Real Techniques Brushes

I recently bought these brushes at Cocktail Cosmetics. I ordered them last March 10, and got my package on March 20.

They have a flat rate of £12.95 for international shipping. I emailed them 9 days after my order cause I wanted to know how long it would take for the package to be delivered, and they answered the same day and was very helpful and even sent me a screenshot of the tracking details. It was easy processing my orders through their website and they have excellent customer service. My package was in great condition when I received it and I would definitely buy from them again! Anyways, here are the brushes that I got.

The Real Techniques core collection and Real Techniques starter set.

Real Techniques Core Collection

Please don't mind the dirty brushes but I've been using them since I got them. Bought them at the website for £20.95. I absolutely LOVE these brushes they don't feel cheap and the bristles are so soft and dense. 

Buffing Brush - I've been using this brush to apply my MAC Studio Fix fluid. It gives you that flawless complexion and buffs out the foundation so the coverage isn't too heavy. 

Contour Brush - I already have a favorite slanted contour brush so I use this brush for blush or highlight since the size is perfect for the cheeks.

Pointed Foundation Brush - For me, I think it's too small to be used as a foundation brush so I use it to apply concealer underneath the eyes. Works great! :)

Detailer Brush - You can use this as a lip brush but I use it to apply concealer in my blemishes and on the sides of my nose to conceal redness.

Real Techniques Starter Brush (£20.95)

Base Eyeshadow Brush - I use it as a blending brush cause it looks similar to the MAC 217. However, they have different bristles. I think the MAC one has natural bristles while the Real Techniques has synthetic. So whenever I try to blend with the RT brush it drags my lid a little.

 MAC 217 & Real Techniques E/S Brush

Deluxe Crease Brush - As you can see the brush size is a little big for the crease so I use it to buff and apply concealer, or sometimes I use it to contour my nose. 

Accent Brush - I apologize I forgot to include it on the photos. It looks like the maybelline eyeliner brush that comes with their gel liner but shorter and wider. I use this brush like I would use a pencil brush, apply e/s on the waterline, smudge eyeliner on the lash line, etc. The only thing I don't like with this brush and also they're eyeliner brush is the handle. It's too thin and makes it hard to get a good grip and control the brush.

Pixel Point Eyeliner Brush - I was a little disappointed with this brush cause the bristles wasn't thin enough to use as an eyeliner brush. But I still managed and tried to use it as an eyeliner brush as long as you just use the thinner point at the end.

Overall I'm happy with the Real Techniques brush sets cause their cheap but the quality is so good! I would definitely purchase some of their individual brushes next time. I know brushes are essential to a perfect makeup application but I don't really like to spend over $30 for a single one. As long as the quality is good and it does the job, I don't mind using cheaper brushes.

Hello Kitty Makeup

Yesterday, my friends and I together with our kids went to Hamley's toy store in Mall of Dhahran. The place was huge and had lots of toys that Toys R Us in Dhahran didn't have. Unexpectedly, we saw this in the middle of the store... 

Hello Kitty makeup in the middle of the toy store! Whaaaat?!?!?! No words could explain how schocked and happy I was LOL.

I have never seen HK makeup before so as soon as I got home, I searched for it on the net. I discovered that this makeup line was exclusively sold on Priceline, an australian pharmacy store. I checked their prices and it was so much cheaper than the prices here in KSA! I bought this pressed powder for 91 SAR (21 AUD) while on their website, it was sold for only $14.95 AUD, that's $6 difference!
I purchased only 3 products from this line cause I don't really need more L/S and nail polish. Here's what I got:

Hello Kitty liquid liner in 01 (71 SAR), Hello Kitty 4 e/s palette in 04 (109 SAR), and Hello Kitty pressed powder in 01 (91 SAR) 

 Hello Kitty Eyeshadow Palette 04

Hello Kitty pressed powder in 01

Hello Kitty liquid eyeliner in 01

Hello Kitty eyeshadow 04 swatches

Comparison: Hello Kitty face powder in 01 (left), MAC Skinfinish mineralize powder in Medium Plus (right)

Hello Kitty liquid eyeliner in 01

Hello Kitty pressed powder 01 - I actually love this powder! It's so light and mattifies my skin really well. Even though it looks really light on the swatch, it actually blends to my face since the powder is so fine and isn't really that pigmented. If you're a MAC person, it's more of a blot powder than select sheer. I'm an NC25 and got the lightest shade and it didn't make my face chalky/cakey even in flash photos. The only downside of this powder is that it doesn't have a sponge or brush to apply it with so you have to use a separate one, but this doesn't bother me at all since I always have a travel face brush with me.

Hello Kitty e/s 04 - I haven't had the chance to use the e/s on my face yet but based on the swatch they actually aren't bad. On the display they had I think 4-5 different palette to choose from and I got the most neutral one. All of them have slight shimmers but not too metallic. 

Hello Kitty eyeliner - I love how pigmented this eyeliner is! It's easy to apply to using the felt tip wand. Once dried it is smudge proof. 

I'm in love with this makeup line! They have the cutest packaging and the quality of the products are really good. It's unfortunate that they sell it so overpriced here in KSA compared to their usual drugstore price in Australia.  

Shiseido Nourising Mascara Base

If you have been reading my previous posts, I am in search for my HG mascara that will give me volume, and hold a curl since my lashes are naturally droopy. I've been searching on youtube on mascara reviews and I stumbled upon a video review of this base. I haven't heard a bad review of it so I decided to buy one at Sephora. I got it at SR135 thats $35. I know Sephora in the US sells it for only $23. :( I hate everything is way overpriced here in Saudi.  

What it claims: (from the website)

･Intensifies Volume, Length and Curl.

･Conditions and Make Lashes More Supple.

･Provides Elegant Glossy Finish When Worn Alone.

･DERMATOLOGIST AND OPHTHALMOLOGIST-TESTED.

The product has a gel-like consistency. I love how the brush is small and is stiff enough to comb through & separate my lashes.

Here is a photo of my bare lashes curled with an eyelash curler

Here is a photo of my lashes WITHOUT the primer but with SEPHORA LASH PLUMPER MASCARA. (review of this product here.)

And here is a photo of my lashes WITH Shiseido Nourising Mascara Base AND Sephora Lash Plumper.

See how much of a difference it makes?  It held my curl and separated my lashes really well. It was a lil "spider legs" looking in this photo cause the sephora mascara was so bad at separating the lashes.


PROS:

• It's awesome at holding the curl even on humid days.
• It isn't the usual white primers that when you missed a spot when applying your black mascara, you can see the white stuff.
• The wand is small so it's easy to apply.
• The brush isn't too soft so it separates the lashes.
• I noticed that it helped my mascara stay in place and didn't experience any smudging. 

CONS:

• When worn alone, it didn't provide a glossy finish like the product description claimed cause it didn't really apply transparent. It is better though than the usual primers with white finish. 
• I got it for $35! Most expensive mascara primer I've ever tried!

 I can't believe it took me this long to discover this primer, this will definitely be one of my HG products! Now I can use washable mascaras and not worry about my lashes not holding the curl since ALL the washable mascaras I've tried weight down my lashes. I will definitely repurchase this product! :)

Have you tried any mascara primers lately? What are your favorites? Please share. :)

XoXo,

Katrina

Searching for the best mascara: Part 2 (Maybelline mascaras - XXL Curl Power & The Collosal Volum' Express

Here's the 2nd part of my mascara review. If you want to view the 1st part click here.

Bare lashes, curled with an eyelash curler.

Maybelline mascaras: XXL Curl Power & The Colossal Volum' Express (both washable)

XXL Curl Power's wands

I like how the wands are curved it made me easier to apply mascara it fits perfectly on how the eyes are curved.

1 coat:

My lashes looked better without mascara! As soon as I applied the primer, my lashes lost the curl immediately. I hate mascara's that doesn't hold the curl. I don't like re-curling my lashes with mascara on cause it leaves that eyelash curler mark on and it doesn't look naturally curled. However I did find that this mascara have me volume but when I put more than 2 coats my lashes will start to clump.

Maybelline Collosal's wand

Again, this mascara didn't hold my curl. I think ALL washable mascaras will do this to my lashes. I tried diorshow & ysl both didn't work for me. The product description says it's suppose to give you more volume but I don't think it did & it didn't separate well.

I'm still on the hunt for my HG mascara so stay tuned to my next posts.. :)

Searching for the best mascara: Part 1 (Sephora and Too Faced Lash Injection)

Voluminous, dark, long, and curled lashes. These are the perfect lashes most women want to have. Most women or maybe all women don't naturally have these lashes but it can be achieved by the help of a good lash curler and a good mascara.

I personally have long lashes but they're really thin and they all hang down. Finding the right mascara for me is a pain since all the washable ones I've tried ALWAYS weigh down my lashes. The only formula that works for me are waterproof mascaras but they're so hard to get off and I've noticed that my lashes became thinner maybe because I always have trouble getting it off and most of the time some of my lashes gets pulled out.

I will be sharing to you ladies, my hunt for my HG (holy grail) mascara. These will be series of posts on mascaras I've tried or currently use.

Here's a photo of my bare lashes curled using my Shu Uemura lash curler.

Sephora Lash Plumper (washable) $12

What I don't like:

• weighed my lashes down
• applicator was too soft and didn't separate my lashes well

What I like:

• it's black (couldn't think of anything good about this product LOL)

Too Faced Lash Injection (washable) $21

What I don't like:

• it weighed down my lashes (see how washable mascaras do to my lashes? makes my eyes look sad)

What I like:

• it did separate my lashes more compared to the sephora one
• it has a lemony scent. some may find it too strong but i love how it smells!
• it's also black LOL

Obviously, both mascaras didn't work for me. Now I don't know what to do with them since I don't want to waste them and just throw them away. =/ Just to be clear, these mascaras may not work for me, but might work for others. :)

MAC Studio Fix Concealer & MAC Pro Longwear Concealer

I have been using MAC studio fix concealer since I was in highschool. What I love about it is that unlike drug store concealers which mostly have light shades of foundation & concealers, MAC has a huge selection of shades suitable for every skin color. When the Pro Longwear collection came out, I wanted to try their concealers since summer is almost near here in KSA and I needed makeup that will last even in hot and humid weather.

SHADE
Both of them have a large range of shades, since it is from MAC we all know mac has shades for everyone. But when I swatched both of it together, I noticed that the pro longwear, is a little bit darker than studio fix. So in studio fix I’m using NW25, but in pro longwear I got the lighter one NW20.

STAYING POWER

Obviously since the name is pro longwear, it does stay a lot longer than studio fix. The difference is, studio fix is more oily. In summer, when you store it in a room without air condiiton I noticed that the oil comes out on the top.

When I had both on, I experienced more creasing on the studio fix than the pro longwear. MAC studio fix gives a more oily/dewy finish, so if you have oily skin, this product will make your skin look oilier, while pro longwear dries to a matte finish. Some complained  of feeling tightness under their eyes when using this, however I didn’t feel or notice any difference on how it felt on, for me it felt like I was just using a regular concealer.

COVERAGE

Mac studio fix is a cream concealer, and mac pro longwear is a liquid concealer.  Cream concealers give you more coverage compared to liquid concealers because of its consistency, you can build up cream to a heavier coverage than liquid concealers. But, you can still achieve the same coverage when using liquid concealers by letting it exposed to air for a while. What I do is I pump a little bit of concealer on an empty container, and wait for like a minute or 2 and just wait for it to get a little bit thicker, and when it is, just apply it on your face. This will give you more coverage.

PACKAGING/PRICE

Both are $16.50 but pro longwear has more product inside, than studio fix. A lot of people complained about the pump of the pro longwear. I also experienced this when I first got it, the pump goes all the way down even if you just press half way. But after 4-5 uses, it doesn’t do that anymore. I can now control how much product I want to dispense cause the pump no longer goes all the way down. But for some ppl if you still have this problem and there’s just too much product, just pump it on an empty container so you can store the left over product.

OVERALL

I prefer the MAC Pro longwear concealer since I needed a concealer that will stay a lot longer and will not crease so much.