Review | Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow Pomade in Chocolate

Dip Brow in the shade Chocolate | LINK | £15

Hello! Today I am going to be reviewing a much talked about, new product in the beauty world – the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow Pomade. It was quite the impulse buy (post here) but after hearing so much about it from MUA’s who had been sent them earlier, I was well and truly intrigued. I also jumped in there and grabbed one before the whole waiting list thing can I get a round of an applause ;D

WHAT IS IT??

well according to The ABH website it is a ‘waterproof brow colour’ and it’s great for ‘sculpting, defining and carving perfectly precise brows that won’t fade’. So as you would expect the expectation for this were pretty high! It is available in 5 different colours, and one pot costs £15. When I first bought it I thought it would be very much like a gel eyeliner, however it has more of a mousse-y texture to it, and works like a brow powder and brow set in one. It’s a one step brow product (as long as you use a spoolie to natural it up a little!). I bought the shade chocolate, which makes for awesome natural brows but can also help me build dramatic brows if I choose to.

HOW DO I USE IT??

With any regular brow brush, or the one you can buy from the line! You pretty much ‘dip’ the brush in and draw/blend your brows up. I like to trace the bottom of my brow, then line the top and use the excess product on the hairs to blend and mix together through the middle of the brow. The waterproof formula means they literally don’t budge within around 30/60 seconds after you have applied it, so blend and brush as much as you need to quickly!

Apologies for the bad swatch! There are far better online – but hopefully you can see from the above photo that chocolate is a tad too light/brown for me! Also for the most part I don’t shape my brows, personal preference, so that’s why they’re a little unruly! For a quick video of the brow pomade in action follow me on Instagram @theblushinggiraffe :)

IS IT WORTH IT//DO I NEED IT??

Well the answer to the first question is YES, it is worth the money. Whilst I have dipped into a fair amount already, I know this will last me a long time (and would have lasted even longer had I picked the correct shade ._.) I find it easy to get defined, filled in and groomed brows and yes they really do last all day! So oily skinned girls these are perfect for you because you can rest assured your brows won’t be wiped away any time soon with these popped on.

Now as for the second question…I have to say I really do wish I had picked up dark brown rather than chocolate. The reason being because chocolate is a true to colour brown, and would suit a range of skin tones and hair colours. However at times it does appear TOO brown for my liking…great for a very natural brow but not the best colour in terms of filling them in. As I mentioned earlier I would have to use a lot less product if I’d bought the dark brown too because with the correct colour a little can go a long way! If I had both chocolate and dark brown in my collection I believe the perfect brows could be achieved. So I would highly recommend you do your swatching research before placing an order, check out YouTube and the blogosphere (and even instagram!) to determine which one would suit you the best.

 I like chocolate, but I know I’d LOVE dark brown! I have seen a LOT of MUAs use chocolate in combination with blond, probably using the lighter shade at the front and using chocolate to define the edges and end of the brow.

Also if you’re not massively into brows, don’t have oily skin, or are happy using eyeshadow/liner then honestly… I’d say stick to that. The price of this isn’t exactly drugstore, and it’ll be quite a while after my spending ban is over before I can justify picking up dark brown to add to my stash :( I also adore using my HD brow palette as well as a few sleek shadows, because running powder through (as long as it is the correct tone!) is probably the quickest and easiest way to do brows.

Final Verdict:

Product rating: 8.5

Pros: Very pigmented, waterproof, easy to use once you get the hang of it, can create natural and defined brows, the pot will last a fairly long time, acts as a brow set as well as colour.

Cons: Can be tricky to work with if you don’t blend straightaway, takes getting used to the mousse-y texture (and ofc in my case colour!), isn’t the cheapest brow product out there.

Repurchase? I do love this enough to repurchase the DARK BROWN, but certainly not any time in the near future

I hope this was helpful to anyone considering buying it! Like I said r e s e a r c h dem swatches!! You want to get the right colour for you! If you’ve tried this already what are your thoughts? Better than powder or overrated?

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Review | Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow Pomade in Chocolate

Dip Brow in the shade Chocolate | LINK | £15

Hello! Today I am going to be reviewing a much talked about, new product in the beauty world – the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow Pomade. It was quite the impulse buy (post here) but after hearing so much about it from MUA’s who had been sent them earlier, I was well and truly intrigued. I also jumped in there and grabbed one before the whole waiting list thing can I get a round of an applause ;D

Brush Series | Ebay Brushes Part 2!

Hello lovely readers!

Today I am going to share with you the second set of brushes that I ordered quite a while ago. You can read the first instalment here where I reviewed the ‘RT look-a-likes’. Although I don’t own any Sigma brushes, the second set look vaguely familiar to those! I cannot compare them, but I can share what I love and don’t care for each of these. I wanted to have a bit of a play with them before I gave you my thoughts, so I hope this is helpful for anyone on the look out for very cheap but decent brushes!

They come in a set of four, and the seller randomly threw in a ‘Bobbi Brown’ sponge (clearly not BB but a kind gesture nonetheless..though I’m not 100% sure what I will use it for yet). I was also pleasantly surprised that each brush came wrapped separately, it was something you would expect from a higher end brand not from an ebay shop! This set cost £3.38 so not even a pound a brush B A R G A I N

 The seller also has a set of face brushes, which I’m contemplating buying because of the quality of these! That set is just a little over £2 per brush, which is still phenomenal value! The only thing holding me back aside from the spending ban and also my rather large collection of face brushes already is that they could all be not very dense and so of little use (as I found with one brush in the last post). But anyway this post is about the eye brushes so on we go!

I am really very impressed with the quality of these, not knowing what to expect for under a quid a brush! The handles are sturdy, the barrels are secured on well and the do not feel like they are made poorly in the slightest. I love the black colour with the silver barrels, they look very sleek. You can purchase these with gold barrels or white handles too if you wish. The Bristles themselves are super super soft, synthetic and non-shedding which is amazing. They are almost too good to be true! On the handle is written ‘Jessup’ not entirely sure what that means, but it doesn’t impact the brush at all.

As they don’t have their own names or numbers unfortunately, I have labelled them in the above photo and given a brief run through of my experience with each one. I’d just like to point out, I am not an MUA and so may have missed a lot of possible uses! These are just my own -

1.  The first one is actually my least used/favourite. In my opinion the bristles are a little too long making it very difficult to use for eyeshadow application. One use I have found for it though it thinking back to one of the contouring videos I saw on YouTube, and how they used a cream and darker shaded product to strongly contour and then blended it out using a fluffy brush. This would be the ideal brush to ‘map’ out contour lines on one’s face precisely as well as use the edge to contour the nose lightly. A pretty useful brush for that purpose. Another thing it would be pretty nifty for is setting concealer, as its essentially a very mini flat top kabuki brush, and super soft! So it could really ensure that all areas of the face (particularly the difficult to reach places like under the eyes) are all set!

2. This is like an angled and slightly domed version of the first brush. It works well at blending concealer in awkward places such as around the nose and in the inner corner of the eye. It could also work as a highlighter brush, used lightly for the brow bone, or for the bridge of the nose and anywhere else you want a subtle glow. I’d still stick to my setting brush from RT for cheekbone highlight, but for the smaller areas which need more attention this is great at getting precise!

3. By far my most used brush, this has fast become a favourite for blending in concealer. It is a domed topPed brush with denser bristles that the others, so it is perfect for gently buffing in the concealer exactly where you want it. Again it could work vaguely for eyeshadow, but it’s main use in my opinion is blending in cream and liquid products!

4. I have just realised this is probably the only brush of the bunch that is perfect for eyeshadow, and I apologise for that! Whilst they’re all useable with shadow, there are definitely better brushes out there for you to try, for the above though, these are amazing! Number four is probably the best crease brush I have tried in my entire life. It can give you that cut crease, or a softer more blended crease and its also amazing for applying colour under the lower lashline. Since playing around with these I’ve realised how beautiful bronzey colours, as well as purples can look subtly smudged under the lashline! Adore this brush!

And that’s my review on this brush set, shipped from china costing less than £3.50 (with free delivery of course). If you’ve been looking at the sigma brushes, especially that set with their mini-kabuki like brushes, I recommend buying these first because the quality will not disappoint. For the price, I don’t think I could ask for much more, and although I’m still on the hunt for smaller eyebrushes, I am really pleased with there. The link to the seller is HERE. I hope this was somewhat useful, and also thankyou for all the great feedback on my last ebay brushes post ^_^

Brush Series | Ebay Brushes Part 2!

Hello lovely readers!

Today I am going to share with you the second set of brushes that I ordered quite a while ago. You can read the first instalment here where I reviewed the ‘RT look-a-likes’. Although I don’t own any Sigma brushes, the second set look vaguely familiar to those! I cannot compare them, but I can share what I love and don’t care for each of these. I wanted to have a bit of a play with them before I gave you my thoughts, so I hope this is helpful for anyone on the look out for very cheap but decent brushes!

January Favourites!

Hello! February has started so we all know what's about to  pop up…hundreds of favourites posts and videos, gah I love them ^_^

This month has been a good ‘un for favourites because although I have been shopping my stash a lot, I’ve also discovered some pretty wonderful new products from my spending during the sales in December and I’m excited to share them today!

E.L.F Lip Exfoliator – This is something I didn’t love when I first tried it because I found it a little tricky to use. It’s essentially a lip exfoliator scrub in a more solid form than one you could make yourself (in a lipstick bullet). But since winter my lips have been SUPER chapped, so I felt I really needed to try and put this to use. After a few uses I like this a lot! You just rub a little over the lips and then gently buff away the dry skin with either your finger or a soft toothbrush. This makes the world of difference because you have get instantly softer lips, which are easier to care for and of course look better with any lip product!

Rimmel Nude Liner – This pencil has popped up on my blog soooo many times! But in the month of January especially, with a tonne of deadlines and lack of sleep it has been such a life saver. It’s a little crazy how much difference a simple nude liner can change your whole face, and the fact that this one is creamy and opaque makes it a winner!

Soap & Glory Butter Yourself Moisture Lotion – I picked this up on a whim, and I’m so glad I did! I have previously used the body butter and whilst I can’t fault it, I’ve found this lotion a lot quicker to use. It sinks into the skin quickly, but still feels moisturising enough. It’s not a grown up scent, but at the same time I find its a little different from the typical S&G scents –a little more mandarin?  adore it!!

E-bay Brush (LINK TO REVIEW HERE) -  This brush has been wonderful, and I really have appreciated it a lot more in the last two weeks. It not only works fairly well for contouring, but I feel like it applies colour in a beautiful way! Especially pigmented blushers, because it really adds colour in exactly the place you want rather than going all over the cheeks and making you look like a clown! On top of that, its great for highlight, again because of it’s precision. I couldn’t have asked for more considering I paid £1.99!

Anastasia Beverly Hills DipBrow Pomade ‘Chocolate’ -  The newest product from their line, I’ve had a fair amount of time to play with this brow stuff and am excited to write a full review. When I first used it I was unsure if the colour and whole concept was right for me, but now that I’ve been using it for a few weeks I really love it! I can create natural brows, more dramatic brows, blend it easily and it really lasts all day! An essential? Not by any means, but I have adored my brows since picking this up, fail-proof once you get the hang of using it ^_^

Nicki Minaj Pink Friday Perfume -  OK BEFORE Y’ALL JUDGE ME this celebrity perfume smells lovely! I know Minaj hardly has the best rep, nor do celebrity perfumes, but the way I see it is I’m 18, and if I like a certain smell and it doesn’t cost  £70 a bottle I’ll wear it! I really hope I have the same mind-set in 10-20 years too because if it smells good, then why not?! This smells sweet, yet fresh and not offensive at all. I personally hate musky woman scents so this is a big thumbs up from me! (Even if the bottle is a little scary!)

Illamasqua Blusher in ‘Hussy’ – This is such a new favourite I really wasn’t sure whether to include it, but after putting it on again today I knew it HAD to be! After my haul, I decided the first one I wanted to try was the much talked about hussy, and now I 100% understand why this has gotten so much love! It’s a BEAUTIFUL matte pink blush, with a tinge of peach but leaning heavier on the pink side. It looks so fresh and unlike any other colour I’ve applied to my cheeks before and again I’ll have to do a proper review with swatches on here too because I’m sooo excited about how stunning this is, plus the longer lasting time in comparison to many drugstore blushers!

 

What were your favourite products of the past month? ^_^

January Favourites!

Hello! February has started so we all know what's about to  pop up…hundreds of favourites posts and videos, gah I love them ^_^