Review: Real Techniques Core Collection Brushes

So I know most people by now have these, but here is my 2 cents on the Real Techniques Core Collection.

I wanted this for a while but after buying some of the other brushes in a 3 for 2 deal (post here) and already owning quite a few others I didn't really NEED them...so I stopped myself.

However on my shopping trips in the US I cam across them selling for the equivalent of £11!

This was when I could NOT resist snapping them up, as you do

I'm sure most of you have seen these pictures, and to be honest there are a lot of pictures in this post!

I love the simple packaging, the fact it comes with a case and that all the brushes can stand up.

I also like that on the back they detail the types of brushes and what they're used for and also you can go onto YouTube and find yourself their tutorials which are actually pretty informative. 

I recommend you all go and watch them here

 

The case intrigued me as I haven't seen it shown on any other blogs that well (I'm sure someone has it though!) so I didn't really understand what all the fuss was about....it's just a case right??

Wrong! It has this whole toggle business as shown in the photo above and all you have to do is pull the cord and bend the case in half for it to become a stand as below:

Genius!

I like this idea as it makes it super easy to wash your brushes and stand them upside down to dry

So onto the brushes....I was a little disappointed with the buffing brush as mine will not stand up, which is being picky but isn't that supposed to be one of the features of the brushes?

I've gone through each brush and taken close up photos of each so you can see the brushes in all their glory before I used any of them....good blogger!

This is the pointed foundation brush.

It's quite small for a foundation brush but I found it much easier to apply concealer and foundation around my eyes and nose than other brushes, but covering my entire face with this might take a while and I'm always in too much of a rush!

I also liked using this for my liquid highlighter (High Beam) as it blended everything in so well.

The design of the brush is so simple and each has the name of the brush printed at the end:

Onto the contour brush:

All of these brushes are so soft they are so nice to use, this one in particular as its bigger and feels so soft when you are contouring.

I haven't used this brush much as of yet, just once or twice but I love the effect it gave when I did use it.

Next is the buffing brush:

This one is my personal favourite!

I love using it to apply my foundation as it gives such a nice finish.

I alternate between using this brush and the stippling brush when the other is being washed.

I would definitely consider getting more of this brush if I could get it separately (have no idea if you can?) so that I could keep it in my gym make up bag as I'm lazy at having to re pack it every other day!

Just look at how soft it is!!

Who wouldn't want to use this every day??

I just want the brush to be super size so I could jump onto it!

Last is the detailer brush:

I have used this to apply concealer to the spots that seem to be plaguing my life at the moment!

As soon as I start getting rid of them a new crop suddenly appears....I'm 24 and this shouldn't be happening anymore!

It has a really small tip that helps with precise application and is great for covering small areas and any tiny imperfections you need to apply a little more product to.

All in all I am super happy with my purchases and the only problem as always is washing them...i wish they'd stay cleaner for longer!!!

What do you think of Real Techniques brushes? Are you in love with them too?

What do you think of my nails? They're coming up in a new series were starting next week so watch out for them!

L xxx

My Mini American Haul

Today I'm sharing with you my American goodies. I'd asked L to pick me up a foundation and primer as they were cheap and she also got me a lot of birthday presents! She spoilt me.

My goody box Eos lip balm, Revlon cuticle remover, Revlon just bitten kissable balm stain, L'Oreal  Magic perfecting base, Eos hand lotion and China glaze magnet. How lucky was I!! L knows me so well she picked me the perfect balm stain.

This has always been a favourite of L's for evenings as it's quite pricey but I hadn't tried it. Avon's Magix face perfecter was a firm favourite of mine. This does beat it though. It's so light and mouse like and blends into the skin amazingly. Makes my pores look better and leaves a perfect base for foundation. It has a different name in the UK and is the studio secrets smoothing resurface primer. It can be bought from boots for £14.29

Next the eos lipbalm. I absolutely love this. It deserves all the raves it gets. I love the packaging. No sticking dirty fingers into a product is a huge bonus when it comes to lipbalm. It has a gorgeous scent and leaves my lips so soft. Eos is a brand that boosts using natural ingredients something we both love!! They retail for £5.95 in the UK and I'll definitely buy a second when this runs out. The huge dome made me wonder how to apply it with out covering my face but it's really easy. It can be bought from Cute Cosmetics

The eos hand lotion. Amazing, it's a cute little bubble shape and very handy for the handbag.  This is in the fragrance sheer petals and has a soft fresh fragrance. Not to over powering at all and leaves hands lovely and soft. The fact its paraben free is always a bonus. It retails for £7 which is a higher price than Soap and Glory Hand food but I do prefer it. It can also be got from cute cosmetics.

I think L must be a mind reader. I was using a similar product to this when I visited my parents last and almost slipped my mum's Sally Hanson one into my bag. I prefer the Revlon one though as it's a gentle one whereas the Sally Hanson one was gritty. It's available for £6.49 in boots and is currently on buy one get one half price

If you read Sunday's post you'll have seen we both love these already. For a bargain £5.99 at the moment in boots and superdrug I've already bout a second.

Last but not least in my present box was this China Glaze Magnet. L knows I've been umming and ahhing over magnet polish for a while so this is the push I needed. Hello magnetic polish and playing around. I love that there are three different designs in one place. The magnet and the China Glaze polishes can be bought from eBay here. I'm hoping to win some of the nail varnishes in auctions cheaper. I need Instant Chemistry and Draw to you, gorgeous shades.

How lucky was I. I also got the Almay primer L reviewed here and the Revlon ColourStay foundation which I love already.

I can't wait till I go to America in October for the shopping!!

Love M

xxx

Couch to 10k

A non beauty post for you today. I just wanted to share this as I've been doing it and actually find myself sticking to it. A miracle in itself (I'm starting week 5 runs on Wed).

I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to tone up and feel fitter and generally better. I envy seeing those girls in there little leggings and tops and just breeze past me in a jog. I want to be fit enough to do that and enjoy running.

I'm definitely not a runner!! I've done two half marathons and failed to train for both. Even though the second time I promised myself I would after the pain endured from power walking the first one. (I can't believe my friend talked me into a second, she's in the process of talking me into a third, I'm almost persuaded) I found the prospect of going for a run very daunting at first and think that's why I probably I just kept putting it off.

When I decided to start this I had a different aim for the end of it. Though I think I'm likely to be persuaded to sign up to cardiff half again. I like the challenge I feel to make it round the 13.1 miles and the sheer relief and joy when it's finished is amazing. I like the feeling of pushing myself hard and succeeding.

So onto where I am now. After chatting to a lady in work we decided we'd start couch to 10k, it eases you in gently and gradually builds you up. I found an app on my phone called 10k which is amazing.

So this is what the app looks like. It takes 14 weeks running 3 times a week and starts off with half hour workouts with the longest being around the 70 mins. Each work out has a 5 minute warm up and 5 minute cool down, and as you can see the first week breaks you in slowly so is great for those starting out running.

This is the next run I have to do. I will probably do it on Wednesday but maybe tomorrow if I feel up to it. The app is really handy. If you plugged in your headphones it beeps when you need to switch from running to walking which I like as it makes doing this easy as I don't have to keep time myself.

As you can see it also imports all the music in your phone to your app, so click on playlists select the song and go. It's that easy, it'll beep when you need to switch and I have no trouble hearing this over music. All I would say is it doesn't work well when I put my phone on my hip in trousers I didn't have a pocket on.

As a normally non runner I'm actually enjoying this at the moment and I'm hoping it'll be more than a fad and hopefully become a fitness change and something I keep up. Running 20-30k a week is what I aim for towards the end of this and what I'd like to keep up.

Have you done couch to 5 or 10k, do you enjoy or struggle with running?

Do you enjoy posts like these? Would a week 10 update be a post you'd read?

Love M

xxx

sorry for the ramble but this app is amazing and has changed my attitude to running. Today was a big struggle of a run but I didn't give up!!

Review: Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Balm Stains

A new thing to the UK this week, I managed to pick up a few of the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Balm Stains whilst in the US. 

I got a pink and an orange colour (Sweetheart Valentine and Rendezvous) for myself and also one for M as part of her birthday box of goodies which was called Smitten.

First up here's mine:

I absolutely love the packaging, the pencils are pretty chunky which means they're easy to hold and use and the simple twist up mechanism that most products have means you can twist up more or less of the product really easily.

I chose without testing them as in America there aren't many places where they have testers.

This is both a good and bad thing, as everything is sealed you know it hasn't been touched by somebody elses grubby hands, but then how on earth do you know which colour you want?!

I've swatched both pencils on my hand to show you the pink and the orange colours, they're a smooth consistency, go on really easily without pulling at all and although the pencils are quite thick you can easily get a smooth line.

The above picture is Sweetheart Valentine, I'm not exactly sure which name it's supposed to be as it must be called Sweetheart in some countries and Valentine in others but it's number 025.

I hate doing swatches on my actual lips as I hate them...but I'm getting over it for this post as I feel you need to see the beautiful colours that they produce!

Here's 025 on my lips and it's a beautiful red pink:

The colour takes a few seconds to fully come out, I applied it and at first didn't see much colour pay off so was a little disappointed when suddenly it was like BAM it had appeared on my lips!

Me and M went out for her birthday last night and I wore this out then, I woke up this morning with my lips still stained pink which is pretty impressive!

I think they last a pretty decent amount of time but I always reapply them to make sure the colour is at it's brightest.

I do find however that for all day I still need to use Vaseline to keep my lips in good condition as it wasn't as moisturising.

Next up is shade Rendezvous or 040 which is a gorgeous orange.

I have never really liked orange shades before, but nowadays I'm genuinely obsessed. 

I'm sat here wearing an orange tshirt, with orangey pink nails and most things I'm lusting after right now are in a coral/orange hue.

Anyways, this is the balm stain on your lips:

I think both of these are amazing colours perfect for ANY occasion. 

You do need to reapply throughout the day but these are definitely going to feature in my handbag for a long time!

In fact, I'm debating going back into the shops today to pick up some more colours as they're just so easy to use.

I can't comment on how they compare to the Clinique Chubby Sticks as I've never seen those, but as the Revlon ones are currently £5.99 (£2 off in Boots and Superdrug at the moment!) these are far more affordable.

What do you think of these 2 colours? Do you like the pencil type lip products?

L xxx

I was so excited when I opened up my presents from L (blog post coming soon) it was like I had my own little American Haul.

L picked me up the shade smitten which unfortunately isn't one that's been released in the UK. L knows me so well. It's a gorgeous bright pink.

I couldn't wait to open it up and try it. I'd seen so much about these lipstains on blogs and knew I'd love them.  The packaging is compact and easy to use. I can apply this without a mirror which I like as well.

If you've seen shades you prefer that are only in America this eBay seller sells them all. They are £7 with free postage!! Bargain. I haven't bought from this seller myself but they are sat in my wishlist and the seller has 99.9% positive feedback so shouldn't be a problem.

When swatched on the hand the colour appears quite pale. But don't be fooled. It's a very instense pink that can easily be built up or left with just one swipe for a paler effect on the lips.

There is a slight minty tingle when you first apply it. Which I love, I love the gently balmy finish to it so it feels light on the lips but has an impressive colour pay of. I think the photo shows it slightly more reddy. In reality it's a fuchsia pink.

Once the balm wears of you are left with the stain from the colour. It's impressive how long the stain lasts on the lips, but it does tend to fade to a liner effect so you do need to re apply.

I'm definitely popping into boots tomorrow to get more of the shades. Rendezvous is on the top of my wishlist at the moment. I'm lacking an Orange in my lipstick collection.

Are you rushing out to get them? Which shades are on your wishlist? The swatches on the boots website make it hard to see the colour in my opinion so I'm not sure how many I'll be picking up. For £5.99 I'll be stocking up.

Love M

xxx