EcoTools Day to Night Set Brush Review

Hello and welcome back to my blog! This week I am going to be speaking to you about my EcoTools brush set that I bought from Boots.

The brush set, named the 'Six Piece Day to Night Set' contains what I would class as everyday make-up brushes. It includes: an angled face brush, a pointed concealer brush, a highlighting fan brush, an eye shadow brush and a detailed lip/liner brush. All brushes come in their own neat cosmetic case, which they advertise as being multi-functional and able to hold evening basics.

The bag itself has an elastic brush holder inside so that the brushes are nice and secure and will hopefully get less wear and tear from not rubbing against each other, ruining the bamboo wood handles. The base is covered in a really nice, soft cork which gives an extra quirk to it, making it feel very tropical, in conjunction with the tropical green gradient sides. The bag feels sturdy which would make it possible to be used for different purposes as described however it might be a little too small for today's 'essentials' e.g: my phone. 

All brushes are really soft and I love the added detail on the end of each brush which gives each brush their usage name. The three larger brushes are the softest brushes, which allows things like contour, highlight and eye shadow application to be nicer and easier. The other two brushes (liner and pointed concealer) are more rigid, which works for the liner brush, but I personally would prefer if the pointed concealer brush was a bit more flexible. I feel like if this change was made, the concealer brush would be better suited for its use as the structure of the brush makes it less practical for blending. 

The Brushes

The pointed concealer brush is a little odd. I often use a stick concealer, so this brush doesn't work well for its designed use. However, I sometimes use this for inner corner highlight or for general under-eye smoking/blending. 

Pointed Concealer Brush

The contour brush has a great angled top, making it perfect for creating a natural shadow at your cheek bone hollows. This is one of my favourite brushes in this set, as I like to use bronzer. I'm not a heavy contour-applier, so I generally use it all over my face which works well too.

Contour Brush

The thinnest brush is the liner brush. This is best for the lips in my opinion, although it can also be used to apply eye liner under the lower lash line. I often like to use the brush to line my lips or to use it just to make sure I have a neat line of lipstick. 

Lip Liner

Finally is the highlighter brush. I'd say this is great for the cheeks, but probably steer away from using it on the cupids bow and nose. It could be the highlighter I use but I find the brush often makes my product very dusty and so fall out occurs, making me look a little like a disco ball. However, this doesn't mean the brush isn't great! And quite honestly, I'm a beginner at make up.

Fanned Highlighter

Following on from my last point, I am a beginner in make-up. You could say this is my first proper set of brushes so I am finding what they're best used for and experimenting. However I would say my favourite brush is the eye shadow brush because I love a good smokey eye and so this brush is great for blending. It's also good for initially packing on the product. 

Eye shadow

Overall I think this is a set for beginners and the brushes themselves would also fit perfectly in someones bigger collection who uses make-up more often. I bought these from Boots and they cost £16.99, which was a very good price in comparison to other brushes available. They wipe clean really easily and don't shed. 

I hope this post has helped anyone decide on which make-up brushes to buy. If you don't wear make-up I hope you had a laugh at me sharing my opinions anyway. 

Thank you for reading my blog. If you haven't already, go back and check some of my other posts including a Stranger Things review. Please share, follow and comment below and let me know your best brush or make-up buys.

See you again soon

Follow @Charlottejade77

Get Ready With Me- Casual Meal

Hello! So I'm back with another post and for this week I thought I'd do something a bit more beauty related. I thought it'd be a nice idea to show you a get ready with me, so that you can see a bit of my style, how I do my make-up and maybe take some inspiration from it. 

So I started the day/night before by having a nice relaxing shower using my Soap and Glory shower puff and some Baylis & Harding 'skin spa' steam cream wash in the scent 'cherry blossom, oriental lily and lotus flower'. The shower gel smells amazing and lathers up really well when combined the with soap and glory puffs, which is the best one I've ever used. It's quite large and padded so it doesn't separate, which means I can give my body a good exfoliation without any hassle. I then went on to give my hair a good wash with the Alberto Balsam 'Tea Tree Tingle' shampoo. This is super affordable and although it might not be the most expensive product, it still leaves my hair feeling soft, looking shiny and smelling really nicely. Then to finish off I used Aussie's '3 minute miracle' conditioner. I don't usually use this conditioner but it's sometimes a nice treat and really helps to 'restore manageability and shine'- so it does, just what it says on the tin (bottle)! Also it has a bubblegum scent to it which is really nice and sweet.

Then to get ready I brush my teeth just using regular Colgate toothpaste, the one in the picture is the cavity protection one but I like to have a change and use the whitening one from time to time. I don't know if it's just me, but I like to brush my teeth before going out. It makes my breath smell fresh, makes my teeth feel clean and maybe it's a little OCD thing, but I just don't feel ready without doing this step.

I get my skin ready using my cheap and cheerful cleanser and toner from Boots. I say cheap and cheerful because they were both only £1.50 each and I don't think for that price, that they're too bad actually! So I cleanse my skin with the cleanser and a cotton pad to make sure my skin is clean and clear from any excess oils or dirt. Then I tone to close my pores- I love this step as it feels nice and refreshing.

Then I prime my face with No17's Photo Flawless Primer that I got in a set for my birthday. I feel like this creates a barrier between my skin and my make-up and makes my concealer and powder stay on longer because of it. It's got a gel like consistency and glides onto my skin; I then rub it around my face and around my eyes.

Now that my skin is ready I start with my concealer. I switch up my concealer and sometimes use Rimmel Wake Me Up or this one I'm featuring here which is the Collections 'Cover up stick' in 'Natural Beige'. I think this helps to make my dark eye circles lighter and less noticeable. The product itself isn't very dewy like the Rimmel Wake Me Up and is more like a creamy powder so would suit someone who likes more of a matte finish.

After this I take my powder brush and using the Rimmel Natural Bronzer, contour my cheeks a little but then also powder the rest of my face just to give me a nice finish and a healthy tanned glow. I'm not very tanned so this step helps me to not looked washed out. This bronzer is amazing, it has a brilliant shade and leaves your skin glowing without adding visible glitter pigments into the product. Also it has an SPF 15 and is waterproof so overall a brilliant make up addition.

I got this No17 make up collection box, which contains loads of beauty bits like lip glosses, highlights and a bronzer. I think these boxes are great gift ideas because they contain a variety of colours and products, so you can make different looks from them by just using this one box. For this look I am using a baked eye shadow powder. Unfortunately it doesn't give a specific name for this colour but as you can see from the image, it's a shimmery gold with a brown undertone. However, it's often up to personal preference, so get a gold eye shadow that you love and one that suits your skin and you can still recreate this look.

I spread this colour all over my lid and then move onto step two, which is to add the 'natural' eye shadow from the outer corner and blend inwards.

I then finish off the look with a few coats of mascara on the top lashes only. My top tip for getting rid of clumps is by using two mascara's, because the different applicators can separate the clumps left by the other mascara.

So now that my make-up is done, I move onto my hair, or vice versa, depending on how I'm feeling. I take Tresemme's Heat Defence spray with protection up to 230oC (purple box around writing). Heat defence is essential when using heat products on your hair. I have naturally curly hair and like to let it air dry, which is what I did the night before. This meant that all I had to do was to add a few extra curls with my GHD's to complete the look. These are just the original GHD's but I love them and they're my holy grail of heat product. I use these to curl my hair by getting a section of hair that looks a bit straighter than the rest, putting the straighteners at the top of the hair and pulling down whilst turning the straighteners. Once I'm at the end of the hair, I then roll it on itself, wrapping the hair around the straighteners and holding for about five seconds, before slowly releasing the straighteners holding them up vertically and lowering down.

This is what my hair and make up looked like completed

My outfit is a baby pink knitted jumper from New Look which was around £19, my paisley patterned black jeans were from TU at Sainsburys! And my jacket is a black leather Dorothy Perkins jacket that has a detachable fur collar that I got a few years ago. My necklace is an Amethyst crystal that I got from a crystal shop in Tintangel, Cornwall.

So that's it! Look complete! I had a lovely night and had a lovely meal for my Nanna's birthday! Hope you liked this blog and the look I created as my style is very simple and natural. 

Please comment, like and follow and I'll see you soon for another post! 

Follow @Charlottejade77