This post is something I've been meaning to put up earlier, but posting it now makes it actually more valuable for you because I've had the time to use these products and I can share my experince with you rather than showing cute things I got. 

So if you are thinking of getting cruelty-free makeup tools, keep on reading!

Above you can see my latest haul of beauty tools. I needed to update my beauty tools because I'm guilty of owning cheap China brushes and I thought it's time for me to stand stronger behind my cruelty-free values and invest in brands that make appropriate products. 

First up there's hair spray from Paul Mitchell, called Extra-Body Finishing Spray. Paul Mitchell is a brand that to my knowledge is cruelty-free and largely vegan friendly  as well. They make professional-quality products and while that comes with a pricier label, I happily pay that for cruelty-free things. Also, I've loved their Super Skinny Serum for my after wash leave-in treatment so I figured I should try more from them. 

This spray is nice, it keeps the hair in place decently well even with not that much products, it smells quite good and it doesn't make the hair too crispy, if you get what I mean. I only need a very Basic hair spray if any, so I'm not the best to review hair sprays, but for my needs, this one fits perfectly.  

Next up is Shade & Swap from W7. This one is the tool you use when you want to switch colors when doing your makeup without having to full on wash the brush. This is vital for me even though I have a decent amount of brushes, because you know how I use colors when I do my looks. This makes the process easier but doesn't of course remove the necessity of washing your tools to avoid spreading bacteria and such everywhere. (Speaking of washing the brushes, Solid Brush Cleaner by xoBeauty is the best one I've tried out so far!)

But for making the between the look cleanup easier, this kind of tool is great! You just swirl your brush there a few times and then get on with another color. Also I think you can and should wash the sponge at times, I've at least soaped and rinsed mine when it starts to get dirty just to keep things sanitary.

The next thing is Brush Crush Contour Brush by Real Techniques. I can honestly admit 90% of my decision to buy this was based on the look of the brush. I mean after knowing RT is a cruelty-free brand of course. Just look at the pretty glitter handle! Isn't it irresistible? This brush is more than pretty though, I've been using it for my contour/bronzing for about two months now, and based on no one bad-mouthing my looks, it does a good job. It's thin and firm enough to do most of your face, and since my nose contour is not too detailed, I can do even that with this brush. So far I've only used it with powders, so I can't tell you if it works with creams and liquids or not but there might be other reviews on that if you google with the brush name. 

From the same line, I got this instagrammably cute diamond sponge. Now, this works like any other sponge from similar price range, so unless cute is what you go for, you don't necessarily need exactly this one. I can admit buying this for the cuteness. For sure. But it is a nice sponge, and makes a cute prop for makeup flatlays and other pics. 

Next is the Eye Smudge set from Real Techniques. This comes with two different sized smudging brushes and a sharpener, and I believe this is designed especially for creating smokey eye with kajal pencil. I however have used these to darken the outer "V" of my eye and adding light colors to my inner corners. The firm tips are good for packing as well as smudging so I'd say these are multi-purpose ones. Feel free to disagree if you must. I also love the purple and black design, that's very appropriate to my color schemes.

With the same purple design, I found this starter set for eye makeup. It has five brushes and a multipurpose sleeve for them. While the sleeve was quite trivial, I find it could be useful for traveling, especially since it fits more than the five brushes it comes with - as long as they are somewhat same size as these ones. I've been using all but the thinnest one a lot for the past couple of months and washed them many times, and they're still as good as new and I can create flawless eye looks with them (and with couple of other RT brushes). Below you can see the other was to wear the sleeve with the brushes, but like I mentioned, it's not really revolutionary in case you have a travel case for the brushes already. The brushes however are something I'd strongly recommend, so if you can get a hold of Real Techniques tools, try them out. I don't believe you'll be disappointed!

What are your favorite makeup tools? Share them in the comments!

That's it for today, and I can say that today I'm so so excited because tomorrow I'm going to see Amaranthe once again and even though I'll be dead at work on Friday, it'll be worth it. This will get deep but when Linkin Park's Chester died, I swore to myself that if a band makes me as happy as they have, I need to go see them whenever I can since you never know when comes the time you really can't for whatever reason, and then you'll regret not going when you could've. And I don't want to live in regret when it comes to music. Or at all, really. So you may be getting festival content on Insta whole night tomorrow (18th July, from 6pm Finnish time). If you're not already following me there, you can find me as @silvertigo, I do post things daily, rock chic outfits, alternative beauty and more. As for the blog, I'll post again on Friday. The post is written and scheduled already so even if I fell asleep the second I get home from work, you'll still get the content. (See, I told you I'd use my vacation to get ahead with the posts, and I'm delivering.) I'll see you in the next post, on Friday.

Have a lovely day ♥