Real Techniques brush Dupes!

So this eBay purchase was completely instigated by A Thrifty Mrs and her recent tweet about eBay collections, which is kind of like Pinterest on eBay. You create collections of items you like on eBay and then your followers can go straight to those items and purchase them. So you basically get recommendations and hopefully good products that have been bought by those making the collections all in one place! Seems like a brilliant idea and so far I really like it.
The one thing that caught my eye was a brush set in her collection named Budget Beauty they looked identical to the much loved Real Techniques brushes. Now I own 3 of their sets and a few of the individual brushes from Real Techniques and I do love them. They clean and dry really well, do not shed and work really well at applying make up. I generally use the Expert Face brush everyday to apply my foundation alternated with the Illamasqua Highlighter brush which I also love. I use the one when the other is being washed or waiting to be washed.
So on average for a single brush you are looking at around £10 for a Real Techniques brush which is a reasonable price for a good high street available brush. However when I spotted these on eBay I could not believe how much they looked like the RT brushes and thought well there is no harm in trying them our and comparing. For the sake of less that £9 for 5 brushes even if I hated them they would have only wasted the equivalent cost of one RT brush. So I thought why not as I had some money sitting in my paypal account from stuff I had sold the month before it basically made them free!
This is the link to the brush set that I purchased. This is NOT I repeat NOT the seller that A Thrifty Mrs had listed on her collections, this is one that eBay suggested to me whilst I was looking at the individual ones she did have listed. The reason I went with the other selling was because the one linked through A Thrifty Mrs was selling each brush at £1.99 and the set at £16.99..... hold the phone you wanna charge £1.99 per brush and the set at £16.99..... why don't I just buy each brush at £1.99 and make the set up at £9.95???? No brainer even there....right?!?
I found the other seller like I said through eBay's recommendation and the set was priced at £8.54 which already had a 5% discount on it. The individual brushes do work out more per brush when brought separately (from this seller I worked out if all 5 were bought individually you would pay £14.49 still cheaper than the Thrifty seller though) but there was also free P&P. So after looking through the feedback checking out some reviews I thought why the hell not! I placed my order on the Wednesday and received the brushes on the Friday, that I was very impressed with!

The above picture shows you the eBay brush on the Left and the Real Techniques brush on the right. The only difference if the height of the bristles but that would be down to specification of an order for RT. To summarise and so as to not bore you I am pretty sure they are just the unbranded version of the RT brushes. The look of the same construction, they are the same weight, feel and dimensions, they feel just as soft, I have washed them twice already and there was no shedding and no bleeding of colour.
The Rose Red colour I chose is more of a hot pink and much brighter than the RT brush colour of those ones as you can see in the picture (RT also have gold and purple brushes too) and the reason I picked this colour was just to compare them to the RT brushes. The eBay seller also does them in a gold as well as a teal/blue which I would most likely opt for next time. At £1.70 a brush when buying the set I literally cannot fault them. I did have one brush which had a slight misshaping in the bristles but its nothing that would bother me or affect the use of the brush. I contacted the seller to inform them just in case they wanted to know for quality control reasons. They asked for a photo which I was happy to send and they apologised alot, like alot alot! Then they said next time I placed an order I could have discount and a free gift which I thought was very lovely. I think if I had wanted to refund of exchange they would have obliged but I didn't, I am very happy with them even if one is a little kinky! Plus knowing how good they are now I may just do a bulk order for gifts for girl friends as presents. I know so many of my friends would love these too so a little extra discount would be a bonus!!
I hope this post has been of interest and that if you choose to try these brushes too that you like them as much as I do. Have you found any dupes for things you love? If so let me know in the comments!!
xoxo

HUGE Make Up Swap from the US

Hi there! Long time no speak, I know, I am rubbish with this blog but to be honest I don't think I've established what I should use it for. I mean I'm no beauty guru I just love make up but don't generally have a good enough face to take pictures of it daily and put them out there! However I do get the urge to write inspired posts about make up especially when I get a hefty ass box of it from the USA!!!

So I am going to warn you now this blog post will be VERY picture heavy! As I don't film videos like Jerlyn does This is just going to be a still life version! 

 So I was so excited to get this I didn't even wait till I got dressed to open this, so here's a sexy PJ shot.... hummm Doughnuts (not gonna lie bough these because of EssieButton)

 This was the first thing on the top and its a Sonia Kashuk brush set which is amazing I have wanted to try these brushes for ages and this set was perfect!

 As you can see this is one heck of a box! I love the mint green peanuts and the multi coloured tissue paper she had wrapped everything in!!!

 This was a very cute little bag of samples and perfumes that she had sent me! A fab idea. I only threw a few in to my box for her I wish I had thought about it a bit more because I have so many of those sample packs hiding around!

 A close up of the craziness.

 Heel rescue balm, two Milani lip products, MAC Creemesheen Glass and NYX Lippie

 I loves all the little notes, it's like a clue to what's inside also I think she said her cousin helped her do the wrapping hence all the stickers. They were also scratch and sniff.... No joke the Banana ones were A-MAZ-ING!!!!

 Sally Hansen Salon effects THREE OF THEM!!!

 ELF Mascara and NYX lashes

 ohhhh those stickers lol LOVE! 

 A very nice little ELF palette and cream eyeliner!

 It's never ending!!

 Ooooh how exciting... Yes I did what I was told!!! 

 These were such a surprise I adore the colours. I could not wait to try these!

 A BareMinerals blusher and a Victoria Secret Blusher

 MORE SAMPLES!

 FAB FAB FAB

 OOOH The famous NYX Jumbo eyeshadow pencils - she had sent me the one in Milk in my first swap box and I loved it!

 Milani Liquid Eye liner 

 Face masks

 ELF BLusher and mineral lipgloss

 O-M-G!!!!!

I wanted one of these palettes so bad!!! 

I was so excited to get this I had asked for this and I squealed a little bit when I got it! 

I have heard so many amazing things about these palettes I couldn't wait to try them!

 Senna - a neutral eye shadow trio which is really pretty and an Ulta single eye shadow 

 Two Maybelline 24 hour colour tattoos

 Two of the Revlon Lip butters

 Now this is so funny, I got my parcel Friday morning and I kid you not but on Wednesday I was in Boots looking at Peach Parfait thinking I really want to get this it is such a lovely colour! I refrained as I knew I was getting a box of goodies in the post soon so I walked away.... AND IT FOUND ITS WAY TO ME ANYWAY!!! Jerlyn is amazing I swear I didn't even ask for these! 

 Some lovely NYX loose pigments

 A BareMinerals lipgloss and ELF luscious liquid Lipstick and I think this one is her very favourite and I know she talks about it in many videos!

 Two Lippies from Wet N Wild

 This was a complete surprise...

 The studio Gear lippie was fab  although a little to brown for me at the moment however my mum snapped it up from me as she wears these colours all the time. I loved the packaging though so would love to see what other colours they do!

The Kat Von D Lip glosses were such a surprise the packaging is beautiful and the two colours she picked were lovely one was a red and the other a muted rose pink brown. So looking forward to wearing these! 

I knew exactly what these where....

China Glaze Anchors Away Collection

I had asked for these especially and I think she bought them well over a year ago as this box swap has been a good two years in the making I think! I loved this collection when it came out but the problem is over here the sets are around £45+ each and I think she got them for around $30 which is insane. SO I was beyond happy when I saw these! 

A NYX Make up bag and some NYX palettes plus she threw in some brushes which was very nice!

NYX Runway Collection palette in Champagne & Caviar

NYX I dream of Jamaica Palette

Some brushes

See I did what I was told!!! 

HOLY COW! 
I know she has had this on her blog sales a few times and to be honest I would have bought it off her but I could not believe this was in my box, It was so sweet! Ahhh I love it. I never managed to get this when it came out in the UK I think I was either away at sea or it just sold out before I got near it!!! Cannot get over this one!!! So amazing!!! 

This was the aftermath..... hummmm

WOW that was a post and a half! I have to thank Jerlyn so much for such an amazing box I think we really did well this time. This box was, like I said two years in the making, since we had done our last one so there has been alot of thought to it. It isn't cheap to do one of these just to warn you, we try to set a budget but don't really stick to it. Especially when it is bought over so many months it doesn't feel so bad. The shipping is a killer though our boxes were around 6-7lbs each and we both had to use a courier to ship them out. I think if I remember rightly hers cost me £44 and the one she shipped to me was $66 so it's does, do you in on that front. Hence the two year gap. 

I just want to add I hope no one thinks I am bragging with this post it was just my way of showing what she sent me as I know she mentioned it in the video and there have been comments of people wanting to see. I do also know this is alot of make up. My sister said when she saw it that it was more make up in that one box than she has owned, ever! This has sparked a clear out for me and alot of my new back ups that I don't need have gone on eBay and I've given away stuff too. So I am going to try and down size! 

Now I have to say I am very lucky to have met Jerlyn through her You tube and we are friends online which is how we decided to do this. I do see so many horror stories of people doing swaps and getting screwed over that I am very thankful I have found such a honest and lovely young woman to befriend and share this all with! 

We both wrote each other a long letter which was so nice as it meant we got to learn about each other on a more personal note. I intend to reply to her letter and keep that going as no one writes any more and I love getting letter in the post! 

I know we have already mentioned our next one which WILL be smaller but we are going to aim for a higher end package. This I imagine will take another few years... That's if we don't visit each other and end up going shopping together one day. God think of the carnage that would be!!

Anyway that is all for this epic post. Once again a massive THANK YOU to Jerlyn!!!

All her links will be below and you can check out her video on her You Tube channel to see what I sent her!
If you made it to the end I am impressed!!!

xoxo

Jerlyn's Links

You Tube Twitter Blog Instagram 

Estee Lauder Company Store Haul

Hey guys,

This is a pretty awesome Haul. I had the pleasure of going to the Estee Lauder company shop in Petersfield, UK which is like the CCO's which are around the world BUT the discounts are like 30-70%!! it’s crazy I always get so much when I go and its just silly prices! You can basically pick up discontinued stuff as well as limited edition and over stock. So this is just to share with you what I got!

Right! This is everything I purchased which came to a total of £118 for 17 MAC items, 3 Clinique, 1 Estee lauder and 2 Bobbi Brown CRAZY I know!!!

MAC Dazzleglass in Hey, Sailor £6 now I bought two of these cos I’m a Sailor! And I kinda had to! I was on the Oosterdam in 2007 when this came out and didn’t buy any them as I spent something stupid on Bobbi Brown as that was the brand I loved then but now I regret not getting it as I want it for collectors purpose. I managed to get Ensign and Love knot from a CCO not long ago so that make me happy and I have 3 of the pigments and one of the Eye Shadows so I’m getting there!!

MAC Dazzleglass in Goldyrocks £8 and Utterly Posh £7 i wouldn’t normally buy these from a regular MAC store as they are expensive and you get like no product so I thought I would try some at least from here they aren’t too pricy and see if I like them!

MAC Dame Edna Beauty Powder in Spectacle this was £9 and I didn’t even realised it had the gold embossing on it until I got it home! Love it too scared to use it!!
Ok I have no idea why I thought this pigment would be practical but it was too awesome to leave behind! It was £8 as you can see which is a saving of £7 from the original price. The colour is crazy and unless I go raving soon I don’t know how I will make this work!!!

MAC Liquidlast Liner in Visionaire and MAC Glitter Eye liner in Kitty Power which is from the Hello Kitty collection which was cool as I totally missed that Collection I think I was at sea or something maybe in Alaska or something rubbish like that! So I’m trying to get some of it from places like this and CCo’s. I think these were like £7 each.

MAC Eye Shadows in Mont Black £5 and Beauty Marked £6 both really nice deep colours and Beauty Marked it one of my new favs!

These Lashes are awesome they were both £5 each and I had to have the massive dramatic ones! They were just too awesome to not have. The dramatic ones are no: 42 and the other one is called Blinking cool

MAC 272 brush which is an Angled eye brush really soft really lovely and was just £9! BARGIN!

The next lots of stuff is what I got in a bargain bag I got; basically a mix of 10 items for £30 obviously looked for the bag with the most MAC in it! And this one had two pigments a duo eye shadow and eyeliner. So it makes every item £3 which you can’t complain about especially as the Pigments are normally £15 alone!!!!

This was what was in it... MAC pigment in Reflects Blackend red, MAC pigment reflects in transparent teal, Technakohl liner in Plank, Eye Shadow Suite in Ocean 2, Bobbi Brown Blemish Stick in Warm honey 4, Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge for Lips and Cheeks in Pink Truffle 8, Clinique Colour surge Lipstick in Platinum plus 40/240, Clinique Full potential Lips in Rose Bloom 28, Clinique Glosswear for Lips in Sunset 302 and Estee Lauder Tender Lip Balm in Tender Caramel.

The Clinique stuff is nice good colours not sure they are me but as they were in the mix bag I can’t complain might give them away if I don’t think they will suit! I do like Clinique stuff though!

The MAC Pigments are really nice I love pigment I have a few and this Haul helped add to that! The eye liner is lovely have started wearing this istead of going for black going into spring and all that! The eye shadow suo is cute I like the teal black blu but the light blue isnt really my thing makes me think of teenage chav's from school!!

The Estee Lauder Lip balm is a lovely colour, not sure if I will use it but I do like it. The Bobbi Brown Rouge lip and cheek pot is lovely I bought one of these about 4 years ago when I was in San Diego and loved it when I have a tan and want a minimal make up look! The Blemish stick is far too dark for me! This is a shame as they are a good cover up and I would have been so happy if it was in my shade!

So that’s pretty much it! I hope you liked this and enjoyed reading!

Sending hugs

xoxo