Thursday, July 24, 2014

Sonia Kashuk® Limited Edition 15pc Professional Brush Set Celebrating 15 years of Award Winning Brushes

As soon as I saw PinkMaskara Instagram a photo of these I knew I had to run out and get them.  I have never had a brush by this brand but always look at them while I am at Target and have heard so many good things about them!  This retails for $39.99 and right now is only being sold at Target stores, not online.  I was lucky enough to get them for around $35 because they were on sale =D.
If you love purple as much as I do I say run out and get them! The handles are a deep eggplant purple and the bristles are inspired by the Pantone color of the year:  Radiant Orchid. They are all incredibly soft.  I have not used them yet but wanted to post them as soon as I could so everyone could have a chance to get them before they are no longer available! 
I really like that this is a COMPLETE brush set! Especially for the price.  This isn't just great for a collector but is really good for a beginners or MUAs who are looking to start a kit! 
I love a brush with a good weight to it.  I just feel like they are made well when they do and these definitely do!  These are also 100% cruelty free but aren't vegan.  They are mostly goat hair (one is pony hair) and synthetic.  They have in depth ingredient descriptions here on the brand's website.  Note, the names/uses for each brush are not printed anywhere on the brushes.
I think the brush I was most excited about was the Contour Brush.  It looks really similar to the NARS Kabuki Ita brush that everyone has been raving about and trying to find dupes of.  I don't have this brush ($55) but I do think that this looks really similar!
Duo Fiber Buffing Brush.  I like that this is a rounded duo fibered brush.  It is very dense, much more dense than the typical duo fibered, skunk, brushes that are like MAC's 187. I think this would work well for BB/CC creams or tinted moisturizers.
Synthetic Angled Brush. I've been wanting an angled buffer brush.  This diameter of this brush isn't as large as the ones I have been looking to buy but I am hoping that this will work well for buffing in liquid foundations. 
The Foundation Brush feels just like any other flat synthetic foundation brush but comes to a small point.
Powder Brush and Blusher Brush.  These are so soft! I love huge powder brushes.  This one isn't too huge but is a nice size for all over powder application.  The blush brush is also the perfect size for my cheeks! 
Fluffy Eye Shadow Brush, Small Eye Shadow Brush, Concealer Brush, Crease Brush, and Blending Brush. I love all of these! I am a little confused with the fluffy eye shadow brush.  It seems just a little too fluffy, I think it could work just like a blending brush.  I wish it was just a little more tapered at the end but I think this would work well for all over lid color or for one of those duo chromed type shadows that are really nice for a one shadow look.  
Precision Pencil Brush, Synthetic Angled Liner Brush, Smudge Brush, and Spoolie Brush.  The only one that really stands out and is unique in this grouping is the smudge brush.  It is so tiny!  I am going to love this for smudging on my top liner and applying lower lid shadow!

I hope this was helpful as it was just a first impression!  I will update this once I have used them for a bit to share shedding, bleeding, and shape change but so far I really like them and am so impressed with Sonia Kashuk!  This was a great brush set to have to celebrate years of award winning brushes!  

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Garnier BB Cream Combination/Oily skin


This has quickly become a holy grail of mine! Let me start off by saying please don't judge this BB cream on the original formula, it is not the same at all!  The original formula is definitely not for normal or oily skin at all, but would be great for very dry skin.  The color shades also differ in the different formulas.  In the oily skin formula I am the shade medium/dark.  I got this after seeing a rave review form WhatWouldLizziDo on youtube and I completely agree with her review!
I applied it with the Ulta Professional brand Sculpted brush. This glides on so smoothly even without a primer! This is also the most coverage I have ever gotton from a bb or cc cream.  It has around the same coverage as the IT! cosmetics cc cream but doesn't make me ridiculously oily like the one from IT! cosmetics. It also has spf 20, which is always a plus!
This is right after the application in natural light.  I applied two layers with no concealer on my blemishes. I set it with a very light layer of my bare minerals matte foundation.  I usually use this as a setting powder and wanted to stay consistent. 
This is in natural light around 4 hours after application and after being outside for over an hour in humid July South Carolina weather! 
Same time, 4 hours, with flash.
And this is at the end of my day, total 9 and half hours after the first application with no touchups throughout the day!! I was amazed! I have never had luck like this with a bb/cc cream! It did break down around my chin and nose by the end of the day, as do most of my foundations.  On other days where I wasn't testing this I touched up throughout the day in those areas and it looked much better.  I love the finish.  It does not have matte finish, but it doesn't have a dewy finish either.  I think it looks more like skin, with a slight dewiness to it but not an overwhelming amount.  
The only negative thing I can say, and it is most likely individual to me, but if my skin has dry spots the bb cream is not very forgiving.  My skin refuses to take foundation when it has dry patches and/or is peeling so for the couple of days where I had this issue this looked pretty bad on.  Other than that this will forever be in my collection!  

Thank you for reading if you have an comments or questions please feel free to ask!

New Milani Bella Eyes Gel Powder Single Eyeshadows

Only three shadows, different lighting
Milani is one of my favorite drugstore brands. When I saw that they had single shadows again I was so excited hoping that they would be just as good of quality as the old discontinued single shadows that Milani used to have.
Photo compliments of cherry culture.com
I lost many of my shadows like this when I moved =(
Luckily I think that these new gel to powder ones are similar. I got two nude shades and one black from Walgreens retailing at $3.99 each. These are round, like they are baked with an indention in the middle.  I will say I am a little confused at the name.  Maybe they began as a gel formula in the factory and dried to a powder because they are not gel or creamy at all. 
The first one I got is  Bella Champage. All of the shadows have the finish marked on the packaging.  This one is shimmer.  It is not chalky at all.  Perfect as an all over lid color!
Bella Cappuccino is a satin Matte.  This is one of those shades that is "my lid but better."  this works well as a transition shade for me or as an all over lid shade for a nice muted look to go with a bold winged liner. this is my favorite finish! It is so buttery!
Bella Black is the blackest black I have ever swatched! So glad I got this one! It too is really buttery!  It was a little hard to get this pigmentation with my smudger brush, I think wetting this would be better to get this bold of a color with a brush. 

I don't think that these are limited edition.  I didn't see a sign that said that anywhere but I will be going back soon to get some more just in case. 

Thank you for reading.  Please leave comments or questions below. 

LORAC Pro Palette 2

I was so excited when I saw the announcement that this was coming out! I absolutely love the first Lorac Pro palette and this is just as good.  I have seen and read reviews where people have said the the shadow quality in the second one is better than the first but I think that they are the same.  If there is a difference at all it is that the lighter matte shades are slightly less chalky but not by much.  Both palettes are $42 each and I suggest that you run out and get them both! 

These two palettes are so individual, this one especially, from all of the other palettes that I have seen.  Aside from the great selection of a full row of mattes and a full row of shimmers, they have such a strange color selection, but in a good way. Overall I think that this palette is very cool toned, maybe they should've waited 'til Fall to debut this. I can't say that I love this one more than the other but I am so happy that I have it in my collection because there are a few shades in here that are really unique. Swatch time!
Buff is a pretty typical matte highlight shade, definitely a necessity if you want to use one palette for a single look. Snow and Beige swatch really similarly on my skin tone with snow being just a tad more white.  I could've done without one of these.  Rosé is absolutely gorgeous and one of my favorites in the palette. Is a rose gold shimmer. This shade was also in the Lorac Pro to go quad that came out around the holidays. Lt. Brown is great transition shade. Cool Gray is also very unique. It seems to have a slight purple undertone. this would be great for an everyday smokey eye.
Nectar is also one of my favorite shades! It is the perfect terracotta pink.  This is one of those shades that would look so perfect on any skin tone! For my tan skin this looks good in the crease as a transition shade as well. Mocha is a reddish brown that is also very unique. Chrome is a shimmer taupe with a slight purple undertone, similar to MAC's satin taupe. Silver and Plum are as their names. Navy is definitely one of those really unique shades I mentioned before. I wouldn't describe it as navy but it is a really pretty blue.
Charcoal is a typical matte gray.  Black isn't the blackest black I've ever swatched but is nice for blending and helping to gradually darken looks.  This is the same black that is in the first Lorac Pro palette.  Jade is more of a forrest green than Jade. Cocoa is more of a plumy brown.  This is also one of my favorites!

Overal, after swatting I think that this palette is very plum/purple toned.  Many of the shades have a slight purple undertone, which I think makes this palette very universal.  Again I think that this should've debuted in the fall with its overall cool tone and purple undertone.  This is a permanent palette so don't worry about snatching it before its gone forever!

Thank you for reading and please leave any questions or comments below. 

e.l.f. Disney: Ariel Collection! Bronzed Beauty

I did not get everything from this line, even though I definitely wanted to, but I absolutely love what I did get.  I will start off by saying that I did not buy some things to ever be used, I am adding them to my collection for collective purchases for the Disney lover inside me! 
These can be purchased at select Walgreens, which is where I found mine, but I definitely suggest that you go to the Walgreens website first and see if they are at your local store because they weren't at every Walgreens in my area.  On to the swatches! 
The bronzer in this is very pretty.  It isn't really marbleized but has two different tones in it that can be used separately. I would find it hard to use the gold portions separately for the face because they aren't large enough to comfortably fit a face brush in it and solely get that color.  
I was able to do that with my fingers though for swatch purposes.  On the right is the brown alone.  It shows up as a more cool toned brown on my skin but in the pan it looks very warm.  The middle is the two together, as it would appear on the skin after swirled with a brush. Swirled together the color looks more champagne.  On the right is the gold alone.  All three are very shimmery.  I would not recommend contouring with this because it isn't very matte but would look nice as a highlighter for medium to dark skin tones and a nice all over bronzer for light to medium skin tones.
The brush is not very good.  I'm very surprised because some of my favorite brushes are from e.l.f. The shape does not make it very comfortable to use, it is very flat, but not in a good way.  It is also very scratchy! I would not put this on my face, I feel like it would irritate my skin and break me out.   Aesthetically, it could also be cuter for the collection.  I don't have any good things to say about this brush.
Overall, I like the bronzer and don't like the brush.  This retails for $4.99.  The bronzer is definitely worth that!  I also think that this would be a good gift for Disney Lovers to collect or as a good starter for younger girls just getting into makeup.
Feel free to ask any questions or make any comments.
I have reviewed other pieces of the collection here and here.

e.l.f. Disney: Ariel Collection! Under the Sea Eyes

 I did not get everything from this line, even though I definitely wanted to, but I absolutely love what I did get.  I will start off by saying that I did not some things to ever be used, I am adding them to my collection for collective purchases for the Disney lover inside me! I did buy this one to use though!
These can be purchased at select Walgreens, which is where I found mine, but I definitely suggest that you go to the Walgreens website first and see if they are at your local store because they weren't at every Walgreens in my area.  On to the swatches! 
The two duos in the set are "High Tide" (The one that says Ariel) and "Coral Reef" (The one with the shell).  The shades in High Tide are both shimmer; one is gold/copper and the other is a turquoise blue.  The shades in Coral Reef are also shimmer; one is a copper one and the other is a purple with burgundy undertone in some lights.
The third item in this set is a waterproof eyeliner pen.  I was somewhat impressed by this.  It is not waterproof but is definitely smudge proof. 
The left picture is the liner after I let it dry and then vigorously rubbed it! It stayed put.  The right picture is how it looked after I wet it and rubbed it.  Almost disappeared.

Overall I really like this set.  The shadows are really pretty.  This retails for $4.99.  I think that this would be a good gift for Disney Lovers to collect or as a good starter for younger girls just getting into makeup.

Feel free to ask any questions or make any comments.
I have reviewed other pieces of the collection here and here.



e.l.f. Disney: Ariel collection! Treasure Within Beauty Book

I did not get everything from this line, even though I definitely wanted to, but I absolutely love what I did get.  I will start off by saying that I did not buy some things to ever be used, I am adding them to my collection for collective purchases for the Disney lover inside me! 
These can be purchased at select Walgreens, which is where I found mine, but I definitely suggest that you go to the Walgreens website first and see if they are at your local store because they weren't at every Walgreens in my area.  On to the swatches! 
First is the Treasure Within Beauty Book (exterior photo above). The packaging is absolutely beautiful! I used to have other e.l.f. beauty books and the shadows inside were usually hit and miss but this is so gorgeous! There are 9 eyeshadows, two bronzers, a shadow brush and "blush" brush, and a lipgloss inside on one side.  On the other side there is a mirror that looks like a shell and a book describing how to use the products.  
The eyeshadow brush included is e.l.f.'s eyeshadow brush from the essential line, one of the best brushes they sell. The only difference is that it has a gold/bronze ferrule instead of a silver one, which really goes with the aesthetics of the palette. The smaller brush that is supposed to be used with the bronzers is that typical brush that seems to come in the bottom of a lot of bronzing/blusher compacts. I do not find this very useful. 
The lipgloss is a typical light/baby pink gloss.  It is a little sheer.  I went over the watch on my wrist twice to get a good photo of the color. This definitely would not show up on people who have more pigmented lips like myself. It is also really sticky, in my opinion, and isn't very comfortable to wear.
Swatches are in the order that they are in the book with the "Conch Shell" bronzer on the top right and "Tan Lines" on the bottom right. 
With a closer look at them and the dimension they have with the movement of the light. All of the shadows are shimmery.  Sand Dollar swatches as a shimmery white.  Coral Reef, though it looks yellow in the pan, swatches cream.  Tropical Wave can look turquoise and minty green depending on the light.  North Star was the most disappointing.  I was expecting that beautiful purple as it looks in the pan but it swatches dusky gray.  For Shore looks copper, swatches taupe.  Siren song looks burnt orange, doesn't swatch too bad.  In the right light it looks burnt orange but can also look kind of copper.  The last three are my favorites.  The are so bold and swatch the colors in the pan!
The bronzers are pretty too.  Conch Shell is a cool toned brown.  It is shimmery so I wouldn't suggest contouring with it but it would look nice as an all over bronzer.  Tan Lines is very gold.  It would make a great highlighter!  I have them swatches here a gain beside the lipgloss. 
Overall this is a good palette, it retails for $9.99.  I wouldn't pay more than that, so go get it before they are gone and people quadruple the price on ebay and amazon! I also think that this would be a good gift for Disney Lovers to collect or as a good starter for younger girls just getting into makeup.

Feel free to ask any questions or make any comments.
I have reviewed other pieces of the collection here and here.




$1 Find! Broadway Nails High Shine Nail Polish

*I have awful cuticles!*
I love when I find great things at a great price!  I rarely visit Dollar General so when I saw they had $1 nail polishes in cute colors I though I would definitely try some!  I got the shade #20 Ballet Flat and absolutely love it!  It could almost be considered a one coat polish but I had to use two coats on more than half of my fingers.  Even still, two coats for me is amazing! And it dried so fast!  I would say maybe a total of 10 minutes for all of the nails to completely dry.  And as the name says, it did dry extremely shiny.  I did not add a top coat of any kind so the shine is coming directly from the polish itself.  

I am definitely going to go get more! 
To serve curiosity I have Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in the shade #360 Barracuda on my ring finger for my accent nail.  I have a separate review of that polish HERE