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Showing posts with label Beauty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beauty. 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. 
This pic is just for fun. I finally decided to tackle the rug growing on my upper lip, lol. Threading has got the be the most freakin pain evar! And btw, I know I'm totally holding my hands the wrong way in this pic, I was actually still twisting the thread when the camera clicked.

Excuse the gross open mouth and wretched skin.  The lippie is Covergirl TruShine in #460

Oh and that black lump protruding from the side of my head are my headphones!
During the $2 UD sale, I also managed to add these 3 brushes to my cart in the 10 seconds it took for them to sell out, lol.

When I was looking at these online, I was most excited about the blush brush since I needed something with a shorter handle that would fit in my purse. Now that I see it in person, I'm a little disappointed. The brush is kinda floppy and fibers seem like they should have be cut shorter. The long   hairs make it harder to control placing and blending blush.  This thing also takes for EVER to dry, which is a huge inconvience.

I was pleasantly surprised by both the Brow and Eyeshadow brushes. From other reviews I'd read, I thought the brow brush would be too soft and flimsy to really get in between brow hairs and deposit color. Those reviews were so wrong! This brush is soft, but its also stiff at the same time. It fills my brows in perfectly with very little effort on my part. The thin, tapered edge is also great for precisely getting in between those sparse little hairs at the end of my brows.
In the 3 days I've had it, this little thing has fast become my holy grail brow brush! I'm currently scouring the internet looking for a backup since I can't imagine being without this brush ever!

The eyeshadow brush, while not as life-changing as the brow brush is also really good. Its not like a typical shadow brush in that theres nothing fluffy or full about it. Its so flat it reminds me more of a concealer type of brush, which is great for packing loose pigments on with precision and minimal fallout. Its most definitely not for blending, but thats okay because I have a million of those $1 fluffly E.L.F brushes to do that.
When I was swatching my new UD pigments, I realized that Rockstar looked like a perfect dupe for Later pigment from Mac.  Sure enough as I put them side by side on my arm I could barely tell the difference.

Although both are black based purple shadows with some glitter in them, the glitter in Rockstar is chunkier and shows up more when its applied over a primer and the pigment itself looks richer and darker with a primer underneath. Later swatched about the same with or without a primer and it also wins points for being easier to apply and for the more conveinent packaging.

* I know a lot of people complain about the Mac pigment packaging, and I was never a huge fan of it, however after using the very poorly designed and super messy UD packaging, the Mac doesn't seem all that bad anymore.
 Click read more to see the swatches side by side.
 Back in December, HauteLook had another Urban Decay sale, but this time everything was $2.00 (no thats not a typo, lol). So since I already had 5 UD loose pigments from a previous Hautelook sale, I decided to complete my UD pigment collection.

These are no different from the first 5 that I brought: the packaging is silly, the built in brush is useless and creates a huge mess, and these really need a good primer to stick to your skin.
To see the swatches click read more.
Gingersnap Artisan Baked Bronzer

Toasted Almond Artisan Baked Blush
While I'm not too impressed with some of the Black Radiance makeup I got the other day,  some of it I'm absolutely in love with! The Toasted Almond blush is so gorgeous on brown skin, the color is like no other in my collection. Its not too pink, red or brown, but just a perfect combination of all three to leave a natural looking, warm flush of color to my cheeks. Its pigmented, but blends out beautifully and can also be built up for a more dramatic look. 

The Gingersnap bronzer swatches as more of a slightly pinkish-gold and works well as a highlighter. The glitter isn't too chunky and if this is applied with a light hand, its subtle enough to use as a brow bone highlight as well as on the tops of the cheeks.

The eyeshadow were prob the biggest disappointment. The swirling baked colors look so pretty in the pan, but apply as one basic gold and basic bronze. They're still pretty, but nothing spectacular.
Rum Spice Artisan Baked Eyeshadow

I've had this loose eyeshadow from NYX in Penny for years and loved the shimmery, rich color, but never knew how to use it. Well it appears I still don't know how to make it work for me.

Everything with this look turned into one big fail. I was going for a simple but still festive and shimmery look. This red however, was just too overpowering and made me look kinda sickly in person. My eyes were also irritated for some reason and wouldn't stop watering which led to my falsies not staying on because the glue couldn't dry. Ugh, it was such a mess every time I blinked the lashes came off!

The next time I use this color, I think I'll add some dark brown or even black to the outer corners to give it more depth and maybe some gold to the inner corner to make the red less overpowering. What do you guys think? I love the way this color looks in the jar and really want to put it to good use. Should I keep trying with this or is it time to just move on?

I hate forgetting to throw a lip balm in my purse when I go out in the cold, but thats just what I didn't do the other day. So I stopped at my nearby Rite Aid to grab something quick, cheap and hopefully moisturizing. The Wet n Wild Natural Blend lip shimmer looked like just the thing I needed. I paid for my purchase and before even leaving the store, popped the balm open and applied it to my lips without using a mirror thinking it'd bring just a touch of plum color to my lips.

Wrong! This little thing is super pigmented and the color looks nothing like the tube. As you can see I walked around for half the day with bright apple red lips, lol. I guess its just the universe's way of forcing me to step outside my comfort zone.

I do really like the formula of these, the consistency is good, not super moisturizing, but good enough to keep my lips from feeling dry, and I like the shiny finish. And now that I know how these apply I may go and get a few more colors. For $1.99 they're not half bad.
I haven't used this by itself in ages. Normally I'll mix it with some other lipstick or gloss to tone the color down and make it more wearable.

Well, today I decided I wanted to be bold and went for it straight out of the tube in all its opaque, pink glory. I wore it around the house for a bit, but when it was time to go out, I lost my confidence and blotted it down to a barely pink stain, lol.

Maybe some other day I'll have the courage to wear this just as it is.

This look started out as something completely bland and wearable, but I was bored by it so I added a ton of black to the outer corners, some dramatic falsies and really packed the gold on my lid.

After all that, I kinda hated the way the lips looked with the more dramatic eyes. But since I used a OCC liptar, my lips were stained a pinkish color for hours even though I tried to wipe it off and go with a more nude lippie. Oh well, here are the final results.

Face
Keyvn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer
Rock and Republic Classic Tinted Primer
MAC Prep and Prime Powder

Eyes
Urban Decay Loose Pigment in Baked
Sleek Black eyeshadow
Sonia Kashuk Lashes
ELF Black Eyeliner
YSL Mascara

Brows
Sleek Storm Palette

Cheeks
Lorac Soul

Lips
OCC Liptar in Demure
Bobbi Brown Black Garnet Lipstick
Armani Pink Lipgloss (can't remember the name)

The best way I can describe this color is a cool-toned gold. There are no strong yellow and green undertones, just pure gold. It looks lovely in person and very, very classy. I tend to not like most golds on my nails because I feel it can look garish and harsh.

Aside from the color, I also really love both the formula and applicator brush. This stuff dries super fast. I did 2 coats and before I could even think of messing up a nail, it was completely dry.

The brush applicator is completely unique (in my experience anyway). Instead of a normal round brush, this one is flat and comes to a point in the middle. Perfect for getting a precise application.
There was an Urban Decay sale on HauteLook a few weeks back and I snatched up five of these for $5 each. The colors are highly pigmented, but a huge PITA to apply. They get everywhere, and I mean all over the frickin place. I had heard this before I getting these but figured I'd be extra careful and it would be fine. Wrong. The shadows got all over my desk, laptop, palms of my hands - everywhere. When applying to your lids, a sticky primer or base is a MUST or these won't stay on your skin.

Overall, if I'd payed full price for these I'd be kinda upset right now, but if they go on sale again I think I'll pick up a few more because the colors really are gorgeous.







The swatches are from left to right: Shag , Smog, Goddess, Baked and Gunmetal. Pic taken in natural light with no flash. Excuse my hairy arm, lol.







*edit for part 2 of my review with the rest of the Urban Decay Loose Pigment Eyeshadows, click here: http://beautyandthebrowngirl.blogspot.com/2011/01/urban-decay-loose-pigment-eyeshadows.html

Violetta is a gorgeous purple lipstick with a slight blue duo-chrome sheen to it. It can look rather intimidating in the tube, but is super flattering on a wide range of skin tones, including brown. It goes on semi-opaque and feels nice on the lips - not too drying. Its an amplified finish that looks even better with a gloss on top.

Its a permanent Pro item thats being re-promoted with the Venomous Villains collection.