AbiJBailey
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Make Up Brush Starter Kit

8/5/2016

22 Comments

 
Hello everyone!
Happy Sunday.
Did you see last week's post reviewing the Shaaanxo Palette (here)?
I was also nominated for the Liebster Award! You can read more about that here.
Today I'll be showing you what you need for a starter make up brush kit.
I have loads of make up brushes because I have no self control, but these are the ones that I think are most important.
Obviously you don't need to get the same ones as me, these are just ideas.
A lot of my brushes are from Real Techniques because a) I think Real Techniques are amazing brushes and b) a lot of them came from the Brushes and Train Case gift set that I got for Christmas (here). 
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Face Brushes

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Here we have  the:
*Powder Brush
*Blush/Contour Brush
*Foundation Brush
*Setting Brush

All you really need for your base is a brush to blend out your foundation/concealer, a big powder brush to set your whole face, a setting brush to set smaller areas like under your eyes, and a blush/contour brush to add a bit of colour to your face. 

I bought the powder brush from Wilko for around £4.
The blush/contour brush is from Luxie which I received in my Glossybox (here). Sadly, the shipping to the UK is so expensive, otherwise I would love to buy more!
The foundation brush is the Expert Face Brush from Real Techniques.
The Setting Brush is also from Real Techniques.

Eye Brushes

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Next we've got the:
*Brow Spooli
*Eyeshadow Brush
*Eyeshadow Blender Brush
* Eyeliner Brush

An eyebrow spooli is a necessity even if you don't put any product through your brows; it's just a good idea to give them a brush through and tame the hairs.
An eyeshadow brush and a blender brush come hand in hand as you don't want any harsh lines.
A liner brush is important even if you don't wear gel eyeliner (but I recommend you try it because it's the blackest, longest lasting eyeliner formula I've ever used) because you could always use it to soften pencil liner or to fill in your brows.

The spooli came from a huge set of brushes that I bought from Amazon ages ago for around £10 .
The eyeshadow brush and the blender brush both came from the Real Techniques gift set I mentioned earlier.
The eyeliner brush is quite old (ew) because it came with the orginal Maybelline Gel Eyeliner (which I can't believe they stopped doing because I LOVED it and the new one is just not the same and the brush is now rubbish!)  
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Here's a little photo chart of all the basic essential brushes you need!

These are a few brands that I've used that I think do great brushes and are quite reasonably priced:

*​Real Techniques
*E.L.F 
*Revlon
*Make Up Revolution

Have I missed any key brushes? I tried to keep it as basic as possible so you just have the necessities to start with and then you can expand your collection (and become a brush obsessive like me!).

Leave me a comment from your lovely brain!

Thanks for reading and I'll speak to you next Sunday.

Abi xxx

P.S. You can follow me on  Twitter   |  Instagram   |  Bloglovin'
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Starting A Blog? | Tips & Advice

3/5/2015

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Hello Everyone! 
Happy Sunday to you!
I had to work today (boo), I have tomorrow off though (woo!)

Today I thought I'd share with you my thoughts, tips and advice for starting a blog.
Maybe it's something you've been thinking about but don't know where to start. 
That's why I'm here to help!
Starting a blog? Tips & advice
Anyone can blog. 
If you're passionate about something, you can blog about it. 
My first bit of advice is to research all the different blogging platforms, e.g. Weebly, Blogger, Wordpress, and see what they have to offer and what you're looking for. 

I use Weebly, which I really like and think is perfect for beginners, but I've been blogging for a year and a half now and there are features I want that Weebly just doesn't offer. Things like 'related content' widgets and things that would really improve my blog and make it more user friendly. At some point I'll probably look into changing platforms unless Weebly up their game *cough* hint hint Weebly *cough*. 

Plan ahead.
Blogging is so much easier if you've planned ahead. You don't even need a detailed plan, just jot down a few ideas that you could write confidently about so that when it comes to actually writing and posting, you're not sat there staring blankly at a screen. 
Maybe set a schedule for when you want to post, I do my 5 Things Friday mini post on Fridays and my regular blog post on Sundays. That way, I know when I need to have an idea by, and when to have the photos sorted. It also means your readers know when to return to read more of your fabulous content!

Don't try to do everything on the day. 
Unless you have endless amounts of free time. Like I said, plan ahead and then take a day to take photos for that blog post. Then find time to pick your best photos and edit them if you feel like it. That way when it comes to putting the post together, you've only got to write it and drop in the photos. I work 30 hours a week so this makes blogging much more manageable. 

Use photos.
Photos break up a lot of text and make everything look pretty. It also means you can post a select photo or two to post to Instagram and Twitter etc. 
Make your photos large. No one wants to have to squint at a tiny photo. 


Write about what makes you happy. 
Make sure you're writing for yourself, that way you'll look forward to blogging and feel more proud of what you've written. There's a niche for everything, so no matter what you write about, you'll find your audience. 
Blogging should be fun, after all.

Don't do it just to be popular.
Sure it'd be nice to have a huge following and be the next Zoella, but that shouldn't be why you start a blog. There's no guarantee that you'll soar to the top (although there's nothing stopping you either!). 
Do it to make yourself proud and to get what you set out to achieve.  For me, it was to boost my confidence, and find myself again. I'd had a rough year and decided that it was time to do something very different to bring me out of my shell. 

Join lots of social networks. 
The more social networks you're with, the more exposure your blog can get.
Once I've posted my blog post, I tweet about it, Instagram it, Pin it (all linked at the top of my blog!) and even post it on my tumblr. I'm also on bloglovin which I love, because you can see everyone you follow's latest blog posts in one place, rather than having to go to their individual blogs. I seriously suggest joining it. 

 If you'd like, you can follow me on bloglovin here.

I have a Facebook but I don't post on there purely because I don't want to plague my family with it, and I'm friends with lots of people from school and work, most of whom I just don't want to know about this blog! 
Certain 'friends' left nasty comments as 'a joke' when I started out, and I just don't want to encourage that sort of behaviour!

Lastly, just DO IT. 
Just join a blogging platform and start tapping away. 
No one's first few posts are good. That's not to say they're bad, just that you're still working on your style and finding out how to do this blogging thing. 
You improve with practice, as you would with anything. 
Also, you won't be proud of everything you write. I have a handful of posts that I hate but then I have lots of posts that I worked really hard on and am really proud of. 
Just have fun. 

Where these tips useful? 
Leave me a comment!


Thanks for reading, don't forget that the survey is still in the sidebar of my blog!


Speak to you on Friday, 
Abi xxx

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    Abi Bailey
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    Abi xxx
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