Real Techniques Brushes: Nic's Picks

Here's what I got myself when I was in Cardiff: a set of Real Techniques Brushes.

One of the most recent sets of brushes that they released are Nic's Picks. It is a little set that contains 5 brushes with a limited edition design, and 3 of the brushes are exclusive ones.

It contains 2 bigger face and 3 smaller eye brushes.

The first brush is called duo-fiber face brush, and it is like a very fluffy stippling brush, only that it's rounded on the top. Its bristles are black on the bottom and white on the top.

It is recommended for powder application, where it gives a very light finish and makes for an easy application. One thing I also love it for is the application of foundation.

Next we have a cheek brush, which is an exclusive one. Its bristles are very dense and super soft, and it is very wide and rounded on the top. 

You can use this brush for all sorts of things concerning the cheeks. I like it a lot for blush and sometimes even highlighter, but I also use it for bronzing and contouring when it doesn't have to be too precise.

Third up is the angled shadow brush, another exclusive. It is very fluffy and the bristles kind of fan out a little towards the top. It is angled, as the name already suggests.

This brush is great for anything you want to do in your crease of the eye. It is great for super quick blending, but can just as well be used to apply eyeshadow to your crease. What I love in that step is that it immediately blends the eyeshadow, too.

This is the base shadow brush. It is a little tapered towards the top, and can therefore be used for all kinds of applications. 

You can use it to blend lightly, or to apply eyeshadow all over the lid. But what I especially use it for is to apply concealer! The bristles are perfect for that job, they blend nicely and don't absorb too much product. A very multi-functional brush!

Last but not least, we have the final exclusive brush: the eyeliner brush. It is extremely tiny, and slanted. It has a very thin shape, and the bristles are very dense. The edge is very clear and good to use.

This brush is great for any precise work you'd be doing around your eyes. You can use it for gel or shadow liner, as well as for any under-eye application. Plus, it works lovely for filling in your eyebrows!

All brushes feel very good in you hand, and are neither too big nor too heavy. Their design is elegant and simple, and each one works perfectly the way it is thought, and in most cases in even more ways! That's what I especially love about these brushes, because they can be used for so many different types of application. 

Each brush is easy to wash and clean, I experienced no problems at all for that matter.

In the UK, the set retails for £29,99, but Superdrug had them in their holiday gift set line for £20. I have seen them online for around $30.

I can highly recommend this set of brushes as I use them daily. 
Does anyone of you also own these brushes, or any other Real Techniques ones that you can recommend? Let me know in the comments below!

xx, Misch

Paisley Nail Art + BornPrettyStore Brushes Review

After showing you my little haul from BornPrettyStore, today it's time for the first nail art design using the products!

Paisley Nail Art - products used:
Essie Cute As A Button
Essence 50s Girls Reloaded LE 01 Ahoy
BornPrettyStore Nail Art Brushes*

The design is very detailed and took quite so time to create, but I think it was well worth it! I used all three of the nail art brushes, which vary in bristle length. So for longer lines, I used the longer brushes, and same goes for the shorter lines.

All brushes are very thin, and especially once you dip them into polish they leave one controlled thin line. By varying the pressure on the nail you can determine how thick your line turns out.

The brush I like best is the first one, with the shortest bristles. You have the most control with it, and you don't have to fear slipping with the long bristles, which might happen when you use the brush with the longest bristles. But with a steady hand you can control them all nicely.

Cleaning was also very easy, I wiped them on a cotton pad soaked in nail polish remover, and the colour came off right away. They also didn't lose any bristles.

I'm very pleased with these nail art brushes! They are great for all kinds of details, not only lines. I love how precise you can be with them, and the price is also really great! They retail for 2,99$ on the website as linked above.

If you're looking for new nail art brushes, I can highly recommend these!

xoxo, M



* THIS IS A SPONSORED POST

BornPrettyStore Haul

A little package arrived in the mail today, from BornPrettyStore! And its contents is what I'll be showing you now.
I want to mention already now that these products were sent to me free of charge for review, which makes this a sponsored post. This does, however, in no way affect the opinion presented on here. You can read more about that in my Disclaimer policy you'll find on top of this page!

Shipping from their store was simple, but took quite some time. That's of course only normal within the distance from Singapore to Germany!

The first thing I got are these lovely nail art brushes. They come in a set of three, and have different lenghts, The bristles are rather thin and long, which is great for drawing delicate lines! They also come with plastic caps which protects the bristles from damage. You can find them here on the website.

Second, I received a Nail Art Striping Tape. Mine is a shimmery red, really pretty and great for nail art designs. You can stick the stripes onto your nails and leave them there, you can use it as a tape to create different looks with nail polish! Lots of different ways of use therefore. You can find it here on the site.

And finally, I got these 2mm Rhinestones, also used for nail art. They're of a fun plum colour, and rather tiny, which makes them great to be incorporated into designs. Can't wait to use them! Find them here on the website.

In this post I just wanted to introduce you to the things I got, because that makes it easier for me to show them in future posts! So you can expect some nail art coming up!

What are your thoughts on these products?
xoxo, M




* THIS IS A SPONSORED POST

New Sigma Brushes! E30 and F40

I'm kind of trying to post pictures of a couple of new things I got in the time of my blogging absence, so that's where all of these posts are coming from.

So quite some time ago I did some shopping at Sigma Beauty, and ordered the following two brushes:

The first brush I bought is an eye brush, called Sigma E25. It's a basic eyeshadow blending brush. It has white bristles and is a tiny bit flat. It is perfect for working with colours in your crease, because it is not too big so it can help you add definition to your eye. It does, at the same time, blend your eyeshadow, so you can achieve applying a colour to your crease and blending it out in one step.

The other brush I bought is a face brush, the Sigma F40. It's an angled blush or contour brush, nicely shaped for the cheek bone area. It's very fluffy but still helps to place your cheek products percisely and not all over the place. Blending with it is also very simple to do.




For every order over 30$, Sigma gives you a travel size of the E25 as a gift. I received one, and even though I'd also bought a full size version of it in this order, it's never wrong to have a variety of blending brushes. It's really a great gift! The brush is identical with the regular one, only that its handle is shorter. But it works equally well!

Sigma brushes are always my favourite to use and to buy, because they have great quality and don't cost a fortune. 
Do you guys have any brushes by them?

xoxo, M

November 2013 Favourites

Hi there!

Before I start to forget about this, time for my favourites of the month of November!

Ebelin Beauty Blender - I love this little thingie to blend all kinds of things, especially foundation and tinted moisturizer. Used it quite often this month! Review can be found here *click*.

Ebelin Concealer Brush - I really like this brush to apply concealer to all parts of my face where I need it! It's originally meant to be an eyeshadow brush, but I prefer it for concealer. Review: *click*.

Urban Decay Bootycall - One eyeshadow from my Naked 2 that I used on seriously every single day of the month. It's the perfect light, slightly rose-colored highlighting shade. Swatches: *click*.

Illamasqua Never - Another pretty eyeshadow that I had totally forgotten about. Pulled it back out this month and used it to wear a subtle but colorful eyeliner. Swatches can be seen here *click*, and here *click* you can see how I wore it.

Catrice Hollywood's Fabulous 40ties LE Blush C01 Gone With The Wind - One of my all time favourite blushes. The perfect matte rosewood pink shade, worn every day. A review can be found here *click*.

Benefit HighBeam - One of my all-time favourite highlighting products. Great stuff. Review: *click*.

Maybelline Super Stay Powder - A new powder I've been testing. Really really like it so far, a review will follow very soon.

So, that's it for my favourites of the month! Quite a lot this time, and all great products. Leave me some links to your favourites in the comments!

xoxo, Misch

June 2013 Favorites

Hey everyone!
Today it's time for my favorites of the month of June!

Urban Decay Naked 2 - this palette is absolutely gorgeous and of great quality, I'm simply in love with it! Swatches: *click*
Essence Sun Club Bronzing Powder - old bronzing powder of mine, but I still love using it! Makes me look a lot fresher :)
Sigma E30 Brush - I really love this brush, I used it all the time to apply highlights around my eyes :)
Astor Lipcolor Butter in 011 Feeling Feline - I really love this lip color, my sisters got it for me for my birthday. Review will follow soon!
Essence Blotting Papers - this doesn't really matter what brand these are, it's just that blotting papers are very very useful, especially during the summer months :)
Catrice Hollywood's Fabulous 40ties LE Blush C01 Gone With The Wind - a lovely blush, matte, and great for everyday looks. Review: *click*
Ombia Light Touch Sun Fluid SPF 50 - this is a nice sun screen I've been trying out lately, so far I like it!

What were your favorites for the month of June? Please share them with me!
xoxo, Misch

Swatches: Urban Decay Naked Palette 2

Hey there!
Today it's time to show you swatches of Urban Decay's Naked 2! This isn't anything new, and you've probably seen swatches quite often already, but for the sake of completeness on this blog, here they are!
This palette consists of 12 eyeshadows, 1 double-ended brush and 1 mini lipgloss. Here you go:

Eyeshadows:
Foxy - a pale cream-colored matte

Half Baked - a very shimmery warm bronze shade

Bootycall - a shimmery highlighting color

Chopper - a shimmery copper shade

Tease - a matte purple-toned greyish brown shade, very cool-toned

Snakebite - a darker shimmery brown

Suspect - a cooler-toned shimmery light brown shade

Pistol - a shimmery greyish silver shade

Verve - a light silvery shimmery shade

YDK - a darker brown with a strong silver shimmer

Busted - a shimmery dark grey

Blackout - a matte black shade

Pigmentation is really good with all of these.

Lipgloss:
a medium pink shade with shimmer particles in it. Rather sheer.

Brush:
double-ended: one side a rather fluffy blending brush, the other a more sturdy flat eyeshadow brush.

I'm a huge fan of this palette, it looks so nice and all of the content is very usable :)
What do you think of it?
xoxo, Misch