FIX +

Up until around a fortnight ago, I hadn't seen the hype in makeup setting sprays. I had seen a lot of people on youtube rave about them, but I just thought it was pointless to spend money on something that didn't seem to make a difference - but then I bought Fix +.

Fix + is literally a genie in a bottle. A bottle retails for £14.50 from MAC and it is designed to be sprayed onto skin before makeup application to create a longer lasting base or after makeup application to prolong the staying power of your makeup. When I bought this I was a bit worried because I have oily skin and I didn't think it would work as well with my skin type.. but I was totally wrong. I spray Fix + onto my skin when I am just about to apply foundation and it makes foundation application so much easier and I have found that my foundation blends so much better when I have used this spray. I have also used Fix + to apply eyeshadow, I sprayed some of it onto a eyeshadow brush and then picked some of the eyeshadow up with the brush and patted the shadow onto the eyelid as I would normally. I was amazed at how vibrant the eyeshadow looked on my eyes compared to how it normally looks and the shadow also stayed on my eyes for longer than normal.

One thing that annoyed me about Fix + is the pump on the bottle. I was fiddling around with the bottle when I first got it and I must of tried for about half an hour to unlock it in order to spray it but it just wouldn't budge! I took to twitter to vent my frustration and then after a few google searches, I finally unlocked it. It really annoys me when pumps on foundation bottles/spray bottles don't work, considering how much money the product retails for - but thankfully the problem was solved.

Have you ever tried Fix + or any other setting sprays? 

CLEANING MY MAKEUP BRUSHES

I'm not going to lie, I really don't like washing my makeup brushes. This is primarily because of the amount of effort it takes and how messy it leaves my bathroom sink. This is disgusting to admit, but I have had my Real Techniques stippling brush for about two years and I've only washed it twice. I'm very lazy when it comes to things like brush washing and this is definitely one of my biggest beauty sins. I made a decision yesterday that I would kick the habit of neglecting my brushes and I would step up my cleansing game. That is exactly what I did. Today I collected all of my brushes from my trusty white pot in which they live in my bedroom and held them hostage for about twenty minutes in the bathroom and gave them a damn good clean.

It took me around twenty minutes to wash all of my makeup brushes individually and I was really happy with how clean they were when I'd finished. They normally take forever to dry but I was actually surprised with how quickly they dried on this occasion. 

To wash my brushes, I follow three simple steps. Firstly, I wet the brush with warm water to roughly rinse it of product. This is the first part of the cleansing process because it makes sure excess liquid (such as foundation) is quickly squeezed out. Next, I pump some of No 7's Makeup Brush Cleanser directly onto the bristles of the brush and swirl the brush on the palm of my hand which allows the cleanser to get to work. I've noticed that when I swirl the brush around in my hand, the remaining product that has been collected on the brush is washed away which is a vital step in the process. This is when I actually saw my brush gradually become cleaner.

I really like the No 7 brush cleaner that I used to wash my brushes. It was a very spontaneous purchase when I bought it a few months ago. I have been wanting to try Mac's Brush Cleaner for a while now but I wanted to buy a cheaper product first just to get to grips with how to clean my brushes. Although, now I think about it, I wish I had paid an extra £2.00 and bought Mac's version. I paid £8.00 for this brush cleaner, I do think it is good value for money and it has boosted my confidence in No 7's brand. The only thing I have really used from No 7 before buying this brush cleaner is a powder foundation that my best friend Beth bought a few years ago and that was an absolutely amazing product.

Have you got a specific routine when it comes to washing your brushes?

PIN IT UP

I have been wanting to try a pin up makeup/hair look for quite a while so I was more than thrilled on Wednesday night when my best friend came over as this was a perfect opportunity to experiment. Beth and I are both really interested in makeup and when boredom hits, we normally decide to do each other's makeup. Once, on New Year's eve, we decided at ten o'clock at night to do each other's makeup just because we were sick of waiting for the countdown! I love doing Beth's makeup because her skin is just so flawless and smooth. She has long dark hair which is amazing to experiment with, so naturally I seize the opportunity to take advantage of her amazing features and she becomes my guinea pig.

I was so happy with this look when I'd finished it and it meant that we just had to have a impromptu photoshoot in my garage (vinyls included)

ON THE FACE: Soap and Glory's Archery Brow Tint and Pencil in Brownie Points, Nooner eyeshadow by Urban Decay, Blanc Type eyeshadow by MAC, Studio Fix Fluid in NC15, Coppertone blush by MAC, Red lipstick from Avon.

Pin-up makeup is so simple, it mainly consists of a strong red lip with a nice crease cut or a pale eye. I used Mac's Blanc Type eyeshadow, which has a cosy home in Beth's makeup bag, as a base for the eyes and then blended 'Nooner' from Urban Decay's wonderful Naked 3 palette into the crease. This resulted in a nice nude eye. I then preceded to use my much loved Magic Liner from Topshop to create a winged eyeliner look which really completed the eye makeup. For the red lips I used a lipstick from Avon which I got for christmas as part of a set. 

The hairstyle was my favourite part of this look. To get this curly up do I simply curled Beth's hair towards her face and twisted it into one big curl. I curled all of her hair individually in the same direction to make one big ringlet style curl on each side of her head. The versatility of Beth's hair made this so easy to create. When I had created the two big ringlets, I twisted them to the back of her head and used bobby pins to secure them. The actual look turned out a lot messier than I had hoped but I think this gave a nice twist to the look (excuse the pun). To give the hair a bit of a 1950s vibe, I created a quiff on each side of her parting which made it quite edgy.