e.l.f Mini Haul and Reviews

 I've tried a couple of e.l.f products before, that I picked up at Target, but I wanted to try some more of their brushes and make up products. Not to mention, I had a bad experience earlier with a brush I bought. I went for the things that I've heard recommended the most.

When I bought this, they had a buy one-get one 50% off on everything, so I only ended up paying $20.28 after tax and shipping. Isn't that an amazing deal?

Studio Translucent Matifying Powder: I didn't really love this, I mean it does matify, that's for sure, but I did not like how this made my skin look. It made my skin look powdery, dry and lifeless. I'd much rather use Make Up For Ever HD Powder, which matifies without making me look dry. I rather regret buying this and I don't like it at all!

 Studio HD Blush in Superstar: I loved this product so much, it's a steal at only $3. Careful when applying it cuz this is extremely pigmented and a little goes a long long way. This wears amazing through the day and you can either use just a little bit for a more natural look, or build it up for an awesome glow. This has to be one of my favorite blushes now, I love the staying power of this. Be careful when applying it cuz you might end up with a clown face. Apply a bit to the back of your hand and if it's not enough grab a bit more. Believe me when I'm telling you this...yes I ended up with a clown face on the first try. LOL! I definitely recommend this product and think it's worth every penny, also it will last you for like forever!

Studio HD Blush in Superstar - Swatch:

Maybe the picture doesn't show how little the amount I applied is, but it's around the same size of the loop at the end of a bobby pin.

And it spread to this much! As you can see a tiny little bit does go a long way, this is way more than what I would want on my cheeks, so I can't repeat myself enough, careful when applying it. It might take a bit of practice, but trust me, it's so worth it at the end!

Essential Eye Crease Brush: First off, I should start by saying this product is sold for $1, and for that price it did surprise me. This brush is OK at doing it's job of applying shadow to the crease of the eye, but it has shed a little bit. I guess that's understandable since, well it's a $1. In spite of the shedding, I do think this product is worth it if you are starting your collection and don't have a lot of money in your budget, or just want to save money. After all, I don't think this is a bad brush and I do recommend buying it. We can live with a bit of shedding right? It's not excessive, it's like one hair here and there, so in my humble opinion I think it's fine. At the end of the day, if you hate it, you're only out $1.

Studio Powder Brush: I bought this brush before at Target and it shed badly( as you can see here)! But I really wanted to try this brush, since they didn't want to exchange it at Target and just returned my money, I decided to buy it. I love it, the bristles are super soft and it hasn't shed one bit. I've already washed it two or three times and there is no shedding at all. I think the other one was just defective and I'm so glad I gave it another shot. I love this brush for buffing in liquid foundation. It's extremely gentle on my sensitive skin and doesn't irritate me one bit. It applies foundation amazingly well and the bristles are SO well packed that it doesn't bend. This brush is great and I definitely recommend it, also at only $3 it has become one of my favorite brushes. This is worth every penny and even more. I can't emphasize how happy I am with this brush enough.

Studio Stipple Brush: I don't really like this brush much for foundation, but I use it specifically with my HD blush. The bristles are super soft and not rough on skin at all. This brush hasn't shed one bit. I really wanted to pick up the Small Stipple Brush, but it was out of stock, I've heard that one is great too. One thing I would really like is if this brush had more bristles, but either way it's an awesome brush and at $3 it's a steal. Great for liquid products to get that airbrushed look. I recommend this brush for sure!

Essentials Eyeshadow Brush: Another $1 product, and I guess you get what you pay for. This brush is OK, it sheds a lot. I've ended up with bristles on my eye lids after using it, which is not something I'm fond of at all. This brush is OK for applying eyeshadow to your eyelids. I really wish this brush had more bristles than it does, cuz I'm used to eyeshadow brushes having more bristles than this. This is an OK brush to start your collection off with and if you don't like it you are not really loosing a lot of money on it. I don't really recommend this one as much, but the next brush is amazing!

Studio Eyeshadow "C" Brush: THIS BRUSH! This is my new go to for applying eyeshadow. This brush is super soft, the bristles are really well packed, it hasn't shed one bit for me and it applies eyeshadow like a boss!! I love it so much. I definitely recommend this amazing brush and at only $3 it is more than worth every penny. Amazing brush if you have a low budget for make up. You are gonna be as happy as I am with it. You are spending $2 more than the Essentials Brush(previous one), but it's definitely worth it.

Final Thoughts: 

  I'm really happy with all my purchases, everybody that I asked or read reviews from about e.l.f products recommended the Studio line(black brushes) over the Essentials line(white brushes). Now I understand why they did this. I have my own personal opinion now and I cannot agree more with, well, everybody else. The Studio line is much better than the Essentials and the difference in price is only $2 which I think is worth the bit of extra money. If you are thinking of picking up e.l.f brushes, go with the Studio line for sure and you won't be disappointed. 

 If you want to try e.l.f, I say go for it. It's definitely a hit or miss company, but their hits are major hits(haha!) and with their misses you are not out by a lot of money.

Hope you enjoyed this mini haul & reviews and they come useful if you are looking for any of these products.

Have you tried e.l.f products? Which is your favorite?

Disclaimer: I purchased this with my own money, and this is my own personal opinion :) 

Cheap Brush Guards

  

  If you are into make up, I'm pretty sure you've heard about The Brush Guard. It's great for storing and drying your brushes, it helps them keep their shape and if you put them upside down it helps draw the moisture down and out. I always thought they were a bit over priced for what the item actually is, because at the end of the day it's just a tiny plastic net. I mean, $5.50 to cover only 6 brushes? Too much in my opinion.
   One day, while looking around random stuff online, I came across 1m of brush guard for $1.99. With that, I can cover way more than 6 brushes and it's only $1.99 with free shipping, which is super cheap. The only downside to this is that they ship it from China, so it might take a while for it to get to you. I ordered mine on October 21st and got it in under 2 weeks. The amount of product and the price are totally worth the wait.

See, it looks just like a piece of plastic, that's 1m (39'') long.

Before

And after! Look at that brush all pretty! Protected and set to keep it's shape!

How many brushes do you see there? 12 brushes! All covered and pretty, more than double what you get with 1 pack of The Brush Guard AND less than half the price of it!

Oh and I have some left! Enough to cover around 5-6 more brushes, so that would make it about 17 brush guards for $1.99.

  I'm really satisfied with this purchase, I got plenty of product for a really small amount of money. Not everything is rainbows and butterflies, sadly this is not perfect, cuz it doesn't fit small brushes at all, it's too wide for them, but that's fine.

  If you want to pick this up and save some money, here's the link where I got it from:

http://www.ecrater.com/p/15409171/1m-make-up-brush-guards-protectors

 As I said, It might take a while for it to get to you, but it will be worth it, trust me. I'm glad I found this product and I'll probably go back for more if I get more brushes (mmm more brushes! *drools*).

  Hope you find this useful and it helps you save some money!

Sigma Dry n Shape and F40

 I've wanted to get the Sigma Dry n Shape for quite a while, but it was out of stock. When I finally got the email saying it was back I bought it that same day! They claim it will dry your brushes within 4-6 hours, yes it will dry your SIGMA brushes in 4-6 hours, others take a bit longer. This is so much better than my technique of making holes in a carton box and putting them upside down in there! Also, when you are not drying your brushes, you can use it to carry them around!

This was my first purchase from Sigma. I really REALLY want their Make Me Crazy Essential Kit (can't afford it though). I love their packaging, isn't it super cute?

Always make sure you wash your brushes before the first use, this way, you make sure you clean any residues that might be left from the manufacturing process.

 

I wonder what's in this cute box!

Yay! My Sigma F40, I wanted this brush SO much. It's a large angled contour brush. Now that I have it, I don't think I can live without it. I use it to apply my contour and it works just great and the bristles are super soft! It hasn't shed at all, not even after I washed it and of course, I dried it using the Dry n Shape and it was done in 6 hours!

 

When you spend $30 or more, you get a free gift, no coupon required.

Yay for more brushes! I got the E25, which is a blending brush, mine is travel size, but the only difference is the size of the handle. This brush is great too, the bristles are soft and it gets the job done. Also no shedding, not even after I washed it.

Oh my! This is the star of this post!

Isn't it just super cute? And comes in SUPER handy! Before this, I had a kabuki drying for like a week (lol!) and with this, well it took like 2 days, but let's face it, it is a really hairy kabuki(lol again!)

All you have to do is put your brushes in which ever slots will fit them tight and of course put it upside down.

 Look at my brushes sitting all pretty there! I did put a towel below them just in case. 

  The reason why you have to make sure the brush fits tight(they say you should use the smallest band the brush will fit into) is the pressure applied to it by the bands. This pressure is what helps them dry, the fabric is supposed to help water evaporate, but it just look like regular elastic to me, but I guess it does what they say, cuz it works!

 Now, this will not only dry your brushes, but shape them as well, so you won't have to worry about them losing their shape, which is a great plus!

  I read a bunch of reviews about this before I picked it up and a lot of people  complained or rated it low cuz it didn't have that many slots and it didn't have small ones for eye shadow or blending brushes. If you don't have a lot of brushes like me, you have 3 options: either go without make up for that day, wash them right after you did your make up or wash them at night. By the time you have to put your make up back on, the brushes will be dry. As for the smaller brushes, well they do dry really fast, so that applies to them as well.

  I'm super happy with my purchase, the Dry n Shape was $29 when I picked it up and now they have it for $32, but it's still worth it! The F40 was $14 when I grabbed it and is now $16. I wonder why they increased their prices? The E25 retails for $10, but mine was free.

  I totally recommend this product, it has worked wonders for me. I love it so much and it was totally worth the wait. If you want to pick it up, I say hurry up while they still have them in stock. I hope you love this as much as I do and it works out great for you too!

Target Haul

  I went to Target this weekend, just to look around and see if I could find anything interesting. I was looking for cheap brushes, a brush cleanser and an eyelash curler. Well, here's what I picked up:

SoniaKashuk® - Brush and Sponge Cleanser: $6.99, I really liked this product, it's liquid, but it lathers. It cleaned my brushes amazingly well and all the product and dirt came out great. After washing the brushes, the bristles were not dry at all and felt soft. This is worth every penny and is a great deal.

SoniaKashuk® - Eye Makeup Remover: $10.19 ($8.19 after coupon), this product is OK. My usual go-to eye make up remover is just olive oil, but this one works well too. It doesn't take off all of my mascara all that well though and it doesn't leave an oily feeling after either.

Oh noes! :O

e.l.f.- Powder Brush: $3, the price on this is the greatest part. The bristles are super soft, but I didn't even get a chance to use it once, I took it out the first time and it was perfectly fine, no shedding or anything, but I still had to wash it (always wash your brushes when they're new, to clean any possible residues from the manufacturing process). I put it back in the package and when I took it out again to take pictures to upload here, it shed BADLY, I didn't pull hard on it for the bristles to come off, they just did, it was sad, so I have to go to Target one of these days and exchange it, hopefully next one won't be bad. I heard good reviews about some of the e.l.f Studio brushes and they're super affordable, so I really hope not all of them are like this.

e.l.f.- Oil Blotting Sheets: $3, 3 pack (50 Sheets Each). I found some Clean & Clear blotting sheets (pack of 50) for $4.99 and almost grabbed them when I came across these, $3 for 150 sheets basically! Great price, they work just like they should, and have a really light, but good smell.

Swatches

e.l.f.- Cream Eyeliner with Brush in Black: $3, this eye liner is pretty good, the pigment could be better though. Then again, it's only $3, so I can't really ask for much more, but the quality for this price is great. It doesn't smudge and it is water resistant, I didn't use their brush to apply it though, I used my own brush.

e.l.f. -Hypershine Lip Set: $3, in Joyful, Festive and Merry. Merry and Festive have a really light smell, but Joyful has a stronger smell, but it's OK cuz it smells like caramel! They all taste sweet, the color is sheer and their gloss is just right.

Revlon - Eyelash Curler: $2.89, I picked this up just cuz I needed one, it's ok for just a regular eyelash curler. It has an non slip grip and comes with a replacement pad. They sell it for $4.99 online, but I got it at the store for $2.89.

Seche- Vite: $9.99, I've heard wonders about this and didn't really know they sold it at Target, so when I saw it I just had to pick it up. I couldn't find it online, but if you use the link I posted it's $5.03, so almost half what I got it for. I love this product, it's amazing, it definitely replaced my Julep top coat. They advise you to apply a thick layer of it over wet nail polish, and so I did, it dried super fast! And my nails have not chipped at all since, they look and feel like I used gel nail polish. I love this product and I don't think I will stop using it, I won't buy it at Target again though, since I can get it online for half the price.

e.l.f - Ultimate lashes: $3, I've been wanting to experiment with fake eye lashes for a while now, but didn't think it was worth it to spend $5 to get them and just throw them out later if I didn't like them. Well, this pack comes with 3 and the glue, they seemed OK, they stay in place and look good on, I like them and think the price is great! I sadly couldn't find them online, though.

  I(my bf) ended up paying $43.06 for all of this, but I know I picked up a few items that I won't have to repurchase for a while (make up remover, brush cleanser, eye lash curler, seche vite) and everything had a great price! e.l.f products are OK, some are great some not so much, but for the price it's definitely worth the try.

  I went for this "look" (inspired by this, but my eye shadows are not the greatest) using the elf black eyeliner and the false eye lashes. Sorry about the lack of make up on the rest of the face, it was late at night on Saturday and I was feeling lazy. I kinda need to get my eyebrows done, now that I look at this(I hate getting my eyebrows done!).

   Now, even if I do like getting cheap stuff at Target, make sure when you buy at Target, at the supermarket or at a drugstore, that you check the products and look for hints that would show if anyone else used them prior, cuz when I was by the pixi shelves, everything was all messy and some things that were not testers were opened and messed up. I've heard horror stories of people that try on things that are not testers, put them on their face and then just put them back. Gross! Always make sure that if the item has a seal that the seal is not broken. Sometimes people can be just so gross.

  Anyways, hope you enjoyed this mini "haul", I really liked what I got and think it was worth the money.

Cheap Brushes

 I stumbled upon these really cheap brushes on some random website and thought I'd give them a try, they were only $10.45 and free shipping, so I said: why not? I got them yesterday,  which was really quick cuz they shipped from China! Free shipping from China! It kinda pisses me off when I go to a website that is from the US and you have to pay for shipping, I hate paying for shipping, don't we all? I love Dermstore cuz they ALWAYS have free shipping, that's awesome! Sigma on the other side, you get free shipping on orders $1000 and over, when I saw that, I lol'd.

 Anyways, I know I didn't pay much for these brushes, so I shouldn't expect much, but I really hope at least one is good, I haven't used them yet cuz I have to wash them, but so far they feel really soft, they claim to be goat hair, but I don't really know.

They came in this cute purple "leather" bag, it looks cheap, but again: $10!

Don't they look cute? I love the color cuz well purple is my favorite color :D  I will review them once I use them, I really do hope at least some are worth it, if they are not, at least they were cheap!

If you'd like to give them a look, they were cheaper when I bought them, but they are still cheap, they don't have the fast shipping anymore, so it will take longer to get to you.

Anyways here's the link if you want to grab them, they are $12.99 now, still free shipping:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/16-PCS-Purple-Cosmetic-Make-up-Brush-Set-with-Leather-Case-Free-Shipping/480653362.html

I'm not recommending this brushes again, cuz I haven't used them just yet, I'm just saying they are a cheap option that MIGHT work :)

I really want a Sigma brush kit, too bad it's so expensive and I'm not really working(no moneys!), so I'm trying to find cheap alternatives :)