Leather jacket lovin'

I've never really seen myself as a leather jacket kinda gal.  My style has always tended to swing backwards and forwards from the preppy, country side of things towards the more monochrome, chic look.  I just didn't think I could pull off the whole rock 'n 'roll vibe a studded black piece gives off - but a couple of weeks ago whilst I was browsing Ebay I spotted this white jacket.  It was an absolute bargain, and I thought it'd be a great way to see whether I'd get the use out of one...

Topshop don't currently stock an identical style, but this one looks to be fairly similar.
  I believe this was around £160 new in the spring, but I managed to get it for £30 on Ebay
(and I had a £10 Nectar coupon so it was technically only £20)!

Turns out, I'm absolutely in love.  If my student loan allowed me, I'd be placing a Topshop order for a black one tonight - it's the most comfortable, lightweight yet windproof piece of outerwear I own!  I did use up almost an entire can of leather protect spray on it (because it drizzles constantly where I live now!)  The leather is seriously soft, and the colour itself is more of a bone/off white shade.  My uni wardrobe mainly consists of dark, monochrome shades with the odd cute blouse thrown in and I've found that it goes with practically anything.  My Mum even tried it on when she came up to visit this weekend, and tried to make off with it!  The one downside is that although it hasn't picked up any real dirt stains, colour transfer from darker coloured jeans and tops has happened - but this is easily fixed with a leather conditioning wipe (I've filched a pack from home which we'd normally use on the sofa/car seats).  All in all, I'm chuffed to bits!

xxx

Bargain brushes...

A few months ago, I was having a little mooch around the brush department on Ebay.  I was looking for someone selling the Real Techniques contour brush, as it's only available in the Core Collection and didn't need the entire set.  However, most sellers were charging above and beyond and I would've given up had I not stumbled across this seller.  They had a huge variety of brushes on offer, and for only a few pounds!

The brushes look very similar to the Real Techniques ones, but aren't complete knock offs (or I wouldn't have been comfortable purchasing them) - but they do have very similar synthetic fibres and the coloured aluminium handles.  I found one that looked as if it would be good for contouring, as it was tapered - No.1 from this listing.  I also ordered No.2 from this listing, as it looked similar to the 'Expert Face Brush' and I thought it might come in handy for blending in foundation.

They both arrived in a couple of weeks, and before getting them near my face I gave them a really good wash.  They smelt rather plasticky, but after a few weeks use that wore off completely.  Both brushes are actually great though!  I've been using No.1 for it's intended purpose - contouring - but I've found that No.2 is amazing for applying cream/liquid blush.  I've been using it with Daniel Sandler's watercolour blush, and it works a treat!  If you want a brush to use exclusively with his blushes, but don't want to buy another £10 brush, it's definitely worth checking out.  They also wash very well, with no shedding, and are super soft.

The contouring brush (No.1) is on the right, hopefully you can see how it tapers.
No.2 is almost a hybrid of the 'Expert Face Brush' and the 'Buffing Brush' by Real Techniques.

Overall, I'm super impressed with these and for about £3.50 for the two how can you go wrong?!  (Also, having just revisited the page I've gone and popped the duo fibre brush in my basket - oops!) 

xxx