I have previously posted about owning my first MAC products and since then, my collection has grown a little, only in lipsticks. I've not really been much of a lipstick wearer, but I think my original MAC purchases have given me a bit of a lipstick bug and I've bought more overtime (mainly from MAC and ColourPop). I have relatively small lips so that was a reason why I never invested money into lipsticks but I think it helps on the colours that you buy and with my current collection, I think I can pull them off.


So in my original post, I bought myself Hot Gossip (top) and Speed Dial (bottom). Hot Gossip has had a bit more usage than Speed Dial but they are both lovely colours. Over the course of 1 and a half years, I have added 5 more.


One that I purchased quite early on is Brave. It's a really nice pinky, beige/nude colour, in a satin finish. It's a great subtle shade so that if you want to have a bit a nude/natural look, this is a good pick.


Going quite daring, I got myself Dark Side. When I switched this in the store, I really liked the colour, despite it being a dark shade. It comes out lighter than how it actually looks but it's a lovely burgundy/berry toned, amplified creme finish lipstick. Definitely one for the Autumn time.


This became a very quick favourite of mine and as you can see, it's the most used. This one is Mehr. In a matte finish, this is another pinky/nude shade which I really like. Again, nice and subtle and can be used for many looks. I love the feel of matte lipsticks, so it's probably a big reason why I liked this one the most.


One that was added most recently to my collection is D for Danger, one that I was gifted for Christmas. Similar to Dark Side, it's a berry/brick red toned lipstick, in a matte finish. This was one that I've seen and really liked but didn't buy it for myself but I was lucky and very kindly given it. It's one that I look forward to using a bit more in the months to come.


Another that I got for Christmas is Chatterbox. It's super similar to Speed Dial, being a bright pink lipstick but this is an amplified creme finish, rather than cremesheen, so it has a bit more colour, rather than looking glossy. Again, I'm very grateful that I was gifted this lipstick.

I've seen many people rave about the Artis oval brushes for a while, but I couldn't justify spending £60 + on one of their brushes. I longed for a drugstore brand to bring something out but when Primark had upped their game and added an oval brush to their collection, I was so pleased. I would often go to my local Primark store and they never had it in stock, whether it be because they didn't actually sell it or it was just sold out all the time, and I never saw it. I started to give up looking but only visited Primark once a month. Then I saw that Makeup Revolution had released a range of oval brushes, I jumped straight to the Superdrug website. I saw that they were all out of stock but managed to swoop some a few days later. I opted to go and collect from the nearest store, the next day. I literally couldn't wait to get home to open them up. I purchased the Precision Contour set and unknowingly, bought two of the Oval Face brush (there was already one in the set).

Price:
This brush is slightly more expensive, retailing at £9.99 from Superdrug. They also sell a set of three brushes (this and two smaller brushes) which retails at £19.99, so can be worth buying the set if you are looking to use different brushes for different things (foundation, blush, contour etc.)


Durability:
Just like I did with the Primark brush, I had to feel what the brush was like to hold. Differing from the Primark brush, the bristles (even though there are more due to its size) felt like they had more room to move, where you could lightly pull your finger through them with ease. Unlike the Primark one, it appeared that the bristles on the outside were more angled. When I applied pressure to it, there was a bit of give, and it began to bend slightly just under the head of the brush. Due to this brush only bending slightly when under pressure, application of foundation/powder sound be rather easy going on the brush itself.

Effectiveness:
Once again, I applied my regular foundation to test the the effectiveness of the brush.

I would say that this brush has done slightly better in terms of the coverage. Although you can still see some blemishes, they aren't as visible. I didn't have to keep topping the brush up with foundation, putting it on my brush initially was enough for full coverage! As expected, the brush felt very soft on my face and it applied foundation really nicely.

Summary:
If you want to spend a bit more money on brushes, then I would recommend these. It does work out at better value for you to get the set of the brushes, as you will get more for your money. Although they seem to have been built a little better, I would still recommend that you just place some support on the neck of the brush, as I would be gutted if it broke.

Overall score:
9/10

So out of the two brushes, I personally prefer the Makeup Revolution one. It did feel nicer, it applied my foundation better and seems to be a little stronger. As stated before, the Primark one is a good alternative and I'm sure it does work for other people. I will still keep it in my collection and I'm quite positive that I will be able to find another use for it, but should anything happen to the Makeup Revolution brush, then Primark will do the job just fine.

Do you own any of these brushes? What do you think?

Look after yourself,


This blog post is not sponsored and all opinions are my own and honest!

I know I'm a little late to the party on this one, but I finally managed to get my hands on the 'Too Faced Sweet Peach Eye Shadow Palette'. It was re-released back in December and I was so eager to get my hands on one after so many people praised the product. It took a little while to get to me (due to popularity/high demand) but it finally arrived so I just wanted to do a quick review and swatches, even though you've probably seen a million posts on this. Ah, well.


First things first, the packaging is simply gorgeous. Coming in a cute cardboard box, the palette itself is in a tin case, with a magnetic closure, which can also easily be opened. It reminds me of the old tin pencil cases you'd have in school, obviously a lot prettier and less full of pens and pencils. The colour gradient is so satisfying to the eyes, with cute embossed peaches all over the lid. It comes with a fairly decent sized mirror so you should be able to take this with you if you were travelling. It's when you open it, is when it becomes magical.


Not only are you faced with a mixture of 18 shades, you're hit with the sweet smell of peach. They weren't lying when they said it smelt like peaches. I just want to sit and smell it all day! It's got a great combination of colours, from the peachy ones, to the bright, light ones, (great for the brow bone and inner corner) and the brown ones, which will give you a great smokey eye look. Although not really peachy related, you have got a deep purple and dark blue/purple as part of the colour range too but it's good to mix it up a little. They are all different finishes too so you can for sure make many makeup looks with this palette.


At £39/$49, I can understand that people wouldn't want to spend this much on a palette, but to me, it was worth the money, as this such a gorgeous addition to my collection and can't wait to use it fully.

Look after yourself,


This blog post is not sponsored and all opinions are my own and honest!

As you might have read, 2016 wasn't the most amazing year for me. Although I'm happy to see the back of it, I want to make January 1st a new day. Not only that, I want it to be the start of where things change, to better myself and FINALLY make myself a happier person. I wanted to share what my goals are for this year as I want to be open with my readers and hey, why not share them?

LEARN TO DRIVE
Something that I've wanted to do for ages but never had the confidence, is learn to drive. After being in a car accident when I was learning (I wasn't in a lesson, don't worry), it really put me off, to the point that I was scared of being in a car, even as a passenger. I'd constantly be looking out of the mirrors to see if someone was getting too close, worry that they were going to hit the car and there have been many points where I'd have a bit of a panic attack when a situation got too much for me. Since the accident, I tried to pick it up again, had a handful of lessons, but I just got overwhelmed with the fear and I just couldn't do it so I ended just stopping completely. That was almost 2 years ago now and my boyfriend is constantly pushing me to give it another go, because he believes in me. Deep down, I know I want to do it, it's just my mind just tells me that I still don't want to go with it. Getting sick and tired of having to rely on public transport or my boyfriend to get me places, it's going to be now or never. So I took quite a plunge and quit my job. Back in December I finished at my workplace but haven't actually got a new place to go yet, but that is because I want to allow myself a bit of time to get back into learning to drive. I am able to afford to do this for a bit so why not do it now when I can.

LOSE SOME WEIGHT
Although I did this a little bit in 2016, I didn't lose how much I wanted. I feel like I gained and have been stuck around the same weight for ages but it's not a number I like at all. So I really want to put some effort into exercising, eating healthily but also, ensure that my mind feels fit and healthy too, by allowing myself time to relax. Ideally, I'd like to loose around 2 stone so doing that in a year I think is pretty achievable. I'm quite an emotional eater, where if things are getting to me and I'm getting stressed, I'd just rather eat to chill myself out. That's not happening this year as I want to become less stressed which will then not make me comfort eat so it's a win win.

STRESS OUT LESS
I'm not overly sure how I'm do this one but the aim is that I just don't stress out as much as I used to. As said above, I have actually quit my job which did cause me a bit of stress so that is something off my mind but, I can stress out over small things. I just don't want to it to be a burden on me so I want to find ways to lower my stress levels. If you do have really good tips/tricks on how to stress out less, then head them my way.

PUT MORE INTO BLOGGING
I love blogging. Since I started doing it, it's allowed me to have this space where I can get writing and get creative. I don't really have many hobbies but blogging is something I really enjoy doing, even though I am doing it just to allow myself to bring out my creative side. The blogging community are such wonderful people, who feel like are some of my closest friends I've never met before. It makes me feel so welcome and that I can be me. It makes me so happy when doing it and seeing people reading my posts that I feel like I need do it way more often, as it'll be good for me. I would need to sit down and plan a little more but I'd like to start creating a schedule for my blog, invest small amount into the equipment but still being able to enjoy it at the same time, as I don't want to kill it for myself and no longer enjoy it.

It's only 4 goals but I want to be able to add more throughout the year, rather than thinking of a bunch at the beginning of the year and potentially not able to accomplish them. If I end up completing a goal early (only really likely to be driving and losing the weight) I can then add more if I want to or keep with the remainders. It's completely up to me.

2016 was pants so let's make 2017 a good one.

Look after yourself,


This blog post is not sponsored and all opinions are my own and honest!