How I clean my brushes

To clean my brushes i use a mild Baby shampoo, so as to not damage my brushes . Regular shampoo is too harsh on the brushes. The shampoo i use is the Johnson's baby shampoo, you can find this in any supermarket for 2 to 3 euro. The reason i use baby shampoo instead of a brush cleanser is because it is a lot cheaper and i get the exact same results. 

To begin i gather all of my dirty brushes (as seen above). I wash my brushes at the sink with a towel laid out beside me so that i can lay out the brushes to dry once i have washed them. 

1. I place a small amount of the shampoo on the palm of my hand. I then apply i small amount of water ( just a few drips from the tap, there is no need to have the tap running)
2. I then take a dirty brush and swirl it around in my hand. The baby shampoo foams up and you will see the dirt coming out of the brush.
    
3. 
   I then rinse my hand and the brush underneath lukewarm water, being very careful not to allow any water go past the silver part of the brush because this is where damage can occur. If water gets in underneath the silver part the bristles may fall out and your brush will be ruined. (when holding your brush under running water hold the brush so the hairs are facing down) 
   
    
4. I then swirl the brush in my clean wet hand to see if it needs to be washed again. If my hand is clear of dirt, i squeeze out any excess water and lay the brush down on a towel to dry.  

all of my makeup brushes

I like to wash my Brushes once a week. It is really important to clean your brushes because if you don't you are just adding more bacteria onto your face which can cause breakouts and reactions. By cleaning them and taking good care of your brushes you also ensure that they last and clean brushes apply products better. 

I hope this was helpful, if you have any questions then comment down below. 

Until next time (waves energetically) 

Aoife X

The Body Shop Tea Tree Flawless Face BB Cream

What is a BB cream? For those of you that don't know BB stands for ‘Beauty Balm’ or ‘Blemish Balm’.It was developed to be an all in one product. Primer, concealer and foundation in one handy tube. It is better for your skin than foundation, yet offers a light coverage. BB creams are perfect for those in school or anyone who does not wish to wear foundation but still wants some coverage. 

Shade Range, This BB cream comes in Three shades, which is quite a lot for a BB cream as most come in just two shades. I selected the shade 01, which was a perfect match (something that is hard to find as most BB creams tend to be quite orange on my Irish skin) 

Coverage, In their nature, BB creams offer a much lighter coverage than foundations, yet i was pleasantly surprised on the amount of coverage this BB cream gave. It evened out my skin tone and reduced the look of redness yet still looked natural. Though i would still use a concealer to cover up any imperfections. The first photo below is me completely bare faced (sorry i look so dopey in this) and the second one is me wearing just the BB cream and no additional products.

before 

After

Blemish fighting, This is where this BB cream becomes special, it contains tea tree which fights blemishes. This is great for those suffering from acne. Of course the best thing to do is not wear any make up, but lots of people don't feel confident enough to go makeup free when they have acne so this is the perfect solution. It not only covers up blemishes but also tackles them. What more could you ask for? 

Scent, when you first smell this in the tube of squeeze some onto the back of your hand the smell of tea tree is fairly strong, but do not be alarmed, once you apply this to your face the smell of tea tree completely vanishes. 

Application, You can of course apply this with your fingers but i prefer to apply it with my real techniques expert face brush.

Texture and staying power, it has quite a thick consistency (similar to a moisturiser)yet once applied it feels lightweight and almost as if your wearing nothing on your face. The finish is what i would consider to be semi-matte and it has quite a good staying power. 

Price, you can pick this up in The Body Shop for €13.50 for a 14ml tube. 

Con, there is only one con (that i can see) with this BB cream and that is that is has no SPF.

i hope this post has been helpful and if you have any advice or questions for me or you have tried out the product please comment down below. Until next time (waves energetically)   

Aoife X

 

hello there!

 

I have taken the plunge and have decided to start a blog, this is my second attempt as the first blog was a bit of a disaster (when i say a bit, i mean a complete disaster) 

My blog is going to be a beauty, fashion and lifestyle blog (hopefully!). I have always loved beauty and fashion and have spent practically all of my money on makeup and clothes. I am a huge lover of Youtube and Instagram and spend far too much time on both. 

i have just realised that i have not introduced myself (already this post is falling apart), my name is Aoife and im Irish. I hope you will follow me on my journey in the daunting world of blogging and that perhaps i will be brave enough to share more of my life with you (eek)

Until the next post (hopefully there will be a next post) goodbye for now (waves energetically)