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I've been eyeing up some new makeup brushes recently, even though I only bought the Real Techniques Bold Metals Dupes (read about that haul here) but I'm still on the lookout for more affordable brushes. There's something exciting about applying makeup with new brushes, it makes me feel like a kid at Christmas! So, here are the affordable brushes I'm currently lusting over.

Have you tried any of the brushes or brands I've mentioned above?

I think it's safe to say most of us find washing our makeup brushes a tedious task, but I've got a few tips for you that will make it a little less boring, and maybe even enjoyable! A little while ago I wrote about how I deep clean my brushes and you can read that here. 

1 | Watch Netflix as you clean
This one is my favourite as it really does make the task seem less dull. I tend to pop on Gossip Girl or whatever I'm watching at the time and it keeps me occupied and I sort of forget I have loads of brushes left to wash!

2 | Don't wash all your brushes at once
I used to do this and be faced with a pile of 20+ brushes and sigh at the thought of washing them all. Now, I wash my brushes at separate times and that way I'm only doing 5/6 at a time and it seems a lot more manageable. 

3 | Tackle the dirtiest brushes first 
I find tackling the dirtiest brushes (usually foundation brushes) first gets it out the way and then I'm left with brushes that take half the time.

4 | Buy a cleaning glove
These gloves have been about for years now, I blogged about mine here in 2013 which I've been using ever since. It's just an oven glove from Amazon for under £5 and it works wonders. It speeds up the cleaning process as the glove does half the work, although yes it does look a little odd and my Mum thought I was strange for buying it, it's so worth it.

How often do you wash your makeup brushes?
Recently I've found myself travelling quite a lot and so I've got used to packing up my brushes and makeup so I've learnt what brushes I can't live without. 




Both the RT Buffing Brush and Contour Brush are from the Core Collection so you cannot buy them separately but I 100% recommend that if you don't already, you buy the Core Collection as I love it. I reviewed them here back in 2013 and I still love them which is a pretty good sign.  I swear by the Buffing Brush for foundation and it's always my go to brush.

I have had about 4 of the ELF Powder Brushes and I'm yet to find anything I prefer to apply my powder with and I've found one on iHerb for £1.94 which is a bargain so I'll be buying myself another one soon.

I bought Topshop's Blush Brush a few years ago and I still love it. Although the packaging (can I say that for a brush?!) has changed and the brush now has pink and white bristles I'm sure that it still works just as well as my 'old' one. 

Finally the RT Fan Brush is from the Sculpting Set (review here) which I adore. I love the set in general but when I'm away I've only been taking the Fan Brush with me for highlighting. 

ELF Eyeshadow C Brush // ELF Crease Brush // Next Eyebrow Brush // Primark Eyelash Curlers 

I love the ELF Eyeshadow C Brush  for just sweeping colour over my lid as it's just the right size and does the job, and is super affordable too. 

 Another brush I adore is the ELF Crease Brush which I use for putting shadow in my crease and for blending (I have 2 of these, so one for each job). I can't fault these brushes at all as they're the perfect size for my crease and yet again, another bargain from ELF.

 I picked up the Next Eyebrow Brush a few years ago in a set for about £5 and I've never needed to replace it ever since. However MUA have an eyebrow brush that is only £1.50 which I think I'll try out.

 If you've been keeping up with my blog you'll probably realise that these are now my favourite eyelash curlers and this photo was taken a while ago. Saying that, these Primark Eyelash Curlers still do the job and were only £1, bargain!

So there we have it, my favourite travel brushes that I swear by! Have you tried any of the brushes above? What are your favourite travel brushes?


You may remember that a few weeks so I posted a haul where I had purchased the Real Techniques Sculpting Set which I was so excited about as I picked it up for  £13.99 which was a bargain! I've been using them since I bought them and I am so impressed. 



Sculpting Brush
This is the brush that I was most excited about trying as I thought it would be perfect for contouring, and it is. It's really dense and fits perfectly in the hollows of my cheeks and picks up the product really well, which sounds silly as that's what it's meant to do but we've all tried those brushes that are useless before!
I have been using this instead of my contouring brush from the Core Collection when I want a more heavy contoured look and I don't know how I'd do my makeup without it now. It's definitely become a staple in my makeup routine. 
Fan Brush
I've only ever tried one fan brush in the past and I wasn't overly keen on them, but that's all changed as the quality of this brush is amazing. I use it to apply my highlighter and it just adds the finishing touch to my makeup.

Setting Brush
Surprisingly I don't own any brushes like this, but I love it. I use it for setting my powder under my eyes as it fits perfectly in the under eye area and like all the other brushes is super soft. 

Overall I love this set and I really do recommend it to everyone who is on the fence about buying it. It is well worth the £19.99 as the quality is brilliant and I know these brushes will last me as they're so well made. 

Have you tried this set or will you be picking it up soon?

I recently bought myself my first set of EcoTools brushes and I'm so impressed. When I ordered these I'll be honest, I didn't realise they were travel sized brushes but that's no problem for me as they'll come in handy when I have weekends at home. 
This set includes 5 brushes. A flat concealer brush, buffing concealer brush, precision foundation brush, complexion blending brush and full powder brush. I've used all of these and my favourites are the blending brush and powder brush, although I use them for different things than as the name suggests. I find the blending brush perfect for contouring as it's tapered and fits perfectly in the hollows of my cheeks and I use the powder brush for blush. The other brushes are great too don't get me wrong, I just haven't got as much use out of them as of yet.
I love the detailing on the handles of all these brushes, that's what first attracted me to them. Having pretty brushes just makes putting my make up on so much more enjoyable (maybe that's sad, I don't know!). 

The brushes are also really well made, wash well and are really good quality especially for the price. EcoTools are definitely a company I'll be buying more brushes from soon as I love these.

Have you tried EcoTools brushes? If so, what brushes would you recommend for me to try next?

Real Techniques Brushes Dupes £12.99 - eBay

Last Christmas I only really wanted some new make up brushes and I love the Real Technique's Core Collection so I was going to ask for another set of those so I always had some clean, however I came across these brushes instead. They're dupes for the Real Techniques brushes but they're from eBay so therefore, a lot cheaper! I was also really happy to find a UK seller for these so they arrived really quickly, I think they took about 4 days but as my mum bought them for me as a Christmas present I'm not 100% sure.

You can buy these brushes in either blue, hot pink or rose gold. I chose the blue because then they'd stand out completely from my Real Techniques brushes, but you could always buy them in hot pink or rose gold if you wanted them to really look like Real Techniques brushes!


I really have tried and tested these brushes for quite some time and I still love them and I've not had any massive problems with them as of yet. The only 'problem' I've had is that the duo fibre stippling brush has shed quite a bit, but that can happen with any brushes and I can still use the brush with no problems. 

 Personally I don't find them quite as good as Real Techniques brushes however, they are very similar and definitely dupes for Real Techniques ones. They are a bargain for £12.99 + £1.99 P+P. I use these brushes daily and I am so glad I have them as they're multi use brushes. I especially enjoy using the tapered brush which I use for setting my under eye concealer. 
Have you found any other Real Techniques Brush dupes?



I've previously done a couple of posts on how I clean my make up brushes, but I've changed things up a little bit so I thought an updated post was due. I find cleaning my brushes a chore and I cannot be the only one who thinks this?! Despite not liking it, I still do it weekly to ensure my brushes aren't clogged with old make up and dirt from my skin.

Baby Shampoo // Olive Oil // Sigma Brush Cleaning Glove Dupe (optional)

Step 1 | 
First of all I'll place a small amount of olive oil into a bowl and swirl my brush around. Then with the bristles pointing downwards I'll run a little bit of water onto the bristles and with my finger tips gently  squeeze the oil out. This part makes you realise how much make up is sitting in your brushes!

Step 2 |
Next I'll add a pea sized amount of baby shampoo onto my brush cleaning glove (or you can use your hand which works really well too) and swirl the brush around and occasionally rinse the dirty shampoo off and repeat this step. Once again with the bristles facing downwards I'll run some water over the bristles and gently rinse the shampoo out of the brush. If my brush is really dirty (usually foundation brushes) I'll repeat this whole step again to make sure my brush is super clean.

Step 3 | 
Once I've rinsed all of the shampoo off my brush I'll lay my brush down onto a clean towel and leave them to dry overnight.

I find these steps so easy and also the most effective for cleaning my brushes and they come out looking all pretty and brand new again!


Top tips for cleaning brushes:

  • Avoid getting water in the feral of the brush as this can breakdown the glue and cause your make up brushes to fall apart.
  • Use a gentle shampoo such as baby shampoo.
  • Dry them flat to again, avoid getting water in the feral of the brush.
  • Using olive oil is an extra step, but it breaks down the make up better and leaves my brushes looking cleaner than ever too!

Do you use a similar method to clean your brushes?
I'm sure many of you have seen the Sigma Brush Cleaning Glove floating around on Youtube and various blogs and it retails at $35 (about £23) which in my opinion is a rip off. I wasn't going to spend £23 on what looks exactly the same as an oven glove.



So this is what I bought, a pink silicone oven glove. Yes, I am currently using an oven glove to clean my brushes on! It sounds mad, but honestly my brushes are the cleanest they have ever been since I started using this silicone oven glove. As well as making my brushes super clean it's a bargain at £2.19!
Admittedly it may not have the different textures on the glove like the Sigma Brush does, but the ridges help remove any make up on the brushes.

My method for actually cleaning my brushes is very similar to when I last made a post on it here, however now I don't use an exfoliator, I simply use Johnsons Baby Shampoo and add it to the glove and a little bit of water and wash my brushes. It's so simple and using the glove saves time as well.

I am so glad I bought this glove because it's super cheap, super easy to use and saves a lot of time and it makes my brushes cleaner than they have ever been before. I would 100% recommend this to everyone!
Have you tried using a silicone oven glove to clean your make up brushes with?
The other week I blogged about how I finally bought the Real Techniques Core Collection for £21.99. I have seen so reviews about how amazing these brushes were and I wanted to try them for myself.


(From left to right)

Contour Brush || Pointed Foundation Brush || Detailer Brush || Buffing Brush

Contour Brush - delicately applies highlighter to contour or create sheer, soft-focus finish. 

As the name of the brush suggests I do use this for contouring. It's the perfect size for contouring my cheek bones. When I saw this brush, it was a lot smaller than I'd expected but I love it because it works so well. 

Pointed Foundation Brush - use with liquid foundation to build custom coverage.

I don't usually like using foundation brushes like this, however I use this for my concealer (usually just for under my eyes) since this way I'll get use out of this brush.

Detailer Brush - precision cut to effortlessly conceal problem areas; or, use with lipstick for long lasting shape and definition. 

I've been using this as a lip brush to apply my Topshop Brighton Rock lipstick. 

Buffing Brush - ideal for full coverage application of powder and mineral foundation. 

This brush is the main reason I wanted to buy the Core Collection. I've been using this for my foundation which at the moment is Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum and it is an amazing brush. It blends in my foundation perfectly and doesn't leave me with any lines and so far none of the hairs have fallen out. 


All of these brushes are so light and feel nice to hold as well. These were made for a flawless base and I do think they help me achieve that. All of the brushes are made with synthetic hairs meaning they can be used with both cream and powder products, this means you can get more use out of your brushes. I really do absolutely love these brushes and I regret not buying them earlier! In my opinion it's also a bonus that the brushes come with a 2 in 1 brush stand and case which makes travelling and storing them a lot easier. 

I'm definitely going to try more brushes from the Real Techniques range since I love these so much.

Have you tried any of the Real Techniques brushes? If so which do you recommend/which are your favourite?
Today I went shopping for a few things and I ended up buying myself more make up and some brushes! I feel like I can justify buying these things when I'm meant to be saving because I got some birthday money (which I felt I had to spend rather than save, oops).

I had seen so many people say how much they loved the Real Techniques brushes so I bought the Core Collection for £21.99. I cannot wait to use these brushes tomorrow morning but I took a few photos of the brushes close up before I use them so when I review them they won't be all dirty!




Next I went into Topshop and ended up buying a couple of bits of make up from there. I've never tried any lip or nail products from there but I have tried a couple of blushes and a highlighter which I love so I thought why not?! So I bought the Brighton Rock Lipstick for £8 and I'm wearing it now and I love it so far! It is quite bright but it's build-able and still wearable which is great. 


Finally I bought the Razzmatazz Nail Varnish for £6. It really caught my eye because I've not got any glittery purples and it just looks gorgeous. I was going to try their Peel Off Nail Varnish but I wasn't sure how much it would chip since you can peel it off and I'd not done enough research to decide so maybe next time!

(Excuse the state of my nails, I've not had time to re-paint them!)

This is what happens when I try and take blog photos whilst my kitten is around - he ends up attacking anything he can including my lens cap!

Have you got your eye on any make up at the moment?
I will admit, I'm not the best at cleaning my brushes which I know isn't brilliant, but I do clean them at least once a week just to prevent putting bacteria on my face and causing bad skin. So I'm just doing a quick post on how I clean my brushes.



First of all you'll need any exfoliator, I just use this one because it's what I have at the moment (and it smells amazing). It was only £1 from a local pharmacy.


The other product you'll need is a baby shampoo, these work best because they're not too harsh on the bristles. You can buy this from Boots for £2.35 for 300ml.



This brush isn't too dirty as I don't regularly use foundation brushes like this, but it needed to be cleaned anyway. I bought this brush in a set a few years ago in Boots however I don't think it's available anymore.


First of all I put some exfoliator on my hand and work it into the brush on my hand and it helps get out most of the product. After that I rinse it off and then repeat but with baby shampoo to make the bristles softer.


Finally it looks perfectly clean again, and I just leave it to dry overnight so I can use whatever brushes I need in the morning.


I also cleaned my Elf stippling brush which I sometimes use to apply powder.

Hope this was helpful.

xx