DUPES? MAC VS. ELF

 

The stipple brush.

MAC (187) Vs. ELF

I love using stipple brushes to apply foundation however I still don't have the greatest grasp on the stipple technique but I still wanted to compare these brushes as the ELF brush is said to dupe MAC's. 

 From the above photo you can see a clear difference in size, the MAC one is larger although the size of the actual brush head looks about the same. I prefer the look of the MAC brush over the ELF because the silver on the handle gives it a much more polished look but that's about all I like about MACS stipple brush. These were freshly washed and I could not for the life of me get the MAC one back to it's pristine white bristles. While washing my 187 it shed like no other brush I've ever owned! You can see in the photo below that the bristles on my 187 are sticking out everywhere where as the elf stipple brush stayed in great shape after being washed nor did it shed a single hair. When paying over fifty dollars for a brush you expect it not to shed everywhere.

 

 

See that little black hair on my face, that's from the side of my face that I used the 187 to apply foundation with. Needless to say I'm not impressed as MAC is known to have amazing brushes. When my six dollar stipple brush performs better than a fifty dollar brush I am left questioning why I wasted my money?

In terms of performance they both performed well although like I previously stated the ELF brush did not shed a single hair while buffing in my foundation where as the MAC shed not only one but many others! It's quite annoying having to pick off tiny little hairs off your face after you apply your makeup. If you want a good stipple brush don't splash out money on the MAC one because the ELF one is much better in terms of quality and price.

<3 p="">

Bri

DISNEY BEAUTY

 

Hey everyone!

Did you guys know that in Disneyland they actually carry their own line of beauty products named "Beautifully Disney"

My initial thoughts were who would have thought Disney would have a beauty line!? Immediately after that thought I wondered what the products would be like and naturally I picked up some things. I never did purchase any of the actual makeup but I did grab this G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S brush set as well as a super fun and cute Minnie Mouse kabuki which I mentioned in a Friday favorites a while back.

Can we just appreciate these beautiful brushes for a moment?

I think they're almost too pretty to use in the sense that you don't want to ruin them by using them and having them lose their shape, color etc. I honestly don't use these that much for the above reason. I know why buy makeup brushes you won't use? JUST LOOK AT THEM, that's why.

In the set there is a blush brush, blending, shadow and liner brush as well as another one but I am not 100 % sure if it's a tiny little foundation brush or like a concealer brush but I used it to put foundation in the smaller areas of my face such as the area around my nose.

 

Blush Brush 

I love this brush, I just washed all of these yesterday to make them look lovely for all of you. No shedding on any of these and minimal loss of shape. This brush is perfect for bronzer. I've used this brush the least mostly because they were a bit more expensive then my ELF brushes which I use daily.  I really want this to keep it's shape and am hoping that it will because these weren't cheap but we'll have to see how it fairs after some more washes!

 

Concealer/Foundation Brush 

If anyone could actually tell me what I'm supposed to use this for that would be awesome. I've used it for my under eye concealer and putting foundation in the smaller areas such as the area around my nose and around my eye brows. I don't have any gripes with this brush but it's not something I use a lot nor really care for. I'm not a fan of these tiny little face brushes, I'd much rather apply my concealer with my fingers but it's not by any means a bad brush.

Shadow Brush

This brush is WAY too big for my eyes. It pretty much is the size of my eyelid. It's dense and great for packing on color but just too big for me to even to use. It doesn't work for me at all which is unfortunate as I do think it would make a great shadow brush. I'm not that advanced with my eye shadow technique that I could find a way to make this work yet but maybe in the future I will figure out a way to use this.

 

 

Blending/Liner Brush

This blending brush is the highlight of the whole package for me. I love, love, love it. It is great for using after you've already finished your eye shadow but you still want to blend it out more. It's amazing, I have nothing but good things to say about this brush. It blends shadow out beautifully! By far this is my favorite blending brush I have ever used. Creates effortless eye looks. 

The liner brush I don't really use often as I have a smaller one I like to use as I don't have the most steady hand in the world, which makes a cat eye difficult.

I have to say if you can find the blending brush separately it is worth the buy, you will not regret it. It's so soft, fluffy and blends like a dream. Overall I'm not disappointed by any of the brushes. I think if they were a different color and weren't so damn gorgeous that I would get a lot more use out of them but for now they all sit out on my vanity as decoration minus the blending brush of course. 

<3 br="">

<3 p="">

Bri

COCONUT - Star of the show

Hey everyone, who else has mad love for coconut?

Coconut as a scent is one of my absolute favourite things in the world. I will buy anything and everything that is scented like coconut. Actually speaking of coconut things, they have coconut M&M's! Yeah, that's real! By the way I have had them before and they are delicious! 

The candle, I used for photo purposes but boy does it fill my home with coconut goodness all night long.

Bath & Body Works a very popular store much like The Body Shop they tend always have a two for one or three for two type deal. 

I have yet to find a scent that I disliked and I could spend hours in that store just sniffing products. I bought the Coconut Body mist which I've almost used up and I own quite the collection so for this to be just about empty is a big deal. I love it! Of course it's a spray so it doesn't last as long as a perfume but it's great to throw in the handbag while you're on the run to freshen up!

If you know of any other delicious coconut scents please tell me as I will never get over coconut

=)

Bri

OOTD - Summer is in the air

Hey guys! 

The weather out here is getting warmer which means time for dresses and uncovered legs. I honestly couldn't tell you why my legs look so ghastly on the left side as these pictures were taken at the exact time in the exact light.

Cardigan: H&M Similar

Dress: Forever 21

Boots: Forever 21

Easy and quick look but the patterned dress still gives it that little something.

=)

Bri

FOTD # 3 - SILVER

Hey guys. To update everyone regarding my post from yesterday they are still working on getting the fires under control and there have yet to be more evacuations. Thank you to anyone who has donated to help Alberta, being an Albertan citizen it really touches my heart to see all the help we as a province have received and the help that citizens are giving to Fort McMurray residents. It's a heart breaking situation that will hopefully end soon.

I was originally going to post this FOTD yesterday but as you all know I wanted to bring to light what was happening here. I appreciate everyone who took the time to read that and to donate. <3 p="">

 

I think silver as my inner corner highlight is my new favorite thing! 

Foundation: Revlon Colorstay 24 hr Foundation (Dry Skin)

Concealer: MAC Pro Longwear Concealer

Luminizer/Brightening Concealer/Blush/Bronzer: Too Faced Natural Face Palette - I'll be honest, I'm just trying to use this palette up as I actually disliked the majority of the products included in the palette. 

Eyes: Lancome Quad

Eyeliner: COVERGIRL's Intensify Me! liner

Mascara: Benefit's Roller Lash 

Brows: "Sleek" from The Balm Nude Tude

Lips: Revlon Super Lustrous lipstick in Skyline Pink

 Bri

 

 

PRAY FOR FORT MAC

Hey everyone, I was going to do a FOTD post but I feel like this is a far more important issue.

A few days ago in Fort McMurray, AB a wildfire started and it's been out of control ever since. The last number of people evacuated was 88,000. It's just devastating to watch people's homes burning down and seeing them lose everything but of course being Albertan's there have been massive amounts of people offering shelter, food, clothing and whatever else people may need and that's amazing. There is a lot of people who don't want to help Alberta because of their opinions on the oil sands but this is a provincial crisis and people need to realize that it's not about the oil sands or the economy, real people are losing everything they have and we need to come together in times of crisis.

Another wildfire erupted today due to a car collision. Fire from the crash caught in the trees near Lac La Biche right off the highway people were using to get out of Fort Mac and I've yet to hear if that one  is out of control. People are still working to get these fires controlled.

The Red Cross is taking donations and I have donated myself and if anyone reads this and want to donate I'll leave the link below.

Donate

 

My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families affected by this tragedy. Stay strong Alberta

Bri

FOTD #2

Hey! Another cheeky little FOTD I really need to get a better camera but it just isn't in the budget at the moment. I'm sorry guys, I wish you could actually see my blush/bronzer/highlight.

Foundation: Revlon Color Stay 24 HR (Dry Skin)

Concealer: E.l.f.s highlighter/concealer pen

Bronzer: Hoola

Blush: Lancome (couldn't find name on it)

Highlight: Watt's Up by Benefit (didn't show up in my photos unfortunately)

Brows: Sleek - The Balm Nude Tude palette

Eyes: Lancome quad (no name)

Eyeliner: Wet n' Wilds Kohl Pencil

Mascara: Too Faced Better Than Sex 

Lips: Shy Girl - MAC

=)

Bri

FOTD//MUSICAL MONDAY

 

Hey everyone!

I wanted to start doing FOTD's and I hope you guys would like to see them as well, if not let me know. I don't want to create content no one cares about =)

My makeup was fairly simple as I do work in an office but I liked how I looked today so I thought why not share?

Foundation: Revlon Colorstay 24 hr (for dry skin)

Concealer: MAC's pot concealer in NC20

Luminizer/Brightener/Bronzer/Blush: Too Faced's Natural Face Palette 

Eyebrows: Sleek from the Balms Nude Tude Palette

Eyes: A Lancome quad unfortunately it came with one of the bonuses so it doesn't have a name or anything but it's a purple quad. Sadly the colors didn't really pop in these photos. 

Eyeliner: COVERGIRL's intensify me liner

Mascara: Lancome Hypnose Drama

Lipstick: of course my all time favorite, MAC Russian Red

For this week's musical Monday I chose Fame > Demise - Woe Is Me (acoustic by Tyler Carter)

*his voice is gorgeous*