Designer Perfect Brushes at Big Lots for $1!

Periodically (maybe a couple times a month) I like to check out my local Big Lots and Dollar Tree stores for great deals. It's always a hit or miss. Half of the time I walk out with nothing and the other half of the time I find something good. If one of your favorite drugstore items became discontinued, Big Lots or your local dollar store are good places to check periodically for those items. 

They seemed to have a lot of ELF items, which was most likely an overstock. They were all still a dollar each, so no real deal on them. If you're a fan of Maybelline's Color Sensational Lipstick in the shade Pink Please, there were several tubes for $1.50. (View my past review here) I actually gave my tube to a friend because I didn't wear it much. Of course every store will have a different selection, so what I find at my Big Lots.. you may not be able to find at yours - and vise versa.

Cosmetic Aisle at Big Lots

Cosmetic Aisle at Big Lots

Something that did catch my eye though were some brushes, more specifically, a whole brush set for $1. None of the bristles felt stiff and scratchy, so for $1, who could go wrong? I also picked up a few single brushes. (I apologize in advance if the photos aren't the greatest quality. They are taken indoors with flash)

From left to right: Powder Brush, Duo Eyeshadow Brush, Wiper Blending Eyeshadow Brush, Five Brush Mini Kit with Zip Purse.

Five Brush Mini Kit with Zip Purse

The Five Brush Mini Kit contains a blush/powder brush, foundation brush and three double sided brushes for the eyes, brows and concealer. I've already used each of the brushes and they are surprisingly good quality for $1. The only brush I find useless is the brush on the opposite side of the angled brush. It's an angled sponge for smudging.. and I find the sponge too dense (and rubbery?) to work well. Also, the angled brush is a little stiff so can't really be used to line the eyes... but it works great for the brows.

Brushes included in the Five Brush Mini Kit (excluding the powder & foundation brushes)

What's cool is that the kit comes with a little zip around carrying case which is perfect for travel. It's great to pop in your bag, use for traveling or even to keep in your glove compartment in your car for emergencies!

Carrying case for the Five Brush Mini Kit

Left to Right: Powder Brush, Wiper Blending Eyeshadow Brush and Duo Eyeshadow Brush.

The three brushes I purchased separately are also great quality. The Wiper Blending brush is like a dupe for the MAC 224 or Sigma Tapered Blending Brush. 

The only thing I dislike about these brushes is the appearance of them (*cough* ugly). I prefer black brushes to match all of my other brushes. Nevertheless, these brushes are great for travel, or like I mentioned good to keep in your car, etc. 

Have you found any "too good to pass by" deals lately? Do share!

IT'S HERE! My Sigma "Make Me Classy" 12 Brush Kit!!!

The Sigma 12 Brush Kit (Make Me Up Collection) contains five (5) face brushes and seven (7) eye brushes, for a total of 12 brushes. Each brush is labeled with the actual name of the brush and brush number. Brushes starting with "F" are face brushes and brushes starting with "E" are eye brushes. The Sigma 12 Brush Kit comes in a variety of four (4) different colors to suit your personal style. There is pink, blue, purple and black. I went with the standard black brushes, also known as the "Make Me classy" Kit. Each kit also comes with a durable holder that is convenient for traveling or storing your brushes in.

These are the individual brushes that come in this kit:

Eyeliner - E05 - An extra-fine tipped synthetic fiber brush that delivers a precise, firm, even stroke to line the eyes.
Pencil - E30 - Precise application of color on the crease, outer corner, and upper and lower lash line. Also ideal to smudge out pencil liner. Natural bristles.
Tapered Blending - E40 - Rounded and tapered top. Specially designed to apply and blend color on the crease. Natural bristles.
Eye Shading - E55 - Soft and dense with a rounded finish. Can be used to apply pressed or loose eye shadows and pigments. Ideal to build intense color on the eyelid. Natural bristles.
Large Shader - E60 - Flat shape is ideal for application of cream formulas and eye shadow primers. It also works great with loose eye shadows or pigments. Can be used to apply color all over the lid or precisely on the lash line. Natural bristles.
Small Angle - E65 - Essential for the application of gel or cream eyeliner on the upper and lower lash line. This brush is also excellent for filling out the eyebrows. Synthetic bristles.
Medium Angled Shading - E70 - Angled, tapered, flat top. Ideal to apply highlight shades underneath the eyebrow and on the inner corners. It can also be used for a precise application of darker shades on the crease area. Natural bristles.
Large Powder - F30 - Very dense with a rounded top. Ideal to apply powder products on face and body. Natural bristles.
Large Angled Contour - F40 - The angled shape makes this brush ideal to apply blush or contour shades. Natural bristles.
Duo Fibre - F50 - Specially designed to generate an ‘airbrushed’ finish when used to apply liquid foundation. It can also be used to apply blush, highlight shades and loose pigments. Blend of synthetic and natural bristles.
Foundation - F60 - Can be used to apply liquid or cream foundation. It is also recommended to apply moisturizers and conceal large areas. Synthetic bristles.
Concealer - F70 - The rounded, tapered, flat shape makes this brush ideal to conceal the under eye area. It is also recommended for a precise application in small areas. Synthetic bristles.

The price of the kit is $99, which divided by 12, is around $8.25 a brush with a free brush holder.

Click HERE to view the product on the website. 

I will have a review to come for these soon! I actually own several of the eye brushes and use them daily - I absolutely love the E40, E55, E60 & E70 brushes. I haven't tried any of Sigma's face brushes, so I'm excited to give them a go.

Disclaimer: I received this set for free, as I am a Sigma Affiliate. My reviews are always honest & I will never "advertise" any products I wouldn't purchase myself.

The Sonia Kashuk Synthetic Flat Top Multipurpose Brush!

For those of you who aren't familiar with the brand.. Sonia Kashuk is a line of beauty products (created by Makeup Artist & Entrepreneur Sonia Kashuk) that are sold exclusively at Target stores. Sonia Kashuk products are supposedly of high end quality for an affordable price. One thing Sonia Kashuk is really known for is their wonderful brushes. Often times Sonia Kashuk comes out with limited edition brush sets for the whole face that range from $10-$20.. often times you can snag a great set for a great price since they go Clearance when the next new items come out. If you have, Kudos to you! I unfortunately don't have a very large selection of brushes and don't happen to own any myself.

It wasn't until lately that I was feeling a little dissatisfied with my selection of foundation brushes (I lost my MAC 131 somehow.. I gave my full size MAC 187 to my Mom and my MAC 187SE got ruined when my eyelash glue leaked into all of the bristles). Currently, I only have my ELF Studio Stipple brush.. which works wonderfully and a few basic foundation brushes (MAC 109, Ecotools Foundation Brush, ELF Studio Angled Foundation Brush) which I don't find practical for every foundation I own. I've been really wanting to try the Sigma Synthetic Face Kit, but as of the moment I can't dish out $50 on brushes. So, I finally decided to purchase the Sonia Kashuk Synthetic Flat Top Multipurpose Brush that I've see every time I'm at Target and have read raves for among Beauty Blogs.

The Sonia Kashuk Synthetic Flat Top Multipurpose Brush is a synthetic fiber brush with relatively short bristles (maybe a little under an inch long?) and is very silky soft to the touch. It is very dense and sturdy, and because of the small size - it is ideal for applying foundation and working it into small areas as well as creme and powder blush. The brush retails for $14.99.

I compared it to my other flat top brushes...

From Left to Right: Sonia Kashuk Synthetic Flat Top Multipurpose Brush, ELF Studio Powder Brush & Gotta B' Urban Finishing Brush. 

The Sonia Kashuk brush is the smallest of the three and it is the most dense. My ELF Studio Powder Brush is almost just as dense and a little bit larger. The ELF brush works well for foundation.. but I found it very difficult to clean when I used liquid foundation, so I just stick with using powder products with it. The Gotta B' Urban brush (purchased at Marshall's) is the least dense, as the fibers are very long and is ideal for setting powder.

The first time using the brush was today and I really liked the result. It smoothed on my foundation so quick and easy. I didn't have to spend extra time buffing it in like I usually do. 

Overall, I think it's a very good brush. The price seems a lot for a brush that isn't high end, but it works extremely well and is comparable to a brush you'd buy from MAC or Sephora. 

I'll keep you updated to let you know how I like this brush as I use it more and more.

Do you own this brush? How do you like it?

Sephora Platinum #55 Airbrush, yay or nay?

Sephora Platinum #55 Airbrush
 
 
I'm not sure how I got lured into purchasing this brush.. but I did. It is the much talked about airbrush from Sephora. I LOVE Sephora's platinum pro silver handle brushes.. they are all so soft and of really good quality. They are a little more pricey than the regular black handled Sephora brushes.. but if you're looking to invest hundreds in brushes.. these are just as good, if not better than MAC brushes. This brush is said to work hand in hand with Make Up Forever's HD Foundation. It really does work well. This brush is incredibly soft and applies the foundation wonderfully. Through the application the brush stayed soft and the bristles never clumped together. It is also pretty sturdy.. the bristles didn't get pressed down or bend while applying. For Make Up Forever HD, this works better than the duo-fiber stipple brush (for me at least). I find that with thinner consistency foundations this brush works really well. I like using this for Make up Forever Face and Body Foundation as well. For thicker foundations, I still prefer my stipple brush. It definitely made applying foundation a lot quicker.. and I love how its shaped so you can really get close to your eyes and around your brow area well. Overall, I wasn't blown away with this brush, but it's definitely a really nice synthetic foundation brush to have in your collection in opposition to a regular flat brush or the duo-fibre brush. I'm glad I purchased it.  

Have you tried this brush? What are your thoughts?