Mini Hauling!

Omg sorry I fell off the blogosphere. I've had the flu! (no...not THE flu aka swine flu) But I'm back! I've been doing "mini hauls" though- like one or two things at a time...


Urban Decay eyeshadow in chopper! I got it as a crease shadow but it's sooo glittery (but I heard it's the first few layers...) I'll swatch later!


As promised, Studio Tools Duo Fiber brush from Target! Only $1.99! I'll do a full review on this!

Max Factor Lash Lift in brown, waterproof with Sally Hansen makeup remover. Um didn't like the mascara, haven't tried the remover yet.


Covergirl lash blast. Other people were right- the wand is humongous. But I think the formula itself is pretty good. I got this for $4.50 on sale at CVS.

Stay tuned for reviews!

**sorry for the blurry photos- my camera died so these are with my cellphone!

Upcoming Posts

OMG so sorry I've been MIA! School's crazy...ugh...anyways some things to look forward to:

1) An in depth review of Sonia Kashuk Highlighting Brush
2) Review of Studio Tools duo fibre brush and how it stacks up to SK brush
3) mini hauls!
4) how to get glowing, natural looking skin Paint Me Gorgeous style!
5) drugstore mascara show down between Max Factor and Covergirl!

Stay tuned!

Sonia Kashuk Highlighting Brush!!!!

I FOUND THE SKUNKICORN!!!! :hyperventilates:



The Sonia Kashuk Highlighting brush is a duo-fibered brush and the closest Mac 187 dupe. It's nicknamed the unicorn (or skunkicorn since it's a skunk brush) because of its mysterious ability to not be at Target.

I went to my target multiple times over the past few months and it was NEVER there. Today- there were like TWELVE. I did a little dance of joy (got a few weird looks) and bought one.

AND!!!! It was 10% off!!!!! Not only did I find the brush, it was one sale. Talk about luck! I went to buy dog food...LMAO

The following is the brush in all its glory. It is beautiful. And soft. And beautiful. Did I mention that it's beautiful? Because it is.



Anyways. I'll do a full review soon!

E.L.F. Contouring Blush and Bronzing Powder

I've had this little gem for a while now, and I feel like I can give an accurate review of it. It was $3 at ELF. $3. For 2 products. Seriously? That's cheaper than my Starbucks lattes...And the actual packaging is nice. Looks really sleek and professional.
Anyways...


It comes w/ a HUGE mirror. I was not expecting that. Not that I use it...But that's what it looks like in the pan. In natural light. Pretty? Yea, that's what I thought too. Looks a lot like Nars duos.

They are both really pigmented and finely milled. This is in natural light, no flash. The blush is corally peachy pink with gold specks. The bronzer is reddish brown, and looks a little bit like potting soil...lmao


This is under flourescent light indoors in my bathroom without flash.



STILL in my bathroom with flash.

I use the blush like every day. It looks really natural and it's so finely milled that it's really easy to blend out (w/ my Sonia Kashuk blusher brush). It gives me a "i have blood flow in my cheeks and I am alive" as opposed to "i'm permanently embarassed" look which I try to avoid.

The bronzer? Waaay to red for me. Makes me look like a Native American with face paint about to do a tribal dance. No kidding. BUT!!!! It's a GREAT crease color for natural eye looks. I'm not kidding- it's that pigmented and fine.

Overall? 4.5 out of 5.

Just because I can't use the bronzer for actually sculpting. But i've become really light- I'm like an NC20 in Studio Sculpt, and "light" in Maybelline foundation. But for $3 I get a great blush and eyeshadow. Doesn't get cheaper than this! Highly recommend.

Ecotool Retractable Kabuki

So when I bought this, I was debating between this brush and the two-faced retractable. I needed something I could throw into my bag for powder touchups. The difference between the two? $20. I'm serious. I got this for about $8-9 from Rite Aid, the two-faced one is about $29.

Like all Ecotools brushes, this one is synthetic and cruelty free. Fully open, it fits perfectly into the palm of my hand, allowing easy access and buffering.

This is definitely the softest, densest brush I own. Look how dense the bristles are! You can also control the density (make it more dense) by pulling up the metal part and pulling the bristles closer together.


This is when the metal part is fully up. See how dense the bristles are there? not that you could use them that way...lol but you could pull it up half way!


The brush is fully protected once closed, making it perfect to just throw into a makeup bag for midday touchups! This brush picks up the right amount of powder every time and evenly dispenses it. I rarely have to buff! That's how good it is. But it's also really good for buffing out uneven liquid/ powder foundation after application!


this brush should be cleaned and dried and aired out every night as since it is closed, bacteria can build!

Overal: FIVE out of 5!!!! Seriously, more than 5. It's that good!

Ulta mini-haul + swatches!!!

I was in the mood for another bronzer/ more neutral eyeshadows. I decided on mineral stuff, because I don't have any mineral eyeshadows (i have one maybelline mineral powder foundation...) These are the mineral powder eyeshadows, $10 each. They're having a buy one get one free!


The eyeshadows are great! They're really pigmented and shimmery, but not overly shimmer. The gold is on the left, cinnamon on the right.

Without flash.

With flash. The gold is great for inner lids, while the cinnamon is great for the outer v and the crease. With UDPP, they last all day and make my eyes pop! Since it's on sale for $5 (BOGO), it's a great thing to buy! I'd compare pigmentation and colors to Urban Decay!
This is the bronzer and there is sooo much freaking product in this thing! I was like when the heck am I gonna finish it? It's really light though, so it's great for that "glow," but not for sculpting. I use my ELF bronzer for sculpting its more pigmented. This one, I had to go over a few times to even make it show up in the picture (and it still doesn't...) but it's great for summer glows! It runs $14 each, again BOGO right now!


With flash.
Without flash.

All in all, I think this is great for "glow" looks, but I don't use it much. I'd stock up on the eyeshadows though, I think some of the other colors look great! I love Ulta sales!

I Love MAC brush cleaner and why I will never buy again

Yup, you read that title right. I love love love love love MAC brush cleaner. I attached a spray nozzle to the bottle, so I spritze onto a tissue and wipe my brushes across and just set them to dry. Voila! Clean brushes. AND they smell nice too :-D

But I'm going through the bottle fairly quickly (I need to clean my brushes every day), and it's expensive to keep using $11 cleaner.

My alternative?

Makeup wipes.

That's right.

The wipes that you use to remove makeup from your face? They can be used for your brushes.

Thank about it. If they're gentle enough for your skin, they should work on brushes without damaging them. At least, that was my reasoning...and they remove waterproof mascara from my lashes, why not eyeshadow and foundation from my brushes?

I take a wipe, clean my brushes with it, then rinse my brush in water, and lay out to dry. Seriously, my brushes are as soft as ever, and they get sooo clean!

Best of all? The wipes I use are $1 for 30. So if I use one for my face and one for my brushes every day, that's 2 boxes a month, which is $2. The MAC brush cleaner (I'm estimating), would last me 3 months. $6 verses $11.

But I will still keep the MAC brush cleaner and will rebuy. Why? I don't have to dry the brushes afterwards, when I spray onto a tissue and wipe my brushes across. They're basically dry-ish.