iHerb haul ft. Real Techniques and e.l.f.

Over the past year or so, my makeup collection has really grown. It's huge, considering towards the end of 2012 I was only just starting to get into wearing makeup. Now I have eyeshadow palettes, blush and lipsticks all over the place. One part of my collection that hasn't grown that much though, is my brushes. I only have a handful of them, and of that handful, only a couple are actually decent quality. Where do you go to for affordable good quality brushes? iHerb, of course!

I ordered the Real Techniques starter set and blush brush, which have both been on my wish list for a while now, but also decided to pick up some e.l.f. brushes too. I chose the stipple brush and powder brush, so I had some face brushes to leave at the boy's house.

 

 deluxe blending brush, base shadow brush, accent brush, liner brush and eyebrow brush

The Real Techniques starter set is pretty great! I'm a huge fan of the deluxe blending brush, it really makes blending eyeshadows a dream, and it's lovely and soft. The base shadow brush is a little too big and flexible to really pack on eyeshadow. However, I find the shape is great to use in the outer corner to add a darker colour and start blending it out. I haven't found myself using the accent brush much, except to smudge out eyeliner on both top and bottom lashes, which it's great for. The liner brush is great for gel liner, although I haven't perfected using it to create a winged liner look. Lastly the eyebrow brush is great for brows, but think perhaps it's a little big.

Blush Brush, Stipple Brush, Powder Brush

On to the face brushes, the Real Techniques blush brush is fantastic for blush! It's so much bigger than the brush I was previously using, which I thought might mean it would be harder to use, but nope! It's not. It's so soft, but still fantastic and blending.
These 2 e.l.f brushes were a bit of a spur of the moment choice. I did a little bit of research into the stipple brush, after I got it, and found that the mini stipple brush is way better than this one. This stipple brush is way less dense than my RT one. It sheds, and you really have to work to make sure your foundation doesn't end up looking streaky. It is soft however, and is great around the eye area.

The powder brush is fantastic, dense and soft. It's great for using with powder foundation, or setting your foundation with powder. Although I haven't used it for liquid foundation, I think this brush would work for liquid too. It's dense enough that it could be used to buff it in.

l-r: Powder Brush, Stipple Brush, Blush Brush

What are your favourite brushes?

April Favourites!

This month I found it really hard to stick to 5 products, because I've been loving using so many products this month. So I cheated a little bit, and found 5 groups of products, hehe. I know a lot of these products are really new, but they're so great they've definitely earn their place in this list.

Wish List: I just need to spend!

This week the fact I haven't been buying makeup has really taken it's toll. I've been good since I did my MUA haul in early Feb, and have only bought a handful of items since, and now I really just want to go into Priceline and buy everything! I'm trying to hold out though, because even though there have been some awesome new releases here, there's even more products over in England for me to buy that we don't have here! I guess I'm just going to have to shop my stash a little longer to get me through (or maybe just buy one little thing?).

1. Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation    2.  Revlon Colorstay Whipped Creme Makeup
3. Rimmel Lasting Finish Kate Moss Matte lipstick 103 (l) and 107 (r)
4. Real Techniques Expert Face Brush
5. Maybelline Color Tattoo in Painted Purple (l) and Pomegranate Punk (r)

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation - I really want a new foundation. I've been using the same one since late last year and I'm ready to try something new, and definitely something with a little more coverage. I haven't even really looked at this one in the shops, I'm too scared that if I swatch it I'll just want to buy it even more!

Revlon Colorstay Whipped Foundation - The same goes for this, I just want to try more foundations! The ridiculous price definitely stops me, but I've heard so many great reviews and this is full coverage so I'm so tempted to pop into Priceline and get it now during their $25 Revlon foundation sale. I did actually have a look at this in Priceline today and now I want it even more - it blended in so well and gave really good coverage.

Rimmel Kate Moss Matte lipstick - I heard about these a long time ago and for some reason it didn't even click that they weren't available here, I just thought Priceline and Target were being lazy! I'm a bit confused why our colour range is so small - I would have loved to get 110 or 101, but I would definitely settle for 103 or 107 (see swatches on Beauty with the Beautifool here)

Real Techniques Expert Face Brush - I'm sure this has been featured in another of my wishlists, and I still want it. I've said before that I have a very small brush collection, and I really want to make an order for a few Real Techniques brushes off iHerb! I had a look at some buffing/stippling brushes in Priceline today and it just reiterated the fact I want a Real Techniques one! I've just been using my hands for my foundation lately, it does the job but I'm using way more product than I need.

Maybelline Color Tattoos - Pomegranate Punk and Painted Purple - I'm probably the only person in the world now who doesn't own one of these. I've got a couple of Essence Stay All Day long lasting eyeshadows (which are being discontinued!) which I like, but would love some of the colours available in this range, and to be honest I just want to experience the hype! Pomegranate Punk seems really close to MAC's Cranberry eyeshadow and I think they'd work really well together.

Do you ever get those moments where you just need to spend money?

What's on your wishlist at the moment?

Wish list: Christmas

Christmas isn't too far away, so I thought it would be a good time to put together a wish list.

1. Apple iPad   2. Real Techniques brushes core collection and starter set  3. DKNY Be Delicious
4.  MAC Lipsticks in (l-r) Creme Cup, Angel and Lady Danger   5. Icing bag set and macaron baking mat

The top of my wish list is an iPad. I'm going to the UK for about 6 months next year and will be doing a lot of traveling. An iPad would be the perfect thing to take with me to use the internet while traveling. Of course I'd really like a MAC lipstick. I can't justify buying myself one at the moment so it would be great to get one as a gift. Shades I'd love are creme cup, lady danger or angel. I'd also like some Real Techniques brushes because I don't have any good brushes yet. I've heard good things about the expert face brush and the starter set would also be a great gift. There are a few perfumes that I'd like too, but I think my favourite of them is the DKNY Be Delicious. I got a sample in a subscription box and I really love the scent. I'd also like some baking equipment. I've been using disposable piping bags a lot and think it's time I get my own reusable one. I'd also like my own macaron mat because i've been using my sisters. It would also be handy to have 2 because I find the macarons bake better with a mat under the baking paper.