Sigma 20% Off

I know it's been a while, but I want to do this quick post to let you know Sigma Beauty has a 20$ of code next week. Hopefully I can share with you some new treasures I recently picked up. This would also be a good opportunity for anyone new to the brand to pick up some brushes. Overall, I like Sigma brushes, but I did notice in my recent order, some of the brushes had a makeover over time.

Anyway, the code is SBAP20 Go to SigmaBeauty.com to check it out!! They also recently launched a new eyliner line, which I have yet to try...maybe I'll also purchase next week too :)

Here are some of my favorite products:

E25 - Blending Brush:  This is like the MAC 217. It's a good size for small eyes (like me) that you can use clean to blend any harsh lines out, or to add some kind of blending/transition color. I know people who even use this with concealers.

F10 - Blush Brush: This is a nice, flat blush brush that I find really a good size and shape for any type of powder blush application.

Performance Eyes Kit: This is a nice kit for smaller eyes, or for those who have their basic brushes already. The brushes are on the smaller side, making them good for more precise application. If there's one brush in this set I use all the time, it's the E46 - Inner Corner Brush, which I use on the inner corners, or even on the browbone.

New Synthetic Essential Kit 10 Brushes: I like the Sigmax fibers, and this kit is nice to have, especially if you use a lot of cream and liquid products. I prefer these brushes to the Bunny kit brushes because they're a lot more dense.

Sigma Spa Brush Cleaning Glove: This thing is pretty neat. Use it to deep cleanse your brushes, and keep your hands dry! Another plus is that it feels really soft on the insides, so when your hand starts to get hot because you have a million brushes to wash, it won't be sweaty and gross :) If you make a purchase of $30 (I'm assuming post-discount, pre-tax/shipping), you get a "mini" glove, which is actually a really shrunken down one, that's not a glove, it's just like one sided, with most of the surfaces that the big one has.

All the brushes in the kits I named above are available separately, so don't have to commit to such a big purchase. However, if you do want to splurge, this would be the time, since it will be 20% off :)

Talk to you soon! 

This post contains affiliate or invite links that I am able to earn commission/credit from. I would not support any company that I didn't like. What I earn from affiliate programs are going to be used to improve this blog, and bring more things for my followers.

OMBRE Much? The Trend

So, ombre is no news right now, but I wanted to give a few thoughts on it...what makes it work, what doesn't. Anyway, for those of you living in a cave, ombre is the term for hair color that goes from a dark color (usually at the roots) to a light color (usually at the tips).

So in my eyes and experiences, I think there's two ways to go about the trend. There's either dark roots or light tips. Now, I know, that may confuse a few, but here's what I mean.

Dark Roots:

courtesy of funmiogunja.com

courtesy of allthingsjenni.com

Light Tips:

courtesy of paperyandcakery.com

courtesy of glamour.com

Don't really know if that makes sense, but I just see it as different placement of the fade. I personally think that this works best by using your natural color at your roots. I think there are people who actually place their color on their roots, but it kinda defeats the lazy element of this technique, by making it more maintenance---either way it's up to you. I think that people with naturally lighter hair, pull off the dark roots better, and those with naturally darker hair pull off the light tips better. This is all my opinion, though.

Of course, with trends, we always have trends gone wrong:

Courtesy of http://afroboudoir.com

  

Courtesy of Getty Images

Both of these ladies have fallen victim to a colorist that didn't catch the concept of FADE! Making the colors blend together is the key to make it look "natural"

There's different ways to achieve the look. If your hair is naturally on the lighter side, you can probably get away with playing with permanent and/or semi-permanent color. If you have darker hair like me, you probably have to go the bleach route. Bleach isn't as scary as it seems, to me. it's just a lot of conditioning, and your hair will be ok (kinda).

Do you like the ombre trend? Is it over already, or did you never like it in the first place. I think it's a great way to change up your look without the commitment of a full head of color :)

Mother's Day Sales

Ok, I know this is last minute, but since my inbox has been bombarded with these emails, thought I'd share. Most of these are Mother's Day specials, but some I threw in too so that you have a variety to look at :) Some interesting things in case your last minute gift ain't as great as you think either :)

LAMCOME  Coupon code: FRIENDS

Friends & Family Sale: 20% off site wide, and if you use ebates, you get 7% (of the total you paid) cash back! I like Definicils mascara (waterproof of course), and their Bi Facial eye makeup remover is one of the best! Also, Jucy Tubes is always a favorite amongst beauty enthusiasts :) Just giving some ideas.

BUMBLE AND BUMBLE  Coupon Code: MOMSDAY

No minimum for free shipping and you get samples. I liked Seaweed Shampoo because you could use it daily, but I noticed my hair was falling out a lot more rapidly than usual, so I use it like once in a while when I want a change in scents :) their tonic spray and texturizing stuff is nice though.

BORN PRETTY STORE   Coupon Code: LOVEMOM

12% off site wide. For those of you unfamiliar, this is a nail art store, they also sell makeup and other "pretty" things. I personally have never bought anything from them yet, but they seem pretty legit if you're wondering. They have the knock-off Konad nail stamps, and claim to be better, but in the demo it actually looked the same. This is a cheaper alternative, if you don't like the high price of Konad.

MAC COSMETICS   No Coupon Code

Free shipping on any order till 11:59pm EST (why don't they ever go according to Hawaii time?). Anyway, this would be a good chance to check out their new collections that just released last week I believe? Or stock up on your favorites.

RESTAURANT.COM   No Coupon Code

Many deals going on now. If you haven't checked this site out, you should! You get extremely discounted gift certificates on restaurants in your area. Just remember that they're usually for dine-in only and not take out.

STILA   Coupon Code: STILALUVSU

Free shipping on any purchase...may not work to HI/AK though, so beware! Ebates does 3% on the Stila website

MAGAZINES.COM   No Coupon Code

They have a ton of deals for $5 or less! Check it out. This is the only way I subscribe :) You just have to remember that these subscriptions auto-renew, and to totally cancel, you have to call customer service, but they're really easy to talk to.

Wong Fu Store  Coupon Code: congrats2012

Code is for 10% off your entire purchase. Ok, not really "Mom" stuff, but if you want to do a little shopping on the side, look here. These guys are awesome, they make videos, talk at colleges, have awesome YouTube friends, and make shirts, and awkward animals :) Hey, you could get your mom a coffee cup?

BIRCHBOX   No Coupon Code

If you're indecisive, you could give the gift of samples! This is like 4-6 deluxe samples a month, and I get good stuff all the time. Gift it to your mom and she'll have a ton of stuff to get to try out!

That pretty much rounds it up. I hope you get to take advantage of these deals whether for your momma or not!

This post contains affiliate or invite links that I am able to earn commission/credit from. I would not support any company that I didn't like. What I earn from affiliate programs are going to be used to improve this blog, and bring more things for my followers.

New Sigma Brushes!!!

I am SUPER excited to find out that Sigma is coming out with two new brushes. Well, I'm more excited about one more than the other. These are the two brushes, from Sigma's Affiliate blog:

These are the E80 and E75 (top and bottom). They both launch, and will be in their permanent line on Monday, April 16, 2012 and are $9 and $11 respectively.

The E80 is basically a non-disposable spoolie, which I'm like, eh about, mostly because I don't use these...I know they can be super useful for taking clumps out of your lashes when you use mascara, but I am usually rushing by the time mascara comes around that I don't have time for that, plush if you use the right mascara, it's not that useful...They also make good eyebrow groomers for those who have longer hairs that you want to brush out of the way either when filling or shaping, and then when trying to put back into place, again after filling or shaping.

BUUUUUT...I AM pretty dang hyped up about the E75, which is an angled brow brush. This is one brush type that I had been hoping for a while that Sigma would do because that is like the one brush I haven't seen in their line that I felt was a necessity. The E65 is actually not a very good brush in general (in my opinion) because I feel it's not stiff enough to fill brows, but not precise enough to do liner. However, I have been using that brush lately to kinda smudge my gel liner, so I guess I have found some purpose for that one :)

FYI, I have been using two other brow brushes to fill brows: Bare Escentuals brow brush, which was included with their (bad) brow powder (but can be bought separately), and the Kat Von D brow brush, which you can only get in a set at Sephora. Both are actually quite similar in performance, but the type of fibers used in them are different. Check them out if you dare...The reason I don't like the Bare Escentuals brow powder is that I have "Brunette," and that color was waaaaayyyyyy too dark for me, and I have jet black hair! I have no clue who could fit this color. Perhaps if your skin is on the darker side, maybe? I wouldn't know, I'm too light to test that theory!

So mark your calendars and grab these brushes (or at least the E75) on Monday before they run out like most of their new launches do!!! I will totally be on that bandwagon, and also probably gonna pick up the precision kit (the small Sigmax brushes), which has been on my list for a while :)

This post contains affiliate or invite links that I am able to earn commission/credit from. I would not support any company that I didn't like. What I earn from affiliate programs are going to be used to improve this blog, and bring more things for my followers.

Sigma Performance Eye Kit Promo Look

I blogged about this kit launching yesterday, and I wanted to share a look I did in honor of this look.

Here's my attempt at recreating the promo picture...pose and everything!

Really, with this look you can use anything...as long as you have the right colors. I thought this was a fun look to do. The only thing that gave me real stress was the liner. My eye shape does not allow for that inner corner technique because my crease it hooded (it joins my eye at the inner corner). I knew it would be troublesome, but because the picture had it, I wanted to put it in. Of course if you have the same concern, you can skip that inner corner eyelining and do the rest...just make sure to highlight in the corner!

What I used:

Eyes

• Too Faced Shadow Insurance (Original)
• Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion (Eden)
  
• Crown 88 Matte Palette (silver, pink, black, beige)--you can really just use any matte/satin colors...kind of generic colors
• theBalm Eyeshadow (Sassy)
  
• Buxom Lashliner (Leatherette)
• Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner (Perversion)
• Rimmel London Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Liner Pencil (Pure White)
• L'Oreal Double Extend Eye Liner Pencil (Black Crystal...only the highlight side used)
• Revlon Photo Ready 3D Mascara (Washable, Blackest Black)
• Blinc Mascara (Black)
• Ardell Whispies
  

I used the Too Faced Shadow Insurance all over the lid for crease protection. Then the UD primer just from lashline to crease to even out coloring. Next, pack on the pink on the inner thrid of the lid (from inner corner till before your iris, the colored part of your eye, starts), take a light silver and shade the rest of the lid. Blend out any harsh edges. Add your highlight color and use Sassy to make the brow area more white. Next with the gel liner, draw an exaggerated line, angled upwards. Then blend upwards with your black shadow. Then with the liquid liner draw out the shape int he inner corner (as you can see, with a hooded eye crease, it can get tricky), then under the eye (be careful not to hit the lashes), and finish with a second wing under. Fill the space between your "wings" with the white pencil, making them precise, and blend out the outside so it doesn't look like a triangle. Take the cream color eyeliner and line under the black liquid to emphasize the liner. Curl lashes, add mascara and false lashes.

Face

• Neutrogena Healthy Skin Foundation (70)
• MAC Mineralized Skinfinish Natural (Medium Plus)
• Cover Girl Cheekers Bronzer (Golden Tan)
• Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush (Blushing Bride)

Foundation: all over, set with pressed powder. Used bronzer as a contour, and blush on the apples.

Lips

• MAC Kissable Lip Color (Flaunting It)

Apply...DONE!

This post contains affiliate or invite links that I am able to earn commission from. I would not support any company that I didn't like. What I earn from affiliate programs are going to be used to improve this blog, and bring more things for my followers.

New Product Curiosity: Sigma Performance Eye Kit

I wanted to share with you all the new brush kit by Sigma. It's the Performance Eye Kit. I am very interested in these new brushes and can't wait to get my hands on one! I just wanted to show you what's in this kit, and some of the brushes that I'm particularly intrigued by.





These are all eight pieces. Unfortunately this kit does not come with a holder like the Make Me Up or Bunny Kits :( However, they are eight brand new brushes that I think many people (including myself) could find quite useful!


This brush doesn't entirely impress me, mostly because I find comfort in my E55 and E60 brushes, but this looks like a nice natural hair brush that can apply washes of color to the lid.



This brush to me is an interesting concept. I have never seen a brush made for this purpose (or really any purpose, which I'll explain at the end). In the past, I've used the E30 to apply color to my inner corners, if it's clean, if not I turn to my finger or whatever is clean that can reach there.




I'm not too sure if this brush will turn me away from my E25, but if it's like any other of Sigma's blenders, I'm sure it will be good!



This brush looks like what it would look like if E40 and E45 had a love child.



I'm hoping that these brushes will have a more precise tip than the E15, and I look forward to finding out!




I'm thinking that this is a brush that's in between E05 and E10. I never liked either, so I'm crossing my fingers with this one :)



This reminds me of a narrow E20. My personal one is not very dense, and I kept forgetting to inquire with Sigma if it was supposed to be like that, but I am hoping this brush is a bit more dense, but I may end up using it as an inner corner brush or an outer corner brush because of its size.

SO...what do I think? I hope that these don't sell out too fast because I would like to pick one up next month when I have more funds, but overall this kit looks pretty neat. I felt like Sigma's aim was to target makeup artists, but ironically these brush names are spelled out purposes for what they do/where they are supposed to be used. I found it a little weird, but if you take a step back, it makes sense because the rest of their brush line has more broad/vague names that it would be weird to name them the same as others...

Have you ordered a kit yet? Hope to be seeing some reviews of these brushes soon, but if not, I hope to be doing one in the near future :)

This post contains affiliate or invite links that I am able to earn commission from. I would not support any company that I didn't like. What I earn from affiliate programs are going to be used to improve this blog, and bring more things for my followers.

theBalm Nude'Tude Palette Review (sans Swatches)

I know it's been forever and a day (more like forever and a year)...but I wanted to share with you my thoughts on theBalm's Nude'Tude palette. It's an eyeshadow palette that has 12 neutral-ish colors that I think is a pretty good mix for both everyday and special occasions. You can get it on their site for $36 (and free shipping ANYWHERE in the US) or, I've heard you can find theBalm at TJ Max or Marshalls, but I am not too sure about the validity of that.

All twelve shades have names that start with an "S" not too sure why...because there are no S's in the name, but any who...

Here's the whole thing. There's two versions: Naughty and Nice. I chose the "nice" one because the "naughty" one had six girls posing and each pan covered their private areas, and I thought that would be just weird to look at every morning when I get ready...

I thought it was interesting (although it doesn't directly affect the quality of the product) that the pans weren't inserted into their slots very well. Like I said, it's interesting, but I must say, this company is newer, and from what I have heard it's quite small too. Not that I am saying this is a good excuse, but I don't think it's easy to run this type of facility, especially domestically.

Here are the colors...excuse the lack of swatches!! Not as an excuse, but the colors are pretty accurate to what they look like on skin:



Sassy: Frosty white, very easy to use too much. I like to mix it with a matte, skin tone color to highlight the brow.

Snobby: Shimmer/satin gold/mustard like color, I haven't used it much, too yellow for me.

Stubborn: Shimmer/satin pink, more warm than cool toned, I haven't used this much, but I think it makes for a nice blush color.

Stand-Offish: frosted champagne/pinky flesh tone, very similar to UD Sin. I like this for either the lid (for a more toned down look), and/or to highlight the inner corners



Selfish: Silvery/frosty, taupe-ish color. I use it either as a main lid color or a outer corner.

Sultry: Matte, warm toned, medium brown. I use it to blend harsh lines, like with UD Naked, but this is a bit darker.

Sophisticated: Gold/frosty medium-dark brown. I use this to smudge liner or in the outer corner. Sometimes I use this as a lid color, if I'm feeling it...

Schitzo: Bronze/frosty, medium brown.

With Selfish, Sophisticated, and Schitzo, I feel these are super similar (Sophisticated being a bit darker than the others), probably one would have been enough...I probably would choose Selfish, the more neutral toned one.

Sexy: Matte, dark, red-plum. This is a good accent color, whether in the crease or on one or both lash lines

Silly: Sparkly dark brown. I admit the finish doesn't translate...more dirty and matte (or actually satin-ish) than anything.

Serious: Matte black with some sparkle throughout, this also translates just matte :(

Sleek: Matte dark, almost black (but you can tell it's not) brown. I mostly use this to set liners or as an outer corner color.

You can interchange Silly and Sleek in reality. Sexy, I don't use much (pretty fitting for me in general :P).

The Good:

I like this range of colors. Although some of these can be used in place of one another, they are still different, so it gives options, although subtle in differences. To be honest with you, I think that this captures a mix of the good tones in the original Naked and Naked2 by Urban Decay. The sparkly shades do not have the fall out that Urban Decay glitter shades are famous for. I find that these shades are also pretty true to pan color, meaning what you see is what you'll wear, color-wise.

The formula of these eyeshadows are really nice. They are very pigmented and they blend nicely. Although they can be a little soft (when you put your brush in it, it gets super powdery), the right brush will capture all that goodness. I like using really dense brushes, nothing too fluffy (unless you're blending), that way, it catches the product and doesn't make a huge mess.

The Bad:

I actually don't have much bad things to say about this palette. The one thing that gets me, as with almost any company is the fact that the highlight colors are too shimmery for me. I always end up reaching into either of my Naked palettes and using either Virgin (original Naked) or Foxy (Naked2) to highlight my brow area. I am an oily chiika and when I wear things that are too frosted up there, I initially just look awkward in general, but then when the day goes by, that area will look like a grease ball too! I like Virgin because although it has some frost to it, it really doesn't translate as frost...more of a sheen/glow :) that was one of my surprising to like colors of the original Naked actually, and I wish Sassy (the white) was something more like that. Another thing is that the finishes of the more sparkly shades, the shades that had matte shadows with sparkles mixed in, fell a little flat. This ends up being not the biggest con for me mostly because it makes this palette more fitting into an everyday type of deal.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

In the end, I could use this palette everyday if it was my only neutral palette, but unfortunately due to hype and impluse purchasing, it is not, so I really do end up reaching for this thing more than not, so I would say this is my recommendation for those that want a good range of neutral shimmery finished colors...it will do you well. I have read up and price per unit, this is not the bargain by any means, but the formula of these colors are really nice, and consistent throughout the whole palette. I hope to be trying out more eyeshadows from theBalm, but since Sephora no longer carries the line and ebates does not have offers for the site, I may just have to wait for Black Friday to come around again.

Do you have this palette? Do you like it, or do you prefer something else? What is your favorite neutral palette??