The Age Old Question : Do I invest in Makeup or in Makeup tools and brushes?

This is a wonderful mooting point to ponder over but nonetheless a concern for the self indulged and aware makeup addict. It's difficult to choose between good quality makeup products or good quality tools to apply that makeup, which is a very real issue as neither are sold in Poundland so finding a compromise can be tricky.

Nonetheless I will do my best to explain my stance on this as best as I can, and as much as I hate to admit it, my answer is not able to be a direct 'Always invest in good quality makeup over brushes' or 'Always invest in good brushes over good makeup' but I'll do my best to not give a wishy washy politicians answer.

So, I'm going to use an analogy now, and the best I can think of is soup. There is method to this I promise. Imagine you are planning to cook a tomato soup. and you have a set budget to make a batch. The money is not enough to allow you to buy the tip top rainbow dazzle organic juicy tomato's and the super duper whizzy stainless steel blender, so some strategy may have to be used, after some thought, the following options you have are:

1. Use the finest tomatoes known to man, but have no money left for a blender, so you resort to having to use a potato masher to make your soup - the result being lumpy, weird thing in a bowl that isn't really soup at all.

2. Use mid range tomatoes, and a budget blender, the motor burns out on the blender, but the soup is just fine, nothing to write home about.

3. Use the super duper whizzy stainless steel blender and tomatoes from the reduced section which have a green fuzz forming over them and an unidentifiable oozing - the result being moldy soup

I think that was rather a long winded way of getting out what I wanted to say. But ultimately it's illustrating that you'd be better off buying less makeup, and less brushes and only middle price/quality versions of both, rather than a spectacular set of brushes with crummy makeup, or splashing out on Lancome eyeshadow quads and then having to use your fingers to apply a smokey eye.
To me, there just is no one without the other, there is no investing in one and neglecting the other. If you need makeup, you need tools to apply it too.

So if someone were to say to me 'should I invest in Makeup or in brushes?' I would say, if you can only have one, save your money and invest in neither!

The best part of this whole thing, is that, we really don't need to choose anymore. We have such a lot of low-mid range choice in both products and brushes.
For super bargain makeup tools I'd recommend looking for shops on Ebay and Amazon, (check the feedback and reviews first)
or Models Own
or Eco Tools
or E.L.F

For super bargain makeup I'd recommend
MUA (The undress me palette and highlighting powder are particularly good
Sleek (Highly pigmented eyeshadows and blushers
Revlon (Top quality foundations and lip products)

Makeup shoppers on a budget (and lets face it, who isn't?) might find it useful to hop back to yesterdays post where I divulge the four, yes, just four essential brushes in every kit. I think most 'normal' makeup users can be pretty much satisfied with just those four, which makes compromising between cosmetics or tools that much easier.

Revlon 24 hour Colourstay - does it really last for 24 hours? Photo results!

I recently purchased the Revlon 24 hour Colourstay foundation in the shade Buff which is second to lightest.

I of course bought the formulation for oily skin and went home with mid expectations about what it may be like, I wasn't expecting 24 hours but I was hoping for something close!
I wasn't dissapointed.
The foundations coverage is medium to heavy, I only need to apply one layer and at first I was using a flat foundation brush but ended up using a stippling brush which I think gives a much more even effect, no brushstrokes and a more flawless finish.
I put my foundation through it's paces, not to mention the fact that is slips and slides all over my face, I'm also a eye rubber, a sweater, a face toucher etc
I'm taken aback as it's really stood the test of time.

Here is how my foundation looked at 8.30am

This is how my skin looked at 11pm the same today (I'm in my pink pjs!)

 Here's a photographic comparison of my skin at 11pm with the foundation (right picture) and without the foundation once I had washed my face (left picture) So this is about fifteen hours of wear, that's not just sitting in one place all day it includes going to classes, going shopping and all that.

I think you can see why I'm persuaded, this has 100% replaced my MAC Studio Fix foundation, this lasts much longer and applies nicer, plus I think the colour shade is more accurate to my skin tone. You can see my blush and bronzer has all but worn off but my foundation is still sticking around!

This is my absolute new foundation favourite, I hope that it never gets discontinued! If it does I will stock up about six bottles of this!

Shopping Makeup Haul - Drugstore - Boots & Superdrug

I do not like referring to some makeup brands as 'drugstore' since we don't call them that here in England, but I don't know what the British equivalent word is?
Anywho, this is a little summary of the delicious makeup treats I got yesterday:

 Okay:
Rimmel Exaggerate Lip Liner in shade 063 East End Snob

Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil in shade 002 Hazel
Rimmel Apocalips lip lacquer in shade Celestial

Rimmel Scandaleyes mascara which was a free gift for spending over £10 on Rimmel
3 Revlon lip butters in shades:

Sorbet
Sugar Frosting

Cotton Candy

A Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in shade 001 Honey Douce

Revlon 24 hour colour stay foundation in shade Buff which is the second lightest shade!

I'm really excited to try them out, and for my lips to be all pretty pink!

Then I nipped into Forever 21 just to check that I hadn't missed anything and I saw this mint shirt which I saw in another branch of Forever 21 which I loved but it was too small, then my eye saw this hanging by itself and it fit perfectly! It was the last one too, so it was a mint-shirt-fate!

 I also randomly got a new pair of 'summer jeans' since summers days here are often not very warm so I can still wear jeans pretty often, but they are paler than my other pair of jeans so more appropriate for sunny days! They are also a little stretchy so comfier than normal jeans. This is my first ever pair of Forever 21 jeans and I'm very impressed I have to say, I'm wearing them right now.

That's my little shopping break, now back to studying...