Real Techniques Eyelining Set (Collector's Edition)

Hi, hello!!

It's been a long time, I know!!  But I picked up these brushes the other day and felt like I should blog about them today! :)

I was helping a friend pick out some foundation at Sephora over the weekend when I realized she didn't own any foundation brushes (not that you *need* a foundation brush, but you guys know me and my brushes--can't ever have enough of those!) and thus began our conversation about makeup sponges.  She wanted to be able to get a bag of sponges from the dollar store or something I told her that that just wouldn't do!  Hah.  So we walked into a London Drugs and I found a two pack of the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion sponges and I figured that'd be perfect--I got one for her to try and a second for myself!   Everyone wins!  Low and behold, though, beside the sponges was this new Eyelining Set that I just couldn't refuse!

Did I *need* more eyeliner brushes?  No.  But I had to get them!  For science!  ;)

I think they cost me about $23, and for 4 brushes I figured that wasn't too bad of a deal.  The little pouch they come with is something I likely won't use, but it seems functional enough.  I could see myself using it when traveling, maybe.  

The brushes came protected in a little slotted plastic thing that kept the brushes in place.  It worked well and there was no annoying glue holding them in--which is nice!

I hadn't realized until I started getting my other RT brushes out for comparison that these eyelining brushes from the "collector's edition" are a shinier purple metal, whereas if you have other RT brushes that are purple--they're more of a brushed metal.  I'm not sure what I prefer, but I couldn't help feeling like the new brushes felt even lighter and thus a bit cheaper than my existing RT lining brushes.  Only time will tell!

The below two pictures make me laugh for a couple of reasons.  When RT first had a liner brush in their "Starter" set, it came with the "pixel-pointed liner brush",  This brush, as you can see, is pretty darn large for a liner brush!  Soon it was replaced by the "Fine Liner" brush and even that one isn't very thin.  The new Precision Liner brush is definitely the thinnest of them all.  The second image makes me laugh because I have two Fine Liner brushes are are pretty drastically different--my oldest is much more blunt at the point/end whereas my newer one comes to a much finer point at the end.  I guess it's good that RT is in the practice of improving their brushes--but I think maybe they shouldn't pump out quite so many and should instead focus on perfecting each shape instead of releasing multiple versions of it?  Just a thought!

(Top to bottom: Pixel-Pointed Liner brush, Fine Liner brush, Precision Liner brush)

(Here are two versions I own of the "Fine Liner" brush (top and middle) with the new Precision Liner brush)

Here's how the very tips of my 'older' Pixel-pointed brush compares to the newer Precision Linger brush.  You can really see how bluntly cut the Pixel-pointed brush is compared to the newer brush.  How could anyone ever do liner with the original Pixel-pointed brush?!  I just don't know!  Unless you like thick liner, in which case it probably would have floated your boat!

The new "Smudge Brush" is nice.  It's dense and short bristled.  It's also soft.  I like it!  I wanted to compare it to the older Accent brush as well as to the Shading brush.  It's different enough from both of my existing brushes and I think I'll get a lot of use out of this one--especially for smudging/smoking out the lower lash line.

(Top to bottom: Shading brush, Smudger brush and Accent brush)

The "Pointed Liner Brush" is one that I see myself using as a lip brush and likely not as a liner brush.  Or maybe I'd use it to highlight the inner tear duct and/or apply/smudge out colour on the lower lash line.  It's a good small size and the bristles are soft. 

Here is is next to the Accent brush just for comparison's sake.

Lastly is the "Eyeliner Brush" and out of the box I'd say this one was the most disappointing.  I was hoping it might be a pretty thin liner brush, but it's quite thick.  I guess I will use it for my brows more than anything, or maybe for applying colour to the lower lash line.

Here it is next to the original Brow brush.  I always found the original brow brush a lot too big anyways--although I do like using it for powder products.  My hopes are that I'll be able to use the new Eyeliner brush for my brow pomade!  But even for that I like the brush to be a bit more thin in case I want to draw in more individual "hairs".

Here is the Eyeliner brush with one of my favorite angled liner brushes by Inglot (31T).  The Inglot brush is thin enough that I like using it for actual eyeliner and I like to use it for my brows, too!  Go 31T!  

Overall I think I'll get a lot of use out of the brushes in this set, but I think I was hoping they'd be a bit more "different" than they are.  That's okay by me though, I've almost never met a brush I didn't like!  :)

Oh!  And!  I also dipped all four brushes into my Inglot gel linger in 77 to see what kind of lines I would get.  The first line is one pass with the Precision Liner brush.  The second liner is one I applied with the Precision Liner brush and then smudged out with the Smudge brush.  The third line is one pass with the "thin" side of the Pointed Liner brush and then the fourth line is using that same brush but using the wide side of the brush.  The last two liners were made with the Eyeliner brush.

Thus concludes my research for "science"!!  Do you have a favorite RT brush?  What is it? I want to know!  Now that I might be back into the swing of blogging, what would you like to see from me next?!  :)

Thanks as always for dropping by!

My First Life's Entropy Order (Swatches, Review/First Impressions)!

Happy New Year to you!  I hope you have been ringing it in and that 2015 has wonderfulness in store for you!

Yesterday I received my very first Life's Entropy order!  Currently their website is down due to catching up on Black Friday orders--but I think Jane, the owner of Life's Entropy (LE), may be opening up soon as I think she's almost all caught up with everything!  LE is quite active on their Facebook page so I'd recommend checking there for updates about products, sneak peeks to swatches for new items, etc.

Life's Entropy is a relatively new indie cosmetics company, but don't let that fool you--as my pictures and swatches will show, they produce lovely products and I think the pictures will speak for themselves!  I believe LE opened in July of 2014 and they've been making quite the name for themselves as they offer a range of items you may not be used to finding from an indie company.  They are 100% vegan and hooray for that!  I have been tempted to put in an order since the beginning, but I only bit the bullet recently!

I put in my first order in the middle of November when a limited edition colour of their (very popular) Lip Theories was released to the public (previously it was available in a monthly sub with another indie company, Hello Waffle).  I knew I had to have the limited edition colour, but then I realized that the shipping cost to Canada was a flat $8--kind of steep.  So I justified it by...ordering more...of course!  For my first order I purchased the limited edition Lip Theory in "Tundra", a Particle Contour Stick in "Neutrino", and two more Lip Theories in "Apoptosis" and "Big Bang Theory".

Shortly before Black Friday, Jane put a post up on the FB page saying that if anyone would like their shipping combined from a recent purchase with their future Black Friday purchase that that could be an option.  I jumped on that!  With the shipping price being pretty spendy, I was very glad to be able to combine my orders!  It was super kind of Jane to offer to do that.

Then Black Friday happened and at that time, LE released their new (and much anticipated!!) Cosmos Collection--a lipstick collection featuring five lipsticks, three of which are colour "dupes" of popular Nars shades (more on this later).  I had to have it!  AND.  LE *also* released their new Brow Theory pomade (which is a dupe of the very popular Anastasia Beverly Hills "Dip Brow") for Black Friday!  Weeee!  Basically--I had to put in a second order (on November 29th).  I really didn't have a choice!  :)  My second order contained the complete Cosmos Collection, a Brow Theory in "Light Brown" and a bottle of the LE Revival Serum.  After placing my BF order I had a moment of panic thinking I might not have chosen the proper colour for my Contour Stick and Brow Theory Pomade.  I emailed Jane a picture of myself asking if she could give me some colour suggestions and she thought I chose the right shades.  Hooray!  Thanks to her for calming my mind!

Fast forward to December 31, 2014.  My order ARRIVED!  Yes, it took a while.  I'm not at all bothered by that though--I'm used to things taking a while as I am in Canada.  LE received a HUGE amount of orders for their lipsticks and now that I have them in my hands, I can definitely understand why so many of us were curious to try these babies out.  They're pretty awesome!

ON TO THE PICTURES!!  Brace yourselves--there are a LOT of pictures!

My Black Friday Aromi Purchase (Liquid Lipstick and Lipstick Review)

Hi, hello!

Black Friday happened recently and for the most part I was very restrained with my purchases!  Yay!  I only put in two orders and one of them was with Aromi!  You may recall, when on my recent trip to Portland, that I stumbled upon my first Aromi liquid lipstick and I was so excited because Aromi is a brand I'd been following for a while.

For Black Friday they offered an irresistible 20% discount off all of their items and that meant I ordered myself 3 more liquid lipsticks and took my first foray into their traditional lipsticks!  Hooray!

I received my order very promptly.  I ordered on November 29th and received my package on December 8th, which is AMAZING, because I'm in Canada and they are a US based company.  Typically things take around 2 weeks to get to me, so I was very pleased to see such a quick turnaround!  My order was also packaged very well--it came in a cardboard box filled with pink tissue paper so that none of the items inside were able to shift around.  Yay for Safe Shipping Strategies!  :)

Now on to the pictures!!  (All photos can be clicked for a larger picture.)

Here's what the outer packaging looks like.  I like it!  It's bright and clean!

And the packaging of the lipsticks themselves looks like this.  The liquid lipsticks are in glass tubes.  The lipsticks are in a black plastic casing.

Each liquid lipstick has the name of the colour on the bottom of the tube.

The lipsticks also have a sticker with the name of the colour on the bottom.

Here is the liquid lipstick in Ripe Raspberry.  I like this colour a lot--it tends to pull more purple than it really is in photographs, but that's okay with me because purple lipstick is fun!  The doe foot applicators take some getting used to, but I find that they apply the colour quite evenly and if you take your time you can get a great application using just the doe foot.

Here is the liquid lipstick in Vamptastic Plum.  Out of all of the shades this one might be the least impressive as compared to the promo shots that Aromi features on its website.  You'll notice that on the doe foot applicator it looks almost the same as Ripe Raspberry (when looking at the picture of the glass tubes side by side, this is also quite apparent--although Vamptastic Plum does look slightly darker from the outside of the glass tube).  It's a lovely formula still and I find it does look more purple on the lips than Ripe Raspberry, but it isn't as purple as the website swatches would have me expect.  Perhaps I need to experiment with layering this one on a bit to see if that brings out the purple even more--I do find, however, that when layering, I can experience a patchy application.  I may just need more experience with the liquid lipsticks before perfecting my application method!  :)

And the last liquid lipstick is Black Cherry.  Holy smokes.  A beautiful dark cherry colour.  

Here is the lipstick in Flirty.  A satin (semi-matte?) red. 

 

And this is the lipstick in Wildberry.  A satin (semi-matte) bright berry colour.  The formula on this and Flirty is lovely--they go on smoothly and after two passes are perfectly opaque.  They don't tug at your lips and I don't find that they emphasis dry skin too much (although I'd suggest exfoliating beforehand!).  They don't "set" so to speak so you will experience transferring if you're drinking from a cup or a straw.  They last a long time on me--for the past couple of days I've been wearing Wildberry to work (with a lip liner from Zuzu Luxe called Fraise) and after eating lunch I only need to do a quick touch up and then it lasts all day.

The formula of the liquid lipsticks is definitely very liquid!  When you first apply it, it doesn't "run" around on your lips, but you have to be careful when applying it.  I typically apply it using the doe foot applicator, but sometimes I go in with a lip brush afterward to clean up the very outside edge.  After about 30 seconds, these babies dry down to a very matte and comfortable long wearing lipstick.  They're not moisturizing or drying.  A big plus on the "not drying" aspect.

Here is everything all together.  From left to right: Flirty, Wildberry, Black Cherry, Vamptastic Plum and Ripe Raspberry.  This photo was taken before the liquid lipsticks had set 100%.  For these lipstick swatches I did three passes of each--but I find when applying it to lips, they are opaque after two passes (as mentioned before).

Here they are again after the liquid lipsticks had set 100%.  

And now for some lip swatches!  All of these were applied with the liquid lipstick or lipstsick alone--no lip liner or lip primer was used.

Ripe Raspberry

Vamptastic Plum

Black Cherry

Wildberry

Flirty

 I am very pleased with my purchase from Aromi.  Both the liquid lipsticks and the "traditional" lipsticks have a subtle scent to them that I can't quite place--sometimes I think it's vanilla, maybe?  It lingers on the lips for a short amount of time and then fades.  I've recommended the liquid lipsticks to friends and so far they are also enjoying them!  Hooray!  The lipsticks are lovely, as well, and I am sure my collection will continue to grow in the future!

Have you tried any Aromi products?  Which are your favorites??

EOTD: Naked and Neve Cosmetics

Yesterday I was inspired to use one of my Naked Cosmetics colours. I (shamefully) have a number of their collections and I rarely dip into them! This EOTD features colour #3 from their Mother Nature collection. 

Yesterday I also learned how to properly stack false lashes, so I wanted to try that out too! :)

Here was the result!

Products used:

• Tarte CC Eye Primer
• Barry M Eyeliner Kohl in Black
• Neve Cosmetics in Butterfly, Bonbon and Magma in the crease
• Inglot 329 on the outer portion of the lid and to smoke out the black liner on the lower lash line
• Naked Cosmetics #3 from their Mother Nature collection on the majority of the lid
• Neve Cosmetics Etoile in the duct
• Gabriel Color eyeshadow in Bone below the eyebrow
• NYX Auto Eyebrow Pencil in Dark Brown (I usually don't use this and this reminded me why!)
• Tarte CC Tinted Eyebrow Gel in Medium Dark
• Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara
• Ardell #109 stacked with Quo #801

Now I want to stack ALLLLLLLLL of my lashes!  Holy smokes!

Tutorial: Sugarpill and Neve Cosmetics

Hi, hello!

What do we have here?  A TUTORIAL?!  Holy smokes.  It's been a LONNNNNG time since I've made one of these!  Forgive me if I am a tad (or a LOT) rusty!

I recently posted this look on a FB makeup group I am part of:

And it was requested that I do a tutorial.  How could I refuse?!!  

The look was inspired by my newest Sugarpill colour, the limited edition (and now sold out): Lucid!  I used it with various other Sugarpill colours and used a couple colours from my Neve Cosmetics palettes to soften up the crease.  If you'd like to find out how you can achieve a look like this, then please keep on reading!  :)

Neve Cosmetics "Halo" Eye (EOTD and FOTD)

Today I wanted to play around with my new Neve Cosmetics palettes and I decided to do a halo eye.

In Neve Cosmetics's Chiarissimi palette, which is full of gorgeous duochrome shades, there is one called "Unicorno" (a shade they describe as a "magic duochrome old rose with light green reflections") which I figured would be soooo pretty in the center of a halo eye with a dark brown on either side of it.

I'm also still trying to get the hang of applying lashes without also applying black liner as that tends to cover up my eyelid space too much when my eyes are open! Practice makes perfect...but I still have more practice ahead of me!!

And here are the pictures I snapped of the look:

Products used on the eyes:

• Tarte Amazonian Clay CC Eye Primer
• OCC pencils in Sybil and Sebastian applied to the eye as a base. I put Sybil on the inner and outer portions of the lid (and lower lash line) and Sebastian in the center of the lid).
• Neve Cosmetics Espresso applied to the inner and outer portions of the lower lash line and eyelid.
• Neve Cosmetics Noisette applied in the crease.
• Neve Cosmetics Etoile in the tear duct
• Neve Cosmetics Butterfly to highlight the brow bone
• Neve Cosmetics Unicorno applied to the center of the lid and center of the lower lash line
• OCC Sybil pencil on the lower waterline
• UD Ink for Eyes to line the upper waterline
• Quo eyelashes in 806
• Pure Anada Mascara in Black on the upper lashes

On my face--I have OCC concealer in Y2 under the eyes, a bit around the nose, and some on my chin. OCC's lip tar in Concubine on the lips. Pure Anada blush in Fresh Mandarin on the cheeks. And a bit of Inglot 560 through my brows.

It turned out pretty fun, I think!  :)

Aromi: Liquid Lipstick in Forbidden Fuchsia

While recently on a trip to Portland, I stumbled into this cute little store called Mag Big (it's a store with locally made clothing, jewelry and other fun nicknacks) and much to my delight, they are also a stockist for Aromi Beauty!  I have been wanting to try their liquid lipsticks for a while and I was SO EXCITED to find that Mag Big had two of them in stock!  (Yeah, only two...which is too bad, as I would have totally scooped up more!)  I decided to go with the colour Forbidden Fuchsia and I am so very pleased this colour and with how this product performs.  

Here are some photos of the product packaging.

A colourful and very eye-catching box, if I do say so myself!

Ingredients.  As per the little pot symbol on the right, this item will be good for 12 months after opening.

Cruelty Free and Vegan!  Hooray!

I love how sleek this packaging is!  The clear tube is made of a sturdy plastic (at first I thought it was glass). 

A sticker with the colour name on the bottom.

The doe-foot applicator.  I thought that this might be a pain to use, but it is surprisingly easy to use and applies the product very nicely!

I am new to the world of liquid lipsticks and this product delivers exactly what it promises.  This product retails for $17 (although I've noticed that Aromi occasionally offers discounts that are advertised through their very active Facebook page).  It applies quite wet, but it is INCREDIBLY pigmented.  So what I've been doing is I apply it to my bottom lip (staying away from the very outside edge) and then I purse my lips together to distribute the product a bit to the upper lip.  After making sure it's even, I carefully go around the outside edge of the lips.  The product dries down to a very beautiful matte finish after about 30 seconds or so.  After it dries--it stays put for quite a long time.  It doesn't transfer very much at all to things like cups or straws and I've eaten wearing this lipstick and it still looks pretty awesome when I'm finished!

The matte finish itself is such that you almost forget it's there--as the product is quite thin--I don't find it to be drying in the slightest.

 And here is the product applied to my lips:

If it hasn't been made clear yet through this post, I am VERY HAPPY with this purchase.  I am so excited to get more (Electric Orchid and Preppy Red are at the top of my "want" list!)--one day!  :)

Have you ever tried Aromi products?  If so, what do you think?  What's your favorite of their products?