REAL TECHNIQUES - NIC'S PICKS

DUO FIBER POWDER BRUSH, CHEEK BRUSH

ANGLED SHADOW BRUSH, BASE SHADOW BRUSH, EYELINER BRUSH

The lovely Pixiwoo ladies (creators of Real Techniques) recently released a new brush set called Nic's Picks*. The set has five brushes and three of the brushes are new and exclusive to the set. Being a huge fan of Real Techniques brushes I've been very excited about this set and I must say, I am very pleased. The brushes all have silver handles, which I think is gorgeous - I actually prefer these handles to the regular colored ones, I think the silver is just stunning.

As I said, the set contains five brushes. The Duo Fiber Powder Brush I already own and love for dusting my face with a little powder or adding the tiniest bit of brush. The Cheek Brush (set exclusive) is a dense brush, a bit like the Expert Face brush but softer and bigger. I've been using this for bronzer but it's also great for foundation! The next two brushes are very similar, the Angled Shadow Brush (set exclusive) and Base Shadow Brush. The Base Shadow Brush has been one of my favorites for over a year now so I'm glad I finally have a second one, it's great for blending out eyeshadow - especially cream shadows. The Angled Shadow Brush is pretty much the same but with a angled edge, great for some crease work. Last but certainly not least is the Eyeliner Brush which is a small angled liner brush, it's great for smoking out the lashline but I love it for filling in the eyebrows.

So as for my thoughts on the set? I love it. I think the silver handles are gorgeous and the choice of brushes is just great. Just like all of the Real Techniques brushes they have synthetic hairs, are super soft and don't shed. Sam and Nic, you did well. PS. The set is limited edition so grab it while you can!

//Yndislegu Pixiwoo systurnar (eigendur Real Techniques) gáfu út nýtt sett fyrir stuttu sem kallast Nic's Picks*. Í settinu eru fimm burstar og þrír af burstunum eru glænýjir og bara til í þessu setti. Ég er mikill aðdáandi Real Techniques burstanna svo ég er búin að bíða spennt eftir settinu og ég varð ekki fyrir vonbrigðum, þeir eru æði! Burstarnir í settinu eru með silfur skafti sem mér finnst geggjað, mér finnst það mikið fallegra en venjulegu sköftin. 

En eins og ég sagði þá eru fimm burstar í settinu, allir mjög mjúkir og fínir. Duo Fiber Powder burstinn átti ég nú þegar (kom í Duo Fiber settinu, sem er ekki til á Íslandi) og finnst hann æðislegur til að dusta smávegis púðri yfir andlitið eða fyrir kinnalit. Cheek burstinn (nýr) er mjög þéttur og líkist Expert Face burstanum nema hann er mýkri og stærri. Hann er frábær fyrir sólarpúður og líka til að blanda farða í húðina. Næstu tveir burstarnir eru mjög líkir, Angled Shadow burstinn (nýr) og Base Shadow burstinn. Base Shadow burstinn er búinn að vera í miklu uppáhaldi í meira en ár, mér finnst hann æði fyrir augnskugga - þá helst krem skugga. Angled Shadow burstinn er mjög svipaður Base Shadow nema hann er skáskorinn, frábær í glóbuslínuna. Síðast en alls ekki síst er það Eyliner burstinn sem er lítill skáskorinn eyeliner bursti. Hann er mjög góður til að "smudgea" liner en mér finnst hann bestur í augabrúnirnar. 

Það er óhætt að segja að ég er virkilega ánægð með settið - silfraða skaftið er gullfallegt og burstarnir vinna vel saman. Eins og allir hinir Real Techniques burstarnir þá eru þessir úr gervihárum, hrikalega mjúkir og detta ekki úr hárum. PS. Þetta sett er "limited edition" svo að ef þú villt næla þér í það þá þarftu að drífa í því!

TOP 5 SIGMA BRUSHES

FROM L.-R. F80, F50, E55, E40, E25. ALL FROM SIGMA.

More and more brands seem to be popping up on the market here in Iceland, which is fabulous. Me, being the insane shopaholic/make-up hoarder that I am, have already tried and tested a lot of the brands that are now offered here in Iceland by purchasing them through the internet - not always the easiest or cheapest way to try out products but that's another story. Last week Sigma made it's appearance on the Icelandic make-up scene, very exciting! It's now available in a webshop I have already talked about on the blog, Fotia. Since I am a big fan of Sigma brushes, I decided to show you guys my 5 favorites from them. Let's go!

Starting off with probably the most well known brush there is, the F80. The F80 is a super soft and dense, synthetic haired kabuki brush. It really is a wonderful brush that makes applying foundation (both liquid, cream and powder) a dream. Staying with face brushes, I also love the F50 brush; a typical duo fibre brush. It's not exactly the softest brush out there but it doesn't shed and is lovely to apply super pigmented blushes because it doesn't pack on to much color, therefore you won't look like a clown. Now on to the eye brushes that made it onto my list. First there is the E55, a super soft eye shader brush. I love this to apply eyeshadow either on my lid or under my brow bone. Next up, we have the "MAC 217" type brush, the E25. It's a great blending brush, very soft and easy to work with. It's softer then the MAC 217 but it's also bit fluffier. If I'd have to choose between the Sigma or MAC one; I'd go with MAC, but to be honest, there's not a lot of difference between the two. Last, but certainly not least we have the E40 brush. It's great for blending out eyeshadow but I love using this for concealer under the eyes. The E40 was styled after the MAC 224 brush, which I don't have but I have used a few times and I have to say, I like the E40 way better. It's a bit bigger and a lot fluffier and softer. I love it.

There you have it! My top 5/most used Sigma brushes! I definitely have a few more on my wishlist (E15 I am looking at you). Have you tried Sigma brushes?

//Síðastu árin hafa sífellt fleiri merki bæst við á snyrti markaðinn hér á Íslandi, sem er bara æðislegt. Þar sem ég er forfallinn kaupsjúklingur/make-up safnari, hef ég prufað mörg af merkjunum fyrir (með hjálp online shopping, sem er ekki alltaf auðveldasta né ódýrasta leiðin til að versla). Í síðustu viku tilkynnti íslensk netverslun sem ég hef áður talað um, Fotia.is, að Sigma burstarnir yrðu til sölu á síðunni. Sem mikill aðdáandi Sigma burstanna ákvað ég að gera færslu um mína 5 uppáhalds bursta frá merkinu. 

Við byrjum á líklegast þekktasta bursta í heiminum, F80. F80 burstinn úr gervihárum og er virkilega mjúkur og þéttur bursti í kabuki stíl. Burstinn er frábær fyrir farða, hvort sem það sé fljótandi, krem eða púður farði. Næsti andlitsbursti er F50, sem er týpískur duo-fibre bursti. Hann er ekkert brjálæðislega mjúkur en hann fer ekkert úr hárum og er frábær í vel pigmentaða kinnaliti, þar sem hann tekur ekki upp of mikla vöru, þannig þú lítur ekki út eins og trúður. Nú eru það uppáhalds augnburstarnir. Fyrst er það E55, sem er ótrúlega mjúkur flatur augnbursti sem er frábær til að setja augnskugga á augnlokið eða undir augabrúnirnar. Næsti bursti, E25, var gerður til að líkjast hinum sívinsæla MAC 217 bursta. E25 er frábær blöndunar bursti, mjög mjúkur og auðveldur í notkun. Hann er mýkri en MAC 217 en hann er líka aðeins meira "fluffy". Ef ég ætti að velja á milli Sigma E25 eða MAC 217, þá myndi ég velja MAC en í hreinskilni sagt er rosalega lítill munur á þeim tveim. Síðast en alls ekki síst er það E40. Frábær sem blöndunarbursti fyrir augnskugga en mér finnst hann bestur til að blanda út hyljara undir augunum. Þessi var stílaður eftir MAC 224 burstanum, sem ég á ekki en hef notað nokkrum sinnum. Mér finnst E40 mikið betri en MAC 224, hann er mýkri og stærri. Ég elska hann.

Þannig er það! Mínir 5 uppáhalds/mest notuðu Sigma burstar! Það eru reyndar nokkrir fleiri burstar á óskalistanum (E15, ég þarfnast þín). Ég mæli með því að kíkja á fotia.is og skoða úrvalið, þetta eru frábærir burstar á góðu verði (+ frí heimsending)! Þið getið líka fylgst með Sigma á Íslandi hér.

MAKEUP BRUSHES 101 | MUST HAVE FACE BRUSHES

In my last post I wrote about my favorite eye brushes, today I talk about my babies. My favorite face brushes. This could have been a really long post, I had the urge to pick plenty more but I managed to be good and pick 10. As I did in the last post, I'll tell you if I know of any dupes. But here we go, let's do this.

//Í síðustu færslu talaði ég um uppáhalds augnburstana mína, í dag er komin að gersemunum mínum. Mínir uppáhalds andlits burstar. Þetta hefði getað verið mikið lengri færsla, ég vildi velja miklu fleiri bursta en ég náði að minnka töluna niður í 10. Eins og í síðustu færslu þá mun ég reyna að benda ykkur á aðra bursta sem eru svipaðir. Við skulum henda okkur í þetta!

Starting off with the basic base brushes. The Sigma F80 and the Real Techniques Buffing brush are my favorite foundation brushes. They are both great for buffing the foundation into the skin and making it look  perfectly airbrushed. I use the F80 on days I am really taking my time with my make up. The Buffing brush is more of an everyday type of brush (it's great for a mineral powder as well). The affordable brushes I got from eBay (talked about them here) are great dupes for these two. For my concealer I've got two favorites, the Real Techniques Contour brush (which comes in the same set as the Buffing brush - The Core collection) and the Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush (Starter Kit). After applying concealer to my undereye area I buff it out with the Contour brush and if I am being a bit more specific I use the Deluxe Crease Brush. 

//Við byrjum á grunn burstunum. Sigma F80 og Real Techniques Buffing burstarnir eru æðislegir fyrir farða. Báðir blanda farðanum fallega inní húðina og húðin lítur út fyrir að vera fullkomnlega airbrushuð. Ég nota F80 meira þegar ég hef meiri tíma til að mála mig, Buffing burstinn nota ég oftar fyrir hversdags og er hann líka mjög góður í mineral púður. Ódýru burstarnir sem ég tala um hér eru mjög líkir þessum tveimur og eru frábærir ef þú ert að reyna að spara. Fyrir hyljara á ég tvö uppáhöld. Real Techniques Contour burstinn (kemur í sama setti og Buffing burstinn, Core Collection) og Real Techniques Deluxe Crease burstinn (kemur í Starter kittinu). Fyrst nota ég puttana til að setja hyljarann undir augun og svo blanda ég honum út með Contour burstanum, ef ég er að gera allt extra fínt nota ég Deluxe Crease burstann. 

Now to the other brushes. The ELF Powder Brush is my favorite for powder foundation (it works really well with liquids as well), super affordable and really soft. I also use it to set my foundation if I want a more flawless look. The Real Techniques Duo Fiber Face Brush I use to set my foundation lightly with powder and I also like it for my highlighter, it doesn't grab too much product so you wont look powdery or too highlighted. Now to the other two duo fiiber brushes, firstly the Sigma F50 which I mostly use for blush, I like this one for those mega pigmented blushes because it only grabs a tiny bit of product. The other duo fiber brush is the MAC 187, I used to use it for foundation but now I love it for bronzing up the face. It's really soft and blends everything naturally onto the skin. My other blush or bronzer brush of choice is the Real Techniques Blush Brush, it's big, soft and fluffy. Great for both bronzing and applying blusher. Lastly MAC 109 I use to contour my face, it's small and fits under my cheekbones perfectly (for cream contouring I use the RT Duo Fiber Contour Brush). Sigma's  F05 is very similar.

//ELF Powder burstinn er æðislegur fyrir púður farða (er líka mjög góður í blaut meik), ódýr og ótrúlega mjúkur. Ég nota hann líka til að setja farðann ef ég vil extra þekju. Real Techniques Duo Fiber Face burstann nota ég til að dusta smávegis af púðri yfir farðann eða til að highlighta. Burstinn tekur ekki upp of mikið púður svo allt er náttúrulegt og fínt. Næst eru tveir aðrir duo fiber burstar, fyrst Sigma F50 sem ég nota mest í kinnalit, aðallega kinnaliti sem eru mjög pigmentaðir. MAC 217 er annar duo fiber bursti en hann notaði ég eitt sinn mikið í farða en núna finnst mér hann bestur í sólarpúður. Hann blandar öllu svo náttúrulega í húðina. Annar bursti sem ég nota líka mikið í kinnalit eða sólarpúður er Real Techniques Blush burstinn, hann er stór, mjúkur og "fluffy". Síðast en ekki síst er það MAC 109 burstinn sem ég nota til að skyggja (fyrir kremskyggingu nota ég RT DF Contour Brush). Sigma F05 er mjög svipaður.

I somehow managed to forget to take pictures of my Beauty Blender, even though it's not actually a brush it needs an honorable mention. You get this egg shaped beauty drenched in water and squeeze the water out and then use it to press and roll everything into the skin. This is my absolute favorite for foundation, concealer and cream contouring. I love it and highly recommend it to anyone that hasn't tried it. I have tried some dupes of this, but nothing compares (I just ordered the RT sponge, which I've heard great things about). 

//Einhvernveginn náði ég að gleyma að taka myndir af Beauty Blender-num mínum. Þó hann sé tæknilega séð ekki bursti þarf ég að minnast á hann. Fyrir notkun bleytiru þetta hann vel og kreistir svo út vatnið. Þessi yndislegi egglaga svampur algjörlega minn uppáhalds til að setja á mig farða, blanda út hyljara og krem skyggingar. Ég elska hann og gæti ekki mælt meira með honum! Ég hef prufað nokkrar ódýari týpur af honum en ekkert jafnast á við þann upprunalega (ég er nýbúin að panta Real Techniques svampinn og er spennt að prufa, hef heyrt góða hluti um hann).

LET'S TALK BRUSHES

I would say I have a decent collection of brushes, I have around 60-70 brushes and I love them all very dearly. I can't get enough of brushes, I always feel like I need more! I wanted to share with you some of my favorite brushes, the ones I grab most often and I hope some of you guys share my love for brushes!

FOUNDATION + POWDER BRUSHES

A new member in my brush family, the Real Techniques Buffing Brush has already became one of my favorites, I like it for everyday use, it makes applying foundation take seconds and leaves a beautiful finish on the skin. When I spend more time doing my make up, I most often go for the Sigma F80 Flat Top Kabuki, it's extremely soft and buffs the foundation into the skin beautifully! I had to put the MAC 187 here because I do use it quite often, I like to apply my MAC Studio Sculpt foundation with this brush, don't really know why, but I just always do! Then for setting my foundation I use a brush I got at the make up school I graduated from, it's a tapered powder brush (Sigma has one very similar), very soft and does the job nicely. 

CONCEALER BRUSHES

To apply the concealer to the skin I use the MAC 195, I also use it to define my eyebrows. Then I use the Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush to buff everything and it does such a good job! It's so soft and ahh, it's just amazing! It's probably my favorite brush that I have, but I shouldn't say stuff like that, my brushes are my babies.. 

CHEEKS + ETC BRUSHES

Most often I use the Real Techniques Blush Brush to apply my blush, it's very soft and applies the blush very nicely, I don't think it's too big like a lot of people do, I think it works very nicely. When I am using a very pigmented blush I like to use my MAC 187, it doesn't apply it heavily so I don't look like a clown afterwards. My favorite contouring brush is my MAC 109, it's the perfect size, it's soft and it doesn't shed. For my highlight I usually use the MAC 116, it just works very well.. I've been trying out the Real Techniques Contour Brush and I really like it for my cream contour. 

EYEBROW BRUSHES

My favorite eyebrow brush is the Sigma E65, for me it's the perfect size, it's not flimsy and it works perfectly with my eyebrows. When going for a more natural look and doing other people's make up I usually use the Real Techniques Brow Brush, it's larger and not as firm as the Sigma one, it's very nice. Then a staple for me, a spoolie, to brush everything in place and make it look more natural.

EYE BRUSHES

First I like to apply my eye shadow with my MAC 239 brush. I use it to pack the eye shadow on my lid, blend out eyeliner and it also works nicely when applying eye shadow on the lower lash line. My favorite blending brush is the MAC 217 (big surprise) it is perfect for blending shadow into the crease, it's not too big nor too small, it's just right. For further blending I use the Sigma E45, mostly to blend out the edges and make everything blend together more seamlessly. When I want a more precise look or to blend my lower lash line I use the Sigma E30 pencil brush, it's very soft and small and works very nicely. My eyeliner brush of choice is the MAC 210, it's tiny and it makes applying my gel liner 10 times easier. 

Which brushes are your favorites? am I missing out on some amazing ones? Please share!

xx Elín

A FEW NEW THINGS

I went shopping last weekend (like most people do this time of the year) . I was hoping to come back home with 10 full bags of nice clothes, shoes and make up that I got for a great price, sadly that didn't happen. I found a camo Jumper in Topshop at a reasonable price and when I got frustrated that I hadn't found anything else, I went into MAC and bought a few nice things, using my Pro card for the very first time! I finally purchased the Brush Cleanser, an eye kohl in Teddy and Lingering eye brow pencil. I've tried it all out and I like it so far. I'll do a FOTD soon, using the eye kohl and brow pencil. Before going home we stopped by the drugstore and I decided to try the John Frieda Go Blonder lightening spray, I've used it 3 times this far and I do think I see a difference! I will do a review about this after using it for a longer time.

A few days later I got a package in the mail, I had totally forgotten that I had ordered these so it was a nice Thursday surprise! I got the Real Techniques Core Collection, I've been wanting these brushes for a while now and I finally decided to get them. I already have the Blush Brush, Stippling Brush and Starter set, so this was a great new addition to my Real Techniques collection! I absolutely love these brushes, super soft and gorgeous. I'm planning on doing a brush collection post soon so stay tuned!

Lastly, I went to a local shop yesterday and I found these super cheap spiked loafers. I need more shoes, so why not? They are cute and comfy and go with a lot of things. 

I'm currently waiting for 3 Asos orders so chances are you will be seeing an Asos haul on here very soon!

Have you bought anything on this years first sale? 

xoxo Elín