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Tuesday 22 November 2016

Clinique Sonic System - Purifying Cleansing Brush with Extra Gentle Cleansing Head



Being a delicate soul at heart*, sonic cleansing brushes and I don't always get along.  I used A N Other brand's "sonic" brush for a few months until I realised it was giving me chronic redness and broken veins than vowed no more.  I've had a Clinique Sonic System for a while now, but in the house move a few months ago, the base unit charger and the handset had somehow become separated and neither has been seen in about six months as a result.  Clinique kindly replaced my unit recently though, and I'm reminded that I do like this particular face cleansing brush a great deal.

Priced at £72, which whilst still pricey, but actually around half the price of A N Other brush, I find this simple to use, even with an oil-based cleanser rather than the "soap" Clinique recommend, and, with the Extra Gentle Cleansing Head (the white and grey brush on the unit above - the green and white brush head also pictured is the regular), this is a great addition to my skincare routine.

Sonic brushes promise to make your face cleaner than any other cleansing system, and thereby make your skin more receptive to anything you apply to it after using the brush.   Now, having sensitive skin, I must admit that I do not (and will not) use this on a daily basis, but I do use it two or three nights a week, usually on the nights that I am not using a retinol-based product.   The brush heads have a dual-bristle function, the slightly shorter coloured bristles at the top are for areas that need a bit more cleansing "oomph", such as around the nose, and the chin, and you just tilt the brush slightly over those areas so the firmer bristles can get to work, and just tilt it back so the rest of your face gets a good, gentle clean too.  The brush works in 30 second bursts, there's no awkward requirement of tricky button-press combinations to remember in order to get the cleanse you require, if you need longer, just press the button again ...

An ideal Christmas gift for the sonic-brush virgin, or someone who needs a more thorough cleanse than a flannel can manage.  Clinique have a number of Sonic System gift sets this year that come with some funky cases, I'm tempted to buy MrLippie one.
 

* I can hear you laughing from here, you know

The Fine Print: PR sample


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Sunday 31 July 2016

Real Techniques Ultimate Base Kit - Limited Edition


I do love a Real Techniques face brush, or three (or four...).  For my money, there aren't many brands that make better brushes for base products, and their blush brushes are magnificent!  That said, I do not love their eye brushes at all - in fact, I've not met one of their eye brushes that I've used more than once before giving it up as a bad job, mainly down to their tendency to always be just that little bit too big and bendy for the job at hand, but that aside, Real Techniques are definitely hard to beat for a brush for practically any other purpose.  Their Ultimate Base Kit was therefore irresistible when the press release popped into my inbox recently.

Just released as a limited edition, the Ultimate Base Set contains an Expert Face Brush, which is the domed brush on the left there, which is perfect for blending and buffing foundaitons and other base products.  I have one from another kit, and it also makes a good blusher brush for any powder blushes you might have that are a little underpigmented.  Next to that is the Miracle Complexion Sponge - does anyone else not quite get how you're supposed to use these?   I prefer to wear as little foundation as I can possibly get away with these days, and I only really seem to see people wearing inch-thick bases using these for blending purposes.  Or do I not get it simply because I am just Really Old these days?

And finally there is a brand new and exclusive Deluxe Concealer Brush.  A bit wider than I would have expected for a concealer brush, this is actually great for buffing in under eye concealer, having nicely rounded bristles which are good for blending over larger areas (like around the nose) and being able to blend your concealer seamlessly into your foundation.  Not quite so great for spot-concealing things like thread veins (or even spots, come to that) where you'll need a brush that allows accuracy rather than diffusion.


It comes packaged with a cute white mirrored wallet, which you're meant to use to carry the kit around in, but it has two main problems; the first is that none of the elastic slots will allow the base of the Expert Base Brush through, and the second of which is how do you get a sponge into a flat wallet?  That said, it is a cute wallet with a good-size mirror, and if you stick to your smaller Real Techniques brushes, it'll be really handy for carrying those around with you.

For £20.99 at Superdrug right now, the Real Techniques Ultimate Base Kit is worth buying mostly for just the two brushes, and I'd treat the sponge (unless you love base sponges more than I do!) and wallet as freebies.


The Fine Print: PR samples and purchases


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Thursday 27 August 2015

Bruzz



Nailbrushes.  They're not really the sexiest of products on the planet, are they? I think every household has one gently mouldering on the side of the kitchen sink, very rarely used, and unloved.  Bruzz aims to change all that.


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Thursday 18 March 2010

My top ten brushes

Brushes
(Okay, it’s not actually going to be a top ten.  It’s not even going to be a top seven, as pictured, it’s a top eight – I’m a photographic-doofus, sorry!)

During Foundation Week recently, I mentioned my flat top kabuki brush a lot, and people on Twitter were asking me about my favourite makeup brushes as a result.  I’m not  a brush expert though, and many of my brushes are very, very old, but I do find myself reaching for a couple of classics over and over and over again.
In the same order as the picture:

brush 1

This is an old – a very old – MAC 218SE, a flat, animal-hair eye brush that is perfect for colour-washes.  It’s a very soft, silky feeling brush that grabs powder shadows well, and is great for blending.  I use this to add the base colour of whichever eyeshadow I’m wearing for the day (I tend to only use two different eyeshadow shades in most of my makeup looks).

Brush 2
This is a Benefit “Talent” brush, which is the one I use for applying cream eyeshadows.  It’s flat synthetic brush, which is a bit less “grabby” than the 218, it doesn’t pick up powders as well, but with a cream, it deposits a smooth veil of colour on the eyelid.  The rounded edge doubles up as an eyeliner brush, though it’s a bit wider than the eyeliner brushes I’ll talk about later.

brush 3
This is a very old Smashbox “pencil” or “bullet” brush, which I use entirely for defining the my eyelid crease, which is where I wear a darker shade in 80% of my own makeup looks. I find this technique makes my lids look less hooded.  Lots of companies make brushes like these now, but when I first got this one, around ten years ago, it was revolutionary!  This and the 218 are the two brushes I use on a daily basis almost without fail.

brush 4

This is the infamous flat-topped kabuki brush which is my latest obsession!  I received it in a swap from a lovely  US reader, and it’s had a centre spot in my collection ever since.  This one is from ELF, and it’s a round, densely packed brush, which is great for picking up liquids.  I put foundation on the back of my hand, dab the brush into the liquid, then “buff” it very gently into my skin.  I find it leaves an almost perfect airbrushed kind of effect when I use it.  I much prefer it to the flat “hard” foundation brushes (similar to the Benefit brush above, but larger), which I find can leave you a bit streaky.

It also works really well with powders – it’s a very soft synthetic, brush – and doesn’t leave you with a cake-y effect when you use it. I bought a back-up of this for powders.  For £3.50, this is a bargain!

brush 5

This is a MAC 266SE, which I find to be ideal as an eyeliner brush, in particular for using powder eyeshadows as eyeliners, which is something I do a great deal, to the extent that it’s a very rare day indeed when I use a pencil-eyeliner at all!  This brush is great because it’s fairly stiff, so it doesn’t splay when you press it against your eyelid, and unlike many cheaper versions, it’s thin enough that if you’re going for a very subtle thin liner effect you can do it.  I also use this for putting powder shadow on the waterline, which of course, I cannot possibly recommend anyone does, ever, but I do do it occasionally.  Allegedly.

brush 6
This is a MAC 224SE, which is a very soft, very fluffy synthetic brush that I use for blending.  Especially useful since I started using Urban Decay Primer Potion on a daily basis!  Doesn’t rub and tug your skin so much as using your fingers does.

brush 7
This is an ELF smudge brush, which has short, quite stiff (but yielding) synthetic bristles, it’s the most recent addition to my brush collection, and it’s one I like a great deal – in fact, it’s another one I have two of.  I use one for cream or gel eyeliners, I prefer it to the 266 for those, as there is less surface area for the product to dry out on as you’re applying them.  It’s also very good for tightlining, which is something I like to do to my upper lashes upon occasion.  I use the other one for cleaning up my cuticles after a messy manicure.  Again, excellent value from the people as ELF.

And last, but by no means least, my blush brush, which is a MAC 129SE (all my MAC brushes are special editions, I much prefer the shorter handles):

brush 8brush 9
It’s not the greatest blusher brush in the world, it’s slightly too scratchy, but it does give a nice soft finish to blush, when it’s applied.  Whenever you see me use Cargo illuminator, I’ve used this to apply it, as it doesn’t deposit the colour in clumps as some brushes can.  I also have a denser animal-hair brush from Smashbox, which gives heavier coverage, and as a result, I mainly use that one for contouring.  Which I don’t do often.

As for looking after my brushes, I tend to wash them with a brush cleanser or shampoo on a weekly/monthly basis depending on how often I’ve used them, and I give them a quick clean on a cleansing wipe immediately after using them on a daily basis.  My advice basically is to  spend whatever you’re happy to spend on brushes, (and if that’s nothing, then so be it! Make up is all about finding out what suits you, and that applies to application methods as much as colours and the like), but whatever brushes you have, look after them!  The vast majority of my brushes are around ten years old (some are even older, I have a Body shop brush here that’s got Barbara Daly’s signature on it!), but if it weren’t for the worn off numbers, and slightly chipped handles, you’d never know.

What are your favourite brushes?  What have I missed? What2 brushes do I absolutely need to make up my top ten?
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