Beauty Trends: The Artis Brush Dupe

Here's my second post in the 'beauty trends' series! I have to admit, these are tougher to put together than I thought! There's so many beauty trends around, but I fund my entire collection myself unlike a lot of beauty bloggers, so I have to be quite selective about what I purchase, and generally only buy into trends I'm interested in/will get use out of. 

I'm sure you've all seen these 'Artis' style brushes plastered all over the internet. Yes, I know that's not their official name, (what is it by the way? haha!), 'Artis' is the brand that kicked off the trend with this new style of make-up brushes. Unfortunately, the Artis brushes are incredibly pricey, and certainly aren't a purchase I'd take lightly. However, these Primark dupes are something I'm definitely willing to part with a few £'s for!

I hate to say it, but I am the biggest skeptic when it comes to Primark beauty products, I can't help it, but I very seldom have a positive experience with the products. I get that I 'shouldn't' expect much for the little I pay, but why do I want to purchase beauty products that don't work? I guess you'd wonder why I have a vast collection of these little toothbrush type-things.. well, they were a huge success! 

Large Face Brush

There is no 'official' name for each of these brushes, so I named it myself.. 'large face brush', pretty accurate!

I picked up this brush first, parted with my £4, and went away to see if it was worth even that. I planned to use this brush for foundation application. I didn't expect much, infact I expected a streaky mess on my face, but not at all! The application was as seamless, if not more than my regular buffing brushes! I found that I needed a little more foundation than usual as the brush does soak up more than I'd care for, but it really doesn't bother me much. The handle is plastic, so it can be a little flimsy if you're heavy handed, but as long as you're careful, you'll have the most beautiful, flawless base.

Medium Face Brush

My favourite brush out of the three! I tried this for a variety of things before settling on using it for concealer application. It wasn't flexible enough to use for cream blush or contour, but it was firm enough to use for patting in concealer. I've never been content with the way I apply my concealer, I've always found it can be a little cakey, or even too sheer, but using this brush to pat and lightly blend has been revolutionary to my make-up routine, my concealer has never been so flawless! If you get any brush from this range, I highly recommend this one, for £3, it's a steal.

Small Face Brush

The final of the three, and the smallest! Also, my least favourite. I tried this for cream contour, and it was a streaky mess. It dragged across my face, definitely a no from me for this purpose! The only use I get from it is for more precise concealer, if I need a little help getting closer to my tear duct for example! I'd love if anyone else could recommend a way for me to use this? For £2.50, I wouldn't say 'don't' try it, if you have smaller areas to conceal, it could be really good for you, but I find it just collects dust in my room now!

I'm not sure if these brushes are going to be here to stay, or as this post suggest, a 'trend', but I'm really loving the idea of them, and the fact that they work beautifully too! I purchased a few back-ups, but I'm looking at expanding my collection of these, venturing into other brands, and of course, Artis!

Have you tried these brushes? What do you think of this beauty trend? Comment below!

All The Pink

Firstly, I must apologise for my lack in outfit posts recently. I've been struggling with body confidence, so taking pictures of myself isn't really what I felt comfortable doing! I've mostly been focusing on my YouTube at the moment, which I'll link here! I did eventually suck it up, and go out and shoot these new beautiful clothes. 
I sadly couldn't attend the Linzi S/S15 press day, but from looking at the pictures, I was immediately drawn to these pink and white heeled sandals. Of course, I had to have them! As they're a block heel, I did anticipate a little more comfort than your average heeled sandal, and I was further impressed with the padded sole! Literally, I didn't want to take them off! They're a perfect holiday shoe, and I seriously need the other colours they do!
Obviously, I couldn't not pair some pink with these shoes, so I opted for my new 'Kim K' pink waterfall waistcoat. This does have a belt to cinch you in at the waist, but I loved the way it floated in the wind, and it looked so much better on me open! I've seen these all over the place, but mine is from Missy Empire.. for £21.99!! For real. I was pleasantly surprised! I'd highly recommend checking them out, they do so many pieces for a fraction of the price you'd expect from other stores!
I didn't really want too much else going on with the outfit, so I went for a simple, 'white tee and jeans' look. I also slung on my teeny tiny pink and white Grafea to tie in all of the colours! 

Top - Primark

Jeans - c/o Miss Pap

Waistcoat - c/o Missy Empire

Shoes - c/o Linzi

Bag - c/o Grafea

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March Favourites 2015

As I'm sure most people say, I can't believe how fast the year is going by. I've been trying a lot of new products this month, and also enjoying a few new fashion/home purchases!  

First up is the I Heart Makeup 'Goddess of Love' Highlighter. I picked this up on one of my manic Makeup Revolution orders, and I haven't used anything else since. You get so much product for a mere £4.99. This is apparently a dupe for the Too Faced version of this product, however I can't speak in terms of that as I haven't actually tried the Too Faced one. I can however talk about how incredible this highlighter is! The colour in particular is such a beauuuuutiful yellow golden shimmer. I think this looks beautiful on tan skin, giving a gorgeous sun-kissed glow. 

Okay, so the Loreal Infallible 24Hr Matte Foundation, and the Loreal Infallible Mattifying Base are without a doubt my favourite two products of the month. I hate getting sucked into 'the hype', but I decided to give this a go anyway. I'm doing a full review on these two products anyway, so I won't say too much, but holy moly, if you have oily skin, this is a God send. 

These babies are my fashion favourite of the month, and they're the black and white Reebok Classics. I picked these up when ASOS were doing they're 20% off for students as I'd been eyeing them up for ages. They're so comfortable, and go with literally every single outfit! 

Another beauty favourite is the Clinique 'high impact' curling mascara. I've actually had this for a little while as it was a sample I recieved when they were having a promotion. I rediscovered it when I was organising my make-up drawers and decided to give it a go! I'm not sure it's my favourite for my top lashes, but for bottom lashes it's incredible. It separates and lengthes them with a single coat and I'm obsessed!!

My final favourite of the month is of course some Primark homeware. I've been going a little mad recently on new bedding, cushions, candles.. you name it! Primark has been my port of call for these little bits, and my favourite of the lot is this super cute pineapple cushion. At only £3, it was hard to leave in the store! It serves as an excellent neck pillow, as well as being a cute, decorative piece. I've seen they sell a flamingo shaped pillow too, so that's next on my list!

I thought I'd include a little 'behind the scenes' shot.. basically my dog was insisting on ruining my pictures. Or making them look better? Your call! 

Hopefully this has helped you with any purchases, and be sure to look out for my Loreal Infallible foundation review!

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Ripped Jeans and a Spring Coat

This look is super casual and 'Spring-y' as it was an absolutely gorgeous day when the pictures were shot! I can't say much about the weather now, but these images certainly have me yearning for the warmer months. 
I actually wore a very similar look to this to London Fashion Week, switching the jumper for a stripe tee, and the camel coat to a camel duster. I got this jacket in the mail recently from Naanaa Clothing, and it's even better in person. The material is so light, but it hangs like an absolute dream. (Quite bouncy, if that makes sense?). As it's in a very neutral shade, it goes with most of my wardrobe, and will easily see me through the warmer weather.
I'm not sure if I've already featured these jeans before, but they're my ultimate favourites. I must have mentioned in previous posts, but Miss Pap literally do the best jeans.. EVER. They're so stretchy and soft, yet the feel like good hardwearing jeans. A rarity these days, as most are thin and lack shape after some time. 
After getting a little sick of lugging around huge bags with me everywhere, I decided to invest in a couple of smaller bags, just for the essentials. I picked this one up in H&M for only £12.99, and I now own it in black too! (PS, both of them are on sale for £7..whaaaaaat).

Jacket - c/o NaaNaa Clothing (currently 20% off!) Top - H&M Jeans - c/o Miss Pap Shoes - Primark (linked similar) Bag - H&M (linked similar)

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PINSTRIPES

Oooh, an outfit post! It's been a little while since I've shot one of these, and thats purely down to lack of time, and the fact that I've been falling in love with all things make-up! Don't worry though, I still love fashion and will always be posting outfits! I'm actually going to London Fashion Week next week for the first time, eek!! I'm so excited! Expect lots of pictures! 
Anyway, on to the outfit! I'm obsessed with pinstripes, and I've acquired quite a few pieces in the print, (mostly tailoring). One pinstripe suit is not enough for me, and I'm always after another! I'm currently lusting after a black/navy on white set, so hopefully I'll get a hold of one of those soon.  As soon as I spotted this on Missguided, and I was like.. YEP. I've not stopped wearing the trousers. They're SO comfortable. Although they're quite clearly a tailored trouser, the material is fairly stretchy. Perfect eating trousers! I know, how sad. I do genuinely wear them every time we go out for a meal though as I can go all out and eat all the burgers in the world and still breathe!! (Kinda). The bralet is something I'm definitely saving for the warmer months, but popping it under a snuggly coat is totally acceptable. 
I think I'm slightly confused about the weather with this outfit to be honest.. I mean, I'm wearing a big coat.. and sliders???? They're cute, so whatever. It works in my head!  I love these rose-gold metallic sliders from Primark. They're literally a dream. The sole is super spongey and comfortable, something I fully appreciate in a shoe. I did get a little ahead of myself, and I picked up a couple of pairs of summer appropriate shoes, but I know they're going to fly out when the sun arrives, so I'm all stocked up! They do them in a few more colours, and I can see myself swaying towards picking those up too. Oops!
I hope you all enjoyed this post! Let me know what you'd like to see more of, beauty, fashion, whatever! 

COAT - MISSGUIDED

TOP - MISSGUIDED

TROUSERS - MISSGUIDED

SHOES - PRIMARK (linked similar)

BLUE HAIR, I HAVE BLUE HAIR!

So, as the oh so original title states, I have blue hair! Well, blue ombré. Am I Kylie Jenner yet? (Sadly, no). This was a second, and finally successful attempt at blue ombré hair. What do you think?!
Anyway, I rediscovered a few pieces for this look. One being my very well loved Primark dogtooth coat. I wore this to death in recent months, but later found it collecting dust in my wardrobe whilst I swanned around it newer coat additions, so I'm delighted to put it back on the front line!
Even though this outfit is somewhat tame, the shine and print of this skirt provides a little edge. Whilst the silhouette of this skirt is generally covered by my coat, I can tell you it's incredibly flattering. (PS, this skirt is on sale now for under £10, woop!). My top is a super elegant basic I picked up from Missguided a little while back, and I can't believe this is the first time I've worn it! It drapes around the skirt beautifully, and I think this would look just as good over some high-waisted jeans for a more 'put together' daytime look.

COAT - PRIMARK

TOP - MISSGUIDED

SKIRT - c/o MISS PAP (sale alert!)

SHOES - ASOS

 

KIM K SHOES - COMFY EDITION

I'm quite surprised I haven't featured this coat previously, as I've had it since the end of last year! It's a coat I'd been after for so long, waiting for the day it was reduced in price, as I couldn't justify spending £90 on yet ANOTHER coat. I ended up purchasing it in the 'tall' version as it was cheaper than the regular, and it hasn't really been a problem! Obviously, the regular version went down further shortly after, but me being me, I just couldn't wait! I sized down in this, and I really should have sized down again as it's huuuuuge, but I'm not complaining as it's super snuggly.
Unless you've been living under a rock, you'd know that Kim Kardashian has been taking the fashion world by storm recently, with everyone lusting after her gorgeous knitted two-pieces, oversized camel coats, and of course, her incredibly fabulous lace-up heels. They're slowing creeping into all of our favourite high street stores, and online favourites, meaning they've become super accessible, and super affordable. Now, I'm not 'heels during the day' kind of girl, but a chunky heel is something I can definitely work with. When Megan Ellaby, (ASOS stylist, and fashion blogger), posted a picture of these on Twitter, it was a 'straight in the basket' kind of thing. I've worn these out already, and they're SO comfy. Who knew you could get Kim K's style, AND be comfortable?
My coat and shoes are doing all of the talking here, so I popped on my favourite ripped jeans, and basic striped tee. I was concerned my bag would blend in with the coat, but I think it looks okay! Grafea's are always gonna look good, let's be serious.

COAT - ASOS (sale alert!) TOP - PRIMARK (linked similar) JEANS - c/o MISS PAP BAG - GRAFEA VIA ASOS SHOES - ASOS