Dupes for the Beauty Blender

The beauty blender is one of my absolute, all time favourite tools. I have several in my personal kit and my pro kit. However, although they're vegan, they're not cheap! 

There's quite a few dupes kicking around now, so I thought I'd talk about a couple that I've tried. The B. Blending Sponge and the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge.

Here they are dry and in their packaging.

And out of their packaging - still dry

And here they are, wet. I'm not sure if these comparison pics really show how much they expand, but they do. Especially the beauty blender. This expands the most out of the 3.

On the left is the B. sponge and the origingal BB is on the right. Shape wise they are VERY similar and colour wise too - the BB is a little brighter pink.

And here is the Real Techniques sponge, which has the pointed top, but has a flat edge instead of a rounded bottom.

My thoughts:

The B. sponge and the Real Techniques ones are fantastic sponges and they are way cheaper than a beauty blender which is £16 (the B. sponge is £4.99 and the RT sponge is £5.99 - although both are reduced on Superdrug right now!).

The B. and the RT sponges are a very similar to each other in texture but different to the original Beauty Blender. The RT and B. sponges are denser, firmer sponges. The Beauty Blender is softer and springier and expands way more.

My overall favourite is the Beauty Blender. I love the texture of it and I love the overall effect it gives me on my makeup. However, the other 2 sponges are also fantastic and I rotate all 3. I also prefer the shape of the BB/B. sponge, as I like the rounded bottom for finishing my foundation, rather than the flat edge.

Have you tried the Beauty Blender or any dupes? I'd love to know what you think.

Have an awesome weekend. I'm off to an 80s weekend with my girlies, so expect some brightly coloured makeup next week! :)

Sal xXx

November Favourites

Sorry ... been slacking a bit this week, so my favourites post is a day late (and I haven't done my last #monthofveganlips round-up yet, but I'm trying to get that done by tomorrow!

So I'm going to jump right in.

TV:

Jessica Jones (Netflix). We have watched 8 episodes so far and are hooked! It's awesome! Is anyone else watching?  We loved Daredevil too but this is even better. Also, because Krysten Ritter is so bad ass, it was easy to convince Simon to give Don't Trust the B**** in Apartment 23 a go! He loves that too, so I'm getting to rewatch it! YAY.

Food:

To be honest I have only really been loving the Alpen Light Jaffa Cake cereal bars and the Hula Hoop puft crisps.... because they are a godsend when you're on Slimming World hahaha.

Makeup:

Revolution Highlighter - Gold Lights

I love highlighter, my face doesn't feel finished til I'm glowing like a discoball. My fave is probably the Mary-Lou Manizer from theBalm. However, that is kind of pricey and there are some fab budget ones out there (should I do a post about highlighters??) I dug this one out the other day, It's Revolution's Gold Lights highlighter. This is a super heavy swatch, I promise it's not that crazy when it's on; it's a beautiful light gold highlighter with a lovely shimmer - not too glittery!

Tanya Burr Fairytale Eye Palette
I've posted before about the Tanya Burr Palettes, in fact I think the Galaxy palette was in last month's faves. However, as time has gone on, this is the one I have got the most use from; the Fairytale palette.

It's because the colours are just so damn useful! It has a perfect highlighter/brown bone/all over lid shade, it has a perfect crease colour, it has a matte black and a pretty shimmery brown. You can probably see the wear on it, because I use the top 2 shades pretty much every day!

Revolution Blush Singles
I've been loving these blushes from Revolution too this month. They are £1 each! But they are suprisingly pigmented and blendable. (I am also a huge fan of their blush palettes, which are only £6 for 8 colours, so even better value!)

Crazy Rumours Lemonade Lip Balm
Now that it's winter, I'm constantly applying lip balm, because my lips get mega dry. My favourite lip balm is Crazy Rumours, which you can get in Holland & Barrett; this one is Lemonade. It's lovely.

Josie Maran Watercolor Cheek Gelee in Poppy Paradise
Something I bought in New York - I LOVE this. I am so sad that you can't seem to buy them here (QVC sells JM products but not these), but thankfully Sephora ships to the UK now, with no additional customs taxes! :o)

Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks 
Speaking of no import taxes when you order from Sephora; I've been loving these liquid lipsticks this month too. The formula is great, the wand is the perfect shape for an easy application and they really do last. I have 4 of them now and I need MOAR!

B. Vibrant Eye & Cheek Colour in Prom 
I discovered this when I bought it for my #monthofveganlips and I love it. It's a lovely mauvey pink and perfect for every day, wearable makeup looks.

Hourglass Veil Foundation
I forgot to take a new pic of my last fave; but it's the Hourglass Veil foundation (my shade is Porcelain). I use the lightest shade and it's a bit yellow for me. However, when it's blended in it looks great and it has a beautiful finish. Now if only it weren't so dang pricey! 

What have you been loving this month?

Sal xXx

FOTD - B. Vibrant Lip & Cheek Colour in Prom

This isn't what I really wanted to post today but the lighting was so terrible this morning, that I couldn't take the pics I wanted to. I'm going to have to start taking all my pics for the week at the weekend I think!

Anyway, I thought I'd do a quick face of the day, even though it's nothing special really; just a quick, 10-15 minute look that I can bust out quickly on mornings when I don't have much time. (That's every morning by the way!) I really love this lipstick (err, pencil thingy) though. Such a pretty everyday colour.

I wish I could get a better shot of the cheek gelee, it's so pretty! 

Full list of products used:

Face
Hourglass Veil Primer
Hourglass Veil Fluid Foundation in Porcelain
Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Vanilla
MUA Pro-Base Prime & Conceal Powder
Josie Maran Coconut Watercolor Cheek Gelee in Poppy Paradise
Milani Illuminating Face Powder in Amber Nectar (as bronzer)
Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Moonstone

Eyes
Collection Eyes Uncovered Palette in Nude Bronze
Tanya Burr Fairytale Palette (I used the shades Velvet Cushion (crease) & Cream Tea (brow bone)) 
Barry M Lash Vegas Fibres Mascara
GOSH Brow Pencil in GreyBrown

Lips 
B. Vibrant Lip & Cheek Colour pencil in Prom
   
I'm getting a better camera soon, so hopefully, it won't wash out the colours quite so much! :) 

As I said, the light was SHIT this morning, so frustration made most of my selfie roll look a bit like this....

See ya Friday!
Sal xXx

Ps: if you're following my #monthofveganlips on Instagram, you'll see this colour later today! :)

Month of Vegan Lips: Week Two Round Up

Week 2 of my #monthofveganlips challenge on Instagram has flown by, here's a round-up for those of you not on IG.

Day 8 - OCC Lip Tar in Black Metal Dahlia

(I think they've discontinued this packaging :( so you will probably only be able to find the new Ready to Wear version, I am super glad they didn't discontinue this colour though!)

 Day 9 - M&S Autograph Lipstick in Nude Pink

Unfortunately it seems as though this shade has been discontinued

 Day 10 - MUA Power Pout Acrylic in Unwrapped

 Day 11 - B. Rich Intense Colour Lipstick in Watermelon

Day 12 - MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer in Halcyon

(They repackaged / reformulated these liquid lipsticks and discontinued this colour recently! (I'm not doing well this week am I, haha!). I messaged them on Facebook to check this and they said they have had a lot of queries about it so might bring it back. Fingers crossed they do!!)

Day 13 - OCC Lip Tar in Pretty Boy

(As I mentioned above, OCC appear to be discontinuing their old packaging. You can still find Pretty Boy on some sites, but I don't think it's been carried over to the Ready To Wear packaging yet, hopefully they will do because it's awesome!)

Day 14 - Another Lip Tar, this time it's Hush. 

This one is SUPER old packaging. Luckily this one IS definitely available in the RTW collection, whcih is good because by the smell of this, I don't think I should be using it anymore! :o/

 

Day 15: Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Lips in Orion

Don't forget I wanna see what you're rocking this month too. So Instagram it and hashtag it with #monthofveganlips or #alienontoast so I can see it!

Sal xXx

October Favourites

It's almost the end of the month so I thought it was good timing for a favourites post. I don't have many this month; mainly due to being away and a lot of my favourites this month are the same as last month! Also, I currently have lower back spasms, so these photos are brought to you courtesy of diazepam! haha

Starting with this one:

Lush solid perfume in Honey I Washed the Kids

This was limited edition and I believe it's all gone now, in fact it was gone in about 2 hours after it went on sale, because it was a 'kitchen' item. It was totally by chance that I found out they were going to sell this briefly but I had to buy it. This used to be my favourite Lush fragrance and I was really sad when they discontinued it because the soap with the same fragrance isn't vegan.

I lovvvve the smell of this perfume. It doesn't last as long as the other lush solid perfumes do, maybe because it's a pot, not a stick, so you probably don't actually put as much on. But it's teeny so it's perfect for throwing in your bag for a touch up.

 

B. Replenishing Facial Oil
I bought this a while ago and have recently started using it more often and have been loving it. It smells of roses and it's great for dry skin. I generally use a serum for my morning moisturiser, as I tend to do my makeup straight after moisturising. This though is great for nighttime. I put about 3 drops, that's all you need, onto my fingertips and massage it into clean skin. When I wake up, it's all sunk in and my skin feels really nice. I get really dry skin, especially at this time of year and this definitely helps.

Autograph Lipstick in Parfait Pink
I have had this lipstick in my collection for AGES but I recently dug it out for a bridal makeup trial I did a while ago, thinking it would be the perfect colour for the bride to be's complexion (it was!). Anyway I remembered how much I love it. Perfect nude peachy pink, everyday colour.  Unfortunately, I don't think they make this colour anymore, which is a real shame; but I do love the M&S lipsticks. (For Autograph's vegan options, take a look at my recent post.)

It's a bit lighter on the lips, in real life.

Superdrug Micellar Cleansing Wipes
Firstly I should say I never use wipes on my face and don't recommend them. But I do like them for cleaning up and for taking off swatches when I'm taking photos. They take most makeup off in one swipe and they don't smell obnoxious either. I haven't tried them on my face because as I said, I'm not a fan of wipes for the face and the last time I tried Micellar water, it broke me out. But if you like wipes, give them a go.

GOSH Velvet Touch Lipliner in Pink Pleasure
Such a pretty vibrant pink. I love these liners (both the eye and lip liners); they are really creamy but also really long lasting. This looks great alone, or with a gloss or lipstick over the top to mute it a bit.

Sorry it's a bit of a crap swatch, to see it on me, check out my last FOTD post.

B. Stunning Vibrant Eye Shimmers
I have a few of these, my favourite one is Copper and I've been using that a lot lately, but could I find the bugger to photograph it? No. No I could not. So here's a couple of others I have.

This shade is called Rockstar and it's such a beautiful silvery taupe. It's seriously gorgeous. I use it all over the lid with a nice warm brown in the crease and it makes a lovely and really quick smokey eye! These set and once they set, they don't budge. Love them. I like to apply them with my next favourite....

Crown Infinity Blending Fluff Brush
I ordered this brush for a post I'm working on and I love it. In shape and size, it's very similar to the MAC 217 which is neither cruelty free or vegan. Synthetic brushes are the best thing for cream shadow, so this brush is great for applying the cream shadows I mentioned above. You can blend with it and pack colour on too. Plus it washes up really well. Crown Brushes are awesome, cheap and have lots of vegan options.

My last favourite are these brilliant earrings from Sour Cherry. I saw them and had to have them, because Moss is one of the greatest characters ever. Ever. 

Look at these motherflipping things, they are ruddy awesome. Simon thinks they look tacky; personally that makes them ever better in my book! haha

So that is it for this month.

I have decided that in November, I'm going to Instagram a picture of my lipstick/lip product every day and make sure that it's different every day. So if you want to see 30 days of vegan lip products, follow me on Instagram. Although if you don't have Instagram, don't worry; I'll be recapping each week's lips of the day on here and also my Facebook page.

Also, if you have Instagram and want to join in (you don't have to do it every day, but if you are rocking an ace colour one day and want to document it) just hashtag it #alienontoast or #monthofveganlips so I can see it!

Sal
xXx

Wore it Wednesday: B. Creative Art Edition Vol.2 Eye Essentials Night Palette

I got the B. Creative Art Edition Vol.2 Eye Essentials Night Palette (V) for Christmas (phew, that's a gobful!!) and have finally got around to testing it and oooh, it's pretty!

You get a cream eyeshadow and 3 powder shadows, 2 brow powders, a brow wax, a mascara and a couple of naff applicators.  If you want to see what I think of the mascara, check out my recent mascara smackdown post! :)

Eyeshadow colours, clockwise from top left:

Marylebone (cream), Chelsea, Kensington, Knightsbridge.

L-R

Marylebone is a soft shimmery peachy brow cream shadow, great as a base

Chelsea is a beautiful shimmery light silver

Kensington is a dark shimmery gunmetal grey 

Knightsbridge is a gorgeous shimmery dark green

here is a quick, super simple look that I did with the palette using Marylebone on the lid as a base. Then I patted Chelsea over the top and used Kensington just to deepen the crease. Unfortunately my camera has washed it out big style. Ignore the mascara smudge on my lid - whoops!

I think this is a fab little palette. I like the mascara, I tried out the lighter brow powder colour and it gives a nice natural finish and the wax tames the strays.  The eyeshadows are all gorgeous too.

This palette is on sale at the moment for £10 in Superdrug stores and online, it's usually £14.99.

Love & Stuff
Sal xXx

THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON LOVE-LIPSTICK.BLOGSPOT.COM