How to: Clean makeup brushes

 HOW TO :  Clean makeup brushes 

Let's be honest here, we are all a little bit guilty when it comes to giving our dearly beloved makeup brushes a nice deep cleanse. Washing your brushes should be a regular part of your beauty routine, the cleaner the brushes, the better.  You can imagine how much product, dirt, grease, oil and bacteria gets built up over time. Sticking to a regular cleansing routine will not only benefit you and your skin (especially if you have acne prone skin) preventing unnecessary breakouts and clogged pores, but also your brushes, making sure they last you a long time. 

How often :

Foundation and concealer  - weekly 
Blush and Bronzer - weekly
Around the eyes - at least twice a month

Other - monthly 

What you'll need :

Cleansing Shampoo 

Deep Cleansing Face-wash or your daily face wash (I prefer to use two different face wash products - one for acne prone skin which contains antibacterial ingredients and another one that provides a very deep cleanse) 

Luke-warm water 

Clean hand towel

                                                                                      

                                                                                       TRESemme - Multi-vitamin Deep Cleansing Shampoo
                                                                                                          For all hair types buy it here

                                                                                          Neutrogena - Oil-Free Acne Wash buy it here
                                                                                       Biore - Deep Pore Charcoal Cleanser buy it here


I find this to be the quickest and the most easiest way to wash my makeup brushes.
Begin with a pump of each product in the palm of your hand

Wet your brush in luke warm water and swirl your brush in the palm of your hand, give the brush gentle squeezes to get rid of all the built up product that has been lifted from the brush, went the brush once again in luke warm water. Continue swirling the brush with a few gentle squeezes in between. Once the water from the squeezed brush is clear, your brush is ready to be dried.

Once the brushes are clean, use a clean towel to gently squeeze around the bristles, re-shape if needed. Make sure to lay the clean brushes on a clean towel closer to areas with lots of sunlight (I prefer to leave my brushes outside during the day). Leaving them to dry in places with no sunlight can leave them with a funny smell (trust me it's not pleasant) !

And you are done ! 

Australis AC ON TOUR Review

   Review : AC ON TOUR Contouring & Highlighting Kit 

The palette comes with six powders three highlighting shades (2 matte shades pink tone and yellow tone powders and 1 shimmery) and three contouring shades (all matte) one cool tone shade (the middle powder) and two warm tone shades.

The contouring powders are very pigmented ... I mean after lightly dabbing my brush in the powder and dusting it over my face it looked as though I rolled through dirt, quite terrifying to tell you the truth.
But that isn't necessarily a bad thing, a little can go a long way. The powders are very buildable, so begin with less and build it up for a natural contoured face. It has some basic instructions to help guide you through the process (useful for beginners).
The powders feel quite chalky and need a lot of work to blend out, I find that it takes a bit more time and effort to apply. Other then that, the packaging is quite light and isn't bulky, great option for travelling.
Having said all that it's not my favourite highlighting and contouring kit, but it's not the worst I've used. The kit definitely has potential, especially for it's price. So if you're on the look out for a good priced, reasonable quality contouring and highlighting product, give it a go but be quick it's limited edition!
I will keep playing around with this kit, a tutorial video will shortly be posted.
 No irritations, allergic reactions or breakouts
   Vegan friendly (yay)

buy it here

Palmers CC Cream Review

Review : Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula CC Cream in medium

                                                                  
Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula 

 Color Correcting CC Cream SPF 15 

     100% Free of: Parabens

                             Phthalates

                             Dyes

According to Palmer's, this formula provides 8 essential benefits: 

1. Helps even skin tone
2. Brightens appearance
3. Primes skin for makeup application 
4. Moisturises and hydrates
5. Provides sun protection 
6. Conceals minor skin imperfections 
7. Aids in reducing the appearance of redness
8. Aids in reducing the appearance of visible pores

I have enjoyed using this CC Cream, It's not a full coverage makeup (obviously), but does provide a tint to the face which glides over minor imperfections. It does provide the skin with some moisture and hydration, not enough for me to go without my daily moisturiser under though, but I find that it does keep things evened out throughout the day without getting oily or greasy, which I find to be perfect to use as a day to day base for my foundation. The texture is slightly stiff at first, and I find that you really need to put effort into blending the product out, to make sure you don't end up looking patchy, the product also dries quite quickly which means you only have a limited time to work with it. After application, the product feels "sticky", but this only lasts for a few seconds or so. After the product has completely dried and settled into the skin, the skin feels very smooth and soft, the skin does appear to be more brighter and vibrant (which has to be my favourite thing about this CC Cream). It doesn't seem to reduce or do much at all to either conceal or reduce the appearance of redness on my skin, there is no significant change to the appearance of my pores either.

 No irritations, allergic reactions or breakouts (thank goodness, something in other Palmer's products does tend to break me out). 

In all, I have enjoyed using this product and I will be re-purchusing this once more, but that's not say that my search for the perfect CC Cream is over just yet. 

buy it here

September Favourites

September favourites 

Stilla Stay all day foundation & concealer

I have combination skin, and prefer a foundation with a matt-finish. I found this foundation to have the perfect matt-finish for my skin type, it doesn't dry out my skin, my skin looks healthy, doesn't look nor feel caked, although the foundation is more of a full coverage, it doesn't feel thick or heavy on the skin, it's very creamy and soft, very easy to blend out (I use my Real Techniques blending brush).  Lasts a good reasonable amount of time on skin without becoming blotchy, oily or greasy.

I personally adore the foundation, and I found myself reaching for it every single day since I got it. It had to make my September favourites ! (A detailed review will be up soon) 

buy it here

Chanel Lipstick in a very bright orange/red shade (I don't know the original shade name, as it was purchased in Ukraine)

I have been loving this shade all last month, in combination with a very contoured face, simple eyeshadow and bold eyelashes. It's the absolute perfect shade for my skin colour. 

Savvy by DB Bronzer in Bronze kiss 

This is no where close to any of my favourite bronzers/contouring powders, but when it came down to picking my September Favourites, I couldn't resist and chuck this bronzer in, as it has been the one that I have been using mostly for this past month. It's the perfect shade to use as a contouring powder, it's not too red or brown and it has no shimmer or gloss, and since I picked up a little bit of a tan on my face and body, the shade has just been on point. 

buy it here

Essence 2 in 1 eyeliner pen 

I feel the struggle that each one of you feel when trying to apply eyeliner... 

The fact that this eyeliner pen has a thin and a think point, makes application so easy. Using the thin side, I achieve a natural precise line, it's very quick and easy. When I want a bit more drama I use the thick side of the pen. It's a great product to carry with you in your handbag for touch-ups, this is why this product is in my September faves. 

buy it here