January Favourites

Revlon ColorBurst Matte Balm in Sultry
I would have to say that these Revlon chubby lipstick pencils are my favourite drugstore lip products. I really liked both the Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains & the ColorBurst Lacquer Balms but at the minute I'm really into matte lips. They tend to last a lot longer throughout the day and they never transfer onto my wonky teeth which is always a hazard with any other kind of bright lipstick. I decided to get one of the Matte Balms in the shade Sultry & I couldn't be any happier with it. I'd been wanting to add some deep berry shades to my collection but sometimes they can look a bit harsh for everyday wear. Sultry is basically the perfect Winter berry lipstick for me. This colour is a dark pink with brown & plum tones. However on my light complexion it transforms into a rich burgundy shade. It's vampy without looking too gothic & it has a soft velvety finish that doesn't look flat. It doesn't feel heavy or dry out my lips either as it features a triple butter complex of shea, mango & coconut butters. I'm completely obsessed with this colour & I've pretty much been wearing it non-stop since I bought it.

Charlotte Tilbury Wonderglow Primer
My favourites list for this month could've easily been made up of just Charlotte Tilbury products. The obsession is real! After getting tons of her products for Christmas I actually went out and bought some more. This time I got a few of her base products and I've been particularly impressed by the Wonderglow primer. This product is a peach-toned liquid illuminator that instantly perks up dull skin. It can be used underneath your foundation to give you that lit from within look, on top of foundation as a traditional liquid highlighter or on it's own as a quick pick me up for the skin. The finish is quite sparkly so if you're not a fan of glitter then you might wanna give it a miss. I like to use Wonderglow as a primer before foundation because it has loads of amazing skin benefits. It feels really light on the skin whilst still delivering a hefty dose of hydration. I love how beautiful & radiant it makes my skin look. It really is an incredible product!

The Pro Hygiene Collection Antibacterial Makeup Spray
I have terrible hoarding tendencies & I like to hang onto my makeup products a little longer than I probably should do. I figure that if the smell, texture & function of the product remain the same as when you first purchased it then it's a bit of a waste to get rid of it. The main thing to consider is bacteria growth. This wonderful antibacterial spray from The Pro Hygiene Collection will remove 99.99% of bacteria from your cosmetics & doesn't affect the products in any other way. Thanks to this product I've been able to keep hold of all my old favourite powders, blushers & eyeshadows without fear of giving myself spots or eye infections. Just spray it on something once, wait for it to dry and you're good to go. It will also inhibit future bacteria growth on anything you use it on so it's a really good way of keeping all your products clean & sanitary.

Sarah Chapman Intense Hydrating Booster
My favourite kind of serums are ones that contain hyaluronic acid. It all started with Hydraluron and the obsession went on from there. I'd been wanting to try some Sarah Chapman products for ages & when I spotted her Intense Hydrating Booster in the Feel Unique sale I knew it was time for a splurge. I'm so glad I bought it because this is one of those products where your skin looks 100x better from the first time you use it. It has a light watery consistency and feels really silky & comforting on the skin. My complexion instantly looks brighter & plumper when I use it. This product deeply hydrates the skin & makes it feel super soft. It has fast become my favourite hyaluronic acid-based serum & words cannot express how brilliant it truly is.

MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NC15
It's been quite a while since I've bought a MAC base product. Back in the day I tried out all of their foundations before realising that they oxidised really badly on my skin & always broke me out. But I've been hearing so many good things about their Pro Longwear Concealer, mainly that it doesn't crease around the eyes which is really important to me. I decided to get it in NC15 & I am completely loving it! It feels lightweight despite it's long lasting nature & extremely high coverage. It doesn't crease on me at all & it also works well as an eyeshadow base. The packaging makes it a little awkward to use but I appreciate how hygienic the pump is. It works well under the eyes as well as on blemishes without ever looking cakey. Pro Longwear is definitely my favourite out of all the MAC concealers & I can't recommend it enough!

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How To Extend The Life Of Your Cosmetics

The Pro Hygiene Collection Antibacterial Makeup Spray - £10

Over the years I've accumulated a ridiculous amount of beauty products. I'm not a makeup artist & have no interest in ever becoming one so it seems kinda pointless to keep hold of so much stuff. I've been trying to clear out some of my vast beauty collection recently and makeup is always the hardest category for me to dispose of. I've spent a lot on these products and by getting rid of them it's like I'm literally chucking my money in the bin. Some things really do need to be binned like weird smelling lipsticks & old mascaras but it is possible to keep hold of some older products with the help of this wonderful Antibacterial Makeup Spray from The Pro Hygiene Collection. I love their Makeup Brush Cleaner which is great for spot cleaning your makeup brushes and when I spotted this spray on Feel Unique I figured it could save some of the products that I couldn't bear to be parted with.

This antibacterial spray kills 99.99% of germs within 60 seconds of application without affecting product performance. Once used it also inhibits regrowth of bacteria on the surface of makeup products. You can use it on gels, creams, pencils, powders & lipsticks. As well as makeup you can use this product to sanitise tools such as pencil sharpeners, eyelash curlers & tweezers. The main things you can't use it on are mascara & lip gloss. Since getting this product I've been on a huge hygiene kick, spraying all my makeup after use & disinfecting all the older products in my collection. It's so quick & easy to use and it won't ruin your products either.




One of those products that I definitely had to save was this MAC Royal Assets eyeshadow palette from their Antiquitease Holiday 2007 collection. That means I've had this palette for seven whole years. Pretty gross, right? But those colours are totally beautiful & as this was a limited edition palette it's not like I could've repurchased them. I used this practically every day for a whole year when I first got it. I love how the silvery shades look on my eyes & I've never found another a set of eyeshadows quite like this. The little 211SE brush that came with it is actually really great too. I'm tempted to replace it with the Charlotte Tilbury Rock Chick eyeshadow palette but this MAC palette has huge sentimental value for me. Anyway in order to disinfect these eyeshadows all I had to do was hold the bottle 30cm away from the palette, spray once & leave them to dry. The spray doesn't leave any residue or add a hard crust to your powders. These eyeshadows still have exactly the same texture & pigmentation as before, they're simply cleaner & safer to use. This antibac spray is a dream for fellow makeup hoarders. It is one of the best things you can buy to preserve your cosmetics & you'll be able to use your old products without having to worry getting spots or eye infections from them. Everyone knows that they have to clean their makeup brushes but it's just as important to clean the makeup itself and that's why this antibacterial spray is essential for any makeup lover.

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How To Spot Clean & Deep Clean Your Makeup Brushes

Cleaning your makeup brushes has to be one of the worst beauty related chores but it's also incredibly important. Dirty brushes carry a gross mix of old makeup, dead skin cells & bacteria which can lead to blemishes & infections. I'm definitely guilty of leaving a brush cleaning session until they've become too disgusting to use. The whole process is such a faff that I tend to only end up washing them once a month! For us super lazy girls a quick spot cleanse can make all the difference. Just don't forget to give them a deep cleanse every few weeks as well. Here's the lowdown on both brush cleaning processes...





SPOT CLEANING
Spot cleaning your brushes is the quick & easy method. It works best on smaller tools like eyeshadow brushes. If you're lacking in the blending brush department & need to blend out your eye makeup with a clean brush then a spot cleanser is a great solution. There's plenty of these products on the market. Depending on your budget ELF, No7, Clinique & MAC's offerings are all good options. My current fave has to be The Pro Makeup Shop Hygiene Collection Makeup Brush Cleaner. It gets things clean in a flash but is still fairly cheap. To spot clean my brushes I simply spritz the cleanser onto some kitchen roll or directly onto the brush bristles & gently swirl my brushes in the product until all traces of makeup have been removed. A couple of minutes later my brushes are perfectly clean, dry & ready to use again. Spot cleansers tend to be quite alcohol heavy which can dry out & damage natural bristle brushes. They won't fully remove every trace of foundation either. That's why a deep cleanse is still needed. But if you want to temporarily make things a little less yucky then this method will keep everything sanitary enough to use.




DEEP CLEANING
For a deep cleanse you can't beat Dr Bronner's soaps. The reason I recommend these over Fairy Liquid or regular bar soap is because they contain nourishing oils such as coconut, olive, hemp seed & jojoba so they'll condition your brushes as well as cleansing them. They come in loads of different scents but I prefer the minty ones such as Tea Tree & Peppermint as they make everything smell really fresh. Tea Tree is a natural antiseptic too so it's a good choice for staving off blemish causing bacteria. I really like both the liquid & solid soaps, it just depends which kind you prefer using. The liquid is better for bristle brushes and the solid one is better for sponges, powder puffs & densely packed brushes like the Sigma F80. I find that the solid one is a little less wasteful.

A lot of people will tell you to swirl your makeup brushes on your hand to get them clean & this always dried out my hands. If you have as many makeup brushes as I do, washing them takes a long time & subsequently wrecks my hands! Last year Sigma came out with a fancy brush cleaning glove which seemed a bit gimmicky at the time but it really does help to remove all of the ground-in dirt from your brushes. Then some clever cloggs realised that you can buy a silicone oven glove that does exactly the same job for a mere fraction of the price! I picked up my one from eBay and it makes brush washing so much quicker & easier. The glove protects your hands & the ridges tackle the grime so I'd definitely recommend buying one of these.







To give my brushes a deep clean first of all I wet each brush & swirl it in some of the liquid or solid soap. Then I rub it against the oven glove to lather it up. Rinse & repeat as required until all the makeup & soap has been completely washed away. Then just give the brush a final rinse under the tap being careful to hold the bristles facing downwards.



DRYING
When you've finally finished the washload, squeeze out the excess water & swirl them on a towel to dry them off a bit. Then either lay the brushes flat on a towel or balance them over the edge of a table, leaving them to dry overnight. Even better, if you've got the Real Techniques brush holders you can use the elastic in them to dry your brushes upside down. Never dry them with the bristles pointing upwards. This allows water to come into contact with the glue holding the bristles together which leads to shedding - my pet hate when it comes to makeup brushes! Once you get into the routine of washing your brushes regularly, it becomes a whole lot more manageable & less time consuming. I'm gonna try my best to keep mine as clean as possible from now on, pinky promise! It's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it...

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