Oscar Charles Professional Makeup Artist 17-Piece Brush Set

Until this package arrived, I had never heard of or used any products by Oscar Charles and I was so blown away by how incredible this set of brushes is, I decided I would wait until after Christmas to share them on my blog.   

I was kindly sent the Oscar Charles 17 piece Beauty and Makeup Brush Set (here) which is made up of 15 Pro brushes, a Makeup Blender and a Silica Brush Cleaner and they come presented in this beautiful stylish portable case which is perfect for keeping your brushes together and protected whether you are just using them at home or on your travels.  Right now, they have been washed, dried and stored in my suitcase ready for when I go to Paris in a few weeks time.

The Brush handles are made from wood and have a high gloss black finish, the ferrules are rose gold aluminium.  The Taklon synthetic brush fibres are super soft and feel amazing against the skin, vegan-friendly, hypoallergenic and cruelty-free, they are suitable for all skin types and work perfectly well with creams, liquids and powders. 

The Oscar Charles Makeup Brush Set contains:

• C101 Super Soft Powder Brush - This is one of my favourite brushes within the collection and it works perfect for applying loose and pressed powders, especially finishing powders.
• C102 Contour / Highlight Brush - With its tapered point, this brush is perfect for adding highlighter and it blends incredibly well whether you use a powder, liquid of cream.
• C103 Angled Blush Brush - With its slanted shape, this brush works well with creams, liquid or powders for your blush or your bronzer.
• C104 Flat Top Kabuki - This brush is packed with bristles and it does an incredible job blending and buffing foundation, highlighters, bronzers and even concealers. I have used it with BB and CC creams as well as primers too.
• C105 Flat Foundation Brush - This brush has a slight angle to it and whilst ideally it should be used for applying foundation, I have been using it for my tinted moisturiser and bareMinerals Complexion Rescue Cream and I much prefer it for those products.
• C106 Concealer Buff Brush - This brush works perfectly with the Urban Decay Naked concealer that I am currently using.  I use the doe foot applicator to apply my concealer and then use this brush to blend.
• C107 Small Blending Brush - This small tapered brush is perfect for the eye crease and has become one of my favourites for blending.
• C108 Large Blending Brush - This brush is large and fluffy and is perfect for the contour of the eye and again, as expected, it blends like a dream.
• C109 Large Eye Shadow Brush - This brush is the one I have used to apply eyeshadow primer and it works really well.
• C110 Small Eye Shadow Brush - Whilst this brush is designed for the application of eyeshadow, I've used it for applying concealer as well as smoking out shadows.
• C111 Angled Eye Shadow Brush - This brush is perfect for contouring and smudging especially the corner and crease.
• C112 Angled Wing Liner Brush - This is the one of the two brushes from the collection I haven't used but it is designed to create that perfect eye line wing.
• C113 Detail Brush - This is the second brush that I have yet to use and it is designed for use with gel and liquid eyeliner. 
• C115 Lip Brush - This is a fine tipped and tapered brush designed for lipstick application and it works with liquid lipsticks too.
• C117 Angled Brow & Spoolie - No makeup brush collection is ever complete for me unless there is a spoolie included. This one is a double-ended brush and it is perfect for use with brow powders and liquid.  The Spoolie is made up of stiff bristles which tame those stray hairs and evenly distributes the product.

Alongside the brushes, we also have the OC Flawless Beauty Sponge which is latex free and has a teardrop shape with the added feature of a flat surface for applying around your nose and if you are familiar with beauty blenders, this one works in just the same way and can be used wet or dry.  The final product is the Silicone Brush Cleaner and this device is designed to fit over your fingers and has grooves which you swipe your brushes over, having wet them and applied a brush cleanser. As you swipe the brush backwards and forwards along the grooves, you can see all the makeup ‘stuff’ that has been lingering on there run off into the sink and within seconds your brush is clean and ready to be left to dry.

What I love is that each brush can be purchased as part of this set (£39.95) or there is also the option to purchase brushes individually too and with prices starting at £6.95, there are some bargains to be had.

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.

MasqueBAR Charcoal Cleansing - Three New Releases

Following on from the success of their facemasks (review here) and indeed the Charcoal facemasks, Korean Skincare brand masqueBAR has launched three new charcoal cleansing products which I am sharing with you today.  This bundle of products arrived before Christmas and rather than rush out a review, I again wanted to actually give them a try and get some thoughts on how they work.  My skin absolutely loves products which contain Charcoal, so I had high hopes for these.

The first product is the Charcoal Cleanser (£10) and it is described as being a Charcoal foam cleanser which draws out the dirt and excess oil that can clog pores.  Suitable for most skin types, this cleanser uses Charcoal Power, Oatmeal Extract and Rice Bran Oil as its main ingredients.  

When it comes into contact with water, the cleanser foams very slightly to produce a soothing, gentle foam which works to lift impurities, detoxify and purify the skin, leaving it feeling fresh and rather than stripping the skin and leaving it taut and dry to the touch, I find my skin feels incredibly soft and smooth.

The second product is the Charcoal Exfoliating Pads and these are my favourite of the three products. These duel-sided pads are specially designed to sit on your fingers to make them easy to use. Formulated with Charcoal Powder, blackberry fruit extract and primrose flower extract which come together to cleanse, renew and refresh the skin.  

The first time I used these pads I was quite taken aback that once out of their sachet they are black in colour, as you would expect them to be given that Charcoal is the main ingredient, however, once you massage them around the face, the pads turn white and on them you can see the impurities that have been removed from your skin.

The final product in this trio is the Charcoal Cleansing Wipes (£10) and it has taken me a while to get used to using a wipe again because it is something I stopped using completely years ago, but intrigue got the better of me with these.   

The wipes, of which there are 30 in a packet, are black in colour and are enriched with Charcoal Powder, Vitamin E and Bamboo Extract these wipes remove absolutely everything from your face, even waterproof mascara and again, rather than leave your skin feeling taut and dry because your skin has been stripped of everything, my skin felt soft and smooth to the touch.

If you are a fan of Charcoal products, have been wanting to give Charcoal products a try or love masqueBAR and these products intrigue you, then you can find them via Urban Outfitters, Skinnydip London and soon to come to ASOS.

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.

Spectrum Brushes Launch 'The Little Mermaid' Collection

I am a massive Disney fan (Disnerd alert) and for the past three years, I have been enjoying all that there is to offer at Disneyland Paris with my Twin nephews whom this year will be 4 and whom yet again, I shall be enjoying some Disney Magic.   Taking all of that into account, imagine my excitement when an email landed in my inbox titled Spectrum X Disney The Little Mermaid Range! Well, I was more excited than a Scuttle with a Dinglehopper!

Available right now alongside other Disney Collections, this limited edition collection takes its inspiration from The Little Mermaid with the majority of the collection being centred around both Ariel and Ursula as the lead characters for the merchandise. There are four bags within the collection which make up a Clam Shell (above), Conch Shell Case which features Ursula in all her purple glittery glory, two super cute makeup bags again one with Ariel and one with Ursula and then finally A Treasure Chest which again features Ariel and it has enough room for your brushes and is described as being the most mermazing place to store all your whozits, whatzits and thingamabobs.

Obviously fantastic though the merchandise is, Spectrum is all about their amazing makeup brushes and this collection features two different types.  The first is probably the one which you have seen featured on a lot of Instagram feeds and that is the 5-piece Dinglehopper Collection (£64.99) and it has a Foundation Brush, Contour Brush, Blush brush, Highlight Brush and a Concealer brush.  

What makes them different to the other Spectrum brushes is that they all have an Oval shaped brush head to them and naturally they are just beautiful to look at.

The second set of brushes are either Green or Purple, depending upon whether you favour Ursula over Ariel! I was gifted a set of the Ariel brushes and I am calling them Ariel brushes because with their green body and red brush it represents the mermaid tail and her red hair - clever huh!

The set which features ten brushes includes:

• B01 - Flat Top Buffer
• A01 - Large Domed Powder
• A04 - Tapered Setting
• A10 - Small Fan
• B05 - Luxe Blender
• B06 - Tall Tapered Blender
• B04 - Small Angled Blender
• A18 - Oval Concealer
• A12 - Fluffy Pencil
• A17 - Angled Brow

As with other Spectrum brushes, each one of these is so incredibly well made, they feel nice when using them and the bristles are made from the highest quality of synthetic hair.  There are also a couple of other makeup bags that are available and come without the brushes and are priced at £24.99 so it is a much more affordable option and you can use them as clutches too.

You might have seen by now that Spectrum Brushes have their own store right here in London on Carnaby Street and it is just stunning.  

I went along with Annie from Musings of a Makeup Junkie and you can see how amazing the store looks from her photos too.

Are you a fan of The Little Mermaid? 
Are you excited about any of the recent collections?

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page here

Temple Spa In The Beginning, Deep Cleansing Melt

With the mantra "Your Body Is A Living Temple. Honour It. Enjoy Your Life and Live It To The Full" and that really is quite something from Temple Spa.  A brand who started over two decades ago right here in the UK, it is quite amazing to see just how many products there are within the collection.  Whether you want something for stress problems, sleep enhancing, detoxing or hydrating there is something for you, as well as looking for products per issue and concern such as redness and sensitivity, oiliness, combination or sensitive to name to just a few.

Over the past few months, I have been using a few products from across the product range and it has been quite the eye opener as to how good some of these products are.

The first product is the award-winning, In The Beginning, Deep Cleansing Melt (£30 here). Described as being a nourishing face balm and cleanser that thoroughly cleanses and gently exfoliates leaving a clean, dewy complexion.

I am a huge fan of balm cleansing and this one has been an absolute delight to use. It has a buttery texture which melts onto the skin and within the formula are little beads which gently exfoliate the skin as the balm melts away makeup, dirt and grime. Once finished, I loved that this balm didn't leave my skin feeling taut, dry or stripped but instead it was soft and smooth to the touch. 

This Cleansing Balm has three key ingredients which are Vitamin E which helps to soften skin and replenish dehydrated skin and maintain its oil balance, it reduces water loss to the transepidermal layer which improves the appearance of rough, dry and damaged skin. Olive Fruit Extract which is not only packed with antioxidants which protect the skin against free radicals and environmental damage which causes premature ageing but it also penetrates the skin, locking in moisture and softening and smoothing the skin. It has a cleansing as well as hydrating effect, restoring skin and leaving it supple. The final key ingredient is Calendula Fruit Extract which protects and restores dry and damaged skin from dehydration and premature ageing. It nourishes, softens and moisturises skin.

What I have absolutely loved about this balm is how it leaves my skin feeling after using and just how effective it is at removing everything on my face.  There is always that dread when you use a nice, fresh and clean Muslin cloth at how dirty they look after using and honestly, this made me feel as though I had never bothered to wash my face.  So, if you are looking for a new Cleansing Balm, Temple Spa has one which is brilliant and it is this one.

Have you tried anything from Temple Spa?

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.