Hello Beautiful Makeup Geeks!

I had SUCH a great time at IMATS this year meeting so many of you!  Thanks to each of you who came by to say hello and give a big hug  You were such sweethearts, and I really wish I could have spent more one on one time with each of you.

I wanted to share my haul video with you showing what I picked up at the show.  There were some great new products that I can’t wait to use in some videos!

Hakuhodo and Bdellium Brushes

These brushes are amazing!  The quality of the Hakuhodo ones are incredible, but super expensive.  I wouldn’t recommend getting a ton of these, but for a splurge, they are really nice.  The bdellium ones are nice too (very soft) and are super affordable!  My favorite is the #945 which is a dupe for the MAC 109 that I use in so many videos.  The #768 is nice also- is similar to the Makeup Geek Outer V brush but a little bigger and stiffer.

Pricing for the Hakuhodo brushes is between $40-110 and the Bdellium is between $5-30.

Where to Buy:    Hakuhodo  .  eBay

Where to Buy:   Bdellium  .  Amazon .  eBay

Sugar Pill Heart Breaker Palette

This palette is so vibrant and fun!  I love these colors together, and the pigmentation is amazing.  I definitely plan on doing a look with this palette soon as it’s so pretty.  The colors are all matte except the pale aqua, which has a slight shimmer.  The compact has a mirror inside for makeup on the go.  LOVE the packaging as well.

Where to Buy:  Makeup Geek Store

Naked Cosmetics Pigments

These pigments are super finely milled and come in such beautiful colors!  I favorite collections were the  ”Naturally Nude” and the “Shock Effect”.   Although these are pigmented and easy to apply, I wish the price wasn’t so steep (is $60 for pack of 6).  The packaging is inconvenient also, but I do love the product inside.

Where to Buy:   Naked Cosmetics  

Beauty So Clean Sanitizer

This sanitizing spray is perfect for makeup artists looking to clean their eyeshadows and blushes without scraping them and wasting product.  To use this, you simply mist your makeup and let dry.  It isn’t supposed to dry them out or make them too wet to re-use.  (I haven’t tried yet, but will do a full review a bit later on it)

Where to Buy:  Beauty So Clean  .  Amazon  .  eBay

Ardell False Lashes

I’ve been using Ardell lashes for years as they are much easier to apply than other brands, are inexpensive, and look more natural because of the invisible base.  The new “double lash” ones are really fun looking as they flare out on the ends for added drama.  Can’t wait to use these babies in some dramatic looks!  ;)   The price ranges from $3.50-8.00 depending on the style you buy.

Where to Buy:   Amazon  .  Makeup Geek Store   .  eBay

Eye Kandy Glitter Kit

Everyone at IMATS was sporting these super fun and girly glitters!  You could tell who stopped by the Eye Kandy booth as their eyes were gleaming with glittery liner  I love these glitters as they come in so many colors and really are easy to apply!  Pictured here is the kit with 3 glitters, brush, and liquid sugar adhesive.  I’ll do a video soon using these as they’re lots of fun

Where to Buy:  Eye Kandy  .  eBay

Ciate Caviar Manicure Kit

This manicure kit looks so unique and fun!  It’s pretty much beaded nails that you can do at home.  I picked this up at Sephora as I wanted to try something new with my nails.  I’ll do a post later showing the final result, but so far it looks really fun!

The price for this was $25 and you can get it at Sephora, Amazon, and eBay.

Don’t forget to look for us at the IMATS 2013 in January!  I would love to meet you all and gain your support for Makeup Geek.  Without you, I wouldn’t be doing what I love, so thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support throughout the years. I really do appreciate it!

OH, and check out my post I did on my personal blog:   Simply Marlena

xoxo,
Marlena

What is it?

The chisel shader brush is flat and made of shorter bristles. They are easily recognizable because of their unique design. It is comparable to the MAC 214 brush, which retails for $24.50 USD, whereas the Makeup Geek brush retails for $4.59 USD. The tip is rounded and thin to create clean, thin lines.

Where to Buy: Makeup Geek Store
Price: $4.59

Makeup brushes have come a long way since the simple sponge tip applicators. With so many different types on the market it can seem like a whirlwind of confusion when trying to figure out what brush does what!

Specialized makeup brushes exist to help us apply and create specific looks, and having the correct brushes will make the world of difference when creating your makeup look. It is essential to know the function and benefits of each makeup brush specifically.

This article going to define for us what exactly the Chisel Shader Brush is best used for and what techniques we can utilize to get the most from it.

Synthetic v/s Natural Bristles

Eyeshadow brushes can be made of synthetic or natural bristles.  This is really a personal choice.

For those of you with allergies however, you will find a synthetic brush is going to work best. If you’re not into natural hair brushes and want to go faux, synthetic brushes are the way to go.

With makeup brushes as advanced as they are, synthetic brushes look, feel and work the same as natural bristles.  Every new brush is going to shed a few hairs, however, when you are looking for a good brush, the bristles should feel luxurious, soft and light.

What’s it for?

With its distinctive design, the chisel shader brush is perfect for helping to smudge your eyeshadow or eyeliner, especially under the lower lashes.  Because of this, the chisel brush is perfect for helping to create a perfect smokey eye.

The chiseled edge creates a distinct, defined line without feeling harsh.  Don’t stop there though; this brush is also perfect for creating a defined or cut crease on your lid.  It also creates a perfectly distinct outer v or anything that requires a making a line.

Is it a Must Have?

To be honest, this may not be something you would use every day unless you wear a smokey eye a lot.  However, if you are serious about your eye makeup, then this is something you will want in your arsenal of brushes.  Its ability to smudge out a line under your lashes, or create a defined line in your crease or outer v, makes this brush a must have!

Why I like it:

I love how easy it is to smudge shadow with this brush or even create a sharp line of shadow in the crease.  The chiseled edge gives a very defined line, while the soft bristles don’t feel harsh.

What is it?

Beauty Express kit from Anastasia Beverly Hills containing brow wax cream, brow powder duo, eyeshadow duo, five stencils and angled brush.

Thoughts:

I really like the packaging, it feels sturdy and of good quality:

I received the brow kit in color Brunette (also available in Blonde):

Brow wax, two brow powders, and two eyeshadows:

Wax is great. It keeps brows (and color) well in place, brow powder colors are really nice, you can use either the lighter or darker color or mix them like I do. Eyeshadows are also good quality, but IMO they are so light that I don’t think I’ll be using them much. Sure the highlighter is a good highlighter, but the other doesn’t suit me.

There’s 5 stencils included: Full, Medium, Petite, Slim and High arch, and a really nice brow brush.

How it works:

First you select the stencil that fits the most to your natural brow hair through the cutout. Then you align the stencil so it’s in line.

..Not quite like this... :S

Then you use the brow wax so that the powder stays better in place, and then you take the brush and color the stencil’s open area:

Finally you take tweezers and pluck the excess hair if there is any. And your brows are ready!

Few looks done with “stencil brows”:

Overall Opinion:

I liked this set very much!

I don’t use this daily, just when I have a “bad day” with my brows, or I need to pluck them to shape.

Maybe the price is a bit high, but the stencils are re-usable, the wax and brow powders last really long AND it comes with a good brush!

Price:

$39.50

Where to buy:

You can get these kits from anastasia.net (they ship worldwide, yay!) or if you’re lucky to live near Sephora you can pick it up there or order it online.

Hey girls and guys,

This video was more of a fun and personal type of video which I hope that you all enjoy. My most watched videos are makeup collection and storage videos; I spend hours on YouTube and it always gets me inspired to organise/reorganise my things. Hopefully you enjoy watching this video and that for some of you, I can inspire or give you ideas that you can use in your own space too! I have listed below the products that comprise my makeup vanity and some of the storage I have used as well.

Have a great week and take care,

Andrea

xo

VANITY

• Lighting Panel –  MUSIK wall lamp from IKEA (comes without light bulbs)
• Light Globes – SPARSAM low energy e14 globes 7w from IKEA
• Mirror – was from IKEA but I couldn’t find it but its just plain square mirror
• Desk – BARBADOS desk from OFFICEWORKS (or alternative is the MALM dressing table from IKEA)

ABOVE DESK STORAGE

• Mirrored Disc from the $2 store – found in the candle section
• 12 Lipstick Holder from FREEDOM furniture

• Square and Rectangular boxes – Acrylic Makeup Containers from SPOTLIGHT
• Larger Acrylic Organisers – GODMORGON storage unit set of 3 from IKEA
• Other clear storage – Empty Box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates

• Baskets in bookcase - BRANÄS rattan basket from IKEA

What is it?

Morale is very pink blush with sorta cold (blueish?) shimmer, and some tiny golden sparkles.

They Describe it as:

Illuminate, radiate, make your face come alive with the colour and drama of Illamasqua Powder Blusher. Colour-intense and highly pigmented, use it to shade, brighten, enhance and define the shape of your face. Be bold, be daring, be the centre of attention.

“Rosed flush, shimmer finish” 

Rating:

• Product: 3 out of 5
• Packaging: 5 out of 5
• Quality: 5 out of 5
• Overall: 4 out of 5
• Would I buy again?  Maybe
• Price: £ 16,50

Where to buy:

•  Illamasqua website

Overall Opinion:

Unfortunately this is just not my color. I rarely use pink blushes, I’m more of a peachy blush user, and when I use pink, I want it to be matte.
So I can’t really tell if this is a good shade or not, I just know it’s not my shade :/
But what I can tell, is that it’s pigmented and quite easily blendable. Again my review is a bit weird, because there’s nothing wrong with the product, just the personal opinion of the color.
If you like pink shimmery blushes, I can suggest you’d give this one a try!

Applied lightly and heavily:

For overall blending purposes, it’s good to have 4 eyeshadow colors:  a black, dark brown, medium brown, and nude.  These are for blending out harsh lines or creating your “go to” everyday look.  Here’s my recommendations for various brands:

MAC Eyeshadows:

• Carbon  (black)      (MAC)  (Amazon)
• Espresso (dark brown)     (MAC)   (Amazon)
• Wedge (light brown)    (MAC)     (Amazon)
• Brule  (nude)     (MAC)     (Amazon)

What is It?

A soft crease brush that blends eyeshadow flawlessly.  

Why I like it:

This is honestly one of my new favorite brushes!  It’s somewhat similar to the MAC 217 brush, but a little smaller so it gets in the crease without applying too much eyeshadow.  The bristles are soft enough to smoothly blend out the crease, but stiff enough to pick up enough color.  This brush is perfect for any eye shape, but especially works well if you have smaller eyes and find the stiff dome brush too big.

Price: $4.89

Where to Buy: Makeup Geek Store

What is It?

A small dome shaped brush that applies color in the “outer V” of the eye, creating an artistic shading to your eye makeup.

Why I like it:

I love this brush as it creates an artistic shading in the outer V of the eye (that’s why I named it that )  The head is slightly larger than a pencil brush, so it’s perfect for creating sharp lines without being too harsh.  It also smudges really well under the lower lashline giving that softer blended effect.  The bristles are stiff enough to pick up color but not hard on the eyes.  The handle is the perfect length for holding- not too long, and not too short (said the pappa bear- haha)   I really do love this brush and use it almost everyday!

Here’s a few videos where I used the brush:  Marlena’s Birthday Look   and  Dramatic Bridal Look    and   Bollywood Style Makeup

Price:   $5.99

Where to Buy:    Makeup Geek Store