Two genders Two Tails

It’s like this really I’m going have a couple paragraph about my past and chat a bit of crap then go onto what I’m using then talk about the brushes that I’m using now… So here goes!

Blackpool out for the first time looking overweight and just wrong

2014, I’ve just accepted into learning about myself people not knowing blah blah blah to where I discovered joblots on eBay and went mental, unknowing to what blending is and what shades of foundations are for my skin... Like what the balls is bronzer anyway! Think I used bronzer for all of my face once for a for a laugh… it didn’t work out well. I was using fingers and little buds you get with eye shadow pallets, using blues looking like a prostitute that didn’t have a clue. I was using Foundations that is the same colour as my concealer now to cover my stubble and believe folks it is dark. Over the years I built up a collection, not as big as others, room in my tiny flat is an issue.

Wigs!! People love wigs… If you was me and bought a fancy dress £7 one and looked like a lad in drag round Blackpool on a night out… or during the day! Yes, I looked hideous and could of got so much worse if I went out in the world, luckily I realised how much of a bellend I looked! I knew pretty quickly then and purchased a better wig which you could use hair straighteners with and that changed everything… just not how I did my makeup. Within the same year… and a trip round Blackpool to realise (how the hell my friend with me at the time is still my friend now) how much I needed to develop how I looked and develop quickly!

One year between them year between them!

My makeup quickly went from crappy foundations you find on eBay and my local Post Office. Anyway, it went to Avon… okay, not the best but from there to Max Factor where my look really changed and set me on a path to where I am now... well-ish. But it went to MAC, Estee Lauder and now NYX… yes NYX!

I bet your thinking how the hell you go from a £40 bottle of one of the best foundations… A flagship foundation to a £7 plastic tube from NYX? The Answer is because it stays on my face when I get hot and stays there! From contouring, eye shadow everything has changed, and now pretty much use high-end makeup from Kat Von D, YSL to Anastasia Beverly Hills, with mascara it’s been an uphill battle as you don’t get along shelf-life with this and I think the best up to now has been Paradise by L’Oreal.

Over the last couple of year’s brushes has been a big thing for me. I feel that they make a massive difference… Even though I feel I am still bad at makeup, sometimes I go back in time and think what the hell was thinking! I started off with the same old bush sets from China you know like the 35 piece set for like £5 where you wait 3 weeks to receive them and as soon as they touch your face they would just disintegrate. I think I managed to have 5 that survived after the first use… Think I spent more time finding out what they were used for than actually using the bushes!

This is just used as an example

Anyway, after that I headed to Body Shop and bought my first set of at the time I think was expensive brushes. I think you got 5 for £50 and they are I think as standalone brushes pretty much similar pricing too high-end brands like MAC, KVD to name a couple. But after three and a half years they are still going and are still used, to be honest, but soon to be retired. They are animal cruelty-free and synthetic hair. I got some No.7 from Boots and they were just well crap. They hurt when using and always used to bring my foundation off. I will always say 2016 was my best year to date for confidence to how I did my makeup and it was the Body Shop brushes that created the looks. Unfortunately when you start to enjoy something you learn more about different brands! Considering I lived with my dad (still do), have a full-time job and don’t drive! The extra money drives you to want more and try different stuff, and it became very addictive which isn’t like me.

Body Shop, No.7 (gold brushes) and the random kabuki brush in the middle (oldest brush I have)

In 2016, I went to Scotland but I was also a mission to search for better brushes as I felt I couldn’t get on with any other brand than Body Shop. I came across Laura Gellar brush set and they are pretty cute as they come in a bag and they are pretty good brushes. However! They still were lacking what I wanted and wasn’t great at blending and through 2017 to most of 2018 which I didn’t present much as female and practising making up just didn’t really happen.

Makeup brushes have been a massive talking point for years on a makeup group I’m in. I created arguments which got nasty and out of hand so many times. My lives were even flooded with debates between the two bands. The brands are Spectrum Collection and Morphe. They were always neck and neck on votes. One would win one week then the other next week.

Many people would say the Spectrum look amazing but the Morphe was better for applying makeup, some would say Morphe was just better etc and Spectrum vice versa. I think both brands are pretty young. I think Morphe was created in 2008 and Spectrum was founded 5 years ago.

Fast forward to 21^st October 2018 was the day my mind was made up on which brushes to buy… It was Spectrum. I went to Professional Beauty North, where I went to see what the whole beauty convention was about and would be a good eye opener for me, to which it didn’t disappoint. There is nice dark to light story here which I might write about on a different post.

My outfit for the Convention, I have no idea how to wear a beret.

In black and white Professional Beauty North convention for businesses that work in the beauty industry and bloggers alike to name only the tip of it. I met up with a friend for an hour or two which she was a modal for one of the companies, which then I was on my own… to where I spent more money than I should... Then I came across the Spectrum Stand. I only knew one thing which was basically two sisters made brushes in a shed to where they expanded etc and that was it. I remember speaking to a girl that had a great smile and seemed nice and down to earth, not thinking it was one of the founders (Hannah) of Spectrum. Was only till I mentioned about brushes and the only thing I knew about the brand. Hannah went “that’s us!” and pointed to her sister Sophie.

I went into the booth looked at the brushes as the booth went quiet briefly so I had Hannah and Sophie going through the collections they brought with them… If I had my job at that time I think I would have bankrupted myself. So I bought my first ever brush set from Spectrum Collections and I way overspent on my budget like double buying these! To be honest, even though I overspent two things happened that day. I met the owners of Spectrum who are awesome! It also ended the two years of “Battle of The Brushes“.

I really didn't like my look, was a new wig and my makeup melted on my forehead

I’ve managed to use the brushes a good few times and I love them, they blend like a dream, don’t hurt my face when I’ve messed up and had to try again, I  feel it didn't overspend I don't think I would be have been happier with my current brushes. I feel with the Body Shop I have had to use force and put more effort into using the brushes but also use more product, with the Brushes from Spectrum I have never had an issue with. I always look forward to using them also…

And the best part is! Being at Professional Beauty North was just the beginning and as said before I hope soon I will be able to tell you more to why!

Absence

I’ve had many e-mails and messages over social media with people asking about my transition and where I am with it and have I progressed? I would just like to reassure you I will be writing more posts soon. 2018 was very brutal and a very busy year. The last six months have been a roller-coaster for me, to where at one point I fell quickly to almost rock bottom, every time I would try to get up I was being kicked down to where at one point I really felt I was about a week away to just ending my own life. Now I am rebuilding I can say a lot has happened and I will be talking about most of it over various topics such as my transition, jobs, mental health (depression, anxiety, and suicide), and a side project. I hope something else will continue on from this post, but that I cannot say anything about yet, I will need help from some special people for it.

Thanks for reading see you guys soon.