Review | Real Techniques Starter Set

Real Techniques Starter Set | £21.99

Hello everyone, I hope you're all doing well and that you're looking forward to your weekend. Today I thought I would finally get a new review up on my blog - my first one of 2014! It's actually been almost 2 months since my last one which is so bad for a beauty blogger, so I thought I would do a much over due review of the Real Techniques Starter Set brushes. I got this set for my birthday last year and lots of you wanted to see my thoughts and opinions on them, so now I've finally gotten round to it! I absolutely love Real Techniques brushes and when it got to a point that I felt that I needed to expand my eye brush collection, it was only natural to pick up their Starter Set.

The Real Techniques Starter Set contains 5 makeup brushes all made from synthetic bristles. They also come in a black brush case that can either store your brushes when your travelling or display them in a stand like in the first photo. All of the brushes have a purple coloured handle that helps define that these are from the eye brush collection from Real Techniques. These brushes are also very light weight and easy to use, which means anyone can have these brushes in their collection - especially if you're just starting out with makeup!

| Deluxe Crease Brush |

The first brush you get in the Starter Set is the Deluxe Crease Brush. This is a big, soft brush that is designed to be used to contour your eyes by applying a shadow into your crease. The bristles are dense which helps pick up plenty of product so that you can create an effortless eye look. I personally think this brush is a bit big for my crease and I much prefer to use this as a base/ lid colour brush. It applies lid colour so smoothly and as it's big, it covers a larger area very quickly. I really like this brush and is one of the brushes from this set I use every time I do my makeup!

| Base Shadow Brush |

The second brush from this set is the Base Shadow Brush and again is a brush that I use every time I do my makeup! This is designed to apply your lid colour and as it's very soft and dense, it does so flawlessly. I also enjoy using this brush as my crease brush - yes I know, I use the first 2 back to front, but for me I find that they work better this way! As the Base Shadow Brush is smaller than the Deluxe Crease Brush, I find that it applies the right thickness of shadow to my crease to create the perfect contoured look. I think if I had to choose to have only 1 eye brush in my collection, then I would definitely choose this one as it is very versatile and works amazingly with powder eye shadows!

| Brow Brush |

The next brush in the Starter Set is the Brow Brush. This angled brush is designed to apply powder to your eye brows to create a softer and more natural brow look. I much prefer applying shadow to my brows compared to a pencil or felt tip brow liner, so I was very happy to have this brush in my set. However, for me this brush is too big and it feels like I can't achieve smaller brush strokes to create the natural look I like. Luckily I do have a smaller angled brush that I use, so now I use the Real Techniques Brow Brush as an angled eye liner brush. When I apply pencil liner to my lash line, I always like to set it with a powder and this is when this brush comes into action. It picks up plenty of product and is slim enough to apply it close to my lash line. This is a nice, dense brush that works really well and is one I do use on a regular basis!

| Accent Brush |

Next up is the one of the smallest brushes in the set, the Accent Brush. This is meant to be the perfect brush for applying inner corner or brow bone highlighters or smudging out shadows or liners. The bristles, like all of the Starter Set brushes, are dense which means it's very good as smudging or smoking out liners. I also think this is a nice brush to apply a lower lash line eye shadow colour as it's small and can blend it out well.

| Pixel-Point Eyeliner Brush |

The final brush in the Starter set is the Pixel-Point Eyeliner Brush. This is the perfect brush for applying cream and gel eyeliners as it's slim and has a fine tip. This is the brush I use the least as I don't actually use any gel/ cream liners (if you have any recommendations of some I would love to hear them in the comments !). This could also work well as a lip brush as it is small and dense so it will apply the colour smoothly and evenly!

So these are my thoughts on the Real Techniques Starter Set! I absolutely love this set and highly recommend it if you're looking to expand your makeup brush collection. They're amazing quality and I think the price is really reasonable as it works out as just over £4 a brush! These are the perfect everyday eye brushes and I always find they apply my makeup beautifully. If you're interested in seeing what I think of the rest of my Real Techniques brush collection, including the Core Collection, then click here for the post!

Have you tried the Real Techniques Starter Set brushes?

What is your favourite Real Techniques brush?

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What's In My Makeup Bag

Today I thought I would do an updated "What's In My Makeup Bag" post. Since my last post (which was made in 2012) I have tried and tested a lot of makeup products, so naturally the products that I use on a regular basis has changed. I don't keep all of the makeup I use everyday in a makeup bag, these products and brushes are the ones that I usually grab when I'm going away for the weekend to stay at my boyfriend's for example. On a daily basis I do use a lot more products so for me, these makeup items together do give me a natural look that I can wear for any occasion!

Firstly I thought I would talk about the actual makeup bag that I use. This is my gorgeous pink and white Ted Baker Leda Large Wash Bag that I featured in my last birthday haul. This was a present from my boyfriend and I absolutely love it! It's big enough to fit all of the makeup I need, plus any skin care bits that I want to throw in as well. These wash/ makeup bags are quite pricey but I think they're completely worth it as they're so big and look beautiful! If you're thinking of buying one of the Ted Baker bags, then I highly recommend you doing so!

I always bring a lot of face makeup products with me when I go away for the weekend. I feel that as long as my skin looks nice, then I can get away with minimal eye and lip makeup! For base products I like to use my Urban Decay Naked Skin Beauty Balm and the Benefit Porefessional. Both of these products prime the skin ready for you to apply your foundation and concealer and I find they both work really well together! The Urban Decay beauty balm also gives my skin a little oomph of colour and glow and helps my foundation blend into my skin colour a lot better.

For my foundation, I'm still in love with the good old Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation. I absolutely love the coverage, consistency and finish of this foundation - for me it's an all time favourite! I'm sure you're all bored of seeing this foundation on my blog, but I feel that if I've found something that works for me, why should I change it for something else? The same is said for my concealer too! I love the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer as it always managed to cover up any redness, blemishes and dark circles. Once buffed into my skin with the Real Techniques Buffing Brush from the Core Collection, these two products create a natural yet flawless looking base!

The final face products I keep in my makeup bag are blushers. On my skin tone, the Benefit Coralista blush works as both a blusher and a slight bronzing powder. It has a warm tone to it that helps gives my cheeks a glow that some people try to achieve with a bronzer. I apply this blusher with my Real Techniques Blush Brush and I find it blends the product into my skin beautifully! The other blusher I've been try is the Topshop Cream Blush in Prime Time. I would use this blush for when I need to create a more "done up" look as it is a very bright pink shade. This looks gorgeous on the apples of my cheeks and gives my skin a nice rosy tint that I like in the Winter time.

For my eyes, I always keep my Urban Decay Naked Basics palette in my makeup bag. It contains 6 different shades that can create all kind of natural looks. I love applying Walk Of Shame as a base shade, Naked 2 as a lid shade and Faint in my crease. This creates a natural brown smokey eye that can be done lightly for the day or, if you use more of the Faint shade, can be brought into the evening. I use the Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush and Deluxe Crease Brush when ever I apply these shadows, the only two brushes you need to create a quick eye look!

I've also been pairing this look with the Soap & Glory Smoudler Kohl in Cocoa Bean as both my upper lash line and my tight line liner. It has a water proof formula that is smooth to apply and lasts all day. Finally I keep this mini Benefit Bad Gal Lash Mascara in my makeup bag as it's small, compact and gives my lashes a lot of volume and length.

Finally, the only lip product I've been keeping in my makeup bag recently is the Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in Nudist. This lip crayon is amazing! It has a really smooth formula that tastes amazing! The shade Nudist is a pretty nude pink that works really well as a day time lip colour. I can't wait to pick up more of these gloss sticks too add to my collection - I think they may be as good as the Bourjois crayons!

I hope you enjoyed this post and that you've found some new makeup products to try out! Do let me know your thoughts and opinions in the comments below and I will talk to you all soon!

What essential makeup items do you keep in your makeup bag?

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My Reflection On 2013

Hello everyone, I hope you're all having a lovely Friday evening and looking forward to your weekend. I'm really excited for my weekend, tomorrow me and my family are going to my local RSPCA centre as we've seen a gorgeous German Shepherd cross dog on their website! We're thinking of getting a little brother for our dog Paddy and we think this one is perfect! Today I thought I would do a post where I talk about how I think my 2013 has gone. I think it's always good to reflect and learn from past experience as they do really help you discover what you want to do next in order to progress your self. For me, I feel that at the age of 19 (soon to be 20 this year) this is the time of my life where I really need to gain some independence and finally sort out my path in life. Pretty deep, yes, but I personally feel that this year will be very different to any other year that I will have faced. I'm going to warn you now and say this could be a long post, so go grab a cuppa and a biscuit before reading!

| Independence |
Firstly, in 2013 I started my final year in my beauty course at college. Whilst many of my friends are enjoying life at university, I am now coming to the end of my education. For me this feels like I'm coming to the end of an era where I won't have something to "fall back on to". Education is such a great thing; it gives you a set routine for at least 14 years of your life. You have teachers and people that are always there to help and give advice. You have that sense of security of "if you do something wrong today, there's always the chance of fixing it tomorrow". I'm slightly dreading leaving my college this year as I've always loved that security you get from your education, plus it's a good chance to see your friends! Knowing that I will be finishing my course this year is driving me to becoming a much more independent and confident person.

So from this, I'm setting my self new goals that will help me become the person that I want to be. One of the first ones is to hopefully set up my own mobile beauty business in which I can use all of the new skills I've learnt in my course. I feel that having my own little business will give me so much more independence as all of the decisions and work will be down to me. It will also be really rewarding if I can reach this goal in 2014 as I will be going into a field of work that I have a lot of passion for and I know that I will enjoy it!

Along side this to help boost my independence even more, I'm also planning to start my driving lessons and also (fingers crossed) get my driving license this year. I have been putting this off for way too long, mainly due to this horrible anxiety about actually getting into a car and controlling it. I know that it may seem so silly to some people but the idea of driving terrifies me! This is definitely something I'm going to have to work on this year and I know that once I have achieved this, I will feel so good about myself! Plus passing my driving test will go hand-in-hand with starting my mobile beauty business, so this is definitely something I need to do!

| Confidence |
Towards the end of 2013, after lots of hunting around, I finally found the perfect job for me. When I got this job it gave me such a confidence boost as it proved to myself that I can achieve something when I put my mind to it. Over the past few months that confidence has grown and not only does it apply for when I'm at work, it's also spread into other areas of my life. Simple things such as speaking up in class or talking to new people were hard for me as I'm naturally a shy person. Being shy is not a fun trait to have as many other people just assume you're being rude or just don't want to bother, but it's actually the complete opposite. No matter how hard you try, you can't pluck up the confidence to do what you want to do, even if it is just answering a silly question in front of your class mates.

However, in 2013 I managed to find this confidence boost and this is something I'm really going to treasure from getting my job. Over 2014 I'm hoping that this confidence will grow and that it will allow me to do these difficult tasks that I want to set myself this year. I'm really hoping that this new confidence will help me find the courage to start driving and even push me into starting my little business.

| Blogging |
Of course, as this is my blog I thought I should talk about how blogging has affected my life over 2013. Tomorrow it will have been 19 months from when I made my corner of the internet and I for one am really proud of how it's turned out. 2013 was a big year for my blog as it was the time when it most developed. My writing skill became a lot more confident and I feel that my creativity with photography has also improved. I was also able to work with lots of brands and have exciting opportunities with them which is something I'm really grateful for experiencing. Plus over the past year so many of you have joined me on my little journey and read my posts as I've gone along, so thank you for that!

For 2014, my main focus is actually starting to meet as many of you lovely bloggers as I can! As many meets ups and events are usually in London, this will mean being confident enough to travel on my own - something that's quite a big deal for me! I also want to improve my blog as a whole. Blogging is such an enjoyable hobby and I'm really looking forward to investing more time and effort into Belle-amie!

I'm sorry that this has turned into such a long post and I applaud you if you made it to the end! Thank you so much for reading today's post. I would love to hear what changes you want to make for 2014, anything from resolutions to life changing experiences you want to act on to make 2014 a really good year. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or tweet me @beautybelleamie.

What have you learnt from 2013?

How are you going to make 2014 a better year?

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