My Most Used Make Up Brushes MAC, ELF, Sigma

I use a mixture of different brands of make-up brushes (well mainly MAC and ELF it seems!) and thought I'd share my favourites which I have been using for years now. I do need some more eyeshadow brushes but I'm making use of what I have at the moment.

 Elf Powder Brush and Sigma Flat top kabuki F80
I love both of these, the Elf brush is more affordable at £3.50 whilst the Sigma F80 is $16.00 (about £10.00)
There both flat top and really soft and dense, I'd say the Sigma is softer and denser than the Elf brush.
The Elf brush is bigger than the F80 (both the handle and brush). When I first got Elf brushes I was sceptical as they're so cheap but surprisingly well made and I have had no shedding.
I use these brushes for putting on my MAC Studio Fix foundation/any other face powders and they blend nicely into the skin with them.

Mac 168SE (Christmas limited edition brush set)
I use this for blusher, the bristles are soft and I love the angle on it which gives a more precise application of blusher. I got this brush as part of a MAC Christmas set (which they do every year) years ago and it's still serving me well  minus the odd shedding of hairs.

 ELF Bamboo Angled blush brush
I use this for contouring, it's rather soft and again affordable at £5.50 and slightly softer than the Studio range (Black handled) of ELF brushes. This has Taklon bristles as opposed to the Synthetic bristles the studio range has.

 ELF 'C' brush and Concealer brushes
 The 'C' brush is great for the application of eyeshadow, it's dense, firm but soft. I use it to pack on eyeshadow.
The concealer brush I obviously use for concealer and it helps me get a good coverage over my dreaded dark circles. Again soft, firm and dense bristles.
Both the brushes cost £3.50 each.

 MAC 194SE (Christmas limited edition brush set)
I use this as my blending blush for eyeshadow, not much to say really, a nice brush.

 Mac 190SE (Christmas limited edition brush set)
This one I use for the rare occasions I feel like putting liquid or cream foundation on although the Sigma F80 works great for that too.

 Mac 209 Eyeliner Brush £16.00
An extra fine synthetic tip brush. I use this to put Gel eyeliner on although I'm still not the best at getting the perfect winged look but hey practice makes perfect right?
I must have been on crack when I purchased this as although it's a good brush..for what it is...definitely overpriced. I probably could have got an ELF brush that's just as god for a fraction of the price.

I'm a big fan of the ELF brushes simply because there affordable, good quality and do their job's well. Also I have experienced none to minimal shedding.
Where as the MAC again are good quality however more expensive and I'm not sure if it was an exception to the Christmas range I got but I experienced shedding in the angled blusher brush and paint coming of the foundation brush handle.
I'm also a big fan of Sigma however the price always seems to put me off, I have always wanted to get the 'Make me up 'sets.

What is your favourite brand and what do you use?

Shoedazzle sale, my purchase.

As many of you already know the UK Shoedazzle is closing down and the reason given on twitter was so they can concentrate on the US Shoedazzle....I'm personally guessing it didn't do as well here.
As a result they're selling off their stock at a whopping 75% off (however although it advertises this on the website it's actually selected shoes that have that much off) before they close down and all you have to do is sign up to access the sale.
I almost had a crazy shopping spree as I actually need some new shoes, especially heels but as I was weary about the sizes I just ordered one pair.
The delivery was prompt to say it was free postage and it all came nicley packaged with a dustbag.

 Yep more studded shoes, I know...I know I think I have a thing for studs and spikes...I know there not everyone's cup of tea but I like the edge they can add to an outfit.

I got the faux suede 'Lita' shoes which were originally £39.95 and went down to £19.97 and postage was free! To say these shoes are something I love (which you could probably guess from my recent post here) and I was after something like them in the first place it was a great purchase.
Unfortunately these beauts are a little too tight for me, (and of course they are now sold out) there not so bad without socks on...worth the pain though and I'm hoping they will stretch out a little bit...fingers crossed.

Will you be snapping up some sale shoes?

Mascaras I love and hate Maybelline, MAC and Rimmel

I think mascara has to be one of my favourite make up items, it can really open up and define your eyes and instantly make you look more awake.
I'm a bit of a mascara junkie actually, as you can see here:

Out of all of them my least used and least favourite is the MAC Plush Lash (RRP £14.00).. which just go's to show the more expensive ones aren't always the best! This one does nothing for me, I don't like the wide but flat (hard to show in pictures!) and short bristle brush which I personally find difficult to coat all of my lashes in mascara with. On top of that the packaging although simple because of the rubbery material/texture it seems to be dirty (just like the NARS packaging) all the time as a result. Definitely not worth the price. 

My ultimate favourite is Maybelline Lash Stiletto (RRP £8.19) It seem's harder to find this exact mascara in drug stores now, but is on ebay and other various sites online.  I think it has been replaced with this one here similar except the wand is curvy. Not tried that one yet but I'm sure I will eventually, the reviews seem positive.
 For me this mascara works very well. I love the wand, again a bristle brush. I like how it get's narrower towards the end which is very helpful as I tend to use the end part to get the little lashes and also the outer lashes. As the wand is rather thin I feel unless you layer on coats it's not as easy to get clumpy lashes.
The packaging is nice and simple.

 Another favourite is Rimmel Lash Excelerator (RRP £8.99 however it's on offer at £5.99 at the moment)... again the wand is bristle brush and the wand has a curve in it, it really helps lift my lashes because of the curve and also coat all of them but not as easily as the Lash stiletto.
This mascara is also supposed help make your eyelashes grow after 30 days of daily use but to be honest I have not noticed a difference.
The packaging again is nice but the writing has almost faded so it (almost) just looks like a black tube, not a biggie.

 Neither of my favourite mascaras clump my lashes but then again I tend to only put one coat on which is enough for me. Both mascaras extenuate and make my lashes look longer and thicker. I will try get pictures up of how the mascaras look but at the moment I'm cosy watching 127 hours. 
I love trying new mascaras and next on the list is Benefit's 'They're real' What is your favourite mascara?

My Spiked Heels

I have always loved the spiked heel (which I blogged about here) they add edge to any outfit but alas except the Sam Eldeman beautifuls (Retail at around £185 but can be found cheaper)

and the various super pricey Christian Louboutin heels such as Clou Noeud Spikes (costing around the £1000 and something mark)

I had never seen a cheaper version until I went to Charlotte Russe whilst I was in California last year (of course they are cropping up in loads of places now!)  I came across these amazing dupes for around £40 I think it was...possibly less.

Oh how I love these heels, I don't really like getting 'replica's' but I needed a pair of spiked heels in my life and I would have got these regardless of if I knew they were like the Louboutin's.
Next I want to find some that aren't peep toe (if you know where I can get my hands on some let me know!) I personally don't find high heels with peep toe very comfortable, these however are worth suffering for. Are you a fan?

A little late but..

better late than never huh?
I hope those who celebrate had a good Christmas anddd...Happy New Year people! I hope it's going food for you all so far.
I managed to get myself a Christmas job so have been working full time which has been strange but good! Here's some random pictures I have snapped over the past couple of weeks....

 I had a boring New Year and stayed at home, now I'm not normally that impressed with fireworks but how amazing were the fireworks in London? I loved how they synchronised it with music. Next time I want to actually be there!

 First Nando's meal of the year! I really need to get on that eating healthy malarkey but heyyy Nando's aint to bad is it?

 xx