Most Used Face Brushes | Real Techniques and Bare Minerals Dupe!

I tend to talk a lot about makeup here on my blog but I never seem to talk about how I apply the products mentioned. Today I thought i'd run through my most used face brushes, there will also be a post to follow on my most used eye brushes- watch this space.

First of all i'll start with my base. Now I've never really got on with those flat foundation brushes as I felt like I was painting on my makeup and they left streaks, certainly not the look I go for on an everyday basis or ever. Instead I like to use a buffing brush, I started off with the Real Techniques Buffing Brush which I loved for about a year until unfortunately the bristles weren't as soft or the best for applying foundation. When reading Makeup Savvy, I discovered there was a dupe(here) for the Bare Minerals Perfecting Face Brush, you know that buffing brush with the dent in the centre to disperse foundation? Yeah, that one and I couldn't not purchase the dupe and give it a whirl, in a few words- I love it and it was less than £2, steal!

I also love using the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge (This wasn't the most 'photogenic' so see the first picture) on a day-to-day basis as it's so quick to blend out foundation to give a natural finish to the skin. I recommend running this under the tap and squeezing it out so that the sponge doesn't absorb and waste your foundation.

Base complete, I'll go onto the brushes I use to finish my face. Another Real Techniques brush(I promise, this isn't sponsored), I use the Duo-Fibre Contour Brush for as the name suggests- contouring. I'm a newbie to contouring so I needed something to apply the product lightly so that I could progressively build it up. This brush is perfect for just that and is flat and tapered to fit perfectly into the hollows of your cheeks.

Left- Duo-Fibre Contour Brush, used to contour
Right- Contour Brush used to apply blush

Another Real Techniques Contour Brush that I don't use for contouring but blush instead. I find this is the perfect size to apply blush to the apples of my cheeks and the bristles are super soft so they pick up product well. However, sometimes I over-do it on the blush so I advise you use this with a light hand to avoid looking like Coco the Clown.

And last but certainly not least is the Real Techniques Duo-Fibre Face Brush which I've recently started to use for all over powder. I've never really needed to powder before, primers seemed to keep my makeup in place as I wasn't overly oily, though that has recently changed. I'm not sure whether it's to do with the weather and becoming a hot mess during the summer months- who knows. But what I do know this brush has been great for applying powder lightly throughout the day to combat the shine and without making my face look cakey. 

That's a wrap on my most-used face brushes, I know there's a lot of Real Techniques brushes but they just seem to work for me and they're not overly expensive which my purse is thankful for.

Have you got any makeup brush recommendations? 

Please leave them below, I'd love to know!

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W7 In the Buff Eye Shadow Palette | Urban Decay Naked Dupe!

A little while ago I started to really get into wearing eye shadow and knew I wanted to try one of the Urban Decay Naked palettes, however they weren't really in my budget at the time and I wasn't prepared to splash out £40 on eye shadows. I decided to look for a more affordable alternative and heard that W7 do great dupes of high end products so I picked up the In the Buff palette which is supposed to be a fantastic dupe of the Naked 2 palette. I picked up this one from Argos but I know Amazon sell them and I believe Asda too.

The eye shadows are packed in a metal tin that seems some what sturdy so I know this will protect the eye shadows, especially when travelling. However, the packaging is slightly on the larger side and I feel it could be smaller. The palette contains 12 neutral shades in matte and shimmers, though there are a lot more shimmers and comes with a double ended applicator, one end sponge which I don't tend to use and the other end a flat brush which can be used to pack on a base.

Now onto the shadows themselves, there are three mattes:

• A yellow toned nude that I use as a base or could be used to highlight under the brow bone and in the inner corner
• A medium brown that is perfect through the crease or on the outer corner
• And finally a black that is amazingly pigmented, just as the others are and can be used to create a more smokey look.

The shimmers, some more subtle but some obvious shimmers:

• A range of browns, champagnes, an almost khaki shade and some coppery brown shades which can all be seen in the swatches below.

L-R: Buff(matte), Camel, Sand, Dust, Chocolate(matte), Topaz, Earth, Storm, Silk, Wave, Thunder, Onyx(matte)

Pigmentation

I'm amazed at the pigmentation of these eye shadows, admittedly a few aren't so great but the majority are brilliant and I've read they're on par with the UD Naked eye shadows but as I've said unfortunately I haven't tried them yet.

Longevity

I've used these with and without eye shadow primer and I've not had any problems with them wearing off or creasing so it's a win, win!

Price

The W7 palettes retail at around £5-10 but if you look around you may find them cheaper, I believe eBay sell them for less than £5 so they're a complete bargain. These are great if you're starting out or experimenting with makeup or haven't got the budget to splurge on an Urban Decay palette.

Would I buy another?

Yes! There are a few more palettes from W7 that i'd like to try and I've got my eye on the Naked 1 and 3 dupes called Lightly Toasted and In the Nude.

Have you tried anything from the brand W7?

Would you recommend I try anything else from them?

Let me know!

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