So this week I have received 3 packages in the mail! I don't know about you but I absolutely love getting stuff in the mail especially when I'm not expecting it. Anyways during the last 2 weeks I had made 3 different orders of makeup and stuff from the U.S and I could not believe how fast they all came! I made my Coastal Scents order on 16th January, my Sigma order on 20th January, and my Cherry Culture order on January 19 and they basically arrived in like a week or so! Now that's what I call service :)
So let's get down to the details of what I ordered:
First of all, my awesome boyfriend ordered the Sigma Complete makeup brush kit with brush roll as an early Valentine's Day present! I have to say that I've wanted this kit for ages after seeing so many bloggers and Youtube channels absolutely loving the brushes from Sigma and I wanted a lil piece of the excitement! Also I don't have a complete makeup brush kit so I decided that it was definitely time to invest in a complete set as I've become more and more obsessed with makeup.
The reason why I decided on investing in Sigma was mainly because it seemed like a really good quality brand from what others have said about it and also because it's really a good value for your money. The complete brush kit with brush roll is USD$99 so basically it's less than USD$8.33 for each brush! That is an extremely good deal considering the prices for individual brushes here in New Zealand. For example, before purchasing Sigma brushes, I had invested in The Body Shop brushes but they only have like 7 different brushes available and I personally would like more variety in terms of the eye area. On top of that, the minimum for a brush from The Body Shop is like NZD$20 and that is really really expensive. However, having said that I have to say that The Body Shop brushes are definitely softer than the brushes from Sigma. I just feel like the Sigma face brushes (e.g. the foundation f60 brush) are a little bit scratchy on my skin whereas The Body Shop foundation brush is really soft and not scratchy. With the Sigma eye brushes, I feel that they are definitely okay and quite soft.
Here's a few pictures of my new brush kit!
It came in this cute yellow envelope:
It came in a cute black mesh bag with a complementary travel brush and an instruction manual for the use of each brush.
The brushes in the brush roll.
Close ups of the brushes:
Face brushes:
From left to right: F30-Large powder, F50-Duo fibre, F40-Large angled contour, F60-Foundation, F70-Concealer
Eye brushes:
From left to right: E55-Eye shading, E70-Medium Angled Shading, E40-Tapered blending, E30-pencil, E60-Large shader, E05-Eyeliner, E65-Small angle
Brush rolled up
Review summary:
Pros:
- Each brush is labeled which is really helpful
- Most of the face brushes come with a brush shaper so that you can put the brush into the plastic covering when not using and it will be shaped really well
- The brushes have nice smooth handles
- So many different brushes for the eye area
- Relatively soft brushes
- Dense hairs so picks up color really well
- Super fast delivery: From the US to me in NZ: 9 days (7 working days)
Cons:
- The face brush had some stray hairs which was weird:
- The face brushes are a little scratchy compared to other brands
Overall:
This is a great kit to invest in if you're just starting out in makeup and will take you a long way. You get a ton of variety in the kit which will be so useful in creating different looks.
Now onto my next order:
I made my Coastal Scents order on 16th January and it arrived the same day as my Sigma brushes (26th January). The reason why I ordered a few things from CS was because of the recommendation of a few bloggers as many said that the eyeshadow palettes were really pigmented and that the brushes were dirt cheap and super soft. Also CS had like a sale for 2 weeks or so where if you spent $20 you got $5 off etc so I thought why not get a few things.
The brushes were cheap alright but they did not meet my expectations at all! They were real cheap looking and felt cheap. I doubt that I will buy more brushes from CS as the shipping is just really expensive to NZ and it's just not worth it as I'd rather invest in more expensive quality brushes.
I have not tried out the palette that I got as of yet but will be testing it out on a makeup date with my little sister this Sunday so may add a more detailed review in the next few days. However, there is a ton of color choices in the palette so it will definitely be fun.
Here's what I got:
It came in this box all wrapped up securely.
The brushes were wrapped in this pink tissue paper
The brushes from left to right: Flawless Chisel Powder Brush $4.49 USD, Chisel Fluff/Pointed Crease Duet $3.95 USD, Synthetic Concealer Shading Brush $4.39
A complementary sample - it got on my jeans when I opened it and just made like a stain on them. Was annoying lol
The chisel powder brush was a total disappointment. I thought it was going to be way larger than it was and softer! I imagined it to be like just a big brush to sweep finishing powder on! Instead it was quite little and really cheap looking. It is pretty much identical to the Thin Lizzy brushes that comes in the 6 in 1 professional powder that is so popular here in NZ. However, the CS brush was relatively soft and considering the price I guess there's no point in complaining lol.
It was weird cuz I could see before there was an imprint of "Coastal Scents" on the brush handle but it looked like it had been scraped off or painted over in a black color or something. Very tacky
The 78 palette in the box
The sharpie can give you an idea of exactly how small the eyeshadows are. As you can see, there's a great variety of eyeshadow colors.
Overall:
- Quite disappointed that the brushes don't have a number or name of the brush on the handle
- The overall quality of the brushes are not what I had expected by what others have said and from the reviews of the individual brushes on CS' site
- The brushes are relatively soft
- Good to purchase if you live in the US as shipping is cheaper and if you're on a really tight budget
- Very fast efficient shipping
- Can't really be bothered to make the effort to order from CS as the quality is average and shipping costs are over the top (shipping to NZ was like over half price of the total product costs!)
More details will come as I really try out the brushes and the palette.
I will probably review my Cherry culture order in a couple of days after I have used them so that I'll have lots of things to say about them.
To finish off, I have 5 items that I recently added to my beauty collection (lol of course other than my 3 orders):
1) Sonia Kashuk Bent eyeliner brush: 
I wanted to get this brush because a lot of people said it was great for applying gel eyeliner (e.g. MAC fluidline in blacktrack - see below). As it's bent, you get a bigger viewing area when applying the eyeliner as your hand etc aren't in the way. It's an average brush, not very stiff but when the gel is on the brush, it turns quite stuff so applies a good line. This is my first Sonia Kashuk brush - bought off ebay.
2) Wonder eyelid tape:
It comes with 120 pieces of tape, an applicator and an instruction manual in Japanese. I got this off ebay because I wanted to try it out and I've always wanted double eyelids.
First of all, it's sometimes really hard to use the applicator to get the tape off of the paper. It took me like a few tapes before I actually got one on cuz I just ruined the first few ones from being impatient. When I finally got it on my eyelid (keeping in mind I can't read japanese so I had to look at the pictures which weren't too helpful) I looked okay but it was uncomfortable and the skin on my eyelids were a little itchy as I don't think my skin likes sticky tape. I don't know if I'll keep the rest cuz it's just a pain lol.
I've wanted to try this gel eyeliner for so long! It's my first gel eyeliner and it was okay. The consistency isn't too thick and not as dark as some liquid eyeliners. Overall it's quite easy to use if you have the right brush! I love MAC stuff. There's just something about the products that just makes me happy :)
4) Dolly Wink liquid eyeliner: 
The tip is sooo fine!
Really cute pen - got off ebay. Works really well. Makes very precise lines and is really pigmented. Stays on for a long time! This is my 2nd liquid eyeliner ever (my 1st was from The Body Shop which I bought a few years ago and was definitely dieing so I needed a new one) and I wanted to get it after watching one of Jen's (frmheadtotoe) tutorials.
5) Shiseido makeup case: 
I love the color and it's real big. I got it off Trademe (like ebay) for a real cheap price and it's basically new. I wanted to get it to keep all my makeup in a neat tidy place but after watching a vid on one of the other bloggers Youtube channel and seeing how she organized all her makeup, I completely changed my mind lol. So basically I'm just going to keep it as a place to keep my everyday makeup for now so my table is neat.
So basically that's all that I'm gonna say. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to comment! Will post more in the next few days as I add to my "My favorite beauty products" page and other reviews.
Thanks heaps for visiting my blog :)
Special thanks to Chris for photography.
*princetennis4life*
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