These four brushes have got to be my most used brushes in my whole kit. I feel that these brushes are just so essential in common everyday makeup. They were purchased as the Real Technique Core Set which I received for my 16th Birthday and I've used every single one of them since then. The buffing brush I use to buff out my highlight to make it more subtle for when I'm going to sixth form, I use the contour brush for my bronzing powder, because I have not yet purchased a fan brush I am using the foundation brush to apply my highlighter - which actually give me more control of where I want it, but less product, and lastly I use the detail brush for the small placed I apply my highlighter e.g. my cupids bow. I highly recommend purchasing this kit as its a great beginners kit for 'beating the face' by not having to faff around with buying different brushes for different parts of the face its very cost efficient and also very helpful.

Dirty Works Mini Brush Set
RRP:  £10

 This brush set was a set I received for Chrismas circa 2013. It came with a powder brush, lip brush, flat eyeshadow brush and an eyebrow brush/comb. I now only have the flat eyeshadow brush and lip brush as I have since lost the other three. Oops! Although these two brushes stay hidden at the bottom of my makeup bag, I do use the flat eyeshadow brush when I feel the need to wear a vibrant eye as it applies the product evenly and I'm also able to apply loads of product which comes out very pigmented (depending on the eyeshadow used...). I am not one to use a lip brush to apply lipstick, therefore this brush doesn't come into much use unless I want to create an ombre lip where I normally use this brush to combine the lip colours. When I received this it was cute to use around as a girly starter kit where you don't really know much about makeup so they thought they'd put these items together so girls could experiment with them - which I suppose was quite good at the time but I upgraded to buying other brushes.

Other Brushes
RRP: £2.99 - £5 each



 These are the othe brushes which I use, the concealer brush when I'm doing a face which consists of me highlighting with concealer, the smokey eye brush on a night where I may be going out and feel the need to do a bronze/gold smokey eye, the eyeshadow brush for blending out my smokey eye but my most important brush - Retractable Eyeliner Brush, this is the only brush I have and will ever use to apply my eyeliner simply because of the way the product applies with it and because of the pointed tip I am able to create the perfect wing which is part of my everyday signature look.

These are the only two face products that live in my makeup bag which both relate to each other in the way I apply them to my face. In the Maybelline Bronzing Powder it has an array of warm tones, the lightest of tones I use as a highlighter in the summer but underneath this I'd apply my Maybelline Baby Skin Pore Eraser, just to give it something to cling on to and not rub away as the day goes on, especially as I'm not wearing a base underneath e.g. foundation. I love using the Bronzing Powder for both my highlight purpose and also the bronzing aspect as it genuinely warms up my face and brightens my skin tone. Both these products are fantastic in their own way; I love the formula for the Maybelline primer and also the shimmer in the Maybelline Bronzing Powder as it isn't too much or too little.

Eyes
Maybelline Gel Eyeliner
RRP: £7.99
Avon superSHOCK Mascara
RRP: £5

These are my holy grail products that I swear by! I have been using the Maybelline Gel Eyeliner for 3/4 years now - yes it was a nightmare to start with but I eventually got the hang of it and knew how to use it properly - with practice comes patience especially with gel eyeliner you never know how much is too much and the more you use the darker it comes out, so the key to success would be to get the right brush (this did come with a brush but I haven't used it since I invested in my own - in my opinion it was way too thick to apply this eyeliner with anyway). As for this Avon Mascara I only recently got it about a month or so ago, so far it has made my eyelashes look so much longer and thicker with about 2 coats without giving a clumpy look. Because the wand is quite thick, it makes it so much easier to do my top lashes but a con would be that I am unable to do my lower lashes without getting mascara underneath my eye or stabbing myself in the eye!

Lips
Mac Lip Liner
RRP: £12.50
PS Love Lip Liner
RRP: £1

 At the moment these are the only two lip liners that I use, purely to mix with lipsticks as I'm not really a lip liner type of gal. I love my Mac Lip Liner in 'Chesnut' because its the brilliant lip liner which can mix with any of Mac's nude lipsticks and also their browns - which mixes nicely with my Taupe lipstick. I also have this PS Love lip liner which I bought from Primark when they first started to branch out their beauty products in my local Primark, I purchased this thinking that it would compliment my Mac lipstick in Taupe (mind you they never had any testers) because the packaging had a more nude look to it, then when I went to put it on with Taupe it came out with a more mauvey tone to it and Taupe has a brown undertone where they completely never complimented at all - so I stopped used it.

Mac Lipstick 'Taupe', 'Sin', 'All Fired Up'
RRP: £15.50 each

These are the three of the main Mac lipsticks which I keep in my current makeup bag, the others I stashed away in my stationary makeup bag. Of these three colours I love Sin, I tested it back in December and instantly fell in love with it only to buy it a month after and have loved it since I am the type of gal to wear this colour through all seasons no matter how dark it is! Taupe was the first and only nude I got from Mac as it doesn't really suite a WOC unless mixed with another lipstick or a dark lip liner, which is why I mix it with the Mac companion 'Chesnut' which I stated above. I also spoke about how Taupe has a brown undertone to it but in this image it appears to have a mauvey/pink undertone which it completely doesn't look like in person. All Fired Up is part of the Retro Matte collection, which I received for my birthday last year - I love this colour as it is a blend of red & pink meaning that it can go with near-enough any outfit in spring/summer. Oh yea.. did I mention that all of these lipsticks are matte?! I love me a matte lipstick, it is the only lipstick formula that I will use as I hate anything with a sheen to it.

Maybelline Coloursensational Lipstick
RRP: £6.99 - £7.99


These two are the only lipsticks that I own by Mayebelline. Lets get to business - the lipstick on the left - Coffee Craze - was one of the first nude lipsticks I bought & boy did I make a mistake with this choice! I purchased this after swatching it on my hand thinking, this is a suitable colour and opacity to wear to school without it looking too eye catching, the formula is all wrong for starts - sheen.. sheen.. really Katina? I bought a sheen lipstick and not only that but because of this is made the opacity so much lower, so when I swatched it on my hand it was suitable, when I applied it on my lips it was way too light for a WOC - I tried mixing it with something darker so it looked less silly but have since kept it because its a nice lipstick to mix with a very dark lip gloss. My favourite lipstick of the two - Divine Wine - my mum bought for me on the day I tested out 'Sin' at the Mac store as it's quite a similar shade of dark red - and matte! So from this day I wore Divine Wine religiously over the Christmas period, and then when I got some shmoney I decided I'd go and buy Sin and ever since then I've loved this lipstick as it was the perfect shade to wear over winter.

Carmex Lip Balm Tube
RRP: £2.50

This is the lip balm that sleeps religiously in my makeup bag, why not keep a Carmex amongst all those lipsticks and on a day I feel like not wearing lipstick I'm gonna have to moisturise my lips in some way, shape or form. Lip balm is always essential in any circumstance especially when you're away from home as I find myself licking my lips too much, on a day I don't have any lip balm - I get chapped lips, and its the worst! Always carry a handy, dandy lip balm with you♥


- GlamNoire♥ xoxo

Hey Guys!

This is GlamNoire, let me tell you guys a little bit about me and my blog.

My name is Katina, I am a full-time student from London, I'm 17 years of age and an aspiring beauty & fashion blogger. The reason behind me starting this blog is to get out there in the world of beauty/fashion at the moment, since I am now following current beauty and fashion trends so I'd like to do something other than stand in front of my mirror following these trends, but by also reviewing and getting my opinion across which my also influence others. Starting from the first week of June, my blog; GlamNoire will be up and running.

I have a twitter which is affiliated with my blog; @glamnoire_ and I also have a private instagram where I will allow followers, these are the only two platforms which I have where I can interact with my fellow audience.

My posts may become infrequent where I have hectic days of school, therefore I will aim to post atleast 4 times a week, and if I'm up to it then maybe 5 times a week.

Thank you guys, and welcome to GlamNoire!