Sunday 31 January 2016

Product review: Winsor and Newton - Brushmarkers

You guys know that markers are my life! I have another set here today to show you the newly created markers by Winsor and Newton. 



My brief marker history:

I have been using alcohol based markers for three years now. I started off with Letraset's promarkers then progressed onto buying Copic ciaos in 2015. I also bought the inexpensive finecolour markers in 2015. As of early 2016 I have bought Brushmarkers by the fabulous Winsor and Newton. 

Quick overview of the product:

What are they?

These are alcohol based markers with a similar design to promarkers. They were created by the well known artist brand Winsor and Newton who have released a whole new series of markers including an update of the promarkers and all new Winsor and Newton's "pigment marker". 

Pricey?

These markers are new from Winsor and Newton so they are bound to be pricey. There's always the smart way with price and then the "I don't know how to look for bargains" way. I bought these markers as a skin tone set from the online art store Cowling and Wilcox that do amazing prices and probably the cheapest on the net. Promarkers are currently a pound each on sale. Shocking right? I bought these for £7.95 which I thought was great since from Winsor and Newton's website each pen is £2.50.

Good features:
  • Dual ended - Chisel and brush nib (BRUSHmarkers)
  • 72 colours available - Just like the Copic set A's and B's 
  • Blendable
  • High quality pigment 
  • Reasonable price 
Things needed to make them work:

  • Bleedproof paper or smooth card paper
  • Quality fineliners (I recommend; Pilot G-tec C4, Unipin fineliners and Pigma Micron) 


My honest opinion:

Copic have competition. These markers absolutely kill the game. You could colour with copics next to them and not tell the difference. For many, the reason why Copic was seen as better than promarker was because it had a brush nib. Well, clever Winsor and Newton mirrored the promarker look for all those promarker lovers out there (GUILTY) and added a brush tip to those complaining. Now, with excellent pigment, a brush tip, a flawless design and a flawless price - What's Copic again? The only thing Copic has over these babies is that they refill however let me tell you the truth about refills. One Copic refill costs around £4-£6. I hate looking at that price just for refills so I just don't. Most of my Copic skin tones are gone so I plan to buy new ones, I prefer that over refills.




To conclude, this has been added to one of my favourites. They are just amazing and Copic really do have some competition. Thank you for reading and I hope all artists reading get inspired to buy these!

Lauren x




Blog update

Hey everyone, it's been a while hasn't it... I've been away for the whole of January trying to plan 2016. So here's what I came up with.

  • I'll be blogging once a week - If I blog more than once a week it'll honestly just be a lucky day. It's all I can cope with as i'm preparing for summer exams. I didn't like the fact of completely neglecting my blog until August so I decided to do the best I can and blog once or twice a week. 
  • I'm preparing for Youtube - Those of you who read my blog updates will know that I have been saying I was going to start Youtube for about 2 years now. The problem was with inadequate material and just a front camera iPod, I wasn't getting the quality I wanted so I pulled out. This year someone special has agreed to help me save towards getting a great camera, some lights and it'll soon be action! 
  • My Art is taking a strange turn - You guys may see that I'm posting less art. To be honest it is really because I have no idea what is going on. I only draw if I have time on weekends now, so that has drastically contributed. Also I find myself thinking ages before I can get anything down on paper which just isn't good. A weird case of drawers block. 
So just stay around and keep watch for my posts, to be the first to see them you can subscribe to get an email feed, follow on Bloglovin, Join an amazing blogging group created by me: Beau Bloggers to see the greatest blog posts from awesome bloggers and also to see my posts first. You can find these all on the right side of my blog. 

Lauren x


Sunday 3 January 2016

Beauty Haul

Happy Belated New year! So you're probably wondering where I was all Christmas, I went to Ghana for Christmas so I couldn't post but I'm back with loads of ideas and posts that I can't wait to write! Today I'm going to be doing a big haul based on  beauty, I bought loads of stuff in Ghana and before I went, so lets get started.

1. B. Beauty blender - £3.99 @ Superdrug



I'm in love with this thing! Everybody goes on about real techniques but if you're looking for a cheaper option this could really help. It is a really good blending tool, I use this to get an even amount of foundation and concealer on my face! It also works best if you add a little water to the tip especially if you are trying to work with thick substances like La Girl Pro concealer.

2. Superdrug Foundation Brush - £2.99 @ Superdrug


Both this and the beauty blender are used to apply foundation. Firstly I use this brush to dot the foundation all over my face, it avoids the messy fingers. and then I blend it out with the beauty blender. This was worth it's price and the bristles are also soft but if I didn't have it I could still cope with just the beauty blender. 

3. MUA Mascara - £2.99 @ Superdrug


This mascara slays, I didn't take a picture but the brush is slightly curved and that helps with extending lashes even further. I like MUA cosmetics because of their appearance. Their cheap but they don't look it.

4. Revolution Eyeshadow "redemption" palette - £4.99 @ Superdrug


I love the colours in this, I saw myself using every single one so I ended up buying it. I have used it before and it's honestly quite nice. 

5. MUA Eyeshadow "Undress me too" - £3.99 @ Superdrug


I love the idea of sparkle when it comes to eye makeup, it makes your eyes pop and draw attention. And all the eye shadows here do a great job at that. They are all compatible with each other which is good for smokey eyes, cut creases and so on. All the palettes come with that applicator but I find them useless.
6. MUA Primer - £2.99 @ Superdrug



I really like this primer, i've been wearing this with and without makeup. Wearing it helps bring less creasing and just makes all the makeuo feel smoother. I use this all over my face but for my eye shadow I prime with LA girl pro concealer for a base.

7. LA Girl Pro concealer - £3.99 @ My local black hair shop


So, I go on about it so much... what's the hype? It's my favourite makeup item I've purchased this whole year. I absolutely love it, it's awesome. It's used to highlight and contour. Beautiful Bronze is the colour I used to Highlight and I use dark brown eye shadow to contour, I'm looking to buy a cream contour and highlight palette so if any of you know any good one, please comment below. I'm also going to buy a darker shade of this for my contour and see how it works, I have two and so far they're amazing. 

That's it for now! I'm still using most of the same products, so to see the regulars in my makeup bag see this post: http://loveheartdoodles.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/whats-in-my-makeup-bag.html

Thank you for reading, Lauren x

Song of the day; Kwamz and Flava - What should I do to you