Sigma Beauty Travel Brush Kit Naughty in Black & Duo Fibre Brush F50 and Giveaway!

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Recently Sigma Beauty provided me with their Travel Brush Kit Black and their Duo Fibre Brush F50 to test and review. You can also win the Travel Brush Kit Black (info below!)
I want to mention first that I am really impressed with the friendly customer service, shipping speed and beautiful packaging. They actually told me I am getting the brush set but they also included the Duo Fibre Brush which was an awsome thing to do in my opinion!

I tried and used quite a variety of different brushes by various brands and found quite a lot of duds but also some nice ones among them. Now flame me but in general I am not impressed with the brushes from MAC but used to use them regularly.

I got the Travel Brush Kit Black a few days before heading to Hong Kong so I thought it´s the perfect occasion to give the brushes a good test.

The brushes come housed in a very sturdy black pouch with a slot for each brush and a zippered compartment to put Q-tips or other small items. The pouches closes shut with an insewn magnet.

The brushes are not that small despite being travel brushes, actually they are close to regularly sized brushes in my opinion.

The brushes included are (read more about them here!):

For the face:
-Foundation F60
-Large Powder Brush F30
-Angled Contour Brush F40
-Concealer F70






For the eyes:
-Eye Shading E55
-Tapered Blending E40
-Pencil E30


For me the set is pretty complete, all I had to add for my HK trip was the Duo Fibre Brush, spiral brow brush, lash comb and a small rounded eyeliner brush.

I was really surprised by the quality of the brushes. They are simply amazing. The eyeshadow brushes include the Eye Shading brush which is a nice wide dense lay-down brush applying lid color intensely and evenly without causing a lot of fall-out, the Pencil brush is great for adding definition to my crease-area and outer corners of my eyes and the Tapered Blending is a nice fluffy brush to apply and blend in highlighter or other lighter colors.
I did all my recent eye makeup looks with just these brushes and just love how easy the brushes are to use.

The face brushes include the flat Foundation brush which I prefer to use for cream blushes, the Large Powder Brush which is soft and distributes powder evenly, the Concealer brush which is also a great cream eyeshadow brush and the Angled Contour Brush which I love to use for applying powder blushes.

The Duo Fibre Brush is perfect for applying liquid and cream foundation if you use the stippling technique. This is also the only brush btw that shedded a little at first but after a few washes the shedding stopped nearly completely.

All in all I am really impressed with the brushes and have not used my other brushes since receiving the kit. I can really recommend getting Sigma Beauty brushes with all my heart.

Rating 5/5

Giveaway!!
Sigma Beauty is generously giving away a Travel Brush Kit Black to one of my readers and will ship directly to her! The winner just has to email me and I will forward the address to Sigma Beauty.

To enter please do the following:
-Only open to followers (so please make sure you follow me on blogger, not only via RSS)! Make sure that by your nickname or name I can clearly identify you!
-Open worldwide!
-Please leave a comment to this post (telling me about your favorite brushes or which ones you think you need to buy or anything like that).
Only 1 comment per person can be accepted.
-Giveaway open until Sunday, June 12th 2011, 8 PM (my time, GMT +1)
-Winner will be randomly chosen and announced here by Monday, 13th of June 2011. Please make sure to email me to claim your prize within 3 days after winner is announced or new winner will be drawn. Or leave your email address in your comment entry so I can contact you!

Xmas 2008: Shu Uemura x Mika Portable Brush Set

Lol, yea! I am indeed typing this post as of April 23rd 2010! And the item I am reviewing is an Xmas item from 1 1/2 years ago! =P


Recently I found several Shu Uemura x Mika items popping up on eBay. Probably there was some warehouse sale going on in Hong Kong or something lol.
The Shu x Mika collection was my favorite collection from Shu Uemura in the previous years.

I admit I also scored the Shu x Mika Gerbera lipgloss set as I just loved the cute pouch that came with the glosses and I won the auction for US$15 whereas the retail was more than double that. I was afraid the lippies might be off but they turned out to be perfectly fresh and fine. I might do a review later...let´s see =)


Anyways, makeup brushes stay fresh and I already fell in love with the Portable Brush Set when I saw pics 1 1/2 years ago but it was just too pricey for me (retail US$85 plus shipping) so I just admired it instead of splurging.

I scored this on eBay for US$38 (& shipping) so I am a seriously happy girl now! I saw a few more of these on eBay but not sure if there are right now.


The Portable Brush Set comes in a gorgeous bright cherry red pouch with the stunning rose print inside. I just love it!
The brushes have pretty red handles to match the set. They are all travel-sized and "remain uncut at the tip for the finest touch" and all are really soft brushes.
There are 4 short-handled brushes: face brush (27 brush - Goat), cheek brush (17 - Pony & Squirrel), eyeshadow brush (10 - Sable & Kolinsky) and lip/eyeliner brush (6M - Sable).

The face brush is honestly a bit too small to be useful for powder application but it makes an excellent blush brush. The bristles are extremely soft and give a pretty even lightweight look to the blush.

The cheek brush is a decent highlighter brush and feels a bit denser than the face brush. It´s somehow very tiny thus not really my first choice for blushes. This is my least fave brush out of the set.

The star of the set is the eyeshadow brush for me. When I saw it I thought it´d be only good for cream shadows or as a brush for applying a wash of shadow but it´s actually a perfect brush to pat on any color on my lids and blending it in the crease as the application is absolutely even, the brush packs on pigment really well and distributes any of my powder shadows perfectly. Right now this is my favorite eyeshadow for lid application and I am considering getting the full-sized one, too!

I first was a bit disappointed that there is a lip brush in the set but was happy to see they also recommend it for eye-lining. I always feel annoyed that nearly each brush set comes with a lip brush as I almost never use lip brushes at all.
This lip/eyeliner brush in the set is a perfect brush for deep crease and outer eye definition. It´s softer than the Sasa brush I´ve bee using for the past 4 years or so and gives a more even application. It´s also great as an eyeliner brush for applying either cream or powder liners.


All in all I think the set is very nice and useful, not just for traveling! It´s not a complete set of brushes but a good start. I personally need eyebrow brushes, a skunk brush, a fan brush (to remove eyeshadow crumbles and tone down blush) and couple of wider eyeshadow brushes for applying a wash or highlighter in addition (the best softest wide brush I have was a GWP from Inoui ID!).


The set was so worth its price and I am happy to be the proud owner of it now! Seems sometimes it´s worth waiting a little =)

Inexpensive Beauty Finds: NTP Japan Perfect Brush - Shadow Brush #1 & Face Brush #6

I use a wild collection of brushes from Clinique, MAC, Laneige, Banila Co, Etude House, no-name brands etc. I am pretty happy with the brushes I have but I was searching for a 2nd shadow brush for lid application and a nice fluffy face brush as the no-name one I used is a little scratchy (not that bad though).


Adambeauty lists the expensive (but excellent) Tesshyu Takemori brushes. I got his dual-ended shadow brush and the eyelash comb about a couple of years ago and been using them regularly ever since. I thought about getting the face brush but then recently saw this cheap brand on Adambeauty called NTP Japan for US$8.50 per brush... I thought that the brushes are probably crap but I decided to pick up 2 of them to check the quality out.


Each brush came in a protective clear plastic pouch and is supposedly made of natural hair (I couldn´t find the exact kind written). The handles are made of a shiny black material.

When I got the brushes I was quite surprised by how soft the bristles feel.
The Face Brush #6 is dense and soft and has a rather flat top. It distributes face powder in a thin very fine coat so it looks really even and natural.
Very good brush for the cheap price in my opinion! I´ve been using this daily for the past week and noticed that there was nearly no shedding, too. Maybe 3 or 4 bristles at all, even after washing.


The Shadow Brush #1 is perfect for packing on shadow on my lids. It´s a dense rounded brush on the flatter side so it deposits a lot of color and aids really well in blending the shadow into my crease and eye socket.
This didn´t shed at all however there was one hair that was longer than the rest so I had to trim it.


Overall I am deeply impressed and will probably pick up a few more items (blush brush and the other eyeshadow brush, too).

L@@K what came in the mail today.......

I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of my 2 new cute brush rolls from my dear friend Yumeko who sold those cuties in her blog about a week ago!

Yumeko was fast in sending and the Japanese and Austrian post were quick in processing so I could already hug my new lovelies today =D

The brush rolls are REALLY REALLY pretty and very well made! I am so impressed!


Both rolls hold my face and eyeshadow brushes easily so the mess of having various ugly brush rolls and pouches for my brushes are over! Now I have a cute Hello Kitty (for my face brushes) and Rilakkuma (for eyeshadow & brows) brush roll to do the job!

Everything was packed well and I also got samples and a package of yummy Japanese snacks (oops, they're gone already!) =D

Thanks dear for the cute brush rolls! They're really precious to me!

Here is Hello Kitty (Kitty has been a love of mine since I was a little girl!):


Here is Rilakkuma (soooooooooooo darn cute!):

First venture into Clamue (Vlack)

I have discovered a new Korean brand. Yup, there seems to be still a load of brands I haven't tried yet =D


I ordered quite a bunch of stuff from Clamue (ahem, am I the only one who always thinks of Chlamydia when reading that name? ugh...not a good association) Anyways, I am not going to stuff everything into 1 review so I picked out the Vlack Silicone Highlight and Lovely Blush kit to write about first.

Baked highlighter? You knew I had to have it =D Especially since it's from a brand that I was totally unaware of.


The Vlack Silicone Highlight comes in a silky matte compact with a pink butterfly print (at least to me it looks like a butterfly).
It's not a spectacular case but it's pretty and of good quality.


The highlighter itself is very nice though. It has a pigmented shimmery finish with a silky texture.


The highlighter is made of a mixture of mint green, peach, silver and ivory but applies as a pretty translucent cream dewy shimmer which lasts most of the day long.
It's one of the better baked highlighters I have come across.

The Silicone Highlight comes with a free Lovely Blush and blush/highlighter brush.


The Lovely Blush is a matte bright pink with medium pigment. It gives a pretty fresh flush to my cheeks and lasts very well throughout the day. It comes in a very simple cheap looking white and clear case.


The little free brush is very cute with its pink handle and has quite soft bristles. It does a good job applying the highlighter or blush. However for highlighters I prefer my Etude House skunk brush.


I paid 25800 Won for the 3 items which is a bit on the pricier side (it's a bit less than US$20).
Overall the items are good but packaging could be improved. But it's the products that count more, right?

Cathy Cat Lucid Pure Whitening Base SPF45 PA+++ Special Set

I pick up something from Cathy Cat nearly every time I place an order on Gmarket. Cathy Cat has become one of my very favorite brands due to their great quality (and great color choices), cute packaging and affordable prices.


Cathy Cat put out special Sets a lot so you can score nice deals most of the time.

I had the intention to buy a makeup base from Cathy Cat so when I found the Lucid Pure Whitening Base SPF45 PA+++ in a Special Set for around 18000 Won (miincos on Gmarket) I decided to give it a try.

The Lucid Pure Whitening Base comes in a pretty white pump bottle with cute snowflakes printed on packed in a pretty silver box.
I personally don't need a whitening product as I am naturally already ghostly pale but the base has a pretty brightening effect I really like.


The primer is a white smooth cream that gives a glowy highlight to my skin. It gives very light coverage evening out my skin nicely.
This base offers good sun protection, too (SPF 45 PA+++).


The kit contains the full-sized base, a sample of their Lucid Pure Whitening Foundation SPF28 PA++ in #21 (6g tube) and a foundation brush.


The Lucid Pure Whitening Foundation is very pale thus suitable for my skin. However it has very strong yellow tones that get a bit too obvious on me as I am on the pinker side. The coverage is not bad (about medium) and it feels lightweight and moisturizing.
The foundation brush looks decent enough to me, but I don't use foundation brushes. I might try this with my Cathy Cat Amazing Cream Blush though!

Etude House Makeup Brushes

I use the same good old brushes for many years now and I am pleased with them (some MAC, some Clinique, Laneige and no-name brushes) however short ago I decided to branch out a bit and add 5 new brushes to my stash as they looked really cute with their fat short matte black handles and because they're from Etude House, one of my favorite brands =)


I decided to get 5 brushes, priced from 3500 Won-8000 Won so they're really inexpensive hence no big problem if they happened to be crap.

While these aren't the most fantastic brushes on the planet all of them are quite nice and absolutely usable. The bristles are natural hair or synthetics and they feel soft and not too scratchy. They do shed a bit when they're new but just a few hairs. I have to wash them to try out how they'll stand the process of washing and drying. I will update if they're not holding up well.

-Eye Contour Brush:


This is a rather wide soft shadow brush made of pony hair. This works great to apply a wash of eyeshadow or blend eyeshadows. For me personally it's a bit too wide to use it for contouring but that might be just my preference or eye shape.


3500 Won

-Oblique Shadow Brush:


This has nearly the same width as the Eye Contour brush but the brush is angled so it works better for eye socket contouring for me.
The brush is made of pony hair.


3500 Won

-Powder Brush:


A wide dense powder brush made of goat hair. It distributes powder evenly but could be a tad bit softer. However it does work well and gave me a non-cakey even powder application.


8000 Won

-Blush Contour Brush:


This is like a thinner less dense version of the powder brush. Applies my blusher evenly. This brush picks up just enough pigment for my taste and doesn't give a streaky or blothy finish at all.
This is made of goat hair, too.


7000 Won

-Dual Fibre Cheek Brush (Glow):


This brush is probably the star of the Etude House brushes. It's a skunk brush which is great to use for highlighters or pigmented blushes. I use this now as my highlighter brush and love the very soft glowy finish this gives. My highlighter looks better than before due to the lighter and airier application.
The brush feels almost like velvet when it touches my skin so it's very very soft and nice to use.
This is made of a mix of goat hair and synthetic fibers.


8000 Won

All brushes come in clear plastic protection pouches.

Overall the brushes are good and definitely worth their money. Etude House also offer a brush set with a pouch for 20000 Won (about US$18) containing 5 brushes in travel sizes. However the brush set looks pretty much like my Laneige travel brush kit so I skipped it (Etude and Laneige are both owned by Amore Pacific if I am not wrong).


I see a total of 19 different brushes (14 from their regular brush line) on Etude House's website incl. a cute pink kabuki brush I might have to try next.
The prices range from 1500 Won - 12000 Won (for the kabuki brush)