My favorite makeup brushes

Not only do I love my brushes for their superior quality, they are very affordable too.

Here's a list (from top to bottom) of what I use each brush for. . .

• Sonja Kashuk powder - I use this brush to dust on my finishing powder
• Sonja Kashuk blush - This is my favorite blush/rouge brush
• Studio Tools duo fiber - I use one of these brushes to apply Aromaleigh rocks! sonic rouge. The other one I use when I want a very sheer dusting of finishing or shimmer powders.
• Aromaleigh large rounded face - I use this brush to blend my foundation down to my neck.

(cont'd below)

• Sonja Kashuk pencil brush - I use this to apply creme eyeshadow under my lower lashes
• Sonja Kashuk crease brush - This is used to be my favorite crease brush. It's one of the first brushes I purchased when I started using mineral cosmetics two years ago. This brush it still going strong. Now, I use it to apply the highlight to my brow bone area or the inner corner of my eye lid.
• Sonja Kashuk fan brush - I use this brush to mix my mineral foundation. I sprinkle the colors I want to blend into a little glass dish and then I pounce it with the fan brush. Works great! I also use this brush to apply my Aromaleigh vitamin c mask (I wash it first, of course).
• Angled Craft brush (aka "4 Royal soft-grip SG150") - I apply brow powder with this brush. I have "permanent makeup" on my eyebrows so I only use this brush when I want a more dramatic brow.
• Flat Craft brush (aka "1/4" Royal soft-grip SG160") - Great for foiling (mixing with water or sealant before applying) mineral eye shadows.
• Aromaleigh thin liner (they don't carry this brush any more) - Great for wet lining mineral pigments, cake liner or gel liners.
• Aromaleigh silk fiber - Good for applying a small amount of dark eye shadow pigments to outer corner and/or crease. My "go to" crease brush.

(cont'd below)

• Target large shadow brush - I use this brush to apply my loose mineral eye shadow to my lid.
• Target small shadow brush - I use this one to apply dark eye shadow colors to the outer half of my lid (but not the outer v, I use the Aromaleigh silk fiber brush for that).
• Target smudge brush - First I apply my indelible creme liner using the liner brush, then I use this brush to smudge it out for a smokier look.
• Target/Studiotools crease brush - I don't use this one as much as my Sonja Kashuk crease brush, but I still use it to apply highlights to my brow bone or inner corner of lid.
• ecotools crease/shader - My "go to" highlight brush. It's the softest brush I ever met! Great for blending powders (mineral foundations and correcters) under the eye too.
• ecotools concealer brush - I use this one to apply creme eye shadow as a base on my lid.
• ecotools face brush - My favorite face brush in the whole wide world. It's just the right size for a light dusting of foundation under my eyes, finishing powders, whatever. I usually stick this one in my purse when I think I might need a little touch-up.

Where to buy:

Target/Studio Tools & Sonja Kashuk brushes were purchased at Target.
Aromaleigh brushes were purchased online at Aromaleigh.
Craft brushes were purchased at Michael's Crafts (you can find these at any craft store).
ecotools brush set was purchased at Walgreen's (other drugstores and ULTA also carry them).


I hope this was helpful to you in some way. If you have more specific questions about any of the brushes I listed here, please feel free to ask in the comments section of the post.

My latest Aromaleigh haul...

Okay, so lots of women on the Aromaleigh forum raaaave about the taklon brushes. So much so that I finally caved in and bought myself several. Ummm, how did I not realize until now how inexpensive these brushes are (details on the price is posted below). I also couldn't resist buying a few more full sizes of the now discontinued L'Orchidee limited edition eyeshadow collection (I own 11 of the 20 offered). It's just so hard to say no to something you MAY NEVER EVER SEE AGAIN IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE! Do you know what I mean? Of course you do. Okay, so let's get on with the details of my haul...

Wonderful goodies all wrapped up "pretty in pink"!

I always appreciate the attention to detail in the packaging.

Taklon Brush Details

• large rounded face: reg $22.50. It was on sale for 25% off!
• angled sculptor: $5.85
• large all-over: $5.55
• small all-over: $5.55

I'm very satisfied with the eye shadow brushes I currently use (a combo of Target and Sonja Kashuk), but couldn't resist the wonderful reviews of these "luxurious taklon brushes." So when I opened them up and saw that the eyeshadow brushes are rather flat, I wasn't sure if they were going to measure up to my plumper brushes. What I found is that I don't need all those extra fibers to achieve a good eye shadow application. With the taklon brushes, I feel that I get less fall-out and waste less product. It'll just take some getting used to after using the same brushes for over a year. With that said, I'm not sure that I feel the same way about the large rounded face brush. The fibers are very dense and I'm used to a much looser brush (for both blush and powder). I think I'm going to have to work with that brush a bit more before I make a decision on it.

My 3 free samples

From left to right: chatterbox, mariposa, showy and shadow witch

(direct sunlight)

(indirect natural light)

Color Descriptions:

• Chatterbox - Rich, multi-dimensional brownish mauve smoke with frosted shimmer
• Mariposa - Brilliant red/wine frost with shimmering red sparks of depth
• Showy - Lovely cool pink frost with blue iridescent sparkles
• Shadow Witch - Midnight smoked blue with surprising golden sparks
  
  

Great makeup sales going on!

Cherry Culture: 20% off all orders over $50. Offer good July 3 through 7. Use code GR4S.

Nonpareil Boutique: 20% off site wide. Offer good through July 7. Use code ID20. I love this site. Their everyday prices are already ridiculously low (NYX round lipsticks $1.90, Mega shine gloss $3.98), and that's before the 20% discount!

And although Ms. CuppyCakes doesn't have a sale advertised on their site, their NYX round lipsticks are everyday priced at just $1.25. Their other NYX products are offered at great prices as well. P.S. If you're not familiar with Ms. CuppyCakes, they exclusively offer NYX cosmetics, Red Cherry Lashes and also have an extensive selection of natural hair brushes on their site.

Aromaleigh Mineral Cosmetics has many items offered at 25% their regular price every week. They also have over 100 retired Limited Edition eyeshadows up for auction on eBay right now, including entire sample sets. Proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society. Click here to check out Aromaleigh's weekly sale and click here to check out the auctions. Did I mention that Miss K is also having a contest related to the auction? Click here to check that out as well.

So go grab yourself a bargain girls!

Aromaleigh Astronomical Look III and my first step-by-step photo tutorial

Hi Nesters!

For my third look using Aromaleigh's limited edition collection "Astronomical," I decided to do a quintessential gradated neutral eye. And to show you how I accomplished this look, I took a photo after every step of my application process. For those of you who are new to makeup or those who are looking for an application technique that might be different from what you usually do, I hope you find this photo tutorial helpful. In the future, I might attempt a video tutorial but I'm not making any promises. ;)

Color Descriptions:

Neutrino (Astronomical) - borealis twinkles in a base of warm milk-chocolatey brown plush
Ephemeris (Astronomical) - semi-metallic cool taupe exhibits pinky-gold highlight and aurora borealis twinkles
Milky Way (Astronomical) - cream-coloured velvet adorned w/soft golden highlight and subtle blue glimmer
Oyster (Carolina Summer Matte) - matte pale cream/yellow
Umber (Pure Eyes Matte) - matte deepest brown

What I used on the rest of my face. . .

Foundation - Meow Flawless Feline in Frisky Manx (this is a little light for me but I wanted to use up some samples I had)
Finishing Powder - Aromaleigh Ultra Resolution Finishing Powder in Clear
Cheeks - Aromaleigh Perle Powders in Incandesce on cheekbones and Whisper on apples
Lips - Aromaleigh Shortcake
Lashes - Covergirl Professional WP mascara in Very Black


1. Prior to beginning my eyeshadow application, I apply my moisturizing sunscreen and let it soak in. Then I apply my mineral foundation. After that, I start off all of my eyeshadow looks with a very light application of Aromaleigh's shadow base in medium. A little of this base goes a very long way so (like with most shadow primers). All you have to do is lightly pat-pat-pat your ring finger into the container a few times and then lightly pat-pat-pat again all over your eyelid from lashes to brows. This step is a must for applying loose mineral powder shadows so they will stick to your skin well and last all day.



2. Apply Neutrino to outer corner and slightly into the crease using a back and forth motion making the shape of a filled in "v." If you hear people talking about the "outer v," this is what they are referring to. I used a pointed silk fiber brush for this step.



3. Apply Ephemeris to lid in a patting motion slightly overlapping the crease color. I used Target's large shadow brush for this step.



4. Apply Milky Way to inner corner of lid overlapping slightly into the lid color. I used a crease/shader brush from ecoTools for this step.



5. Apply Oyster all over the area between crease and brows. I used the same brush from step #3.



6. For this step, I used a thin liner brush dipped in water and then into Umber and lined the entire upper lash line winging out slightly at the outer corner. I used my ring finger to slightly smudge the edge of the liner closest to the inner corner to soften.


7. In this photo, I added a brown gel liner 3/4 of the way underneath my lower lashes using the same thin liner brush that I used in step #6 and I softened it using a natural hair smudger brush. I curled my lashes and added some brow powder and mascara. I cleaned up any loose mineral eyeshadow that happened to fall underneath my eyes or in my cheek area using a flocked sponge dipped in my mineral foundation. After that, I applied my blush and lipstick.






Photos are unretouched.




Click here to view a post about my favorite brushes.

* Aromaleigh Astronomical eyeshadow descriptions courtesy of Tanya at Easily Distracted blog.