5 Sephora Collection Must-Trys

I have recently become a huge fan of the Sephora Collection- I'm really impressed with the quality of these items, the competitive price tag, and well, the way they make me look! So, I thought I would share 5 of the Sephora brand items that I have fallen in love with!!

Review: E.L.F. "Bamboo" Foundation Brush

E.L.F. has recently released a line of bamboo-handled brushes as part of their mineral line. At just $5 a piece and with good user reviews, I thought I'd try a couple of them out. Keep reading to see if it was $5 well-spent for the "foundation brush".

June Favorites!

I know that it is already halfway through July (where does the time go?!), but I wanted to share my fave products for June- all MAC, coincidentally!


1) 219 Pencil Brush- I have owned this brush for a few years now, and lately I've really liked using it for crease work. It allows you to create the most detailed placement of your crease. I then use the 226 to blend out the crease better.

2) Lazy Day Lipstick- This is a gorgeous pale pink- just what I've been looking for! Sadly, mine arrived already falling off the base, and since it is such a pretty color, I picked up a second one from Bloomingdales. It also is kind of soft and fragile but still usable.

3) Dressmaker, Dressmaker Lipstick- I love this coral from Pret-A-Papier. It was sold out pretty much everywhere, but I was able to locate it from Bloomingdales. I am so glad I picked it up, because it's one of the few wearable corals I've found lately.

4) Blitz-N-Glitz Fluidline- Because it has little gold flecks, it is much more wearable than Blacktrack. It is softer and great for a smokey eye. Loves it!

5) Hipness Blush- Just a really beautiful summer color! :)

What are your fave products lately?

Review: Sephora Round Powder Brush #41

So, I've actually had this brush for a few months now, but it is the greatest addition ever to my brush collection, so I thought I'd share it with you!

For a year or so, I was looking for a large, soft brush that would evenly distribute powder, blush and bronzer. I had such a hard time finding the right fit; I spent a boatload of ca$h on ineffective brushes. Even the 150 and 134, though nice in their own respect, were not what I was looking for.

Then, I came across the #41 Sephora Professionel Platinum brush. I shuddered at the $38 price tag, as that may be a reasonable price for a MAC brush but I'd never really thought Sephora brushes would be as pricey. But, it looked like everything I wanted in a powder brush: It is extremely soft (softer than my MAC brushes); it is fluffy, it is authentic goat hair (distributes creme products more evenly), and well, it's the perfect size for the cheeks.

As you can see, it is a little pink because I've been using it with my Vintage Grape Blush Ombre. It is great if you want a soft wash of color on your cheeks, and if it's an intense color like say, plum or bronze, you will love this brush because it lightly distributes the product! And did I mention it's soft? :)

Anyways, since there's been a lull in MAC products lately (lol), I wanted to share some other fun products that I've been enjoying. :)

What do you think of Sephora brushes?

Review: MAC "Fun in the Sun" Mineralize Kit

MAC 'Fun in the Sun' Kit

I know I’m a little late in reviewing this product, but it's worth a review- better late than never! :)

It may seem strange for MAC to release a bronzing kit for the holidays, but for me, this is perfect timing. After all, the weather is getting cooler and the air is causing my skin to get drier, so it’s nice to have a product to warm me up even when the outdoors don’t.

The kit includes a promotional size buffing brush (181SE) and 3 full-size mineralize products: ‘Shimpagne’ Mineralize Skinfinish; ‘Nuance’ Mineralize Blush; ‘Play on Plums’ Mineralize Eyeshadow.

I was so excited to see ‘Shimpagne’ being repromoted in this kit- to be quite honest, it was the make or break of this purchase for me. I first discovered this product a few years ago when it was originally released, but sadly I dropped it on the ground shortly after purchasing it, so I lost most of the product, and have been kicking myself ever since.

Shimpagne Mineralize Skin Finish

‘Shimpagne’ is the perfect warm highlighter. It adds glow without looking scaley or greasy. I love to apply it on the apples of my cheeks with a large powder blush (like MAC’s 150).

Shimpagne swatches

The next product in the kit is ‘Nuance’ Mineralize Blush.

Nuance Mineralize Blush

 Truthfully, I already own ‘Nuance’, and perhaps even more coincidentally, I’d been using it daily for the past couple months, so I could already appreciate it for the perfect peachy-corally shade that it is. That said, I’ve still got a ton of my original left, so I’m debating if I should keep this one or sell it, since I am not a huge fan of back-ups. But if you’ve not yet tried this blush, it is universally-flattering, so it will be great on any skintone.

Nuance swatches

Next, we’ve got ‘Play on Plum’ Mineralize eyeshadow. 

This was originally released in summer ’08 with the Electroflash collection. It is yet another perfect, universal eyeshadow. The lighter side is a gold-pink shade, and the darker side is, as the name infers- plum. These colors will make blue eyes pop like crazy, but will flatter any other color very well.

Play on Plums swatches

Finally, the kit includes a 181SE. 

181SE Brush

This travel-size buffer brush works well with any mineralize products- blush, foundation, MSFs, etc. The 181 is  multi-purpose, so I was happy to see it included in this kit. Now, do keep in mind that this is a "special edition" version- hence the "SE", MAC's way of saying that it's not expected to be as good as the regular 181 (which by the way is only LE, darn it!). Thus, I expected it to be coarse and unusable like many of MAC's other SE brushes; However, I am happy to report that this SE version is surprisingly soft- almost as soft as my full-size 182 brush, which is a good thing, because the 182 is very soft! 

So, after trying these products out, I definitely recommend this kit. It is full of fun, festive and effective products. It makes my entire face look glowy and healthy, even in this cool fall season. The price point is also ideal, because to buy these products individually would cost at least $25 more- so $59.50 is a great deal. 

Review: Sonia Kashuk Bent Liner Brush

Every woman knows how difficult liner can be to apply. There are many types of liner brushes that have been developed to make the process easier, but do they really do the trick? Sonia Kashuk offers this Bent Liner Brush, claiming to make the application of gel/liquid liners a lot simpler than you think. Many makeup gurus swear by this brush, such as Youtube's Makeup Geek. So does it pass the test? I picked one up at my local Target and tried it out. Here are my thoughts.

LOVE: The price is very appealing, as the brush costs a mere $5.99, so I felt it was definitely worth trying, even if it didn't work like I'd hoped. The hairs are very thin, so the brush is ideal for gel liners, which tend to be heavier, thus giving the brush some weight and control. I love the fact that it is bent, so you can hold it diagonally to your face and apply the liner in a much more comfortable, thus more accurate, fashion. 

DON'T LOVE: If you're looking to apply your liner really heavily and quickly, this brush may not be right for you. It takes a few coats to get the liner looking intense, so if you're in a hurry, you won't be happy. Additionally, the brush feels very cheap, which is probably why it's $5.99. It's made of really bad quality plastic that feels like it's going to snap or fall apart if I put it in a makeup bag with other cosmetics that are sloshing around. Finally, I wish this brush was sold online, but alas is only available at Target stores. 

OVERALL SCORE: 3 out of 5

Innovative and effective for lighter looks, for others, stick with your old liner brushes.