E.L.F. Essential Professional Complete Set of 12 Brushes

Hello Everyone,

I can't believe it's Thursday.... the week is just passing by so fast. I am excited for the three day weekend coming up. This blog is sort of like a continuation from the last blog about E.L.F. products. A few weeks ago or a month ago, E.L.F. had a promotion for their professional complete set of 12 brushes. Normally, they cost $12, but the promotion was 12 brushes for $1.20. Yep, that is right! 12 brushes for one dollar and 20 cents. That is a great deal!

I have never used E.L.F. brushes before because I like to invest in good quality brushes, however, I was thinking when I first started playing with makeup, I couldn't afford MAC brushes, even today, it's still expensive to me. The brush collection that I have now are accumulated from years and years of just saving my money and buying one brush at a time. A brush can cost up to $52 which is crazy. Well, for those who are just starting off and would like a set of brushes to practice with, these are good to use. The promotion for $1.20 is no longer available on E.L.F, but they are still a good price. Sorry, I wish I could have posted sooner so everyone can have a chance to grab them while they were having a promo, but I think the promo was just for a day.

Ok, let's get to it!
All the brushes came in one big bag and as you can see they have their own individual sleeves.

Total Face Brush- The bristles on this brush feels coarse to me compare to a MAC brush, but of course I can't complain about paying $1.20 for all 12 brushes. The bristles are synthetic. The two cons that I would say about the brushes are they smell and they shed A LOT. Just be aware. People tend not to like this brush out of all the 12 brushes. Again, they are good brushes for everyday use and the price is fantastic.

Bronzing Brush- What I like about these brushes is that they have the name printed on the brush handles. For example, if it is a bronzing brush, it says right on there. Because the brush is kinda flat near the bristle, I like to use this as a contour brush.

Some of the brushes come with their own brush sleeves which is nice

Eyelash and Brow Wand- This spool helps groom your eyebrows to make them more defined and also can be used to separate your eyelashes after applying mascara.

Blending Eye Brush- This brush is great for blending out eyeshadows for a smokey eye. However, if you are working with a small crease area, it can be a little bit difficult, but do-able.

Lip Defining Brush- Personally, I don't use lip brushes but it does help blend in the color more evenly on your lips.

Eyeliner Brush- This is good for tight lining or lining your inner and outer lash line. Definitely good with gel liners and wet formulas.

Smudge Eye Sponge- This is to help smudge out the eyeliners on your lower and upper lash line for that smokey eye effect. Also, to soften those harsh lines. As shown below, it is a sponge tip not bristles.

Concealer Brush- The brush is kinda small but I can see that it will work well if you are just trying to conceal a small area. More for precision than for your entire face. If you are trying to use this for a larger area, this will take you days maybe years to cover up. Just sayin.

Defining Eye Brush- I like this brush a lot because it's small enough to get into the crease of my eyelid.

Foundation Brush- This brush does blend the foundation well into your skin, but I use this more as a concealer than for foundation.

Brow Comb and Brush- For this, I only use the brush side after I draw in my eyebrows to soften the look. I don't really use the comb unless I need to trim my eyebrows.... which I don't do myself.

Eyeshadow Brush- This is my favorite brush out of the 12 and I use this to pack on color to my eyelid. It does have a small brush, but it fits the shape of my eyes really well.

So, these are the 12 brushes that are in the essential brush collection and they are worth the price you are paying for. Despite the shedding, it's a great set overall because I can see most of these brushes being used everyday.

Good Night!
<3 <3 <3

Eyes. Lips, and Face (E.L.F) Review

Hello Everyone,

I know most of you probably heard of the makeup brand called E.L.F. which can be purchased at your local drugstore and also online. I have used E.L.F brand before, but I have mix reviews about them. They are known to be pretty inexpensive ranging from $1- $35 for most of their products. I would recommend this to someone who is just starting off with using makeup for the first time because of the price points. As you start using more of their products, you can get a feel of what they have that are good. They also have reviews to help guide you to a product that most people rave about. For example, the bestseller are usually the high definition powder, eye palettes, primer, powder brush, and cream eyeliners.

What I really want was the brush holder because I didn't have a place to store all my brushes. I know a lot of people use office supplies to hold their brushes which was what I did before, but now I need a larger container. As I started to look around at their website, of course, I added more items to my basket. Also, at the time there was a promotion where you buy 12 brushes for $1.20.... WOW! How cheap is that???!!! That definitely was going into my basket. I wasn't able to fit all of that into this review so I will create a second blog for those 12 brushes.

Let's start with the brush holder. This is the most expensive item in my basket: $15.00. I have all sorts of brushes from MAC, Sigma, Bare Essentials, E.L.F, etc.... and now they all have a home.

I have also picked up two All-Over Eyeshadow brushes for $1 each (This is not part of the 12 brushes that I will blog later). Mochi (my dog) took a hold of one of the brushes and started to chew on it. I decided to give it to her as a toy since it was only $1. She loves that brush more than her toys that cost $5. These brushes are surprisingly soft and are really good for highlighting under the eyebrows. I use this quite often and again it was only $1.

The next thing I got is their Bestsellers Collection for $5

Inside the package there is an eyelash curler which is pretty decent. I was letting one of my friend use it, not knowing what brand it is, she thought it was from Sephora. I told her it was from E.L.F and she was shocked on how good the quality is.

The liquid eyeliner is just a tiny brush that some people like to use to line their upper eyelashes. For me, I like to use gel liners unless it is the Lancome Arte liner then it's a different story.

An eyeshadow brush... it's not the softest brush that I have used, but it is good enough to be able to pick up any of the eyeshadows that I have.

I am little bias when it comes to mascaras. I love love Maybelline mascaras so it's hard for me to like this one. I used it twice and I didn't see anything too special about this. It's actually not as bad as everything says it is, but it does get messy because it's too liquid-y.

The bristles are very plain and it doesn't help separate my lashes very well.

Lastly, the eyeshadow palette. I can see myself wearing these colors on a daily basis so that was one of the reasons I picked this set. The colors here are neutral and are very pigmented as you can see down below. They do have fallouts but it's not that bad. I can see myself purchasing more of their eyeshadow palettes in the future since they are only $1-$3.

With this palette you can create a day look with just two colors and you can add on the darker brown for a more brown smokey eye-look for night time.

That's it for now.
Take care,

<3 <3 <3

Wearing glasses can be fun!

Hello Everyone,

Wearing glasses is not that bad. I remember when I was younger, I thought glasses were cool. Even though most people would think it's embarrassing because they don't want to be called "Four Eyes" when they were younger, I was the opposite. I really wanted a pair of pink glasses and I remember my optometrist telling me I don't need it just yet. When he told me this, I was mad. My brother got a pair and I didn't. So, I purposely read in the dark and try to stare at the sun for as long as I can to make my eyes worse than it is. I know those were things that your parents will tell you not to do.... trust me, don't do it. I give up after doing this for two days and just to mention I was in middle school during this time.

So, after two years during my annual eye exam, the optometrist finally said, "your daughter needs a pair of glasses." Woohoo!! I was excited to pick out my glasses. At this time, I was graduating from middle school and I didn't want the pink frame anymore. I saw a lavender metal frame and that's the one I end up getting. Back then, the circle metal frames used to be shizzz! Then, during the last year of high school I decided to get contacts, but still have a pair of glasses on the side. Yes, I did get tired of my glasses after a while, like everyone else, and also because I was active in sports, contacts work much better for me.

As I have gotten older, I start seeing glasses as a part of an accessory. I still love my contacts because I feel that it gives me better peripheral vision, but I would always keep a pair of glasses on the side. I was a General Manager for LensCrafters and have worked there for five years so I know quite a bit about glasses and how it's made. Since I have left LensCrafters for almost 6 years, I have not gotten a new pair of glasses since then.

Recently, I just got a new pair from Kaiser!!! They don't have that large of a selection as LensCrafters and if you want fashionable frames, they don't have too much varieties either. However, I was able to find one that I like and that fits well with the shape of my face. I know I blab too much so let's get some pictures in herrre.

Side view of the frame.

The first thing I like is the plastic style of the frame and the next thing I look for in a plastic frame is the nose pad. Most plastic frames do not have nose pads, but this one does!!! Love it! Yay, Asians... we don't have much of a bridge on our nose. Another great thing about this frame is that it hides the nose pad so it's not that obvious. The frame looks better if it lift your face up instead of down. The ones I have on does have a slight curve near the edge of the frame which I noticed.

After deciding on my frame, the next step is the lenses. With my prescription of -5.50 + 0.50 x 90 for both eyes. I was afraid that the lenses may look thick on the edges because it is a concave lens. There are three different choices of lens to choose from such glass (which is not the most common choice), plastic, and polycarbonate. I chose polycarbonate because they are thinner (plastic does have a thinner one called 1.67 but with my RX, I don't need that) and more durable. For polycarbonate lenses you can choose one of the following options, plain, with anti-reflective, or antireflective with scotchguard to give extra protection from scratches. For my glasses I picked polycarbonate with anti-reflective.

I should have cleaned it more.... ignore the face grease on the sides. Anti-reflective lenses help reduce reflections and you can tell if your lenses have AR when you see a rainbow coating on top. I always recommend AR on lenses because it looks so much better on.

As I have mentioned above that I was worried about the thickness of the lenses because larger lens size means thicker edges. It also depends on the cut and where your eyes are in the frame. When I got them, they didn't look bad at all.

You can see that not much of the lens is sticking out from the frame.

Now, for those who wants a little bit more information about the frame, here are the informations. I do have a wider face so I have to look at the dimension of the frame to make sure it fits my face. The number 54/16-135. What does it mean? 56 means the width of the frame which is very important for me. 16 means the distance between the two lenses... basically the nose bridge. 135 is the length of the temple. The other numbers are usually the style number for the frame.

On the other side of the temple is the brand.

I hope this helps those who are picking out glasses.

Remember, if you pick out the right style and fit, it can be fun to wear.

<3 <3 <3

Perfumes from Copycat Fragrances

Hello Everyone,

Why do perfume cost so much? I guess marketing, brand and cute packaging are what people are paying for. Hey, that does it for me too, but I am tired of paying so much. $80 a bottle? Yikes! Well, girls and guys, there is a cheaper alternative. I happen to run into this website called CopyCat Fragrances.com and they have so many different perfumes from low ends to high ends. The price ranges from from $4-$14 for any of the perfume that they sell. Yes, there are cons to the packagings, but if you can overlook them, they are actually great products.

I know... they are not in those cute bottles that you can put on your fragrance stand, but hey, you can't beat the price. The bottle is very generic and the name of the fragrance is a sticker on the cap. I got 5 bottles: Aquolina Pink Sugar, Sunkissed Glow JLO, Fantasy Britney Spears, Lollipop Bling Honey Mariah Carey, and Believe by Britney.

Also, I was skeptical about whether if they diluted the actual perfume and created several bottles from it. It seems to me that they know all the tones for the fragrances and made them from scratch. I have to say they did a good job of replicating them. I have been using the Aquolina Pink Sugar for two weeks now and I love it.

On the website, there are 4 different choices. The rollerball is $4.00 (1/3 oz) and it also comes in 1oz for $9.00. The spray is $9.00 (1 oz- the ones that I have) and the 2 oz is $14.00. If you really dislike the bottle, buy the actual bottle just one time and refill it with these dups so you will not be paying $$$.

I feel the website should offer free shipping if you have order more than 4 bottles..... like me. I hate paying for shipping and handling. Another thing they should improve on is to have a better search engine for the perfumes because it takes forever to look through each page.

Overall, the product works for me and it is so much cheaper.
Enjoy!

<3 <3 <3

June Birchbox

Hello Everyone,

This month's Birchbox theme is all about traveling and products that you should have for summer. Out of the 5 products I am in love with 3. However, I find it fun to try products that I have never heard of which is the whole point of subscribing to Birchbox. This month I am trying to get my reviews out before the end of the month as you can tell. So, let's get started.

Here are the list of the 5 items that are in this box

First two items here are Nuxe Reve de Miel Ultra comfortable body cream and Sircuit cosmeceuticals Molecular Mist.

The Nuxe body cream is very buttery and not sticky at all. I love the way it feels on my skin.....ooohhhh so nice. I can see why this product can keep your skin hydrated especially for those who have dry and sensitive skin. It contains macadamia nut oil to help soothe any irritations and replenish moisture. Macadamia nut oil has a fatty acids composition that keeps your skin silky. In addition, it also contains honey which helps tone and restore your skin.
I would definitely buy this product! I have used so many body creams and this one is pretty darn good.

Sircuit Molecular Mist is to help keep your face hydrated throughout the day, especially during summer. It can also act as a makeup setting spray similar to the Urban Decay All Nighter. It's a really cute sample tube and I can see myself filling it up with other makeup setting sprays as a carry-on. The product does feel refreshing once you spray it on your face and I can feel it tighten up my pores, but I wouldn't buy this product when I can use the Urban Decay for a cheaper price. Nice though.

Now, let's look inside the smaller pink wrapper.

The firs thing I saw was the Laura Gellar baked blush n' brighten compact container and I was soooooo excited. Laura Gellar products are made in Italy and she is also on QVC. I just bought two products from her line before I got my Birchbox and they were both the baked blush but in different colors. That's why when I saw this, I was like OMG!!! Love it! Her baked blush are amazing! These baked palettes starts off as a creamy liquid and then she bakes them for 24 hours and it comes out with beautiful swirls.

This one has a bit of shimmer, but there are other ones in her collection that is more matte. I like the shimmer because it gives you a bit of a summer glow.

The next thing is the Kate Spade Twirl perfume sample. I love this scent.... it smells fruity and floral at the same time. It's not overpowering. I can see this being worn during the day and on a hot summer night at the beach. I am not into musky scents... more fruity and a bit of floral is just right for me. My boyfriend wears Jean Paul Gaultier "Le Male" and I love that on him even though it has a little musk it's nice on guys. But on me, I like more feminine, playful, scents.
I do enjoy this scent and the little packaging is so adorable. Gold and Pink!

And on the inside it says, "she had a cocktail in hand and confetti in her hair" how girly is that?!! I love it!

The last thing in this box is the Deborah Lippmann Stripper to go Nail Lacquer Removers. It comes with 2 packets and basically it is to fix any mani problems you would have when you are on the plane or on vacation. These little packets are easy to fit in your bag. Personally for me, I don't think I will be fixing my nails on the plane or on vacation.... If the paint chips.... whatever! Deal with it! Not to be bias, for those who does, this may be product for you.

After removing the finger mitt from the package....

It slips onto one of your fingers and you just start wiping your nail polishes away.

While I was using it, I find that the first package that I opened didn't stay wet to completely remove my nail polishes from all ten nails. I was only able to get 7 nails done and the 8th nail was difficult to remove so had to I open the second packet and use that one. Just a FYI, my nails were not that long to begin with. The second packet lasted a little bit longer and I was able to remove all 10 toe nails with one mitt. Maybe it's a hit or miss? The good thing about it is not only does it remove your nail polishes, but it doesn't leave your nails dry. It has aloe to moisturize your nails and cuticles.

Alright, that is all I have for you.

Have a nice night!

<3 <3 <3