Brushing Up With Sigma - Hollywood Glamour Retractable Kabuki Brush & Black Friday Special Offer

First of all I owe you guys a huge apology I've been planning a review series on all my Sigma brushes for sometime now but after an initial post I never did anymore, so I thought I'd try and do one for you today, just in time for the Sigma Black Friday Special ( more on that later ;)

It's probably been about a year since I bought this brush and I've used it sporadically since but I took it away on holiday with me, and I have to say it was such a useful brush I really don't know why I haven't used it more often.The brush in question is the Hollywood Glamour Retractable Kabuki Brush, the colours and the designs vary, but the one I have is the now discontinued There's Something About Marilyn.

This brush comes completely enclosed in a red metallic casing, to use it all you do it remove the lid, and push down the casing to reveal the brush head

The brush head itself has a domed head made of synthetic fibres. It is so soft and silky, but at the same time the brush hairs are very densely packed so the brush actually has some substance.

I predominantly use the brush either for powder touch up or with a mineral foundation such as Laura Geller Balance n Brighten, but you could also use it for highlighter or bronzer, or even liquid foundation. Retractable brushes like this one really are a make up bag must have, just load your brush up with powder, push it down, and put the lid and you don't need to carry you powder compact with you. Yes this brush is a bit of an investment but these aren't the easiest brushes to find, and this will definitely be a useful addition to your brush collection, I know it has been to mine. As I say this colour brush is no longer available from Sigma but you can get it in Black - Breakfast With Audrey and in Pink - Princess Grace , and you can also get a flat top version in Purple - Miss Taylor, they normally retail at $25 each from Sigma but there cuurently on special offer at $19!!!
If your interested in purchasing this or any other product from Sigma though there couldn't be a better time, it's the day after Thanksgiving in the US and what does that mean - Black Friday! So on one of the biggest shopping days of the year the lovely people at Sigma are offering free worldwide shipping! yes that right buy anything from the Sigma site and it will be delivered free simply use the code BF2011 on checkout. The promotion can't be used alongside any other discount and runs from 9am to 5pm Central Standard Time (CST). I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to go for yet maybe the flat definer brush or maybe even the Naughty In Black Travel Kit. I'd love to know what Sigma brushes you recommend and if your going to pick up any new ones today x Oh and if you have any questions on the retractable kabuki don't forget to leave me a comment x

ETA - I was a good girl and only ordered the flat definer brush ;)

Goodies From Sigma

A few weeks ago I placed an order with Sigma -their amazing Black Friday offer meant free worldwide shipping wahoo - it would have been wrong not to ;) As tempted as I was by the full sets I already have an awful lot of brushes, that said I am trying to phase out some of the ones I am not so impressed with so I decided on a special deal kit

The kit I got worked out at about £18.88 which is amazing for what it contained - first up it was super well packaged in a gorgeous voile bag, and contained a gorgeous red and gold Sigma make up bag this is such a good size and really nice quality - the same bag sells for around £10.95 from a UK Sigma retailer

It also contained the main reason for ordering the kit the Something About Marilyn Retractable Kabuki Brush - In a gorgeous red metal case this brush is gorgeous and soooo soft - I will mainly be using this for powder and mineral foundation touch ups - this retails for $25 on it own!




I also got the SS150 / F30 Powder Brush again super soft and really nice quality, and it is huge - this retails at $16.00



Already you can see what a super value kit this was (I say was because alas it isn't available anymore as a kit) and I have to say I am super happy with it not only that but Sigma were also kind enough to enclose a free gift a mini E25 Blending Brush, again super soft and ideal for travel



I can't wait to have a proper play with these brushes and I have to say I was really impressed with my experience with Sigma themselves - the free gift and the packaging is a definite plus point and the delivery time was pretty good considering the horrendous weather - I've previously bought my Sigma brushes from UK based sites but I definitely wouldn't be afraid to use Sigma again. Any questions please ask xx

A Review Of The ELF Studio Kabuki Face Brush

I must apologise a review of this brush was requested erm how can I say this months and months ago when I actually bought it and you've had to wait for the miracle of scheduled posting to see it - sorry I'm a bad LouLou. Anyways I purchased this brush for a number of reasons , first of all I love ELF brushes, they are great value for money, they aresynthetic and the Studio ones especially are super soft, secondly I already have the ELF face kabuki from the Mineral line and I have to say I hate it, it's hard and dare I say it even a little bit scratchy. So looking a for a cruelty free kabuki, I ordered the Studio Face Kabuki.

A duo fibre brush made from synthetic, anti-bactrial Taklon this one is the complete opposite to the mineral one - it so, so soft anf fluffy so much so that Tallulah actually stole it and lay with it in her doughnut thinking it was a mouse (don't worry I throughly cleaned it afterwards ;). The hairs are quite densely packed but being so soft I don't find this a very good brush for the swirl, tap, buff routine of mineral foundation, to create any sort of strength in the brush you have to actually grip the hairs together as you can see below (apologies its dirty - eek)

It just doesn't seem to have the strength for the best application method for mineral foundation, so I've been using this brush for dusting loose powder over my face and also highlighter application, and I think it's done a great job. Ideal for when feather light application is neccessary it's great for applying a small covering of powder to your t-zone, or a tiny bit of powder highlighter to your cheek bones, especially since you can change the shape of the brush for really precise application. So if your looking  for a kabuki brush to dust a bit of highlighter or a bit of loose powder on your face this is a goodie, for mineral foundation I personally will be sticking to my id Bare Minerals Flawless Face Brush. I purchased the Studio Kabuki Face Brush from ELF for £5. Any questions please let me know x

Debenhams Extras

In all my excitement yesterday I forgot to post about the rest of the goodies I got with my Debenhams Alice palette - whoops - As well as the palette I purchased a bottle of Mavala Scientifique nail strengthener - I still have some OPI Nail Envy to use and some other things but I have heard good things about this so I thought I'd get a bottle to try out if everything else I'm using fails - I'm about half way through operation nail growth for this month and I have to say I'm so, so - I have actually broke two nails on my left hand - one right the way down so it really hurts - but I am trying to keep up with all the cuticle work and so on so you never know - I'll report back around March 7th.
As well as the two things I purchased Debenhams were also kind enough to enclose some free samples - the most exciting one was a 10 day supply of id Bare Minerals Foundation in Medium Beige which happens to be my summer shade, and the cutest although not necessarily the most useful baby kabuki brush :) I also got some Gucci Flora perfume samples and about 8 DKNY Pure sample sheets which are currently adorning my radiators and giving off a lovely smell x