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Showing posts with label Holiday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holiday. Show all posts
The moment I saw this brush set on Sephora.com, I knew I had to have it! Almost everything about it was unique and unlike any other brush sets that I already own. I loved how there were no separate ferrules on these brushes and instead the handle was one solid peace of beautiful gold metal (or so I thought...)
I also loved the shape of the brush heads. It seemed like Sephora put real consideration into this set and didn't just reuse some of the brush heads from their existing collections.

I was completely sold. But given the $85 price tag I waited until my local Sephora got a few sets in stock so I could view them in person before spending my hard earned cash. At the store however the display set was locked away behind clear plastic and I wasn't able to touch these beauties in person. Still determined to get them, I used an online coupon and anxiously waited for these to arrive in the mail. 

Now imagine my disappointment when I removed the brushes from the display stand they were packaged in and saw this... 
Noooooo! Hideous black rubber bottoms on each brush. Why Sephora?? I wanted a truly luxe and unique set of makeup brushes.  With the black rubbery bottoms, this set actually reminds me of the much cheaper (and a whole lot less luxe) Real Techniques brushes available at most drugstores. 

Back of the box with descriptions of each brush. 
Complexion Perfecter and Natural Flush Blush brushes
Precision Corrector and All Over Shadow brushes
Domed Crease and Soft Focus Liner brushes
This set comes with 6 brushes, each with their description imprinted on the handles. It also includes the stand to display them in. Although the synthetic brush heads are very full and soft, I just don't love this set anymore (its silly, I know). I also wasn't wowed by the performance of these brushes. They're slightly better than okay. I honestly feel like they're like an overpriced version of Sonia Kashuk brushes and I'll probably be returning them to Sephora soon. 




Congratulations "NoraGrahe"!!! You've won the Mac Holiday Glitter and Pigment boxed set!! Please respond within 48 hours with your mailing address so I can get it sent out to you as soon as possible. 

Thanks so much to everyone who entered!!

Make Up For Ever recently revamped their entire line of eyeshadows changing them all to a new formula that they call Artist's Eyeshadows. I've swatched these new shadows and been amazed at the creaminess and color payoff...however the hefty (for a single eyeshadow) price tag kept me from actually purchasing any. 

Enter the Studio Case, a limited edition boxed set that includes 12 (!!) of the new Artist's Eyeshadows, a full size Artist Liner and a booklet with instructions on how to create 4 different eye looks. This set is exclusive to Sephora and although it says "online only" my local Sephora had about 5 of these in stock and so I purchased mine in person. 

In inches the case measures approximately 6x5x1.75 and each eyeshadow is roughly the size of a dime. 
The set comes with a booklet with instructions on how to do 4 different eye looks. 
The case has a nice sized mirror and a slot to keep the Artist Liner. Click to enlarge

The tray with the eyeshadows and liner can be lifted out to reveal a compartment underneath to store other cosmetic items. Even small travel makeup brushes would fit in there! Click to enlarge
Close-up of the eyeshadows. Each row has a different name and co-ordinating look in the included booklet. But instead of names for each individual shadow, MUFE uses a letter/number system. Click to enlarge


Swatches of the right half of the palette. Click to enlarge

Swatches of the left half of the palette. Click to enlarge

I was very happy with the pigmentation of all of these eyeshadows except for two: M-100 (matte black color) and M-530 (matte cream color). These two were lacking in color payoff and were not as creamy as the rest. M-350 was especially chalky and difficult to get a good swatch of without a primer. 

Overall this set is great for trying out the new Make Up For Ever Artist's eyeshadows without paying the full price for each. Even with the 2 dud matte eyeshadows, the rest of the colors in this set more than made up for them. The color variety is great and most of the shadows feel silky and easy to apply. The packaging also makes this an ideal gift for the makeup enthusiast in your life, or for yourself. Since it's a limited edition set, there's no telling how long it will be available so I'd suggest grabbing a set as soon as possible!

The Make Up For Ever Studio Case retails for $59 and is available at Sephora stores (not Sephora inside JCP) and at Sephora.com.




From left to right: Museum Bronze, Naked, Black, Copper Sparkle and Gold. 



Mac Holiday 2013 Boxed Pigment and Glitter set with 2 pigments and 3 glitters. 

Colors included in this set are:
Museum Bronze (Pigment)
Black (Glitter)
Copper Sparkle (Pigment)
Gold (Glitter)
Naked ( Pigment)


HOW TO ENTER:
Follow BeautyandtheBrownGirl.blogspot.com (Worth 5 entries)
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Regram the BeautyandtheBrownGirl Giveaway pic with the tag #makeupgiveaway (Worth 3 entries)
Follow @TheBrownGirl on Twitter (Worth 4 entries)
Re-tweet the giveaway (Worth 2 entries)
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I WILL ship the prize internationally. Giveaway ends on Nov 15th 2014! The winner be chosen at random and announced on my blog (beautyandthebrowngirl.blogspot.com) and Instagram (beautyandthebrowngirl). The winner will have 48 hours to respond and claim their prize, otherwise a new winner will be selected. 

Good luck everyone!