New In: BURST Studio Makeup Brush Set (15 Pieces)

Hi Ladies,

I shared a little snipped about this post yesterday - sharing is caring right so I'll jump right in (cause I'm that excited)!

15 Piece Synthetic Set with Round Brush Holder (SYN2) - R1 427.00 

available online (they ship nationwide within 48 hours)

If you're into doing any kind of makeup look, it's absolutely imperative that you invest in at least a few good brushes.  Trust me when I tell you that a good brush makes a difference to the overall look, tried and tested by me.  I applied an eye shadow from Stila with an essence brush and I had fallout with pigmentation that wasn't great, I then used one of the flat medium sized eye shadow brushes from BURST studio and achieved a true to pan color on my lid (winner!).  I'd even dare say that applying a less expensive eye shadow with good quality brushes will give you a better finish.

I've always been a huge fan and supporter of Sigma and MAC brushes, and the BURST studio brushes absolutely compare to both of these well known brands.  It is a synthetic brush set perfect for professionals, newbies or anyone that loves makeup and is looking for a performance driven product that is very affordable!  Although I would suggest getting the whole set, as it gives every single brush you will ever need to achieve any type of look, from a simple daytime look to full on glam, they do sell individual brushes too.  It certainly pays off in the long run because brushes lasts forever, as long as you look after them well by spot-cleaning and deep cleaning regularly, brushes can last you years and years.

Now I know most woman buy with their eyes first right?!  It's like eating with your eyes first - so packaging is something that is crucial to any brand.  The round brush holder is amazing, you can feel it's made from the highest quality and how fabulous is the pink stitching?!  Everything is better in pink.  It's very sturdy, it doesn't smell funny (yes weird comment to make I know but have you ever bought products and they have an awful smell to it especially the packaging?  It's not cute.), it's perfect for travelling and will keep all of your beautiful brushes in mint condition.  I actually had two DIY makeup holders, which I've now given away and swapped for this holder, I keep my face brushes in the one (foundation, blush etc.) and all eye shadow and lip brushes in the other, when we go on holiday I'll simply close the holder and voila.  Life made easy.

The bristles are very soft!  It's quite relaxing to use brushes when they just glide over your skin, and am sure it helps with even and easy application of makeup.  One thing I have to mention that I like about these that are totally different from any other brush I've used, is the matte brush handle!  Not only does it look very sleek, but I feel like I have better grip on the brushes, whereas a shiny handle feels like it could just slip out of my hand.  Very unique and I like that about them.

The 15 piece brush set contains the following brushes:

*  Foundation buffing brush

*  Flat foundation brush

*  Large powder brush

*  Slanted contouring/blusher brush

*  Concealer brush

*  Large and medium bread dome brushes

*  Angled eye shadow brush

*  Soft and dome blending brushes

*  Angled eyebrow defining brush

*  Pencil brush

*  Small square lipstick brush

*  Liquid liner brush

*  Mascara Wand

I don't know about you, but I tend to use brushes for different tasks than what they're suppose to be used for.  I think a better phrase would be that a lot of brushes can have multi-functions, so don't be bound by the "title" of a brush, for example the foundation buffing brush I actually like using as a face powder brush because I use a beauty blender for my foundation.  One of the brushes that I absolutely love and that is my top pick, is the concealer brush!  For ladies my age, you know that we struggle with that dreaded under eye wrinkle area, and you have to be careful with the type of concealer you use etc.  So it's almost an eternal struggle for me to find products that work that is almost crease free, I used the concealer brush with the LA Girl pro conceal, and I don't know what it is about this brush, but it buffs in the concealer beautifully without rubbing away product, and it kind of settles into my skin without enhancing the wrinkles!  It's my new favorite thing to do and big applause to BURST studio.

They claim that their product is cruelty free, but please see my policy on it.

I hope you'll have an amazing and blessed Sunday, and let me know if you give these makeup brushes a try!

* PR Sample *

Love,

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Petite/Pear Body Shape: How to wear White Jeans

Hi Girls,

I hope you've had an amazing week!

Today we're going over to my folks for a family braai and to watch the rugby of course, I'm not a die hard fan but it's hard not to get excited with everyone there you know, although I have managed to get the "I know exactly what that means" face down to a T (in reality I have no clue what this or that penalty is but don't tell anyone).  And - I received a really lovely package this week which I've photographed and am absolutely thrilled to share with you very soon!

Turquoise Top - Jay Jays   |   Denim Top - Mr Price   |   Jeans - Mr Price   |   Shoes - Mr Price   |   

Bag - Guess   |   Necklace - Fashion Express   |   Nails - OPI in Strawberry Margarita

Foundation:  MAC in NW20   |   Eye Lashes:  Eylure in Lengthening

**Only listing the two main products that I wanted featured in this look but let me know

if you'd like information on another product I used **

People are normally surprised by my height, as I tend to wear high heels most of the time and seem to be taller than I am, but in reality I'm only 1.62 cm or for my overseas readers 5ft4in (technically it's 5ft3in + something).  I wouldn't say that there's a lot of limitations on dressing as a pear shaped petite woman, as long as you always keep portion in mind you can wear anything (yes, that means you can pull off wearing skinnys with cute flats without looking chunky).  Hopefully I'll debunk a lot of myths you may have read/heard about our body shape!

Okay, so how do you know you're pear shaped?  It's quite simple, your hips are wider than your shoulders. For example, my measurements approx. is bust 86cm and hips 103cm.  You can see there's a huge difference between my bust and hips, and it's easy to see I carry most of my weight around my bum, hips and thighs.  

I'll be doing a series of outfit posts on my blog, especially catered to women of my shape and length, hopefully you'll find inspiration and ideas.  This outfit isn't groundbreaking at all!  It's very simple, but I wanted to show you a basic outfit that you can spruce up, because hitting the nail on the head with any outfit starts with getting the basics right first.

The most common thing you'll hear or read in magazines for my body shape, is to buy jeans in a dark color, and go for a bootleg cut.  And although those are great and flattering items to have in your closet, you can absolutely wear skinny jeans in a light color such as white.  These jeans paired with high heels (with a skinny heel that elongates and adds length instead of a chunky heel which can add chunk to your junk lol), and a long flowy top that covers most of my bum and thighs - I've gone for tight on top and flowy at the bottom which is the perfect balance and keep that in mind when doing a look like this.

These items are fab to add to a basic outfit like this, you can definitely change it up so I hope these give you an idea of where you can take this outfit, and I think that it's a great look for so many different occasions, from a casual movie/lunch date to casual fridays at work:

** None of these images are mine, I have linked the source **

I hope you enjoyed this post.

Have a fab weekend everyone!

Love,

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My Favorite Summer Lip Products

Hi Dolls,

A lot of times I've convinced myself that lip products must be my favorite because I just have so many of them, but then I quickly turn around and realize but wait a minute, I love eye shadows, blushes and everything else just as much.  I've just come to realize that I have a problem with makeup in general lol, so having to pick out my favorite lippies for summer was quite a task, but I have to say I'm quite happy with my selection and I hope you find new ones you like.

Essence in 08 Colour Crush (Dischem / Clicks)

Catrice in 200 Get the Nudes Paper (Dischem / Clicks)

Farmasi in 05 (Farmasi)

Lipsticks:

I know you might be shaking your head thinking how is it possible that there's not one MAC lipstick as that is normally a cult favorite right?  Unfortunately all my MAC ones are too nude for me especially for summer, so I'm definitely looking for one that makes me look alive and I like the Kylie Jenner look (twig perhaps)?  Anyway, getting on with my current favorites I have three brands people normally don't associate with awesome lipsticks, but let me tell you, they are all awesome!

Essence lipsticks for me is the MAC drugstore version, they're very buttery and nourishing, the pigmentation isn't always on point but it's buildable, whereas I feel Catrice has amazing pigmentation.  A brand you may not be familiar with is a Turkish brand called Farmasi, if you're looking for an approved halal cosmetics brand Farmasi is for you.  These are definitely my favorite colors, they go with most of my looks in summer, whether it's a colorful eye, browns and coppers or a smokey eye.  If you're a bit of a novice when it comes to bright lip colors, this Essense one is actually great, because one swipe of this gives you a lovely pink (it's not as bright on lips) so you can ease yourself into brighter colors.

NYX Xtreme Shine Lip Cream in Natural (Not sure if Clicks stocks this)

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Istanbul (Clicks)

NYX Butter Gloss in Creme Brulee (Not available in SA yet)

Kardashian Beauty Lip Plumping Gloss in Beige Nude (Stuttafords)

NYX Butter Gloss in Eclair (Not available in SA yet)

Lipglosses and Lip Creams:

Although I do love a good lipstick, which I normally wear in the mornings, admittedly during the day I just top it off with lipglosses and / or lip creams, it's just so much easier, and one thing I barely use are lip liners.  I have quite full lips already, and I always feel a bit clownish with lip pencils as they accentuate full lips too much (in my opinion of course).

If you live in South Africa you know that NYX butter glosses is not available here (goodness knows why), and about a month or so ago Clicks had this amazing deal where you got a lip product pack for free which includes a butter gloss if you bought goodies for R250.00.  I managed to snatch up 3 packs because I've been lusting over these for a good year, I'm obsessed with youtube video's and one of my favorites ciaoobelllaxo uses these all the time, and I see why.  Both Eclair and Creme Brulee gives the most beautiful color and sheen, it's perfect, and it smells like candy (yes please)!  I do use these sparingly but hopefully NYX South Africa wakes up and realizes how popular these beauties will be here.

I also wanted to mention the Kardashian Beauty lipgloss, I got this for my birthday last year from my lovely husband - btw my birthday is in a months time again yayyy - anyway, this gloss smells incredible!  It's a beautiful honey scent and the color is so pretty, it's a golden nude with just the right amount of sparkle in it, I can't comment on whether it plumps up lips but it gives that nice minty cool feeling.  Kardashian glow baby! And look at the size of that wand compared to a butter gloss wand, it's huge, but it's perfect in the sense that if you have full lips like me, you don't even need a mirror to apply it.

I hope you enjoyed my favorites and the swatches and that you perhaps find a new lippie for summer!

Have a fab day!

Love,

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This is not goodbye ...

Hello all my Pretty Friends!

It's been forever since I last posted, and it's a bittersweet post to do.  

I'm not going to end my blog giving reasons why I'm not blogging anymore, instead I wanted to leave you with these thoughts:

~  A huge thank you to each and every follower, thanks so much for subscribing, thanks for reading and commenting.  Realize YOU were the ones that helped me get some amazing opportunities!  Also, on those lazy Sundays when I wanted to do nothing, you kept on crawling around in my heart pinching me to blog because you had to read something LoL ;P 

~  To all the brands and PR agencies I worked with, thank you for collaborating with me, as much as I enjoyed giving exposure to well deserving cruelty free brands, I came across people who are fantastic and super nice!  Thank you for spoiling me and giving me the chance to review and try so many products.  

~  To all my fellow bloggers, keep up the good work.  I salute you because blogging ain't for sissies okay!  Just remember always be YOU!  It's easy to get distracted by what other people are doing, but remember that no one else can do you as good as you can **phewww now that was a mouthful**.

I'm not disappearing from the face of the earth, so if you'd like to keep in touch pop me a mail on dressedinthecity@yahoo.co.za, we can become facebook friends (not posting my details here but I'll give it to you on email), follow me on twitter...I'm also keeping my Dressed in the City facebook page open, so if you'd like to see on the spot reviews (stock photos will be used mostly), then do remember to like. 

My blog won't be closed down for obvious reasons, I'm surprised that I'm still getting loads of traffic so thanks for still popping by, my blog might change back to blogspot soon, not sure what the address will be but you'll be able to find me on blogspot.

If there is one thing I'd like to leave you with mostly, is to get off the internet more and spend time doing other things ~ and this is applicable to me too!  Read a book, learn a new hobby, play with your furries, do something for someone else that is entirely selfless (do some work at animal shelters, orphanages or even old age homes), enjoy a cuppa of whatever takes your fancy and listen to some music, just sit and do nothing.

I can't tell you that your life will be perfect or go exactly as you've planned, just believe and know that after each rainy season, there is a rainbow, and in the end, you WILL be okay.
All you have is NOW.  So make it count.
It's never too late to be who you want to be or want to do.
Life is made out of memories not things.
Above all, life is precious.
Go out there ~ be kind to animals and people!  Inspire.  Dream.  Make it happen.  Be brave.  Love.  Then dream some more..

Love Always
xoxo

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