The Cutest Brush EVER? Japonesque Safari Chic

Japonesque Safari Chic Bronzer Brush available at HQ Hair - Link

Hi Ladies! I hope you are all well and have exciting weekend plans. I'm off out tonight with my friend Camille so I am very excited about that. One thing I will be using whilst I'm getting ready tonight is this amazingly cute bronzer brush from Japonesque. Now being a lover of kabuki brushes anyway (I've tried LOADS!), the fact that this one has animal 'safari' style hairs makes it all the more appealing. I mean seriously, have you ever seen a cuter makeup brush than this?

Anyway, now I've gushed over the outer appearance of this brush, I'll get on to talking about the brush itself. Japonesque isn't a brand I had ever tried before but I'd always heard great things about their brushes on twitter and other blogs. So when they tweeted asking bloggers if they would like the opportunity to try their new collection, I jumped at the chance. The whole collection includes the bronzer brush I was sent and a three piece set that includes a powder, shadow and crease brush. Now obviously I can't judge the other three brushes but the kabuki has to be the softest brush I have ever felt in my life. When I first took it out of it's little box I just couldn't stop touching it. (Okay, I sound like a creep!)

As well as being exceptionally soft, it is very dense and picks up product with ease. As it is a kabuki brush it is best used for application of powder and mineral products so I have been using it almost every day to apply bronzer to my cheeks and t-zone. The hairs are synthetic and I haven't experienced any shedding since I began using it a couple of weeks ago. They are also cruelty-free and not tested on animals which is an even bigger bonus.

Now moving on to the bad part, boo! This brush costs a whopping £19.50 which in my opinion is a lot of money to spend on a brush. However, what I will say is that kabuki brushes do tend to cost a lot more than any other brush. I'm guessing it's because they have more hairs? Hmmm. Anyway, although it is expensive it's still much cheaper than the likes of a MAC kabuki which makes it seem more acceptable (any excuse!). If you aren't willing to splash the cash out on a treat for yourself, I would 100% recommend popping these brushes on your christmas list or buying them as a gift for your mum, sister, friend or whoever would appreciate it. I certainly know I'd love to receive the three-piece set as a christmas gift. Hint, Hint haha!

Overall I absolutely adore this brush and it adds a little bit of wow factor to my otherwise plain makeup brushes. As much as I love the brushes I currently use, this has been a joy to grab from my makeup bag every morning. I mean who doesn't love a bit of animal print from time to time? As Japonesque would say 'explore your wild side!'.

Have you tried Japonesque brushes or their Safari Chic collection?

Lots of Love,

Cleaning My Make-Up Brushes

Hey Ladies! Now I don't know if its just me but cleaning my make-up brushes is one thing I really need to start doing more? I am so lazy when it comes to cleaning them because I always find it such a mission. It usually means me setting aside a good hour to do them all and to be honest, as I'm using them almost every day I just don't find the time to faff around and leave them to dry for hours? However,  my brushes were getting disgustingly dirty and for hygiene reasons I decided enough was enough and set about giving them a much needed deep clean. I used to use MAC Brush Cleanser for cleaning all of my brushes and the whole process took forever. I didn't realise the brush cleaner was mainly used for spot cleaning so attempting to clean huge powder and face brushes with this method was becoming quite difficult. I was finding myself pouring it onto the brushes just to get them clean and at 8.00 a bottle this just wasn't cost effective in the slightest.

I decided I needed something that would give my brushes a good deep clean so I went and bought some Johnson's Baby Shampoo. When I was thinking of something I could clean them with, I thought, what better product than Johnson's? If its gentle enough for babies, I'm sure it will be fine on my brushes. Plus it is super cheap so my purse would thank me for buying this over another bottle of MAC. Anyway, with the Johnson's in tow I got all of my dirty brushes together ready for the big clean. I didn't actually realise how dirty they were until seeing them all together. The amount of bacteria I must have been putting on my face is gross. Anyway, moving on from that lovely thought.

I wasn't 100% sure how I was going to clean them at first so I started by filling the kitchen sink with warm water and creating bubbles with the Johnsons's. I began cleaning one of my large powder brushes but realised this method wasn't going to work. As all of the make-up began to come off my brush it just make the water a hideous brown colour and therefore I was just going to be washing my brushes in a dirty make-up water mess. I scrapped that plan and decided to clean them by applying the Johnsons's to the actual brush, rubbing it between my fingers to lather it and then running it under a the warm tap. This method worked perfectly and all of the make-up quickly disappeared from the brush. I couldn't believe how quickly it actually got rid of every last bit of old make-up. I continued doing this with a few more of my larger brushes and within five minutes they were squeaky clean.

For my smaller eye brushes I decided I would use the MAC Brush Cleaner as it does work well for small brushes. I use this by pouring a small about onto some kitchen or toilet roll and swirling the brush about until all of the shadow has been removed. I have to say the amount of eyeshadow that comes off a teeny eyeshadow brush is shocking. The toilet paper was a mass of shadowy mess once I'd finished with it. As you can see from the pictures above, my little MAC pencil brush was back to its former white self once I'd finished with it. Once I had cleaned a few, I laid them out onto a small hand towel to dry. They probably took around 2 hours to dry fully but that was fine as I'd already done my makeup and didn't need to use them again until later in the evening. When I did come to use them again, they felt amazing on my skin. I can't believe what a difference a little bit of TLC can make. As well as them feeling and smelling beautiful, I felt good knowing I wasn't using a dirty brush to apply my make-up. Mission completed.

Are you lazy like me when it comes to cleaning your make-up brushes?

What method do you use to clean them?

Lots of Love,

Real Techniques Core Collection

L-R Detailer Brush, Pointed Foundation Brush, Contour Brush & Buffing Brush

Hey Beauties! If any of you read my 'New Brushes' post, you will know that I recently ordered myself some Real Techniques brushes from online beauty website, Love Makeup. Most of you will of probably heard of these brushes by now as Bloggers all over the Bloggersphere have been blogging about them. (What a mouthful). However, just incase you haven't heard of them they are created by Samantha Chapman, one half of the infamous 'Pixiwoo' beauty gurus on youtube. When I heard about these and saw all the blog posts, I just had to get my hands on them and test them out for myself.

As I have been using them for a good few weeks now, I feel I have used them enough to give an accurate and thorough review. This specific set, the 'Core Collection' cost me £20.99 and is a selection of face brushes. There are two other sets available from the Love Makeup website, including a Starter Kit and Travel Kit. As well as these sets, you can also buy individual brushes priced at £10.99. 

I decided to go for the Core Collection kit as it comes with four brushes I could see myself getting the most use out of. The kit includes a Detailer, Pointed Foundation, Contour and Buffer brush. I specifically had my eye on the Buffer and Contour as I thought they looked perfect for my powder and bronzer.

As I said, I have been using them for a while now and so far I love them. These really are great quality brushes and exceptional value for money. Since parting with my £20.99, I have reached for them whilst getting ready almost every day. The two I use most are the Buffing and Contour but as I was mainly buying the kit for those two anyway, the other two brushes included were just a nice bonus. I use the Buffer brush mainly for my powder but I sometimes use it for blush too. I hear it is also great for foundation, but I am yet to give that a go. As for the Contour, I use it for it's main purpose, contouring. I swirl this in my NARS Laguna and apply it underneath my cheekbones. As it has quite a small head (if that's the correct term) you can create a precise and strong contour which I love. 

As for the Pointed Foundation and Detailer brush, unfortunately they have been neglected. It's not because I don't like them, I just don't find myself having any use for them. One thing I will say is that these brushes are a lot smaller in reality than they look on pictures. Even on my own pictures above, they look larger than they actually are. The foundation brush, in my opinion, is nowhere near big enough for foundation application. I think I would be sat applying my foundation all day if I were to use that. I have used it a few times but for concealer under my eyes instead which I think is a more appropriate way use it. As for the detailer brush, it is so teeny tiny, I really don't know what to use it for. If you have any suggestions, please let me know in the comments.

As for the quality of these brushes, they are fab. They aren't harsh on the skin, they haven't shed at all and they have remained amazingly soft. Overall, I absolutely love them and I am planning on getting some more of the individual brushes. I believe they are currently included in the 3 for 2 offer at Boots, a perfect excuse for me to go and get a few more I say.

Have you tried the Real Techniques brushes? What do you think? Would you recommend any?

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend! I'm hungover and feeling sorry for myself but I'm sure Britain's Got Talent, Take Me Out and The Voice will make me feel much better. What a great night of reality TV.

Lots of Love,

Sigma E35 Blending Brush

I recently mentioned this brush in my 'New Brushes' post here. I had been eyeing this up for ages after hearing so many people say it was an identical dupe for the MAC 217. As the MAC one was a tad out of my price range I decided to jump on the Sigma E35 bandwagon. I ordered this from online beauty website Love Makeup for the bargain price of £8.99. That's half the price of the MAC one, happy days.

Anyway, as I said in my 'New Brushes' post, i didn't want to rave on about this too much before I had actually used it a few times and got a feel for it. I have used it about 5/6 times for my eye makeup since writing that post and I am in LOVE. I think its my new favourite brush. Now I have never tried the MAC 217 before but I have seen posts/videos reviewing it and numerous google images. Firstly, the Sigma brush looks identical. When I say identical, I mean everything from the handle, colour and bristles. (Is bristles the right word?) Anyway, you know what I mean. The one thing I love about MAC brushes is their classic, simple design and the Sigma ones have that same chic look.

The one thing that most people say they love about the MAC 217 brush is how well it applies and blends shadow in the crease which is the main reason I wanted it. I didn't own anything that blended my 'crease' colour easily. When I go on a night out I like to do the whole, lighter colour on the lid and a dark black/brown in the crease. I found that I was having difficulty blending the darker colour out so needed a brush to make my life easier. This is where the Sigma E35 comes into the picture. As I say, I just couldn't justify £16.00 on a teeny eyeshadow brush from MAC so I went for the cheaper alternative with Sigma.

After using this, it blends my eyeshadow like a dream. I apply the darker colour with this brush in circular motions in the 'crease' area and then buff the colour out so it isn't so harsh. It takes me a few minutes to do and achieves a pretty, smokey effect. It is the perfect brush to complete my eyeshadow routine quickly and easily.

I really can't recommend this brush enough. If you are looking for a blending brush to make application of eyeshadow easier, this is the brush for you. 

Have you ever used this brush or the MAC 217 before? You can also buy this brush on the Sigma website, here.

Lots of Love,

Kayleigh..

xXx.

New Brushes

I made an order on Love Makeup recently for some new makeup brushes. I absolutely love this website as you can find all kinds of stuff on there that isn't easily available on the highstreet. I first discovered this website when I was on the hunt for some Sigma brushes and now it has provided me with this lovely lot. if you haven't heard of this website before, check it out here.


As you can see, I got the 'Real Techniques' Core Collection brush kit. I have been hearing SO much about this on Blogger at the minute, that I just couldn't resist trying them out. If you haven't heard of Real Techniques, it is a line of affordable makeup brushes created by Samantha Chapman, one half of Pixiwoo. Pixiwoo are two sisters Sam and Nic, who make amazing youtube videos and write a blog. They have made a huge success for themselves and Sam has had the amazing opportunity to launch her own brush collection. I always like to support 'real' girls like this as I feel they deserve every success for their dedication to making videos and blogging. Anyway, back to the actual brushes. This kit cost me £20.99 which I think is brilliant value. That works out at around £5.25 per brush. When you think of how much one MAC brush costs, this is an amazing deal. I am not going to go into detail about the brushes as I'm going to do a separate review when I have used them more. On first impressions though, I am very impressed.


I also got the Sigma Tapered Blending E25 brush. I have wanted this brush for a long time now after hearing so many people say it was an exact dupe for the MAC 217. This cost me £8.99 which is around half the price of the MAC 217. I just can't justify spending £16.00 at MAC on an eyeshadow brush so when I heard of this Sigma copy, I had to buy it. I used this last night and wow, it is amazing. I have never used the MAC 217 but I have seen it and this is identical. Again, I won't go into too much detail as I will do a separate review after using it for a while.


Lastly, I got the Crown Basics B20 Brow Brush. I had never heard of this brand before but I needed an brow bush and I figured they couldn't really go wrong with a brow brush. They all seem the same to me so I ordered this one for the massive bargain price of £1.77. Ah, I love finding such a good bargain. I also used this last night and it is fab. It does the job and I'm so glad I didn't spend a stupid amount of money on a more expensive version. All the brushes from this line were really in-expensive so I may have to try a few of the other brushes they have to offer in the future.


Overall, I am very happy with my goodies from Love Makeup. I have also come to the conclusion you really don't need to spend a fortune on makeup brushes to get good quality. All of this cost me £31.75 and they all do the job well. When I first got into makeup I thought I had to have every brush from MAC as nothing else would compare in quality. How wrong was I? Sigma is gradually becoming my favourite brush brand and they are half the price of MAC. Yay for bargain brushes.

I hope everyone is having a lovely Sunday. I have to go to work tonight, oh the joys.

Lots of Love,

Kayleigh..

xXx.