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For years, I've applied my foundation with either a buffing brush, AKA the Real Techniques buffing brush / expert face brush, or a beauty blender. I've generally always preferred how quick these options blend my foundation seamlessly, and give a nice finish. A couple of weeks ago, when doing my makeup, I decided to shake things up a little and use something different- wild I know! 

I was sifting through my brushes and came across the Inglot 27TG, basically a large stippling brush. I'd not used this for a good couple of years. Stippling brushes had been all the rage in the early blogging days, however I'd always found that they didn't give me as much coverage and that's not what a gal with problematic skin wants. Nevertheless when I tried this, I was shook! It was blending quickly, giving me such good coverage and leaving a lovely finish. Since then, it's been the only brush I've been applying my foundation with, so definitely a new favourite for July! My only gripe with it is that it sometimes sheds and leaves little black hairs on my face. Other than that, i'm loving the stippling brush life. I feel so 2012. 

I graduated! After four years of University, it was finally time to graduate and move on to the next chapter in my life. It was a great day filled with smiles, lots of photos and a lil bit of nerves. Side note: the walking on stage was nowhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be, so if anyone else is graduating soon you really don't have to be nervous! So I thought i'd share a few photos of my day...
Here's a link to my dress which I got from ASOS (obvs): http://tidd.ly/7f03dda4

Not long after my June Birchbox post went live, my July Birchbox arrived and I could get excited over another box of beauty filled treats. So what's in the July Birchbox?






Balance Me Congested Skin Serum

I was very excited to see this in this months box. I don't know if its due to the hotter weather but my skin has not been behaving recently. So anything that claims to fight against spots i'm 100% down for trying. I've used it twice since getting it and i've not really noticed a difference yet, but i'll give it plenty of time. RRP= £16

Manna Kadar Long-Wear Powder in Paradise

This is supposedly multi-purpose, and can be used on the cheeks or the eyes. I'll most likely stick to the cheeks. Still... it looks a beautiful red toned powder with a gold shimmer. It reminds me of Nars Orgasm Blusher. RRP= £15

Eyeko Fat Eye Stick in Satin

Although I always think i'm going to love Eyeko products, i've tried a liquid eyeliner and one of their mascaras and wasn't overly impressed. I'm still excited to try this as so many people love Eyeko. Swatched... it looks like I could finally be on to a winner. RRP= £12

What's in it for me? Shower Scrub

At first glance, I thought this was This Works, the packaging is pretty similar. I wasn't overly excited to see this sitting in my birchbox but I am running pretty low on my usual Soap & Glory scrub, so it looks like it's going to come in handy after all.

Beauty Pro Eye Therapy Under Eye Mask

I've never tried these under eye masks but I see people using them everywhere! I always think they seem expensive for something that's single use, and does it even make much difference. I always save products like this for a special occasion but when a special occasion rolls around I still don't use them?? It's my graduation in a few days, maybe i'll try them then.... RRP= £4.95

A few days ago I received my June Birchbox, which was actually a 'Birchtin'- a beautiful blue and white flowery tin, a nod to the British tea party in celebration of Birchbox's 5th birthday in the UK. I love storage in general, storage that looks great is even better, so a huge first tickpoint for this birchbox.

The second thing I noticed when I opened the tin was the smell... that turned out to be 3 different tea blends from Whittard of Chelsea. If that was one of the 5 sample products I would have been slightly disappointed but there's 6, so it's a nice little extra. So, on to the actual products...

BalanceMe Pure Skin Face Wash

I'm actually really excited to try this, i've been running low on a number of my face washes and i've tried a couple of BalanceMe products before and really liked them. I've also been having a bad skin month, possibly due to the hot weather we've had in Britain, so i'm interested to see if this helps. RRP= £16

Polaar Velvety Sun Fluid Face & Body

A new SPF is always good to try in the summer, especially for the face. I always struggle to find one that drys quickly, isn't greasy, has great protection and doesn't break me out, so i'm interested to see how this fairs. RRP= £25


Number 4 Jour d'automne Smoothing Balm

Never heard a scooby about this brand before. The first thing I noticed was how similar the packaging is to The Ordinary. This claims to smooth and tame frizzy, unruly hair and i'm all about that. RRP= £24.50

Ella Eden Eyeshadow- Faith

This is the one full size product in this months birchbox. It's a pressed mineral eyeshadow and there was a choice of two shades. Of course I chose the bronze shade, i'm a sucker for a bronze eyeshadow. Definitely excited to put this to the test against my other favourite bronze eyeshadows. AKA- my bronze eyeshadow showdown post from 2015?!! RRP= £12.99

Benefit Porefessional Pearl Primer

The final product is a cute little sample of porefessional pearl primer. I've not tried this before and i'm interested to see how it differs from the original porefessional. I'm always on the look out for new primers, so this is handy. RRP= £27.50

Overall, i'm fairly impressed with this months box. I'm not blown away by it on first impressions but i'm hoping the products might blow me away. The major plus point for me is the tin- definitely going to be keeping it!