All nighter

Hello lovely people, 

I have never owned a setting spray however, I used setting sprays once or twice before and I kind of liked it. 

While I was at the airport I saw Urban Decay counter and I really wanted to try the setting spray. They were selling both travel size and original size, I picked up travel size. I do not want to invest my money into something I am not too sure about. Of course this wasn't cheap (£9 for a 30ml) it is still better than buying the whole this and not liking it. I had high hopes for this and I really like it. Of course it's not a spray that will make your make up stick forever, we sweat and produce a lot of oil that are stronger than setting sprays, so your make up does break down and disappear eventually. With this product I found that it takes a little bit longer to fade away and when it is fading it is fading away nicely and evenly. I spray the spray about three to four times mainly in my T zone. 

I am convinced that it last a while because I used it every day for two weeks and I still have a lot of left.

The original size, 118ml, costs £22 and they have two different setting sprays. One is the original one that I have and there is also Oil Control for those who get super oily.  

I highly recommend this product, in fact not just this particular one, I highly recommend a setting spray. I think it is a great innovation and we should really use it. 

This particular one is on a pricy side however, there a drug store brands that do setting sprays so you can try those too. 

Do you use a setting spray? How do you prolong your make-up? What setting sprays have you used? 

Yours Izabele

xoxo

Face brushes

I wanted to talk about make up brushes for a long time. I use only make up brushes and I swear by them. I love using brushes more than hands or sponges. I am going to make a two part blog post about the brushes: first part will be face brushes, second part will be eye brushes. 

I have tried many of different face brushes. These are what works for me the best. I might change them after a while but for now these are my Gods. 

As I use bare minerals foundation I wanted very airbrushed look. Something that’s buffed in and hardly visible. All this time I was using buffing brush. It is amazing for building coverage but that wasn’t what I wanted, so I tried powder brush once. Oh my! The face looked flawless and buffed and just gorgeous. If you read this blog for long that you will know I don’t like to cake up with make up, especially when it comes to foundation. 

I use buffing brush when I want more coverage or with liquid products. It blends well and buffs nicely but it doesn’t have that barely there feel. Sometimes I use the buffing brush to apply foundation and then I blend everything out with powder brush. 

I use this double bristle powder brush on all powder products. To powder the skin, to flick the bake or if I want just a little something in my T zone (with no additional product just whatever is left on the brush from the previous uses). It takes the least amount of product and distributes it thoroughly. I think this is the best brush for dusting and setting the foundation.

Moving onto concealer brushes. Two of my favourite concealer brushes mainly because one is for wet products and another is for powder.

I usually use this brush to collect the concealer from my hand and put it onto the points where I need to conceal. Then I would go in with the beauty blender. Sometimes I blend the concealer with this brush if I don't have my beauty blender or if I am lazy. I feel like with this brush you can really push the concealer in and build the coverage. 

I use this brush for Bare mineral concealer as well as to really blend the edges of a liquid concealer. I also use this brush to apply my bake. It takes a lot of product and it fits in all the right corners. I just love this brush so much it is perfect for blending and applying the product. 

Now onto perfecting the skin brushes. Contour brushes are the most needed for me. I have a chubbier face so contour really helps me to have shape in my face. I love both of these equally. They do more than I need and I will be forever grateful to these creations. I alternate between the two a lot, unless I am going all out with the make-up then I use them both.

This angled sculpting brush blends everything so nicely. It is super soft and quite strong and you can really sharpen and build your contour. I love this for both contour and bronzer. I most probably use this every day. 

This lover is more expensive than other contour brushes but it gives me a really sharp colour which I love. If I want more colour under my cheek bone but I want the edges to be blended out I would apply the product with Bold Metals (gold) brush and then go in with sculpting (pink angled) brush. 

Finally the two brushes that bring everything together. I tried to use many blusher brushes and I find this works the best. When it comes to highlighter I tried all the brushes I have but I just want a brush that is purely for highlighter. Rather than clean the same brush after every use.

This is just so amazing. It has a tip and the bristles around the tip are shorter for blending purposes. Because you want you blusher to be there and not make you look like a tomato you really need to blend it out which this brush does perfectly. The blusher comes out a perfect shade. I love this. 

As I said I tried many highlighter brushes. Other brushes I tried I found that it just blends out the highlighter and it is not as shimmery and gorgeous as I would like. This brush just sits your highlighter on your cheek and daaaaaaamn it makes you look so good. 

Tell me what do you apply your make-up with? which brushes should I try? What alter egos have you found? 

Yours Izabele

xoxo

A face worth a million

This one is new foundation from Bourjois. Actually when I saw it I thought it's going to be a BB cream as it looks like a BB cream but it' a full on foundation. I don't mean full coverage btw.

It gives you antipollution screen, SPF30 and radiance boosting pigments.  

Well I can't speak about antipollution or SPF30 as it is the things we don't see with naked eye but it is lovely on the skin and it has a really nice smell. About those radiance boosting pigments, to me it sounds that it should make you look glowy which it does complete opposite to me. It sets quite matte. 

After I apply my base I usually go and do the eyes. After about 10 minutes after the application this foundation changes into this lovely young and gorgeous skin and it makes me look like 10 year old in terms of skin. I know I am young and I cannot complain but honestly my skin looks like baby skin. Other people might think that it looks like you are wearing loads when in fact you are wearing hardly anything. It photographs beautifully. 

The only down side to this is that has a red undertone which is wrong for me. Here is where baking comes in. If you never seen or heard of baking it is basically when you pat way to much powder to let the liquid products react with the dry products on your warm skin. You would apply a lot of powder and leave it there for about 5 to 10 minutes. I use it on all the points I want to highlight or lift. As the powder is light in colour the under eyes or under the corrector (that's where I use it to really sculpt the face) or on you chin looks so much lighter. Baking also keeps the make up in place for a little bit longer. When the time is up I just use a brush everything off with face. 

I use translucent powder from Marks & Spencer. I got it years ago and I doubt you'll find it as it is limited edition but any powder would do. 

Back to City Radiance, it costs £9.99 and you can find it everywhere. It comes in 6 shades, mine is in 01Ivory Rose. I love the squeezy tube because you can really use up all of your product without any waste. 

If you are looking for something that will change your face completely I really recommend this foundation it is really a game changer. 

Tell me about your foundations and why you like them?

Yours Izabele

xoxo

Revolution Bronzers

I was buying my friend an eyeshadow palette for Christmas from Revolution and I came across this All About Bronze palette. I wanted to have a variety of bronzers so I thought this is the best option and it was only £6, which isn't so bad (from superdrug). There is also a contour palette like this one, which has darker colours. But what I really was after was an ashy colour I can use as contour. 

There are no colour names so I am going to follow the picture. It has 6 shimmery shades and 3 matte. I feel like the first two top ones are like a setting powder. The one on the right is very light but shimmery and I think it would be nice to set your concealer under your eyes and it will also brighten them. The one on the right is just a simple matte colour you can use as setting powder. 

The next line on your right is very light in colour bronzer. I suppose you can use as a natural bronzer it will give you a little shimmer and give some dimension to your face but not too much. The one on the left is the darkest orange in this palette. I used this one a few time and it is a fake tan colour but if you blend it properly you can work it. 

Third line from the top is my favourite. On the right it has this gorgeous gold shimmery bronzer. I feel like this is top holiday bronzer. With a tan this will look phenomenal. It is so so so pretty and when the colour fades you are left with gold shimmer. On the left is a nice matte bronzer with a little pink undertone - for everyday look.

The marbled brown bronzer on your right at the bottom has that everyday bronzer colour with some shimmer. The one on your left is just a pretty highlighter that has baby pink undertone but very sheer. 

These are pigmented but the colour fades. I love it. I love the big mirror and the colours and the fact that I have everything in there, powder, bronzer and highlighter. If I really need to save up some space I just take this and I have everything with me. I just love easy and simple products. 

If you are looking for something compact I highly recommend this and it doesn't break the bank. 

Have you tried Revolution? What is your favourite? Will you give this a go?

Yours Izabele

xoxo

Vitamin E moisturiser

The Body Shop Range

I have read a lot about Clinique's moisture surge creme that is gel like texture which keeps your skin hydrated and then I saw the price, which was £34 for a 50ml tub and I changed my mind. Having said that I would like to try it one day and when I do I will tell you all about it. 

Recently I was on the hunt for a night creme and I always wanted to go back to the Bodyshop to try the Vitamin E range as I wasn't that blown away by vitamin C range. I tried the creme before and I knew they do a really nice night creme from Vitamin E range but when I got the the shop I saw this Aqua Boost Sorbet  and it reminded me of the Clinique one.

The texture of this creme is gel like and it is quite cooling and I find it even tingly at times. You can also keep it on the fridge which then it will be a cooling creme for your face for the summer. I really like it, it keeps your face hydrated and not dry but it is not wet either. To be completely honest I would like a little bit more of a 'aqua boost' but that is just my preference. The smell is weird and I'd say unpleasant, it doesn't remind me of anything, although I must say, the smell is growing on me. The smell doesn't linger afterwards though which is always a good thing. 

 Its price is £13 for a 50ml tub which is normal Body shop skin care price.

This is a nice product to have. You can use at night time or day time or whenever you need a little boost. I would say it is more for combination to normal skin as it might be not enough moisture for dry skin so you'd need to use another moisturiser. I would recommend this if you are looking for something different than your normal moisturizer. 

Yours Izabele

xoxo

Skin care

Cleansing!

OK I take my skin for granted. I've got good skin and I do get breakouts and I have a lot of blackheads that I tent to pick A LOT! (Bad Izabele) Please don't do it, you just gonna spread the bacteria and eventually get even more spots. 

Having said that I do try to take care of my skin. I am only 20 years old so I think I don't need any serums that are packed with ageing stopping ingredients. During that day I have a selection of moisturizers that I use depending on my make up and I only give my skin a little pumper at night. Maybe that's not enough but my skin is still happy. (touch wood) 

After a long day I would use eye remover to take of my eye make-up, (if I am wearing foundation I would run the same cotton pad across my face) then I take Garnier Micellar water and clean my face. I take a Nip+Fab  cleansing pad to clean my face again. It is packed with lots of acids to kill the bacteria on your skin; the same bacteria that make your spots appear. My final step is to wash my face with Clearasil face wash which leaves my skin squeaking clean, literally. Because you strip your skin of it's natural oils you will be in desperate need of moisturizing. Your skin would feel dry like a piece of paper and it is super uncomfortable. 

Nip+Fab cleansing pads I found in Superdrug and they were on a deal so I paid £3.59 but originally it cost about £6. This is a good price as First AID cleansing pads are over £20 and it does pretty similar job. 

Clearasil  gel wash I got from Boots for £5.99 however, I am sure you would find it everywhere even in super markets. 

I've been using this combination for over a week and I must say it did prevent a lot of spots (as I was coming to that time of month and usually I get bad breakouts). Of course you must try yourself to know if it works for you. It might be a bit too much for your skin as it literally leaves your skin dry. I think this would be amazing for people with oily skin and if you have acne. 

If you wanna know more about skincare and what ingredients you should be using to help with your spots you should read Caroline Hirons' blog. 

Yours Izabele

xoxo

P.S. Please do not quote me as I am only telling my experience and how it was for me. It could be so much better for you or so much worse. We are all different.