Tuesday 31 December 2013

Baby Update

Little Evelyn is now 6 weeks old. And weighs approximately 4.8kg.




Revlon Lip Butter - Strawberry Shortcake & Cotton Candy




I've finally jumped on the bandwagon for the Revlon Lip Butters. I've been reading reviews, seen swatches and watched countless mentions of this product from beauty gurus on youtube but every time I go to swatch this product (on my hand) in the shops, the texture feels sticky and the pigmentation looks uneven. So I never actually purchased any. 

And then I went through one of those days. A day where you really don't have anything in particular that you need to buy or even want to buy but you refuse to go home empty handed. Yeah, one of those days. Fortunately these babies came home with me. I purchased two and I...LOVE them!






I bought Strawberry Shortcake and Cotton Candy because recently I've realized that these light pink shades really make my skin look whiter. From looking at the lipstick bullet, i preferred strawberry shortcake as it is such a girly pale pink colour. Cotton Candy appears to be a cool pink and kind of has a little tint of purple to it. But alas! when I smeared them across my lips, cotton candy was more of a nude colour against my naturally dark coloured lips and I actually like it better than strawberry shortcake which has a barbie doll superficial pink appearance to it. The texture is so creamy and moisturizing. When I took the lipstick off in between swatches, it really did remove a layer of dry/dead skin from my lips. Double happy!

Now value for money for these products is another story. The bullet is not as long as I expected and you really have to apply quite a bit to get an opaque coverage across the lips. For $22 AUD, these "drugstore" moisturizing tinted lip butters are a little investment. 


Strawberry Shortcake


Cotton Candy

Saturday 14 December 2013

Review: Sigma F80 & Sigma E40



It was one of those rare occasions this month that I enjoyed a quiet afternoon on my balcony with a nice cup of coffee where my baby was soundly asleep and I was free for one hour (2 hours max) to do anything I wanted. Anything at all. 
Of course I chose to pull out my new beauty purchase arrivals and play with them :)


I purchased two brushes from Sigma during their Black Friday sale. It was free international shipping and I did not want to miss the chance! Sigma's shipping fees are ludicrous! Although I was tempted to add one of the kits to my cart, my conscience advised me to save my money for better things to come. The end result was the much raved about F80 flat top kabuki and an E40 tapered blending brush. A travel sized E25 blending brush was included as a GWP.


F80 Flat Top Kabuki


For any make up lover, I think this is one of those things you eventually will add to your collection. Simply because everyone has it, and everyone likes it. I must say, it really is as good as everyone makes it out to be. It buffs in the product beautifully and the bristles are soft which is not harsh on the skin for such a dense and packed brush. This is perfect for when you just want to buff in liquid foundation quickly and flawlessly. It's a win/win.




For a year now, I've been using a dupe to the F80 because I just couldn't get my mind to overcome the $20 shipping fee for a $20 brush. This dupe is from www.blankcanvascosmetics.com and it is their F20 brush. Now this one isn't cheap either, it is still AUD $21. But I was not initially after this brush. I was interested in the contour palette that Sineady Cady (the makeup chair) promotes in almost all her videos. and this brush, along with some other face brushes, were included with the kit. 


Left: BCC F20. Right: Sigma F80


Comparing these two flat kabuki brushes, they both create the desired end result which is flawless foundation finish. The bristles on the F20 are just a little bit longer making it a little less rigid that the Sigma F80. However, although the F80 is more rigid, the bristles are softer making it gentle against the skin. The F20 bristles feel more plastic-ky whereas the F80 feels more like fur despite both being synthetic. So the question now is which one do I like better? I definitely have to say F80 but just by a little. I will still go back to the Blank Canvas Cosmetics brush once the F80 is in need of a wash without a negative thought.

E40 Tapered Blending



The E40 tapered blending brush has such soft bristles, but yet still stiff enough to pack on the product. The thing that I love the most about it is it's long handle. It just has the perfect amount of weight to it. I also own a dupe to this brush, and for my small, flat creased asian eyes, i actually prefer my dupe.


The Models Prefer Professional crease brush has shorter bristles and is more tapered at the tip. Having shorter bristles means that it is more precise shading the correct (limited) area in my crease and creating a sharp but blended in shadow. Sigma's E40 is definitely more suitable for people with a deeper crease socket as there is more surface area to play with. Models Prefer brushes are much more cheaper and accessible for us Australian girls and I can never resist buying their brushes when priceline has a sale.



Models Prefer Professional Crease Brush


Left: MPP Crease Brush. Right: Sigma E40