Hey guys so I am here with a haul. That I am going to split into two parts so that it’s not so massive and doesn’t turn into a TL:DR kinda post.
Most of this stuff was bought on major after Christmas clearance and with gift cards I got for my birthday and Christmas.
Part 1 is going to be brushes, eyeshadow, and hair products. Part 2 will be lip products, perfume and skin care.
BRUSHES
Brushes are my favorite thing to buy and hoard and collect. One day I want to have enough space to actually display all my brushes rather than have them hidden in a drawer.
So I grabbed this Real Techniques Core Collection set on clearance at target.
It comes with 4 face brushes and a case/stand for the brushes.
I don’t see the point in stand the brushes are not easy to remove or put back in while doing your makeup.
The set comes with these four brushes
They are soft but I am not that impressed. Real techniques have been so hyped up that I was just expecting more. They are not as soft or dense as I would have wanted.
Now these Wet and Wild brushes I do love they usually run between 1-3 dollars and you can find them at the Dollar Tree, Five Below or the Wet and Wild website usually.
I didn’t have either the powder brush or the tapered powder brush so I grabbed them off a rack in Five Below. They are very soft cruelty free fantastic for the price. They also hold up really well when I wash them no shedding and I’m a little rough when I wash my brushes.
Nyx Pro Fan Brush
Bought this giant fan brush on a whim is brand new from Nyx their pro brush line it is very soft and very giant. The ferule is sharp and I did scrap my face while using it when I was using it so you have to be careful with it.
I also got some brush sets.
I picked up a Sonia Kashuk travel brush set.
8 brushes in a travel set with face and eye brushes. I will probably replace the eyelash brush and add another face or eye shadow brush.
It also shuts up in its own little case.
Now I am sure every one has seen these gigantic oval brushes all over instagram and youtube. So I treated myself to a pretty knock off set since no way am I able to buy the $400+ Artis brush set. I do have the MAC Oval 7 that I will be comparing too.
So you get 4 bigger “face” brushes
And 6 smaller detail brushes
Mainly I wanted the larger face brushes the little detail brushes I find confusing to use and awkward I think I am going to need a lot more practice with those.
I splurged for the holographic rainbow because I really needed that in my life and you can get this set HERE. They have a black or silver set that does cost less.
The largest face brush is about the size of my palm so it is pretty big.
It applied my foundation gorgeously and quickly I’m in love. Now comparing to the MAC Oval 7 these are not as dense but are softer. The handles have about the same amount of sturdiness so this is definitely a set to look into if you are interested in these types of brushes.
For how they pick up product I think I like these better my MAC brush picks up a lot of product and lays it down really heavy so you have to be careful and light handed with it these don’t pick up and apply quite as much so you can build up that amount of coverage that you want.
EYESHADOW
Well I bought a lot of eyeshadow oops.
Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow in Violet Vixen
So I think this purple/blue glitter color may be a Sephora exclusive I could not find it at Ulta. You don’t get a ton of product for the price but boy is it pretty. It is so super sparkly and surprisingly creamy on the eyelids for all the glitter in it. When I swatched these in stores they all seemed patchy except this on and it isn’t patchy on the eyes so I am pleased. Plus it’s so pretty, just think pretty thoughts.
Urban Decay Afterdark Palette
Clearly I like shiny things, so I love this holographic packaging on this.
I already have the shade Lounge I got it in a single in an Ipsy bag a while ago. I hate Lounge I think it looks super muddy on the eyes with its red green shift it just looks terrible on me I can’t get it to work. Aside from that shade the rest are fairly pigmented and buttery smooth. They have a very light sheen to them. I was surprised by how nice alter showed up on my eyes when usually such a light shadow won’t show up on me. You get a huge mirror and a nice dual ended brush.
Alter and Scene were very hard to swatch as they are fairly similar to the color of my arm. These are really buildable and pretty.
For reference these swatches were done with a brush, three swipes in the pan and three swipes on my arm. To simulate a real eye shadow applying situation.
NYX #LOTD Lip of the Day Gold Lip liquid Lip Liner
I have never seen a liquid lip liner not sure why you would want such a thing but I saw this on the clearance rack for a few bucks and like thank would be great as gold liquid eye liner. So that’s why I stuck it in here.
L’oreal Infallible Paints Eyeshadows Navy Yard and Aqua Aura
These are not great. They are patchy and a little shiny and not my favorite, I need to play with these more. I would give these a pass if you’re looking for liquid eye shadows, Bare Minerals makes some good ones.
Smashbox Cover Shot in Smokey
I was suckered in by the cool 3D packaging and having never tried Smashbox eyeshadows before.
These are lovely shadows and will be great for traveling you have everything you need in one little palette. They have a standard eyeshadow feel not soft, buttery or creamy like an Urban Decay eyeshadow might be.
These blend well and are not patchy except for the matte shade called Slayer. At first I thought Slayer was a dark olive-green buy it is a weird charcoal type color. It deposited pigment in a very inconsistent way and was very hard to blend out. Otherwise I love this little palette.
Swatched in the same manner as the Afterdark palette.
HAIR PRODUCTS
I got an adorable little four pack of Dry Bar Minis.
These are just way to expensive but I really enjoy them.
I’ve recently become obsessed with this brad (Thanks so much Sephora Play!). It all smells so good and really does work so I picked up this adorable little set that comes with the Dry Shampoos, Shine Spray, Hair Spray (Which I may not use I’m not big on hair spray) and a texturizer which I’ve never tried a texturizer before. They all smell like alcoholic drink but not like alcohol that was a terrible description you just need to go check them out.
Well that’s part 1 of this crazy long haul. Part two should be up sometime this week. Then we will be getting back to our regularly scheduled subscription reviews I have two on deck right now Medusa’s Makeup and Beauteque.
<3 Nightmare Before Makeup