Lime Crime Lipstick Review

These are a few of my make up buys this month, and a couple of them are new products that I wanted to give a go to review them. So as can be seen in the picture I bought, a couple of the real techniques brushes, the expert face brush and the blush brush. I've heard a lot about these brushes and have watched Sam and Nic Chapman's youtube tutorials for years so wanted to give them a whirl for myself!! Other new products I bought are Illamasqua's 'pink raindrops' nail varnish, Illamasqua blending brush, and a freebie I got from my online order Illamasqua's illuminator in the colour 'fondle'. All the other products are repurchases of things I have tried and loved before!!

So first things first, I like the blush brush but I don't love it as much as the expert face brush. So I will break it down into things I like and things I don't. I like - the large domed shape of the brush great for contouring those cheekbones, and precision blush application, the size and feel of the handle in your hand in very comfortable and easy to work with, very soft taklon bristles which are cruelty free, the price is amazing for the quality you get, much better than most drugstore brushes, it's a great multi-tasker, I've used it for powder, bronzer and blush application!! Things I don't like about this brush - bristles are not as compact or firm as I would like so they don't pick up as much product as they should, this also hinders application, the shape is perfect for precision contouring, but the fact the brush is soft it splays slightly when applied to face, so the product doesn't go exactly where I want it to. Having said all this I am definitely impressed with value for and if you have a small budget I would highly recommend this brush.

Oh my Gosh, I am in love with the expert face brush, and just would like to point out that since buying this brush I have used it for foundation application every day, my Mac 187 duo fibre foundation brush is feeling very neglected!! So yes basically I love this brush, the shape of it is very short and rounded, and the bristles are so firm and compact, you can get a very flawless finish. The length and weight of the brush is so satisfying to hold and work with, I really would reccomend this brush to anyone who loves to really work their foundation into the skin for an airbrushed finish. On the website Sam says that this brush can be used to work cream or liquid foundation into the skin, I use Illamasqua skinbase foundation and it's halfway between liquid and cream foundation and it really works well with this brush. Only downside would be, it's very thirsty, it absorbs sooooo much of my foundation that it needs regular cleaning, but still go out and buy this brush, it is such good value for money, you will fall in love with it, i guarantee it!!

Now onto the Illamasqua nail varnish in 'pink raindrops', I have heard and read a lot about the colour 'raindrops' and how amazing it is, and there is no real dupe of it because it's such a unique colour. It's a sort of grey, silver jelly finish with gorgeous flakes of shimmer throughout it, its very sheer, and a really gorgeous colour. Anywho, I thought I would try out the pink version, as it looked a lot more of a wearable everyday colour, I really liked it, and the picture doesn't do it justice. It's definately more of an opaque finish, and the shimmer isn't massively obvious, so it's perfect for a work nail, and you could get away with one coat, and clear top coat (I used seche vitte in the above picture).

   Now I move on to the Illamasqua Illuminator in 'Fondle', this like I said earlier was a freebie I got online, because I spent over a certain amount, I previously bought an illuminator from them in the colour 'glimmer' which is a deep golden shimmer, and wasn't overly impressed, but I'm  lover of a matte finish on the skin, so it was difficult to use when I mainly use powder products on my cheeks. But I am in search of the perfect effortless glowing summer skin look at the moment, and this product has been a pleasant surprise. In the tube it looks like a bubblegum pink with a golden shimmer throughout it,  but when blended out, it is an absolutely gorgeous highlighter, the top picture is it blended, and as you can see it is really subtle and perfect for an everyday dewy summer skin look. I have tried this on my cheekbones and love it as well. So well done Illamasqua, you've done it again!

Finally, I just wanted to mention this brush before I end my blog post, I recently went for a make up lesson at the Illamasqua store in Leeds and it was a really brilliant experience. I am, as you've probably picked up on, a massive Illamasqua fan and have been ever since I discovered skin base foundation by them. Nevertheless, I had never been into one of there stores, I've always bought online. The store was amazing, staff were all lovely and friendly and the lady who did my makeover Emma, was brilliant! To cut a long story short, I've been needing a blending brush for a while (I lost my mac 217 on a night out), and the brush she used on me was really good, so I decided to give it a go. Its synthetic fibres so cruelty free, which I love, and also the handle is very long and thin, less chubby than my mac one was, so feels a lot nicer to hold. The brush is a lovely rounded shape, perfect for blending till you get a flawless finish. Love it! And if you have not visited an Illamasqua store, go and pay them a visit, they are fab!

That's all for now beauty lovers, but I'm hoping to blog a few of my current favourite nail colours in my next post! Thanks for reading!!

Bo xxx