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!

Tips & Tricks #7

This is a pretty recent new tip that I have picked up but I really am loving it so much that I couldn't hold out much longer and therefore needed to share it with you. I've read a lot about clarifying shampoos recently and how good they can be for your hair. I had never tried one before but when I had to purchase a few other bits from Boots I thought I would pick one up and try it.

So from what I've been reading the aim of a clarifying shampoo is to deep clean your hair and get rid of all of the nasty stuff. I also read that you're only supposed to use this once a week, not entirely sure why but I've been sticking to that roughly. I've been using this shampoo for a few weeks now and have been loving the results on my hair. There's nothing special about using this shampoo, it's just like any other, but the way my hair feels after using this is amazing. It leaves my hair feeling super soft and squeaky clean. I have also found that when I use this my hair doesn't get as greasy as quickly therefore I don't have to wash it as often when it's the time of the week to use this shampoo.

I'm unsure whether there are other clarifying shampoos out there on the high street as on the Boots website I could only see this one. I'm sure there are and I'm just unaware of them so if you have any recommendations let me know. But this one from Pantene definitely seems to be doing the job and it was only around £4 for this large bottle. Considering you're only using it once a week as well means that it's going to last a long time.

Overall I love this little tip and it has worked wonders on my hair. I will continue to use this and repurchase another clarifying shampoo after this one. I love that my hair feels so soft with the use of a shampoo as I find that's normally the conditioner or mask you apply to your hair. But when I'm using this shampoo I just use a small amount of conditioner and no mask as it really works. Let me know if you've ever tried a clarifying shampoo and your thoughts on them :-)

Tips & Tricks #6

Number one I apologise for the ever so slightly dirty sponge pictured, I think it may be about time that I invest in a new one as I do love it very much. Number two I apologise for the lack of Tips & Tricks posts recently, it's actually pretty hard to think of new ones that often if I'm honest. So I'm trying my best to think of new ideas and keep up to date with these posts as much as I can.

Now since I began starting to get really dry skin using my hands to apply my foundation just wasn't doing anything for my skin. It meant that I was rubbing the foundation over the dry patches and it just made them flake. And I can tell you now, flaking face is not an attractive look. In my stash I found this sponge from Real Techniques and thought I would give it a go. I'm going to be honest again and to begin with I was using this sponge dry and yes I thought the results were ok. Until I realised that a much better way to use this type of sponge was to wet it before use.

I then started wetting the sponge before I then went on to use it to apply my foundation and my oh my the results changed. It honestly helps my dry patches so much more and is such a good way to apply foundation. The results do not leave a full coverage look, which yes sometimes I do want, but for an everyday foundation application I absolutely love it. It sets the foundation over my dry patches really well and doesn't effect it as much. My foundation doesn't cling to my dry patches when using this sponge wet and definitely doesn't cause any flakiness like I was experiencing.

If your skin type is anything like mine, dry, then I would definitely recommend trying out a sponge and make sure you wet it before you use it. I honestly use this sponge daily, other than nights out when I want a more full coverage look. I will also be investing in a new one of these sponges very soon and you can buy them from Boots here for only £5.99 which is such a bargain. Let me know any of your Tips & Tricks for dry skin in the comments :-)