Review: Flaunt Beauty Palette

About a month ago, while wasting time on a lunch break, I decided to check out Icing by Claire's selection of make up and brushes. I really needed a new blending brush for concealer (works wonders! I'll post more about it soon).  A few things had caught my eye previously, but I was a little skeptical of the quality. Lets face it, we've all bought some pretty crappy things from Claires! I walked in and was greeted with "All our make up products are buy one, get one half off" I knew I had picked the right day!  Immediately, the cute packaging caught my eye.  I'm a sucker for anything vintage/pinup. The first palette I picked up was Flaunt Beauty in Smoke Screen, for the life of me I can't remember any of the other ones after I saw the colours this palette featured.

It came with four eyeshadow, a little sponge tipped applicator with a mirrored cover. The eyeshadow are the same size as a MAC eyeshadow for those of you familiar with them. From left to right, you have Champagne (I'm a champagne fiend!), Silk, Charcoal Black, and Fog in the City.  Champagne is comparable to Lancome's Cream Luster (my all time favourite shadow). Silk is a wonderful natural highlight colour for those of us with the gift of ghost. The Charcoal Black is a great matte deep grey colour, perfect for a "classy" smokey eye. Fog in the City is comparable to MAC's Satin Taupe, which is another staple for me. All these colours have great pay off and last through out the day. For a palette that cost me 8.99 Canadian, it is beyond worth it. I've used at least one shadow from this quad every day since purchase. It has the cutest packaging and would be great for your travel make up bag or to just keep in your purse!

Another shot of the cute packaging! and the demon in the mirror...

Sorry for the quality of the swatch, I haven't mastered the technique yet!

Rating: 8/10
I will definitely be purchasing more from Icing!

Jenny

The Bronzed and the Beautiful

If you're ridiculously pale (NC15 in MAC Studio Sculpt) like me, you have a hard time finding bronzers. Everything makes me look like an orange Cheeto, or like I rolled around in dirt (or both). I've spent years and mega dollars trying to find the perfect glow. Here are four bronzers I've used (or tried to) that range from $12 - $35 American.
1. Physicians Formula Multi coloured face Powder ($12.95)
"Provides soft, natural color without a harsh monotone cast."  This one actually wasn't too bad. If I buffed really well, I could get away with it. It's one of the lightest colours and would work perfect for someone who is a shade or two darker than I. For the price, I definitely recommend it.

• Hypoallergenic
• Fragrance-free
• Oil-free
• Non-comedogenic
• Dermatologist approved

2. Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Soft Matte Bronzer ($30)
"Silky and luxurious natural, shine free colour" This was actually my go-to colour for contouring for about a year. I still need to buff this one a lot for it to look natural in the slightest. Even though it's matte, it still has too much of a sheen for me to be able to use as a contour. I don't know what I was thinking for that year.  I do recommend it for anyone who's probably an NC25 to use for a healthy glow.

• Oil-free
• Dermatologist-tested
• Ophthalmologist-tested
• Non-acnegenic
• Won't clog pores

3. Elizabeth Arden Color Intrigue Bronzing Powder Duo ($32)
"Rich, true color sweeps on for a natural, bronze glow. Duo features two blendable shades for an ideal bronzing effect." The lightest colour in this duo is similar to the Estee Lauder colour. The darker shade, however, makes me look like I rolled around in red dirt. No matter how much I blended, buffed and prayed I could not do anything with this bronzer. I did find that it stayed for a long time though, one application and you could still see it after all day. It also comes with a kabuki brush that actually makes this product not be a complete waste of money for me.

• Oil-free
• Fragrance-free
• Dermatologist tested
• Clinically tested

4. Too Faced The Bronzed and the Beautiful Palatte ($35)
This has to be, by far, my favourite bronzer. It comes with three "mini" shades.  "Snow Bunny," "Sun Bunny," and "Pink Leopard." Sun Bunny's lighter shade is about the same as the Estee Lauder colour.  Where as the darker shade is a a couple shades lighter than the Elizabeth Arden colour. The Snow bunny bronzer comes with four shades, an ivory, lighter bronze and two different shades of pink. This one works well for me since I can avoid using so much of the bronze colour. The Pink Leopard colour is, by far, my favourite. It's actually a leopard mixture of pink and brown. This colour gives me the perfect healthy glow without having to over buff or put effort into it at all. It comes with a flatbuki brush that is perfect for application.
1. Physicians Formula                           2. Estee Lauder

3. Elizabeth Arden                            4. Too Faced

Sigma Brush Review

A little while after Christmas I was catching up on Youtube videos that I had missed while out of town.  I came back to multiple videos and reviews of Sigma Makeup.  They were raving about a 12 piece brush set.  They compared them to MAC, saying that they were the same quality for a quarter of the price.  After reading multiple reviews I decided to order them.  I needed new brushes and had been looking around for a good set that I wouldn’t have to sell a kidney on the black market to pay for.  I ordered them mid January and received them the beginning of February.  Upon opening the package I was delighted with the brushes.  They were ultra soft and the handles were great quality.  They were also numbered the same as Mac brushes and I got a free travel size SS217.

The set included:
Powder brush (SS150)
Foundation brush (SS190)
Duo fibre brush (SS187)
Large angle contour brush (SS168)
Concealer brush  (SS194)
Medium angle brush (SS275)
Small angle brush (SS266)
Large shader brush (SS252)
Pencil brush (SS219)
Tapered blending brush (SS224)
Eyeliner brush (SS209)
Eye shading brush (SS239)



I was especially excited to use the duo fibre brush since I hate using flat foundation brushes.  While cleaning the brushes the first thing I noticed was the amount of dye that came from the powder brush and duo fibre.  It turned the white tips black and brush cleanser didn't work.  I let them dry and used them the next morning.  The duo fibre brush shed like mad, and still does.  I do like the buffed airbrush look it gives you, I do not like having to use a kabuki brush to get rid of the hairs the brush have left afterward.  I have nothing else bad to say about the set.  The powder brush is wonderful, I especially like the small angled brush for cream liner  (I use the brush on cream liner from Clinque).  The larger shader brush is perfect for packing colour on the lid.  The large angle contour brush works pretty well (with a little shedding).  Over all, I was impressed with the set (minus the dual fibre brush).   For $69 US for the brushes and $14 for shipping I think they were well worth the price.  I also bought their complete Beauty on the Go makeup kit.  I will be reviewing it later when I’ve used more of the products.

Sigma Makeup

*Brushes now have new numbering