My Favourite Beauty Tools

Beauty tools, we all use them. They make life that little bit easier and some do pretty cool things!
I didn't want to include all my favourite brushes as I'm doing a post on my everyday make up routine soon which will include them all in!

I really enjoy using my Olay Regenerist 3 point cleansing system. It makes exfoliating so much easier. It also removes dirt, make up and really works cleanser/face wash into your skin. The brush has 2 speed settings and spare heads can be purchased when needed. If your looking for a budget version of the Clarisonic brush I would definitely recommend this one. After using it my skin feels fresh and smooth, a must to include in your facial routine!

Dry brushing is something that has only recently come into my life. I read about it a while ago on a blog and thought the reasons for dry brushing sounded pretty worth while and so I invested in one. I bought this one from Superdrug here for £4.99! Dry brushing helps to unclog pores and get rid of any toxins in the skin. The idea is to always brush in circular motions and towards your heart. Some of the benefits of this include exfoliating and removing dead skin, stimulating your lymphatic system and blood flow which aids the removal of toxins, and it helping to reduce cellulite. What's really handy about it is the fact that the head can be removed so that its easier to brush the parts of your body that you can reach. I sometimes get tiny little bumps on my back and since using this brush they have completely gone!

I find brush cleaning such a chore. It used to take me ages to try and work my Mac brush cleanser through all 30 of my brushes. But since I've been using a brush cleaner tool and shampoo it's been so much quicker to do! Firstly, the Mac brush cleanser is pants and secondly, this tool helps to really work the shampoo into the brush and lather it up. I would really recommend one of these to help speed the process up!

My favourite tool for applying foundation and concealer at the moment is the Real Techniques Complexion Sponge. It makes foundation look so natural and flawless. I prefer using the sponge wet as it gives such a dewy foundation look. The flat side and pointed side also really help with getting to awkward places on the face. I really like using the pointed end for dabbing concealer over blemishes, it blends the concealer on top so well!

I recently invested in a Jade Facial Roller. I've done a lot of reading on them and they are supposed to support blood flow and lymph system drainage which is supposed to help expel toxins from your skin. It has the same sort of effects as the dry brush but on the face. The roller helps to tone facial muscles and help eliminate puffy areas. The smaller end of my roller is great for aiding in getting rid of my under eye circles. You use it by applying a tiny bit of pressure and rolling from the inside of your face towards the outside on clean skin. It's really important to use it on clean skin as you are just rolling any existing dirt around your face!

My last favourite beauty tool is the Scholl Electronic Pedicure Foot File. It might seem like an odd one but I really like to have smooth feet! Being a student nurse, not being allowed to have nail varnish and having constantly dry hands means I like to make up for this and have nice feet! The file is really good at buffing away any hard skin and leaving you with soft lovely skin. I got this file in a set with other Scholl foot products and was impressed by them all, would definitely recommend Scholl foot products!

Top 10 under £10

As a student I love finding good quality and cheap makeup products,they don't break the bank and some can give the exact same look as a higher end product. For my mid week post this week I thought I would share with you my top 10 makeup products that are under £10.

I love my lip products so Its only natural I have 3 to share with you! You've probably heard me talk about the Kate Moss 107 lipstick in many of my other posts so I won't go into detail! It's my favourite red lipstick, it had super pigmentation, the colour really suits my skin tone, and its only £5.49!

My next lipstick is a nude lippy. Its the Max factor Colour Elixir Lipstick in the shade Rosewood and it's £7.99. I have to admit, i only originally bought this because of Rosewood being the town in PLL sad I know right  and I really love that show! It turned out to be a lovely rose toned nude with a hint of shimmer. It's really moisturising and has really good pigmentation. I also find this colour goes with any make up look and looks great on top of Mac's 'Brave' lip liner!

My last lip product is a Primark lip liner that has turned out to be one of my faves. It's in the shade 09. I mostly just wear this by itself and it looks like a great matte lipstick on! It's quite similar to the Mac Brave lip liner but its slightly more brown toned. It's not too drying and blends really nicely. For £1 this is a serious bargain!

Lip products aside i'll move onto eye products. My favourite mascara in the world is the Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara and it's only £7.99. The only mascara I have to compare this to is the Benefit Roller Lash Mascara, however, this one gives a bit more volume. I love the plastic wand's shape and find that both sides really do work differently. It's really lengthening and defining and I have yet to find one that beats this!

One of my favourite eye shadows is the Kiko Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow in the shade 05. I mentioned it in a post here. It's a gorgeous rose gold shade with shimmer. I usually use shadow sticks for quickness when I'm in a rush and the Kiko shadow sticks are always the ones I go to! They are lovely and creamy and blend so well. They also don't crease after a long time period! There has been a huge hype around the By Terry Ombre Blackstar Shadow Sticks but I don't have one to compare this too as I can't justify spending £27.50 on a single eyeshadow! But from all the reviews I've read I reckon this would be a pretty good dupe for them at £6.90.

One of my stalple brow products is the Maybelline Brow Drama which is a brow mascara. I use this when I'm on placement, getting up at 5.30am just to add some structure to my brows. I find that this is good for keeping brows in place and as the mascara is tinted brown, it adds definition. It's £4.99 and is a good dupe for the Benefit Speed Brow.

Now onto facial products, one of my faves is the Soap and Glory Peach Party Blusher. This is my summer go to blush. It's a lovely highlighting subtle peach blush. It has really great staying power and gives you the right amount of glow without overdoing it. I much prefer the subtle blushes to more pigmented ones as I find they are much easier to work with and you can build them up instead of applying too much and frantically trying to blend it all in! This one is £10.

My favourite concealer would have to be the Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer. It does everything I would want from a concealer. Its medium to high coverage, really blendable, hides my dark circles and covers any imperfections pretty well! I don't find with this one that it creases under my eyes after a long day either! A really good product for £5.49.

A Palette I swear by is the Revolution Protection Palette. It's for concealing and contouring. It contains 3 concealers, a face powder, a bronzer, blusher and a highlighter. I find this kit is so handy for travelling and on the go make up. Each product in the palette is so blendable and the pigmentation is amazing. I have the palette in the medium-dark shade as I like my contour on the darker side and I find this palette really works well for my skin tone. The concealers don't crease, the powder keeps me matte, the highlighter is creamy and the blush is a gorgeous everyday shade. I really can't praise this palette enough, and its only £6!

My last favourite product that is under £10 is the Bourjois Poudre De Riz De Java. This is £9.99 and its an illuminating powder as opposed to a matte one. It's such a lovely face powder that adds just a little something extra. Its got a slight shimmer to it. However, this powder doesn't make you look like a disco ball at all, it adds a lovely healthy glow to the skin. I find this one is really long lasting and even though its illuminating I find it still keeps my oily t-zone at bay.

L-R: Primark Lipliner in no.09, Max Factor Lipstick in Rosewood, Rimmel Kate moss in 107, Kiko eyeshadow stick in no.05, Bourjois Powder, Soap and Glory blush in Peach Party.

New Skincare Tries

I really want to put more effort into my skin care routine this year and find products that suit my skin type more and work really well for me. I've been trialing some new skin care products since Christmas and I thought I would share with you  what I thought of them. 

I purchased the Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel as before I was using the same product but the lotion version. In 2015 my skin type changed dramatically from dry to combination/oily so the lotion just wasn't working for me anymore! A friend recommended that I should try the gel version, and since I have done I haven't looked back! It's really moisturising, sinks in so quick (unlike the lotion), and doesn't make me oily throughout the day. It also makes such a good makeup base!

The Origins GinZing eye cream has been appearing on my Instagram timeline for years and I thought it was about time I invested in a really good eye cream. It is specifically for de-puffing and brightening the under eye area. I suffer with really bad dark circles so this is exactly what I was looking for from an eye cream. The product is a slightly pink colour with a hint of shimmer. This is great for no make up days as the shimmer acts as a sort of concealer for the dark circles. You only need a really small amount so I can see this little pot lasting a long time, and I also don't think £20 is bad for such a good eye cream!

Only recently has the Emma Hardie Cleansing Balm come into my life. I purchased a sample size for  £10 to see if I would like it before I bought the full size one. The full size version is quite pricey at £38! I'm really liking it though. Which I hoped I wouldn't! When rubbing the balm into my face it turns into a smooth oil. I rubbed this into my eye area to remove my eye make up and I can safely say it didn't irritate my eyes at all and it removed every bit of my mascara! It also has a really nice relaxing scent to it which I always like from a product I use before I go to bed!

Lastly, I've been trying out the Sanctuary Therapists Secret Facial Oil. This is the first facial oil that I have tried. I was quite worried about using a facial oil as my skin is quite oily anyway and didn't want to risk breaking out! I've heard a lot of people who have oily skin have been using oils and it hasn't broken them out so I thought it was time to be brave! I've been using a few drops of this onto my skin after my evening cleanse and tone. I haven't been putting it onto my forehead as that's where I use my La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo at night time but it hasn't caused me to have any spots and I'm noticing a huge difference in how soft my skin feels in the morning and how moisturised it looks! I now want to breach out of my comfort zone and try some different oils!

L-R Sanctuary Therapists Secret Facial Oil, Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm, Origins GinZing Eye Cream, Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel.

Current Wishlist

1. Jeans- Topshop

2. Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Palette- Beauty Bay

3. Nyx Soft Matte Lip Cream- Feel Unique

4. Metallic Mini Skirt- Missguided

5. Nike Women's Janoski's- Schuh

6. Kurt Geiger Carvela Bag- Kurt Geiger