Charlotte Tilbury - The Dolce Vita Palette

One of the only things I knew before I even went to the UK was that I was going to come back owning this particular palette by Charlotte Tilbury. If you happen to be living under a rock for the last few years, Charlotte Tilbury is very talented and very well known makeup artist, who recently came out with her own brand of makeup. Luxurious packaging, incredibly creative concepts and flawless products were a given with her vast expertise in the industry... and every single review has been positive. So obviously, I needed to own something from her range. I visted her counter about a dozen times, I kid you not. And very single time, I swatched this palette. Eventually, I just gave in and bought myself this palette for my birthday. After using it a fair bit (read: it has not left my lids) I thought I'd post about it.

For starters, it looks beautiful, doesn't it? The Dolce Vita as a look is inspired by likes of Sophia Loren, Penelope Cruz and Monika Bellucci, emphasizing the on copper smokey eyes and a nudeish pink lip.
And this palette most certainly gives you the vibe.
The four colours (on me - a pearly white, a copper red, a medium-dark brown with golden shimmer and a bronze glitter) compliment eachother perfectly. They blend together seamlessly, so much so that I barely used my blending brush - a first, I must admit!
I really put this palette to the test by wearing it on a night out. Put it on at 6:30, and at 4:30 am it will still intact. Pretty impressive, non?

If I could change one thing about it, it would be the light highlight shade which I think is a bit too cool on me, but considering this is supposed to flatter a variety of skintones, its more a personal thing than something wrong with the palette.

The verdict? I could not be happier with the palette I picked (The Golden Goddess was the other option) and in the future, when I make decent money (lots of money) i would like to include a bunch of her products in my kit, because they really are a pleasure to work with.

FYI, this palette costs GBP 38.

Have you tried this? What are your thoughts?

Real Techniques Bold Metals - Brush Porn for everyone.

Firstly, I graduated, I'm back in India, etc etc. But that's really not what this post is for. Its about these beautiful brushes. When I saw on instagram that Real Techniques was releasing a new range of brushes, my jaw literally dropped. Not only do I love brushes (read: obsessed) I love Real Techniques and the Pixiwoo Sisters who've created them. Safe to say, they went on my wishlist almost immediately. Fast forward to when the pricing in the UK was out, I honestly shed a tear or two. GBP 25 (INR 2500 approx) for a single brush?!?! Were they really worth it? I had to find out. And now let me tell you.

Real Techniques Bold Metals 100 - Arched Powder Brush
Firstly, I'm not the biggest powder girl, however, I do like a light dusting of powder to set the liquid products on my face. Enter this brush. Now, its soft - oh, so soft and I find myself stroking my face with it just because I can more often than not.
The handle is absolutely gorgeous. Not only does it look great, it fits in your hand perfectly and reminds me of a paint brush in its length, making me feel much fancier than I am.
Price - GBP 25

Real Techniques Bold Metals 300 - Blush Brush
If you have the original RT blush brush, you know its huge, and more suited for powder than blush. Now this, is the perfect size for blush. It almost reminds me of the MAC 129.
But, I prefer using this for bronzer/contouring as I find the angles at which it was cut to be perfect to get under those cheekbones or carve out cheekbones on moon like round faces like mine.
Oh, also, its so sofffft. And the rose gold handle only makes me use it more.
P.S. This was a birthday gift from my lovely friends, and I shall be forever thankful to them for listening to my broad, and very obvious hints :)
Price - GBP 22

Real Techniques Bold Metals 200 - Shadow Brush
Now this, I bought on a whim. Having bought one of the gold and rose gold ranges, I desperately wanted to complete the set. I would never have bought all of them, but owning one of each seemed fair, right? Right.
I find this a bit too big to place shadow with, and not fluffy enough for blending. However this is perfect for what a teacher of mine called the 'magic brush'. A large shadow brush that you use just to erase the mistakes you make. Magic Brush? I think so..
Price - GBP 12

So there you have it, my take on these gorgeous brushes. If you have the budget for them, I'd say, get them. If you don't? Get them anyway. They look great, are great to hold and genuinely are amazing quality brushes. Oh, did I mention they're soft?

What are your thoughts?

I'm BACK! + theBalm Tinted Moistureiser Review!

Guess who? Yep! After almost 2 months, I'm back!

Quick little story for ya - I moved to London, which most of you know, to start studying makeup for film, television, fashion and theatre. So far there has been a lot of hair, which I love, surprisingly, but also tons and tons of makeup, which I will post about soon. But somehow along the way, I lost interest in the makeup/blogging world. You see, when you're dealing with actual makeup for Television and Film and even everyday life on a day to day basis, it really makes you rethink this whole beauty blogging world. Because a lot of the people seem to be here for to make money and push products for the sake of it, and to me, that took the fun out of blogging... because, there really is no miracle foundation that will fix every problem you have or that one primer that will fill out your pores, its a combination of things, its always going to be, and there is no wonder product no matter how good the very edited campaign pictures may look or the blogger/ article may claim... but now that I've had some time to think about it, I still want the world to know my take on the product, so I'm back.. with a cheeky little review. I know, Shock horror! I maybe a bit slow getting back into things, but if you're still reading after this break, thank you, and stay tuned!

So, imagine my surprise when my flatmate walks into my room one day and thrusts a box at me and says "its too light for me, you try it". Ofcourse I had no idea what she was talking about. theBalm is not a company I'm very familiar with.. I know of their highlighters and eyeshadow palettes, but bases? I never even thought to try them. But here I was, holding a shiney new tube of theBalm Shelter tinted moisturizer SPF 18 in Medium/Dark which I naturally slapped on almost instantly. Fair warning, for everyone who is yellow undertoned, this looks scarily pink when you first apply it onto your face. Heck, it made me look very grey - which considering is the general colour of winter, not a good look, BUT after a few minutes, it sunk in and started looking pretty good, even if I say so myself. In terms of coverage it a light to medium, good enough to cover my hyper pigmentation, but not great with my acne scarring, so naturally, if you have spots and scars like me you'll need concealer over it. But I just add a bit of my MAC Studio Fix Powder over it to cover those nasty scars, and I, pretty much good to go.
Its glowey, so if you're looking for something matte - stay far far away, but it lasts pretty much all day long and makes me feel like I have nothing on (go figure - tinted moisturizer). So I would say, though I didn't pay for it initially, I would definitely be repurchasing this.

FYI, it costs GBP 17.50 and can be found at feel unique that ships internationally!

Have you heard of/tried this? What are your thoughts?