Very rarely do I get a product which completely changes up my make-up routine, but this is exactly what the Charlotte Tilbury Instant Look in a Pallet in Beauty Glow did. I received it as a birthday present from my sister in July and since then it has become part of my every day routine in one way or another.

What I had found is that my routine had become a bit stagnant, I used the same products day in, day out without much variation even going so far as to use the same two shades out of my Urban Decay naked pallet every day (Half Baked and Darkhorse I’m looking at you!).

This pallet is meant to be a ‘5 minuet face on the go’ and it definitely does what it says on the tin. If I am going out or staying overnight somewhere it has dramatically reduced the amount of makeup I need to take with me! This pallet covers most areas, from eyes to face and blush, this pallet creates a whole look!

1 – Brighten 

This is a shade I haven’t used too much, for me I would have loved to see it a little lighter, but that is just personal preference. Instead of using this to brighten I have been using as a nice light shade to put on as my base eye colour If I am going for more of a natural no make-up make-up look.

2 – Enhance

Now I have had to get to grips with this colour and I think it is my least used part of the pallet. The reason for this is originally  was finding it hard to get any real pop of colour from the shade, which I found strange as this was not the case with all of the other aspects of the pallet. I found that when I changed my eyeshadow primer back to my old favourite (urban decay you god send) I managed to get much better pigmentation and colour from the shadow. I still battle with this shade and find I sometimes have to build it up to get a good colour, but I am learning to love it. Once I get it working for me it is beautiful coppery colour

3 – Smoke

I love this shade it is a lovely matte medium to dark brown. I am a real fan of a darker brown shadow on the outer edge of my eyelid and this one is a perfect shade for a natural look. You can build it up for a more dramatic look or put a sweep over the eye for a bit of definition.

4 – Face, Bronze

The formulation of this powder is lovely and I really do find that it stays on my face all day. Which for me is a rare occurrence as my skin can get so oily sometimes it is like an oil slick! This shade on me is a great natural bronzer, it doesn’t create a very strong look but instead just gives my skin a healthy - I’ve been in the sun this weekend and have just caught it on the sides of my face - look. I think I would personally like it to be slightly darker but I think its current shade would suite a wider variety of skin tones.

5 – Cheek swish

At the start, I didn’t quite know what to do with this shade, but now I love it. This powder is almost the most versatile in the whole pallet and like number 4 it has great staying power! It can be used as more of a contour in the hollow of your cheeks to define those cheek bones or ‘swished’ across the apples of your cheeks for a darker bronzed look.

6- Cheek, pop

And pop it does, this shade adds a lovely touch of colour to your cheeks. Much like the enhance eyeshadow shade, I find that to get the best results the colour needs to be built up in a couple of layers. This isn’t a bad thing when it comes to blush though as by building it up you are then left with a beautiful shade on your cheeks.

7- Face, Highlighter

In a highlighter, I am not going to lie I do usually like to see more of a shine on my face, but that is probably as until this highlighter I didn’t tend to use one in my every day make up routine. Well that changed, I think this highlighter really finishes off the pallet nicely adding that final glow to the make-up look.

Overall the formulation of these products is great, they all sit nicely on the skin and I don’t get that horrible cakey feeling from them! The enhance eyeshadow is probably my least favourite part of the pallet as it has taken me a while to get used it! I love to mix different parts of this pallet with other products and I find that it has really mixed up my make-up routine! It is great that I can pick this up in a hurry and have basically a whole look in one pallet! It has become one of my go-to products and I will definitely be repurchasing when it runs out!

Have you tried any Charlotte Tilbury products? If so what do you recommend I try from their range next?  

Hey all, Today's post is about something that I am incredibly excited about because I got this purchase for a real bargain! 

As you all will know if you read my recent post about three real techniques brushes I brought, I love them they are by far the best value for money out of all the brushes that I've tried. Recently I have wanted to expand my collection so when my friend Kelly sent me a link to a site which had them on offer I literally went crazy.

My Pretty Face Place is a company based in America but they are selling products including real techniques brushes for such great prices, I have just brought the Real Techniques core collection and the starter kit for a combined price of £15.68 as when I brought them My Pretty Face Place had 20% off everything on their site add this to the voucher code which I got off cosmetics crave which gave me a further 15% off on top of the discount that was already running.

At first I was sceptical about how they had the brushes for such a low price but once I saw that the company was on the Real Techniques website having been listed as an international stockist my worries melted away. (Just a side note you should always be careful about buying online, make sure the site is reputable and also try to pay by credit card if possible as they have better defences against fraud than a debit card does!)

This price is brilliant considering that just the core collection retails at boots for £21.99 and at Superdrug for £20.99, it’s like getting two for the price of one while still getting money off. The International shipping is £6.39 so my whole order came to £22.07 which is amazing! I was so excited to receive my purchases which according to My Pretty Face Place should take from 1-3 weeks to arrive. The products arrived after two weeks which I thought considering they came from Minneapolis was pretty good. 

I am incredibly happy with my purchases and think that they are a brilliant addition to my collection. One thing I really loved about my whole ordering experience with My Pretty Face Place is the little hand written thank you I got at the end of my invoice which came with my purchases this really make my day that they took the time to add the personal touch J

Now onto the products, I love the Real Techniques brushes that I already have and let me tell you my new purchases have not been a disappointment. Out of the Core Collection there is only one brush that I have not used so far and that is the detailer brush although I think that it would be great to use it to apply lip products, to give precision when converting up blemishes and also to get a more natural brow look.

I have used all of the other three brushes and I really love them they have become a part of my every day routine, I use the buffing brush to blend in my foundation after I have applied it with my Real Techniques Stippling Brush. With the pointed foundation brush I feel that it is too small to use it to actually apply foundation with so I use it to blend in concealer around my eyes and nose areas. Finally I use the contour brush as it was intended, let me tell you it is fantastic for the job it is intended for it helps to define my cheek bones perfectly.

Now with the starter set it is something that I brought on a whim because I was getting the other set of such a fantastic price I thought why not buy the other too I am bound to use the brushes at some point, therefore the fact that I am using them more than I expected is a bonus.

As with all Real Techniques brushes they are all incredibly soft, I have only used two so far the base shadow brush and the deluxe crease brush but I adore them. These brushes are great for applying my eye shadow, what I love best about them is that they take just the right amount of powder onto the brush no too much and just enough J  

What I want to know is if you have any Real Techniques brushes? If so which ones are you favourite and which do you recommend to be the next one to be added to my collection?   

Hope you all have a fantabulous day  

Hello all of you lovely people, Todays post is all about my top three favourite lipsticks. Now as everyone knows ranking ones favourite lipsticks can be an impossible task although for me there are three certain ones that jump out at me.

Surprisingly enough my favourite three come from all areas of the financial scale, the first being a MAC lipstick called Angel which cost £15 (even though it did not cost that when I brought it!). 

Now I do know that this lipstick either looks lovely on or makes you look sickly, this lipstick is definitely a winter shade for me as I have recently discovered this summer that while I have a tan it is not a flattering colour.

This lipstick is meant to be a frost finish which according to MAC means that it has ‘an excellent colour payoff with medium to high frosted shimmer-and-shine finish’. Although this is the category which MAC has placed Angel, it does not have a dramatic frost finish I would say that it has a slight pearly finish instead of being frosty.

What I love about it is that it is a lovely baby pink shade which can be worn everyday adding to a natural look, I find that it just finishes off my makeup nicely.

The next lipstick on my list is the Rimmel lasting finish by Kate Moss in shade 01, now when I brought this lipstick is was more of a spur of the moment decision as this deep red shade was definitely out of my comfort zone!

I find reds quite hard to wear as I have to make sure that they contain blue undertones, as red/orange undertones just look weird on me. When I saw this I decided to try it out as let’s face it £5.49 will not break the bank if I decide that I don’t like it.

I would say that this lipstick is more of a cherry red colour with a sheen finish to it, the formula is quite pigmented and leaves a slight stain on the lips. It also has a sweet scent to it initially which then disperses once you apply it.

I really love this lipstick as it is a gorgeous shade which is good for people that might have a hard time finding reds to suite them, I would recommend this as a good starter red.

My final favourite is a real bargain and if you haven’t tried one of these then I strongly suggest that you do as it only cost £1, and you can’t go wrong with a pound. 

It is the MUA (Makeup Academy) lipstick in shade 3 which has a lovely creamy texture to it and glides across the lips effortlessly.

It results in a semi- matte finish and is highly pigmented leaving a slight stain to the lips. One down side to this lipstick is that it does cling to dry patches so I advise that you should exfoliate them top avoid this and moisturize before applying this lipstick as the formula is slightly drying.

This lipstick has great staying power and I find that it once applied , it lasts through lots of eating and drinking which is great is you plan on going out with it on your lips J

I hope that you liked seeing my top three lipsticks. What I want to know is what are yours? Are any of yours similar to mine?