Salvaging your Beauty Blender!

I love using the Beauty Blender. Ever since I bought one, it has become the staple (if not the only!) makeup tool I have to use everyday. It gives such a flawless, and perfect finish when applying foundation or BB cream. I simply love using it. 

So, as I live on a tropical island, weather conditions are really hot and humidity level is high. It so happened that last month I discovered a very ill beauty blender among my makeup stash. My beauty blended was mouldy. Yes girls.  My heart stopped. Literally. I paid a lot for this pink sponge, I am not yet satisfied from using it to the max, and it was already spoilt. A terrible moment, I know.

Next thing I know, I tossed the sponge back in the plastic container it came in, and it lay there almost forgotten. Until I eventually found a way to use this same sponge.

What did I do?

I simply started cutting off the bad parts. I know, that is like mutilation. Lol. I would have never thought of using scissors on ANY of my makeup brushes and sponge. I thought I might as well try something to salvage the beauty blender since the next best option would be to throw it away. I started cutting it and uncovered a fresh layer of clean sponge. Boy, was I ecstatic! Yay!  So, I continued with the delicate mini operation, and sure enough, the pink surface was restored.

I just wanted to share this with you people since we all know how much we love the beauty blender 

And its way of blending has remained unchanged. It blends as perfectly as before. 

After cutting off the bad parts, I plunged the sponge in a solution of Dettol and warm water, washed it well and left it to dry in the sun. I then started using it as before and I am so glad I did not throw it away. 

I would also like to point out that the mould that was formed was like tiny specks, spread across, and not big patches. It is now like a new sponge.

Below are home pictures of the salvaged BB :)

Damp Beauty Blender

Dry Beauty Blender

I can definitely use it now for few months before buying another one. 

Sure enough, my storage and brush cleaning habits have changed after this incident. I leave the sponge in the open for some days after washing, to ensure that it is dry to the core. As for my brushes, I clean them after each use, especially the face brushes!

Hope this little post helped you all!

And please, do share your experience with the beauty blender!

Lots of love,

Ushina

xxx

Review: Real Techiques Makeup brushes

Hello lovelies!

I recently made my first purchase from Real Techniques and decided to make a review on how I found them.

 I have received all my makeup brushes in a big neon pink envelope and I loved it!!

Real Techniques Brushes
From left to right - Shader Brush, Blush Brush, Expert Face Brush and Setting Brush

I purchased four brushes from the Real Techniques website - the Blush brush, Expert Face brush, Setting brush and a Shader brush for eyeshadow application.

What did I love about 'em brushes?

All the brushes have long handles with a metal body. I am not really into brushes with colored handles, but well, that can be overlooked since what I was looking for was the blending ability and how well the brushes pick up the product.

I love the Setting Brush; I use it to highlight and used it with my Ben Nye's Banana Powder. It picked up the right amount of product that you need. I used a sweeping/ patting motion to highlight under my eyes, and the feeling is awesome. It's so soft, I Love it!

The Shader Brush is another pleaser. It picks up the eyeshadows really well and the soft bristles make it easy to work with. 

I used for blending on the harsh edges of the eyeshadows, since the bristles are short and soft. Precision is what you will get with this babe, since it is so easy to control your movement to blend.

Real Techniques Shader Brush

The Blush brush is a large, full brush with a tapered, rounded end, which I adore! I also used this brush to apply my face powder, and I love it!

I enjoyed applying my blush using this brush (tongue-twister, much?).

I loved the feel of it on my skin; it's like a  it-can-totally-make-you-sleepy kind of brush, if you know what I mean :) 

Coming to the Expert Face Brush... 

Real Techniques Expert Face Brush

I am not a big fan of the Expert Face Brush. I was somewhat hoping it would work great since I read many positive reviews on this brush; I tried it with my BB cream (quite runny consistency) and then with a thick full coverage foundation - the ones I usually use.

The end result was not really satisfying to me. This brush left streaks all over my skin and I had to blend in the foundation using my fingers. This brush is being marketed as being an all-in-one, a multi-tasker, so basically, it ought work fine with foundations. I also tried it with a face powder, and it was fine, working like a buffing brush. But honestly, I prefer the 182 brush from MAC over this brush. So this one is quite a disappointment for me.

I can strongly feel it will be lying idle on my vanity table. 

This said, I can safely recommend the Blush Brush, Setting Brush and Shader Brush to you guys.

Which brushes have you bought from Real Techniques? And which ones do you recommend me to try?

Hope this little review will be helpful to you guys!

Lots of love,

Ushina

xx