February 2015 Julep Maven Unboxing

With a new month comes a new Julep Maven unboxing! My February 2015 box was a little different for me, so here’s what I got!

This month, Julep launched a new highlighter to go along with their pore-refining blush. I got this in my box with a fan brush, plush pout lip crayon and 2 polishes.

Here’s what these two look like:

The highlighter isn’t super sparkly like it may appear in the pan, but it does give a really pretty glow. It reminds me of the Wet n Wild “bronzer” in Reserve Your Cabana that I love. I’ve never used a fan brush before, but this one seems very well-made and a little heavier than I expected. I’ve used it a few times with the highlighter and I’m not convinced how well it works, but I’m going to keep playing with it.

From left: Hazel and Hartleigh

And now onto polish!

Hazel: a “wild violet and bronze duochrome” does not quite look like what I thought it would be from the swatches I saw online. It looks more purple than the fuschia it was on the website, so we’ll see.

Hartleigh: This was a bonus polish for all Mavens this month! I have it layered over OPI’s Dutch Tulips and by itself above. I don’t love these kinds of top coats, and I couldn’t really get it to work for me this time, but it is a fun polish for Valentine’s Day. Overall, probably not something I’ll use very often.

And here’s Julep’s Plush Pout Lip Crayon in Aurora Pink. These Crayons have a moisturizing core and are very moisturizing on the lips. They remind me of a creamier, more pigmented version of Revlon Lip Butters.

Overall, I’m not in love with this month’s box, but there are some interesting products. What did you get in your Maven box?

 

Urban Decay Good Karma Opitcal Blurring Brush

A few weeks ago, I hauled the Urban Decay Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush, and I wanted to review it! I’m mostly comparing it to the Sigma F80 brush, one of my favorite popular foundation brushes.

At first glance, the Sigma brush is longer and heavier. Its bristles are also more densely packed. I also the the bristles are the slightest bit softer.

 

The shape of these brushes is also different. I really like the Urban Decay brush for thinner foundations, like the Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation. I’ve also really like how it’s worn with the Covergirl Outlast 3-in1 Foundation.

This gives a nice, almost airbrushed finish. The packages says it’s more flawless than using a sponge, and it is pretty close. I like using it with MAC Fix+ first to make sure less foundation gets absorbed into the Urban Decay brush. I also like that it’s lighter than the F80. Sometimes I feel the F80 can make foundation the tiniest bit streaky because it’s so heavy (ok, especially when the brush is dirty, but still). I’ve really been liking the finish of the Urban Decay Karma Brush. I don’t you absolutely need one if you have the other, but they are both really nice.

Have you tried the Urban Decay Karma Blurring Brush? How do you feel about it?

Mini Haul :)

So, I took a trip to Ulta and wanted to share my mini haul. I am so excited about these products! Here’s what I picked up:

It Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores Powder: I’m a sucker for a pore-minimizing product, so I’m excited to use this. I’ve used it for about a week now, and I do notice that it works better with a pore-minimizing primer, and the results aren’t immediate. After it’s sat on the skin for 10 minutes, it helps my skin look flawless.

Tweezerman travel size tweezers: It was finally time to throw away my cheap tweezers with their dull tips, so I picked up these. While they are super expensive for tweezers, they are pretty awesome. They get little hairs precisely, and I’ve noticed a difference in brow cleanliness since picking them up.

Urban Decay Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush: I love my Sigma F80, but I was interested in trying this brush as well. It’s less heave and the bristles are a little less dense than the Sigma F80. It reminds me of a lighter F80 finish. I’ve only used it with my Naked Skin foundation, so I’m interested to see how it works with others. It does clean pretty nicely with my Dr. Bronner’s soap.

Rimmel lip liner in East End Snob: I’ve been looking for a good drugstore lip liner, and I’ve heard good things about this one. I’ve only used it once, and it reminds me of the Too Faced perfect liner a lot. It’s a pretty neutral pink I can see myself wearing a lot. 

L’Oreal Infallible single eyeshadow in Amber Rush: I was so pleasantly surprised! I picked this up on a whim, and I am so impressed! This shadow is so pigmented, so sparkly and so easy to blend. I’ve used it with Laura Mercier Caviar Sticks, with other singles, by itself and with other palettes and it. is. gorgeous. Definitely picking up more of these soon.

So that’s what I’ve picked up! Swatches and more in-depth reviews coming soon 🙂

Favorite Sigma Brushes

I know there’s a lot of talk about Sigma products in the online beauty world, but it is my favorite brand for brushes. I’m not an affiliate or anything – I just really like these brushes. They’re pretty affordable, hold up well after washing and help give your makeup the most beautiful finish! I tried to pick brushes that seem unique to Sigma or that I haven’t seen from other brands.

Sigma Foundation Brushes

F86 Tapered Kabuki
This is my favorite brush for liquid undereye concealer. It fits perfectly underneath the eye to conceal dark circles, especially with my MAC Pro Longwear concealer. It gives it a flawless finish and does not accentuate fine lines at all. I really love the synthetic bristles and how dense it is, too.

F80 Flat-top Kabuki
Everyone’s favorite foundation brush. But it’s with a great reason! I love how this applies liquid foundation so flawlessly. It buffs out foundation without looking cakey or too think. I do find that because it is so dense, it holds product, so you really need to clean it once a week for best results. I love it so much that I have two, so one can be drying while the other one is set for daily use.

Sigma Face Brushes

F35 Tapered Highlight
The perfect highlighter brush! It may seem silly to have a brush just for highlighting, but this brush just fits perfectly on top of my cheekbones for the perfect glow. It’s also easy to control for highlighting the forehead and Cupid’s bow. I think it’s made a difference in making my highlight look better. I also think it would also work well for setting undereye concealer because of the shape.

F30 Large Powder
Just another powder brush? Think again. I don’t know if it’s because of the shape or because of the density, but this brush applies setting powder so perfectly! I feel like it’s actually setting my makeup without being overly powder or ruining all of the makeup work that I’ve done before setting it. I also love that it actually picks up the right amount of product – not too little but not too much.

F40 Large Angled Contour
It took me a while to figure out how to use this because I was trying to use it to contour my face with bronzer and it was a mess. However, this is a great blush brush! It’s dense enough to pick up a decent amount of product (almost too much, depending on the blush) but easy enough to control to make sure that the product gets where you want it. It gives a really natural looking finish, too, which I love.

Sigma Eye Brushes

E25 Blending
Obsessed. As we all know, the key to a flawless eye look is blending. This is great for laying down a crease color and blending out darker colors or harsh lines. It’s so fluffy and the bristles are super soft. I couldn’t ask for anything else in a blending brush – except maybe a little less shedding when washing it.

E40 Tapered Blending
This brush is magic. Seriously. It’s precise enough to get color exactly where you want it, from crease to outer corner, but it’s also fluffy enough to blend out color flawlessly and make eye looks really natural and beautiful. This brush with the E25 have truly transformed my eye looks and made me much more comfortable incorporating darker shadows into my eye looks.

What Sigma brushes are your favorite? What other brushes do you think I should check out?

Benjabelle Brush Tree – Review

I am a little nutty about making sure my makeup brushes get washed every week, which is great for my brushes and my skin, but not so great for my kitchen counter and my husband. I usually set out my newly washed brushes on a towel on a counter next to the kitchen sink, but because some of the denser ones take a while to dry, that usually means we have a counter full of brushes for  about 24 hours. I thought this was just something my husband would have to learn to live with, but then I heard rumblings about the Benjabelle Brush Tree on several blogs and YouTube channels. Basically, it is a hanging drying rack for your brushes…genius!

So, I asked for one for my birthday, which my parents graciously fulfilled. I got one Original Brush Tree and one Mini Brush Tree, which I’ve gotten a chance to try out.

Here is my collection of brushes drying:

Drying brushes on 2 trees

From the top, here is the Original Brush Tree, which I use for face brushes:

Original Brush Tree aerial

And the Mini Brush Tree, which is perfect for eye, lip and concealer brushes:

Mini Brush Tree aerial

(You will note my Sigma Spa Glove to the side – amazing – and my Anastasia Brow brush in the center…I just like the way it dries laying flat better).

I had a little trouble getting brushes to staying in their respective openings without sliding through the first time I used it. You can put several brushes in each opening if they’re slipping through, but I’ve really found that the best way to prevent it is to really make sure the little tabs of each opening are pointing up, like this:

Brush Tree close-up

Some people have said that this makes their brushes dry quicker, which I don’t notice too much, however, this is such a great way to keep my brushes clean while drying and out of the way and organized. I love them and think they are really reasonable for the price, especially as someone who washes her brushes a lot. Highly recommend!

 

Anastasia Dipbrow – First Impressions

In a recent haul, I picked up the relatively new Anastasia Beverly Hills’ Dipbrow Pomade. I’d heard a lot about the product, but I was pretty happy with my Anastasia Perfect Brow Pencil, so I didn’t know that I needed to change. However, after watching this video from Makeup by Tiffany D, I decided to give it a whirl, and I am so impressed!

I got my Dipbrow in Dark Brown, which is a great match. I also picked up the Anastasia Mini Duo Angled/Spooley Brush Number 7 after watching the video. I lightly dip the brush in the pomade and lightly outline my brow, starting from the inside. Then, I brush the edges out with the spooley end of the brush to make it less harsh and more natural looking. Then, I usually go to the outer edge and fill in where I have some patchiness and then brush out the product again. I love the way it looks – filled in and finished without looking fake. It also stays all day, regardless of humidity and sweat. I put it on before my eyeshadow, which has worked really well, too. Overall, I am so impressed with this product. I love how it looks, and a little goes a very long way. I’ll have this specific jar of Dipbrow forever.

Here are some photos of the process:

Naked brow

Both naked brows

Filled in with Dipbrow

The finished look – featuring the TooFaced Chocolate Bar Palette

Have you tried Anastasia’s Dipbrow? How do you feel about it?

My New Boyfriend – Dr. Bronner

Since my last post was about the Beauty Blender Solid Cleanser, and I alluded to this product, I figured this was a natural transition. Meet my new boyfriend – Dr. Bronner and his magic soap:

Excuse the gushing, but I love this stuff. This is a solid bar soap that is perfect for cleaning brushes. The Castile Bar Soap has all natural ingredients and smells amazing. The soap works up a nice, solid lather, which makes it really easy to see when all the product washes out. I especially love using this to get long-wearing, thicker foundations and concealers out of my brushes, like MAC ProLongwear or Revlon ColorStay. I had been so discouraged that the product wouldn’t come out of my brushes after I had made the investment in nice foundation brushes, so this soap really saved me.

F80 – new vs. dirty

While the above picture is a brand new brush versus a dirty one, this soap turns this brush back into the photo on the left – fluffy, clean and perfect for foundation.

The best part? This soap is only $5! I found this at Target next to the other organic/natural soaps and skincare products. It took it a while to get there, but I’m so glad it has. I’ve used this soap to clean my F80 and F86 at least once a week for a month, and it’s maybe halfway gone. It comes in several scents, but the lavender one is my favorite. Get more info about this soap on their website here.

Have you tried this soap? What’s your favorite thing to use to clean brushes?

Jaclyn Hill Sigma Expert Box Review

It’s here!

I mentioned this in my post introducing my Lent challenge (a million years ago!), but I have been anxiously awaiting the Jaclyn Hill Sigma Beauty Expert box, and it finally made its way to me! It sold out before I got a chance to purchase it, but after being on the wait list for several weeks, it finally came a little over a week ago. If you’re not familiar with Jaclyn Hill, she is one of my favorite beauty YouTubers, and I love her tutorials. The secret to Jaclyn’s flawless looks are the brushes in this Sigma kit (at least according to Sigma 😉 ).

I was already looking into buying second brushes of the ones I already had from this kit, and the price was right. I know there’s a lot of hype about Sigma products, but I think they’re worth it. Their brushes are not cheap, but they hold up really nicely (I haven’t had one shed, and I wash mine weekly) and really do apply product beautifully.

Here are the brushes included:

Products listed below from L to R

 

I already had a few brushes in this kit when my wonderful husband got me the Essential Kit for my birthday last year and through later purchases. However, they were brushes I wish I had two of, and for the price and the other brushes included, this kit was exactly what I was looking for. Here are my short thoughts on the brushes in this kit.

F80 – new vs. dirty

F80 Flat Kabuki – This has been my go-to foundation brush for a while, and I had already been looking into buying another one so I wouldn’t have to wash it so often (as you see above, it can get gross). Its inclusion in this kit worked out perfectly! It’s perfect for flawlessly applying fuller-coverage foundations.

F86 with F80

F86 Tapered Kabuki – I’ve heard a lot about this brush, and what they say is true: it’s perfect for applying undereye concealer. I’ve used it with MAC ProLongwear and my Maybelline Undereye Brightener and it applies flawlessly! This may be my favorite brush in this kit. I seriously love it. Below I have photos comparing it to the Real Techniques blush brush, which has a similar shape. These kabuki brushes are so dense and soft, perfect for applying makeup.

F86 and Real Techniques Blush Brush

F35 Tapered Highlight – This was the brush I was most excited for. It is perfect for a beautiful powder highlight. It gets right onto your cheekbones and applies the product just densely enough for it to be really visible but not too much.

E25 Blending – I. Love. This. Brush. It’s what I was looking for but didn’t know I was! I’ve used it to deepen color in my crease and for the outer corner. It’s dense enough to apply color accurately and fluffy enough to really blend it out the way I want to. This is an essential for eyeshadow.

E55 Eye Shading – This is a basic eye brush for applying color, nothing too fancy. But it’s useful and a good one to have for all-over lid colors.

E30 Pencil – I honestly didn’t know what to do with this brush, but now I’ve learned to love it for applying shadow as eyeliner on my upper and lower lash lines. I thing it would also be great for precisely applying a really dark color to the outer corner, so I’m excited to play with this more.

E40 Tapered Blending – This was another brush I wanted a second one of. I love having one fluffy one to apply crease color and one clean one to clean up any coloring “outside the lines.” This is so perfect for blending any shadows and is certainly a must-have.

Those are my thoughts! Did I need any more brushes, probably not, but I really enjoy these and think they’d be a good investment. This box is available for a limited time here. Do you have some of these brushes? Which are your favorite?