Archive for the 'Makeup Tools' Category

Bargain brush goddess Sonia Kashuk’s gone and done it again. Her Synthetic Flat Top Blusher Brush won me over a few weeks ago, and now I can’t live without several of the brushes from her Kashuk Tools line. I’ve been reaching for the Powder Brush ($19.99), Large Eye Shadow Brush ($12.99) and Angeled Eye Shadow Brush ($9.99) so often that I might as well have all three surgically attached to my hand.

Here’s why I love ‘em, and why you might, too.

Kashuk Tools Powder Brush

Use: To apply loose or pressed powder to the entire face
Price: $19.99
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

Confession time! I keep this brush on my work desk and periodically rub it all over my face for no reason other than to feel its softness against my skin. It sends me into a state of minor ecstasy. I’ll make ooh, ahh sounds, like when I’m eating dulce de leche ice cream. In general, I try to do this when nobody’s looking, but the other day El Hub caught me and said the act looked “kinda pervy.”

But Sonia’s powder brush has even more going for it than its amazing softness. It applies powder evenly on my skin, powder that doesn’t look caked-on, and leaves a lovely, natural finish I just adore.

If you’re tempted to save a few dollars by purchasing the $11.99 white-handled Powder Brush 01 from Sonia’s other Brush Collection line, resist the urge. I’ve used the white-handled brush, too, and it’s not nearly as soft.

Large Eye Shadow Brush

Use: To apply eyeshadow to the entire eyelid area
Price: $12.99
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+

Sonia’s Large Eye Shadow Brush multi-tasks like a mo-fo. The Kashuk brush brigade designed the thick, soft brush (with a slightly rounded edge) to apply eyeshadow over the entire lid — much like the MAC 252 Large Eye Shader Brush ($29). While I absolutely love the MAC 252 for fast, single washes of color over the entire eye, it doesn’t multi-task quite like Sonia’s Large Eye Shadow Brush does.

Not only do I use Sonia’s Large Eye Shadow Brush for color washes but also to apply color to specific parts of the eye, which I can’t really do with the 252. The rounded shape of Sonia’s brush fits nicely into nooks and crannies — ideal for the crease, under the brow bone or in the outer V.

In a pinch, it even works as a blending brush, too.
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Try as I might, I can’t avoid the siren call of The Container Store. Sure, it irks me that a store can survive on the premise of selling you new crap to store all your present crap, but desperate times call for desperate measures!

I reached critical mass last weekend. My lipstick disorganization finally crossed the line. For the past few months, tubes just kept disappearing and reappearing in the strangest places (How does a tube of lipstick find its way into a kitchen soap dish?).

Luckily, my sanity was only $1.79 away. The Container Store sells these clear accessory boxes designed for belts and jewelry, but they’re also the perfect height to store tubes of lipstick.
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BOW DOWN before the mighty Sonia Kashuk Synthetic Flat Top Blusher Brush. Marvel at its multi-tasking prowess and how it applies blushes and foundations with ease. And don’t be surprised if you find yourself trembling — with glee! — at the cash register. Not only is this brush amazing, but it’s also cheap — $14.99. Holla!

Billed as a cream blush brush, its synthetic fiber head feels like velvet against my skin. Earlier this week when I used it with Sonia’s Creme Blush, it left just the right amount of color on my cheeks without any streaking. Blending with it was also a snap. It removed harsh lines with ease.

The brush is flat on the top of the head, which is not a totally revolutionary design, but it is one I’d never used before.

I couldn’t help but wonder what else I could use this brush with, so I experimented with it this afternoon. I think it also works great with…
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Makeup brushes are like the various stray animals that show up at my door. They arrive looking for shelter, and I can’t resist giving them a new home. Above are a few recently adopted brushes from Target’s Sonia Kashuk line, brushes known for delivering a lot of bang for your buck.

From top to bottom:

• Powder Brush, $19.99
• Synthetic Flat Blusher Brush, $14.99
• Synthetic Crease Brush, $9.99
• Synthetic Concealer Brush, $9.99

Brushes are like potato chips; I can never have just one. Today I “researched” (i.e. surfed the internet) highly rated brushes and ended up at Makeup Alley. Here are some of the highest rated brushes I found:

MAC

• 187 Skunk brush, $42 - For applying foundation, powders or pigments
• 266 Small angle brush, $19 - For applying eyeshadow or brow powder
• 217 Blending brush, $22.50 - For blending and application of both cream and powder eye products

Side note: I love MAC brushes!

Bare Escentuals

• Maximum Coverage Concealer Brush, $20 - For full coverage application of concealer on detailed areas of face (undereye circles, blemishes)
• Heavenly Face Brush, $30 - For light application of face powders

Sonia Kashuk

• Blusher Brush, $17.99 - For a contouring and application of blushes and bronzers
• Foundation Brush, $14.99 - For a foundation application

Prescriptives

• Foundation Brush, $30 - For application and blending of liquid foundation
• Face Brush, $28 - For application of powder to face

Bobbi Brown

• Ultra Fine Eye Liner Brush, $22 - For use with gel eyeliner to create precise eyeliner lines

The Body Shop

• Face/Body Brush, $25 - For application of powders, bronzers and blushes

Stila

• #5 Eyeshadow Brush, $22 - For eyeshadow application over the entire lid

Sephora

• Bronzer Brush, $25 - For application and blending of bronzer to cheeks

Nars

• Bronzer Brush, $50 - For application of bronzing powder
• Smudge Brush, $24 - To apply eyeshadow to lash line

Even though my brush stash has grown a little out of control, I never regret adding new brushes to it because of how often I use them.

I can’t believe it’s already Sunday night, ya’ll. Drat! It’s back to work for me tomorrow.

This morning I woke up, watched a few episodes of Samatha Brown’s Passport to Europe on the Travel Channel (let’s go to Monaco!), and then went for a run around the neighborhood. I’ve sort of skipped out on my chores today (boo to me, I know), but I needed to just chill out for a spell. Now I may watch a movie on TV.

How was your weekend? What was the most surprising thing that happened to you?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Girlfriend, you know your weekend isn’t over ’til you catch up on your reading! Get ready for the best posts from the ladies of the Beauty Blog Network and Splendicity! Read the rest of this entry »

High Definicils, Lancome’s new release of their legendary glossy black Definicils mascara, features an improved soft rubber brush that makes Definicils much easier to apply.

Shortly after Lancome introduced the original Definicils mascara in 1991, it became the “it” mascara of the 90s. I remember being in college and seeing Definicils ads in beauty mags, but I could never afford it back then. Later, when I finished school and got my first real job after graduation, one of my first little splurges was on a tube of Definicils mascara.

Unfortunately, that was my first, and, um, last tube.

I liked the rich black color, the shine, and how well it thickened and lengthened my lashes, but I could never quite figure out the brush. The Definicils formula is and was surprisingly thick, and the dense brush Lancome included with the product back in the 90s always gave me clumpy lashes.

Flash forward about a decade. The new brush that ships with High Definicils mascara makes a world of difference. Lancome hasn’t changed the famously black Definicils mascara formula, but the old dense, bristly brush has been replaced by what the company calls a “high precison” brush (aka, soft rubber brush with stubby rubber bristles). It makes Definicils worth another try.

After applying a layer with the high precision brush I didn’t see any clumping at all, just an even application of product onto my lashes. Unlike the old school brush, the newer one delivers great lash separation and consistent coverage for long, thick, natural-looking lashes.

High Definicils in action…

Nekkid lashes!

One layer of High Definicils…

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Anyone else terrified by goats? I know I can’t be the only one. They’ve got those creepy horizontal pupils that look ready to teleport you across the River Styx, and at the petting zoo they’re always really naughty; they walk right up and try to snatch the food from my hands or chew on my t-shirt or shoelaces.

Anti-goat bias initially made me reluctant to give the Shu Uemura 7.5EX brush ($35) much love. The word “goat” (strike one) is etched into the brush’s handle, and the white, fan-shaped brush head is made from — you guessed it — goat hair (strike two). I’m glad I was able to overlook my problem with goats, though, because the 7.5EX deserves love.

MAC Fafi Fashion Frenzy blush on the left, Hipness Blush on the right

Soft and luxurious, the bristles of Shu’s 7.5EX brush feel nothing like the dirty, coarse hair of goats at the petting zoo. The Shu Uemura Web site describes the 7.5EX brush as having a “light” touch, meaning that when you use it to apply powders, the color applies sheer, not intense. Not just for blush, this InStyle Best of Beauty Buy can also be used to blend or to dust away loose powder.

This morning I was in a hurry but wanted to wear a bright blue-pink blush. I know from experience that if I rush while using a regular blush brush, I end up with scary-clown-who-haunts-children’s-nightmares cheeks, so I grabbed the 7.5EX brush instead.

Wearing a big, goofy smile (the goofy part is key!), I applied MAC Fafi’s Fashion Frenzy to the apples of my cheeks, lightly drawing color upward at an angle toward my ears. With just a few swipes my cheeks looked pinched and flushed. I can’t wait to use this brush with my other bright cheek shades, MAC’s Dollymix (hot pink) and Frankly Scarlet (bright red).

If you have a few bright blushes in your color collection that you don’t use enough, give them another try with the 7.5EX, a brush designed for powdered products. Blush newbies who have a tendency to use too much color might dig it too because its fanned bristles make it almost impossible to over-apply color.

Don’t be afraid to go bold with your blush colors. With the 7.5EX in your arsenal, go forth and be bright!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

It’s Valentine’s Day, 1998. I get no roses; I get no candy. What I do get is a kickboxing class and time alone with a punching bag in a stinky karate studio down the street from my house.

Twice a week I was taking a kickboxing class with 30 other women, punching and kicking the air to a techno soundtrack. That was all fine, but far and away my favorite part of class was when they brought out the heavy punching bag.

Fresh out of a bad relationship, I derived great joy from pretending that the bag was my ex. In class on Valentine’s night, I beat that bag with reckless abandon. “You’ll never get the best of me, bastard!” Punch, punch, kick, kick. By the end of class, dripping in sweat, I had punched my knuckles raw. Happy Valentine’s Day to me!

This Valentine’s Day, if your date for the evening is with the gym or a punching bag (try it sometime), you might as well look cute. Work it out with these road-tested gym makeup tips:

Paint it Black, Vol. 1

1. Clinique Lash Power Mascara Long-Wearing Formula ($14, available in February). Thank you, makeup gods, for bringing this mascara to the US! Designed for humid weather and only previously available in Asia, Lash Power is the ultra-marathoner of all mascara formulas. It won’t streak, run or smudge, not even through sweat, tears, rain, humidity or a dip in the pool. It is the Terminator of all mascaras.
   
   I’ve been wearing it on my heavy duty cardio workouts at the gym. Even after 60 minutes of sweat it hasn’t even begun to streak or smear.
   
   What’s the secret? The formula responds to heat. It comes off with very warm water (39 degrees C/103 degrees F). All you do is dab a cotton pad soaked in warm water, and it cleans right up.
2. Lancome Potion of Love Lip Stain in Ruby Kisses ($18.50). You don’t have to be in love to wear Lancome’s Potion of Love Lip Stain. With its felt-tip pen applicator, it’s kinda like a Magic Marker for your lips. Lip stains apply like watercolor paints. They’re more watery than lipsticks or glosses. Potion of Love isn’t shiny, either, so it gives my lips a natural, flushed look with just a hint of ruby red tint.
   
   Best of all, the formula isn’t the least bit sticky, which is handy when I’m on the treadmill and the overhead fans blow my hair all over the place. I can’t stand it when stray ponytail hairs get stuck to my lipgloss. With Potion of Love Lip Stain that’s not a problem.
3. Elizabeth Arden Flawless Finish Maximum Coverage Concealer ($18). This cream concealer has a natural finish and lasts through an entire 90-minute dance class without budging. If I’m in a hurry, I dab it on my dark circles with warm fingers et voila — my dark circles disappear faster than an ex-boyfriend did with half my CD collection (that bastard).
4. MAC Blot Pressed Powder ($20). You’ve finished your workout and plan to drop by the juice bar for a quick snack to tide you over before dinner. I know you’ve worked hard, but you can’t leave the gym looking like a complete wreck, girl. Sorry!
5. Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler ($19). Lash Power isn’t a great thickener, but it does create long, natural looking lashes. To use it, I have to curl my stick-straight lashes first, and that’s where the Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler enters the picture. It doesn’t pinch my lashes, and the tension is just right. Sometimes with other lash curlers you get this very hard, sort of angled curl. Shu’s curler doesn’t do that. It produces a very natural, soft curl.

After your workout, brush out your hair and dab a little bit of MAC Blot Pressed Powder to hide the shine. You never know when you’ll bump into Mr. or Ms. Right at the juice bar.

Paint it Black is part of a series of posts highlighting pink and black products for Valentine’s Day.

Aren’t you glad tomorrow is Friday? I’ve got a ton of laundry to do tonight before another big rain storm arrives. Tomorrow I was supposed to have coffee with my friend, Jen, and get my hair did (my roots are way past the point of being socially acceptable). Unfortunately, I’d rather stay warm and dry at home than drive very far in the rain, so it looks like dark roots remain in my immediate future.

Stay cute (and dry!) my friend.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen