Skincare Empties! Serums, Essences, Moisturizers, and All That!

Another few months have passed, and with that more empties! Yes I have been trying to use up my products instead of just accumulating them (because truth be told as a beauty junkie you do accumulate a LOT after a short period of time). Anyway over the past few months, I (with a little help from some of my family members) have managed to accumulate quite the literal pile of products. Behold! My empties!

As usual, I wait for months until my empties pile up to the high heavens before it occurs to me to do an empties post, LOL

Since these are a lot to get through, they're going to be split into two parts - skincare, and makeup. We'll start with the skincare first. Basically every face product you can think of - lotions, essences, creams, masks, eye creams, are all in this post. Except sunscreens, because they're grouped with makeup this time round (mostly just to prevent this post from getting too long).

Alright, let's get to it!

The Body Shop Japanese Matcha Tea Mask Review and Ingredients Analysis

The Body Shop Japanese Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing Mask was launched a couple of months back, and I'm finally getting round to reviewing it! I really wanted to review this mask because it seems to tick off all the right, trendy boxes at the moment - the website for the Japanese Matcha Tea Mask claims that the mask is "100% vegan" (which I interpreted to mean that it doesn't contain any animal-derived ingredients), and that it "purifies, gently exfoliates and liberates your skin from the weekly build-up of city pollutants and everyday impurities". For those of us (including myself) who live in highly urbanized, city environments, doesn't this sound great?

The Body Shop Japanese Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing Mask: The newest mask claims to exfoliate and purify skin

As is typical of The Body Shop products, the Japanese Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing Mask also boasts a few plant-derived ingredients, as you might expect from a "vegan" mask. There's "matcha green tea from Kakegawa, Japan, dandelion extract and soul-soothing Community Trade aloe vera from Mexico". Also, you can't tell from a first glance at the advertising material, but this mask actually has little scrubby bits - in this case, they are again derived from two plants, Luffa Cylindrica and Apricot Seed Powder. But the exfoliation offered by this mask is advertised as being gentle - this isn't one of those harsh masks.


The Body Shop Japanese Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing Mask: In line with recent trends, it also claims to remove pollutants and impurities from skin
How is The Body Shop Japanese Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing Mask as a clay mask? As an exfoliating product? Would it work for sensitive skin? And which ingredients are in there making the product work? We'll find out!

The Body Shop Fresh Nude Foundation Review and Ingredients Analysis

The Body Shop Fresh Nude Foundation was launched earlier this year, and The Body Shop claims that this foundation "mimics the look of fresh-faced natural skin with a nude glow" to "make every day a good skin day". It also claims provide "up to 24h moisturization", and doesn't that sound great?

The Body Shop Fresh Nude Foundation: The Body Shop's latest foundation launch

I was half-expecting this to be a lightweight, watery foundation from the description, but it turned out to actually be more of a creamy foundation instead. And I'll admit that I've basically been procrastinating on this review because there were so many foundation/BB cushion/base product launches in the start of the year, that I just never quite got around to blogging about it! But now that it's already past the first half of the year, I figure I should get a move on this review, finally. So here you are!


The Body Shop Fresh Nude Foundation: Launched at the start of the year, this foundation claims to hydrate skin for 24 hours
So without further ado, let's start the review! And as with all reviews, let's begin at my favourite place - the ingredients list!

The Body Shop Drops of Youth Review: Eye Concentrate, Bouncy Sleeping Mask, Essence Lotion, Cream, Youth Concentrate

The Body Shop's Drops of Youth collection of skincare products has launched, and this range targets the first signs of ageing and delivers hydration to skin. It is a surprisingly comprehensive range, with a Essence Lotion, Eye Concentrate, Youth Concentrate, Youth Cream, and Bouncy Sleeping Mask. So yes, a total of five products are being launched!

The Body Shop Drops of Youth: A skincare range to target the first signs of aging

Some of you may remember my old review last year of The Body Shop's Drops of Youth Concentrate, which is part of the Nutriganics Line. And while I didn't review it last year either, the Nutriganics line also had a Bouncy Sleeping Mask too. The packaging of the products in the Nutriganics line is slightly different - the "older" Bouncy Sleeping Mask, for example, has a white cap rather than a black one, while the Concentrate had a different lid and dropper.


The Body Shop Drops of Youth: Five products, ranging from lotions to concentrates to masks
Anyway, we'll be looking at all these products in the Drops of youth collection - Lotion, Eye Concentrate, Youth Concentrate, Cream, and Bouncy Sleeping Mask, and as always, we're going to take a closer look at how these products work! Since there are quite a number of products to go through, this post is going to be a tad long, so buckle your seatbelts, and let's get starte!

The Body Shop Frosted Plum Review and Ingredients Analysis: Bath Fizzers, Body Butter, Shimmer Mist, Lip Balm

After my previous post looking at some of The Body Shop's Frosted Plum products, I'm back with the rest of the products! The Frosted Plum range is limited edition for Christmas, and in addition to the usual products - Body Butter, Body Lotion and so on - they also come in some very attractive looking gift sets.


The Body Shop Frosted Plum Collection: Limited Edition for Christmas
Anyway, the Frosted Plum range seems to be pretty popular this year, and some of the shops I've seen could barely keep them in stock. I've intended to review the range for awhile, but better late than never, right?


The Body Shop Frosted Plum CollectionL The range includes an extensive line of bath and body products
Anyway, today's post looks at the Bath Fizzers, Body Butter, Shimmer Mist, and Lip Balm. The rest of the products I have (Sugar Scrub, Body Lotion, Shower Gel) were looked at in yesterday's post. So without further ado, let's take a look at the rest of the range!

The Body Shop Frosted Plum Review and Ingredients Analysis: Sugar Scrub, Body Lotion, Shower Gel

The Body Shop's Frosted Plum range is new for Christmas 2015, and this is a limited edition range. As with previous scents, you can get this in the full range of products - body butter, body lotion, shower gel, fragrance, bath fizzers, lipbalm, and the list goes on. The Frosted Plum range seems to be really, really popular here - I've walked by local The Body Shop stores where barely any of the range is in stock, so I hope this review isn't a little too late!

The Body Shop Frosted Plum Collection: A sophisticated scent that is limited edition

Frosted Plum, as the name implies, is a sweet, fruity scent. Although The Body Shop's website states that it is meant to be a "truly sophisticated indulgence", this is really, to my nose anyway, more girly-fruity than grown-up musk. Nevertheless, the scent is appealing, and you can smell some of the plum. In that sense, it's in the same family of other The Body Shop scents, where they are mostly sweet, fruit-based concoctions. If you've tried and liked the other The Body Shop scents, then you'll probably like this too. The smell of the range is gorgeous, and really nice to luxuriate in. And there are many ways to bask in the scent, since the product range is so vast.


The Body Shop Frosted Plum Collection: A sweet, fruity scent complemented by its purple packaging
I have quite a few products from this range - the Sugar Scrub, Body Butter, Body Lotion, Shower Gel, Shimmer Mist, Bath Fizzers, and Lip Balm. Since reviewing all of them in one post would result in a super long post (especially given my style or review - what with that ingredients geekery and other nerdiness, so I've decided to just do this in two parts. For part 1, we'll be looking at the Sugar Scrub, Body Lotion, and Shower Gel, while Part 2 will look at the rest of the products. So I hope you're settled in, and let's get started!

The Body Shop Oils of Life Intensely Revitalising Essence Lotion, Facial Oil, Gel Creme Review and Ingredients Analysis

The Body Shop's Oils of Life skincare and bodycare range launched in Singapore recently, and I have here 3 of the products from the collection: the Intensely Revitalising Essence Lotion, the Intensely Revitalising Facial Oil, and the Intensely Revitalising Gel Creme. There is also an accessory, the Twin-Ball Revitalising Facial Massager, which is meant to massage the products into your face. The Oils of Life launch date was 3rd September, so for once I'm not super late with my reviews, haha.

The Body Shop Oils of Life Skincare Collection: With "3 precious seed oils"

As you might guess, the selling point of these products is the oils in them. The Body Shop advertises them as containing "3 precious seed oils", which are black cumin oil from Egypt, rosehip oil from Chile, and camellia oil from China. And the packaging for this line is pretty gorgeous and luxe-looking too, with the rich, golden amber hues of oils and lotions. I'm not that much of an oil kinda person, but I really like the look of these! I mean, don't tell me that shade of gold doesn't look appealing. And the name "Oils of Life" - doesn't it sound so tempting?


The Body Shop Oils of Life Skincare Collection: The 3 oils are black cumin oil from Egypt, rosehip oil from Chile, and camellia oil from China
Anyway, since we have 3 (or 4, if you count the Facial Massager) products to review, this post is going to be on the long side! But if you're read, I'm ready, so let's cut to the chase and jump straight to the meat of the post! We're going to look at the ingredient in the products, and also, their textures and how oily/light they are.

The Body Shop Drops of Youth Concentrate Review and Ingredients Analysis

The Body Shop's Drops of Youth Concentrate is a new skincare product, and according to The Body Shop's website, it "works to help boost surface skin cell renewal", so that your "skin feels immediately moisturized and instantly softer". For those who like such products, it also claims to be silicone-free and paraben-free, with "99% natural ingredients".

The Body Shop Drops of Youth Concentrate: Part of the Nutriganics Line

With such a description, I was very curious to check it out and see exactly how it works! I mean, even the packaging has a whole list of awesome things the Drops of Youth Concentrate does - smoother skin, firmer skin, more even skin, fresher skin. What more could a girl want, right?


The Body Shop Drops of Youth Concentrate: Advertised skincare benefits include smoother, firmer and more even skin
With that in mind, I decided to take a look at the product's ingredients list first, in order to really get a sense of how it works, and whether it lives up to its hype.

The Body Shop Fuji Green Tea Review and Ingredients Analysis: Bath Tea, Body Butter, Body Scrub, Eau de Cologne

The Body Shop's Fuji Green Tea Collection, consisting of a Body Butter, Body Scrub, Eau de Cologne, and Bath Tea, has been getting quite a bit of raves from both bloggers and customers alike. I'm pretty late to the party (considering that this collection was launched here in April-ish?), but I figure better late than never, right? Right?

The Body Shop Fuji Green Tea Body Butter, Body Scrub, Eau de Cologne, and Bath Tea

The Fuji Green Tea collection consists of some old favourites, such as the Body Butter and Body Scrub, as well as the Eau de Cologne, but also has a new product called Bath Tea, which is essentially a form of bath salts, but packaged like tea. Super cute! I've always been a pretty big fan of The Body Shop since my days as a University student in the US and UK - their Body Butters were my favourite thing to combat the rough, dry skin that I got as a result of the cold weather, so I was quite pleased to see that a new Body Butter scent has been released. (For the record, my favourite scent back then was the Cocoa Butter one, just because it smelled so comforting and yummy!)


The Body Shop Fuji Green Tea: Some old favourites like the Body Butter, and something new, like the Bath Tea
Anyway, let's skip the preliminaries and get to the review. There are 4 products I have to review, so it's going to be a long post! Buckle up and let's go!

The Body Shop Vitamin E Eyes Cube Review and Ingredients Analysis

The Body Shop's Vitamin E collection has launched, and one of the items in the collection is the Vitamin E Eyes Cube. When I posted about this product on Instagram, I got a lot of questions and curious comments about it on Instagram and Facebook, so I figured that a review on it was in good order! After all, it's not everyday that you encounter a solid eye product!

The Body Shop Vitamin E Eyes Cube: Part of the Vitamin E collection

The Body Shop's Vitamin E Eyes Cube, is, as the product name suggests, an "eyes cube" - basically an eye cream, but instead of cream form, it's in stick form, like lipbalm. The Body Shop, on its website, claims that "the Vitamin E Eyes Cube is our new ingenious anti-fatigue eye stick. In one gentle sweep, it instantly revives and refreshes the eye area to fight signs of tiredness caused by dryness". The site also claims, "Enriched with wheatgerm oil, one of the highest natural sources of vitamin E, the Eyes Cube protects the eye area with moisture". So yes - moisture for your eyes, in a stick!


The Body Shop Vitamin E Eyes Cube: Probably the first eye cream I've seen in a stick form
First, let's take a look at whether the Vitamin E Eyes Cube really does live up to its claims, and how it works, when it's in a stick form, before we move on to the aesthetics of the product. And of course, our first stop would be none other than the ingredients list!

The Body Shop MoistureWhite Bright Compact Foundation SPF25 PA+++ Review and Ingredients Analysis

The Body Shop's latest compact foundation and part of its MoistureWhite range, is the MoistureWhite Bright Compact Foundation SPF25 PA+++. I guess that's a pretty self-explanatory product name: it's a powder foundtion, it's in a compact form, it has brightening properties, and there is sun protection in the product. With such a comprehensive product name, what more is there to say? The Body Shop essentially succintly summarized what the product does in less than 10 words! Let's end the review here and you guys can just scroll down and look at photos! Yay!

Just kidding. (Aside: I don't know if that joke was funny or not. At least I tried!) I still do have lots more to say, because that's just the kind of verbose makeup geek I am. The MoistureWhite Bright Compact Foundation actually has two different colours in the compact. The main colour, which takes up most of the space in the compact, is the foundation colour. But there is also a little pink, shimmering strip inside, that is meant to act as a highlighter of sorts to brighten your complexion. The Body Shop claims on their website that the product is "infused with light-diffusing fine mica pearls" and that "the illuminating part of the compact is designed to bring multi-dimensional light...so your complexion looks radiant from every angle". Whitening, brightening, and illuminating properties in base makeup (primers, foundations, BB creams and so on) are always popular in Asia, so this is definitely the kind of marketing that people would be curious about.



Right, you say. So the MoistureWhite Bright Compact Foundation has brightening properties. But how does it work? Which ingredients give it these awesome illuminating properties? And speaking of brightening, does this product actually contain anything that will brighten my skin over the long term, like a skincare product? (See, this is why I have more to say!) And to answer such questions, we'll start off at the ingredients list of the products, and take a look there.

MUFE Blush & Highlighter Brushes Review & Comparison: Buffer Blush Brush #152 and Medium Highlighter Brush #154

Along with the MUFE HD Second Skin Cream Blush that was launched recently, MUFE has also launched a set of makeup brushes, which I thought deserved their own post, because these are some really standout makeup brushes!

MUFE Buffer Blush Brush #152 and Medium Highlighter Brush #154

One of the really standout features of these new brushes are how soft they are. When I heard that these were made of synthetic bristles, my first thought was, "Aren't all these synthetic-bristled brushes the same? They all feel the same to me!" And I learned that these are made from a different material. Your regular synthetic-bristled brush is made out of nylon fbers, but these are made out of a special type of material that's proprietary (so although the science geek in me was trying to annoy the PR staff into telling me what the material was, it turns out that they didn't know exactly either) and unique to MUFE at the moment. So these brushes are indeed something unique!


MUFE's new brushes utilize a new synthetic fiber that makes their brushes softer than the typical synthetic brush.
In order to test this out, I thought there was only one fair way to do this - and that is to bring out all my synthetic-bristle blush and highlighter brushes, and do a brush-on-brush comparison, to see which one was really the softest! And after much digging around my stash, I got these. I included the Hakuhodo Kokutan Blush Brush S because it was partially synthetic (a mix of synthetic bristles and blue squirrel hair):


Almost all my synthetic-haired blush and highlighter brushes, for the sake of comparison!

Blush Brush Comparison: Hakuhodo, Real Techniques, The Body Shop

So, after I bought my Hakuhodo Kokutan Blush Brush S from Beauty Asia 2014, I thought some of you might appreciate a comparison between the Hakuhodo Blush Brush S with some other similarly-sized and shaped brushes in my stash, so I brought them out for you!

In my stash, the closest brushes are The Body Shop's Blusher Brush, as well as Real Technique Your Finish Perfected Blush Brush. Here they all are together.

Hakuhodo Kokutan Blush Brush S, The Body Shop's Blusher Brush, Real Technique Your Finish Perfected Blush Brush

While there are some similarities at first sight, they aren't all identical. The blush brushes all differ in in shape, bristle type, and bristle arrangement. And I use each of these brushes in slightly different ways. So, if you want to see a side-by-side comparison, as well as hear my thoughts on each blush brush, well, here you go!


Hakuhodo Kokutan Blush Brush S, The Body Shop's Blusher Brush, Real Techniques Your Finish Perfected Blush Brush

Stuff I've Used Up: Skincare, Nails, Makeup Empties!

Hooray! I've used up more stuff, since my last "I actually use up my beauty products" post. I don't know what it is about being a beauty junkie and a beauty blogger, but it's safe to say that over my more than 5 years of beauty-junkie-ness, I've accumulated more beauty product than I can ever use up in a lifetime. But every now and then I hit pan on things, and I just have to crow about it - because, you know, I actually use things up! (First world problems, I know. It's a little embarrassing, to be honest.) This round, I've accumulated quite a few empties, so I thought it's time I do a collective post for all of them!

Look at all these empties!

Yup, that's quite a few empties right there! So without further ado, let me walk you through them, as well as give you my quick one-liner reviews on each item!

Travel-Friendly Makeup and Skincare: What I Brought for my Holiday

If you've been following me on Instagram or on Twitter, you'll know that I recently went to the north part of Vietnam for a holiday! And I figure that perhaps some of you may want to know what beauty items did I pack along with me for my week-long holiday?

Travel-Friendly Makeup and Skincare: Here's what I packed!

The weather in Vietnam was good, ranging from just above 10 degrees Celsius in the mountainous areas at night, to a good mid-20s degrees Celsius in the city areas during the day. We expected it to rain when we were in the hilly paddy areas of Sa Pa at some point, but it didn't, so that was great! The next thing you know, though, it started snowing (a rare occurrence for that area) once we left the area, so there you go, the weather can be unpredicatable. But for the most part I brought along my usual staples when it came to skincare. And for makeup, it was a mix of usual staples, as well a "cheap stuff that I won't cry over if it gets lost/gets broken/get banged up and that does not suck". So without further ado, here you go!

Haul: Two Pretty Neutral Eyeshadow Palettes

Oh yes, it's yet another haul post! I know that I've been hauling lots recently, from the Illamasqua sale, the KATE sale, a Sleek haul (no sale, though). So why am I still hauling? Because it was on sale, duh!


The Body Shop Smoky Moonstone Palette - Gorgeous Metallic Frosty Neutrals

Face Brushes Review and Comparison 2: MAC 188, Stila #24 and Body Shop Blush Brush

OK, so we had a nice diversion with Bourjois Brun Nylon. Now back to brushes: here's Part 2 of my face brushes review!

So in this previous post, I talked about the MAC 187 and 189, and how they were nice, but not really must-haves for me. Today, I will review and compare The Body Shop's synthetic blush brush, and the Stila #24. Just like how last post's brushes were all for face and foundation, today's brushes are all blush brushes!

The Body Shop has a really nice and soft range of synthetic brushes, comparable to the Too Faced ones in feel and quality, and I really like them for the face. I don't like them so much for eyes because sythetic brushes by their nature tend to pick up less pigment than natural hair brushes - this isn't so annoying when applying face powder or blush, when you want a sheerer application, but can be a pain if you're trying to put on eye colour, and you want the colour to show up. Thus, I tend to buy synthetic brushes for face use only. That said, I really like The Body Shop's version, for what it's worth. It has a nice dome shape, which fits into your cheek nicely, and it's nice to hold and use. I use this pretty often, especially for my more pigmented blushes, because like I said, the synthetic bristles pick up less pigment than, say the Stila #24, which is all natural hair. Although of course, if I reallly want a very sheer wash, I'd use my MAC #188 for that, because of its smaller size and it's sparse bristles. The only minor gripe I have with this is that the distribution of powder that it puts on your face isn't totally even. For some reason (I think it's because the dome shape ends abruptly at the sides - does that make sense? I can't think of a better way of putting it), it tends to put a greater amount of color in some areas than in others. It's not a big deal, because I just blend it out and it works well, but it's something I thought I'd just note. Like I said, it's a minor gripe.

The MAC 188 is of course, the little sister of the MAC 187, except, much better due to its smaller size. Here, like I mentioned above, it works reallly well for the most pigmented of blushes, like for example, your NARS Exhibit A. It also works fantastically for highlighters, especially for MSFs, because the sparse bristles work to prevent glitter overload. Very useful indeed. I like this one, and there's not much else to be said for this.

Last of all, the Stila #24 is a must-have for anyone who loves blush, but has a stash of mostly moderate-to-lightly pigmented blushes. Like the MAC 188, the Stila #24 is made out of natural hair, but the bristles are denser on both ends (duh!), and the larger end has a dome shape. If you look at the picture above you'll see that the larger domed end is actually just the right shape for blush - meaning that the brush itself isn't big, and the other end (which resembles a mini Stila #21), is really, really tiny. A lot of people ask me if the Stila #24 can be used for the entire face, like for face powder application, because they have been woefully misled by pictures on the Stila website, which somehow always seem to make the Stila #24 look a lot bigger than it is. You defintely won't be able to use this to powder your face, unless you're a pixie or something....Although it COULD double up as a powder blush if you want to squeeze one into your makeup bag, since its bristles are just the right type and density. It just would take a lot longer than using an actual powder brush, such as the Stila #8. Despite its smallness, I really like this brush! I love the rounded, domed end for powder blushes that aren't too pigmented, as it picks up just the right amount, deposits it evenly, and is just the right size for fitting on my cheek! And as for the other mini end? Wellllll....I'm not really sure what to do with it, and to be frankly honest, I rarely, if ever, use that tiny end. I do guess it would probably be good for powder highlighters, for spot highlighting. Otherwise, I can't think of a use for this - suggestions anyone? I do think the tiny end makes this brush a pity, since it is so expensive. I do love the bigger end, but I kind of think for USD$50, it isn't really worth the cost if you're not going to use the smaller end at all. The fact that I have it in my stash shows that I'm a sucker, I guess..

Anyway, that concludes Part 2 of my review and comparisons of face brushes for today. In Part 3, we will deal with the remaining brushes, which are all on my can't-live-without list, and you'll see why! :)

Face Brushes Review and Comparison: Part 1 MAC 187 and 189

So I said in this post that I should do a post on my face brushes. And here you go! Over the next few days/weeks/however long it takes (with interruptions), I'll be doing reviews of my favourite brushes in my stash! Here they are. Not all of them are here, of course, but these are my favourites, my must-haves, and the ones I use the most often. Just a disclaimer: None of these brushes are free samples etc. I bought every single one of these with my own hard-earned money! I'm just reviewing them because...well they're in my stash, and well, a HG powder or blush brush can be the hardest thing to find sometimes, and it doesn't help that brushes tend to cost a lot of money:



L - R: Flirt! Feather Dust-Her, Body Shop blush brush, MAC 188, MAC 187, MAC 189, Stila #21, Stila #8, Stila #24

So here they are, after being washed, mostly dry. I thought it would be a good idea to take all the face brushes together, to give an idea of scale and relative size, so you can get a good idea of how big/small one brush is next to another. Sadly, the Stila #8 has been discontinued, much to my chagrin, because it was one of the best powder brushes I've ever had (and this is after trying the MAC 134 and the Shu Uemura 18R). *Shakes fist* When I contacted Stila Customer Service about it, the jokers at CS told me to go and look at the Stila #31, which is NOT AT ALL like the #8. The #8 is much better in quality than the #31, but then again I have a thing against retractable brushes in general (except my Too Faced Kabuki - wait, why is it not in the picture? Nevermind, it gets it's own review, then I guess).

Anyway, today I will kick off my Face Brushes Series with a review of the MAC 189, and the MAC 187, because I don't have much to say about them. To be honest, they're the least used and the least favourite in the bunch, but that's probably just me.

The MAC 187 brush has reached cult status across makeupdom, and is the HG brush of many a liquid foundation user. Which herein lies why I don't like the MAC 187 as much as other people do - I don't use liquid foundation. I did use it to try to blend out my Kevin Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer, but somehow it didn't quite look 'right' even then. For blush application this is pretty good though - I like how the shape of the 187 fits just right onto my cheek area, not too small, and not too big. However, I tend to prefer the either the 188, the Stila #24, or the Body Shop blush brush, depending on what blushes I'm using (more on that in later reviews). So as a result, my 187 suffers from neglect. I do think this is a good quality brush though, it's just that the fact that I don't wear liquid foundation - coupled with the fact that I tend to use my other blush brushes over it - makes it rarely used.

The MAC 189 brush was first launched together with the MSF Naturals, and was touted as a blush that can be used for BOTH powder and cream. Now of course this flies against the face of all my makeup training and knowledge - traditional makeup theory says that synthetic brushes are best for cream, and natural brushes are best for powder, although of course in recent years the boundary has been blurred with the advent of better synthetic bristles etc etc. Anyway, I was curious to see how this worked for both powder and cream, and I have to say....I'm a bit ambivalent when it comes to poweder. Sure it applied face powder fairly well, but it just felt weird using a paddle synthetic brush to put on powder, if you know what I mean. I felt the finish was acceptable - it wasn't fantastic, but it wasn't le suckage either. I also tried using it for powder blush, but the effect wasn't as great as using an actualy blush brush, as the blending was a bit hard to do with the brush. I tried using this baby for cream blushes too, and once again, I found it a bit hard to blend out the cream blushes, as it tended to leave a hard line where the edges of the bristles were. Maybe I'm spoiled by all the skunk brushes out there, but this was just a meh for me. Not impressed.

So that's it for this brush post. I've no idea what brushes I'll cover for the next brush post, so feel free to comment and leave any suggestions :) I'll cover all of them eventually though :)