Review Beauty Blender // Worth the hype?

Hey Everyone,

So, this has been on my radar for a long time. This is a much loved beauty applicator by beauty bloggers everywhere and is continuously hyped up. My interest was increased after a number of new posts on it, after it was included in a recent Birch Box. Unfortunately, I am not subscribed to this service - yet ;)! So, I made it my business to find the cheapest seller :P! 

Original beautyblender

It is still expensive for a make up sponge at £14.95 - though it can be as expensive as £16! This is pretty pricey - the question is..is it worth it?

 From the the left beautyblender dry and damp

So, you probably all know the drill by now with this sponge. It is a lovely hot pink sponge, shaped like an egg. The rounder side is for blending on larger areas of the face (such as cheeks, forehead etc.) and the pointy end is for getting in all those nooks and crannies (such as around the nose and under the eyes etc.)

From the left beautyblender, MAC Pro Longwear Foundation in NC15 and Real Techniques Buffing brush

 For this little test, I decided to use one pumps worth of foundation for each side of the face. On the left side I used the beautyblender, and on the right I used my usual brush (RT Buffing brush).

For the left side, the best way to apply the product is to dot it onto the face and then go in with the beautyblender. You use the damp beautyblender in a "bouncing" motion to blend out the foundation. The one thing I will say about application is you do need good lighting when applying; so you don't miss out any lines that need to be blended.

Only right side of photo (left side of face) foundation with beautyblender

As you can see, it gives a gorgeous airbrush look to the skin. This is a medium, build-able coverage foundation; this applicator works best with slightly thicker consistency products. I have used no concealer at this point - so you can still see a couple of my active breakouts showing through (which I would normally cover with concealer). 

On the left beautyblender used. On the right Buffing brush used.

Please excuse my awful skin at the moment (hormonal breakouts suck!). I know this isn't probably the best representation of the applicators; as my skin is pretty bad on the one side. However, there doesn't really seem to be much difference between the two - except the beautyblender may have reduced the appearance of redness (ever-so-slightly more!) 

Both sides foundation.

I don't know if it's just me that sees this - but it appears that my skin on the beautyblender side (right side of the photo) appears less flat. I feels like it gives a more skin like appearance, even when using a medium to full coverage foundation. 

I definitely like the beautyblender, but my only two cons are that it is a bit of a effort. You have to dampen the sponge and tissue it off. Also, this type of blending technique takes slightly longer than your normal buffing brush. Furthermore, I feel you use more product this way than with a brush.

I will continue to use this sponge, and use it when I have a bit more time in the morning to get ready. However, will I repurchase this? Probably - if it slightly cheaper (maybe I'll stock up when I'm next in the US) 

What are your thoughts on the beautyblender?

I hope you enjoyed this post and have a lovely day!

x

Autumn/Winter Lipsticks!

Hey Everyone,

It is that time of year, when everyone is wearing darker clothes (which I do all year round anyway!), woolly knits and scarves, and hats etc. All those good things about colder months! So, I thought I'd do my first seasonal post - Autumn/ Winter Lipsticks! Yay! :D

 WARNING! This post contains a lot of photos of my face! (Sorry in advance about the quality - I'm doing my best with the camera I have!) So there are 5 lipsticks that I'd like to talk about.

Firstly, there are my 2 favourite nudes :) I love nude lipsticks in general, so technically isn't really seasonal. But I'm including them anyway, you can never have too many nudey/pink lipsticks!

Let's jump in with the lipstick on the right - this is the most expensive lipstick I own (which I got as a present); Tom Ford Blush Nude. This is a seriously creamy lipstick, makes it very comfortable to wear. However, it can sit in lines on the lips; so you have to make sure your lips are hydrated. It also helps to rub it into the lips, which also makes it last longer.

Here is a close up with it on the lips and then on the right, the lipstick incorporated with the whole face. As you can see it is a slightly pink nude.

Second Nude is Giorgio Armani in 103 - I used this in my everyday make up routine. I love this nude; it is not as thick as the Tom Ford so it's staying power is not as good. However, it is still very comfortable to wear and is that lipstick you can put on without a mirror. This is a more peachy nude.

Here is what Autumn/Winter make up is all about! Winter is definitely the time to get out your dark, bold lipsticks out! These are but a few of my favourites.

I'll start with the most wearable - middle - Chanel Rouge Allure 116 Envoutante. This is my favourite one for an everyday autumn look, where you want to play up the lips but at the same time want it subtle. It is so soft on the lips and you can build it up if you want something more. It also has a faint raspberry scent (which I really like!)

So it is no secret to anyone that I love MAC lipsticks! I love the smell, the range of formulas are great and they tend to have good staying power (especially the stronger colours!)

This first one is MAC's rebel lipstick (one on the right) - which has been talked about a lot on the internet. When I went into MAC and said I was looking for a nice Plumy lipstick, this is the first one that was shown to me. As soon as I tried it I was sold! As you can see from the images, it is slightly pinky - which I quite like and makes a change from the more traditional plums like the Chanel one.






Finally, MAC's hang up lipstick (one on the left). This is not so talked about on the internet, which surprises me as it is such a lovely deep, plumy red. It is another one I like to wear as a stain; it is a very thick consistency.


I hope you enjoyed this post and have a lovely day!

Emma
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