Real Techniques Duo-Fiber Collection

I am a bit of a brush fiend - I love how you can create different looks and shapes with certain brushes, and my favourite is when I find brushes I adore which don't cost the earth. The Duo-Fiber Collection from Real Techniques is a limited edition trio of brushes which fall into that category.

Inside the box is a Face brush, Contour brush and Eye brush with a sleek black and white handle, and black and white duo-fiber, handcut taklon bristles. It's the first duo-fiber collection from the range, but I hope this sparks off a whole new line for Real Techniques as I love them.

The ferrule on each of the brushes is really long which means you get a lightweight application so can really build the product up in layers. The brushes are perfect for creams, liquids and powders so are really versatile. The name of the brush is on the handle, and follows the Real Techniques colour coding system - orange for the face, pink for finishing and purple for the eyes - the other ranges of brushes have the colour system as the colours of the brush handles making them super-easy for beginners to pick up and get to grips with without too much fuss, plus Sam's online tutorials are on hand for the best way to use the brushes with some ideas for looks, so they really are perfect for newbies as well as dab hands.

The Face and Contour brushes are fairly flat - I like that in a brush - for my contour I normally squish down my normal powder brush to make it thinner... no more squishing! The Contour brush is absolutely gorgeous. I love it so much that I am definitely going to buy another so I can have one in my kit as well as my personal make up bag. It's the perfect size to nip in under the cheekbone and it deposits colour in a nice, even way. It's small enough that the thinner side can be used on the sides of the nose, and the fatter side can be used on the temples if you wanted to take your contour one step further. So much love for this brush!

The Face brush is a little more flippity-floppity than I personally like for my own face - I like a nice dense, short haired brush as I like to pack my powder on, but for my kit - perfect. It picks up a small amount of powder to give a light sweep over the face. The fatter side can be used to pat colour on too, but as the bristles are long, as is the ferrule, it's a bit too much of a light application for me personally. If you like to powder just for a bit of insurance rather than a necessity (i.e. not a powder-ho like me!) then this brush will suit you fine.

The Eye brush is rounded, the same width all the way round. The length of the bristles plus the fluffiness means eyeshadow goes on really nice and gently - I've found I can take my colour right into the crease with this and it gives a nice soft edge to the shadow. You could also use it for gentle blending or for adding soft colour or highlights, even highlight to the cheekbone.

What amazes me most about this brush set is that it's only £23.99 - that's £8 per brush which is good going for brushes of such high standard - they launch in the UK in Boots on 20th May are limited edition, so grab them while you can!

Real Techniques Blush Brush

Whenever people ask me for a recommendation of where to get affordable yet effective make up brushes, one of the brands I always point them to is Real Techniques. The brand has been around for a while, but if you don't know about them - you should! Makeup artist Samantha Chapman, one half of YouTube sensation Pixiwoo, is the brains behind the brushes. It's nice knowing that someone who actually knows what they want a make up brush to do has made the final decisions - and also the comfort that Sam wouldn't put her name to something she didn't truly believe in.

I have a few of the Real Techniques brushes now, the most recent addition being the Blush Brush.

The bristles are synthetic and super-soft. They've been cut by hand into a dome-like shape which is great at getting in under the cheekbone if you wanted to use it for contouring and equally as good on the apple of the cheek. I find that the softness and taperedness of the brush means that the product deposits itself gently and evenly which leaves a perfect finish. I tend to use it for blush, although it can also be used for bronzer, contour or for powder - it seems to pick up all kind of powders really well.

I love the overall design too - I mean, a pink handle - what's not to love!? They wash well, don't seem to shed at all, and are such good value for money (this one is only £9.99 from HQ Hair). If you want to build up a brush range, I'd highly recommend the Real Techniques brushes. I'm yet to try any of the eye range, but all the face brushes, I've loved.

Japonesque Safari Chic Brushes

I was recently sent the Japonesque Safari Chic make up brushes to try out. If you love animal print - you will love these brushes! The main selling point for me, would be the design of them - the sleek black handle, the white, brown and black leopard print in the brushes... but actually, aside from how they look, they really are fantastic brushes.

The Bronzer Brush, is a cute, stubby, kabuki-style brush which is densely packed. It is perfect for bronzer, but I've also been using it for highlighters and for buffing mineral foundation all over the face.

The Brush Set consists of a Powder Brush, Shadow Brush and Crease Brush in a black and animal print microfiber case.

Again, these brushes are densely packed with bristles, although the hairs are quite long, which I have found results in a fairly soft application. The Powder Brush has a short handle, which I find easier  to use. I think it's my favourite of all four of the Safari Chic brushes. I have been using it to contour under my cheek bone - the flatness and softness of the brush means it's ideal for that job.

Of the two eye make up brushes, I'm unsure which they intend to be the Shadow Brush and which the Crease, as they are both different from brushes I would normally use for those jobs. They are a little softer than the kind of brushes I tend to use to pack on colour, so I have been using the wider brush to sweep on a base colour, and the thinner to apply shadow to the crease or for blending both of which have given pleasing results.

Although I think the design of the pouch is gorgeous - I personally don't have any need for it as I have put my brushes straight into my make up bag. It would, however be ideal if you're the kind of person that likes to reapply eyeshadow and powder on a night out.

That aside, even without the pouch - I am really impressed with all of the brushes and definitely will be checking out more of their products. They are also perfect for Christmas presents - they're the kind of brushes that would excite even a non-brush enthusiast!

Cover FX Foundation

If you find it hard to get a foundation to match your skin tone, you should check out Cover FX's range. They recently changed their packaging and had an event to show us their range. When I say, the shade range was massive - it was massive! I'm not talking a white, a black, and a few to make up the shades in between - I'm talking, loads and loads and loads...of white, peachy, pinky, browny.... just so so many! 

The make up artist there colour-matched each of us to our perfect foundation. I was sent away with the Total Cover Cream Foundation (as I like coverage) in N35, the Matte Setting Powder (as I have oily skin) in Medium, to warm it up a little as I still have a slight tan on my body from the summer, and a cream foundation brush.

The brush is gorgeous - it reminded me straight away of the Shu Umera '18' brush - the hair is short, compact and densely packed - applying the foundation with it is gorgeous, I absolutely love it - it's easy to build up from light to heavy coverage using it, and it's really soft on the face, while being tough enough to make an impact.

The brush goes hand in hand with the Total Cover Cream Foundation. It does come with it's own sponge in the compact, for on-the-go touch ups, but I have been using the brush when I apply it in the morning. 

Although it's total coverage, it is so lightweight that I felt like I was wearing next to nothing on my face, and that my skin could breathe. 

The Matte Setting Powder doesn't leave my face looking at all cakey as some powders can do - it just took the edge of the shine, while still leaving a natural finish to my skin. The area on the lid can swivel round so no powder can escape, which I think is a great design - powder can get really messy, but this minimises the chances!

All in all I have loved trying out this foundation. As a Double Wear convert, it was really nice to try something which gave me the coverage, but with much more of a natural finish, and has opened my eyes to the fact I could actually use products like that. However, my skin is so oily at the moment that unfortunately it only lasts until lunchtime before I have to reapply the whole lot again. It's very easy to do that, as the compacts are very easy to carry round with me - but sometimes I just want the confidence that it's going to stay put. That said, my skin is particularly bad at the moment, even Double Wear doesn't stay long past early afternoon, so on a normal person, I am pretty sure this would look fabulous!

Cover FX is a Canadian company but you can find out more about them on their website www.coverfx.com or buy in store or online at House of Fraser

Liz Earle Eye Liner, Brow Pencil & Tools

To continue my little series of the new Liz Earle Colour Make Up products - today I am going to tell you about some of the eye tools I have tried from them.

I have the eye pencil in Golden Bronze - which, once it's warmed up, glides onto the lids beautifully. It can either be worn as a liner, or blended across the lid to make an all over colour - it's easy to blend too which makes it nice and versatile. The colour looks fairly metallic in the pencil because of the little shimmery flecks in it, but on the eye it has a subtle sheen to it - really pretty.

The eye pencil is in the middle - blended out, and the right, non-blended. On the left is the brow pencil in Dark 02.

I have never really been much of a 'doing my brows' kinda girl; I've been blessed in the eyebrow department, but since this combo of products arrived, I've been obsessed! 

The Brow & Eyeliner brush is such a handy tool - although it's marketed as one end an eyeliner and the other, a spool for brushing your brows, there's nothing to say you have to stop there! You can use the spool to brush through your lashes if you want to declump mascara, and I like to use the liner end of the brush to create a defined highlight under my brow.

That aside, they are also great for their intended uses - the liner brush is nice and firm and you can draw a nice straight line with ease. The pointed end allows you to get to the inner corner of the eye more easily. I have been brushing my brows up using the brow brush and it makes such a difference at how groomed I look, or if you have accidentally got a bit of foundation sitting on your brow, this will remove it!

I have been using these in conjunction with the brow pencil in Dark 02 to fill in any gaps by drawing gentle, feathery strokes, and also to make the inner sides of my brows a little neater. For someone who has never really done her own brows before - it's really easy to work with!

And then of course, there's the sharpener - stylist and chic in a little compact silver square, it's a perfect size for the make up bag, and the fact it collects the shavings internally is a big bonus for application on the go!

I have used all the new products in the photo above - once again, Liz Earle has impressed me and I look forward to exploring more of their range!