Soap and Glory Lid Stuff in What's Nude

Yes I know, another Soap and Glory product. This little quad has been sitting in my stash for a while but it hasn't had a lot of love recently, until I rediscovered it last month. This was one of the first Soap and Glory make up items I bought. I'm a sucker for neutral shadows, so out of the three choices of colours, this was the obvious choice. Unlike my beloved Naked palettes, this quad has predominantly matte shades; Vanilla (white), Pink T (a dusky skin-toned pink) and Mudhoney (a grey-toned brown) and just the one shimmery shade, Aubersheen (a taupe-y kind of colour).

Despite just the four colours, this is a very versatile palette. I tend to use Pink T all over the lid to even out my lids and add just a hint of colour.  For an every day look I'll then use either Mudhoney or Aubersheen in the crease.  For an evening, or more intense look, I'll simply take Mudhoney more over the lid, and concentrate Aubersheen in the crease and maybe use it on my bottom lash line too. Then Vanilla makes a brilliant inner corner or highlight colour. Admittedly the matte shades, especially the lighter two, are a little on the chalky side, but as I tend to use these two shades quite lightly, it doesn't really matter too much.

Clockwise from top left: Vanilla, Pink T, Aubersheen & Mudhoney

My most recent discovery with this quad though is that Mudhoney works brilliantly on my brows. I can't believe I hadn't noticed this before! The idea just came to me while I was doing my make up one day last week so I thought I'd try it. For a second I thought it may be a bit too light, but once applied my brows looked the best they've looked in a while! My eyebrows are very thin and sparse and using something like Benefit's Brow-Zings often looked too harsh and unnatural on me (that could be the way I'm applying it though...?) but this just works so much better and has become my go to product for my brows.  I'd say if you had light to medium brunette hair, and own this palette, it's well worth giving this a go.

Not the best swatches, sorry! L-R: Vanilla, Pink T, Mudhoney and Aubersheen.

The only thing I wish they'd done differently with this palette is incorporated a mirror instead of the clear lid. I've lost count of the times I've gone to hold it like a compact mirror when I'm doing my eye make up. With a black lid, Soap and Glory could have been a bit more creative and maybe added one of their typical retro images to the front. Having said that, the quad does look very sleek and the packaging is very sturdy so it's not really an issue.  There are two more of these Lid Stuff palettes available; Off The Wall Flowers, which contains bright purples and blues, and Smokey Dokey which is made up of different grey shades and would make an amazing smokey eye. At £10 each, £30 for 12 shadows isn't bad at all, and just think of the looks you could create by owning all three and mixing and matching across all the shades.  Definitely something for everyone!

Have you tried any of Soap and Glory makeup? What's your favourite product?

Review: Soap & Glory Glow All Out

It's no secret on here that I'm a big lover of Soap and Glory; ever since I tried their Calm One, Calm All over five years ago, I've been hooked and have tried so many of their products.  One thing I love about them is they're continually bringing out more products and I was so excited when they added a makeup line to their range.  For the most part, the makeup line is great and I've liked pretty much everything I've tried and this is yet another product to add to their 'hit list'

Glow All Out is described as a 'luminising face powder' which I guess is more or less the same as a highlighter.  Although while some highlighters can be overly glittery or shimmery, this is way more subtle.  It gives a beautifully subtle sheen to the skin that is perfect for this time of year.  My skin can often look dull and tired and this perks it up just the right amount.  Soap and Glory say you can apply this over the whole face, but I just apply it to the tops of my cheekbones.  Even though it's subtle, I think the whole face may be a bit too much, and you really would 'glow all out' (see what I did there?!)

To be honest I'm not overly keen on the packaging.  While the cardboard is strong and sturdy (in a similar way to the Benefit boxed powders), I still suspect it will pick up a few knocks fairly easily, and I'm not sure how long it'll look so white and pristine either... I think after a couple of month, general wear and tear will stop it from looking so pretty!

I bought this product a couple of weeks ago, and I've used it pretty much every day since.  I've even added it to my most basic of make up routines; the one I tend to do for work, or if I'm just in a rush.  I haven't swatched it for you in the photos as it's that subtle, it's really hard to capture how lovely it is with my basic camera. 

At £11, it's not the cheapest out there, but Soap and Glory is currently part of Boots' 'buy one, get one half price' offer, and is also often on 3 for 2...  either of which would justify a cheeky splurge if you ask me!

My five most used makeup brushes

Like any blogger, I have a pretty decent collection of make up brushes.  Not as many as some I'm sure, but still enough to make cleaning them take forever! These are the five brushes I use most often, and the ones I wouldn't be without.

Real Techniques Buffing Brush

I think everyone loves this brush, and I do wonder how I coped without it! I use it every day to apply my foundation and it blends it in so effortlessly and seamlessly, and it helps to achieve a flawless finish.  My only criticism is that it can't be bought individually.  It comes as part of the Core Collection as we all know, and I just can't justify another £20 when I have no need for the other brushes.  I am tempted to try out the Expert Face Brush as it does look similar and could work as a back up for my Buffing Brush.

Real Techniques Blush Brush

Yes, another brush from Samantha Chapman's line! Although a little on the large side, it's tapered top means as long as you're careful you shouldn't end up looking like a clown! It's best to use this with a light hand, especially if using a particularly bright blush. The fluffiness of the brush means you can blend your blusher out with ease to give a nice natural look. I guess it wouldn't hurt for it to be a little bit smaller, but once you're used to the size, it's not too much of an issue.  It also doubles up as a brilliant highlight/bronzer brush so it's a real multi-tasker!

Real Techniques Powder Brush

Anyone sensing a theme here? This is the last Real Techniques brush I swear!  This one is also super soft and fluffy and disperses powder easily.  It's a nice large size so it only takes a few seconds to cover the whole face.  I was never a big powder user before, but using this with my Soap and Glory powder sets my make up brilliantly.

Crown Brush Blending Crease (C330)

Although intended for eyeshadow, I actually use this to blend in my concealer.  It's just the right size to fit into my under eye area and works better than any concealer brush I've used.  I'm quite heavy handed so using my fingers to blend concealer never really works for me. The softness of this brush means the concealer just melts into my skin and definitely helps make me look more awake in the mornings!

Sigma E25

The famous dupe for the even more famous Mac 217.  I've tired similar dupes from Crown, but this is the best by far.  It's real multitask brush and applies highlight, lid and crease colours effortlessly.  It's nice and soft and has barely shed in the 18months+ that I've had it. At almost half the price of the Mac equivalent, it's extremely tempting to order another one (or two!) as a backup. 

I think with these five brushes, I have every thing covered.  Obviously having only five brushes isn't ideal, but I could easily manage with just these five brushes on a weekend away.  Having said that, I always take more even if I'm going away for the one night! I think for my next trip away I'll challenge myself to just take these brushes and see how I get on... watch this space!

Do you own any of these brushes? Which brushes do you use most often?

What's in my Overnight Beauty Bag?

My boyfriend and I recently went away for the evening, nowhere far, just out for a nice meal then stayed over in a hotel.  He's in the Army and is currently on leave, and since we don't get very much time together, we thought it'd be nice just to have a little alone time, with just us and no interruptions.

The bag itself came with a No7 Christmas gift set a  good few years ago now, but it is one of my favourite toiletries bags, and trust me, I have a few! I love the colour, and the pattern inside, and also the two sections inside are clear so you can see exactly where everything is.

As I had to work the day we were due to go, a hair wash when we arrived was essential! I used my mini Organix shampoo and conditioner, which I'm a big fan of.  I like how they're a bit bigger than the usual travel size shampoos you get, so they last much longer. The spray bottle you can see contains some of my Amargan protect and shine spray, and I finished off my hair with my Lee Stafford Argan Oil serum. For shower gel I opted for The Body Shop's Satsuma body wash.  This stuff smells amazing! The scent really lingers in the bathroom afterwards too.  I also took the accompanying body butter in Jolly Orange

For skincare, I took my trusty L'Oreal Micellar Water. I didn't bother decanting this into anything smaller as although the bottle is quite large, it's a pretty compact shape. It also tones which is one less thing to take. The miniature Benefit face wash is pretty much empty, and the moisturiser now contains my usual No7 day cream. I was a bit naughty and didn't take any night cream. I had nothing to decant my usual one into, so decided that for one night, I'd just use the day cream again.

I based the makeup on my five minute face look I blogged about not too long ago, but added a few bits to make it more of an evening look.  The Benefit primer is a relatively new purchase, and I'm still making my mind up as to what I think of it. I changed the foundation to my Chanel Vita Lumiere Aqua, as it's more of a compact size for travelling.  I usually prefer a bit more coverage for an evening, but with the primer it was fine.  I kept cheeks and lips the same, but took a few extra bits to define my eyes, including my Benefit Brow-Zings palette.  For eye shadow I used my Soap and Glory palette in 'What's Nude' which is a really handy size for travelling, and lined my eyes with a Maybelline felt tip liner.  I also took my mini They're Real mascara by Benefit.  Lastly the nail varnish you see is from Accessorize and is called Amethyst.  This was already on my toes and just took it to go over any chips as I was wearing sandals, which is a bit lazy but we've all done it I'm sure...!

It does seem a lot to take for just the one night, but I really don't know how I could condense it further.  This little lot could probably last for a longer trip too, but like everyone else, the longer the trip, the more makeup I pack!