Enkore Crease Brush

I received my Enkore duo fiber crease eye brush in the mail recently. After using it for the past week I have to say I am very happy with it. It is small enough to fit right into the crease of my eye and, although I find it a bit too flimsy to do a really precise outer v, it does quite a reasonable job of blending out shadows in the crease and across the eye and also seems to pick up and distribute pigments well. The bristles are light and soft and I barely feel them on my eye.

It seems to be a solid well made brush and well worth the $11.95 US I paid for it. If you don't want to put out the money for a more expensive MAC blending brush this could be a very good alternative. Koren of Enkore fame really seems to care about his fans and their opinions and I think you can see that in his products.

Enkore has a number of other brushes available on his website  as well. Check them out online at www.enkoremakeuponline.com

Brush Guards

I was watching Enkore Youtube reviews the other night and came across his review for The Brush Guard. I immediately ordered some and you guys just have to check this product out! What a brilliant idea.


www.thebrushguard.com  
Here is the official blurb on The Brush Guard website:

The Brush Guard is a stretchable, breathable tube which protects your makeup brushes:

While drying - bristles dry in perfect shape
In use - handle stays clean and grips better
In storage - no snags or squashing
On the move - perfect packing

The Brush Guards themselves really do seem to do what the company claims. I was even able to fit my MAC 182 kabuki brush into the larger Brush Guard. The only down side is that it does take brushes a little bit longer to dry than normal, but, it really does help them keep their shape so I think it is a good trade off.

I have invested so much money into quality brushes and this is an inexpensive way to protect that investment. I am very happy with this product and have already ordered more.

Sephora Flashy Liner

I have been on the hunt for an eye liner that will STAY PUT on my waterline! Aarrgghh! Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Waterproof liner seems to be the most recommended, but it costs around $22.00 in Canada and that seems really pricey to me for an eye liner.

So desperate am I to find a liner that will work that I almost broke down and bought the Urban Decay liner. Lucky for me I came across some reviews for Sephora's Flashy Eye Liner. Quite a few people have said they like it as well as, or better than, the Urban Decay version. Hmmmm, $10.00 for the Sephora liner....worth a shot right?

I received it yesterday and have applied it to my waterline this morning. It has been on for about an hour and still going strong. Yay! That is better than any other liner I have tried so far.

Let me get back to you once I have had it on all day.

Update:
So, twelve and a half hours since I put it on....

Surprisingly there is still a fair amount of color on my waterline! It has worn away at the edges but enough of it has stayed put, making it appear that my eyes are still lined. A small amount of has migrated underneath my eyes unfortunately, but after twelve and a half hours of wear (and a bit of light eye rubbing on my part) I am willing to forgive that. It is only a recent development. It was fine all day while I was at work.

I would have to say that, overall, I am very happy with Sephora's Flashy liner in Deep Black. I think I might consider buying some of the other colors. There are so many pretty ones.

My face costs how much?!

My thoughts were wandering this morning as I was standing in front of the mirror getting ready for work. I started adding up in my head how much it costs for me to do my face every morning...can you say heart attack?! Good thing I have a sense of humor! I find it funny that I have gotten myself into a position where I require this much product just to get out the door in the morning, sad though that may be. LOL. It's good to have a hobby and a passion for something in life, even if that passion is eye shadow and lipstick, right? That's what I am telling myself anyway!

Oil of Olay moisturizer         $13.00
Garnier Eye cream             $17.00
Rimmel Face Primer             $8.00
MAC conclealer            $20.00
MAC Select SPF foundation         $31.00
Marcelle translucent powder         $12.00
NARS Orgasm blush             $29.00
Benefit Georgia Peach face Powder    $36.00
Physicians Formula Bronzer         $17.00
Rimmel lip liner in Addiction        $6.00
MAC Cosmo lipstick             $16.00
Urban Decay Primer Potion         $22.00
MAC Brule Eye Shadow         $13.00
MAC Amber Lights eye shadow     $13.00
MAC Electra eye shadow         $13.00
MAC Naked Lunch eye shadow     $13.00
MAC Black Tied eye shadow        $13.00
MAC Vanilla pigment         $23.50
MAC 187 brush            $52.00
MAC 182 brush            $55.00
MAC 217 brush            $27.00
Enkore blending brush        $18.00
Coastal Scents Kabuki brush        $6.00
Coastal Scents stippling brush    $8.00

      Total: $481.50!!!

MAC 217 Shader/Blender Brush

I am just learning the basics of eye shadow application and so I have been doing a lot of research on blending brushes. The ones that seem to have popped up over and over again were the MAC 217, 222, and 224. After A LOT of reading, thanks to all you wonderful people who post your reviews and opinions, I settled on the MAC 217 shader/blender brush. Everyone seems to be of the opinion that it is a good “first” blending brush when you are starting to build a brush collection.

I have been using it on a daily basis for about a week now. At first I didn’t think it was making much difference and I felt a bit awkward with it in my hand, but, after playing around with it and getting comfortable with it this last week I am really beginning to see how it is starting to improve my blending abilities. I think at first I was using it with too heavy a hand, which is probably typical of newbies. Now, I keep my touch light and just keep blending, blending, blending, blending, and voila, much less splotchy, nicely blended shadows.

The MAC 217 is also great for patting on shadow if you use the flat part of the bristles. Kind of a two in one deal, fluffy and flat all at the same time! I am finding I can do almost an entire eye look (minus liner of course) with this brush. It really seems versatile.

Anyway, I have decided I love it lots, and I think I might branch out and get the MAC 222 blender brush next. I think the MAC 224 might be a bit big for my eye space.

MAC Sable eye shadow

I hit my local MAC counter yesterday with my sister, who had some birthday money to spend. I have recently gotten into MAC eye shadows and so it took all my will power to keep from spending money in there. I am trying to build a good staple collection of eye shadows to start, since I have basically none, and I did end up walking out with a MAC shadow in Sable. It is a beautiful plummy brown shade and I  just love it. I am wearing it today. I put MAC Naked Lunch on my lid, MAC Sable in the crease, and MAC Sketch as an eye liner for a simple work day look, and I love it! MAC Sable is such a pretty eye brightening brown and I think it is going to be very versitile. I can already tell  it will go great with purples, greens, and pinks. I have pale, cool toned skin (MAC NW20), dark brown eyes, and dark brown hair and I think it suits me well. I have a feeling I am going to hit pan fast on this one.

Hello!

Hi everyone!

I am so excited! This is my first blog, and my first post in this blog. I am a complete beginner when it comes to cosmetics and application and I definitely don't claim to be any type of expert. Far from it. I am slowly but surely learning, trial by error, how to improve my make up choices and my application techniques, and as I have learned so much, and continue to learn, from all of the wonderful people who take the time to post their advice, reviews, and tutorials, I just want to give a little back into this great community I have found and share all the fun and interesting things I am learning along the way.

Thanks for reading my blog and I look forward to getting a chance to interact with all of you.