Ulta Haul, Part Two- The Brushes!

Hello Friends!

Here's part two of my Ulta haul, focusing on the brushes!

The first brush I picked up was the Precision Face Brush by Bare Minerals/Bare Escentuals ($28). The lady who helped me at Ulta used this when she put my new foundation on, and I really like the way it worked. The top of the brush is entirely solid, there's almost no tapering of the bristles.

The smooth top makes it so I can actual squeeze a little bit of foundation directly on to the brush (the foundation is quite thick) instead of putting it on a palette or the back of my hand, therefore wasting less that I was with my last foundation brush. It also seems to absorb less make up.

The brush itself is cut at an angle, with makes it easy to get into the contours of the face. I feel like it makes it easy to buff the makeup onto the skin, and it doesn't streak. I'm really happy with it. I am curious if other kabuki-style brushes might work the same way, but I think it was worth it. The one odd thing about this brush is that the tips of the bristles are a rosey-pink. I'm really not sure why. Unfortunately, this kind of makes the brush look dirty all the time.

I have been watching a lot of Pixiwoo tutorials lately. Sam Chapman, one half of the Pixiwoo duo had designed her own line of brushes, Real Techniques, and they use them in the videos. I've been intrigued, so I thought I'd give them a shot, since they're very inexpensive.

The Real Technique brushes are all synthetic, but the bristles are very high quality- they don't feel plastic-y at all. I was really surprised by the quality of these brushes for the price- $6-10 a brush, or $17 for a set of 3-6).  I've washed them once, and NO bristles came our. None. I was blown away. The other quality the that really sets them apart is their handles. If you notice in the pictures, the ferule (the metal part) extends down most of the length of the brush. This makes the brushes incredibly light. They're also a bit wider than a lot of brush handles. While I like those features merely out of preference, it really makes the difference for my mom, who has arthritis, and finds it hard to hold on to some smaller brushes. The ferules themselves are also color coded, which makes it easy to find what you're looking for. The gold handles are for base products, the purple are for eyes, and the pink are for finishing (powders, contours, etc). Most of their individual brushes also have flared handles (see the stipple brush below) that allow you to stand them upright "for display," should you want to do that.

The Real Techniques Travel Essentials set ($17) comes with three brushes and a padded carry case that doubles as a stand.

In this set, the gold brush is their Essential Foundation brush. I'm not a huge fan of this brush, but that's probably because I'm rubbish at applying foundation that way... I can't stop the streaks. It might be better with a thinner foundation. It works alright for concealer though. 

The purple brush is the Domed Shadow brush, and I love it! it's a nice, fluffy brush with a good taper. I like it for both base shadow and eye contouring. 

Finally, the pink brush is the Multi-task brush. It's a basic dome brush, and it really is good for multi-tasking. I've used it for bronzer and setting powder, and I like it equally well for both. It's very full, but I don't find it too fluffy for contouring.

I bought three other Real Techniques brushes.

This first brush is the Lash-Brow Groomer ($5.99). I've never really been one for eyelash combs, but this one is different to any others I've seen, since it has metal tines... almost reminiscent of a louse comb (gross, but true). I actually really like it, and it works really well. It comes with a little cover that snaps on over the tines to protect them (and you!) in your makeup bag. The brow side is is pretty average. All in all it was definitely worth what I paid for it.

The second brush is the Setting Brush ($7.99), which they recommend for a "controlled dusting of powder." Personally, I don't use it for that, since I like a big fluffy brush for powder, but one of my favorite things about the brushes is that they're all multi-use, and even the girls from Pixiwoo use them for all sorts of purposes. I mostly use this brush for highlighting or concealer. I find that using a fluffier brush gets around the blemishes better, and makes the coverage more even. 

The third, and final, brush is the Stippling Brush ($9.99). The Pixiwoo girls use this for foundation a lot, but I like a heavier application. I do, however, LOVE this brush for cream blush. It gives an incredibly even look, and it doesn't pick up too much product. It is also one of the brushes that is able to be stood up.


That's it for the brushes, and the end of my Ulta haul posts! Next week, I'll be doing a lip product haul/review. See you then!


Always,

Nani xx

Ulta Haul, Part One- The Products!

Hello Friends!

I totally failed guys! It was final exam week, and I had to choose whether to blog or pass my exams... I'm on break now, so I should be able to make up for it with a couple posts next week!

Anyway, last week I promised you guys a review from my trip to Ulta. I think I'm going to split it into two parts- products and brushes- and upload them separately, because it's just too much for one post!

If you've been following along with my blog, this first purchase shouldn't be much of a surprise to you: I bought more foundation. It turns out that the Rimmel foundation that I thought was perfect ALSO turned pink on my skin. After doing a little research, the best explanation I can find is that it has something to do with the the foundation reacting to the mix of oxygen and the pH of my skin. Whatever the reason, I've been using this new foundation for a week, and I haven't had any problems with it (fingers crossed!), and I've given the rest of the Rimmel to my sister. :)

 

This time, after explaining the pink/oxidation and my oily skin to the lady at Ulta, she recommended the Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 hour Full Coverage Foundation ($38) in Light, their third shade out of eight. I have used this foundation before- I bought it for my trip to Costa Rica last summer, in shade four, Medium, but in the winter that's far to dark for me. I really the color palette this line has. Most of the shades are neutral tones, so they work wonderfully for me.

The clay in the foundation works wonders for oil control, which is perfect for me. The coverage is definitely full, but it doesn't wear heavily on the skin. It feels really nice going on, and I really don't need much of it, especially when I use my new brushes (review to come). I've definitely found that it wears for almost exactly 12 hours, just like the label says! We'll see if things change, but as of right now, about a week and a half into the use of it, I'm pretty happy with it.

I had intended to buy a Lancome mascara that Fleurdeforce recommends (Hypnose Star, $28), but Ulta doesn't carry Lancome. When I asked about it, however, one of the employees had just quit Lancome, and so she was able to recommend a similar product, Lorac Pro mascara ($23), which happened to be on sale for $10. (The sale is still available on their website... very tempting!)

Lorac Pro is a nice deep black formula that doesn't flake, but what sets it apart is the wand.

The wand is almost conical, and I think the secret to it is that the bristle length is designed to match to the length of the lashes in that area of the eye (short on the inner corner, etc), at least for me. I find that if I curl my lashes I can get away with two strokes of this stuff, as opposed to the 3-4 strokes of Benefits' They're Real mascara (which I also liked). It also separates the lashes well. I've used the plastic wands for so long that it took me a bit to get used to the spoolie brush, but I really like it. My only complaint about the mascara is that it is NOT waterproof in the least. I have to put it on after I use my setting spray, or I look like the prom queen runner-up... lots and lots of mascara all down my face.



I had heard a lot about Nyx, but I hadn't ever tried it (it's not widely available in my area), so I got pretty excited to see it at Ulta- and it was on SALE!

I picked out this eye shadow, Nyx Nude Matte Shadow in "I Have a Headache" ($4.49), to use as a base for other eye shadows, since I've found that if your put a color similar to your skin tone all over your lid, the other colors you put on blend better and wear more evenly. I've been using "Desire" from Stila's In the Moment palette, but I'm running it out, and it's not available on its own (and the palette is way too big to carry!). This is almost an exact dupe, and way better quality than I was expecting. The only downfall- the packaging. It looks a lot like the Urban Decay individual eye shadow pots, but the inner liner that holds makeup is loose- just loose enough to be annoying, and the plastic feels really cheap. For the price, though, it's understandable.

I also picked up this Nyx Concealer in Green ($4.99). With all the stress I'm under from school right now, my skin is a MESS. I've never used a red-cancelling green concealer before, but I think I like it. It's definitely working. I think I'll go with a liquid next time, but that's just because I'm not a fan of stick concealer. No complaints!



The last thing was this little set of EOS lipbalms in Strawberry and Passion fruit. These lip balms are everywhere right now! I saw the cute spring packaging, and the pastel-ness lured me in. I like them a lot, particularly the purple passion fruit one!



Ok guys, this is the end of part one! Stay tuned for part two, the brushes!

Always,

Nani


(P.S. This post was written during WWF's Earth Hour. Did you #DoItInTheDark?)

Ulta Review

Hello Friends!

I had the opportunity to go to Ulta yesterday. From what I understand, it's a fairly wide-spread chain across America, but I had never been before. Here's a little about my experience.

When I first walked in, I was surprised by the size- the store was huge. Then I was surprised by the contents of the store. I expected something like Sephora (high quality makeup, well organized, well lit store, etc.), but what I found was pretty different.

As far as I can tell, Ulta (at least the store that I visited) is divided into fourths- high quality makeup, drugstore/high street makeup, perfume, and hair/nails.

The high quality makeup selection was fairly small, I think, though they had a lot of top notch brands. The set up was very much like Sephora, wide aisles, lighted display shelves, etc. Although the selection of brands they had was limited, they had large selections within the brands that they did have, wider than Sephora carries, in some cases (Tarte, Anastasia Beverly Hills, and Cargo, for example). They also had several that are not easy to find around here, like Butter London and Iman. I was disappointed with the lack of several staple brands though, like Make Up Forever.

The drugstore/high street section was a whole other kettle of fish. In keeping with the drugstore theme, I guess, it looked a lot like a drugstore, with narrow aisles and the shelves all jumbled up and crammed together. I was happy however, to see that they carried a lot of brands that I can't find anywhere else! I've never actually found Nyx cosmetics in a store before, so that was exciting. I also was able to buy some Real Techniques by Sam Chapman (of Pixiwoo fame) brushes.

The customer service was so-so. The attendant was willing to help, and helped me find the products I was looking for (reviews to come!), but was a little distracted by her friends. Maybe I'm spoiled by the treatment I get by having friends at Sephora, but she seemed like she was trying to go fast to get back to whatever she had been doing before.

One thing I really liked, however, was that Ulta does sales! Sephora really doesn't- they'll do special sets with discounted products, but Ulta does true "buy one, get one half off" type sales. I got a Lorac Pro mascara (normally $23) for $10. Ten dollars. That would NEVER happen at Sephora.

Overall, I think I was impressed by Ulta, but not that specific store. I think, since the sales are so good, I will continue to shop Ulta for the products that might be cheaper there, but online only. Maybe I'll try another location sometime, we'll see.

Review of the products pictured above will be spread out over the next few weeks... As you can see, I took advantage of the trip!

Always,

Nani xx

A Quick Note to YOU!

Hello Friends!
I just wanted to take a minute and send out a thank you to you all, especially my lovely followers! 
Today is the one-month anniversary of my blog! I started on this journey with a "I'll throw this out there, and see what happens" mindset, really not expecting much. A month later, I'm delighted and amazed to see that people out there - you - want to read my thoughts. It's kind of crazy and humbling. I love being part of this growing blogger community, and I'm glad to be sharing my journey with you.

Anyway, THANK YOU for supporting me!

Always,

Nani

(I'm hoping to go to Ulta and/or MAC on Tuesday, so my post (a haul) will likely be a little later than normal!)

I (re)Discover Drugstore Makeup!

Hello Friends!

Okay... Confession time:

I am a makeup snob. I never use drugstore makeup.

I don't mean sometimes, occasionally, every once in a while... I mean never.

When I was first allowed to wear makeup, my mom insisted that I only use Clinique, since sensitive skin runs in our family. This did two things. Firstly, it allowed her a high level of control over what makeup I owned, since, at twelve, there was no way I could afford to buy it (good thinking, Mom!). Secondly, it instilled the "you get what you pay for" value very deeply into my soul.

Once we determined that I wasn't allergic to most makeup, I was allowed to buy drugstore brands (still with Mom's supervision, thank goodness... although, there was that hideous electric blue mascara... but I digress). Since at that point, most of my money was from babysitting jobs (and I was a young teen), I gravitated to the cheaper, teen-oriented brands, like NYC and Jane. (the culprits behind the shocking mascara)

I liked the drugstore makeup, but I could feel the difference. The Clinique was smoother, had more pigment, and lasted longer... but the NYC was so much cheaper.

This carried on until I was 15, when we got a mini-Sephora in a larger department store in our mall. There were (in my mind) so many brands, and so many colors.. and they encouraged -or helped (!!)- you to try it out! I was in heaven. Then, a few months later, the mothership landed. We got our very own GIANT Sephora store.

Since then, I have rarely bought makeup anywhere else. It's an addiction. You've had the best, and it cost $39, so how could a $7 product compete?

Well... Here's where it gets real:

I have never found a foundation that I liked for more that a few months. I always find something wrong with it- wrong color, wrong texture, didn't last long enough (I'll never forget coming out of class with a perfect hand print of makeup missing my freshman year... yikes!)- there will be something. When you're paying $20-40 for foundation, switching every few months really adds up!

So when my latest foundation purchase, the new Make Up Forever Pro Finish powder (see my initial review of it here), ended up disappointing me after only a few weeks, I snapped.

I bought drugstore foundation.

And yeah- I only only spent $7 on it. And I LOVE it.

No, it's not the perfect foundation. No, it's not an exact match. But it's pretty darn close. SO. without further ado, I give you my new foundation:

Rimmel London Match Perfection Foundation, in 120 Ivory (about $7 at Target).

After doing some research (read: watching Youtube reviews), I had decided on the Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation, but I'm pretty sure we don't have that here in the US, so I settled on this one. 

Application:
The first thing I noticed about the foundation was it's smell- it's fruity, and really pleasant. It's a thin, liquid foundation, which goes on really smoothly with a "precision"/beautyblender type sponge. I haven't tried it with a stipple brush yet, but I'm intrigued to see how that goes.
Like I said, it goes on smoothly, and, maybe because it's so thin, it layers really well. 

Wear:
When it first goes on (at least on oily skin like mine), it's almost... sticky. Not like honey... more... tacky. I really dislike that, but with a light dusting of setting powder, that goes away, and doesn't come back.
It doesn't last very long on it's own, maybe 6 hours, but with powder, and especially with a setting spray, it can last close to 12 hours. 

Removal:
This is my only concern with this foundation. Not that it's hard to take off, but the opposite. If you leave it on for a long time, like I do, then it can kind of disappear into your face, and lull you into complacency with your removal process (it's gotten me twice!). Always, ALWAYS remove your makeup before bed or a shower!


Anyway, I love the foundation, and now that I've broken down my prejudice, I went back for more. Today I went back to Target and picked up three lipsticks for spring! (Review to come!)

All this to say... Don't rule out anything completely.

Always,

Nani <3