My Favourite Makeup Brushes

Over the last few years it has become increasingly obvious to me that the brushes that you use to apply your makeup are almost as important as the foundation you choose – and if you get it wrong, it won’t sit nicely or look right.

So I’d like to share with you my favourite makeup brushes, what I use them for and why I’d recommend them.

Foundation

To apply my foundation (liquid) I use these three brushes:

- Real Techniques Pointed Foundation Brush.

- Real Techniques Expert Face Brush.

- The Vintage Cosmetic Company Foundation Brush.

I use the smaller foundation brush first to apply foundation underneath my eyes, which i find really easy to blend in with this brush because it's so small and delicate.

Then I move on to the pink foundation brush, with which i put the foundation on my face in five spots: my forehead, nose, cheeks and chin. I will then blend the foundation in with this and finish blending with the expert face brush - which is without a doubt, my favourite makeup brush. It has very tight bristles, but they're really soft and short, which makes it soft on the skin and makes blending much easier than it would be with a regular foundation brush.

 Powder

To apply my powder foundation I use the 'Vintage Cosmetic Company Powder Brush'. It is extremely soft and doesn't pick up too much foundation, I highly recommend - a brilliant powder brush. And it is pink!

Eye Makeup & Brows

For my eye makeup I use:

- Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush

- Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush

Again, they are both really silky on the skin and just the right size for your eyelid when  applying eyeshadow. I also find that when using these two it speeds up my time spent on eye makeup just because they're so easy to use!

Then for my brows, I use the Real Techniques Brow Brush. This is most definitely the best brush out of the eyes starter set, it has a sharp distinctive shape so it's simple to use to define your brows in whatever way you like.

These brushes are all available at your local Boots store - if not online at The Vintage Cosmetic Company and Real Techniques.

Also, I suggest you have a look on Ebay, which is where I picked up the purple starter set for only £9!

Do you use any of these brushes? What is your favourite makeup brush?

Hope you're all having a lovely week,

Love Rosie

xx

Moi-même

Every once in a while it is nice to have time to yourself and recently I haven’t taken advantage of my free time to do productive things – most of the time I just end up watching Pretty Little Liars (thank you Netflix!)

But today was different – with nothing preplanned I was able to have a lovely lie-in until about 10am. I then got up and had my morning cuppa whilst catching up on my bloglovin’ feed. (You can follow me here)

Then I got ready for the day; put my face on, got dressed, packed my bag and headed for town.

While out, I nipped into Costa purely for the free coffee (job perks!) as I’m on the hunt for a coffee that I like and can be my ‘regular’ as I’ve always been a tea gal. And today I found MY coffee – a skinny vanilla mocha with one shot!

Somehow I ended up spending more money in Topshop as it seems I can no longer walk past it, I have to go in! I bought a dark green funnel top –with the high polo neck. I’m actually afraid to check my bank balance after these past few weeks of #feelingspendy. 

I then went to Tesco and picked up a few snacks for tonight as my friend Nicole is coming up to visit – so I can surprise her favourite snack - Caramel Digestives.

Finally I came home, tidied the flat up a bit, made a cake and hoovered the living room. And now I’m in my room, listening to music and blogging with a cup of 'strawberries and cream' tea mmm.

#FWIS

What I'm wearing:

Coat - Urban Outfitters

Jeans - Topshop 'Joni'

Boots - New Look

Top - Topshop

Necklace - Dorothy Perkins

Satchel - Joules

Lipstick - Topshop 'Wicked' & Gosh 'Burgundy'.

View across the river on my way to town.

 All in all I just had a lovely day spending quality time with me – it has to be done you know! 

How do you spend your ‘me time’?

Until next time,

Love Rosie

xx

P.S. Moi-même means 'myself' in french :)

The Vampy Lip Edit

A friend of mine is always rocking a bright red lip and it really suits her – I always think it makes her look just that little bit more edgy.

She inspired me to explore new lip colours, so I said goodbye (for now) to my Mac Peach Blossom, and gave the darker lippy a try.

I love it. No way to describe it other than that. Dark lipstick is the bomb.

It’s don’t know about you, but when I’m wearing lipstick I feel so much more confident than I do without it. Especially when it’s a dark shade – it’s so bold and eye-catching.

Here are my top six vampy lippies:

 Left to Right: Calvin Klein ‘Desire’, Rimmel London ‘Starry Eyed 128’, Topshop ‘Wicked’, Rimmel London 09 Lasting Finish Kate Moss, Gosh ‘Burgundy’. Below: Topshop Lip Cream in ‘Smart’.

Colour Swatches - Same order as above.

Lip Pencils - Rimmel Lasting Finish & Saffron
Wine Lip Liner

Do remember though, that the prep for applying lipstick is just as key as the application itself. Use a lip pencil as a marked guide around the edge of your lips then colour them in and then apply your lipstick on top. 

I've found that for best results, using a lip brush is really effective. You end up wasting less lipstick and you can layer up as much or as little as you like until you achieve your desired look/shade. 

What is favourite lipstick? Do you prefer dark to light? 

Let me know in the comments below - I love hearing from you all!

Mwah! 

Love Rosie

xx

Wicked Frost

 

Hey huns! Here is what I wore on Sunday as I travelled back up North to university. As you can probably tell I was very cold, so I wrapped myself up in lots and lots of layers. I even ended up adding a coat on top for extra cosiness. 

I also wore my new lipstick, that was kindly gifted to me by my brother for Christmas. It is from the Topshop makeup range and in the shade Wicked. 

But yeah, it was a just a slouchy, comfy outfit but I still think it looked quite nice, like I'd made the effort but really all I wanted was warmth! 

P.S. Is it just me who likes the crunchy sound when you walk on frosty grass? 

What I'm wearing:

Mustard Shirt - Topshop

Cardigan - Primark

Jeans - Joni @ Topshop

Scarf - Stolen from Mum

Bag - H&M

Boots - New Look

Rings - Cladder & H&M 

Nail Varnish - Barry M Aquatic in 'Caspian'

Again I apologise about my awkward posing; it never gets better does it hehe? But thanks to my little assistant Claire for taking these pictures and putting up with my nonsense! Thanks for reading!

Love Rosie 

xx

Five Boxsets to get into in 2015

Happy New Year my lovelies!

I hope you all had a smashing time welcoming the New Year on Wednesday night! I spent it with my cousin Jessica - we went out for a few cheeky cocktails then sat watching the fireworks at home with a glass (or two) of Prosecco!

Anyway, I have a wonderful post for you today, with five box sets that I’d recommend to you after enjoying them myself! After all, it’s 2015 now, so why not try something new?

1.      Orange Is The New Black – follows the life of Piper Chapman, an uptown New Yorker, who finds herself in prison after her past catches up with her. Now she resides in a women’s prison full to the brim with interesting characters. You’ll find out each inmate’s story and background too, which I found really interesting. And it is so addictive! I started a few weeks ago and have finished both seasons already. But beware – there are quite a few sexual scenes!

2.      Pretty Little Liars – also known as the best TV show on earth - haha! It follows four young American girls, who are reunited after they receive threatening texts from someone known only as ‘A’, following on from their best friend, Alison’s, disappearance a few years ago. At first they think it’s Alison playing with them, but as they dig further, it becomes a whole lot more intense as they try to catch A in the act. And there are five seasons so far, so get to it! (and guess what – it’s now on Netflix!)

3.      Downton Abbey – a period drama set in 20^th century Britain. The series tells the story of the Crawley family and their servants as the world around them changes definitively. Well worth a look at – even if it is just for the dazzling costumes.

4.      Gossip Girl – follows the lives of a group of wealthy teenagers, living in Manhattan, as they are terrorized by a social media fanatic known only as Gossip Girl. She (or he?) spills everyone’s secrets and shares the best gossip with all of Manhattan. It’s amazing! If this hasn’t convinced you, try google-ing ‘Chuck Bass’ and you’ll be convinced in no time!

5.      Friends – does this even need explaining? Friends is on this list because it’s basically a right of passage for every teenager. And it never gets old! (And it’s now on British Netflix, so you’ll always be able to find your favourite episodes!)

I’m aware that some of these shows ended quite a while ago i.e. Gossip Girl and Friends, but they’re classics! And it’s never too late to get into them now. You never know, you might love them if you don't already.

What is your favourite series? Have you seen any of these? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below!

And if you do try out any of these five, let me know your thoughts on twitter – I’m at @roseanne_sophia!

Love Rosie

xx

P.S. A big shoutout to my fabulous flatmate Rebekah who is so so kind as to letting me use her Netflix! Mwah thanks honey pie! x