Laura Mercier Creme Cheek Colour Brush - Review & Photo

Among all things beauty I like, I have a slight obsession for make-up brushes. 

This review is for one of the first make-up brushes I ever bought, a few years ago during a short trip to London. I got the Laura Mercier Creme Cheek Colour Brush as a gift. As you can see from the picture, the label has come off a bit, which also shows how much I have used and loved this brush!

 I got this as part of a set which included the Creme Cheek Colour Blush and the famous Tinted Moisturizer in Porcelain. I loved the blusher and finished it all up, so that's why I don't have it here to show you.

This brush was meant to be the ideal tool to apply the Laura Mercier cream blush, but over time I realized that it's a great multi-purpose brush. Its sheer size (short handle) makes it really convenient for travel too. Some people find short-handled make-up brushes annoying, but I don't, I guess it's because my hands are pretty small anyway.
This is absolutely brilliant with every kind of creamy products!!! I use it to apply liquid/cream foundation when I want to be precise (the bristles measure a bit more than 2cm, which is definitely less than a regular flat foundation brush like the MAC 190); cream blusher of course, and occasionally cream highlighter on the cheekbone. You really can't go wrong with this. 

It NEVER sheds, it is firm enough but the bristles feel very soft against the skin, and apart from the label, it still feels and looks like new after more than 2 years of use! 

Laura Mercier makes excellent brushes in general, which are quite expensive but totally worth purchasing. 

Give this a try! It has become a staple in my make-up kit.

Mac Lip Pencil in Subculture - Review, Photo, Swatches

Mac Lip Pencil in Subculture is a great pick if you, like me, are new to lip pencils. I've had this one for quite some time now, I got it at one of London's airports when I bought my first MAC lipstick, and the SA matched me to this colour for a naturally defined lip.

It comes in the classic MAC sleek black packaging and the price was in line with the other MAC products, although I got it for less (I think around £10) at the duty-free shop. This is how it looks like:

The colour is a pretty rosey brown with a slight peachy undertone that looks great on fair to light-medium complexions and lips with average natural pigmentation. You won't be able to see this if you're darker than NC/NW25, I guess. It's basically the same colour of my lips, so it works great to give that tiny little bit of definition that makes a difference, even if I'm only wearing lipbalm. Texture is creamy, but not excessively moist, so the staying power is really good. 
Here comes the swatch:

Here I'm suggesting 3 possible ways to wear Subculture for an everyday look:

1) Line your lips with Subculture, smudge the line towards the inside of the lip, then follow with lipbalm or clear lipgloss for a no-makeup look.

2) Line and fill in your lips with Subculture, which will give a light hint of colour and apply lipbalm or clear lipgloss over it. It will look like the most natural nude lipstick ever!

3) The slightly more polished version of this is achieved by wearing Subculture all over the lips as a base for a neutral lipstick. It will definitely help the lipstick stay on longer and it will make the colour look saturate. This is a great solution when you're sporting an intense smokey eye.

As a general rule, layering an appropriate amount of a matching lipliner will help your lipstick last longer and prevent it from bleeding and fading!