SEPHORA HAUL ♡ PART 1 ♡ URBAN DECAY

This is a super exciting post about a recent splurge at Sephora thanks to some lovely friends who went stateside!  Sephora is the kind of place I would happily live in given the chance. I can't get enough of it and I still remember the giddy feeling when I first discovered it in New York a few years ago.

This post is part one of two and features Urban Decay products that I had been lusting over for a few months. I will most probably go into more detail about these when I feature them in future posts but for now this is just a little insight into what I purchased.

NAKED PALETTE

NAKED 2 PALETTE

I'm a huge fan of the Naked 3 which was my first Urban Decay shadow palette and I wanted to complete the collection with the Naked and Naked 2. 

These shadows have amazing staying power and they blend beautifully together. All the colours are different apart from "Half Baked" which features in both but this is a good base colour that will get loads of use.

My only complaint about the Naked palette is that it doesn't come in the lovely metal type packaging that the Naked 2 and 3 come in. This is a shame as I can see the velvet case getting ruined over time and visually it looks a bit old fashioned. 

They both come with a really good double ended brush which is handy for travel along with the large mirror in each palette.

AMMO PALETTE

This is a super cute palette that has 10 of Urban Decay's best selling shades. It comes with a cute brush and a mini Primer Potion which is great to pop into my travel make up bag. There are 8 shades that I think I will get a lot of wear out of like Chopper, Sin, Grister & Polyester Bride.

DE-SLICK MATTIFYING POWDER

This is a lovely translucent mattifying powder that comes in a gorgeous purple compact case. I have been popping this on my oily bits during the day and so far it's doing a good job. I love that the puff it comes with has a silicone side that sticks onto the mirror when not in use.

GOOD KARMA OPTICAL BLURRING BRUSH

FLUSHED DOUBLE ENDED BRUSH

PRIMER POTION- ORIGINAL

These brushes were my first non-make-up purchase from Urban Decay. I picked these out as they had good reviews and I was eager to try them out. The optical blurring brush is perfect for blending and buffing make-up into the skin. So far I have used it to buff in my face powder but I also want to use it to apply foundation as I have read that it gives really good results.  The 2nd brush is a double ended one used to apply bronzer, highlighter, and blush. It feels like a good quality brush and I think that it will wash well. 

My addiction to Urban Decay's primer potion continues and I purchased the original shade this time. I love this one as much as the other two that I already have.

All of these products are available in Debenhams and other good department stores although Sephora now delivers to the UK!

In a few weeks time I will be sharing part 2 of this post which includes goodies from Too Faced, Benefit, Clinique, Sephora and Beauty Blender. ♡

Thanks for reading! 

BEST MAKE-UP BRUSH CLEANSER?

During the past few months I have watched endless YouTube videos about how people clean their make-up brushes- yes this is an important issue in the world of beauty!

At first I tried the olive oil method which I did not get along with as the brushes felt oily for a long time and as someone with oily combination skin the last thing I want is more oil going anywhere near my face! Erghh!

 I then bought a brush cleanser from Clinique which I didn't mind using but found it a bit of a faff spritzing all the brushes with it.

Then I discovered the "BlenderCleanser Solid" which according to it's makers BeautyBlender is  

"the ultimate make up sponge and brush cleanser"

Big claims there but I must say that after a few uses I 100% agree with this! 

It's AMAZING!

Things I love about BlenderCleanser Solid:

Compact- it comes in a plastic container which is super easy to store and practical to pop in your make up bag when travelling.  

A little goes a long way- wet your brush under lukewarm water and gently stroke into the soap. Work into a lather using the grill that is included (this helps take all the gunk out and means you use less product!) Then rinse under water and dry off excess using kitchen towel. 

Super soft bristles- this leaves your brushes feeling really soft and most importantly super clean!

Easy to clean- just rinse the soap under some water to get rid of all the make-up that's left on it and pop back onto the dish and close until you need it again.

Is it really that good?

Well the proof is in the pudding so lets see how this cleanser works on the darkest eyeshadow that I have which is in the Naked 3 palette by Urban Decay (a cult beauty must-have!).

Topshop eye brush with a load of "Blackheart" eye shadow on it.

 

 BlenderCleanser in Action

Step 1: Rinse   Step 2: Swirl on soap   Step 3: More swirling on grill   Step 4: Rinse again & Tah dahhh sparkling clean brush!

 

Self-Cleaning

Rinse soap bar under cold water & watch all the yuckyness wash away!

 

 Before & After

Top: Dirty Brushes      Bottom: Lovely clean brushes!

 As you can see this stuff seems to work miracles even on the dirtiest of brushes and I have been using it everyday on my foundation brushes and once a week on all my other face and eye brushes.

 

I originally picked this up at Beautybay.com but I have since found it on Amazon for a few pounds cheaper.

If you prefer a liquid cleanser this brand also does one but this solid version is much more convenient and I don't think I'll be going back to a liquid brush cleanser anytime soon! 

Thanks for reading! 

Mwah!

x Joana x