EcoTools Flat Liner Brush - Review

Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Part of my reorganizing for the new year has been to try a new way to organize my blog pictures. I've previously been organizing them by month so I wasn't so overwhelmed with a million pictures. The bad thing was that things were getting left behind when I moved on to a new month.

I'm going to try and work back through and review things that I never got to or forgot about. I don't think I'll ever get myself caught up, but it'll be good for me to go back and look at the things that I purchased over the last year or so. With that though, my pictures will be ping-ponging around with different backgrounds since I moved from taking pictures in my half-bath to using a light box, and I've tried different fabrics and bulbs with my light box.

One of the first things I pulled out of my picture archives was the EcoTools Flat Eyeliner Brush.

Price: $3.99 on EcoTools.com

Product

I bought this brush because Wayne Goss on YouTube (Love him!!!) talks about using this type of liner brush to push liner into the lashline, which just makes lashes look thicker without a thick eye liner. All of my other flat liner brushes are angled.

First of all, I have to say that I don't think I've ever been disappointed with the quality of EcoTools brushes. I own most of the brushes in their line, and there are a couple of new ones that I want to pick up. All of the brushes that I have are really soft and don't shed. If I don't like an EcoTools brush, it has to do with the shape of the brush, not the quality. The Flat Eyeliner Brush lives up to the EcoTools quality I have come to expect.

As for this particular brush, it is thicker than what I was wanting and expecting. However, I pulled it back out because I hadn't used it in a while, and it does a beautiful job creating a smudgy, smoky liner look without me having to grab a cotton swab to smudge it out.

Final Thoughts

 While this brush wasn't exactly what I was looking for, I do like it. After grabbing for it again, I think I'm going to reach for it more often. I've gotten into too much of a rut of constantly reaching for my Urban Decay liners. It's time for a change.

Have you tried this particular EcoTools brush? What is your favorite EcoTools brush?

Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

bareMinerals Glamour Now QVC TSV - Love!

Disclaimer: All of the products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

I've tried writing an interesting introduction for this post multiple times. It isn't working, so I give up. I'll try again on the next post. :-)

I recently ordered a bareMinerals QVC Today's Special Value set called Glamour Now. It contains: a Ready eyeshadow quad in The Main Event, a Ready luminizer in This Magic Moment, a blush in Glamour, the Brightening Pearl Perfect Light Mineral Veil, Smoke & Define double-ended liner, a Marvelous Moxie lipgloss in Dazzler, a Lash Domination Volumizing Mascara, a contour blush brush, and a tapered shadow brush.

This set of 9 pieces is set to air on QVC on November 25. It is selling for $49.98 with $6.72 shipping and handling through the official TSV date. If there are any left after that date, the price will go up to $61. Don't count on any being left though. Last year's bareMinerals holidays TSV sold out well before the end of the day. As of right now, QVC doesn't have a retail value listed for this set, but just a Ready eyeshadow quad and a Lash Domination mascara sell for $48, so it is almost like getting the other 7 items in the set for free.

If you sign up for the auto-delivery version, like I did, you'll receive sets with new colors in April, July, and October. If you don't want the auto-delivery shipments, you can pick up the individual set here.

I'm not obsessed with all things rose gold, but I have to admit that the rose gold packaging in this set is gorgeous. The shiny finish does show fingerprints, but it can wipe clean easily enough of they bother you.

Eyeshadows

The Ready shadow quad included in the set is called The Main Event and has the shades Celebrate, Ball Gown, Cheers, and Stiletto.

From right to left: Celebrate, Ball Gown, Cheers, Stiletto

Celebrate is a satin-finish cream shade.
Ball Gown is a shimmery peach-champagne shade.
Cheers is a shimmery grey-taupe shade.
Stiletto is a brown with a plummy undertone that has lots of multi-colored glitter (with most of them being gold and purple).

The shadows are pigmented and buttery smooth. I love the combination of shades. The warmth of Ball Gown works surprisingly well with the coolness of Cheers.

Face Products

The Ready Luminizer included with the set is called This Magic Moment. It's a beautiful rose-gold highlight that adds sheen to the skin without a lot of glitter.

The shade itself is a little bit awkward for my particular skintone. It's too deep to be a highlight for the tops of my cheekbones. I tried using it as a blush, but it has too much sheen to be used on its own that way. So far, my favorite way to use it in conjunction with a blush on the apples of my cheeks.

The blush shade Glamour that comes in this set is a light, neutral pink with fine pink shimmer. It is a really nice, everyday color.

Even though it isn't new, I have to comment on the closeable sifter. The products in this set are the first ones I've owned since they added this feature, and it is really nice. It's well constructed, so there's no risk of product leaking through the sifter holes. Also, the fact that there are only 3 holes allows for a lot of control when dispensing the blush.

From right to left: Glamour, This Magic Moment, and Brightening Pearl Perfect Light Mineral Veil

The last face product included is the Brightening Pearl Perfect Light Mineral Veil. I'm pretty sure this is a new variation on Mineral Veil. I didn't take any close-ups in the packaging because it is essentially the same as the packaging of the blush.

I've only used the Mineral Veil once because the shimmer in it makes me nervous. I don't want to look like Edward Cullen. Once I have some down time and a few days when I don't have to leave the house, I'll experiment with it more.

ETA: I've used the Mineral Veil a few more times now, and I, thankfully, don't notice the shimmer when it is applied. I don't think it's going to become my go-to everyday powder, but I do like it and will continue to use it.

Liner, Gloss, and Mascara

The two-sided liner in this set is an interesting idea. One side has a kohl liner and the other has a liquid liner.

The kohl liner side is a dark brown. In the above picture, I have it swiveled out to show the amount of product it has. It isn't as soft and smudgy as Urban Decay liners, but it still applies easily. Because it isn't as soft, I feel like I have better control over how much of it gets applied. I get my typical fading around the outer corners of my eyes, but it lasts really well.

I'm not a fan of liquid liner, so I wasn't all that excited about this end. However, it has a nice felt tip and is a deep black.

The lipgloss in Dazzler is beautiful. It's a soft peach with gold shimmer. It isn't what I would normally pick out for myself, but it is sheer enough that it's really easy to wear. The formula is slightly sticky but not annoyingly so, and it smells like a candy cane. I'm really bad about reapplying colored lip products, but I can see myself reaching for this one because it is easy to apply without a mirror.

Left to right: kohl liner, thin and thick lines of the liquid liner, lipgloss

I have had the worst luck with mascara lately. Everything seems to flake or smear. I switched to waterproof mascara at the end of the summer. I was hesitant to try this one, so I was thrilled when it didn't flake or smear. The listing doesn't say that it is waterproof, but it is tough to remove. With my current mascara troubles, I'm okay with that. The spiraling brush seems to do a really nice job of separating my lashes too. Overall, this mascara is a winner for me.

Brushes

I owned a couple of bareMinerals brushes back in the day, and I wasn't impressed. They were scratchy. Based on that past experience, I wasn't expecting much from the brushes in this set.

The first brush is a contour blush brush. The natural-hair bristles are soft, but they aren't as soft as the synthetic bristles that I prefer. The shape isn't bad. I've only used it once for contouring, and it worked okay. It also seems fluffy enough to work for blush as well. I'm not in love with this brush, and it won't be one I reach for regularly, but I could use it in a pinch.

I haven't used the tapered shadow brush yet. I keep meaning to, but I automatically reach for my regular brushes and keep forgetting. Just the look and feel of the brush though is disappointing. The bristles are scratchy, and the cut of them looks really crude. It's not a high-quality brush. I'll keep it around for when I get desperate, but it won't make it into regular rotation.

Final Thoughts

If you are considering picking up this kit, get it! It's fantastic! I might not love all of the products, but even just for the products that I do enjoy, it's an amazing value.

Will you be indulging in this kit? Are there any other holiday TSV sets that have caught your eye?

 Disclaimer: All of the products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Face Buffing Brushes - Comparison and Review

Disclaimer: All the of products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

My renewed blogging motivation has caused me to start digging back through my older files looking at pictures of products that I got but never got around to reviewing.

This particular review is actually going to be well-timed because we are quickly approaching Black Friday sales.

Last year on Black Friday, I ordered both Midnight Lace sets offered by Sedona Lace because they had a 50% off everything sale that day. It was a great opportunity to try out brushes like the SigMAX sets offered by Sigma, which I had always wanted to try.

Then over the summer, I saw similar sets offered by Royal Care Cosmetics being sold through Amazon. Their price was even better, so I picked those up as well to compare the sets. Please ignore the fact that some of the pictures have dirty brushes. When my Royal Care set came in, I was too excited to get pictures taken to worry about washing my Sedona Lace brushes first.

Basic Information

Sedona Lace's Midnight Lace Collection comes with (from top to bottom) an angle top brush, a flat top brush, a round top brush, and a kabuki brush. It retails for $49.95, and shipping on this set alone is $3.26, but if you get your order up to $50, you can get free shipping. If Sedona Lace has a 50% off sale for Black Friday again this year, you can get the set for $24.97 plus shipping.

The Royal Care Cosmetics brush set comes with (from left to right) a round top brush, a flat top brush, a pointed top brush, and an angle top brush. According to Royal Care Cosmetic's website, these brushes have a regular price of $38.95 and are on sale for $19.95. However, every time I have looked they have been on sale, so I think that is just a marketing tactic. Shipping from their site is $6.45. Currently,if you order them through Amazon.com (just search for Royal Care Cosmetics), this brush set is selling for $17.95 with $5.17 shipping; when I ordered them, they were $14.95.

Quality Comparison

Construction - The basic construction of these two sets of brushes is nearly identical.
Density - The Sedona Lace brushes are marginally more dense, but not enough to notice while in use.
Softness - The Sedona Lace brushes are also a little bit softer than the Royal Care brushes, but they both sets are nice and soft to the touch.
Shedding - I may have had a few bristles shed from the Royal Care brushes when I initially washed them, but I haven't had any since. I don't remember any shedding with the Sedona Lace brushes.

The one area where the Sedona Lace brushes really stand out for me is in the cut of the bristles. There were some obvious imperfections with the Royal Care brush bristles when I got them.

There were small areas of bristles on the Royal Care angle top brush that were visibly uneven with the rest, and there are a few bristles on the flat top brush that are longer than the rest. I went ahead and pulled out a pair of scissors to carefully trim the bristles on the angle top brush. I believe I pulled out a couple of the longer hairs in the flat top brush using tweezers, but I didn't worry too much about those.

The Royal Care brushes also had a plastic-y smell to them when I first got them. It did take a few washes for the smell to disappear.

Brush Shape Comparison

The shape of the angle top brushes are quite a bit different between the two brands. The Sedona Lace brush is much flatter. I have used it for contouring. The more rounded shape on the Royal Care version is really nice for applying powder all over the face.

The shape of the flat top brushes is practically identical. The bristles are the same length, and the diameter looks to be the same as well. I have used these for both liquid foundation and powder. I prefer using them for powder.

The only real difference between the two round top brushes is that the Royal Care brush has bristles that are a little bit longer than the Sedona Lace. It isn't something I notice while using them. These have become my go-to brushes for applying liquid foundation.

The last brush in each set is so different that they aren't really worth comparing, but here's a closer look at each.

The Royal Care set comes with a pointed top brush. I honestly don't think I've used this one yet. I've gotten so used to a buffing motion when it comes to applying foundation, and I don't think this would work well for that. I don't know how else I would use this brush.

The Sedona Lace set comes with a traditional kabuki brush. My favorite way to use this brush is to blend out my blush, which is habitually over apply.

Customer Service Comparison

I purchased my Sedona Lace Midnight Lace Set last year during their Black Friday sale. Unfortunately, they were woefully unprepared for the number of orders they received during that 24-hour sale. In 2011, they got 300 orders during their Black Friday sale, and last year they got over 3,000 orders. It turned into quite the debacle. Even though I placed my order within the first few hours of the sale, it took two months for my order to ship to me, and the free gift that was part of the Black Friday offer didn't ship until nearly a month after that.

I tried to remain patient throughout the process. I did get irritated by the fact that their shipping department did not ship out orders in the order they were received. According to a post done by Sedona Lace on their Facebook page, " The shipping department has their way of efficiency to get orders shipped by location-product-weight etc.. Thank you for being patient we know you will love your products when you get them." Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, but their "system" is likely what caused me to have to wait two months for my brushes, as I made my order within the first hour or two of the sale. 

I genuinely believe, though, that the Sedona Lace team meant well and did their best to deal with the over-whelming number of orders they received. I have faith that they learned from their mistakes last year and their Black Friday sale will go more smoothly this year. I would be hesitant to order brushes from the sale in the hopes of giving them as Christmas presents though, just in case there is another shipping delay.

I did not have any issues with Royal Care Cosmetics in terms of customer service. My brush order shipped out quickly, and I didn't have any need to contact them directly about anything. 

Final Conclusions

I really like these two sets are both good options if you are looking for face brushes like this for liquid foundation and/or powder. The Sedona Lace set is normally quite a bit more expensive, but if you are able to take advantage of the Black Friday sale that I assume is coming, it isn't that much more expensive than the Royal Care Cosmetics set. The quality of the Sedona Lace brushes is better, but it isn't enough to make a huge difference. I use the flat and round top brushes from the two brands interchangeably and don't notice a difference in application. Since three of the four brushes are nearly the same, the fourth brush in each set might be a deciding factor. If you're like me and aren't really interested in the pointed top brush, the Sedona Lace set might be more appealing. 

Will you be picking up either of these sets? Are there any Black Friday/holiday sales that you are looking forward to taking advantage of?

Disclaimer: All the of products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Real Techniques Limited Edition Duo-Fiber Collection

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post were purchased by me and all opinions are my own.

I need more brushes like I need a hole in the head, but I couldn't resist when Real Techniques released a limited edition set of duo-fiber brushes. They are currently being sold on both Realtechniques.com and Ulta.com for around $20.

I like the contrast of the white handles and the unique colors for the lettering on each brush. I also really like that each brush is labeled with its intended purpose.

Duo-Fiber Face Brush and Contour Brush

Face Brush on top and Contour Brush on bottom

Face Brush, Stippling Brush, and Contour Brush

Face Brush on left and Stippling Brush on right

Stippling Brush on left and Contour Brush on right

 As you can see, both the face and contour brushes included in this set are very flat in shape. This really works well for the contour brush because it helps create a very defined contour that can then be blended out (I use the EcoTools Bronzer Brush for blending). However, I wish the face brush had a rounder, fuller shape. Since I use it to apply loose setting powder, having such a flat brush head feels slightly awkward and inefficient.

Duo-Fiber Eye Brush

I took pictures of the duo-fiber eye brush with the base shadow brush from the Eye Starter Set for size comparison. The duo-fiber eye brush is pretty small in circumference, which is nice for people with smaller eyes. I personally prefer smaller crease brushes, so I was really happy about the size. Even so, for me, there's been a little bit of a learning-curve getting this brush to place color where I want it. It also feels a little bit prickly when I'm using it, even though the bristles feel soft to the touch on my hand. For that reason, it won't become my favorite crease brush, but I'll still use it.

Final Thoughts

These are good quality brushes on par with other brushes in the Real Techniques line. They have soft bristles, and I haven't had any issues with shedding. I think my favorite of the three is the contour brush. I like the other two, but they aren't going to become my favorites for their intended purposes. Should you pick them up? I don't think these are must-have brushes, but if you are a big fan of duo-fiber brushes and like the shapes of these, you'll probably want to consider picking them up.

Are you a duo-fiber brush fan? Will you be picking up this set?

 Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post were purchased by me and all opinions are my own.

Tarte Amazonian Clay Full Coverage Concealer - Review and Swatches

Disclosure: All products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Well, my fiance and I survived our trip to visit his family. His mom is happy to have her toffee and lime flavored marshmallows that I found for her. His brother is thrilled with his lemon meringue flavored marshmallows, and his nieces generally enjoyed seeing us (even though they complained that we didn't stay very long).

Today I'm going to be doing a quick review of the Tarte Amazonian Clay Full Coverage Concealer, which is currently exclusive to QVC. It is currently selling for $25.26 (with $4.47 shipping and handling); QVC has the regular price listed as $28. The tube includes 8g of product.

The concealer currently available on QVC comes with a dual-ended brush to help with application. Typically, when it goes to stores like Sephora, the price stays the same, but the brush is not included. At this point, it is only offered in five shades: fair, light, medium, tan, and deep. I purchased the fair shade.

Packaging

I like the fact that the tube matches the design of the Amazonian Clay Foundation. Tarte always does a nice job with packaging design. However, I'm not thrilled with the slanted tip where the product comes out. When I try and dispense the concealer on the back of my hand, I end up getting a bunch of product smeared across the tip. I much prefer the finer tip of the Maracuja concealer much better.

Product

 The first two swatch pictures above are of the Amazonian Clay Concealer by itself: the first one is a heavy dab, and the second one is blended out. In the third swatch picture, from left to right is Tarte's Amazonian Clay Foundation in Fair, Amazonian Clay Concealer in Fair, and Maracuja Concealer in Fair. You can see that the two concealers are darker than the foundation, but they still seem to blend in well when used in conjunction with the foundation.

 When I did my first swatch of the Amazonian Clay Concealer, I was happy that this concealer had a peachy tone to it. I wanted to use it under my eyes. Sadly, I find that it is too drying for me to use under my eyes. I already struggle with my undereye area being too dry, and this just made it worse. My fine lines stood out more, and I looked extra tired at the end of the day.

I've had better luck using it to cover blemishes and scars. It's a really thick consistency, but it blends out nicely and doesn't cakey. I do wish that it was a little bit lighter for using on blemishes and scars because I feel it would help counteract the darkness I'm trying to hide.

The Brush

 
The brush is a nice addition to the concealer. The two sides work really well together. The smaller side is nice for dabbing concealer where you want it on your face, and the larger, fluffier side does a nice job of blending. The bristles are soft and seem to be good quality. I wouldn't consider buying it at full price because Tarte brushes are really expensive when they are sold individually, but I know I'm going to enjoy having it in my collection.

Final Thoughts

Alas, my search for a Holy Grail concealer for under my eyes continues. In the meantime, I'll continue using this one for spots on my face. I like it and will rotate it in my with my other concealers, but I'm not likely to repurchase it when this tube runs out (if it ever does run out).

Have you found a Holy Grail concealer for under your eyes? What else should I try?


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