Ebay Zoeva Dupe Eye Brush Set

Hey All

Last year for my birthday I got the Zoeva Complete Eye Brush Set (full review here), I instantly fell in love and was blown away by the quality of them and brushes I never knew I needed. I'd previously ordered a few ebay (review here) that I loved and still use now so when Make Up Savvy (one of L and I's favourite bloggers, her ebay bargains posts are the one!) shared this set I thought I'd see how it compared, and it comes in rose gold so looks pretty.

Ebay Make Up Brushes

Hey All

After seeing a post on Make Up Savvy's blog I've been debating trying eBay brushes for a while. I'm always after new make up brushes as you can never have enough right! When I saw this set for around £6 delivered I decided to give them ago.

The set comes with 5 face and 5 eye brushes and with different colour options if you search. I thought black on black looked the best. It was also a UK seller so arrived really quickly with free postage.

left to right are the Round Kabuki, Flat Kabuki, Tapered Kabuki, Flat Angled Kabuki and Angled kabuki.

The first thing I noticed when they arrived was how soft they were! I really didn't expect them to feel so nice but they are pretty much as soft as real techniques brushes and as densely packed! There are 5 different shapes and all of them are great. I've mainly only used them for foundation at the moment but the shape of some of them will make them perfect for contouring and blush too. They work great with liquid and powder products I've tried and don't shed. They give the same flawless finish as my RT buffing and expert face brush!

They are all synthetic hair but do have different textures depending on what they are best used for and the shape of the brush.

For each of the face brushes there is a corresponding shaped eye brush. These are as soft as the face brushes but I've found my self using them for other things. The size and fluffiness of them has made them great for blending in concealer. Some work as crease brushes and I find them good for final blending but they don't seem to pick up eyeshadows great for application. I do still reach for them on a daily basis and would order more.

Due to the price the only quality lacking in them is the finish as you can see here on this brush there are stray hairs. This was present in a few brushes but hasn't affected how they work. In some brushes I've pulled them out and some I've left them.

Overall I'm really impressed in my first lot of eBay brushes and will definitely be ordering more.

Have you tried cheap brushes and been impressed? At 60p a brush you really can't complain at these!

Love M

xxx

Nail Polish Haul!

Hi there!

I've been on a sort of spending ban ever since I bought my car. Owing £4k makes me uncomfortable and I cannot wait to get that debt paid off....but Christmas and offers are killing me and I've ended up succumbing to so many deals and eBay especially!

Have you ever bought nail polishes off ebay before? I'm always dubious but can't resist especially when some of the ones I wanted were limited edition and only sold in shops for a number of weeks.

Recently I have picked up polishes from Essie and OPI and kept my fingers crossed they were genuine.

First up at the OPI polishes, both from the James Bond 007 set that came out last Autumn/Winter time. I'm a HUGE james bond fan and couldn't resist collecting them all. But unfortunately for me at the time I'd been out of work for almost a year because of uni so having minimal funds left meant I couldn't afford all of them even in the Christmas sales. So it has long been my mission to get my hands on all of the colours (aside from the real gold flake top coat....£30 for a nail polish I just cannot justify!)

2 that I was still missing were Live and Let Die, a dark green gold shimmer polish and You Only Live Twice; a red/pink shimmer.

Both of these looked gorgeous in the bottle and in online pictures so seeing them on ebay for around £6 instead of £11ish I was excited to use them.

Live and Let Die is shown below:

These pictures were taken with 2 coats of polish and one of top coat and you can see that they come out very uniform and not streaky at all.

The colour is a lot darker than I thought it would be and the shimmer doesn't show up as much which was a bit disappointing.

It's more of a sludgy green in comparison to how it photographs in the bottle but it might get used over the winter months.

You Only Live Twice is shown in the pictures below:

Excuse the awful lighting...I had to take a picture super quickly as I got to work as the lab seems to kill any manicure I have within minutes!

Again this was uniform and opaque in 2 coats and seemed to come out more true to colour than the previous polish.

I'm glad I didn't pay full price for these polishes....not only did they not come out as I imagined after comparing them to my other Bond polishes they are most definitely fakes!
The labels on the bottoms are not the same font or size and these 2 polishes smell very strongly in comparison to the others. This is an unfortunate part of ebay and what tends to put me off in the first place as you never know what chemicals were used to create them and they aren't regulated at all.

I highly doubt I will use these again as I'm always wary of suspect chemicals....definitely learnt my lesson with OPI polishes!

Essie polishes were a different story!

I purchased these three from 2 different sellers who I will link below.

After a quick browse one day on ebay I couldn't resist snapping up Recessionista and Miss Fancy Pants. Both of these are my favourite colours for winter; I love berry shades on my nails and nudes are always welcome particularly Essie ones! I believe they are from a previous winter collection though I'm not sure which.

I bought them from this seller who has a range of products including Essie for a mere £3.62 so I snapped them up and they combined postage for me too which is always lovely.

Beyond Cosy is a polish that I have previously bought in the Winter Collection from Essie last year (see here) and I've used this one plus Leading Lady quite a bit since! I knew I was going to have to pick up the full size one soon and luckily for me Fee from Make Up Savvy put up this post with a link to a discounted version on ebay I couldn't help it! 

I ended up getting it from this seller who Fee mentions in the same post and it's such a gorgeous colour!

Here's a design I did with Beyond Cozy underneath and Recessionista on the top; its one of my favourite ways to wear metallic and glitter polishes!





The flash used above is my awful iPhone flash and is very blue so the colour is not very true here but the gold glitter shines so nicely!

I have used Miss Fancy Pants since purchasing it but didn't take a photo. As I already owned Chinchilly (also by Essie) it was only natural that I compare the two and found that they are very similar, which MFP being slightly lighter.

The picture below shows Chinchilly just for reference; I'm sure MFP will make it into a NOTD soon as I can't stop using any of them!

What do you think about buying cosmetics off eBay?

Most of the time I avoid it but nail varnish is normally ok; save for the OPI ones as they're such big money makers!

Do you like my purchases? Will you be buying any of them?


L xxx

Ebay Beauty Blender Dupes

I'd seen so many reviews on the beauty blender and so many people saying it was amazing I just had to get one. Especially after I was having issues applying my Illamasqua skin base and a beauty blender sponge was recommended.

I'm someone who's always after a bargain and spending £10+ on what is essentially a sponge is something I couldn't do, especially after I'd heard they do need throwing away regularly as they don't wash well.

After being suggested ebay dupes I straight away ordered one. I have heard that the pink one's work the best and some of the others don't swell up in the same one so that's something to consider (sorry if it was you who suggested this on twitter I can't remember who it was now).

Dry and wet of the sponge I don't like. As you can see from comparing the leaf it's next too it's barely changed size.

I've since ordered two sponges from eBay and was disappointed to find one was amazing and one wasn't! Apparently all the ones from china aren't the same. Lesson learnt there.

The first one I got was amazing, super soft, swelled up well when wet, and was light and spongey. The second one didn't seem to swell when wet and feel tougher and stiffer. It makes it harder to apply to the skin and doesn't give quite an amazing finish.

Original sponge dry and the sponge I don't like wet

I love the shape of the sponge as it has a pointed end which is great for getting in around the nose and under the eye area.

The beauty blenders work when wet. Under the tap they should swell to almost double in size then you need to squeeze out all the water so it's just damp. Using the beauty blenders does mean that you use more product but for the flawless finish it gives I can forgive it.

Original sponge wet. You can see how much this one has grown when it's wet.

The big downside to using this type of sponge is the fact you can't really clean it. From the first time you use it, it will be stained. I've tried various different soaps and was it immediately after use and just can't get it clean. If you have any tips I'd love to know.

Though I have been using it for a month and I am yet to break out. Some people have found they have broken out using them but I always wash it after use with anti bacterial soap to help prevent this. It's still in good condition but I probably will throw it soon.

I'm so converted to these sponges and I don't mind that it uses more product as the finish it leaves is amazing. As they cost just over £1 delivered I don't mind if I have to throw it away every 6-8 weeks.

This is seller I bought the amazing one from in pink and was £1.03 (now reduced to 99p). This is the seller I bought the one from that didn't swell as well and wasn't as soft!. Both images look the same so beware if you switch sellers as the sponges may not always be the same. I'm hoping my first one wasn't a fluke.

Have you tried the beauty blender or the dupes? I'd love to compare the RT one to these.

Love M

xxx

NOTD Studded Nails

When I was picking a nail varnish on Saturday I wanted to do some nail art but I was feeling very uninspired after routing through my nail varnish. I chose to use one of the Ciate ones I had in my advent calendar as it was one I loved the colour of but hadnt used yet. It's called Cabaret. 

I love the wear of Ciate polishes. They are streaky after one coat but after two give a gorgeous finish and last really well. When looking for my top coat I spotted some studs I'd ordered from eBay. You can find similar ones here. I always get nail stuff from eBay and usually from China as it's so cheap. You just have to wait a while for delivery.

These particular studs are great as they have flat backs so I don't feel the need to pick them off. When I've done this before and use Caviar type beads they annoyed me quickly.  Caviar manicures annoy me after 24 hours and I tend to pick them off.

This manicure lasted me over 48 hours. In that time,  I cooked, cleaned, had a bath and spent a whole day in work. In that time only one stud fell off. That's pretty impressive to me. The only thing was some of the studs ended up looking more silver than gold as the colour wore off.

To do this manicure.  I painted two coats of nail varnish. Then used my Seche Vite and applied it one nail at a time. I sprinkled the studs onto a DVD case and touched them gently with my dotting tool till they were all the right way up. 

Using a not very hygienic method (but it's my nails and easiest so doesn't matter) I lightly dabbed the end of my dotting tool on my tongue then found it was easier to get a stud on the end. I've tried other methods and they don't work as well. If you don't have a dotting tool you could get one cheap on eBay when you order studs or use a toothpick, tweezers or something similar.  When a stud was on my dotting tool I gently pressed this into the wet top coat and continued to apply them.  Once one nail was done I applied top coat to the next nail and repeated.  When they were all done I added a layer or top coat over the top.

I'm so impressed with how long this manicure lasted and how quick it was to do. Which surprised me. I'll be doing this more as I love the way it looks. Im gutted I lost a nail on the way home so I've had to take a them off but all studs were still strong, none were loose and I think I'd have got another couple of days out of it.

Do you like stud manicures?

Love M

Xxx

Recent Purchases

I've mentioned lots of times how I'm on a spending ban yet seem to keep buying things due to my overdraft, sneaky!

It really has come to the depths now (sad face!) but luckily for me my mum took me shopping to encourage me to finish my dissertation when I was feeling really down about it all last week.
It's rather a long post with lots of pictures but if you're anything like me I love seeing what everyone buys, so make yourself a brew and get comfy and enjoy :)

Here's what I bought!

Bottle green skin y jeans with gold zips - £15 from Primark

I saw these and loved them but I have issues buying trousers in Primark as I'm tall and rarely does anything fit!

But I was SO surprised to find these did and they wear pretty well too.

For £15 they're an absolute bargain and I will be going back and getting some more as soon as a job finds me!!!

Next up were these gorgeous scarfs.

I love scarves and general winter clothes so these were an exciting buy for me (yes really!)

There's a flowing black one with studs to wrap around and do whatever style you please, plus a grey snood with owls on.

Owls are a bit of a thing for me so this was perfect!

Both of these were also Primark and I think £4 each.

Next was this really cute blouse:

I love blouses like these and wear my other ones to death.

This has an updated collar and buttons though which make it look more expensive than the couple of pound it cost! (can't remember exact number I'm afraid!)

Next are these gorgeous belts:

I'm a sucker for a black waist belt with metal detailing as I really love the cinched in look and also the rock chick look, so this Primark beauty was again perfect and I think £4 too!

The gold studded belt is absolutely beautiful and from Warehouse.

It comes in at a rather more pricey £18  in comparison with my other buys but its gold, studded and general perfection for everything that I wear!

(I also got 20% off the Warehouse belt as I got it from Debenhams at a 20% off day! So worth waiting for!)

I love my gold and although i own lots of silver items, they don't seem to get a look in at the moment!

This is why I ended up also grabbing this cuff and collar necklace in Primark:

You can see the prices on the tags still. I've wanted a collar necklace forever but hadn't found one I liked.

If anyone has a suggestion of a plain gold collar necklace i could get at an affordable price let me know please!

I haven't found any recently.

Lastly, I can't go into Primark and not buy shoes.

I wear their pumps and brogues until they fall apart (quite literally!)

These studded bad boys are perfect for the winter (if I don't wear them to death by then!) and the brogues are a firm staple in my wardrobe.

I can't see me being without them for a while, I've been wearing them for years as they go with everything, are so comfy and in a lovely metallic shade can be worn out too!

My last purchase in the shops comes in the form of my very own pair of disco pants:

These were from Alice & You at Debenhams (not on their website but apparently also sold at Dorothy Perkins.

I picked these up for £24 due to their being 20% off in Debenhams (originally £30)

I've worn them already and they are so damn comfy.

I feel like an extra from Grease but oh my they look and feel amazing!

Lastly are 2 other eBay purchases I've got recently.

Firstly a metal belt:

I've wanted a belt like this for AGES and originally bought the Celeb boutique one when I bought a dress as the belt was half price when you bought one.

However the dress wasn't great and I had to send it back so sent the belt back too.

Long story short this was £5 on ebay and I just HAD TO HAVE IT.

You know the feeling!

Finally I bought these metal collar clips to update all of my shirts:

I know for a fact that I will want the shirts currently in fashion that are covered in cute collar clips.

I thought why not waste the money on buying new shirts when the clips cost a measly £2 off ebay and I can put them on whatever shirt I want!

So there's my buys....rather a long post sorry about that!

What's on your list for Winter??

I really want some of the other colours in the Primark jeans and no doubt I'll be looking for a new coat, have you seen any must haves yet?

L xxx

(p.s. I feel like I should definitely mention my mum here, she bought me all of the Primark stuff as she's so amazing! If she ever finds my blog maybe she'll read this....thanks mum you're the best!)

Sneaky eBay shopping...

I don't know about you but when you haven't got any money and you know you shouldn't spend the tiny bit you have left, all you can think about is spending it....right?

On top of that my mum knows how little money I have and is therefore watching me like a hawk!

Because of this I have resulted to scouring the internet in my free time. I managed to avoid actual shops as the temptation is far too high, but online I can browse without feeling the fabrics, smelling the lotions and potions and seeing the deals.

That is of course, excluding ebay, whose low prices and bidding excitement gets me every time.

Particularly when I find a good deal on something I want, and THEN finding an even BETTER deal!

Just cannot resist it and the shopaholic inevitably takes over.

Because I'm sure we all know that spending money online just isn't REAL money is it??

Exactly.

Anyhow, enough of my ramblings, here's my random purchases from eBay of the past few weeks.
You can probably see a bit of a theme developing, I hope you enjoy!

Before you think I;m crazy for buying feathers...I've been using them in recent nail designs and they've turned out awesome! Will be posting about them soon.

Whilst I was searching for feathers I came across the ones below and couldn't resist but snap them up for the £1.24 bargain!

Look how beautiful they are!

I was hoping these would also look amazing on my nails too but the dyes seem to react with the nail varnish and run all over the place!

So I will have to do something else with these, if anyone has any ideas??

They're too pretty to hide away.

I also bought some dotting tools in different sizes and cannot wait to use these, I have a normal size one but there are so many designs I wanted to try with smaller and larger dots I couldn't resist the set.

They were £2.59 with postage and are double ended! They're from this seller.

I've also been meaning to get my hands on some nail tape as I've seen some amazing designs with this!

I bought a pack of 12 different colours and finishes from this seller before I realised that actually it didn't include a black or white which was what I wanted most (silly me!) so I ended up buying them separately.

I bought both black and white nail tape from this seller who does a 3 for 2 deal and I also got another colour for free!

The blue glitter polish was from this seller, and the other two were from this seller 

Both were less than £2 each with postage so definitely a bargain!

Lastly I thought I'd buy some nail stickers as they're such an easy way of adding a finishing touch to an otherwise simple nail.

These were £1.49 with postage and you pay for 5 sheets.

I thought I'd increase my chances of getting better sheets by buying two but unfortunately they weren't that great and I had some duplicates which was a little pointless!

There are some nice white flowers and swirls however that will definitely come in handy.

Just the luck of the ebay draw I guess!

What do you think of eBay? Are you a victim of a sneaky purchase on there too?

I love and loathe it.

So many bargains to be had but selling things is a nightmare!

L xxx

(p.s. how ridiculous is my nail art getting?? I've gone from not trying anything to buying it all! Obsessed.)