Estée Lauder Haul

I have heard a lot of great things about Estée Lauder in particular their double wear foundation, which I had heard endless good things about, particularly for someone like me who has a lot of redness in their skin and often has breakouts, I wanted something that was better for my skin, I have tried endless amounts of brands and I always start happy but after a while I tend to fall out of love with the product.

I really want to like this product since I have heard such good stuff about it, if it doesn't work for me I do not know what I will try next, I'm not fussy I have loved both high end and drugstore. I am looking for the one that works best for me, I have combination skin and get most of my breakouts on my chin, it is beyond frustrating, it seems no matter what I do it doesn't clear up, I'm in definite need of a holiday, so the sun can do its work.

I initially only went into buy a foundation and possibly a concealer but ended up leaving with a lot more than I had intended on purchasing, I do not doubt that they will last quite some time particularly the powder and the serum, but whenever you buy a lot at once it always seems so much worse.  

The woman was lovely admittedly but I just hate when they try to oversell the things to me, let the product speak for itself, I'd rather not be sold something I don't want like the whole skin care range, I like variety and buying a lot from one company just doesn't work for me, unless the product is so amazing that I cannot live without it.

Although I did like the way it was packaged because when I got home I felt like it was christmas, what person doesn't love unwrapping things, I swear I think some people actually have an addiction to this, particularly the sound it makes when you first rip it.

This is the pressed powder, I have tried both loose and pressed in the past and pressed is just so much easier and a lot cleaner because there is little to no fall out from the brush, as a lover of wearing black clothes it was never pretty when I spilt half the contents of it down me, it always meant outfit change.

The packaging is very luxe and definitely drew me in a bit more, what can I say I'm a sucker for packaging, when something is pretty it makes me want it even more.

It's very much about creating something desirable and Estée Lauder have succeeded in delivering a beautiful finish.

Double wear powder in Cool bone

Can be bought here

The shade I got was in cool bone to match the foundation, as using a different brand I felt it may ruin the aesthetic of the foundation and didn't want it to look cakey or orange. I wanted it to look as natural as possible since I have a fairly light skin tone sometimes particularly drug store foundations and powder have peachy orange tones to some of the lighter colours or even worse do not have a shade that would be compatible with my skin tone. 

In the shade cool bone:

This is a high coverage foundation is perfect for my troublesome skin it helps to give a much more even skin tone, it claims to be durable and to stay in place throughout the day, I agree to a certain extent, although it tends to move slightly around my nose because of dry skin, but seems to stay well on the rest of my skin. My main drawback is that it doesn't have a pump so I either get too much coming out or none at all, I know I could very easily buy a pump but it would just be a nice touch to have one already that matches nicely with the rest of the bottle.

 In the shade cool bone:

The Double wear foundation in cool bone 

Can be bought here

This is the double wear concealer and I am not entirely too sure how I feel about this, I have been applying it with a brush so maybe that is why it doesn't feel as creamy as I would have liked it to, I think maybe using my hands the body heat would help it to be more transferable and overall give a better finish.

It is incredibly hard to get a picture of it with the true colour, I assure you it is not this dark and is suitable for my skin tone.

Double wear concealer  (1N extra light)

Can be bought here

This product is the idealist and it is a serum that is used to improve the overall appearance of the skin I wasn't entirely sure how to describe it but under the product information on the Debenhams site it described it as this "This fast-acting serum is proven to significantly reduce the look of blotchiness, past blemish marks and discolorations. Instantly, skin looks fresh and radiant. 79% of women saw an improvement in the look of uneven skintone. Skin looks noticeably clearer, brighter and more even-toned. Oil-free formula is proven gentle and effective for all ethnicities."

I agree that it goes a sort of radiant fresher looking complexion which is a great start before applying makeup because you will probably find yourself using much less makeup.

Idealist even skin tone illuminator Can be bought here

I definitely recommend when purchasing foundations to get it matched properly, they offer a great service, and allow you to return your product for up to 30 days at Debenhams counter if the product isn't working for you so you don't have much to lose if it isn't suitable.

One thing I would say with them being a bit on the pricey side go somewhere like Debenhams or Boots so that you can get some loyalty points and that will hopefully make your next purchase a bit more affordable.

If any of you use these products let me know what you think of them in the comments below, I love hearing how different people use the products in a different way.

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How I clean my make up brushes

The dread at the end of the week when you realise you've got to clean your makeup brushes, the week of makeup has taken its tole on the brushes and it is time for a fresh start for the week ahead, plus after a while the build up of foundation in the brush just means you end up basically rubbing foundation round your face without it actually setting.

Before

 It is important when drying them to lay them flat or with the bristles facing down to allow the water to drain out and for the brushes to dry, doing this on a towel makes it a lot less messier, when I had less brushes I used to lay it out on paper towel but a towel is more absorbent so they dry a lot quicker in my opinion.

After

The brushes in order 

Mac: 1, 22 buy me here

Japonesque: 2,3,4,6,15 buy me here

Real Techniques: 5, 8, 9, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18 ,19, 20, 23, 24, 25  buy me here

Bobbi Brown: 7,10,21 buy me here

Urban Decay: 11,13 buy me here

Excuse the foundation that is on this but, this is a cleaning glove from sigma and has made brush cleaning much more bearable, no wrinkled hands or burns from the water being to hot

The glove can be bought here

The glove comes with two sides the first side pictured below: It has larger textured circles on it to get in between the brushes and bring out the excess product.

I firstly like to place my brush under the faucet and get it wet, then on the textured area I use baby shampoo because it is gentle but is soapy enough to get out the product, I begin to buff the brush in circular motions and also soap up the sides of the brush to get any trapped product, I will do this for a while till I feel it is getting cleaner then I will add more water, buff it more then wash off the glove, then once again buff the brush onto the clean brush and then use the rinse part of the glove which is the grooved lines at the top, this helps to get water out of the brush, if the brush is proving troublesome I will use the small circles near the thumb of the glove to get makeup that is lodged near the bristles.

 Then when I think it is clean enough I will put it between where the thumb is and the glove join and squeeze pulling the brush up, reshaping it as I go

This side of the glove is for brushes used which are smaller like eyes and lip brushes, I follow a similar technique for these and with some I use the small area by the thumb especially for the brushes I use with gel eyeliner as they can be tougher to clean as the product is likely to dry into the brush.

Here is the glove in the original packaging 

After a while it becomes quite therapeutic to wash them and it has to be done so why not play some music and enjoy cleaning them by singing, admittedly I'm not Beyonce as I so often think I am.

Let me know how you clean your brushes, I would love to know your tips and tricks.