Brushes Review Part 2: Eco-tools

This is part 2 (& final) of my Essence of Beauty & Eco-tools brush review. (part 1 is here)

~ Eco-tools ~

I love how they are made from recycled materials & how the case they come in is made from hemp so you know they have been good to nature, lol. I got this 5pc set from eBay for about $10 not incl. shipping.

 

1. Blush Brush

 

I know the close ups aren't the best to show it, but i really like the shape of this brush. It is good to deposit the colour onto the apples of your cheeks & then because it is so soft it is great for blending out the colour so your blush doesn't turn out too harsh.

 2.Concealer

 Compared to the E.O.B this concealer brush is quite wider & a tad bit shorter, which is not so good for precision but for larger areas it works well. In the picture on the right this brush appears to be thinner (although I washed it the night before it may not be fully dried) which allows you to use the very tip of this for depositing concealer directly onto a blemish so it covers well.

3. Eye shadow brush

(sorry about the e/s on the brush) I like to use this for applying an all-over wash of colour to the lid. Because it is quite big & fluffy it is not good for applying pigments because i can imagine a lott of fall-out but it can be used to blend out the lid colour as well because of the fluffiness

 4. Eyeliner Brush

 So when i was reading reviews on these brushes before purchasing, I saw a lot of "HG" comments on the E/L brush. This is one reason why i wanted the set because i desperately needed a better e/l brush. In a comparison photo below you can see that the handle is quite shorter compared to the other brushes which is great so you can control the brush better which in turn means better eyeliner lol. Sorry for the blurry closeups but you can see it is quite thin which is good as well.

e/l, e/s & concealer brush size comparison

e/l & eyebrow & eyelash brush size comparison

5. Eyebrow/eyelash brush

(sorry for mascara marks!) When i got this the top was quite lose from the ferrule & popped out but glue had fixed that. You can see that compared to the e/l brush the handle is soo much longer which i don't like because sometimes i hit the mirror with it :P lol. I didn't read too many good reviews on this but i must say that i think for the eyelash part the "bristles" are great for brushing the lashes & i don't see a problem with the brow brush at all, it just does it's job.

Overall: I give these a 5/5. Love Eco-tools! wish i got this set earlier because all the brushes are soft & great quality & bonus points for being made out of recycled materials! Definitely recommend this set, especially to beginners!

Brushes Review Part 1: Essence of Beauty

 

Originally i was going to post a mixed review of Essence of Beauty & Eco-tools brushes but it would be wayy to long so stay tuned for part 2!

I got these Essence Of Beauty brushes as a gift with the 88 warm palette on eBay, but you can buy these by themselves for anywhere around US $5 to $12. With these brushes I haven't experienced any shedding what so ever.  Please note that i washed most of them last night so the fluffier ones haven't dried fully. Oh & sorry for some of the not so clear pics!

 

1.Foundation & conceal

 Foundation: I never use flat foundation brushes anymore since I've been using the E.L.F flat top brush, however my first impressions of this was that it felt quite soft & fluffy which would be good for blending as you wouldn't get any streaks. But it is quite flimsy which makes precision harder.I sometimes use it to blend in my concealer if I've applied too much to one area.

 Concealer: I like that this is quite small (compared to the Eco-Tools concealer brush) which allows you to apply your concealer to blemishes more precisely. I use the top of the brush to push it onto blemishes & then blend out the concealer. It is really good for concealer underneath the eye because of the flatness & size.

 

2.Blush & Powder

 I quite like to use the blush brush for contouring only, because it is quite stiff & not so fluffy it concentrates the contour into the hollows more easier. I don't like it for applying blush because it is not fluffy enough & only apply's the colour onto where you first place it & its not very good for blending the blush out.

When i first got this I thought that if i used this for powder everyday it would take a long time to finish!! Because it is so small, i guess it would be good to apply powder if you do a lot of contouring, highlighting, whatever & you don't want to mess that up. However i use this to apply my highlight, because it is the perfect size! It's also good to apply your highlight to your eyes.

 3.Blending & Eye Shadow

 

At first i thought how the heck would this be good for blending? Then I read the instructions that came with the brushes & it said to use it to blend the foundation around the eye area. So instead I use this to push my setting powder around my eyes which i think it does a good job of it. I washed this last night & it hadn't fully dried but it's usually a tiny bit fluffier.

I like this eyeshadow brush to lightly apply one colour all over the lid, or for highlighting the inner corners & brow bone, as it is angled so you can follow around your eye socket. 

Overall:  I give these brushes a 4/5, taking away 1 mark for the packaging, because they are double sided it is a lot harder to store them, although you can leave them in the plastic that they come in if you want & lie them down flat so you don't damage the ends. But i do like how soft they are & that there are different uses for most of them!!

I hope this was useful to someone, please keep your eyes open for part 2!

Quick Tip: Treat & Avoid Ingrown hairs

I don't know about you but I get some nasty ingrown hairs after shaving especially underneath my arms. Ouch! Read on to learn what you may have in your bathroom that will be useful to treat these lil' nastys.

So you've tried to avoid them by shaving in the direction of hair growth, right? This helps to train the hair to grow out straight & not curl back into the skin. Also, always make sure the skin is wet to help soften the hairs to make shaving easier.

However if you're still getting them, i have learnt that salicylic acid, which is a beta hydroxide acid, is good for exfoliation because it penetrates into the skin to dissolve the hair. For this I use a toner that I stopped using on my face, however as it contains alcohol I think I will switch from that as it makes my underarms fairly dry after using it, which I then moisturize after wards.
You can also buy serums that contain BHA's for after shaving.

Hope this helps some!

Source: http://www.skinbiology.com/ingrownhairs.html

Smoky Pink

Helloo sorry for the lazy posting!! I did this look the other week inspired by pixi2woo's Hayden Panettiere(sp?) video.... & wanted to keep it softer like hers so no black liner. Also just wanted to let you guys know that i've got some reviews planned! so stay tuned =)

I used some pinks from the 120 palette & Into the Smoke by The She Space (now discontinued). For lips & cheeks i cannot remember sorry!!
p.s im having problems with the pictures coming off the page & into the sidebars.... please help! i cant make the middle part any bigger without the sides staying in place "/

natural light

Winged Eyeliner- From Day To Night

 Hey guys so i wanted to focus on winged liner the other day. To do something different i used blue mascara over black, which actually made the liner look like a navy blue in some light, lol. & Then for night I just amped up the lip colour, added a bit of shadow & more blush. I used mainly nyx because i find its so easy to find over the internet for such a great price! Not to mention the quality is great!

~Day Time~

click pictures to see larger

Face~

Nyx blush in Peach over Nyx rouge cream in Natural, Nyx Taupe

Eyes~

Nyx nude eyeshadow (probably should have concealed around my eyes first but i did the eyes before the face!)

Nyx white pearl

Prestige My Brow Duo Matte Highlighter in the waterline

Random black liquid liner set with black eyeshadow

Covergirl LashBlast & random blue mascara

Lips~

Nyx rouge cream in natural over a little bit of concealer

Natural Daylight

~Night~

Face~

Nyx blush in Pinky, Nyx Taupe

Eyes~

 touched up liner & mascara as before

added some black eyeliner 3/4 into water line

Nyx vanilla shimmer focused in the center of the lid

more Nyx white pearl to highlight

Lips~

Nyx round lipstick in Chloe

Thanks for looking!! ^.^

Ashii x

Jen's Joyful giveaway!

Click here to enter Jen's Joyful giveaway! Open internationally it includes 29 prizes with 1 more prize to be chosen by yourself!!  Giveaway ends on 15th December 2010 11:59PM GMT+9:30 (10 days before Christmas)

Quick Tip: Smooth Lucious Lips

Bold Lips are becoming quite a trend, especially for me lately & with summer coming up i am planning to wear bright lips quite often. But for any lipstick to look good, first your lips have to be in top condition.... here are some ways to get smooth, lucious lips.

~Apply vaseline/lip balm/papaw on your lips, and take a cotton bud (q-tip, whatever you wanna call it) and wipe it on your lips, rubbing it around to get rid of the dry skin. This is good for right before you do your base as when you come to your lips they will be moisturized and smooth. I've learnt that from Lisa Eldridge on You-tube.

~Something else you can do is make your own lip scrub, using olive oil & brown sugar or bicarbonate of soda. You can do this once a week to get rid of the dead skin.
Or you can indulge yourself & purchase a lip scrub by lush that comes in 3 flavours; bubblegum, (yum!) mint julip(choc-mint) & sweet lips (chocolate). Don't forget to apply lip balm after wards!

Make your own face mask/ exfoliator: The Aspirin Mask

I've been using the aspirin mask a fair few times now, as i heard that it is great for acne, scarring & it has also helped with providing extra moisture for my dry skin. It also has natural ingredients so you know what your putting onto your skin. The mask shouldn't be used no more then 2x a week because in time your body may become immune to the aspirin & it will not be as effective. 

After i have used it my skin feels much more softer & i have noticed it has helped with my blemishes. In addition to using honey with the aspirin, i also added a tiny bit of glycerin lately & my skin felt even more moisturized. You can also add a drop of lemon juice as it is good with pigmentation/ scars, but don't add it if you have very dry skin. Ok so on to the recipe ...

 What you will need:
~2- 3 Aspirin (uncoated or it will not dissolve as easily)
~About 2 teaspoons pure/ organic honey or natural yogurt.
~Water, a bowl/shallow dish, teaspoon

What you do:
~Dissolve your aspirin in the bowl using a few drops of water, no more as you don't want it to be too runny.
~Add honey / yogurt to make a paste.
~Wet your face & apply all over, avoiding the eye area. Relax for about 15-20 minutes.
~Wash with warm water & a damp towel to exfoliate your skin at the same time
~Moisturize thoroughly.

How it works:
~Aspirin is a anti-inflammatory, & it contains salicylic acid, which is a widely used in anti-acne products. It is good for exfoliation as salicylic acid is a form of beta-hydroxy-acid (BHA) which allows skin cells to remove easily & promote new cell growth. It is also good for hyper pigmentation, skin texture, evenness of skin tone, acne and blemishes.

~Honey & yogurt are natural antibacterials, which is great for acne & scars. Honey is also hydrating which is perfect for dry skin.


x ashii

~Some information taken from http://threesugarsplease.blogspot.com/2009/06/review-aspirin-honey-mask.html
& http://munichexpat.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/winter-skincare-honey-and-aspirin-face-mask/

Smoky Look using 88 warm palette

I did this quite a few weeks ago now, never really bothered to post it though lol but we were going out for dinner & i wanted something smokier especially since it had started raining that day, lol. This was done using the 88 warm palette (which i still need to do a review on) but i can't really remember the colours i used! For lips im pretty sure i used Revlon's nude attitude. thanks for looking :)