REVIEW: Powder Brushes

     I own several different brands of brushes I will be reviewing only a portion of the brushes I own. I'll save the rest for a future review.

      A good brush is just as essential as having a good foundation match. I have my favorites. My personal preference for face powder brushes, is that they are big and fluffy! The bigger and fluffier the brush, the more surface area I can cover in a shorter amount of time...and I'm all about less time when it comes to applying makeup everyday.

*TIP* Make sure you wash all your brushes BEFORE you use them for the first time.

Speaking of BIG and Fluffy let's talk about our first brush...

NYX B01 " The Big One" ($30) - This is a BIG all over face brush. I LOVE the size of the brush, but there's a problem, after a couple of uses the brush get rough. So I washed it hoping it would soften up more with a REAL wash. It did, but after a couple uses, it was once again rough. I washed it with shampoo and conditioner, but let the conditioner sit on the brush overnight. After I rinsed it out, I was left with a softer brush which so far has not reverted back to it's original form.

Bdellium Tools 959 ($17)- Smaller than I liked and would imagine. It's almost the size of a blush brush. Study design, appears to be very well made, with soft bristles. The color will get trapped in the bristles easily. If you're anal retentive like myself :/ then you would be scrubbing a lot, to get the color out. This brush is from Bdellium's antibacterial line.

EcoTools ($8/set)- Small yet effective. Almost like an animal hair brush. It's durable. The size and rounded shape is more suitable for blush application. I'd prefer it for that purpose rather than foundation application.

ELF powder brush ($3)-There are a few ELF face brushes The white 'professional' brush for $1 is terrible!! It's hard, gets disheveled and looks worn out after only a few uses. The black brushes are MUCH better. The are soft, sturdy, and professional looking. These brushes actually peaked my interest in more expensive brushes. If a $3 brush can be made this well then a $40 brush must be awesome!

Crown ($24.95/set)- This brush is a little light and not as big as I would like it to be, but it does the job. It's soft and easy to clean. It doesn't pick up and hold a lot of product…that could be why it's easy to clean. Nothing can be said so far about the durability, but it's a little skeptical.

Wet N Wild ($10/set) -I was surprised by this brush. It's about standard size ( same as the ELF brush). Soft bristles, sturdy design. Applies powder evenly.

Challenge Wrap Up: 1 Palette 30 Days

     As you may know I used only 1 eyeshadow palette for 30 days. If you follow me on instagram, you have seen the looks I've been able to achieve with the crown leopard shimmer palette.

These are the swatches for the palette. I placed them in the same order as they are in the palette.

 

 

The challenges were:
-limited to 36 colors
-all shimmer
-some iridescent
-no black
-no white

 

     In the beginning I have to admit it was a little difficult to come up with subtle looks.

 I wanted to dive right in to the blues and mix unexpected colors  together, but I had just started a new job and was afraid they might not take it well.
     I thought without black and white I'd be lost. I don't use white that much, but I use black for various things.
      Not having black meant I had to come up with ways to darken a color properly.  I say properly because adding the charcoal grey to some colors would just destroy them. I added complementary colors to some looks to increase the contrast and intensity.
      I added a swatch card so you could see the colors and a chart of how I used the colors each day and which ones I used.
      I would love to do this challenge again! The first few days were difficult, but it got easier after the first week. Would I do this again? Most definitely!!! I'm already thinking about it now!

     If I only had this 1 palette, would I be happy? Yes and no...WHY? with the absence of black, you can't get the dramatic smoky look you may want. It's probably not a good palette for beginners, since blending and possibly intense color mixing is required. It's a great palette though, surprisingly pigmented, blendable and with hardly ANY fallout. Hautelook actually had the matte version on sale a couple weeks ago. I was temped, but I didn't purchase it.

 

Below is a spread sheet I created. I know you all might be semi pro's, but just in case... I applied the colors 3 different ways.

1. typical crease, lid, highlight combo

2. from inner to outer corner (lightest to darkest)

3. classic 'smoky' application ( darkest color close to lash line, middle color on lid and lightest color from the crease to brow)

 

 

Some of the looks I have done (the day I wore the look is on each pic)

 

 

 

 



 

30 Day Palette Challenge !!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!

     I am happy to announce that the palette I will be using for the next 30 days is my Leopard palette by Crown.

I bought this during a special on hautelook.com a few months ago, so we'll approximate the value @$20.    

(side note there are crown brush sets and makeup currently on sale at hautelook) 

 

Pros

• 36 colors
• Different color families
• Variety
• Lights and darks
• Fashion and neutral colors

 

Cons

• No black or white
• All shimmer finishes
• Opalescence of the colors make the color change with different angles and lighting. I could possibly walk out the house with something that looked fabulous at home but terrible in different lighting.

 

this is a pic of some of the colors and my little note :)