Dior Backstage Blender Review

This has been one of the most talked about makeup tools of the year so far. 

Dior Backstage Blender. £12. 

I wanted this immediately. It's been all over my Instagram feed and I was super excited to get hold of one. It's black, it's a beauty blender, and it's Dior. What's not to like? 

So the other day, I purchased this in Debenhams using my beauty card points, meaning it was also free! 

I love Beauty Blenders. The original beauty blender is easily one of my best beauty buys ever. 

Before the Beauty Blender, I'd used the Real Techniques version, at £6 it's a bargain but I didn't like it, and felt it was a big dissapointment. But the actual branded Beauty Blender, at £16 is priceless. I use it daily.  I find applying my base with brushes works best for me and then the Beauty Blender just refreshes everything, blends in for an airbrush finish and removes any 'cakey' affect of my makeup. It stops my concealer pooling around my eyes, it takes makeup out of flaky patches, it cleans up any smudging of eye makeup, it removes oily residue from foundation, all in all it just does everything to finish off my look.

So to find a Dior version was very exciting. 

Unfortunately, the excitement was short lived. 

I've tried this several times now, just to be sure before I reviewed it. 

It's just not the same. When you dampen a Beauty Blender, it expands as the pores take in the moisture. This means that it doesn't absorb the liquid foundation. 

Dampening the Dior blender doesn't do anything. It stays the same size. 

The Dior blender is much firmer. It's quite solid for a sponge. 

Applying makeup is another dissapointment. The Beauty Blender almost 'bounces' as you use it. It's very soft and flexible, wheras the Dior is quite hard and doesn't really change in shape. It doesn't blend well at all, and gives nowhere near the same finish. 

To be honest, I don't think it should be called a 'blender'. It's more of a standard makeup sponge, which I don't actually like using as they seem a bit redundant and tend to just smear product around. 

I guess one resounding factor is that the Dior blender is so firm that it's very durable. The Beauty Blender has to be cleaned very carefully to avoid tearing and the Real Techniques copy just seemed to fall apart straight away. 

I'm not a fan of the Dior blender. I feel like my expectations of a Dior product would be that it worked much better than another version? But it doesn't stand up to the original whatsoever. I don't like it  but would love to hear if anyone else has found it to be a less dissapointing product. 

Kirstie 

Xxxxx

Depotting mac eyeshadows.

I did a much more detailed post on this last year. 

But just a quick reminder post of the easiest way I've found for depotting single Mac eyeshadows into a pro palette. 

You need the following items. 

Hair straighteners. 

Nail scissors. 

Tweezers. 

Foil.

The shadow. 

The palette. 

First, you slip the plastic pan out from the plastic casing. I found this remarkably more difficult today than usual. That little baby did not want to budge. Please be really careful, because it's sometimes a bit of a fiddly job and there are scissors involved. Most of the time it comes away quite easily. 

You stick the pointed end of the scissors into the line where the pan and casing are seperate, and prise the pan out. 

You then lay foil across the iron of the straighteners, and (with tweezers, To avoid a burn) you place the pan on the foil. 

Leave the pan on the heat for around 2/3 minutes. This melts the glue holding the metal pan to the plastic. 

When you smell the glue melting, remove the pan, and gently poke the pointed end of the scissors into the back of the pan just slightly. 

This should push the metal pan out. Please be carefull with this part of the process too. The glue is very hot, and I got a little burn on my finger from being clumsy. 

Place the pan down to cool. 

I took the time to remove the shade sticker from the back of the casing. 

You can then stick a small magnet to the back of the pan, to easily add it to your palette. 

Taaadaaaa

HoneyLust has found a home! 

Kirstie. 

Xxxx

Makeup recycling.

When I was a bit younger, and even skinter, I ran out of my favourite foundation. Estée Lauder Double Wear Maximum. You know the one in the squeezy blue plastic tube? No matter how much I shook and squeezed that tube, it was done. Nothing would come out. 

I was obviously distraught over this and it was like a fortnight before payday. I was sitting, exasperated over my predicament in my friend Tammy's car when she said something very wise and utterly profound. 

'Uhhhh Kirstie? Just cut the tube open'

Yeah. 

I had never even considered this as an option. But low and behold, I cut the tube in half with some nail scissors and I swear it was SO full of product that it lasted it me even beyond payday. 

It really made me think about how much product I was wasting everytime I threw out a foundation that I thought was 'empty'. 

A lot of the foundations I use now are in glass bottles and I rarely actually make it to the end of one before I move on to another. So I haven't done this for a while. 

But tonight, I needed sonething to keep me busy. So I engaged in a little project. 

You know the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer that I and the rest of the blogging world never shut up about? Well, like any other hoarder...I have stockpiles of 'nearly empty' tubes of this Holy Grail product, because while they look ready for the bin, I know there's life left in them that I 'just might need' one day when I unexpectedly finish one properly. 

Tonight, I made myself a huge compact of concealer out of tubes that most people would have considered fit for the bin. 

These are the bits and pieces I used to get the product out. I used a knife and some little nail scissors to open the tubes. An old empty Dior container I cleaned out. Some makeup brushes to transfer the concealer into it. And a load of baby wipes because it got a little messy at points. 

So this tube is an example. Look how empty it appears? When you pump the applicator around, nothing comes out of this anymore. 

But look, when you cut this open....

Lots of lovely product remains inside. Just outwith the applicators grasp. 

From this one seemingly empty tube, I got this much concealer out. 

That is ridiculous. That's like half a tube! 

I know I sound kind of sad. Because, these are like five pounds. But it's my five pounds. That I worked for. And I'd rather the product I spent it on ends up on my face than in the bin. 

So here are the results of my little project. A compact literally packed full of a HG product I use daily and cannot live without. All of which I would easily have binned, thinking the tubes were just taking up space. 

It took me around 20 minutes. 

I'm quite pleased with myself to be honest. 

Kirstie. 

Xxxx

Zoeva Rose Gold Luxe Brushes Review

I have literally never waited so long for something I wanted to buy this badly. 

It's happened. 

I got my Zoeva's!!!!!!!!!

Beautybay had these around eight weeks ago. I had them perched in my basket, ready to press pay on payday the next morning. Payday morning came, and they had sold out. I was literally devastated. They remained out of stock all this time and when they came back in on Thursday, they sold out again within the hour. 

I was lucky enough to get a 10% off code from a friend the same day. 

I have ordered the matching eye brushes set directly from Zoeva, so I plan to post a comparison about my shopping experience. 

So, from BeautyBay, these were £56.95. Orders over £30 are free next day delivery. Orders over £50 include your choice of a free luxury beauty gift. I chose the Mario Badescu Rosewater cleansing duo. 

With 10% off, my order was £51.25 in total for the brush set. Free shipping, arrived next working day. 

The thing is, ordering these directly from Zoeva still isn't that extortionate in price. I know a lot of people desperately want these, and won't buy them unless Beautybay restock, because they are put off by the shipping charge. But honestly, the brush set itself is cheaper from Zoeva than it is on Beautybay. Only by £1. It's £55, and £7.50 shipping. Which is a bit more. And definitely not next day delivery, as they come from Germany. So if you can get them on Beautybay, it's a massive bonus but even at £62 these brushes are worth it, I swear. 

There are 8 brushes in total. 5 face brushes and three eye brushes. They come in this beautiful leather clutch with rose gold detailing. They are super soft and honestly, the application is flawless. I can't fault them for a second. 

My favourites from this set are the 110 Face Shape which I use for concealer buffing and the 102 Silk Finish I use for foundation application. 

I love that the brush name and number are embossed on the handle! 

My second haul, was directly from Zoeva. You can change the language and currency on their page to suit you. In British pounds this order cost me £73.50. 

Rose Gold Eye Set- £55

Face Paint brush- £11

Postage- £7.50 

I ordered the Rose Gold Luxe Eye set and the 109 face paint brush. 

Zoeva take so much care over the packaging it's insane. They took under a week to come from Germany and provided precise tracking through DHL. 

They came in a branded box, and were packed out with SO much bubble wrap. Probably a bit unnessasary but it did make me feel they really care that their products arrive in good condition. 

They come with care cards, and a note telling you who packed your order. Mine was done by Anya, so cheers for that Anya! Lol. 

The brushes are wrapped in Zoeva printed tissue. 

They again come in a lovely leather pouch...and the face paint brush also had it's own little pouch. 

I also love that every brush has this little silicone protector around the bristles. 

Between the two sets, there are four brushes that are doubled if you buy both. 

The concealer buffer, petite crease, soft definer and wing liner come in both sets. 

I am in love with literally every single brush. The Luxe set has every brush you could need for daily makeup and the eye set has everything you could want for a range of looks. I can't wait to find a use for all of them. 

The only thing the set may be missing is a lip brush. But to be honest, it's not something I ever use, and I have real techniques and sigma ones for that if I ever did. 

The face paint brush isn't from the Rose Gold collection, just the standard one but it's also lovely. Made for contouring, it has short, stubby bristles in a horizontal stem. 

These aren't overly dense, so are great for a soft but defined contour, and are so soft and flexible that they are also great for then blending out the contour lines. 

Beautybay pro's were the free next day delivery, the slight discount and the free gift. 

Zoeva pros were that they did come with just a little bit of extra special care in the packaging and the brushes themselves were cheaper. The shipping costs are a downside, but if you are buying a selection of brushes, or you team up with friends looking to buy from them, you can make it good value. 

Feeling very smug and very blessed to own these beautiful brushes! Would highly, highly reccomend checking them out! 

Real Techniques Bold Metal Collection Review.

The wait is over! 

Real Techniques Bold Metals collection was released last week! 

When I got the email, I hurriedly got onto Boots to check them out, and of course to buy them. 

I planned to buy the full collection. But it turns out that the rumours were in fact true. These brushes were priced really high. Starting from £10 for a liner brush, right up to £25 for the bigger face brushes. Ouch. 

I have to be honest, while I LOVE real techniques, the main reason I love them is that they are professional quality tools, at prices we can ALL afford. If we could all afford £25 for each brush in our lot.... Wouldn't we all just buy Mac and Sigma?

I just didn't think the new collection were as perfectly suited to my needs as their standard collections...and I spent £140 on Zoeva brushes the same day (review will be up soon)  So, with a heavy heart, I ordered just two of them and left the rest. 

From the chat on the blogosphere, Depop and Instagram after the release, it looked like a lot of people were bypassing these long awaited brushes due to the price tag. So I thought sales were going to be dissapointing and not what RT had anticipated when releasing the line. However, these have now mostly sold out everywhere, so perhaps not. 

I collected these yesterday after ordering online. I got the 300 Tapered Blush and the 201 Pointed Crease. The blush is part of the 'finishing brushes' and is rose gold, while the crease is an 'eye brush' so it's silver. 

And I know there's a lack of pictures surfing around so I've taken a bunch for anyone who wants a closer look. 

So. The verdict. 

I feel like this is total blasphemy. But honestly? I'm unimpressed. 

These are pretty to look at. They are gorgeous. The handles are much longer than any other brush I own and the handles are much more weighted which allegedly makes them more professional and easy to work with than a standard lightweight, shorter makeup brush. 

The tapered bristles are intended to make them good at buildable application, while a tapered handle should be easy to slot in a pro-MUA brush belt and give more control. 

The fibre bristles ARE very soft. But white. And very white. So these are likely to be a bitch to clean. 

They are also very dense brushes. The tapered blush in particular is very densely packed out with bristles. And weirdly, this is my greatest problem with them. 

They are so densely packed, that they swipe OFF my base, rather than blushing over. And I AM being gentle. They remove more makeup than they apply.  It's the most bizarre thing.

I don't know if I'm just resentful of the thing costing me £24 or if I am just underwhelmed by it's performance. But I don't for a second think this brush was worth it's cost. In fact, every other Real Techniques brush (and I do own every single brush) massively outdoes this in terms of performance. They obviously also trump it in value, as even the 5/6 brush sets cost less than this individually. 

The crease brush is just an anticlimax. It's ok. But it's no better in my opinion than any other standard eye shadow brush. It comes nowhere close to the blending abilities of a Mac 217, or anything else I've used. 

I am dissapointed with the collection. And despite how pretty these are, I honestly wouldn't reccomend spending this much on them. And sadly I won't be buying the rest. Maybe if I had the money just to have them because they are 'limited' and nice to display... But other than that, these are a bit of a rip off for what they are. 

Sorry guys!

Kirstie 

Xxx

New Real Techniques Bold Metal Collection.

Well it's been a while since RT brought out something as new and exciting as this. While I loved my Sam's Picks collection in November, I have to admit I started to feel as though RT were just changing the names and handle colours of brushes we have seen before. 

Last week, there was a bit of a buzz in the blogosphere from our friends in America who gave us a heads up on the latest release from RT. And this time, it's all new and all exciting. 

You can sign up to the waiting list on the Boots website (I've already done this. As soon as it was announced...I'm over keen) and apparently these are rumoured to be available around the end of January. I'm yet to find a concrete source on the release date so don't quote me.

I've also heard  that these will be limited and ultra exclusive. And pricy unfortunately. Some people are saying £25 per brush. This may be being confused with the American dollar prices, but still is confusing. 

Over in the states, 

Salsatapatia0126 on Instagram posted this when she spotted the brushes available in an American drug store. 

Also this, 

 

The flat contour brush up close. I think this is easily going to be the most popular. It looks like a nifty little alternative to the Nars 'ITA' brush that no one can ever get hold of as it's permanently out of stock. 

Also worry noting is that while in packaging, the handles look like they end in a point, this is apparantly just the effect of the packaging and not the brush design. 

Need. Need. Need. 

Naked on the Run

Sooooo this was in my Christmas wishlist, and I bought it for myself while Christmas shopping because I'm selfish and needed it. 

Urban Decay Naked on the Run palette. 

£37 in Debenhams. 

I didn't realise this was so cheap to be honest. I thought it was around £50!

I'm actually not a huge fan of the packaging. Which is unlike me. 

I am a fan of how useful this palette is in terms of being a multi-use product. 

Inside it has five eyeshadows, all very neutral, workable shades that can be used for a natural eye, a smoky eye or a party look which I think is really useful. 

It also has a bronzer, and it's a great shade for me, because I don't tend to use bronzer, and this may be converting me. It's a very soft and gentle shade which suits me far better. 

The little highlighter is also great, and is very creamy in texture given that it's a powder. 

The blush may be my favourite. It's such a pretty colour and I was genuinely really surprised by how complimentary this colour was on my skin tone. I must be terrible at picking blushers, because this is the second one I've gotten recently that I've thought would be awful on me and I've really suited. I'm now branching out in blusher shades and am eagerly awaiting my first Tarte Amazonian clay blush arrival which I think may be very similar to this. 

It also has three more cult classic products from Urban Decay. The 24/7 eyeliner kohl pencil, a Naked lipgloss and a mascara. 

Eyeliner isn't something I wear regularly, but now that I've found I suit it better without colour or shadow on my eyes, I'm trying it more. Lipgloss, I also don't usually wear but after falling in love with Orgasm from Nars, this one may be another new try for me. 

Perversion mascara is a product I've been desperate to try. Mostly because I love makeup products with slightly suggestive or naughty names. Because I'm a bit cheeky like that! 

When I opened it, I was dissapointed as I'm not a fan of the old traditional mascara wands with bristles. However, this does work for me quite well. I envisioned it being very full on and it's not. It seperates my lashes really well, and gives them a lot of natural looking length. The only thing I don't like about this is that it struggles to reach the tiny lashes from my inner corners. My lashes here are very blonde and I like a mascara that catches them easily which this doesnt really. 

Overall, this is a useful palette. While it's a little big to call 'transportable' it's still a good buy for weekends away and things. Rather than carrying a full naked eye palette (which I'm terrified of doing because I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they end up smashed and crumbled to death) or mac quad along with contour kits, mascaras and lip products, you could get away with this, a base and a couple of core brushes. 

Also, it encouraged me to get a new Debenhams beauty card which I've needed for a while. I got a lot of points in store due to a few deals they had on. I think I spent around £130 so got lots for that and also got a £5 giftcard and £10 worth of points for spending £80 on YSL products. Happy happy days! 

I also asked the Urban Decay girl for some advice because I recently purchased their Naked skin illuminating beauty balm. When I opened this I was horrified as the product looks like a cakey, bright orange paste. However she assures me that it's not going to apply like that and that the formula sort of disappears and melts into your skin and moulds to your own skin tone. I'm yet to try it so only time will tell I guess!!! If anyone has experience of this product I'd love to hear about it. 

Kirstie 

Xxxx