Review: Benefit Push-Up Liner

Jumping on the beauty wagon yet again, I have picked up a sample (from Boots) of Benefit's Push-Up Liner! Being brave and asking for samples from counters always works well and surprisingly you get quite a lot of product in the tester! Not too shabby...

On with the review, bottom line, this product is awesome. Usually I'm not a supporter for high-end makeup as I'm a total drugstore girl and love the quality of some of the drugstore products but this one is that little bit better. For those of you who have been living under a rock and do not know what makes this liner so special, this liner is gel liner in a pen!!!! Say what? The pen has an awesome nib which allows you to get close to the lash line and get a seriously precise line, very good for drawing flicks for your cat eye.

Benefit claims a number of statistics:

' 91%  of women said it was long wearing, 81% of women said it was waterproof, 88% said it hugged the lashline, 84% said eyes looked visibly larger'

So let's discuss these claims. I agree with the claim that it is long wearing, I've been wearing it from the morning to the evening and it lasts all night.
The waterproof claim, I have no opinion of because I haven't tried it with water but I know that it is an absolute pain to remove. You're going to need some very good eye makeup remover for this one (examples, Garnier Micellar Solution or Lancôme's eye makeup remover) as makeup wipes will not do the trick.
As expressed before, I agree with the fact that it hugs the lashline but I did have to do some tightlining as well to make sure the line was very black.
'Eyes looked visibly larger' well is it just me but do all eyeliners make your eyes look big? Probably just me but I think mascara is the real secret behind bigger looking eyes.

The one complaint I do have about this is that I found that it smudged a little but it could have been this or the pencil I used  to tight line as I have found some rather random black patches.

If I could, I would buy this product but on a student budget, it's really not feasible at £18.50 per tube, but if you really want this (I would recommend it) then here's a link! Even if you're not going to buy it, check out the awesome nib on the liner, it is truly magnificent.

Overall, application: very good, lasting power: very good, removability: extremely difficult and price: slightly overpriced.

 Love you guys lots and speak to you soon

 

xoxo

My Favourite Makeup Brushes!

Today I thought that I would talk about make-up brushes! Obviously these are an essential part to a make-up kit and can make your make-up look that extra special! I have quite a collection of makeup brushes for some strange reason, but today I'm showing you my favourite ones!

The Foundation Brush - Real Techniques Expert Face Brush

I think you guys all know how much I love this brush as I did a whole review on it which you can see here. But basically it is one of the best foundation brushes that you can buy, honestly. It really buffs make-up into the skin to give that all important natural look! However it is also a multi-purpose brush which is something that I look for when buying makeup tools; I use this for foundation (obviously), concealer and any cream products that I have as this brush blends product really quite well!

The Powder Brush - Real Techniques Powder Brush

Although this brush is absolutely huge and completely swallows my face, it is also a fantastic brush to apply bronzer AND powder ( I love these multitasking brushes). Admittedly, it is quite huge as previously mentioned and therefore I don't use it as much as I use my other brushes.

The Blush Brush - Real Techniques Blush Brush

This blush brush, oh my lord. Again, another multitasking brush which I also use to contour as the brush itself it quite tapered therefore making is easy to stick to the cheekbone. For blusher it is also really nice and applies blusher beautifully. I do highly recommend this brush if you're a makeup junkie and love blushes.

The dupe of the MAC 217 - No 7 Eye Contour Brush

This is a brush that I use on a daily basis for eye contouring and blending. As someone that cannot afford a MAC 217, I went for the next best thing and I must say it does a great job. There are a lot of these brushes that try and dupe the famous MAC 217, but this looks exactly like it? I use this with my favourite contouring eyeshadow (sable brown by Estee Lauder) and it works an absolute treat. If you're looking for something similar to the MAC 217, then go straight for this.

The smokey eyeliner helper - No 7 Smokey Eye Brush

I use this brush when I'm bored of my winged eyeliner and decide to go for a brown or if I'm feeling a bit edgy, a black eyeliner. Using this brush makes smokey eyeliner no longer a chore and it gives great, great results. I like to apply my eyeliner across the front of my eyelid (it doesn't matter how messy it gets, trust me) and then I smudge it using this brush; afterwards it looks like I've walked out of a salon or something, it's that good.

 

 

The multitasking eyeshadow blending brush - Autograph Eyeshadow Blender Brush

This brush is one I use everyday, however, I do not use it for eyeshadow blending (hence the subtitle 'multitasking'). The label says 'eyeshadow' but I like to bend the rules when it comes to makeup application. This is a brush that I like to use for concealer as it is super duper fluffy so it blends product like a dream! On the rare occasion do I use it for what it's actually meant to be used for (that was a mouthful) because of my trusty No7 MAC 217 dupe,

The eyeshadow application brush - Autograph Eyeshadow Brush/Sponge.
When I was naming this I wasn't sure what to call it as it is a brush but looks like a sponge? But this brush is good for when you want to apply a heap of product (par exemple, the first layer of eyeshadow on your lid). Admittedly it does look like the freebie you get in most eyeshadow palette and actually it is, but it's so good for applying a lot of product to give more coverage.

So ladies and gents, that is it for this week! I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I liked to write about it. If you have any comments please leave them below, tell me about your favourite brushes and the techniques you use with them. I would love to hear from you!

 



xoxo