Beauty and Fashion Tech

Anastasia Beverly Hills, Everything You Need For a Perfect Brow

Anastasia has long been a powerhouse in the area of brow tools and cosmetics. So I was excited to give a bunch of items a try and they definitely didn’t disappoint. Anastasia has everything you need to achieve a perfect brow.

First off, the tweezers are great. Next to Tweezerman, these are the best eyebrow tweezers that I have used, and they come at a decent price for the quality. Plus, they are pink!

Anastasia also offers brow stencils, which are a fairly unique item for shaping your brows. Available in either stick on temporary form or a thicker reusable plastic form, the stencil can be applied across the brow and filled with color to show what you should tweeze and what you should keep. The stencils are available in various sizes and arch heights, so you can choose the one that works the best. I found the heavier plastic ones easier to use than the lightweight temporary ones, and the low arch stencil seemed to fit me well. For those who have no idea where to begin shaping, the stencils are a good option.

For color, Anastasia offers a wide range of options, from pencils to powder duos. All that I tried were effective, nice to use, and in attractive packaging. The Anastasia Duo II Brow Powder in Medium Ash was my favorite and worked well with my medium blonde hair and light skin tone. The Brow Pencil was effective as well. The company also offers a series of very nice highlighting pencils, such as the Anastasia Eye Lights Shimmer in Petal, which is a beautiful soft pink highlighter.

For setting, I liked the Anastasia Clear Brow Gel, and I really loved the Anastasia Tinted Brow Gel (pictured), which had just a bit of warm sparkle to it that was perfect for a night out. I tried the tinted version in Carmel, which is a beautiful shade for golden and medium to dark blondes.

For those who want the basics all together, the Anastasia Five Piece Brow Kit (pictured) comes in various shades, with an attractive pink case that includes Tweezers, Brow Powder, Brow Stencils (Set of Four Shapes), One Duo Brush (Angled Cut/Spooley), and Brow Gel. Move up to the Anastasia Seven Piece Brow Kit to add Pre-Tweeze Gel and an Eye Light Matte Pencil. Those looking to fill in thin spots or to condition the brow, might also want to look at Anastasia Brow Enhancing Serum. I might write more on that in the future after I try it for awhile.

Overall, Anastasia is one stop shopping for just about all you need in brow care and cosmetics!

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By Carleenp Posted in Accessories, Brows, Brushes, Palettes and Collections | 9 Comments

Essence of Beauty Brush Kit with Press Liner

Essence of Beauty makeup brushes come from a quality drugstore line that can be found at CVS stores. For more on them in general, see my previous review.

When I was in CVS the other day, I noticed that the line had a travel kit on sale that included a press liner (also known as a push liner). If you are unfamiliar with what a press liner is, it is a stiff, flat brush, that allows the user to push eyeshadow or liner up under the lashes. Having one is a great way to use dark shadow easily as a eyeliner. Pictured is one from NARS that is a bit expensive, but that I also rather like.

It looks like the only way to get the more affordable Essence of Beauty liner is to buy the travel kit set. If the brush is sold separately, my local CVS did not have it. But the kit was only $9.99. So, anyone wanting an affordable press liner brush might want to take a look at the specials isle at their local CVS (the kit not in the brush section at my local CVS–it was only in the specials area)

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By Carleenp Posted in Brushes, Eye Liner | 2 Comments

Eco-Tools: Affordable Makeup Brushes Full of Quality and and Conscious

I have a thing for makeup brushes and own a ridiculously large number of them, but my favorites within that number are few. Usually they tend to be on the expensive side and not synthetic. But once in awhile a line comes along that is affordable and manges to put out a quality synthetic product, such as Essence of Beauty Brushes (Read Review). Eco-Tools is another one of those quality lines that is very affordable. Add a bit of environmentally friendly aspects, and the line is a real winner!

Eco-tools make their brushes with bamboo handles, which provides both a low impact environmental effect and attractiveness. The ferule is also ecologically thoughtful, being made from recycled aluminum. The brushes come packaged in a reusable and bio-degradable sleeve; each with an earth-friendly tip on the back.

The synthetic taklon bristles do a perfectly good job of evenly applying makeup, and to my very pleasant surprise were very stable. Usually even the best cheap brushes lose a few hairs when they are new. That was not the case when I tried the eco-tools brushes. I was particularly impressed with the foundation brush. The last time I tried a synthetic foundation brush, I didn’t get great results, but this one worked just fine. In fact, it worked just as well as my favorite MAC foundation brush. I also have been using the powder brush nearly daily since I received it.Now here is the best part: These brushes run in th $4-$8 range and for $11, you can get a five piece set. That is pretty darn impressive!

Eco-tools also make a line of bath tools (I love the foot scrubber!) that are well worth checking out. The line can be found online or at select Walgreens, Kmart, or Ulta stores.

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By Carleenp Posted in Bath and Body, Brushes | 2 Comments

Makeup Brushes: Perfect for Holiday Gifts

Good brush kits make great gifts because even those who own huge numbers of them often feel that they do not have enough. A kit can provide extra or replacement brushes, and for the person who lacks a nice set of brushes, it is the perfect holiday gift.

Here are a few particularly nice kits that are great as gifts or just plain great to buy at any time of the year!

The Bare Escentuals Buffing Brushes The Essential Collection (below) contains a Buki Brush, Tapered Blush Brush, Soft Focus Eyeshadow Brush, Wet/Dry Eyeshadow Brush, Precision Eyeliner Brush, and Escentual Brush Roll. Bare Escentuals’ buki brush is my favorite for applying mineral makeup and I love their eye shadow brushes as well. This is a great quality kit.

Bare Escentuals Makeup Brush Set, The Essential Collection

Looking for brushes on the cheap? At $30, this well rated Make-up Brush Kit (below) is an excellent value.

For another great value, take a look at the Avon mark Go With The Pro mark Brush Mini Kit (below). This kit, containing five useful brushes, has been well rated and comes with a cute travel case.

Avon Meet Mark Go with the Pro Brush Kit

Also highly rated is the Sephora Brand Face & Eye Travel Tool Kit (below). It contains five brushes in a travel case. The couple of times that I have use Sephora brushes, I was pretty impressed with the quality. They are good value brushes.

The M.A.C. Heirlooms Holiday Collection (below) has a variety of brush kits with pretty bags, such as the basic brushes kit pictured below. There is also a basic kit with a gold canister. The holiday collection brushes have festive silver and gold handles and are shorter, making them perfect for travel or for a handbag. M.A.C. Cosmetics have wonderful brushes and I highly recommend them.

M.a.C. Cosmetics Heirlooms Makeup Brushes Holiday

Don’t want to shop online? Run out to CVS for some Essence of Beauty Makeup Brushes, or take a look at the Sonia Kashuk cosmetic brushes and kits at Target.

Also, see my previous report on the Smashbox Holiday Collection, which includes a nice brush set.

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By Carleenp Posted in Accessories, Brushes, Holiday Gifts, Holiday Items, Palettes and Collections, Shopping lists | 4 Comments

Smashbox Holiday Collection

I got my Smashbox catalog in in the mail last week with pages full of their holiday items. Of particular interest is this lovely brush set and case, the Beyond Beauty Encounter Brush Kit. Smashbox makes some great brushes and at $84, this kit carries a nice price tag for the quality.

Smashbox Beyond Beauty Holiday Brush Set

The Beyond Beauty Fusion E ye and Cheek Palettes would also make great gifts. The fusion products provide a nice shimmer/illuminating effect.

Smashbox Cosmetics Beyond Beauty Fusion Holdiay Eye Cheek Palette

Also check out this Beyond Beauty Light Speed Lip Gloss Set. I like Smashbox lip glosses mostly for the great shades. And this set has a nice selection.

Smashbox Cosmetics Holiday Lip GLoss Set

There is also a mini gloss set. For more on that head on over to my post at Girl Gloss!

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By Carleenp Posted in Bronzers, Brushes, Eyeshadow, Face Products, Holiday Gifts, Holiday Items, Lip Products, Palettes and Collections | 2 Comments

Sonia Kashuk Cosmetics: Cheek Sheer, Shadow, and Brushes

I seem to always have mixed reactions when I try something from Sonia Kashuk cosmetics, a brand that is featured at Target stores. The packaging is almost always gorgeous and creative. The colors always look quite nice as well. But unfortunately something often falls short with the products for me.

Recently, I gave a few more products a try. The best thing that I bought was the Sonia Kashuk Lip Glossing Pencil. The pencil part was not particularly impressive, but I really love the gloss. You can read more about it at Beauty and Fashion Tech’s sister site, Girl Gloss where everything is focused on lipstick gloss, and balm.

Another fairly successful product for me was the Sonia Kashuk Cheek Sheer. This sheer cream blush comes in a handy little twist up tube, making it easy to carry in a purse. The color I chose, a peach tone, was pretty nice. It also blended well, but the problem was that it took me awhile to get enough color from the product to have anything to blend. The sheer blush seemed rather low on pigment content and I found myself putting quite a bit on to get any real color. That wasn’t so bad on my super fair skin–I don’t need a lot of pigment, but anyone with darker skin tones might be quite disappointed in this product.

I also bought a new powder blush that had a twist up brush with loose powder blush in the cap. It is so new, that I can’t find it online. The premise of it is great. Twist the cap to release some powder onto the brush, open up the tube, twist the brush up, and apply. If it worked, it would be a great way to neatly carry loose powder blush in a handbag. Unfortunately, the cap twists very easily and any little bumps cause the brush to become overloaded. Open the tube after that, and powder flies everywhere, making a rather annoying mess! The tube also seemed to leak powder a bit. I would not trust this item in my handbag. Not if I cared about the liner anyway. In the end, and rather unfortunately, this item is likely going in the trash at my place.

I had previously tried Sonia Kashuk eyeshadow and found it to be pretty average. I decided to try again though and bought a Sonia Kashuk Eyeshadow Duo. I had generally the same reaction. The colors were very nice and I didn’t really have any creasing issues, but there simply was not enough pigment in the shadow. A good shadow should be able to be built up in intensity as more is applied. With the Sonia Kashuk shadow, I kept adding, and adding, and adding, and not really getting anywhere with it. I finally decided that it was OK for those days where I want a super light wash of color, but otherwise there are much better, and some even cheaper, eye shadows sitting in my makeup case.

One area where I have generally liked Sonia Kashuk products as a good value is in the brush department. The Kashuk brushes are highly affordable and pretty serviceable. Because they are inexpensive, there are some flaws. For example, expect the brushes to loose some fibers during the first few uses, and don’t expect them to hold pigments as well as a high quality natural fiber brush. But they do the job much better than anything that is likely to come packaged with your makeup products and they are fairly attractive.

I recently bought a little fold up case with a set of small Sonia Kashuk brushes to carry in my handbag. I can’t find it online, but it is a very nice looking white case and the set is quite functional. Another good, and very inexpensive line of brushes is the Essence of Beauty line that can be found at CVS stores.

Sonia Kashuk products are available Online at Amazon.com and at Target stores.

By Carleenp Posted in Accessories, Blush, Brushes, Eyeshadow, Lip Products | 4 Comments

Essence of Beauty Brushes

Having good tools is important, but unfortunately cosmetics often come with cruddy and difficult to use brushes, and good ones are expensive. But there are some cheaper options out there. One of those is Essence of Beauty. This line of makeup brushes is carried in CVS drugstores and is a an excellent value. The brushes generally are not available online, so finding them requires a trip to the store.

I purchased several different brushes, a soft kabuki brush, an angled blush brush, two eyeshadow brushes, a foundation brush, a concealer brush, and a couple of sponge tip smudgers for eyeliner. The brushes ranged in price from about $4 for the smudgers to $10 each for the blush brush and kabuki.

The brushes are attractive, with blond wood handles and black trim. The bristles are of OK quality, that in light of the cheap price, I assume are synthetic . Like many new brushes, particularly cheaper ones, the brushes lost a few bristles when first used. But after a couple of uses, no more fell out and all was fine.

All but the kabuki brush provided decent application. I honestly could not tell a difference between the cheaper blush brush and my expensive one from M.A.C. The eyeshadow brushes were fine. I like my M.A.C brushes there better, but at a $25-$30 difference or so in price, I don’t know that I would repurchase many of those over the cheaper essence of beauty brushes. I particularly liked the eyeshadow crease brush, which has nice compact bristles that taper to a slightly pointed and rounded center. I did notice that a good liner brush seems to be lacking from the collection, but it would be hard for anyone to beat my M.A.C. favorite there anyway.

The foundation brush and concealer brush were also quite servicable. I don’t tend to use either often, so having inexpensive ones is fine with me. The smudgers also worked as expected, although I prefer to use a brush with thicker, compact bristles for that instead of a sponge tip brush.

The one brush that I was not entirely pleased was with the kabuki brush. This was a particularly soft brush that also lost more hair over a longer period of time than the others. I prefer a bit of stiffness in a kabuki and this one was so soft that it really was only useful to me as an over all light powder brush. So in the areas of kabuki brushes, I definitely prefer other brands, including the Bareminerals brushes.

On the whole, the Essence of Beauty line has some good value brushes. This can be a happy medium if you dislike the brushes included with many cosmetics, yet do not want to pay a small fortune for top of the line brushes. Another inexpensive line is the Sonia Kashuk line from Target. That line has a similar selection of brushes.

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