The Glueless Scr4pbook.

A few weeks ago I finally decided to bite the debit-card-shaped bullet and spend £18 on a tiny make up brush in the form of the famous MAC 217 Blending Brush.


Having only recently developed a new obsession with eyeshadow, I was reluctant to buy it straight away despite it repeatedly showing up on my to-buy list and despite every single blogger & Youtuber on the planet owning like 3 of them, but I was floating around on the MAC website creating a new wish list when I thought 'what the hell just order a few bits now', so I did.

As soon as I opened my little black package I could see the reason for the extreme hype. Perfectly sized, perfectly shaped, soft & gentle bristles. Winner.


The brush is designed for blending out eyeshadow, both cream and powder formulas. The bristles are extremely soft, natural and white (which I always prefer for cleaning purposes). It is a small dome shaped brush, very dense which is great for picking up lots of products and for blending. This brush cleans up really nicely too, I have washed it with the Dr. Bronner soap which worked really well and didn't dry out the bristles and I have also spot cleaned it with the MAC Brush Cleanser which works really well for a daily clean.



This is a perfect size for the crease which is what a lot of Youtubers use it for, but I have been using it for everything. I use it to coat my lid with the base colour first, then to push the crease colour in place and blend it out. After that, I brush the excess off and use it to apply a highlight colour to the inner corners and on the brow bone.

I would highly recommend picking this up if you have been in doubt or just procrastinating, it actually works as like 3 separate brushes so its definitely worth it and although I haven't tried any 'dupes' I would say just go for the real thing, its going to last for years and years anyway.

I had never actually used any Avene products until this month, but I think I have found myself 2 firm favourites for the 'forever repurchase' list, and I've got my eye on a sneaky third product (the Soothing Hydrating Serum £17).

So for glosses the drugstore is where its at, the Barry M glosses £4.49, are all gorgeous, I have had this one for ages and don't actually know the shade but there are some really pretty ones out at the moment, the consistency is really creamy and not sticky at all.
Next a random one I got from H&M its a duo tube so one side has a glittery gloss and one is just a standard nude, the colours are gorgeous and it smells amazing perfect for shoving in your bag and only £2.99.
Third is a matte one by Collection this is the shade Powder Puff £2.99, which is a lovely beige nude, they smell lovely too but I would advise you use lip balm with these.
Last but not least is the Revlon Super lustrous gloss in Super Natural £6.99, which is my favourite at the moment, sheer but with a hint of colour, smooth, moisturising, perfect.


Lastly, the balms, Vaseline £1.99, because its an easy quick fix, over foundation lips (brushed out so your lips are not just white and nasty), and its clear so its always going to show your true nude lip.
Secondly Korres Jasmine Lip Butter £8, because it has a slight baby pink tinge to it which is really handy when you are out and about and can't be bothered with reapplying lippy, also because it smells lovely.
And another new lip product on the market is the No7 BB Lips £9, I don't really know what they are supposed to do, but I kind of use this as a lip balm, I got the shade Ballerina, which is a delicate pink colour as the name would suggest so it kind of gives me the same effect as the Korres Butter, but slightly more thick and moisturising.

Hope you guys enjoyed seeing my ridiculous collection of nudes. Am I missing any important items?

Hello October by Suzie, because she has a great mix of beauty, fashion, and lifestyle, as a general rule I usually scroll past lifestyle posts, but never Suzie's.

Of course the wonderful Essie-Button by Estee, because she's such a loveable person, her personality is great, she's super bubbly and her Youtube channel is hilarious, she also has great recommendations and is really honest about products.


I Covet Thee by Alix, because she gives great detail about everything she posts on and her photography is always lovely and bright and pretty.

Lily Pebbles by Lily, because she is uber chic and always has random products that I would never hear about if it weren't for her, she always has everything first, she's amazing for hearing about stuff that isn't even available yet, so you know whether to bother putting it on your wish list or not. Her Youtube is also a favourite.


Milkteef by Emma, just another aesthetically pleasing blog that I can never manage to scroll past, always full to the brim with photos, which I love, and again a really honest and helpful blog.


Mouldy Fruit by Zara, for her wit, I love reading her posts, along with the great detail and reviews I always get a laugh from her posts.


Vivianna Does MakeUp by Anna, she is great for high end reviews when you really want to know if the product is worth your hard earned cash or not.


The Sunday Girl by Adrienne, purely for the sheer volume of posts, she posts numerous times a day, but they all have a real and interesting purpose which is what makes her great.


Last but certainly not least is GhostParties by Kate because she uses a lot of affordable and 'drugstore' products and always gives straightforward reviews whether they are positive or negative, I feel like I can trust in what she has to say.

If for any strange reason you might not be following any of these amazing ladies, please follow them, they are all very great and very useful and I promise that you shan't regret it =)

The only problem I have found with this product is one that seems to always be the case, the shades, this foundation actually only comes in 5 shades, all pretty light and pretty orange/pink toned which isn't great. I picked the lightest shade with is 15 Opal and seemed like the best bet, it is actually far too pink toned for me but with a tan or with a lighter shade concealer I can make it work.

It is a very thin cream texture, described as a gel-cream, it applies very smoothly its not greasy or sticky and soaks right into the skin leaving a matte finish (it states this is an excellent make up base).

The instructions say that it should be applied all over the face after cleansing twice a day for best results, I have to say that I haven't followed this advice perfectly as I have forgotten about this step in my routine quite a few times. I have however used it at least once a day since I got it and I can say that I really do think it has made a fantastic difference to my skin tone, I have had a lot of bad spots over the last few months which have left me with very red scarring all over my cheeks, these have dramatically faded since using this, I know it is down to this product as the only other new product I have been using is a cleanser which has no blemish curing properties.

It says that you can layer another moisturiser over this if you have very dry or dehydrated skin, I find this is enough to moisturise my skin (I have Oily/Combination blemish prone skin), but I have still been layering it with my mattifying daily moisturiser as I don't find this alone is mattifying for long enough.