Products I Miss Most..

We all do it - we overpack when we're going somewhere, and we still manage to forget things or not think of a situation that may require different/more make up - am I right? :P I've definitely had that these past few weeks, and sure there have been several products I thought "dang, I wish I had that with me!", but there have been a couple that I thought that on several occasions!

Here are probably the ones I've thought of the most..

NARS Sin

(I thought it was an autumn/winter colour but it'd be a nice natural accent on the face when I'm not wearing e/s and having a tan. Pinks/corals makes me look a be clowny atm..) 

 28 Neutral Palette

(I want this for highlighting - not liking MAC Brule very much - and for matte light browns!)

Lipbalms

(I only brought my Body Shop Lip Roll On, which is lovely - but it's a bit wet. I miss that balmy feel! The ones in particular that I miss are the BodyShop Born Lippy, the LipIce ones and the Burt's Bees.) 

 OPI Coney Island Cotton Candy (centre)

(A sheer nude that when you have long nails, can make you look like you have french nails - compliments the lightness of summer! I've only got cream/opaque or bright colours atm!)

MAC Style

(Like I said, corals and pinks can look a bit clowny on me at, but MAC Style is relatively sheer - so it'd be a nice wash of colour on my cheeks right about now :( )

Sigma F80 (right)

(Getting a bit sick of applying foundation with my hands - it can get a bit dirty, and I always have to be cautious about streaks! At the same time, I'm not quite sure how often I would've used it cuz it doesn't seem to work with my Diorskin Forever.) 

Pirates of the Caribbean Box Set

(It's not make up but I've watched this set more times than I care to mention - atm I only have the third one, because it was what was in my laptop when I left the UK and as much as I love the film, it's getting a bit repetitive.. AND my favourite one is the second one.)

and finally..

Dior Amber Diamond

(No, I'm not quite sure you can miss something you never had - but I miss having a shimmery white highlight for my inner corner, and I miss highlighting my cheek bones. I actually only have 1 e/s shimmery highlight and 1 powder highlight and that one can look quite white on me when I'm tan, so I'm thinking it would be wise to invest in this at a early stage so I don't spend so much finding the perfect one. I've swatched it and it was a bit shimmery but I reckon it's cuz your finger picks up a lot! Other than that I thought it was perfect, esp cuz I've heard it can be used as eyeshadow too! So I'm debating using some vouchers to get this baby.. of course, after I try it on my face :))

A bit of a self-ramble there at the end, lol, oops. But I'm thinking this is proof that all these products are, or have been at one point, some of my favourite products, as I don't need to see them to think about them and how good they are, and they just pop into mind when you want something in particular!

It sucks, but it's also a good feeling cuz you know you've got some gems in your collection :)

What products have you missed when you were out and about? :)

<3yu

Review: Sigma Miss Taylor Kabuki

A few weeks ago, Sigma sent me their Miss Taylor Kabuki brush as part of the Sigma Affiliates Programme. Since it's starting to get warmer and powdering is becoming more of a necessity, and with the holiday season coming up, I thought this might be a good time to review this baby :)

This brush retails on Sigma's website at $25 which works out at about £15 without the shipping. I've always found Sigma's shipping services to be really good, and even to the UK most parcels only take about a week, which is always a plus that doesn't put me off ordering from abroad :)

In terms of the product, it's basically the F80 in a purple tin. I love several things about this, but the packaging is something I'm a bit mixed about. I think the tin is a little bit cheap-feeling for £15, but the metallic purple is very flashy and nice. I also love how the casing functions. If you see the little bit sticking out at the bottom of the bristles, that actually comes up to cover up the bristles, therefore protecting them and making it really easy to put the lid back on.

L: Miss Taylor Kabuki, R: F80

As for the actual brush, it is almost exactly like the F80 in terms of the size, but it's just a little bit wider and also a little bit lighter. I feel like the bristles are thinner and it's not as densely packed, which I was really pleased about. It's a LOT easier to swirl than the F80, in that it doesn't drag on your skin and powder application is a lot nicer which I think is a must with a travel brush. With the F80, powder application was a bit too heavy for my liking. With the Miss Taylor Kabuki, I felt it wasn't as cakey and a lot more 'dusting'-like, which is what I prefer.

This also means that other powder products like blushes and bronzers work as well, which really did make this an excellent brush to have when I was away for a weekend, or just in my purse. Although the flat top was a bit difficult for bronzer/blusher, it was still do-able.

For size, it's not too big and would fit in most make-up bags. The lid is very secure so you can even throw it in your bag and you wont have the fear of the lid falling off and crushing the bristles.

L: Miss Taylor Kabuki R: F80

If I had to choose between this Miss Taylor (flat top) or Miss Audrey (round top), I think they both have pros and cons. Miss Taylor can be used for all absolutely anything, but I think powder, blush and bronzer may be better with Miss Audrey's round top. However, I think liquid foundation/blending out concealer is easier with a flat top. Miss Audrey is probably better for the purse and for touch-ups during the day, but Miss Taylor would be more universal cuz you could use it on weekends away and holidays for liquid foundation/concealer. Although I suppose you could use a round top for liquid foundation - it depends on what you need it for!

I was actually quite afraid to wash this, but I found that filling in the sink, and dipping the ends in the water was the best way to do it. Because there's a gap between the tin and the bristles, it's easy for water to get down there and near the roots of the bristles, so I made sure that the brush was always facing down - wasn't as hard as I thought :)

Overall, I'm impressed with this brush, as it's really well built, multi-purpose and it's really handy to have. I can see myself always having it in my make-up bag from now on, it's just so handy :)

The only downside, again, is the packaging which I think feels a bit cheap, so really the only concern is price - and that's the reason why I never bought it myself. However, if you can afford it, I say go for it - it's an incredibly handy brush to have, and it'd be very hard to go wrong with this! :)

Have you got one of the travel kabukis? Any other lusts from Sigma? :)

I'm hoping for the Travel Set in Nice for my holiday this year!

<3yu

Review - Sigma F80 :)

A week or.. probably even more ago, I received the Sigma F80 from Sigma Beauty's Sigmax HD Brushes range from the Sigma Affiliate scheme. I know I have a lot of UK readers, and for us it's quite a big decision to order from Sigma because sometimes the shipping can add up. So I wanted to make a quick video to tell you what I think to help you decide if you should invest or not :) Enjoy!

You can get these brushes from Sigma Beauty, where if you spend more than $30 you will also receive a free gift! I also have a review on the E35 and E50 here if you are interested :)

Hope that helped!

<3yu

P.S. The items were sent to me for free, but this did not affect my opinion expressed in the video :)

Mini-Haul/Mini-Review: SIGMA! :)

I was so excited yesterday when I picked up my Sigma package because this is my brand new start to main-stream brush collecting. I have one Ben Nye, a few E.L.F, and random drugstore/ebay ones.

These are from the Black Friday sale that Sigma had, where they offered free world-wide shipping which is an absolute bargain for people outside of the US. The last time I tried to order from Sigma (didn't go through with it for this reason), they had pretty crazy shipping prices and it wasn't worth it to order anything less than 2 or 3 brushes (it makes sense now because they sent 2 brushes in an almost A3 sized envelope.. just, why?). And I know that Love-Makeup.co.uk has Sigma brushes but they are also pricier than the US site and I just never really feel like being so blatantly ripped off :P.

Anyway.. here are the beauties :)

 

(Top: Tapered Blending Brush E35/SS222 & Bottom: Large Fluff Brush E50/SS227)

E35/SS222:
This is your average tapered blending brush, and this is what I really really wanted from Sigma. However, I was expecting it to be extremely fluffy and more like what I imagine the SS224 to be. But it's actually rather stiff, and I find it better to apply crease colour than it is to blend.

E50/SS227:
This was supposed to be my additional 'goodie' and not the real reason why I ordered from Sigma. I just thought it was really cute and just something different that you can't really find in drugstores. It is SOOOO much more than that. In the 24 hours (even less!) that I've had this brush, I've found multiple ways to use it. Highlighting brow bones, all over lid colour, face highlight, blending eyeshadow, but my favourite way to use this is to powder areas where I'd applied concealer with my MAC MSFN. I've stopped powdering my whole face and was finding it difficult to get the precision and coverage I need with my other brushes (powder brush, Sigmax-ey brush, kabuki etc.,). This provides excellent coverage, and can get right under your eyes, and around the nose, as well as general surfaces. This is probably a brush I cannot live without anymore :)


I know I've had ridiculous amounts of hauls but the best is yet to come.. MAC Birmingham tomorrow :)

Have any of you guys tried Sigma before?  If you live in the UK, what do you find to be the best alternative to MAC?

<3yu