Makeup Tools

Unsung Makeup Heroes: Shiseido Facial Cotton

September 19th, 2017 by Karen 20 Comments

The Unsung Heroes series highlights some of my ALL-TIME favorite permanent collection products from all sorts of brands.

Dang, I had my heart set on being crabby about these Shiseido Facial Cotton pads, because girl, they’re $10, and you only get 165 of them, which is craziness to me because you could roll up to Target right now and get a massive pack of 300 up & up brand cotton pads for $5.

But ugh, these Shiseido ones are so good!

I didn’t expect to be bougie about cotton pads, but I’m there, man. The Shiseido ones are the softest, most velvety facial pads I’ve ever used, and once you’ve felt their caress (it was unmistakable when they touched my delicate water lines), other cotton pads will feel like rough metal scouring pads. NO JOKE. Even Q-tips.

OK, that was a joke…but you know hear I mean’. The Shiseido Facial Cotton pads feel SOFT. Q-tips used to feel like tabby tum fur to me before I got spoiled by these.

I mostly use them to remove eye makeup, but you can use them like any other cotton ball or cotton pad. They’ll apply toners or liquid essences after cleansing, remove face makeup, and they’ll soften the edges of your blush, eyeshadow or your bronzer perfectly well.

I guess you could also use them to remove nail polish, but I won’t be using them for that. My fingers and toes just wouldn’t appreciate how soft (or pricey) they are.

A single pad can remove all of my eye makeup and face makeup, then STILL have enough oomph left to apply toner.

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The Surratt Beauty Relevée Lash Curler or the Shiseido Eyelash Curler?

May 17th, 2017 by Karen 12 Comments

I got these two curlers during the Sephora VIB sale last month because I needed to replace my ancient, much-loved Shu Uemura curler.

Yup, my little trooper finally broke (RIP). 🙁

I’d heard that they’re similar to Shu’s curler and read some rave reviews, and so, in typical Karen fashion, since I couldn’t decide between them…I grabbed both.

They’re similarly shaped and flatter than many lash curlers (like the ones by Tarte, Urban Decay and MAC), and I like this shape a lot because it fits my eyes better than most.

The Troy Surratt Relevée Lash Curler (which is $30) is just a teensy bit wider than the Shiseido one (which is $20), and when I place my lashes into it (the Surratt one) and press down, there’s no pinching at all, whereas I feel a little bit of pinching on my outer lashes with the Shiseido curler if I hit them at certain angles or get too close to the lash base.

With the Troy Surratt curler, I can really get up in there.

I also like the lash look I get with the Surratt curler a bit more. The curl is more pronounced, and I just think it looks more natural and better.

The Shiseido one definitely has its advantages, though. It costs $10 less and comes with an extra silicone pad. I mean, I like the curl (although it’s more of a crimp) I get when I use it, and I think it’s pretty.

Oh! — also, because the Surratt is wider, I can easily fit false lashes into it (on those rare occasions when I wear falsies and want them to curl with my natural lashes).

Honestly, though, I don’t think you’d go really wrong with either one. Both are solid choices. It mostly depends on whether you want the extra width.

In order, I like the…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The Uber-Luxe NARS Pro Brush Collection

May 11th, 2017 by Karen 9 Comments

I don’t even know where to start with the NARS Pro Brush Collection. The face brush is $95… I mean, I can’t. I just can’t. Almost $100 for a single brush is craziness to me. I thought a $38 Chanel eye brush was stressful!

I received these brushes as press samples, so I didn’t purchase them on my own. Because if I had, I would be the type of person who drives to Petco to buy Tabby’s gravy in a tricked-out Mercedes with those automatic side mirrors that collapse down like Transformers.

I am not that person… I drive a six-year-old Mazda.

If I were that type of person, though, I would consider getting one, or maybe two, of the uber-luxe, shockingly soft brushes in this collection. (Note: I was so shocked by how soft these were that I couldn’t keep it to myself. I had to have El Hub try them.)

Would I get all eight, though? No, not unless Tabs scores a big kitty modeling contract.

Again, the #1 Finisher powder brush is $95. The most “affordable” brush (air quotes) in the collection is a small angled eye brush called the #8 Small Sculptor, and it’s still $45.

There are eight brushes in all, most of them face brushes, with a couple of eye brushes in there as well.

The NARS Pro Brush Collection breakdown

#1 The Finisher ($95) — A large and fluffy brush ideal for buffing and blending powder formulas.

#2 The Brightener ($95) — A large, teardrop-shaped brush that specializes in highlighting and all-over blending with a weightless touch.

#3 The Intensifier ($85) — A medium-sized brush designed for creating defined cheek looks.

#4 The Sculptor ($85) — A medium-sized, angled brush ideal for sculpting, diffusing and dispersing fluid formulas.

#5 The Small Brightener ($55) — A small, teardrop-shaped brush with a weightless touch, ideal for highlighting eyes and other small areas on the face, like the bridge of the nose, Cupid’s bow and cheekbones.

#6 The Small Intensifier ($55) — A small, domed-shaped brush ideal for targeted contouring on the nose, in the crease, and on other small areas of the face.

#7 The Flat Intensifier ($55) — A small, flat makeup brush ideal for focused effects on the eyes and brows with powder formulas, and also for eyeshadow artistry, defining brows and setting under-eye concealer.

#8 The Small Sculptor ($45) — A small angled makeup brush ideal for adding dimension — with liquid and cream formulas — to small areas around the eyes and lips.

— Paraphrased from NARS PR

nars pro brush collection 1 4 — From the top: NARS #1 The Finisher ($95), #2 The brightener ($95), #3 The Intensifier ($85) and #4 The Sculptor ($85)

According to NARS, the brushes are made in Japan and bound by hand. They’re certainly fancy-looking, right? And the brush heads feel supernaturally soft, which I’d expect for brushes in this price range. I don’t feel a trace of scratchiness. None. These are like rolling around naked on fancy silk sheets. So luxurious!

When I hold the handles in my paw, they also feel sturdy and perfectly balanced. Neither too heavy, nor too light. They feel like they could be heirloom pieces you could pass down from one generation of makeup lover to the next.

What? Am I the only one who’d do that? I’d totally do that!

nars pro brush collection 4 8 — NARS #5 The Small Brightener ($55), #6 The Small Intensifier ($55), #7 The Flat Intensifier ($55) and #8 The Small Sculptor ($45)

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For an Easy, Elegant Eyeliner Look, Use an Eyeshadow and an Angled Brush Instead of a Pencil

November 4th, 2016 by Karen 12 Comments

I spent an inordinate amount of time this week in stinky workout pants and t-shirts covered in baby food. Or, I dunno…sometimes it’s been my food, to be honest.

No reason in particular. It’s just been one of those weeks.

But, ya know, at least I’ve had elegant eye makeup. 🙂 I’ve been doing this thing where I use eyeshadow and an angled brush instead of pencil liner to line my upper lash lines, and I’ve been doing it because I haven’t been sleeping well, which means Dark Circle City.

When my dark circles are darker than usual, I’ll skip lining my lower lash lines, even though I usually love a little smoke or even a pop of color down there, because man! — when I look tired, if I add anything to that lower lash line area, it just looks worse.

But I will line my upper lash line, and I like doing it with an angled brush and an eyeshadow for a few different reasons.

First, because I love that slightly diffused look, which is easier for me to do with an eyeshadow and a brush than a pencil eyeliner all by itself.

Second, and I don’t know if this is just me, but there’s a process when I use a pencil. It isn’t just grab and go. Most of the time, the one I want to use is dull from the day before, so I have to sharpen it.

Then, I have to really carefully draw a thin line along my upper lash lines with it, because I like those nice, thin liner lines. But then I have to diffuse the edges of the lines with a brush, so…it still involves using a brush, even when I’m using a pencil.

Instead, with an angled brush and an eyeshadow, all I have to do is dip my brush into the shadow, give it a spritz with MAC Fix+, and sort of tap it along my lash lines.

It’s easier to get the kind of look I usually like, and I think it’s even faster than using a pencil.

Plus, you know, with makeup, it’s all about the fine details, like the subtlety of your gradients and the values and colors moving from dark to light, and I think that when you have gradients in subtle places, like in the edge along your lash line, it can really make your overall look more elegant.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF!!!!!!

Why You Absolutely Need a Duo Fiber Face Brush in Your Life Like Yesterday

September 19th, 2016 by Karen 26 Comments

A finishing brush, otherwise know as your new BFF! — My “well-loved” (a.k.a. dirty) Laura Mercier Finishing Brush

Duo fiber face brushes, which are sometimes called skunk brushes, are great if you like wearing foundation or tinted moisturizer and really like it when your face makeup looks natural.

The one I’m holding here is the Finishing Brush by Laura Mercier, and it’s my favorite duo fiber face brush because of how wide it is, which I love because it covers a large area and speeds up blending, but really, there are lots of them out there that work well.

One thing I’ve noticed, though, is that the higher-priced ones usually don’t shed as much as drugstore versions do and tend to last longer.

But that’s not a hard and fast rule.

I use ’em to fine-tune my blending and thin-out my face products — liquid foundations, tinted moisturizers, stick foundations, powders, etc. — wherever I’ve accidentally applied too much. I’ll gently run the brush across my cheeks, nose, mouth, chin and forehead after I’ve applied whichever face products I happen to be wearing, and that helps everything look more even and seamless.

One of the things I’ve been super obsessed with lately (in case you haven’t noticed) is even skin tone, except without my makeup looking heavy, caked-on or obvious, and duo fiber face brushes really help with that. Their brush heads and bristles usually aren’t as dense as regular powder and blush brushes.

Ones like the this one from Laura have a very light touch that really blends and pushes product across the skin, while other, denser brushes will often lift foundation and tinted moisturizer away from the skin, thereby removing it.

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