BLENDING SPONGES - REVIEW / COMPARISON

Just recently I have experimented with different methods of application for foundation,

I have tried several different sponges and I thought I'd share with you what I've learned so far.

At the point that I took these photos I had tried all of these sponges with the exception of the Real Techniques one. The first impressions of that sponge were really positive. Keep reading to see how i got on with each of these. 

1. This sponge cost me £1.50 and was purchased from Primark, it's quite hard and not very flexible. I feel that the best application with this sponge is through dabbing, if you try to sweep you do end up fairly streaky. This washes OK and as you can see hasn't really stained too badly.

2. The middle sponge is the 'Beauty Blender',this cost me £16 and it is a popular blogger and youtuber favourite. It can be purchased with free delivery on www.beautyblender.co.uk here along with a load of other interesting products.

3. This sponge was purchased from Dealz and retails for £1 in the UK, the shape is different from the other two and I must say this is more awkward to use because of this. In addition it is very stiff and not very flexible. Again, like the one from primark it does tend to only work when bouncing the foundation in rather than smoothing it onto the skin.

REAL TECHNIQUES MIRACLE COMPLEXION SPONGE

And for the piece de resistance, coming in at just £5.99 from boots, this is soft but not as soft as the beauty blender. For me this is just the right consistency, it doesn't suck up all of your foundation and it works with a variety of different textured foundations and concealers. I can achieve such a light layer of foundation with this, yet it still gives flawless and full coverage. This is by far the best value sponge I have tried and I use it everyday.  This washes really well and a couple of months in it still feels like new. I will definitely be repurchasing this sponge, whats more you can get it even better value, 2 sponges for £9.99 here

WHAT NEXT?

OK, so I am loving this sponge, but I am still open to trying others, see below images taken from the boots website.

The first one I would like to try because it is so refined in shape and looks like it would be great for getting under the eyes and getting into any awkward little places. 

The second one is another really interesting one, it's not a shape I have seen before in beauty blenders and for this reason alone I would like to see what it can do. I think this is perhaps just for fiddly areas as it's a little small for larger areas.

And the final one I would like to try is cheaper than the 'Beauty Blender', however it's by the brand Dior. So in the case of this sponge I would like to know if it's Dior quality or if it's just a cheap blending sponge with Dior branding. 

Have you tried any of these sponges? Let me know what you thought, also if there's any sponges I haven't mentioned let me know and I will give them a try!

Cookie x

W7 In the buff palette - The Review

In my quest for trying bargain beauty I came across the 'In the Buff' palette from W7, this is said to be a dupe for the Urban Decay Naked 2 Eyeshadow palette. I dont have that palette, it's perhaps on my list of things to save up for as it retails at £38.50.

This palette retails at £9.99 on their website, so is a fraction of the price of the Urban Decay palette. I picked mine up cheaper than this, £5.99 from TK Maxx, so it was really fab value for a 12 colour palette in a neat tin. (currently on Amazon for £5.70). So even if you pay full price for this set you get each shadow for less than a pound each and a really nice hard wearing tin that contains them, so I'd start by saying this is fantastic value.

There is a really good range of colours within this palette, they are all the same size, and one thing I will say is that for the light base colour it would be really great to have this as a larger block as this gets used the most, however to make up for this there is 2 light base colours. 4 of the colours are matt whilst the others have some level of sheen. 

Texture wise these could be a little more blendable but they are really pigmented and have great colour pay off, these as best to build up slowly rather than going in with too much from the start.

Now that this palette has been used a lot and I've hit pan on a few of the colours I have noticed the quality has started to diminish slightly. This is still usable and does have life left but the texture has changed slightly.

If I had to score this palette out of 10 I would say a good 7, there are better quality palettes, but with quality comes higher prices. I think this is really good value and is perfect for anyone on a budget or someone starting out with makeup. It's a really comprehensive palette colour wise and will create some really amazing everyday and dramatic eyeshadow looks, and even the perfect smoky eye!.

I’d love to hear your opinion on this – do you have this palette? What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Cookie x

Budget Beauty Brands

Something I have been working on this year is trying different skincare and makeup items and you guessed it the theme is BUDGET.

This is not to say I will only be purchasing budget products, but I am certainly going to open my mind to then and try different more affordable brands. 

I've always used Clarins and Clinique for skincare, and high end makeup products, so for me trying budget items is sort of alien but I am truly looking forward to trying more and of course saving some pennies along the way.

Here are some of the brands that I have tried so far:

MUA
Collection
Natural Collection
E.L.F
Essence
W7

And here are some brands that are on my to-do list:

Makeup Revolution
RCMA
KIKO
Lottie
NYX
Milani
Colour Pop
Technic
Catrice
Sleek

So far I have only tried one of two items from each brand, what I aim to do is get the essentials from each which will be enough to create a whole makeup look. I will then be able to rate each brand fairly on quality and value for money and will be able to share my favourites on here with you here and on my youtube channel

I'd love to hear your opinions on any budget beauty items that you use, perhaps you have some recommendations? Leave me a comment and I'm happy to try products!

Cookie x

Brand Vs Budget | Beauty | Cotton Wool Pads

For years I used Boots for all my beauty essentials, including cotton wool pads.

I thought I'd write about these because they feature at least twice a day, every day (I use a minimum of 3 each day) in my routine so over the year they are something I get through a lot of.

So let's start with the more expensive cotton wool pads, these come from boots and cost £1.69 for 100 which isn't crazy expensive, also you can usually pick these up on Buy One Get One Half Price meaning you get 2 packets for £2.54 with the deal.

Without deal                            
£1.69 for 100 = 1.69p each pad            
X3 used each day =5.07p each day       
365 days =18.51 each year                 


With deal   
£2.54 for 200 = 1.27p each pad
X3 used each day = 3.81p each day
365 days = £13.91 each year

Now for Tesco, 1 packet = £0.55p for x 80 pads

£0.55 for 80 = 0.69p each

X3 used each day = 2.07p each day

365 days per year = £7.55 each year

The difference £13.91 - £7.55 = £6.36 (providing you get the buy one get one half price deal, otherwise that's £10.96 saved!) This might not seem a lot but think about how long you have been using cotton wool pads and how long you may continue use, for example over 10 years it could be a potential approximate saving of £63.60, which all adds up.

Also on the subject of the difference, I see no great difference in quality between the 2 of these products, they both do exactly the same thing for me, the only difference is the Tesco one is cheaper! and for me that is a win win situation, why pay more than you need to? That's an extra £6.30 (or possibly £10.96) to spend on the and other things each year.

Cookie x