Crown Brush Syntho Collection..

I've said it before (like a thousand times) and I'll say it again, and again and ag.. (Oh, nevermind!)

I LOVE MAKEUP BRUSHES!

Okay, now that I've got that out of the way we can move on. Hah! Sorry. But I really, really do, I mean it's like an obsession - I have way more than I'll ever be able to use in a day or an application, but I still keep on getting new ones and my collection continues to grow.

I really do believe that the makeup brush goes a long way towards makeup application. I struggle now to remember the days when I used fingers and ridiculous flimsy sponges to try to make myself look decent. Makeup brushes really made a difference when I started to use them and that's how I became obsessed. I just love trying out a shiny new brush and seeing what I can 'create' with it.

So I was super happy to try out the new Syntho* range from Crown Brush.. I mean, look at them! They are shiny and new and oh so lovely. These brushes are some the the softest I've ever used and they're all synthetic (obviously). They all do their job and apply products beautifully.

So let's go through them individually and see what they're for, and what I did with them... (From left to right)

Pointed Kabuki:

This is a lovely dense and sturdy little brush. I really like to use it for cream products, especially blush and highlighter. I did try it for foundation, which is applied smoothing, but I just like a foundation brush with a longer handle.

Deluxe Fan:

This brush was the first to catch my eye, I don't own anything so big or fluffy! It's gorgeous and soft but too large for applying anything to my face. Great at sweeping away fall out, or for dusting bronzer onto the chest area too.

Precision Powder:

I love this brush, it's a little tapered so works a treat for blush bronzer or contour (or all three!) .. It's also nice to dust your setting powder on with. The tapered point means it applies and blends really well at the same time.

Angle Shader:

This brush it pretty large and felt too big to use in the crease of my eye. I was stumped for a while, but then I used it for undereye concealer and it fit really well and got close to the eye because of the angle, it blends flawlessly too.

Deluxe Blending Crease:

This is lovely, it's just like a synthetic 217. Great for many things, eyelid, crease, concealer. It's probably one of my most used out of these. I love the 217 from MAC and I love this synthetic dupe!

Precision Crease:

This is short and stubby, kind of like a pencil brush to me. It works well on the lower out corner of the lash line and also for a really dark colour in the outer crease if you want lots of definition.

Angle Fluff:

I don't find this brush to have any 'fluff' to it really. It's soft and works well on the eyelid, but I like angled brushes to really get a clean defined line in my socked, but this doesn't have enough fluff, it's kinda flat and angled, works nicely to the inner lid because it's small.

Mini Concealer:

I thought this was an eye shader until I looked! That's what I've used it for, it packs colour onto the eye lid well, it's soft but stiff enough to pick up a good amount of shadow. I think it would work well with concealer too though.

Chisel Shader:

I love this this brush! I use it to add colour along the upper and lower lash lines. The bristle are short, stiff and they really help to define the lash line.

Brow Duo:

This is a perfect addition. Does exactly what it's supposed to, the brow brush is soft and adds shadow to the brows without being too harsh. The spoolie end it ideal for brushing through them.

Have you tried any Crown Brushes? Let me know your faves!

You can check out this range on the Crown Brush website.

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Crown Brush Smoke It Out Palette..

I can see you... Staring at the picture of that gorgeous palette in wonderment... Go on, look a little longer, I'll wait right here...

Haha! Isn't it gorgeous? Blog readers, meet the Smoke It Out Palette* from Crown Brush! It's the most me palette I've ever seen, and I have a lot of palettes.

The thing is, my favourite make up is dramatic and smokey, but I love colour! So put them together and what have you got?  This beauty! It's really, really gorgeous and I've been playing with it for a while now. You can see a couple of examples of looks in the collage above, and I can assure you there will be many more to come.

So let's talk about the palette. . It has 36 eyeshadows and each one is pigmented, even the few matte shades that are included. They are soft like buttah and blend like a dream, they really do. I didn't do swatches, mainly because I do them so badly and I thought the makeup I've done with the palette was much more interesting anyway.

The shadows come in a sturdy black casing which is light weight and stays firmly closed.. this is important because some palettes try to open in my luggage when I travel and I hate it!

I really don't know what else I can say to sum this palette up. If you love dramatic makeup and experimenting with colour and this makes you go wow, then you'll love it and you should get it! I am very happy that I own it. It's a perfect palette for any season too, because the colours are so versatile.

Do check it out here if you're as in love as I am. It's only £19.99.. Yes. Under twenty quid.. I know!

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My Experience: Sleep In Rollers!

Soooo, sleep in rollers! What do they do? are they good? do they work? can you sleep in them?!! So many questions! I'm here to tell you about my experience with these!

So, I was sent these rollers about a month or so ago to try out and review. I was slightly nervous about having to put all of my hair into rollers.. I am not the best at doing my own hair for some reason! I have no problems doing somebody else's though..

So, the first thing I noticed was how squishy the actual rollers were, they are just a bit of velcro wrapped around a soft, squishy pink piece of sponge... Sounds simple, but actually works! The velcro in these is actually quite strong and held in my hair pretty well.

I got the Mega Bounce Gift Set, which is lovely. It has 20 rollers, 10 original and 10 mega bounce, a drying hood (not shown here) and some hair grips to help hold the rollers in - it also comes with a cute travel bag to keep everything together and take with you!

So, 20 rollers in total.. I have to be honest, I only just managed to do my whole head. I probably needed about 5 more rollers to comfortably do my whole head (You can buy top up packs).. I was really rolling some thick sections towards the back of my head.

I did use the grips to secure the rollers and they felt nice and tight, not like they were going to flop out of my hair if I moved my head. Also, the hood is super cute, it's bright pink and huge, so it easily fits over the huge rollers. I like that they include that in this set for those who might not want to sleep in them.

So, the result? It was good! These are quite large rollers so I was never going to end up with tight springy curls, but I did end up with big, voluminous, bouncy hair! It was so nice and felt very glam. Here are my pics.. I know they're not the best, but I had to be my own photographer that day. You get the idea though, my hair was so smooth and full of bounce and volume!

Nice! I really liked how it looked, I loved the lift I got at the root, and with a bit of back combing and hairspray it held well enough for a night out!

The last question to answer is the sleeping one! Can you sleep in them? ... I can't, no. *Sigh* .. BUT, I am a very light sleeper, I'm awkward, fidgety and I take ages to get comfortable and to sleep at night, there is no way a head full of big rollers (no matter how squishy) was going to help me.

However, I did do a lay down test and you can lay down in them and they do squish to your head quite comfortably, so if you're not Miss Awkward when it comes to sleeping and you don't think it would bother you, go for it. They are definitely soft enough to sleep on.

Check out this set here, and other options here!

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A little nail essential...

Hi Guys!

Today I wanted to finally do a quick post about one of my essential nail products when I'm DIY'ig my manicure. I never ever go to get my nails done professionally nowadays, mainly because I can't afford it, but I think I've got pretty nifty at doing them myself in recent months.

This nail and cuticle oil* from Viridan is a great help. It's completely natural and really hydrates my whole nail and cuticle area. I try to apply it at least once a day and spend a few moments just massaging it around my cuticles. It sinks in without leaving any slippery greasy feeling and it leaves my nails and cuticles looking healthy.

Another plus is that over the time I've been using this (a couple of months) I feel that my nails have really strengthened and don't peel or chip as easily any more, my cuticles are much more manageable too.

It comes in a glass bottle with a really handy pipette and you only need the smallest amount to cover all fingers (and thumbs!) It's only £12.95 and you can check it out here!

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Tea Flower Pore Purifying Mask.

I'm a bit face mask obsessed at the moment. I like to do one at least once a week, but usually more. I have quite a few favourites, one of them being this lovely mask by Una Brennan.

This clay mask is perfect for my oily skin as the clay draws out all impurities and seems to temporarily shrink my pore size and leave my skin feeling soft and mattified. Even though it's a clay mask it doesn't leave my skin feeling dry, it always feels super soft and very clean when I rinse this off.

As well as helping with oily skin, it's also good for my blemishes (I have plenty of those!), it helps to clear them up and reduce scars from previous blemishes. It smells great, is quick to use (just apply - let it dry completely - rinse) and feels like a really nice soothing treat for my face. Best of all, it is inexpensive.

What are your fav face masks? Let me know! You can check this out here!

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I'd Love... A Night At The Opera!

Who here has ever been to the Opera? . . I haven't and it really would never have been anything of interest to me when I was younger. It's weird how tastes change, isn't it? I'd love to go to the opera now! Imagine putting on a lovely dress, doing your makeup and hair for such a fancy event. It would be so much fun! I guess lifestyle depends on that, there are probably many people that go regularly to such things. My lifestyle doesn't include that... Yet!!

Anyway, back to me being a child. My brother is a Classical Musician and spent much of our childhood practising to get to where he is today. I remember him blasting out Classical and Operatic music while I would amp my volume up with The Spice Girls to try and over take his music. Haha!

Have any of you ever been to the Opera? I'd love to hear about it if you have.

I was looking at the English National Opera web page the other day and browsing some of their shows. They are held at the London Coliseum which looking like a beautiful venue. Rigoletto and Madam Butterfly are both eye catching Opera's that I've head of in the past... as well as one that is called Die Fledermaus*, I was reading up about it and watching the clip and it looks so fun, the characters, costumes and makeup look amazing and I would genuinely like to see that

So now, added to my list of things to do in this life.. Go to the Opera!

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Photo-a-Day ~ Day Thirty One ~ Things!

So I made it all the way to the end of July with a few blips, but not too many! I know this is a day late but I've been a little busy so didn't have time yesterday.

I don't know if I did a great job at the whole thing or whether my posts were really of interest, but I enjoyed the challenge and I am inspired to blog more! :)

So, thanks if you checked in and took a look at my posts.

My photo of the day is an instagram shot from yesterday..

Also, follow me on instagram, I post there loads!

Thanks again everyone! xx

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Things I Love... Live Concerts!

One of my favourite things to do is go to live concerts and shows at the theatre. I've seen quite a few artists over the years and I still have loads I'd like to see... I'd also love to attend a festival one day, I think Glastonbury would be so epic! It always looks amazing on the TV. I just don't know how I'd cope at one as I've never been camping in my life. I think as I get older I'd cope better actually, I feel more comfortable without makeup or curled/straightened hair and I think it would be an experience.

Westlife were one of my all time faves. I think I saw all but two of their tours over the years they were together and I'm not ashamed to admit it!

My first every concert was in Plymouth and my Mum and I went to see Craig David! That was fun, he was huge then and my Mum loved him. I also saw Darren Hayes (of Savage Garden) and he was awesome, Will Young and Mika too! I took my Sister to see Girls Aloud in Birmingham once too, that was her first concert and it was so fun.

I live in Leeds and they've just opened a huge arena here (which is long overdue!) my boyfriend took me to look at it last week and it looks really ugly from the outside (what were they thinking!) I snapped this random pic on my phone. They do have some good acts that are going to be there in the next year so I am hoping we can get some tickets and not have to travel very far afield to see a show.

One place I've never seen a gig is at the o2 in London and I want to change that. I have concert DVDs of shows there and it looks absolutely massive and atmospheric.  I saw there is going to be a Status Quo tour* there and Will.i.am too (I like Will, the BF likes Quo!). I think top of my list are Michael Buble and Lady Gaga! I'd love to see both of those.

What's the best gig you've ever been to? Mine was Robbie Williams with my Mum at an outdoor gig in Leeds. It was epicly amazing and I adore him! He knows how to entertain. :)

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