a little bit of this, a little bit of that

The problem with having a little girl in the house is that she loves to get into my makeup zone. And what does she do there… well, make a mess of things. What did you expect?

Its fine *if* she’s under supervision… if she’s not… all sorts of things happen.

credit to WeHeartIt.com

Just as a quick example that happened last night, I went to wash up for bed and found… wet powder residue all over my sink area! my swirly bowl was wet and right side up near the sink (not where I usually leave it upside down) and the pot of powder… well, it was empty and had little drops of water running around inside. It looked kinda like this…

credit to WeHeartIt.com

The nice thing to note is that I finally have proof first hand that mineral makeup is waterproof! everything was running on top of everything else. Rather fun to watch actually.

So this morning, I sat down and mixed up a new batch of powder to put in my freshly washed powder pot… here’s my recipe for now…

1.5 tsps of SilkNatural’s Date Bait powder
1 tsp of SilkNatural’s Perfecting Powder
.5 tsp of SilkNatural’s Zinc finishing powder
.5 tsp of Coastal Scents’ silica powder

Mix it all up and here’s what you get…

Let me give you the rationale behind this blend. I, personally, find the perfecting powder by itself a little too plain. I wanted a little hint of color to even out some skin tones hence the addition of Date Bait.

Date Bait, by itself, on my skin is way too dark (I’m a NC20 I think) but blended into together with the other powders, I get a subtle almost pinky cream shade.

The Zinc finishing powder is for sun protection plus I find it really makes the powder feel quite a bit smoother. Seems to go on better somehow. Hard to quantify but hey even if it doesn’t really do anything in terms of texture, I rest easier knowing I’ve got an additional amount of sun protection. :P

Silica… hmm, at one stage there was sooo much talk about silica. Basically, I’m using it for the oil control and simply to use up the huge bottle I bought from Coastal Scents a long time ago. Once I run out, this ‘ingredient’ will likely get dropped from my list unless I decide to buy some from SilkMineral, which would cut down my shipping cost and time.

To use, I just shake some out into my swirly bowl, add a little SilkNaturals glow if I think I need the extra boost, swirl my EDM long handled Kabuki through it and apply on my face.

I love using SilkNatural’s powders… they give me a nice even finish and seems to ‘blurrify’ my pores a little. I like being able to mix things up til I get the ‘perfect’ combination for me. Its a little bit of effort but oh so worth it. And I love the price tag on them too. :)

Am contemplating purchasing a bb powder pact to use while I’m on the go. Again, the sun protection is a major factor for me… but then again, who am I kidding, I *never* touch up once I’m out the door… excuses, excuses…

What face powders do you use? and why do you like them? let me know ok?

3 ELF studio brushes

I got these quite a while ago. They are the Elf Studio fan brush, complexion brush and small angled brush. They are all USD3 each.

Been using them for a while.. and think its time I made some comments.

Complexion Brush

This new anti bacterial, synthetic haired Taklon brush is softer and more absorbent and can be used with wet or dry products. Be a professional makeup artist and create a flawless look with this e.l.f. studio brush!
-Creates an even and natural finish
-Expertly sweeps all types of powders across the entire face and sculpts features beautifully
-Use with pressed, loose, or translucent powders, blush or bronzer
*Vegan Friendly

My thoughts : I’ve been using EDM’s long handled kabuki brush for both my powders and foundations. I found this doesn’t really work the way I’d like a powder/foundation brush to work. BUT its okay if you want a light dusting of powder to finish or to use with a pigmented blush… its super soft and flexible (ie it doesn’t have a firm feel like a kabuki)

Small Angled Brush

This new anti bacterial, synthetic haired Taklon brush is softer and more absorbent and can be used with wet or dry products. Be a professional makeup artist and create a flawless look with this e.l.f. studio brush!
-Creates precise color application
-Creates even, thin and straight lines every time
-Use to apply lip color, eyebrow color, or to line eyes
*Vegan Friendly

My thoughts : I absolutely love this brush. As in love love love. Its an ideal tool to use to apply eyeshadows as eyeliners. Will definitely get another one or two as backups. Can’t see myself doing without them.

One technique that I’ve tried and tried to achieve is to use eye shadow to line my lower eye lashes… well, with this brush, its super easy and it works beautifully. Here’s a recent eotd I did using it.

Fan Brush

This new anti bacterial, synthetic haired Taklon brush is softer and more absorbent and can be used with wet or dry products. Be a professional makeup artist and create a flawless look with this e.l.f. studio brush!
-Unique fan shape blends away makeup mistakes
-Dusts, wipes, and contours powders
-Use to create a soft wash of color over the cheeks, to apply a touch of loose powder to cover shine, or as a blending aid.
*Vegan Friendly

My thoughts : This is one brush that though has had rave reviews elsewhere… I just don’t know how to make it work for me. Strange but true… have tried it as a blush brush… too much work; to dust off fall out… just made it worse; to add a touch of highlighter… well, I rarely do this step so…

It is very soft and feels lovely on the face. If you know how to use a fan brush, I think its a nice one.

Brushes... my current collection

*originally posted on Dec 16, 2008 on VOX*

am I becoming a brush whore.... I wonder... anyways, ever since the arrival of my CoastalScents brush order, my collection has more than doubled. :)

so here they are... not as many as some of you but definitely a lot according to me.

Ok... now for the individual pieces... from my current collection (not including the new arrivals)

These are my current fav face brushes. The top brush is from Beauticontrol (it came in a set complete with a brush roll). I use it for putting on my finishing powders and foundations. The second "cow" brush is excellent for adding my contour color to my cheeks. Its just the right size too! The third brush is the Italian Badger Buffer brush from CoastalScents. I use this for my blushes... just one swipe onto my cheekbone and I get a lovely blended flush of color. I can't say enough about this brush. I love love love it. (one thing to note though... it does shed a little ^^)

These are the brushes I turn to when I'm doing my eotds. Starting from the bottom

The Color Applicators

the ultimate e/s brush from SilkNaturals. This was one of the first e/s brushes I owned. The angled brush head is really good for patting on pigments. Its got a kinda pointed part that gets into the inner eye rather well. To be honest, this brush doesn't get much use now as I prefer my other newer brushes.

the 'cow' e/s brush... lovely nice small brush. I can see bringing this if I travel. Picks up pigment with ease and applies it without much pressure. A really nice 'cheap' but 'good' brush.

the Loew-Cornell Maxine Mop #270... really really loving this brush at the moment. The head is smaller than the cow brush and really gets into my inner eye corner with no issue at all. Its an excellent size for my eyes and packs on the color so well. Sadly, I haven't found this brand here in Singapore but will keep looking.

The Blenders

the Forever Female pink crease brush... my first pencil type brush. It has revoluntionised the way I apply the crease color. (thanks Erika for the vid tute on this!) Truly, finding the right brush makes the application soooo much easier! I use this for crease work mainly.

Loew-Cornell blender mop #276... my favouritest brush at the moment. I love love love love this brush for the ease of color application when I just want a wash of color, I use the sides of this brush. Its just the right size to cover the area from my crease to my brow bone. Gives me the nicest shimmery sheer look that I just adore. Then if I use the top of the brush, it does an excellent job at blending colors together without being scratchy or ouchy. Its just so soft. *hugs*

Beauticontrol e/s brush... part of the set I first bought. This was my FIRST e/s brush. Couldn't figure out why my crease didn't turn out properly when using this... LOL! I've come a long way, baby! Still using this for highlight colors and color washes...

These are the two main brushes I use for lining my eyes. The top brush is from Beauticontrol. I think it might be a concealer brush but I'm not sure. I use this to pick up color from my NYX jumbo eye pencils and application on my lids. Then I use the other end of SN's ultimate e/s brush to pat pigments into the cream liner. This brush enables me to lay down color very close to my lash line. Its what is known as a push brush, I think, cos you basically push the pigment into your lashes... making for a thicker looking lash line if that's what you're after.

this are the last of my 'current' collection...

1st Pic
eyebrow/eyelash brush which I still haven't used all that often. The 'cow' liner brush I talked about in a previous post. Great when used wet for applying a thin line of pigment. SN's fibre optic blush brush (my first fibre optic brush!)... in my opinion, absolutely horrible for applying blush... its too small! but its good for applying Dayna's glows... just a nice small line of glow on my cheek bones...

2nd Pic
Beauticontrol blusher brush... umm... this was one of my first brushes too... used it for a while til I got my badger. Its ok... not great.. does the job.
ForeverFemale buffer brush, I think. It gives more coverage than the brush I normally use for foundation. I use it on days when I just need more color on my skin to even it out.
Flat top brush from I don't know where... don't really use this brush at all... the coverage is way too heavy for me... although is super super soft...hmm... anyone out there want it... going real cheap ^^ ... I'm serious!

Ok, after getting this far... I've decided to split this post into two... its getting way too long ^^
so part two will cover all my new brushes... :)