottom lashes, or right into the crease if you're trying to get a more intense contrast. It's also great to wing out colour, or pack a dark colour on the outer corner, as it's so precise, it's hard to go over- board.

I find that for a trip, this collection covers the basics and allows me to do everything I want. If I'm away for more than a few days, I'd definitely give them all a wash, especially the concealer brush, to keep them clean.

Hope you enjoyed this, and it was helpful!
Thanks for reading
Lou x

Budget Brushes

Normally, when someone talks about Budget make- up brushes, they mean Real Techniques or Eco Tools. Not me, I mean straight -up under five pounds budget. I do own Real Techniques brushes, but they are  some of my most precious beauty items, and I love them so much- most of them were actually presents for Christmas/ birthday. So, I know the struggle of trying to find good make up brushes for a couple of quid when you can only dream of MAC or Zoeva brushes. 

(I apologise for the photographs- it was dark so I used my desk light. Everything is awful.)

So here's the collection. I'll talk you through bit by bit, and as far as I'm aware, all of these brands still excist and are easily available. All of these brushes cost me under £3, most of them under £2, and I'll let you know which ones are worth picking up.

We'll start with the two odd ones out. These two are both powder brushes, and I have had them both for about two years, having washed them at least once every two weeks. Neither shred, and they are both as soft as when I bought them. The black one is from Primark and it is so soft and lovely, perfect for powdering or for bronzer. The only bad thing about it is the size. You've probably noticed, it's a tiny brush. You don't understand how angry this makes me, and how irritating it is sitting in my brush pot. But, it was one or two pounds, and has lasted so well, I would definitely recommend it. The pink one is from H&M and was £1.99. I haven't tried anything else from their beauty range, but this brush is the perfect blush brush. The right size, nice and soft, and blends everything like a dream. Also it's pink and a heart shape- what is not to love here.

These two are from the Wilkinson's brush range, and they are both good. The stippling brush is really nice, cost about £3, and does blend your foundation in nicely. However, because I have the RT Buffing brush, I don't normally stray from it, so this brush doesn't get much use. The small brush is one of my favourites, and perfect for travelling. It's a double sided brush called the 'smokey eye duo' brush. I don't use this for smokey eyes, but I use the angled brush for eyebrows and it is PER.FECT. I even prefer it to my RT eyebrow brush because it is smaller and even softer. The other end is a nice fluffy blending brush which is good for the crease, or for blending in foundation- whatever you want. This can be annoying to store, but I kept the little plastic wrap it came with, for the eyebrow end, so I pop that on and store it that way up and nothing gets squished! Perfect. The Wilko brush collection is definitely worth a look, I have my eye on their large powder brush which is so soft.

These two slick looking black brushes are actually part of the new brush collection from Revolution. These were both under £2 and I'm seriously impressed with them both. They are the E103 and E104. I've been looking for a cheap brush like the thin slanted brush for AGES, perfect for applying dark eyeshadow along the lashline. Amazing. The other is a really good blending brush, not the fluffiest, but pretty darn good.

These two are my oldest make up brushes. Bless them, theyve had a lot of wear. They are both from the brand W7 which I have never seen a store, but I bought them both from Amazon. The bigger one is a really really good staple eyeshadow brush, not too big, not too small. Amazing. I would recommend picking it up. The other one I use as a lipbrush, but I suppose it could be used for eyes too.

These last two are ELF brushes. When I did this order from ELF, I ordered three, I also got the powder brush from the main collection- the white packing. It was AWFUL. Scratchy and gross. Anyway. These two are good, so ignore that. The white one is a 'defining eye brush' which is quite thin and quite... not packed with hair?  It's very fluffy, so I wouldn't use it to apply along the lashline, but I would absolutely use it to smudge it out. The black brush is from the studio line, which is a slightly more expensive but still really cheap, and its the Blush brush. Now, this does work for blush, yes. BUT its the perfect size for highlighter. Amazing. Really soft and great. I would definitely recommend the ELF studio brush line.

I hope that's helped you know where to look for really good value brushes, it's definitely taken me years to find some good ones!
Thanks for reading
Lou x