Tips and Tricks #10

A chore all beauty lovers hate is cleaning their brushes however, having clean brushes is just one of the best things. Considering the amount of brushes we all use, it gets to that point when you literally have no clean ones left and simply have to go through the cleaning process.

Ages ago, when I went to Paris, I picked up their Daily make up brush cleaner which has really helped cut down the time it takes to clean my make up brushes. It comes in a small handy travel size, although I believe they also do a larger bottle. It's a simple spray which you spray directly onto your make up brushes. I then use either a muslin cloth or a flannel and swish my make up brush around in circles. It's quite satisfying seeing all of the make up come off your brush onto the flannel. I keep reapplying the spray and swishing my brush round until no more make up comes off on the muslin cloth. It really is that simple and easy and honestly cuts down the time spent actually 'washing' your brushes in the sink.

I can't fully remember the price of this product, but I'm pretty sure it was really affordable. Of course the only trouble is ordering from Sephora but if you're close to making an order, then quickly pop this product in your basket, you won't regret it!

Sephora Smoothing Primer

I purchased this what feels like ages ago now and it was a spur of the moment purchase. I struggle to find the perfect primer so whenever a new one comes out, or I see a new one I haven't tried, I like to give it a go. I do find that primers can be pretty expensive so I tend to keep an eye out on the high street. When I spotted this one when I was on holiday in France, I couldn't help but pick it up as it's not everyday you get to pick up Sephora products here in the UK.

To be honest nothing really attracted me to this product other than the fact that it was a primer and I was in need of a new one at the time. I like the packaging as it's rather dinky so in one way perfect for travelling, but on the other hand not so great as it is a glass bottle. I love that this product has a pump, it just makes it so much easier to know how much product you are using so you don't waste any. I simply use one pump of this product and it covers all of my face.

When I first used this product it reminded me of the Maybelline Baby Skin, the formula felt exactly the same pretty much although I would say very slightly the Sephora one has a thicker consistency. So firstly if you are not a fan of the Maybelline one then I would suggest that you probably won't get on well with this one. I personally quite liked the Maybelline one but I do think I prefer this Sephora one and I will tell you why.

Once this product is applied to your skin it doesn't take long to sink in and doesn't leave your skin feeling slippery. This product aims to smooth out your skin which I think it does achieve. It leaves my skin perfectly ready for the rest of my make up routine. The only slight downside to this primer is that I don't find it keeps my make up in place for a particularly long time. I would say around 3-4 hours and my t zone is beginning to get oily again and in need of a touch up.

Overall this is a pretty good primer and I like how it leaves my skin looking and feeling. As I said the only downside is the staying power but that's the trouble having an oily t zone, it's a pain to keep at bay. I will continue my hunt for a great high street primer, let me know your favourites :-)

Sephora Formula X Nail Colour in Enigma

Ever since these first came out in Sephora, I wanted to try one. I saw many bloggers write about them but you cannot ship nail varnish therefore I couldn't get my hands on one. Until I went to France at the end of Summer, I came across a Sephora! I wasn't actually looking for these in particular but when I saw them I knew I had to pick one up. The colour range was insane though making the decision very difficult.

After a while I settled for this colour called "Enigma" which is a gorgeous deep teal, green shade. I tried to think back to my nail collection at home whilst choosing but that also was a hard thing to do. I'm pretty sure I don't own a colour like this, although I still haven't checked. I could have easily picked up more than one shade and looking back I probably should of but with not knowing whether I would like them or not, I didn't.

The formula of these nail varnishes is super duper, with two coats it is fully opaque which as you may know is a winner with me. The application was easy and it went on smooth. The shape of the brush is also great for me personally as it is slightly bigger than the normal. Therefore you can literally nearly do one nail in one sweep.

I applied this nail varnish on my toes when I went to Greece and it honestly lasted the whole 8 days with NO chips! I didn't think this would last not because of the nail varnish but with going in the swimming pool daily and the sea. I thought it may have just worn down but the colour was still vibrant at the end of my holiday which I was impressed with.

This is the perfect Autumnal teal colour for your nails, and toes not that you'd get them out in the cold weather. I absolutely love the formula and if I come across these again then I will definitely pick up another shade or two. They are quite a pricey nail varnish but you definitely get the quality here. If you're near a Sephora or are going to head to one I definitely recommend picking one up. Let me know your thoughts if you have tried one :-)

Mini Sephora Haul

In case you didn't know I've recently just returned from my Summer holiday in the South of France. I must say it was bloody lovely and I totally enjoyed simply just relaxing and not having to go to work! Although in some strange way it is nice to be back, I would definitely prefer to be in the hotter weather as opposed to the rainy UK.

Whilst I was out there we went shopping in Limoges one afternoon that was slightly cloudy, although still warm. We were wandering around when we came across a Sephora, which I didn't even know was there, but was super happy that it was so of course I headed straight in. The Sephora's in Europe don't tend to have many different brands to what we can get in the UK, so although not as exciting as the USA ones still rather exciting.

I was walking around thinking I wasn't going to find anything as it was such a surprise to actually find a Sephora, I wasn't prepared! But I came across the Sephora Formula X nail varnishes which I have read and heard a lot about. These are something you cannot get shipped to the UK so I knew I wanted to pick one up as soon as I saw them. I picked up this gorgeous teal green/blue shade which I knew I didn't own anything like this in my collection. I'm excited to use it and see if they are worth the hype.

And finally I picked up the Sephora Smoothing Primer which I had never seen before. I found it right at the last minute of browsing and picked it up as my current primer is nearly out. It's in a cute small glass pump packaging and claims to smooth and mattify which both sound good to me. I've mentioned this before but I find the primer range in the UK everywhere to be pretty poor so I thought I would try something you cannot easily get in the UK to see if I like it. My odds will be that I love it and therefore have to fork out a load of money to repurchase, ha ha!

That's it for my small Sephora haul, I hope you enjoyed it however mini! I'm super excited to try both of these products out and will do follow up reviews in the future. Let me know your favourite Sephora branded products you think I should check out :-)

Empties #2

I can't believe Christmas has been and gone already. I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and Boxing day :-) I'm spending my day today watching all of the DVDs I received for Christmas and eating chocolates, just perfect. Onto the post, I cannot believe this is only my second empties post ever. I definitely need to remember more to keep my empty goodies to share with you but for now lets get talking about these ones.

Sephora Coconut Perfume
I picked this up a while back when I was in Rome, I simply love the smell of coconut, not so much the taste but the smell is lovely. So when I saw this little travel sized perfume I thought it was perfect. It's a great size to just chuck into your handbag and spritz whenever needed. The smell lasted a pretty long time and surprisingly so did this little tube. The only slight downside was that it was glass so not perfect for travelling but it served me well and I loved it.

Garnier Ultimate Blends 1 Minute Treatment
I was gutted when this beauty ran out. I picked this up when this range first came out and it worked miracles on my hair. It was perfect for those quick hair wash showers when you don't want to stand there for 5 minutes with a hair mask on. This one worked it's magic in just 1 minute. You popped this on your hair after shampooing and if your hair needed it you could then use conditioner but you didn't have to. I would sometimes just use a small amount of conditioner right on the ends of my hair to really give them a good nourish. This honestly really helped my hair and it's split ends. It also smelt amazing with avocado oil and shea butter.

Murad Blemish Spot Treatment
I got this spot treatment within a Murad gift set a while back from TK Maxx. I don't need to tell you how much I love a good spot treatment but I did really enjoy using this one. It had quite a runny consistency which was sometimes quite difficult to work with but once on the face it was ok. It didn't leave the affected area tight or stiff and it also didn't sting on application. It really helped my blemishes over night and the redness reduced. I've tried so many spot treatments, this one did work but unfortunately not one of my favourites I've used over time.

Jelly Belly Bubblegum Candle
I picked this candle up a pretty long time ago now but I'm so glad I did. This honestly smells incredible, within minutes my whole bedroom would smell amazing and it was all down to this candle. It sure had a long burning time to because it got to the point where I was having to light this everyday. This is by far the best candle I've ever burnt and I would love to see what other scents you can get from this range as I would 100% buy one.

And that's it for my second empties post! I don't have so many this time around but will have to definitely try harder to remember to keep everything I use up for next time around. Again I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and I'll see you next time :-)

Sephora needs me

I always find myself browsing Sephora but have never taken the plunge into actually purchasing from their website. Now the hype has died down after Sephora now ships to the UK, with some exclusions, I now even more than before want to place this order. And with payday plus student loan coming up, who's stopping me? Only myself saying 'can you really justify that amount of money on more new make up?' well yes I probably can.

Sephora have the best 'value sets' as they're called which simply include many sample sizes from a range of different brands at a reduced price. The first one is called Give Me Some Lip including 6 different lip products and shades which just looks amazing. The second one I have my eye on is the Summer Crushes which now has even more money off including a load of mini summer essentials. Although I swear the summer now seems to have come to a sudden hault in the UK, were edging on Autumnal weather yet we're still in August, what's going on?!

Now for the longest time I have SO wanted to try make up from Tarte, yes we can now get it from QVC in the UK but not the entire range. The main thing I have always wanted is the Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Full Coverage Foundation, I've heard too many people talking about this so I am in desperate need of it. Also The Sculptor which simply looks like a fool proof contour for idiots, I need this too.

Not only does everyone talk about the Tarte foundation they also rave about the Make Up For Ever Full Cover Concealer, again something I am now desperate for. I'm hoping these two beauties will help sort my face out during my break out stages. Finally the Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara duo, the main reason behind this want is Zoella. She featured it in a recent video and her eyelashes looked insane, so I need to try it out for myself.

Overall I am desperate to make this Sephora order but it's a toss up between whether my heart or head wins the bet.. Maybe after payday and when my student loan comes in we shall see (it hopefully in my arms mwahaha) Have you ever ordered from Sephora? What's on your wish list?