5 EYESHADOW BRUSHES YOU NEED IN YOUR LIFE - FOR ONLY £7.99!

I bet you're all wondering what sort of brushes can do the same job as a £19 MAC 217 brush? Well, tune in to hear about a few of my favourites which retail at only £7.99 for 9!

I bought this set with 4 more (face) brushes which cost me £7.99 for the set, however, I've seen just the eyeshadow brush set for just under £5. Of course, the power of how the eyeshadow looks is in the hands of the person applying it, but brushes can speed up the process haha.

I personally love the brush on the far end on the right-hand side the most. It's my ultimate favourite eyeshadow brush and I use it daily without a fail. I've been wanting to get my hands on MAC's 217 for a very long time now but the price has always put me off; now these have gone up by whole £3 which is more than this set of 5 costs?! Absolutely ridiculous if you ask me... (Update 16/02/2021 - I have since bought 2 of the MAC 217 brushes as they are a m a z i n g)

I use the flat brush from this set to either blend out my crease or apply eyeshadow primer with. The pointy one is great for applying dark shadow in the crease as it doesn't let fallout drop everywhere and keeps the shadow in place instead of when using a fluffy brush. The other two - which are slanted, are great for blending shadows together. I personally prefer the 4th one (see the last pic) over the 2nd, but that's a personal preference.

It also depends on which eyeshadows you are using when creating a make-up look. I suggest you try these out with trusty shadows to test these out properly! In this post, you can see my Morphe eyeshadow palette which consists of a mixture of Morphe, NYX, and Makeup Geek shadows. You can read my '4 eyeshadow palettes you need in your life' post here.

*This post contains affiliate links.

Have you tried cheap brushes which you swear by? Have you got any recommendations for good, affordable eyeshadow brushes?

Lots of love,

Maya xo

How I Clean My Make-up Brushes

Hi Everyone!

Who else finds washing their makeup brushes a chore? It takes sooo long to do and should be done more often than any of us wishes to admit. I personally clean my brushes at least once a month - yes I know it's not good enough but I never seem to find the time to clean them all! However I do switch up between brushes after one gets too dirty.

I usually clean them using MAC's Brush Cleanser which you can find here for £12. I've been using this for over a year now and I use up around 20ml each time for all of my brushes - and I do own around 50.

Firstly, I like to get organised and grab all the tools I will be needing before I get started. I usually get a small dish to put the cleanser in, and paper towels to rub the makeup off onto them.

So as you can see, I grab a dirty brush and soak it in the solution. I try to do this sparingly as too much solution will make the bristles become too coarse and sometimes it can get inside the handle and cause the glue to stop working resulting in the brush to come apart. And that is not what you want to happen, especially to expensive brushes!

After I dipped the brush in the solution, I swirl the brush onto the paper towel in circular motions until the brush has no product left in the bristles.

Ta-dah! Yes, it's that easy! However, if you don't feel like spending lots of money on special cleansers you can easily substitute it for a bit of washing up liquid or shampoo and then rinse it out under a running tap without allowing the water to soak up the whole brush.

I hope this helped! How do you wash your brushes?

Lots of love,

Maya xo

My MAC Make-up Collection

Good Morning Beauties!

I have wanted to share my slowly-growing MAC make-up collection for a while now, baring in mind that I have taken those photos a few days ago and have gotten more things from the store, I still wanted to go through my most loved and least liked MAC products.

MAC Brush Cleanser: I've heard so many good things about this cleanser and wanted to try it out ever since I bought my first make-up brushes, and I finally had the opportunity to buy a bottle from my local MAC store for a whopping price of £11 which is not cheap but totally worth it. It smells of acetone which is not pleasant but it does the job at disinfecting the brushes and getting rid of all the bacteria.

MAC Prep+Prime: I'm pretty sure that every make-up fanatic knows about this primer. I'm a huge primer lover, and needed to buy a new one after running out of my Benefit POREfessional primer, even though I bought the new Instablur primer from The Body Shop and love it so much, I still wanted a new one to try. It is very silky and smooth in touch, a bit thick and creamy like a moisturiser making it easier to apply onto the face. It gives a flawless finish to the skin and looks amazing teamed up with a MAC foundation.

MAC Studio Moisture Fix SPF 15: I'm not the biggest fan of this moisturiser mostly because of the scent. It smells of walnuts and the scent is so strong that it over powers the smell of the rest of my make-up and even my perfume! It's thick and creamy and easy to apply and spread around your face. I don't think I will buy this product again. I'd rather stick to my Boots Essentials Cucumber Moisturiser which only costs me £1.50.

MAC Micronised Airbrush Cleanser: I've bought this product thinking it was a normal face cleanser, but it turned out to be the airbrush gun cleanser instead! Haha, oh dear silly me. However, I do use it to cleanse off any excess make-up off my face as the consistency is just like baby oil to which I am allergic to, but this cleanser is actually really good for taking make-up off and makes my skin feel fresh and soft.

MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NW15: I love this foundation. It really is as good as everyone claims it to be. Unfortunately, the make-up artist that helped me choose the shade was very nice, however she picked the wrong one and it was too yellowy for me and made me look like I was wearing a mask, so serious shading and contouring was needed! I've recently ran out of this foundation after having it since Christmas, so I will be buying a new one very soon! Hopefully this time my colour will be matched perfectly.. I believe that I'm a NW13 shade!!!

MAC Liquid Eye liner in Boot: My favourite liquid eye liner so far, and believe me when I say that I've tried a LOT of them. It's very easy to apply and glides on smoothly. It is a bit sheer so you will have to apply two coats for a darker effect, but it's perfect to use for smokey-eye effect if you don't want the eye-liner to look too bold. A definite 10/10.

MAC 190 Foundation Brush: One of my favourite make-up brushes. I only use this brush for my MAC foundation as it applies it on very smoothly. I recommend it to anyone who uses thick liquid foundation. It is pricey, but oh-so worth it!

MAC Zoom Lash Mascara: I'm going to be honest with you about this product, as I don't like it at all. It makes my eyelashes look very clumpy and it stings so much when it gets in your eye!! It's also really hard to get off, and I need to use waterproof mascara to get it off and it still stays on! This could be a good thing if the mascara wasn't so crap itself.

MAC Eye Kohl in Smolder: I really like this kohl pencil as it glides on smoothly, but it does smudge very easily which can be a good thing if you're opting for a smokey-eye effect.

MAC Clear Lipglass: I love this lipgloss. It is very thick and non-sticky and makes my lips look so delicious! I use it as a top coat for my lipsticks to make my lips stand out a bit more. I recommend this product to every reader!

MAC Lipstick in Brave: My very first MAC item. I love this lipstick and there isn't a day that goes by when I don't want to wear it. It is the perfect nude lip colour and I will definitely purchase another one when I run out of this one! It is a satin finish which looks lovely on my rather large lips, and with a smokey eye it's just perfection.

MAC Lipstick in Rose Lilly: A perfect mix of pink and blue in a lipstick. It is very shimmery and a lustre finish which is the perfect glamorous shade/effect a girl needs on a night out! 

Mac Lipstick in Viva Glam Gaga: Anyone who knows me, will know that I'm a huge Lady Gaga fan. This lipstick it such a beautiful pale pink colour that I enjoy to wear it on it's own on a bare face.It's stylish and sophisticated, just like my favourite gal - Gaga.

MAC Eye shadow in Deep Truth: A lovely deep blue colour. One of my favourites. It's perfect for a night out and great to team up with a matching nail varnish!

MAC Eye shadow in Naked Lunch: Tanya Burr's favourite eye shadow had to be bought. I really like it as it is completely nude and nearly the exact same colour as my eyelids but it is perfect for a nude daily make-up look. Perfect for school or college.

MAC Eye shadow in Era: Like Naked Lunch, this shade is also nude but a little bit more brown. I love to team it up with Naked Lunch and Beauty Marked for a soft smokey eye effect.

MAC Eye shadow in Beauty Marked: I adore this colour. It is a very deep plum/brown shade with tiny glitters inside. I use it to create a smokey eye with a shimmery effect. Every make-up fanatic should own this eye shadow.

MAC Cream Colour Base in Luna: Love the texture of this base, it's very silky and smooth, almost like the Urban Decay eye shadow potion. The colour is very sheer so I can use it as a base under any eye shadow colour.

MAC Mineralize eye shadow in Shimmermint: This minty shade is nice teamed up with Frozen Blue and Deep Truth as it makes blue eyes stand out. I don't really use this shade as it is quite hard to find other shades to combine with this one, but it can be used as a highlighter which can be useful to other make-up artists as I use the High Beam highlighter by Benefit.

MAC Mineralize eye shadow in Frozen blue: Like shimmermint, I don't use this shadow a lot but when I do I like to mix it up with other blue shades or use as a highlighter.

MAC Pro Palette x12 insert: I've wanted to organise my MAC eye shadows for a while now, and I finally can! I will put up an updated picture of what the palette looks like with my eye shadows in very soon!

MAC Pro Palette x4 insert: I bought this quad palette for my fake mac eye shadows. It looks very nice, and obviously real! They eye shadow that's inside the palette is one called Mauve by Coastal Scents and I love it! It looks like NARS Orgasm Blush but in an eye shadow! I love it.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me!

Lots of love,

Maya xo

E.L.F. make-up haul

Hi guys!

Today I wanted to share with you my recent make-up haul. I have never bought anything from E.L.F. before so I was excited for my parcel to be delivered! I took a picture of all the items I ordered and will describe them below the pic :)

Clarifying pressed powder in ivory - I love the shade of this powder. It comes with a little sponge for application and feels soft on the skin. Gives a lovely airbrushed finish.

Primer eyeshadow in sexy silver - I like the shade of this primer, but I haven't used it as a base for my eyes just yet.

Lipstick in classy - This colour comes out a little bit lighter than what I expected but it gives a nice satin look.

Hypershine lipgloss in bubblegum - This lipgloss is really lightweight and non sticky, but the colour comes out as transparent which kind of disappointed me.

Bamboo flat eyeliner brush - The brush feels really soft but stiff. Perfect for gel eyeliner.

Bamboo smudge brush - This brush is also really soft but stiff, so will be perfect for smokey eyes.

Eyeliner brush - I bought this brush to compare it to the bamboo eyeliner brush. It's a lot wider, therefore it is good for applying eyeshadow to the eyelash crease.

Lip definer and shaper - I've not used this product yet but I have heard great things about it, so I'm excited to try it out asap :)

Mineral eyeshadow in bronzed - I absolutely love this colour! It's shiny and golden, very pigmented. I will definitely purchase more shades from this range.

Lots of love,

Maya xo

Review || Real Techniques Brushes

Hello everyone :)

I hope you're all okay an have been enjoying this half term, I certainly have! Upcoming mock exams are stressing me out too much!

In today's post I decided to review Real Techniques Core Collection brushes. I have heard so much about their brushes and thought I must have them! I bought the Core Collection which includes (l-r) pointed foundation brush, detailer brush, buffing brush and contour brush.

As you can see above, the brushes look quite elegant and professional, and at the price of £21.99 for a whole set with a brush stand/case it's an amazing bargain. I'm sorry about the brushes being dirty, I forgot to take some pictures when I first got them and ran out of brush cleanser so had to post those!!

Pointed foundation brush: I really like this brush, it let's me apply my foundation on very evenly and rubs in quite well, leaving my face looking very airbrushed and smooth. It's very soft in touch and it's shape allows me to use it all over my face, especially around small areas where my old foundation brush didn't let me.

The only downfall of this brush is that it's a bit too small for my liking and takes much longer to apply my foundation.

Detailer brush: I use this brush to apply concealer on my face as it's very small and handy. It allows me to blend the concealer onto the wanted area without rubbing my foundation off. It could also be used as a lip brush but I prefer to use it to apply concealer.

Buffing brush: I love this brush so much. It's the softest one of all and all I want to do with it is stroke my face because it feels like velvet! I use it to apply my powder and it spread it out evenly on my face and uses up quite a lot of the product so you only need about 3 dabs all over the face by dipping it into the powder once and you're ready to go.

Contour brush: I use this brush to apply blush or bronzer, because I prefer having orangey/brown cheeks rather than pinky/red because of my complexions. I usually contour my face around the cheekbones, forehead and jawline with this brush, but it I cannot be bothered or don't have enough time to do that then I use it just on my cheeks.

Here you can see the top of the brushes and what they look like. You can't really see the foundation brush as the buffing brush is so big, it's literally hiding it haha.

Hope this helps if anyone is unsure whether to buy this set or not :)

Love, Maya xo