Using art/paint brushes for makeup? My attempt at using Boldmere art brushes.

I recently bought 4 thin art brushes for 99p from the Works, and I wanted to try them out for eye liner. I've got an angled eyeliner brush, but I recently discovered that the eyeliner brush is a fake from a fake set of ecotools brushes I bought off Ebay. Disappointing, but I think I might prefer thin art like brushes rather than the angled brush anyhow. 

The brushes come in 4 different hair lengths, and I chose two for my experiment. 

BRAND: Boldmere

 5/0 Boldmere (The longer haired one)

10/0 Boldmere (The shorter haired one)

Since the brushes were cheap, I expected a few odd sticking out hairs which I cut off.

RESULTS:

Pretty darn good for what they are. Bear in mind that my eyeliner wasn't the newest product, (The Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Liner) and I think had I warmed up the product everything would have been smoother! These brushes work. I would recommend using the 10/0 Boldmere brush, since it is smaller, but the longer brush is only a tiny bit harder to use with a tiny bit less control.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

If you want a nice cheap eye liner brush, try looking in art shops now and then. These can do the job pretty well. They aren't really comparable to real eye liner brushes in the sense that they are pointed and have an odd hair sticking out, but they definitely do a decent job! (Until you save up for a nicer eye liner brush at least! )  

Sorry for the lack of actual pictures everyone! I stupidly wiped off the eyeliner before realising I should do a blog post! XP

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REVIEW: Garnier NEW Simply Essentials ultra cleansing wipes

Quickie review for you all! 

I like them. Well that was easy. Hehe, but really, I just bought them today and I was experimenting with some gel eyeliner (Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Liner) and it wiped off nicely! The wipes are quilted and soft, and they left me feeling refreshed without rubbing my eyes harshly like other wipes. I haven't worn any waterproof mascara to test its claims of being able to remove it, but for now I'm really happy with them.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Recommended! I haven't tested them with water proof mascara thought. 

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The No7 foundation match service and REVIEW: No7 Stay Perfect Foundation (Deeply Beige)

Sorry for the long gap guys - university work has been piling up and exams are just around the corner! But I'm here, with a quick post for anyone interested on the recent (OK, it's been out for a while, but here's my 2 cents) foundation match service and the foundation that resulted from it.

When I went in for the colour match service the girl  used the little machine twice (once on each lower cheek/jawline) and the colour matched was Deeply Beige. She asked what type of skin I had, and recommended me the No7 Stay Perfect foundation for my oily skin.

Here are some after thoughts:

1. I should have stressed that I have pretty oily skin, at that point I thought I was just oily, but now I realise that I can in fact get very oily, with my eyelids shining and nose glistening in the sun. I am currently deciding whether to get the matte foundation or instead use a oil control primer. (Might just go down the Milk of Magnesia primer route.)

2. Despite the foundation not being the best for my skin type, (it's water based as well, which isn't the best when using a sponge to apply foundation, despite the bottle saying you can use a sponge) it's pretty darn good. When applied well, it did stay nicely but I could feel the oil coming through. In photos I looked pretty good considering.

Apologies for the terrible teethy smile, but as you can see, with flash photography it's pretty darn good overall! 

3. For me, the colour match service is a life saver. I have not got the time to try all foundations on earth, and when something like this comes along I couldn't be happier.

4. I've had the foundation for while, and for some reason inside the bottle you can see a white sort of liquid mixed in with the foundation - this liquid doesn't really mix when you shake the bottle, but I highly recommend to do so because chances are it's something to do with the foundation being water based. You don't want a liquid foundation coming out watery!

REVIEW:

Pros: 

Colour match was perfect (for me)

Foundation was pretty good though it wasn't the best for my skin type (I can just use a primer but I'm tempted to get the matte foundation).

The colour you're matched to can be used to pick different types of foundations, so I can go and buy other finishes in the same shade.

Cons:

Around £14, can't help but feel like I wasted a bit money on a foundation that wasn't quite perfect (but I could've done so much worse! Can't expect to find the Holy Grail the first time!)

Colour match service may not work perfectly for everyone.

FINAL THOUGHT:

Make sure to emphasis your skin type! But overall, excellent.

*UPDATE* 28/05/2013 My skin has been pretty lousy as of late - breakouts, blemishes, large pores, you name it! It's not due to the foundation but when I do try to use it it just settles into fine lines and pores and makes my skin look horrible textured. Just wanted to tell you guys that if you have bad skin like me at the moment, this foundation is not suitable AT ALL. But , as always, a healthy lifestyle with the right skincare is so much better than a heavy coverage foundation! I just need to sort myself out and cleanse well before returning to make up, I think.

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Easy Nail Art - And sorry, it's been a while...

School work has been plaguing me guys, but I have found some time to finally get round to using my nails art brushes!

They're meant to be cherry blossom trees, not the best work in the world but for a first attempt I'm pretty happy! (You should see my other hand lol)

I did experiment a little with the brushes, but I found that using a long striper brush is the best for such designs.

Products used:

- Revlon Dark Pleasures in Midnight Affair
- White acrylic paint
- Red acrylic paint
- long striper brush (from the 13 piece set I bought on ebay)
- Sally Hansen Insta Dri Top Coat

Well, that's all from me today, see you all soon! xxx

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Easy Nail Art - purple dots

I love simple nail designs. Mainly because I haven't got the time or skill (as of yet! I'll get it one day ;3) to do anything difficult on my nails. I recently bought nail art brushes, and I wanted to try out the dotting tool (easier to clean than a brush, lazy old me didn't fancy cleaning at this time of night) it's soo tiny I wanted to see how well it would do. It was also the first time using acrylic paint on my nails - not too bad for a first attempt, but I do want to use nail varnish sometime, as acrylic dries really quick.

Here's the brand of acrylic paint that I used. If you live in the UK it's super cheap for the pack, around £2.99? Any acrylic paint will do, I don't think this kind of paint is expensive anywhere.





Nail varnishes and tools:
- Avon revitacool base coat
- Sally Hansen Hard as Nails ( in White Tip)
- Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat
- Violet acrylic paint
- Dotting tool from nail brush set (from Ebay, just look for the 15 brush set with brushes that all have white handles. It's also one of the cheapest sets on Ebay, so it's not too hard to find.  )





Super easy! Complete beginner's nail art.






Here's a 6 step quickie guide:
1. Apply base coat, wait till dry.
2. Apply white nail polish, wait till completely dry. (Make sure it's dry, otherwise smudging will ruin it.)
3. Squirt a small amount of paint out and take the dotting tool. Try making a few practice dots on a spare surface.
4. Once you get the hang of making dots on the spare surface, make some on your nails in a line. (If you mess up, the paint does tend to stain the nail. Wipe off the paint with a tissue or cotton bud/pad then you can add a thin layer of white nail varnish to cover the staining.)
5. When all nails are done, wait for the paint to dry.
6. Apply top coat, wait till all nails are dry.

And you're done! Hope this was fun to do, practice makes perfect guys, and trust me, I messed up a lot. x3

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