Zoeva Rose Golden Complete Eye Set

L-R: 315 Finer Liner, 237 Detail Shader, 317 Wing Liner, 230 Luxe Pencil, 322 Brow Line, 226 Smudger, 224 Luxe Defined Crease, 234 Luxe Smoky Shader, 228 Luxe Crease, 231 Luxe Petit Crease, 227 Luxe Soft Definer, 142 Concealer Buffer

Last year I bought my first set of rose gold Zoeva brushes (blogpost here) and I have been in love with them ever since. So when I saw that Zoeva had a whole rose gold set dedicated to eyes, it was only natural that they were the first thing I put on my Christmas wishlist. And my amazing mum bought them for me! Thanks mum!

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you may know that I don't do too much to my face when I apply makeup (although recently I have been branching out and using things like bronzer and highlight). I have sensitive skin which means I skip the foundation step and don't like having too much powder on my face either, so I usually just focus on my eyes. I love playing around with eyeshadows and liners and that obviously requires a few different brushes (or no brushes at all for some people!). I mentioned in my other Zoeva blogpost that I can be quite lazy when it comes to washing my brushes. I try to do them once a week, but let's be honest here, I do sometimes 'forget' (read: knowingly put the thought of washing brushes to the back of my mind). 

Funnily enough, I don't own that many brushes that are meant for eyeshadow. I have a few Real Techniques ones, as well as the Urban Decay Naked palette brushes. So that's one reason as to why I so desperately wanted these brushes. The other being that they are ROSE GOLD. Ok breathe. I have been obsessed with rose gold for a while (January 2012 to be precise) just like the rest of the beauty world. And can you blame us? Look how beautiful it looks! Brushes, jewellery, home decor, everything. (Maybe not everything, but you get the point.) Apart from being incredible at their job as makeup brushes (I'll go into more detail in a minute), they also make my dressing table look beautiful.

Moving on to their function and all of the details. You get 12 brushes in a set which is great especially when you look at the price of the set (65€). That equates to exactly 5,41€ per brush which is amazing value for money.

The set comes in another fancy brown pouch with the rose golden Zoeva logo embossed on it. These are really handy for travelling as it can be rather tricky to find makeup bags that are long enough to fit brushes in. I used the other one every time I traveled last year and will definitely be putting this one to good use too.

All of the brushes are incredibly soft and work like magic. They make applying makeup really simple and fast. I also found that they are easy to clean, the powders/liners seem to disappear after the first few seconds of washing them. They dry fairly quickly too and go back to their original shape, although I did find that some of them had a few sticky out bristles, but nothing too bad and I could easily push them back into place. (If you want to see how I wash my brushes, click here.)

Like the original brush set, this one comes with the 227 Luxe Soft Definer (great for blending, I actually prefer it to my MAC 217 brush), the 231 Luxe Petit Crease (the name says it all, it's great at getting right in the crease), the 142 Concealer Buffer (again, the name says it all but this one is also great for blending eyeshadows together) and the 317 Wing Liner (which I use to fill in my brows with powder). I honestly don't mind having these brushes twice, because they are incredibly useful and it's always good to have a few extra clean options for blending eyeshadows for example. 

I really like that there is a brush for everything. You can obviously use them however you want, but I personally use the majority of them how they are 'meant' to be used. 

As well as the brushes I've just mentioned, you also get a bunch of others. The 224 Luxe Defined Crease is like a slightly thinner, longer version of the 227, it's great at blending shadows through the crease and all over the lid. The 234 Luxe Smokey Shader is the perfect brush for applying colour to the lid and I also like using the 226 Smudger to do that too, especially when you want to apply an eyeshadow to the lashline. The 228 Luxe Crease is a bigger version of the Petit Crease brush, again great for applying eyeshadow in the crease. The 315 Finer Liner brush makes applying liner (gel, kohl, shadow) so easy and I often find it difficult using a separate brush for that job but I really like this brush! The brush itself is really small and tapered, and the dent makes the application so simple. I love using the tiny 237 Detail Shader to apply highlight to the inner corner of my eye and also on the brow bone. It's like a really small version of the Smoky Shader. The 230 Luxe Pencil is great for smudging liner and apply shadow on the lower lashline. And finally there's the 322 Brow Line which is the only brush I haven't actually used yet. I always mean to use it to fill in my brows whenever I feel like using a powder but I always end up forgetting. It has a slight angle but is quite a bit thicker than your usual standard brow brush. 

Once again, Zoeva have delivered. You can check them out here. I have yet to try out any of their makeup though and am actually quite tempted to get one of their palettes!

Have you tried any Zoeva brushes?

2014 Favourites

Hi everyone,

I don't usually do blogposts about my monthly favourites but I wanted to do one big post about all of my 2014 favourites because there were quite a lot of products that I fell in love with last year. January is almost over but I thought I may as well post it anyway. Better late than never! 

I've already reviewed a few of them on my blog already and I'll leave links in case you want to read a more in depth description about any of those. There will also be a few I haven't blogged about yet so hopefully it will be an interesting read.

Skincare

Bebe More Melt Away Cleanser

This was my go to cleanser throughout 2014. It's cheap and works wonders! I'm pretty sure that it's part of the reason why my skin looked and felt nice throughout the whole year. It's paraben free and is great for cleanising sensitive skin. It has a foamy, mousse like texture and I found it to be moisturing. It's great for moving any excess makeup and leaves my skin  feeling extremely clean and soft. I'm on my second tube already and will probably repurchase it once that one is done. Read more about it here.

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Mat

My skin can get quite oily during the summer and I used this on a daily basis. It worked extremely well at reducing the oil and keeping my complexion looking matte. It felt really nice on and didn't bother my sensitive skin at all. It's quite expensive but a tiny bit goes a long way and it has lasted me a really long time. 

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo +

I was a huge fan of the original Effaclar Duo and had been since 2012. Contrary to the original version, the Effaclar Duo + claims to prevent marks on the skin as well as correcting imperfections and unclogging pores (like the original). The consistency and texture has also changed. Where the first was more like a transparent gel, this one is creamier and white in colour. The first few times I used it, I was rather disappointed as it seemed to cause more breakouts but I was determined to stick with it as once again it's fairly expensive. After a while it cleared up my skin and I fell in love with it. I apply it after cleansing and toning, before putting on makeup.

La Roche-Posay Effaclar A.I.

Another long time favourite that I've never blogged about. This one is targeted more specifically at preventing spots and imperfections. I can't fault it. It has always worked wonders whenever my skin decides to play up. I apply it to any spots and redness just before going to sleep after cleansing and toning my skin. That way it has time to work it's magic over night. 

Makeup & Brushes

Zoeva Rose Golden Luxury Set

2014 was the year I decided to invest in these beauts. I did a blogpost on the original set here and my lovely mum bought me the eye brush set for Christmas. I adore these brushes, they're super soft and do their jobs extremely well. You get a bunch of different brushes, each with their own individual use (although feel free to use them for different things). The quality is incredible and I actually prefer them to my other brushes. 65€ may seem a lot for makeup brushes but when you calculate it, it works out to +/-5€ per brush which is amazing. Also there is the added fact that they are rose gold! So beautiful.

NARS Blush in Dolce Vita

I hadn't been using a lot a face products for a while but I fell back in love with this blush towards the end of last year (summer and autumn in particular). It's the most gorgeous deep red/pink colour and looks amazing on my skin (if I do say so myself). I've had it for over two years now and still haven't hit pan. As it's NARS, it is expensive but if you have money to spend and fancy getting a new blush, I definitely recommend it. I've written about it here.

Chanel Rouge Coco Lipstick in 49 Liasion & NARS Lipstick in Heatwave

Both of these lipsticks were featured in my Top 10 Lipsticks for Spring/Summer which you can read here. They're both beautiful, both expensive, both amazing. i love pairing Liaison with a brown smokey eye and Heatwave with winged liner. They're both creamy but Heatwave has a matte finish and Liaison has more of a pearl finish.

MAC Palette

I almost completed my MAC palette last year and I found myself using it on a day to day basis. When it comes to eyeshadows, MAC is definitely up there with my top favourites. Amazing quality, beautiful colours and reasonably priced. The ones I used the most were Sable, Mulch, Patina, Charcoal Brown and Naked Lunch but I adore all of them. Read more about my palette here.

Hair Products

Philip Kingsley Elasticizer Extreme

This has to be one of my all time favourite new discoveries of last year. I first started using it in March or April and have since repurchased it, despite it being fairly expensive. I really think that this has been the main reason why the condition of my hair has improved so drastically. It really is a hair saviour. Read more here.

Nivea Diamond Gloss Shampoo & Conditioner

Hands down my favourite shampoo and conditioner. They smell amazing and leave my hair looking glossy and feeling super soft. I always go back to these no matter how many other products I try. I wrote a more in depth blogpost about them here.

MoroccanOil & Kérastase Ciment Thermique

These two have been long term favourites of mine. I use them both religiously after every wash and they haven't stopped doing their magic. They make my hair feel so soft and manageable as well as keeping it in good condition. They also both smell amazing! Price wise, they are expensive but you don't need to use a lot and I find they last between six months to a year. Read more about the Ciment Thermique here.

COLAB Dry Shampoo London

I bought this a few months ago and it has since become a firm favourite. I have always had a love/hate (more hate) relationship with dry shampoos. Whether it was the smell or the fact that they didn't really help, I could never find the perfect one. Until now that is! The London scent is lovely and it actually helps make my hair look presentable on the days in between washes. It was also incredibly cheap for such a big can.

How To: Wash Brushes

I wanted to share with you how I wash my brushes. There's no real incredibly unique method, but I do use several different products and I always like reading how people do it too. Let me start by saying that when it comes to washing brushes, I am very lazy. Which is why I bought a antibacterial spray to use in between washes. But since I am going away, I wanted to deep clean my most used brushes so that they are nice and pristine. In order to do this, I use three different products: The Pro Hygiene Collection Makeup Sponge & Brush Sanitizing Wash, Bioderma Solution Micellaire and The Pro Hygiene Collection Antibacterial Makeup Spray.

I start by filling a small bowl, in my case a hair dying bowl, with a small amount of Bioderma. Then I fill my sink with lukewarm water. I have all of my brushes and the brush shampoo to hand and get started. I have a particular process which goes like this: dip the brush into the lukewarm water, put some of the brush shampoo onto my hand and swirl the brush around in it, then I dip it back into the water and then into the Bioderma. Then I rinse it until there are no bubbles left and place it upside down onto a towel so that the brush is at the bottom. Then repeat all of those steps until you have no more brushes left.

Once I finish washing all of my brushes, I fold the towel so that I can stand the brushes against it, again so that the actual brush part is at the bottom. I then use the antibacterial spray on each of them, just so they are extra clean.

And that's it! Which products do you like to use on your brushes?

Zoeva Rose Golden Brush Set

L-R: 106 Powder, 102 Silk Finish, 127 Luxe Sheer Cheek, 110 Face Shape, 142 Concealer Buffer, 227 Luxe Soft Definer, 231 Luxe Petit Crease, 317 Wing Liner

After hearing so much about Zoeva brushes recently, I decided to invest in a set. The selling point was the fact that the brushes have rose gold metal handles. 

I don't own a whole lot of brushes, apart from a handful of Real Techniques brushes, which, as we all know, are amazing. But I'm not the kind of person who religiously washes their brushes after every use, in fact I'm quite lazy in regards to washing them. Which is terrible because of germs. (I do own one of those brush cleaning sprays that I use on occasion but it's not the same as having freshly washed brushes.) It's just so frustrating when I'm trying to get ready and all my brushes are dirty and I just don't have the time or the patience to wash them and then wait for them to dry (which is my own fault really).

So I decided to add to my small collection. Zoeva is more accessible than Real Techniques in Luxembourg, because it's a German brand. Although instead of driving down to Trier or Saarbrucken, I ordered them online and they arrived within a few days.

Everything about them is lovely, even the way they were packaged. The set comes with a dust bag, a makeup bag and eight brushes of course. I was quite impressed with the quality of the brushes. They are all amazingly soft and actually feel a bit heavier than my other brushes. Although not too heavy, they are still comfortable to hold. They feel a lot more expensive than they are. The set cost 58€, which I found quite reasonable but I suppose that's a personal thing. Some of you might find that really expensive while others might think it's a bargain. 

The set itself is perfect for creating a full face look. You have everything you need. I personally don't use foundation but the 102 Silk Finish brush would definitely get the job done. The 106 Powder brush is perfectly sized for powdering your whole face in order to eliminate shine and the handle itself is rather short and could be thrown into your handbag for on the go powdering. The 127 Luxe Sheer Cheek brush applies the right amount of blush without being too heavy and the 110 Face Shape is perfectly shaped for contouring. The brush shape fits nicely in the hollows of the cheeks and does a good job of blending too. The set also includes a concealer brush, the 142 Concealer Buffer which is comparable to the Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush in terms of size and dome shape. Moving on to the eye brushes, the 227 Luxe Soft Definer brush is comparable to the MAC 217 brush, although personally I found the Zoeva brush blends eyeshadows slightly better than the MAC brush. My favourite brush of the set is the 231 Luxe Petit Crease brush, which fits perfectly in the crease of the eye due to the slightly pointed end and it blends everything nicely. And finally, the 317 Wing Liner brush which is probably the best liner brush I have ever tried. It makes applying eye liner so easy and creates perfect wings. I have never been great at making the wings match but I found it so easy to do with this brush.

So there you have my little run through of the brushes. I would definitely recommend them because they work amazingly and because they are really pretty.

You can find them here and you can find a list of the countries they ship to here.

Have any of you tried Zoeva brushes before?