SO EXCITED!!

Hey everyone! I'm so excited it's not even funny haha! I decided to go for it and register for courses to become a professional makeup artist. This is new territory for me since what I know came from observing others in my day to day life and watching Youtube videos!

I love using my family members and friends as guinea pigs and to date they have yet to complain which I'll take as a good thing. I like experimenting and trying out looks where I was inspired; whether that was from a video on Youtube or even a post on Pinterest.

I'm a big makeup junkie and have quite a stash that just keeps expanding and with taking these classes I'll have a legit reason for owning so much makeup! With my hoarding issues aside, I need to bring my own brush sets etc for the classes. Now I want to use a good set and I was thinking of purchasing another set from Sigma Beauty. I bought the Make Me Crazy - Essential Kit a few years ago and loved it! The brushes are amazing quality, they wash really well with minimal fall out and they're really great quality without being too expensive.


What's awesome is that they currently have a promotion for 10% off for the month of March so now would be a great time to purchase a new set, my only hesitation is what color do I get? I'm leaning towards just getting the classic black set since it seems more professional, but the coral/pink and the blue kits are really cute as well. Decisions, decisions...

Until then, if you want to take advantage of Sigma Beauty's 10% off promotion, or you just want to see what products they offer (They expanded a lot so it's not just brushes now! There's eye shadows, brush cleaning tools, skin care tools and more. It's really cool and you should definitely check it out!) then check out the link below:

Sigma Beauty's Website

Sigma Beauty Makeup Brushes

Hey everyone! I wanted to talk about makeup brushes and a brand I recently discovered and have fallen in love with!

I've recently been on the hunt for makeup brushes so that I can not only have a complete kit, but have one that will last a long time, are nice and soft, good quality and more. I had high expectations for Crown Brushes but the two sets I purchased really disappointed me.

Well, good news for that sad turn of events, I've discovered Sigma Beauty! Now a lot of you may have already heard about Sigma brushes, and what's great about them is that they're similar to MAC brushes. In more ways than one! For quality, brush shapes and more!

These brushes are really nice and soft and I have yet to hear or see anything negative about Sigma brushes! I have personal friends who have previously purchased them, after looking around the market a bit and not necessarily having the budget to buy MAC brushes or other high end brands and then fell upon Sigma. The thing is, you get the same quality if not better as the high end brands, but you're not paying the price! It's great! And on top of that, if you spend 30$ or more, they even throw in a free gift. Awesome right?

If you click on the ad above it will bring you to Sigma'swebsite where you can see the brushes and other products for yourself. I like the idea of being able to purchase individually or the option to buy sets. And another thing to look for is that there's always something on special!

Not everyone needs a full face and eye kit so it's nice that if you do want a kit, they have those options available for purchase. The prices vary, but the quality in the brushes don't! What's fun too is they have a new collection where you can choose a set and select the color you want. There's teal, pink, purple and black. These are the Make Me Up collection. They're super good and if you're looking into investing into great brushes I would definitely recommend these ones! If you look in the picture above you can see the cute colors yourself! If you want to see them bigger go here. They retail for 99$ and though that seems expensive, figure that you're getting 12 brushes and a case for them to be stored in. Excluding the case, it's about 8$ a brush which is really reasonable! And compared to buying them separately, that's saving you 73$!

Oh and just so you guys know, if you buy this kit you even get a free travel size E25 brush! Amazing yes?!

If you guys end up making a purchase at Sigma or already have, tell me about it! I want to know what you bought and why!

The brushes included in the Make Me Up Collection are the following with a description:




Small Angle - E65 - Essential for the application of gel or cream eyeliner on the upper and lower lash line. This brush is also excellent for filling out the eyebrows. Synthetic bristles.

Medium Angled Shading - E70 - Angled, tapered, flat top. Ideal to apply highlight shades underneath the eyebrow and on the inner corners. It can also be used for a precise application of darker shades on the crease area. Natural bristles.

Large Shader - E60 - Flat shape is ideal for application of cream formulas and eye shadow primers. It also works great with loose eye shadows or pigments. Can be used to apply color all over the lid or precisely on the lash line. Natural bristles.

Pencil - E30 - Precise application of color on the crease, outer corner, and upper and lower lash line. Also ideal to smudge out pencil liner. Natural bristles.

Large Angled Contour - F40 - The angled shape makes this brush ideal to apply blush or contour shades. Natural bristles.

Large Powder - F30 - Very dense with a rounded top. Ideal to apply powder products on face and body. Natural bristles.

Duo Fibre - F50 - Specially designed to generate an ‘airbrushed’ finish when used to apply liquid foundation. It can also be used to apply blush, highlight shades and loose pigments. Blend of synthetic and natural bristles.

Foundation - F60 - Can be used to apply liquid or cream foundation. It is also recommended to apply moisturizers and conceal large areas. Synthetic bristles.

Concealer - F70 - The rounded, tapered, flat shape makes this brush ideal to conceal the under eye area. It is also recommended for a precise application in small areas. Synthetic bristles.

Tapered Blending - E40 - Rounded and tapered top. Specially designed to apply and blend color on the crease. Natural bristles.

Eye Shading - E55 - Soft and dense with a rounded finish. Can be used to apply pressed or loose eye shadows and pigments. Ideal to build intense color on the eyelid. Natural bristles.

Eyeliner - E05 - An extra-fine tipped synthetic fiber brush that delivers a precise, firm, even stroke to line the eyes.

Disappointment

So I recently made a purchase on Hautelook when they had CrownBrush products. I was super excited to purchase them because of rave reviews I was hearing from others and also because the price was right. I think I paid around 60$ for a full kit (The bronze set in the faux snake skin wrap) and a travelling set.

When it finally arrived I liked the packaging on the snake skin one, it was cute and I liked the color, but the travel set looked really cheap. The zippered area looked like it was hastily sewn on, the material wasn't too nice etc. All in all I was set up for disappointment from the beginning. Because I had high hopes? Possibly, but for the price I paid I was expecting a bit more!

Needless to say, when I finally opened both kits and viewed the brushes I thought okay, these look like they'll be good! The brushes seemed like practical every day ones with a few extras so I was sure to use them, until I took the brushes out of the packaging. Jaw dropping moment here!

They handle itself felt really like, hollow and cheap and the bristles oh my! They looked like someone had hacked them trying to get an even tip, the hairs were a mish mash of colors...there were blue fiber things included. That turned me off right then and there but I decided to give them a chance. They may not look so good but maybe they would apply nicely or something, who knew.

So giving them a chance the next morning I tried the large shadow brush, the regular shadow brush and the pencil. The regular shadow brush was very stiff and didn't pick up much of any color, nor did it apply it either. What a waste of my Stila shadows!! Switching brushes to the larger one, that one picked up the shadow a bit nicer but the application wasn't so good either. And don't get me started on the pencil brush gah!

All in all I really regret buying both sets of Crown Brushes and wish I had invested in Sigma brushes instead. I'm sure they would have come out 10x better than this! So to anyone looking into purchasing Crown Brushes, may I suggest looking at them in person before purchasing them online? Sure it's a good deal..but you can finder better quality ones at Walmart!