Being Cheeky....

Okay so I caved, don't judge. After writing my daily make up post I realised I really should step up my make-up collection. I have no excuse for not investing in some quality products, especially as I do suffer from problem areas such as blemishes. I've always really liked the brand Clinique and I have previously had a foundation from them, back when I very first started at university. It was a liquid foundation and I've always had a love/hate relationship with liquid foundations since I can remember. I don't think it was a bad foundation, it gave me good coverage and applied very easily but I just felt like it was missing something, but to this day I still cannot put my finger on it. At a hefty £20, I decided not to re-purchase the foundation after it ran out because I thought the price was ridiculous for what it was. However, compared to drug store brands I have tried (and there have been a lot), I now appreciate why these high end brands are at such a price. I find the drug store brands are very thick, cakey, heavy and packed full of fragrances that aggravate and irritate the skin. Clinique caters especially for these issues, claiming they are 100% fragrance free and I don't have a reason not to believe them. So, after watching a few youtube videos and in particular Pixie-woo's  review of Clinique foundations, I really liked the look of Super balanced powder foundation. As I've said I have a love/hate relationship with liquid foundations so thought I would invest in a quality powder formula. It is not cheap, coming in at £27.50 and is the first part of my 'Cheeky Purchase'.

Clinique Super Balanced Powder Foundation - Natural 2.5 

I opted for the colour Natural 2.5 because I felt it did not look too pale to wash me out but was not too dark for my skin tone. Obviously buying from the website you are never 100% certain that it is going to be the right match for you but I assume I could take it to a store and they would exchange it for me (well that's what I hope anyway!) and also was allowed to pick two free samples from them too which was quite nice. 

Naturally, buying a new foundation I thought I ought to get some new brushes. I have always tried to keep my brushes in good condition and clean but sometimes life gets in the way and you just can't do it as regularly as you would like. Luckily, the brushes I have aren't overly expensive so I don't mind so much that they are a bit worse for wear. I have a collection of Elf Brushes and also a collection a MAC Brushes (which believe it or not I barely use and don't particularly like), I have a few bare minerals brushes and I absolutely love their powder brush! All my little eye shadow and blending brushes from mac, elf and front cover are in great condition so I did not need to invest in any more of them. However, my foundation brushes have seen better days, particularly my elf ones. I have heard only good things about the real techniques brushes, which are by one of the pixie-woo sisters (as mentioned before), Samantha Chapman. Make-up brushes aren't cheap, particularly the high end brands such as MAC, and although £9.99 & £11.99 (for individual brushes) still aren't the cheapest brushes they are a lot more affordable than most. So I took the plunge and purchased the Stippling Brush and the Core Collection (which is £21.99) brushes to accompany my new foundation. 

Real Techniques Core Collection 

Real Techniques Stippling Brush

These can be purchased from Boots, which is where I got mine from as I receive advantage points which is always a plus as I'm saving them to get an expensive face cream :p. Amongst my brushes from boots I also ordered some bronzer from the brand 17, just because after forking out for the other stuff I wasn't prepared to pay £25 for a Clinique bronzer. All in all I'm quite happy with my purchases and I will definitely keep you updated on how these all fair! I hope they don't take too long to arrive! 

Much love, 

Louise! 

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