Favourite Face Brushes.

I realised that I talk day and night about amazing makeup products but never touched base on what I use to apply them with - I knew that had to change! Makeup brushes can sometimes be an investment in your personal or professional makeup kit but I honestly believe that if you have some good makeup brushes, then they can make the world of difference as to how your makeup applies, high or low end. Note that I said good makeup brushes - not necessarily expensive! While I own quite a lot of MAC brushes, I haven't bought any new ones in ages because I've found some really amazing brushes elsewhere and for a much reasonable price.

I think that makeup brushes can be a tough one to crack - so I thought I'd do a post on some of my favourite ones that I think are worth having. I remember working at Urban Decay and a lot of people would ask if brushes were absolutely necessary, or even admitted to just neglecting brushes altogether because they were too expensive. I've found that you don't always have to spend an arm and a leg on a nice brush! I'm not saying all of these are must haves for everyone, but there was some brushes here that do several different jobs and it just depends on what you're looking for! You'll notice that I don't have a traditional, flat paddle foundation brush included in this post - purely because I don't like to use them for foundation but that doesn't mean you won't prefer that to a buffing style brush! I have found them to be useful for cream contour and highlight, though.

When picking out makeup brushes for personal use, try and stick to having one for foundation, powder, contour (if you do contour), blush and highlight (again, if applicable). Once you have those key, basic brushes then the rest are merely extras. Look at the shapes of brushes and how you think they would work best on you - just because a brush is sold as a foundation brush doesn't mean it can't be used as something else so keep that in mind! I really do hope this is helpful to some of you, because brushes can be pricey! If an eye brushes follow up post is something you'd be interested in seeing then please let me know :)

Alrighty, first up are stippling brushes. For years, they were my favourite method of applying foundation. I've since moved on to a more dense 'buffing' style brush but if you want a more natural, but still 'airbrushed' finish then a duo-fibre 'skunk' brush is your man. Typically, and in the case of the 187 by MAC, the bottom hairs (black) are natural and the white tips are synthetic. The mix of natural  and synthetic hair gives a flawless finish and means it works well with both powder and cream. The 187 is far more dense than the ELF Stipple Brush, so I favour the MAC one for foundation. I also like to use stippling brushes for applying light dustings of setting powder, bronzer or very pigmented blushes. The ELF one is quite flimsy, but works well for applying these cheek products - especially if you often find you overdo it with blush. So, depending on the use of your stippling brush: I would highly recommend the 187 for liquid foundation and the ELF one for blush and other cheek products.

Next is the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. I hear so much about Real Techniques but this is actually the only makeup brush I own from them. I definitely want to try more, and you can often find these on special offer in Boots. All Real Techniques brushes are synthetic and I find that the Expert Face Brush makes a fantastic buffing brush for liquid/cream foundations. Its very dense and gives a very fully coverage. I often use this with my Bourjois cream bronzer, too. This brush is quite small and works well getting into the contours of the face.

You'll probably be able to tell, but I try most of my face brushes as foundation brushes first and if I don't like them, I generally find another use for them. The ELF Powder Brush makes an amazing foundation brush for both powder and liquid. It's very similar to a brush by Sephora and works the same as all the flat top kabuki style brushes. Like the RT Expert Face Brush, this gives a flawless finish and covers a larger area since it's bigger. I have one of these for liquid foundation and another for mineral/powder foundation. This works amazingly with a MAC MSF or the Studio Fix Powder. The ELF Studio line make some amazing brushes and they are so inexpensive. From the few that I've tried, I love all of the ELF brushes - I've only placed one order with them and many of their best selling brushes were sold out so hopefully in the future I can do a whole post on their brushes when I add to my collection.

I know it is terribly boring, but the 129 by MAC is honestly the best blush brush I have ever owned. I won't lie, it sheds quite a bit and is pretty pricey but oh lawwwwd is it soft. It just applies blush like no other blush brush does. I know it sounds dramatic, but this is honestly just a great standard blush brush which I think everyone should have in their collection. It's not too big or too small and is a good shape so it can be used for powder or bronzer, too. MAC also offer the 168 brush, an angled blush/contour brush which I considered including but I think the 129 is overall a nicer brush. However, it might be worth going into MAC and comparing the 2 together to see which one you personally like best.

Inglot's brushes don't get enough love online and I can't understand why. I've only tried a handful of their brushes but I think they're excellent and can't wait to invest in more. The Inglot 4SS is technically marketed as an eyeshadow brush, but I would never use it on the lid unless I was sweeping one neutral shadow from lash line to brow bone. However, as a face brush this works amazingly! This can be used this for a multitude of things - contouring the cheeks for a dramatic look, nose contouring, highlighting, setting small areas of the face (chin, nose) and finally, setting concealer under the eyes. It is very small, but you could even use it as a blush brush if you were in a pinch. Although it's unusual looking and you'd probably take one look at this brush in the store and go "sure what would you use that for at all?!" but it is probably the most multi-functional brush I own!

Lastly, is a round top kabuki style brush. This brush is the Mineral Powder Brush by Sephora and is incredibly soft. Just as it says on the tin, I use this for setting my foundation and getting more coverage out of my powders. In the summertime, I bring this with my MAC Studio Fix powder and I'm good to go foundation wise. It's very soft and dense but I also use this for dramatic cream and powder contouring some times. This is really just a rounded version of the ELF Powder Brush, so I don't necessarily think you need both for powder but I think either/or is great to have!

I would love to know some of your favourite face brushes - especially if you have any ELF or Real Techniques recommendations. You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram or Blog Lovin' to keep up to date with new blog posts and such :) 

Kiko Show and Tell Part 2: Swatches, Reviews - Eyes + FOTD.

This is the second and final part of my Kiko Cosmetics overview post which contains all things related to eyeshadows. This post will (thankfully) be a lot shorter than the first, which looked at face and lips (link here you're curious!) Anyway, I recently saw on their UK website that Kiko were having a big sale and so I would highly recommend you pick up their lipsticks and eyeshadows. I hope these posts are somewhat helpful for those who are maybe going on holidays to a European city this summer and want to pick up a few things from the brand! Let me know if you buy anything while away and if you have any Kiko recommendations, I would love to know!

The Kiko Long Lasting Wet/Dry Eyeshadows are around €8 and are one of the nicest formulas I've ever used. They are pretty much identical to the MAC Extra Dimension formula and have that creamy feel when you swatch them. Kiko offers these in a range of neutrals, brights and jewel tones and they all have incredible shimmer and shine that transfers beautifully onto the eyes. Of course, these can be used wet (with a mixing medium or MAC Fix+) and can also be used dry. They become far more metallic when used wet but my swatches are dry with no primer - they are amazing! First up is #213 which is a deep blackened hunter green with teal and silver glitter running through. Next is #224 a phenomenal periwinkle lilac with violet duochrome and silver shimmer. This is the most unique out of the 3 I have here and Kiko do so many interesting shades in this formula - it reminds me of a galaxy and I love it! Finally is a beautiful Melon pigment-esque #218. This is a peach orange with a yellow gold duochrome. It looks particularly fantastic on blue eyes to make them stand out and would work beautifully as a blush/highlight on dark skintones. I'm obsessed with this sort of colour and love to add it into neutral looks all the time.

I decided to pick up one of the Highly Pigmented Eyeshadows in #111. This is only €2.90 and is a gorgeous mid tone sea green with gold and teal pearl. This is a definite mermaid colour and would look equally gorgeous under a black base for a more jewel toned effect. Their singular eyeshadows are also very pigmented and come in an array of shades with shimmer/pearl, matte and matte with floating glitter finishes.

Kiko offer a 'Clics' system with their Infinity Eyeshadows (€5.90) whereby you buy a single pan eyeshadow and you can fit them into custom palettes of different sizes (when I was there I saw a single case, a trio which I bought 2 of, a quad and a 9 pan palette) These come free when you buy the eyeshadows and you can choose what colours go where in the palettes which is very handy for travel or even professionals. Again, the number system is rather annoying but not a huge deal. Like I did with Inglot,  I decided to try out their coloured shadows first because my thinking behind it is, if their bright shades are good then their neutrals are probably pretty good too! I wasn't wrong - these eyeshadows are great for the price and really remind me of inglot in terms of texture/finishes and the overall concept. When I looked back at my palettes to swatch them, I realised I got mostly matte shades which I prefer to wear.

The texture of their mattes is great - not chalky with the only exception being #253 the blue/purple (blurple?) on the bottom centre but even then, it is still great as far as mattes go.
I picked up a matte jungle green/turquoise colour with gold glitter (#264) Inglot have a similar texture and just like the Inglot ones, this shade applies mostly matte (especially when buffed into the crease) but with a sticky base and dense packing brush, you could definitely make the gold glitter more visible.
Similarly in texture, #260 is a true matte lime green with gold glitter. Its so hard to come by a colour like this with such good pigmentation.
Straight up bright matte orange eyeshadow is something I never wear so I decided to pick this shade up (#207) with a tropical look in mind for a future FOTD post. This kind of orange is a hard colour to come by in terms of eyeshadow and it's even harder to get one this opaque... it wasn't chalky at all!
#243 is a reddish brown/burgundy with gold shimmer (no glitter!) and is a very Sketch (MAC) toned colour that I always gravitate towards. The texture is, of course, beautiful and this shade would work well on a lot of people. You can easily use this in the crease in any neutral look and it just gives it something more than just boring old brown.
Finally, is probably the least exciting shade in the palette. Kiko have a lot of neutrals in mattes and shimmer so you could easily make up a small neutral toned palette for travel. #239 is a very cool toned brown - almost a grey taupe and would make a great crease colour for any cool toned neutral eye. The ashy cool tone would make it also work well as a brow shade which is the main reason I bought it!
Overall, I'm extremely happy with all of their eyeshadows and would highly recommend them to anyone who was looking for brights or neutrals!

Neon Jungle | FOTD using some Kiko shadows.

You can purchase Kiko online at http://www.kikocosmetics.co.uk/ and search for your nearest Kiko location. You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram, (both are @DrnkTxtRmeo_) to keep up to date with future posts and all things makeup/beauty related! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed :)

The Lip Product Addict Tag!

If you've been on my blog or Instagram for more than 10 minutes, I'm sure you've probably guessed that I like love lipsticks. I wasn't tagged specifically by anyone but when I saw the lovely Hannah from Love Life and Makeup do the tag last month I knew I had to seize this golden opportunity to talk (even more) about lipsticks and some other lip products I love! If you've tried any of these products or have any lipstick recommendations then please let me know :)

1. Favourite Balm/Treatment?

I can safely say that my lips are drier than a camel's behind 99.9% of the time so I always seem to have at least 3 lip balms handy at the bottom of my handbag and dotted all over my house. I should probably start by saying that the germaphobe in me hates travelling with potted lip balm so I tend to keep those to the comfort of my own home. I really don't think you can go wrong with good old Carmex (original or cherry!) as they are super moisturising and have an SPF which is great if you're out during the day. It also comes in a travel friendly squeeze tube which is perfect to throw in your bag. I'm also a fan of the EOS lip balms, but I won't lie... it's majorly for the smell and packaging (I mean... it's in the shape of a little egg!) and use this when I'm on the go because I don't have to deal with lip balm all over my hands. Treatment wise and because my lips are so dry, I always use Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream on them before I go to bed at night.

2. Best Eye-Catching Red?

I love red lipstick and found it so hard to narrow it down to just one. However, my fool proof eye-catching red that never fails me has to be Ruby Woo by MAC. Ah, Ruby Woo - the red that needs no introduction. The best long lasting pin-up matte red there ever was. Pair this with Cherry lipliner and you will never want to take it off... in fact, pair Ruby Woo with any lipliner and it probably never will come off!

                                            

                             

                                               

3. Best Luxury and Best Drugstore?

In terms of very high-end luxury I would have to say Tom Ford.. Not that I own many TF lipsticks but they really are fantastic! Casablanca is the newest edition to my teeny collection and it is a beautiful plum mauve that would flatter a lot of different skin tones. If we're talking middle of the road high-end then I can't recommend MAC and Urban Decay lipsticks enough! However, I also think you can find so many brilliant drugstore lipsticks like Rimmel, Barry M and Sleek, but my favourite has to be the Wet n Wild ones. The formula is wonderful and very comparable to a lot of MAC lipsticks. I have an entire blog post (here) dedicated to swatching and comparing dupes if you're interested!

I just want to look at the packaging all daaaaaay.

4. Best MAC Lipstick?

Ahhhhh... so hard! Possibly my worst nightmare seeing as I probably have the most MAC lipsticks out of everything. I have to agree with Hannah and say my most reached for nude/pink is Creme Cup and if I had to go with anything else I would say Diva because it is hands down my favourite dark lipstick. Frankly, I was shocked and appalled to see that I didn't already have a photo or swatch of Diva on my blog but I'm sure it will make several appearances when Autumn/Winter comes... until then, have a crappy old lip swatch type selfie thing (shout out to my silver Cinderella hair... RIP, you were taken too soon)

                           

5. The Most Disappointing? 

Have to completely echo Hannah again here and say the Rimmel Apocalips. Very unpopular opinion because I know the blogging world when cray cray for them when they released but we just never really got on and the 2 I bought pretty much sit at the back of my mirror untouched to this day. They stay glossy and thick, bleed horribly, smudge and feather out to my ears within an hour of wearing them and I just don't think anybody has time fo' dat. I bought Nude Eclipse and the super bright shade Apocaliptic. The former preformed slightly better than the latter, but I think that it was just because it was a nude and didn't show up feathering half as much. I really wish I got along better with these, because Rimmel lipsticks are some of my favourites.

6. Liner - Yes or No?

I never really wear a liner with nude lips but with a bright or dark bold lip then I would say it's a must! MAC probably do my favourite lip liners in terms of bold shades, but you can find some great cheaper ones with Kiko, Rimmel and Barry M in particular! In terms of MAC, my favourites are Current/Vino, Beet, Cherry and Magenta.

7. Best Gloss?

I detest lipgloss so I'm going to be short and sweet here and say I don't think there is such a thing. I haven't bought a lipgloss in I don't know how long!

8. Something Extra?

I had seen so much online about OCC Lip Tars since they first came out a few years back and always wanted to try one but could never decide on a colour. I'm sure everyone and their mother knows about Lip Tars but they're essentially liquid lipsticks that you can mix together to create custom or more avant garde shades.When they came out with Black Dahlia I fell in love and knew I had to have it because it's a colour I gravitate towards anyway and was sure I'd be happy with it on me. I eventually came round to buying it from Cult Beauty about 2 weeks ago and have fallen in love! Although it definitely isn't a typical summer shade I've been wearing it a lot and will definitely be doing a small post on it soon, showing tips and tricks on how to apply it. I think that these are fantastic products for both makeup enthusiasts and (especially) professionals! They have a variety of shades to choose from and now come in a glossy stain formula. I'm so excited to try more but cannot for the life of me decide on what colour to choose next so if you have any OCC recommendations I would be so grateful!

                             

I really loved doing this tag and I hoped you enjoyed reading! I of course tag anyone who wants to do this or tell me about their favourite lip products below. I specifically tag Susan from whatsnewwithsuzieq because I really just want to have a nosy at her lip picks! ;) 

Kiko Show and Tell Part 1: Swatches, Reviews - Brushes/Face/Lips.

I'd seen this brand a few times in a friend's makeup bag a few years ago and was informed that it was a brand she had purchased whilst in Portugal the summer before. I thought they seemed nice, but never actively went searching for any of their products. I found out that Kiko is an Italian brand and is really only readily available in the likes of Italy, France, Spain, Germany etc. Fast forward about a year later and my friend in France was raving about their nail polishes. We decided to track down the Kiko shop along the Champs Élysées but couldn't find it anywhere. It was like it had disappeared off the face of the earth, I was so disappointed! A few months later, she sent me one of their polishes to try and I fell in love. The formula was great (I talk about it a little more here) and I was so eager to try more of their products! When I went to Rome earlier this month, a lightbulb appeared above my head that since it's an Italian brand, there had to be a Kiko somewhere near us. Surely enough, with the help of my boyfriend's Google Maps, we found 8 in Rome alone! We looked for the nearest one but couldn't find it anywhere on the street it brought us to (it actually said that Kiko was in the national museum...) I thought this was Paris all over again and that Kiko and me just weren't meant to be. However, we soon found another store nearby and I was set free like Augustus Gloop in a sweet shop. I suppose you could say I was a little (very) excited... I hadn't heard much about the brand other than a few friend's recommendations and so I spent my time looking at everything and swatching products (I may or may not have made 2-3 trips to 2 different Kiko shops).

With that all out of the way, I wanted to do a big show and tell type post telling you a bit about all of the products I bought - from face to lips to eyes and even brushes. Its going to be a general overview of the brand with my opinions on these products now that I've had some time to play with them. I was halfway through this post and saw how long it was (sorry!) and so I decided to do this post on everything for the face and lips, and then follow this post up later in the week with the eyeshadows. One thing to keep in mind about Kiko is that their stuff is very affordable for the quality. The most expensive thing I bought was the brush at about 12 euro. Most of their foundations are in around that price point with their lipsticks and eyeshadows ranging from €3-8. They also do a whole host of skincare that I didn't get a chance to look at and they have an amazing range of nail polishes in some amazing colours and finishes. I decided to pass on the nail polishes this time because I plan on picking some up when I go to France in August! The only annoying thing about Kiko is the fact that their products go by numbers and not names, similar to Inglot. This may not seem like a massive problem (and it isn't, in the grand scheme of things) but it makes colours of eyeshadows/lipsticks very hard to remember and means you could easily pick up a second one of the same lipstick/eyeshadow by accident.

FOTD + Step by Step/How To: Bloody Brilliant (MAC X Kelly & Sharon Osbourne)

I wanted to play around with the Bloody Brilliant quad and some of the other products in the MAC X Osbournes collection and this is what I came up with. It's a soft plum cut crease with graphic liner and lashes. I decided to pair it with a pink to lavender slightly ombré lip but you could definitely go with more of a nude shade. It was my first time using the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade and I think I'm in loveeee! I'll have a review of it in the next week or so :) The colour scheme is obviously very fitting for Kelly's part of the collection and this shape is something I've seen her wear quite often. Although I stated in my review of this quad that the overall look would be softer, that doesn't mean it has to be boring looking! I've also been completely addicted to RuPaul's Drag Race since getting Netflix and I'd say that's pretty evident in this makeup with the eyes and lips ;) I've also done a post reviewing the MAC x Osbournes collection with swatches/dupes/comparisons here if you're interested. Enjoy!

                                                                     Products Used

• Urban Decay Primer Potion - Eden
• MAC Tickety Boo Eyeshadow (crease/transition colour)
• MAC Pro Pure White Chromaline (used as a colour base on the lid and in the waterline/inner corner)
• MAC Fizzy Rose Eyeshadow (lid)
• MAC Shadowy Lady Eyeshadow (deep crease and close to the lower lashes)
• MAC Spoonful of Sugar Eyeshadow (browbone/inner corner highlight)
• Urban Decay Psychedelic Sister Eyeshadow (blended down onto the lower lashline

• Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade - Dark Brown
• Mineralise Skinfinish Duo - Refresh bronzer and highlight (MAC X Osbournes)
• MAC Blush - Cheeky Bugger (MAC X Osbournes)
• MAC Lipliner - Magenta   
• MAC Lipstick - Dodgy Girl (MAC X Osbournes)  

MAC X Osbournes.

I'm not even sure where to begin with this blog post! If you're an avid MAC/limited edition collection follower then you probably know that MAC in recent years have been letting standards slip with collections. However, I was so intrigued when I found out a while ago that Sharon and Kelly Osbourne would be collaborating with the company this Summer. It has been a longggg time since a collection from MAC grabbed my attention this much. I love the collaborators themselves, love the packaging, love the products, names and colours! Before I even get into showing the products I can definitely say that this is my favourite MAC collection in years. I ordered some of the products from Selfridges and the other half from Brown Thomas. This collection sold out online incredibly quickly both US and UK but a friend told me that when she was in Brown Thomas last week the only thing that they had sold out of was the blushes and one lipstick. I've since seen a lot of people post pictures of the stuff they bought and a lot of the products still seem to be available! As a small disclaimer; these products actually arrived the day I had flown out to Rome and I only got my hands on them when I came home so apologies about the delay in getting this post up!

 The collection itself is broken up into 2; Sharon Osbourne (Fabulous) and Kelly Osbourne (Outspoken). Each collection has similar products; an eyeshadow quad, brushes, eye and lip pencils, a blush, mineralise skinfinish duo and lip products (patent polish pencils for Sharon, lipsticks for Kelly). The packaging for this collection is gorgeous! The Sharon side of the collection matches her hair - glossy and red with her signature in lilac script. Kelly's is a frosted matte lilac case with red signature.

Favourite Blushes for Summer - powder, cream, gel, liquid.

I thought I'd follow up my nail polish and lipstick post with one for Summer blush. In my opinion, blush completes any makeup look and Summer can be a good time to break out some brighter cheek colours in different finishes and textures. Some foundation/concealer or powder, mascara and blush is generally my go to Summer look and blush really brightens up the face when you're going (next to) nakey faced. I wanted to include different colours of blush from a few different price points and wanted to add powder, cream, gel and liquid formulas that I like to cater for a variety of skin types. Although I do wear some pink in the Summer (and it looks great on pretty much anyone!) I LOVE to wear coral/orange/peach because I typically don't reach for them in the Winter. I think these colours look great in the Summer on a tan skin, but I have found some peach and coral shades that will work on even the fairest of milk bottles! Hope you enjoy :)