New | Styled By Lauren

Splurging on expensive makeup is pretty pointless if you don’t have good makeup brushes and tools to apply them. I am slowly but surely building my makeup brush collection by trying to find the perfect brush/tool for each area of makeup and I recently added a few more to my collection.

Bobbi Brown Full Coverage Face Brush – If you seen my 2015 wishlist you may recall seeing this included. I heard so many great reviews on this brush for foundation use with many YouTubers and fellow bloggers raving about it. Prior to using this one I relied on my Real Techniques Buffing Brush which is a great option for foundation and a much cheaper alternative. When I first got this I was a bit unsure since I was pretty happy with my RT brush but now I am a total convert. Paired with my Nars Sheer Glow this is the perfect brush for such a flawless finish. It is much more dense than the RT brush and is smaller too making it perfect to really get into every area of the face. Only negative is that I am now lusting over a couple more Bobbi Brown brushes!

Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge – Now I may have traded my RT buffing brush for an alternative but I don’t think I would ever turn my back on Real Techniques altogether. They really are a fab brand, making quality brushes at an affordable price. One thing I never thought I would be buying though is a sponge. When I first started getting into makeup the one thing I used to apply my foundation was those cheap sponge wedges which were pretty disastrous. Although it is safe to say this sponge isn’t any were near that level. I bought this sponge after seeing the Beauty Blender being raved about a lot as well as this being mentioned as a dupe so I thought why not jump on the bandwagon. I have been using this mostly for concealer as the shape is great for covering the under eye area and also the tip is also good for dabbing in other areas. I’ve really been liking using this although I am yet to try it for foundation so I will definitely need to try that out too!

MAC 217 Brush – The iconic 217. I must admit I am a bit of an eyeshadow noob. A smokey eye for me is more like a got into a fight black eye situation. Not pretty. Now everyone basically raves on end about how great this brush is and for the longest time I really wanted it and pretty much needed it. Its meant to make eyeshadow a breeze and my god it does. I don’t even know how I survived this world without a MAC 217. It works as a good all-rounder, packing colour onto the lid and blending out in the crease. If your eyeshadow isn’t quite up to scratch then I suggest this mighty brush! I could quite do with a second 217 if I’m honest…

Are you a fan of any of these tools? What tools do you rely on?

When it comes to nail polish there is one brand I turn to who I know will always offer the best colour selection at an incredibly affordable cost. It is of course Barry M. Whenever Barry M launch a new range of polishes to their collection I have to admit I get that bit excited at seeing the new shades they have on offer. After hearing of their latest launch, it is safe to say I got pretty excited.

This time it wasn’t particularly just the shades, there was a winning formula. Introducing the Barry M Speedy Quick Dry range. I am sure you can tell from the name what these polishes are set out to do. As the most impatient person when it comes to nail polish drying these definitely are the best thing Barry M could offer on the table. There is also a broad shade range adored by a range of pretty pastels perfect for Spring.

I popped into Boots not too long ago to pick up some and unfortunately they only had two shades left which came in the form of Road Rage and Full Throttle. Road Rage is a pretty duck egg shaded blue with slight green undertones, a polish that is pretty unique to my collection. A notable feature of the new polishes is the updated brush which is now much thicker meaning it is now much easier to apply polish over the nail. The other shade I picked up is Full Throttle, an apricot like soft orange shade which if I’m honest wasn’t a stand out colour in the collection, I was stuck with it though. However after applying it I have fell in love with this shade, Its such a different but pretty soft tone that will look perfect in spring alongside some fresh white clothing.

The formula is definitely a winner. After applying Full Throttle at the last minute before heading out into town and rushing around non-stop to get ready it definitely lives up to the speedy dry claim. The lasting power of these polishes is also pretty decent. Barry M polishes usually suffer a weakness in the lasting power but these have lasted pretty well on my nails lasting nearly a week with hardly any chipping.

Probably my favourite range from Barry M without a doubt. If you are impatient like me when it comes to nail polish then these deserve a try. Now what shade should I get next?

Are you a fan of Barry M nail polishes?