Wednesday 14 November 2012

Everyday Mineral Blushes Review

(shotty camera skills again, my bay-ad!)

I bought a few Everyday Minerals blushes awhile back and now I'm a bit of a fan.  EM was the first mineral brand I ever tried and I'm super impressed with their products, ethos and I also like their cute packaging and branding.  

Two of these blushes were individually bought, 'All Smiles' and 'Nature's Sweet Side' (which was on special for $5 at the time) and the other two, 'Wild Vines' and 'Girl Friday', were from the 'Pink Lady' set, which isn't available anymore but the individual blushes are still up for sale. 

All Smiles is a peachy, orangey pink blush and is a firm favourite of mine.  I'm a bit obsessed with oranges, peachey-pinks and all other things tangerine coloured so I absolutely love this one.  The other three, I like, but to be honest, I can't tell the flippin' difference between them!  Maybe it is my skin, but the shades are minutely different when applied and I've never remembered which one was which.  Since they're so similar, I've given two of them away (to two different people!).

As it was my first foray into mineral makeup I was concerned that they would be hard to work with but it turns out that it pretty simple.  The 'big size' blushes are much easier to work with since they have a tab inside that you can slide so you can easily control how much product you get out. I usually open it a crack and then dunk a small amount of product onto the lid and swirl my brush around.  The smaller ones don't have the same contraption so it's just a matter of being careful with the pots. 

The colours are quite pigmented but not so pigmented that you get to clown level too easily.  If I'm feeling fancy, I take my Ecotools bronzer brush to pack the colours on and a larger powder blush (I like the Real Techniques one) and blend it out.  I would say the blushes aren't quite as easy to blend as traditional pressed powder blushes but you get used to it, and it's not that much harder anyway ;)

Here are heavy swatches, I really wanted to see if there was a significant difference.
Wild Vines, Nature's Sweet Side, Girl Friday, All Smiles


blended out

So as you can see, blended out, the first three blushes are really similar, you definitely don't need all three!  Though similar, the colours are really pretty, soft pinks with a matte finish.  Wild Vines is meant to be have a 'sheen' finish, which I agree when swatched heavily, but when blended it's sheen isn't that noticeable.

These Everyday Mineral blushes are lovely quality, and I love that when I wear them I'm not loading my face with chemicals.  

You can buy straight from their website here, or on iherb as well (do I mention iherb on every post?!).

What do you think of Everyday Minerals? Have you tried much in the way of mineral makeup?

x mai-anne
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Monday 12 November 2012

Rage Review! Bdellium Tools 10 Piece Studio Line Kit


Can I start a blog post saying that this must be the most disappointing beauty purchase I've ever made?
Yeah? Okay, I will.

This is the most disappointing beauty purchase I've ever made!



Okay I'll settle down now and explain (coherently) why.

I bought this set from iherb (nothing against you iherb) for $58 which seemed like a big-ish price tag, but it was for 10 brushes and from a reputable brand.  I had previously bought the eye brushes from the Bambu mineral line which I loved (and will do a review soon), so I was excited to get this kit.  I had been eyeballing the bunny collection from Sigma for ages, but some (stupid) change of heart made me go for this one.  Out of the 10 brushes in the collection, only 2 are good, quality brushes. 

2! 

The only slight upside was that I was looking forward to these two the most, but still, that rages me!


They are these two..

.. the #957S Precision Cheek and the #955S Finishing Brushes.

These have the quality I was expecting, soft like butter bristles, strong and sturdy bodies and don't shed when I use or wash them.  I love these but they don't make up for the 8 other crap to mediocre brushes. The #957S is great for foundation, and has this really odd 'wet' sensation when you apply foundation which I like and find amusing.  The stippling brush doesn't beat the Real Techniques one but it performs well for a brush in this standard shape.

After the top 2, there are 4 brushes that were.. okay. Sigh.
They are the #964S AP Blusher, #945S Contour, #755S Smudger and the #769S Angled Contour.

The 964S is soft.. ish, and does the job.  The 945S I quite like, because it is soft and performs well but it sheds like balls. It's quite frustrating because I do like this one, but it sheds when washed and when it's being used. The 955S is standard, can you go wrong with a brush like this? It's not soft, but it's sturdy and does what it's asked, it just doesn't stand out like the top two.  The last brush is the 769S, which is a brush included in the bambu eye kit as well.  Not bad, but not the softest, and its bambu version is much softer.  All 4 of these are are prone to shedding as well.  

The last four are just plain crap. Just awful.
They are the #942S Slanted Contour, #781S Crease, #776S Blending and the #765S Small Angle Shader.  

These are awful for the same reasons.  They all do not have soft bristles, they are harsh and I feel like I'm scratching my face/eyes with them. The eye ones are worst because the eyes are such a delicate area that you feel the scratch even more.  I've even tried to condition them a few times now, they've got a bit better but not enough to really feel a difference and still remain scratchy when used.  


Here is a close up of the brushes, I was hoping to capture how dry and tough the bristles are so hopefully you can see what I'm talking about.

These 4 also shed when washed which is something I really hate.  Good brushes shouldn't shed, especially when you wash them for the first time. 8 brushes out of 10 are prone to shedding which really shows the poor make of these. 

On the whole, I'm very disappointed with this kit especially since I did pay $58 dollars for them.  Perhaps I got a dud kit, but if Bdellium Tools can put out dud kits then I would recommend you not to risk it, unless you would like to test them out for yourself. I really love their Bambu eye kit, and hearing that others like it too makes me think that it is either a superior line or there is more of a quality control with those brushes.  There isn't as much information about the Studio Line so I did take a bit of a gamble here, but hopefully it helps you if you're in the market for some brushes.  I do appreciate Bdellium Tools because they are an eco-friendly, cruelty free brand and I'm open to trying more from their Bambu brushes, but honestly, I'm staying far, far away from their Studio Line!

In case you're curious, this is the where I bought these. Link.

Have you tried any Bdellium Tools brushes? :)
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