Impressive Bargain Beauty

I've come to the realisation that I am a student. And as much as it pains me to say it, I can't always afford to buy beauty from the higher end of the spectrum. *sigh*. I have also come to realise that it costs a lot of money to be clean! Goodbye £44.50, I hope Superdrug treats you well.

But in terms of saving the pennies on cheaper beauty brands, that's OK! Because here in the UK we have amazing beauty products from the drugstore that are fantastic dupes for some of the luxury products on the market.

Sleek is a brand that I have never shown too much interest in and I am not entirely sure why. For a drugstore brand, Sleek have an impressive colour palette, which is a significant quality to have in the beauty industry. Furthermore, the product range is great and almost everyone has a good thing to say about it. Especially with regards to the eyeshadow, blush and contour palettes. As someone who loves a bit of contour, the latter appealed to me and I decided to purchase the Face Form Contouring and Blush Palette in Medium - £9.99. 

I am so impressed with this in more ways than one. Firstly, the packaging is 'sleek', efficient and petite enough to carry around in your bag and most importantly contains a huge mirror. 

Secondly, the content of the palette is extremely impressive. It comes with a matte sculpting shade, a luminous highlighter and a 'bronzey' shimmery blush shade. I am yet to try the blush, but the blend ability of the contour powder was lovely and the highlighter added a subtle luminosity to my cheeks. Both powder's complimented my tanned skin-tone beautifully. I think my mum may be receiving the Light version in her stocking this year.

It is safe to say that my contour was on point last night for the fireworks!

The second product that managed to weave it's way into my basket was the Matte Me - Ultra Smooth Matte Lip Cream in Fandango Purple - £4.99. The fact that it is a liquid lipstick may have had something to do with it.

I am completely obsessed with the colour of this product. This fuchsia purple is so pretty and complimentary. Pinky tones almost always never suit me, but I have finally found one that does. 

Starting with the Negative Nancy verdict, the only major downfall about the Matte Me lip creams is the applicator. It made it quite difficult and uncomfortable to apply because it has a lack of softness. Furthermore, it has a rather odd and unnecessarily long shape.

I didn't find the formula of the product too drying. I could feel it slightly after the application but it wasn't a significant amount. Additionally, I found the staying power to be pretty damn good, but I did have to top up once throughout the night. But in the grand scheme of things, that is not a huge burden. I find myself doing that with almost every lip product that I use. And you cannot argue with £4.99!

Here is a cheeky selfie of me with my new purchases on:

See what I mean about the colour?

Is there anything that you are loving from Sleek at the moment that I may want to know about?

Real Techniques

I've been eyeing up these brushes for months now and have read and watched nothing but good reviews. It seems that all of our favourite beauty bloggers and vloggers are loving these brushes and rightly so! They were designed by none other than Sam Chapman and Nic Chapman from Pixiwoo. Would you expect anything other than greatness from these two beauty gurus?

As i've never tried these brushes before, I wanted to get a selection to try out. I was browsing through the Feel Unique sale and they happened to still stock the Sam's Picks collection which i believe came out quite a while ago. They came in a simple yet chic transparent box, allowing you to see the product first hand. The back of the box was made up of information about Real Techniques and Sam Chapman, the make up artist behind these brilliant brushes! The concept behind these products is fantastic. There are online video tutorials that are uploaded to Youtube that can assist you on how to create the perfect look with these brushes. You don't have to be a professional! I really like the appearance and structure of the brushes, the funky colours are fun and the way the brushes have been designed makes it easy to handle them when applying make up.

The set came with 6 different brushes.

• Multi Task Brush
• Buffing Brush
• Pointed Foundation Brush
• Setting Brush
• Essential Crease Brush
• Fine Line Brush

Multi Task Brush

Like the name suggests, you can use this brush in a multiple of different ways. A great contouring brush but also great for applying blush and other powders to the face. Looking side ways on, the brush isn't as wide as you'd think which is why i think that it's perfect for contouring and sculpting the face! Bringing out the best in your cheek bones.

Buffing Brush

This was the brush that i was most excited about. The Buffing Brush, a great product to use for really working your foundation into the skin, resulting in a flawless finish. I just much prefer these kinds of brushes when applying foundation more than using a regular flat foundation brush. The product feels much more blended into the skin.

Pointed Foundation Brush

This brush is quite small and i don't think that i'll be using it for foundation. However, it's great for blending in your concealer. The pointed end of the brush allows you to get right in the corners of your eyes when blending in your under eye concealer.

Essential Crease Brush and Fine Liner Brush

The Essential Crease Brush and Fine Liner Brush are the eye tools that come with the set. Great for applying eyeshadow to the crease of the eye as it's quite tapered, fantastic for precise application. The Fine Liner Brush is quite sturdy, you can achieve a great feline flick with this. I personally prefer to use these to apply my gel eyeliners than angled brushes, but that's just a person preference. It's quite similar to a MAC  210 brush, they do the same job. 

Setting Brush

This is a very fluffy setting brush. Great for setting under the eyes to stop your concealer from creasing and anywhere else you may have concealed.

I'm seriously impressed with these brushes and definitely will be purchasing more in the future! They're super soft and retail at such a affordable price! Nic's Picks are coming out on the 1st October 2014 and they look stunning, so keep an eye out if you're interested and grab and buy as they're limited edition!