Wilkinson's Brushes

Wilkinson's last year had a massive overhaul of their beauty section in stores, this included adding Essence stands to the majority of stores and then they overhauled their brush range.

Retractable Brushes

Brushes, who does not love a good makeup brush, what I don't love is travelling with makeup brushes. The bristles get bent, some can fall out, and then once used they make a mess of your makeup bag.

So here comes the retractable brushes, not a lot is said or written about these little wonders so I thought it was time something was. When travelling and your trying to keep things to a minimum having a brush roll with you full of makeup brushes is just going to take up room so that is where these little beauties come in.

Trying to find these brushes can be a pain, I needed brushes for foundation, blusher, bronzer, and setting powder. I managed to find a retractable foundation brush from ecotools as well as a kabuki brush which is great for powder..

Superdrug Blusher Brush - I bought this to use with bronzer, this should be good to apply and buff it into the skin.

EcoTools Kabuki Brush - This I have been using for setting powder, and it is brilliant for applying powder to the skin as the bristles are so soft, because the head is quite large it also allows for a small amount of powder to be placed over a large area.

Boots Blusher Brush - This is will be used for blusher as the head is quite small so it won't deposit a large amount of blusher onto the face.

EcoTools Foundation Brush - This has to be the only retractable foundation brush that I have seen in a store anywhere (if you have seen others comment below). It's got a thin head so it is good for getting into to all the crooks and crannies on my face.

Some of these brushes I have used and some I am going to be trying out and see how they go. Have you used any good retractable brushes recently.

Thanks for tuning in

Gemma
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ELF Brushes

As you saw in my ELF haul a while ago I bought some of their brushes to try out, now some I love and some I have been a tiny bit let down by.

All Over Face Brush
I ordered this for application of powder, this is one of the brushes that I feel let down by, the brush is quite rough on the skin and the hairs just keep falling out of it (even before I washed it)

Stippling Brush
This one I love, I love a stippling brush for application of powder as I feel it just picks up the powder and massages it onto the face really well.

Crease Brush
This brush I love and I hate. It fits into my crease line and applies the eyeshadow briliantly but the brush is just shoddy, the hairs are falling out of it and 'm not that impressed with it.

Blending eye brush
I have tried this to blend my eyeshadow, but it's another one that I'm not a fan of the bristles are quite rough especially around the eye area, it has potential if they change the bristles on the brush.

Foundation Brush
This is a brush I do like, their foundation brush works well and applies my foundation really well, I've had no hair loss on the brush (so far) and I would repurchase this brush again

Out of the five here there were a couple that were good and one that has potential. Overall some OK brushes for a low price but with some you do get what you pay for.

Have you tried E.L.F. brushes and do any stand out for you?

Thanks for tuning in

Gemma
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Real Techniques - Expert Face Brush

I am a late comer when it comes to Real Techniques brushes, these are a massive hit over YouTube and the Blogging world so I finally decided to splurge out on some for the new year.

One of the brushes I bought was the Expert Face Brush, and my god where has this brush been all my life. I used this to put on my foundation and it blended it all in brilliantly, and gave a great coverage. I am converted to these brushes, and will keep adding some of the different ones to my collection (I am eyeing up the setting brush, and some of the eye makeup brushes)

Do you use Real Techniques brushes? If so which ones do you use?

Thanks for tuning in

Gemma
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BLOGMAS 13: Brush Cleaning

I will admit in the past I have been bad about cleaning my brushes, and I am honestly surprised I didn't catch anything. Now that my interest is back in my make up I have started to take proper care of my brushes.

I use the Strictly Professional Make Up Brush Cleaner, and some Johnsons Baby Shampoo. If I am doing a spot clean on my brushes I will use No7's Make Up Brush Cleanser.

To use this cleaner I placed a small amount in a plastic throwaway cup (1) and placed the brushes in the solution for 15mins to let the solution soak into the bristles (2 + 3).

Once the 15mins were up I then ran the brushes under the tap to rinse of the cleaner, I then filled another plastic cup with Johnsons baby shampoo and swilled the brushes round just to fully get rid of the solution off of the brushes. I then just rinse them to make sure all the shampoo is out of them (4).

Using the cleaner just gets rid of everything, while the baby shampoo makes sure I have got the cleaner out of the brushes and adds a bit of fluffiness back to them.

What do you use to clean your brushes??

Thanks for tuning in

Gemma
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BLOGMAS 11: Strictly Professional Cosmetic Brush Cleaner 150ml

I was looking on Amazon for something that I could use on my brushes as a day to day clean (I used to use Johnsons Baby Shampoo, but have now been using No7 Make Up Brush Cleanser) but I came across this on Amazon for £5.00 and thought I would give this a try as a once a week deep clean.

This would only be used once a week to really deep clean my brushes (I mainly use my foundation eyeshadow, powder and concealer brushes).

This cleaner works really well on my brushes and completely got rid of the make up that was lurking in the middle of the bristles (which I hate trying to remove with just the baby shampoo).

I have been placing a small amount in a plastic throwaway tumbler then putting the brushes in and then pushing the bristles down into the solution soaking them up to just below the ferrule. I then let them rest in the solution.

As the brushes are not fully submerged but have been fully covered by the solution, the solution will then drip down the brush back into the tumbler taking the leftover make up with it.

The price is very reasonable and you really do not need a lot of the product so 150mls is lasting quite a while for me. (I did buy 2 bottles), I've used this 3 times for a whole load of brushes and I've still got a lot left in the bottle

I am thoroughly impressed by this cleaner and will definitely be buying it again from Amazon when I run out.

Thanks for tuning in

Gemma
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BLOGMAS 5: No7 Make Up Brush Cleanser

As I have said previously I have wanted a brush cleanser that will just help to spot clean my brushes before I properly clean them. Through all my searches on the web, trying to find a low cost solution has been quite problematic, all that had been popping up in my searches were the high end solutions which I begrudge paying for. I wanted a brush cleanser that would spot clean my brushes for under £10.00

It wasn't until I was searching the Boots website that I found their No7 Make Up Brush Cleanser for £8.00, this fitted what I was looking for, spot cleaning and under £10.00 Fantastic.

To use this all you need to do is pump some onto a paper towel or tissue (I use cotton wool pads) and wipe your dirty brush onto it. Let the brush dry and it is ready to be used again (this doesn't replace a through wash of your brushes its just a quick clean if you don't have the time then).

I have to admit I am quite amazed by it and by how much it does pull out of my brushes, I will certainly be buying this again as it will be especially useful when going away.

Thanks for tuning in

Gemma
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