Sigma Brushes review

Hello popsicles! Today I am going to review Sigmas complete kit! I have had these brushes for a really long while but I thought there were too many of these out there so I didnt bother....now I guess I am giving in. I have seen some reviews that I felt were not fair to the company (read my last post) and in my opinion you cant find this many brushes, for this quality, at this price point. I am going to write my score on the top which is 4.5 out of 5, and this will have a bit of a different structure. The complete kit is amazing as a whole, but there are some brushes that I dont like as much. I am going to say everything I love and everything I hate about each brush, but overall I really do love the brushes (why I put the score at the top) and I would hate people to get the wrong opinion.

OVERALL - the only thing I can say here is its 12 brushes (mine came with a mini travel size extra....so 13 ) at $79. HELLO! Most brushes from other companies like MAC are $20+ PER brush. The sigma set comes out at around 6 dollars a brush. I dont want to point fingers but someone did a review of these brushes and kept saying that they were not as good as MAC. I understand the company tries to make brushes compatible to the MAC brushes, but at this highly reduced prices it is not going to be as good as quality. Its just not happening. So, what you are getting for the price is awesome.

Shipping was quick, I had no trouble with anything to do with my order...everything ran really smoothly. I thought I would add that because I hear some companies have horror stories with just getting the shipping right. The brushes came with a little plastic guard and were in a cute little baggie.

Small Angle - E65- (top left) This brush is just like any other angled brush. It is super stiff, but it is a bit too thick for me. The site says it is meant to be a brush to put eyeliner with, but I really dont use it for that. I like to use a more flexible brush for gel or cream liner. I use this brush to fill in my brows, or to apply a shadow color over eyeliner I put on to smudge it out. Honestly, I dont really use this brush all that much...because to me an angled brush is an angled brush and I have another one that I am just used to using.

Medium Angled Shading - E70 - (clockwise right) Way to start out with the two brushes I am kind of MEH about. I really enjoy the idea of this brush but I have not yet figured out how to use it effectively. I usually make my eye shape from blending colors out in a swirling motion, but you cant really do that with this brush. Sometimes I use this to put colors in the crease, but I like some other brushes better to do that with. I feel like this brush is too flimsy to do what it was made for, but it is not a throw away. I can see myself using it on others more than I use it on myself.

Large Shader - E60 - This is a really nice stiff brush for all over color. I use this brush to do really concentrated color and pigments on my eyelid. Sometimes I use the tip to bring the color to my lowerlashline, because it is such a thin and flat brush so it gets really precise color placement. Packs on color really nicely....yeah.

Pencil - E30 - The site advertises this brush to apply color to the crease line, but I think it is far too small of a brush for that unless you are doing a dramatic cut crease. Even then I use a thicker brush for that so it doesn't look so goofy. Primarily I use this brush to apply an intense highlight in my inner corner, to smudge out eyeliner, or to (again) apply colors over top of my eyeliner. It is a good and sturdy brush and it comes to a nice tapered tip that is easy to work with. Plus, it is soooooo soft :)

Large Angled Contour - F40 - Love love love love love this brush. I feel like it is an ideal brush for contour, and for blush. Again, this is a super soft brush that I love to just feel on my skin. What I do is use it the 'right' way (put the angle with the angle of my skin) to apply blush. It applies a great even color, and I love that it is white because you can really see how much product you have on the brush. Sometimes with the black brushes you cant tell how much blush REALLY is on it and then it goes all clowny. I flip the brush over and use the 'tip' in order to do contour (because I feel like the brush is a BIT too thick to really get a precise contour with).


Large Powder - F30 - This is just a big fluffly brush. It is a bit TOO big for my taste, so generally what I do with it is either blend out my blush and contour, or if it has been a long day I will use it to dust some powder over my face to kind of 'freshen up'. I personally would not use this for powder application, so for me it is just an ok brush. Wish it was a bit smaller

Duo Fibre - F50 - I talked about this brush in a previous post, but I totally am in love with it. I wish it was a bit thicker, but it is also fine how it is. It applies foundation REALLY well, and I get compliments on how my skin is so pretty all the time. One time I went into a makeup store and the woman didnt know I was wearing makeup (I thought she was just trying to be nice, but she was going on and on about how I should not wear foundation when I was trying to buy mine, because my skin was so good without it. LOL). I have not tried it with blush yet since all of my cream ones have dried up, and I cant really buy anymore until I start making money. This brush has held up really well for me, and has not done any of the dye bleeding that I have heard complained about. Maybe because I use a sulfate free shampoo to wash it in so it is really gentle? I am not sure. This brush is a must have for me, and I dont want to go anywhere without it

Foundation - F60 - Good, soft, thick. There is really not much I have to say about this brush. It is nothing to rave about, but nothing to write off either. I generally use it with powder to clean up any fallout from under my eyes. I will also use this to apply moisturizer to other people when I do their makeup because no one wants me rubbing all over their faces. I think this is generally what people do with this brush anyhow.

Concealer - F70 - I never really use this for concealer, but that is because I am used to using a different brush that has a shape I like better. I use thus brush for REALLY precise eyeshadow application, and under my brow highlight. Generally I use 2 highlight colors, one that is darker and a really stark white I usually use directly under the highest point of my brow. I use this brush for that. It is really good quality though, I should try it for concealing and see how it works.

Tapered Blending - E40 - BOOOOOOO! I had such high hopes for this brush, but I really do not like it. Mine is more dome shaped than tapered, the brush is way too flimsy for really good blending. I kind of feel like it is too big as well to blend, it takes up practically my whole eyelid. I am not going to ever reach for this over my other blending brushes that I have. What I have done with this brush ( because I wanted to find some good) was to apply a color to fade out my colors in my crease and before my highlight. It kind of works but it muddies up both crease and highlight colors because the freaking brush is so out of control. I tired to re-shape it a bit when I washed it but it didnt work out too well.

Eye Shading - E55 - This brush is really nice. It is really thick, short, and has a roundedness to it that is lovely. The website says that it is to apply intense color to the eyelid, but I generally use some of the other brushes for this (kind of like for all of the other brushes). For some strange reason, I am in love with this as a crease brush. I just love the shape for it, and it fits really well into my crease area. Sometimes I will use this to do an all over wash, but for precise, I like the brushes that are less...wide. For example look at how much smaller the contour brush is, I feel like that is more precise. This is good for smoking out colors too since it is so dense. Good brush, one of my favorites

Eyeliner - E05 - I use this for eyeliner and lipcolors (if I am doing more of a lip art). It is really thin, and the perfect sturdyness. It still moves really nicely to make a flowing brushstroke, but is is sturdy enough to apply creams. There is not really much to talk about, it does what it is supposed to!

You can see some better up close pictures and some application tips at

http://www.sigmabeauty.com

Expensive is key?!

Hello popsicles!

I have been watching some of the top gurus on youtube for makeup and getting more and more displeased with their attitude towards makeup. They are doing reviews of products, that compare EVERYTHING to expensive makeup, and 90% of their looks are using the high end expensive makeup. This blush is not as good as NARS, this brush is not as good as MAC, these liners are not like Urban decay. You know what? Not everyone can afford all of this crap. Afterwords they say you better well save up for the expensive kind. If I bought the expensive makeup then I would have half of what I had now, and would most likely never own some of the colors that I love and need because I would not want to buy 'silly' colors that I use every once and awhile at an expensive place. When they talk about drugstore makeup they use terms like low quality, and kind of make it seem like you really cant create a look that is beautiful from this 'low quality makeup'. As you may know I do not subscribe to the philosophy that you have to buy expensive for it to be good. I really cant justify buying ONE eyeshadow for 16 dollars, unless I am REALLY trying to treat myself. I own maybe 2 MAC eyeshadows and I rarely use them because they were so expensive I do not want to waste them.

There is a middle point, because the high end makeup is too expensive, but if you buy what I call pretty pretty princess makeup (really REALLY cheap makeup) it wont stay and is not very pigmented. Drugstore makeup and my coastal scents palettes are my favorite purchases. Each individual has to figure out what their favorite brand is. Something I love might be something you hate because our skin has different chemistry. A shadow that might stick to me might fall right off your face even with primer. And guess what, with the more inexpensive prices you are able to try different products and not hate yourself for trying something.

Another thing that really bothers me is the people who believe that you need 27 brushes to make a look. Ok I am decent at makeup, I am not a professional but I do love to do makeup and I get compliments on my makeup all the time. I also feel like I know what I am doing from doing makeup for stage. For the longest time I had 3 brushes and that was it. I had a concealer brush, blending brush, and crease brush. I used the sponges that came with the eyeshadow and made due. And guess what, YOU CAN MAKE DUE! I could do everything that the big timers do with the few brushes that I had. It might not be as easy or convenient but hey that is life.

I just got very frustrated with what I was seeing and I think if it does anything then it discourages people from trying to break into the makeup world. I mean, what do you think when all of the tutorials are expensive makeup using 7-8 brushes for look? It is frustrating for newbies because they dont even want to try. I know thats how I felt, when a person could say use a purple with a blue undertone they say grab Expensive McGee makeup Purple Nurple (that is most likely pro color, no longer made, or whatever) and put it all over your eye using a flat brush, then put more with a fluffy brush, THEN use an angled brush....then blend it all out with a blending brush. Sometime they show the shadow, sometimes they dont. Even if they do the camera may not show the makeup to color.

This is a bit of a rant, and I kind of want to inspire people who are trying to do makeup that there is a different way to do things than what is being broadcast.

Flawless face

Alrighty pumpkins! A ton of people ask me how I get my face makeup looking so natural and not cakey. I really dont think that I do anything special, but some people might not know the basics of face makeup. So...I am here to tell you what I do and hope that it helps :)

1) Moisturize. I cant tell you how much this helps. If you have a dry face you will be able to tell that there is makeup on it. Plus, makeup seems to stick better to a face that is moisturized. Generally what I do is put an anti wrinkle eye cream all around my eye (its never too late to fight wrinkles) then put a moistureizer with SPF (you can read my rant about that here) all over my face and neck.

2) Liquid foundation. I only use liquid foundation when my face is crazy bad broken out or splotchy. People need to learn that they do not need to use this stuff every day because it clogs pores and generally people can get the same effect with some spot concealing. When I put my foundation on I use my sigma dual fiber brush.


Technicaly this is not the brush you are supposed to use (it is meant for cream blush or highlights) but I find that it works a ton better than the flat foundation brush in my opinion. It makes for a more even and natural looking application. What I do is put a little foundation (1-2 pumps ONLY) on the back of my hand, and pat the brush into the product. Then I blot off the extra on a part of my hand that does not have product on it and pat the brush on my face. I pat it until most of the product is absorbed on my face THEN I use a swirling motion to make sure I blend everything out. This will ensure that the product is well applied and absorbed into the face and it looks natural and not splotchy. Repeat until the whole face is covered, and make sure you blend out on the neck and as close to the hairline as possible. Lines on the side of the face are really ugly and it is a dead giveaway that you are using product.

3) Conceal. Again, I use a different brush than you are supposed to. I used to use my figners, and I found that the application is not as precise and it gets blotchy. The oil from your fingers will make the concealer fade quicker as well. What I use for large areas is a sigma fluffy shadowbrush, and again I use it because it gives a more natural finish

You use the same technique as the foundation. Pat in the product, pat on your face, then swirl! Once I get a camera I will show you all how to conceal certain parts of the face, but for now this is all I have. Then I use any pencil brush with a bit of concealer to conceal any particular spots (like pimples :( ) also in a patting motion.

4) POWDER! Most people think with all of this color on your face you do not need powder. My number one rule that you all need to remember is whenever you put anything cream or liquid on your face you MUST set it with powder. If you use a cream shadow, you need to put powder on it. Foundation, powder. Even cream liner works better if you set it with powder. It makes the product last longer, prevents creasing, stops excessive oil, and makes it look more natural. There is some scientific blahdy blah to why this works and I am not going to bore you with it. Im just saying, it works. If you do not want more color you can use a translucent powder. I generally just use mild coverage powder with a large powder brush. You use pat and swirl again (a little secret, this is what you do for ANY makeup application...besides liner)


So, this is what I do with my face makeup. The things to remember is blend blend blend. You want everything to be well blended in order to look natural!

Revlon colorstay lipstick

First of all I want to apologize for not posting. Things have been SUPER hectic for me lately, but I am trying to get back into the swing of things. I dont want you all to forget me! I have not been able to get any new products or do fun makeup since I have been interviewing at stuffy boring jobs, so didnt know what to do! I decided that tonight I was going to do a review on one of my go to lip products.

Since you dont have any pictures of me, or much else in the way of evidence I am obsessed with the old holywood vintagey makeup. What does a girl need for that? Red lips, and preferably red lips that stay and stay


As I have said before, I am pale. I have had trouble finding a shade of red lips that is still red, but cool enough to not clash with my skin. Stay Currant is the PERFECT shade that is still red but cooler. It is almost maroonish, but it reads as red.

The packaging - This comes with one side of liquid lipstick, and one side of gloss. There is not much to say about it...it is the size of a normal lipgloss and is just dandy. It has a spongey applicator on the color side, and a brush on the gloss side.


The colors - Like I mentioned before, the colors are rad. They have them (in Wallgreens) organized by color family. So they had a brown, pink, red, nude and coral. There are several different shades, and the color payoff is pretty good. It is very opaque, but at the same time you have to layer it in order for the product not to goop up and to get the darker colors precise.

The formula - Continuing from the color...You have to apply it with several coats, and you have to do it fast because it dries very quickly. What I do is take out the brush and wipe off most of the product and apply it in fourths (2 sections on the bottom and 2 on the top) I only focus on one section at a time. Since it is liquid it can be a bit difficult to work with, so you just have to be careful. Once it is on, you wait for it to dry and apply the gloss. One HUGE HUGE HUGE plus is the color does not move. I wear this to work all the time and dont have to worry about the color getting on my teeth or fading for about 5 or 6 hours, which is a LONG time for lipstick. That being said, once it does fade it will fade in the middle of your lips and the edges will stay even if you apply it over a lipliner, so you have to be careful to check in and make sure you dont look silly once it does fade. You can kind of feel it beading up when it is fading so that is kind of a strange feeling...but you will know when it is coming off. The color will dry out your lips, so make sure that they are not peeling or dry already before you apply it, and make sure to put on chapstick after you remove it.

Removal - The lipstick is easily removed with makeup remover! That is the only way to get rid of it, so if you are planning on changing colors without going home for some remover dont put this on your lips!

I am rating 4.5 stars out of 5. I have used higher end products and this lipstick stays better than any of them, and it is below 15 dollars. I dont remember the exact price since it lasts awhile and I have not bought any in a few months but I want to say I got it for 10? I think that is a real bargain. I would highly recommend this to anyone who asks for a longwear lipstick. The only downside is it is drying.

123 eyeshadow

Alright popsicle muffins! I have a little kind of tutorial / technique lesson for you all. I call it the 123 eyeshadow method, and it is perfect for beginners or people looking for a simple look. Its called 123 because it uses 3 different shadow colors, and there are 2 really simple ways to apply the colors.

1)
(please ignore the terrible picture and lazy makeup application. This was a quickie)
The first method is for people who have lots of lid space. I believe that people who have smaller lid space can use this too, but it is a bit harder to apply. You use three colors (light medium and dark) and apply them in this pattern. I feel like this look is more dramatic than the other method, so this could be a nighttime look while the other look is more for day. Lots of palettes have this method on the packaging, but generally they have all medium colors to use. It is not unheard of to use colors that are all light or all medium, it just does not give the eye the same depth as when using the light, medium, and dark.

2)


The reason why people would use this method would be for people with smaller lid space. See how the colors are just stacked next to each other instead of placed on top of each other? It also is less dramatic (to me) because the dark is just on the outer corner instead of placed all over the other colors as well.

So those are 2 methods of how to use three colors that takes around 5 minutes to do? It is super easy and people of any level can apply makeup with this method!

Animal Testing

Ok popsicles today I have a serious note post for you all. This is a picture of me and my beautiful puppy named Mayzie. I am kind of obsessed, and treat her like a daughter more than a pet. She hogs the bed, gets the best food, and is the best dog that you could ever imagine. Mayzie makes me smile every day.

I am kind of obsessed with my animals, and for that reason have actively boycotted companies that use animals to test their products. I know many people have spoken about this, and most of the big youtubers are great spokespersons for this cause. I am here to put in my two cents and to kind of explain things in a more concrete way

Companies that use animals for testing do not care about the lives of living things that are not humans. The companies believe that it is easier, cheaper, and better to test on animals because it does not really matter what happens to the animals, because...well...they are animals. The sole purpose for these tests to see if their products will be harmful to humans. The animals are locked up and undergo painful and risky experimentation to test these products. After enduring lives of pain, loneliness and terror, almost all of them will be killed since it is not practical to try to rescue them from this situations. I know that this is preachy and you can agree or disagree but there are better and cruelty free ways to test products.

Google image animal testing, and I am sure you will change your mind.

I am not a vegetarian, vegan, or crazy animal PETA person. BUT I do care about animals, and believe that they should not suffer for me to have my mascara or perfume. There are lots of companies that do not use testing, but the ones that do might surprise you

Cover Girl
Dove
Lancome
L'Oreal US
Max Factor
Maybelline
Neutrogena
Sally Hansen

Are just to name a few as companies that use testing. My eyes have only recently been open to the animal testing companies, so I am still making mistakes. The main point is that I am aware, and I am trying. I have only recently found this search engine, and I urge you to search your favorite companies to see if they test on animals or not.

http://www.peta.org/living/beauty-and-personal-care/companies/default.aspx

Because....I can never imagine my Mayzie having to be put through a life like this. So, if you would not do it to your animal, why wish it on others?

Fall look!

I did a fun fall look today that I wanted to share! I only have a cellphone camera right now, so sorry for crappy quality :( Once I get a for real camera I can do this more often!







PRODUCTS USED
Urban decay eye primer
NYX jumbo eye pencil in milk
Coastal Scents 88 palette hot pink
Coastal Scents 88 palette burgundy
Coastal Scents 88 palette deepblue
Coastal Scents copper torch eyeshadow
The Body Shop eye shimmer 04 (can use ELF eyeshadow transformer pink shade)
Urban decay 24/7 liner in zero
Urban decay 24/7 liner in lucky (waterline)