Real Techniques Starter Set

Samantha Chapman of YouTube channel Pixiwoo has created a line of makeup brushes called Real Techniques. I have heard many great things about these brushes and had to try them for myself. This is the starter set...which contains five eye brushes.  The brushes from left to right are:  Base Shadow Brush, Deluxe Crease brush, Accent Brush, Pixel-Point Eyeliner brush, and a Brow brush.  Included is a panoramic brush case, it is a 2-in-1 case + stand and the brushes are ultra-plush, synthetic taklon bristles and are hand-cut and 100% cruelty-free.

 

I have been using these brushes for a week now and they are very soft and great quality, and I couldn't be happier.  This set is $18.00 and can be  purchased at Ulta or on their website at realtechniques.com.  They also offer a Core Collection set which is a set of face brushes for foundation,blush,etc. which is also $18.00.

Real Techniques also offers a selection of individual brushes as well.  My personal favorite so far is the eye liner brush.  It is the best liner brush I have used and it is very easy to create the finest line up to a thick line as well, Definitely check out these brushes.  Not only are they amazing but they are very affordable.

Salon Perfect- Perfect Brow Defining Kit

So I kind of have thin eyebrows and like to try different brow products to fill them in. I am not too crazy about some brow pencils because some of them tend to look a little too fake and obvious that they are filled in. I found this brow kit at Wal-Mart for only $7.97. It comes with three brow colors to custom mix your own brow color, and a brow highlight along with a dual end brush and brow wax pencil.

To apply this you groom your eyebrow with the spoolie to even them out and then apply your choice of one or a mix of the powders, after applying the powder the instructions say to then go over your brows with the brow wax to set in place.

On my right eyebrow I tried a mix of the brown and black and set it with the brow wax . For me personally the right brow just looked too fake on me and was clear that my brow had been filled in, I felt the wax did not help it. The wax made the color look painted on, The black however looked a bit more natural on me which I used on my left brow with out wax.

 

Overall this is a good product...I am not against using the brow wax; however, I would recommend that it be used lightly first to groom and set your brows in place and then apply your color.

Stilleto Tape Dispenser

So i thought this was soo cute...I had to buy it for my desk/vanity. Aside from its purpose I can also use it to tape off the outer side of my eye to get a straight edged line when doing my eye shadow. I don't do this on my everyday makeup but for more dramatic looks that need a straight edge I will use it.

I originally saw this on Officemax.com but they do carry it in stores, Online it is $9.99 and in the store it is about $11.00 or $12.00 dollars. It is still cheaper in store because you will not have to pay shipping

NYX Cream Shadows

 

I saw these cream shadows at Ulta and the colors were so vibrant and beautiful that I wanted to try a couple of them. They were buy one get one half off so it was a pretty good deal. Ulta almost always has a special on their cosmetics and prices are reasonable. I dont typically like cream shadows because they tend to crease but i liked these. They are long lasting and do not rub off easily. I would definitely recommend these. These can be used alone as a shadow or can also be used as an eyeshadow base for blue and purple shadows.

When swatching these cream shadows I noticed that the blue shadow is a bit thinner than the purple one and needed two or three coats to get it to show up more but as you can see in these pictures it still looks a bit thin. The purple however swatched in one slide...i did not have to dip into the shadow anymore

With an eyeliner brush these can be applied as liquid liner.