Sigma Make Me Crazy Travel Brush Set

Hi Everyone!

I am sure that many of you know, I love, love, love Sigma brushes! I think that they are amazing quality and excellent value for money! I have a lot of their brushes and I have found them to be as good as, or in some cases better, than my MAC brushes. I decided to purchase one of their travel sets in purple which is called 'Make Me Crazy.' The set contains 7 brushes (3 face brushes and 4 eye brushes) in a gorgeous light and dark purple colour. The brushes come with a brilliant, unique container that makes a great holder to store your brushes at home and when travelling.

Make Me Crazy Box

Brush Holder (Fastened)

(L to R) F30, F40, F60, E40, E55, E30, E65

BRUSH DESCRIPTIONS:

F30 Large Powder Brush: This is a large brush which is ideal for applying powder products to your face.

F40 Large Angled Contour Brush: A great brush for applying blush, highlighters and contouring powder.

F60 Foundation Brush: Use to apply liquid or cream foundation.

E40 Tapered Blending Brush: This is an amazing brush for blending out eyeshadows or for applying a sheer wash of colour to the lid. This is one of my favourite eye brushes from Sigma.

E55 Eye Shading Brush: This is a great densely packed, flat shader brush which is perfect for packing colour onto the lid.

E30 Pencil Brush: Pencil brushes are great for defining the outer V area of your lid and for smudging colour along your lower and upper lashlines.

E65 Small Angle Brush: This is a small angled brush which would be great for applying gel eyeliner, colour to the lashlines and for filling in your eyebrows.

(L to R) F30, F40, F60

(L to R) E40, E55, E30, E65

The brush selection that comes with this set is great and contains everything that you need to create your perfect makeup look. The brush handles are quite a bit shorter than the normal line but that can actually help with your application precision. I especially love the colour of the brushes as they really stand out from my other brushes. This set is perfect for travelling or for if you want a few back up brushes to use when your normal brushes are waiting to be cleaned!

Sigma also produce this set in coral, aqua and black and also in full size sets rather than travel sized. I purchased my brush set from Cocktail Cosmetics for £49.95 and you can get them from Sigma by clicking here.

Maz x

Favourite Brow Highlights

Hi Everyone!

I previously put a post together about my favourite cheek highlighters (click here to read it) which has been pretty popular so I decided to share my top brow highlights with you all too. These are the powders that I use to highlight my brow bones and in the inner corners of my eyes. Here are the descriptions of the powders followed by the swatches.

NARS Albatross: I use Albatross to highlight both my brow and cheekbones. It is a soft neutral colour with a subtle shimmer.

MAC Ricepaper: Ricepaper is described as a peachy gold with shimmer, I think that it looks great with gold and brown eyeshadow looks.

MAC Brule: Brule is a soft creamy beige colour that is very similar to the colour of my skin and is my most used highlighter. It is also fairly matte which makes it extra versatile.

Sigma Approach: This shadow is from Sigma's Bare palette, it is a creamy, pale colour with a pink tone.

MAC Shroom: Shroom is very similar to Brule but with some shimmer. It's great to use if you are wearing matte eyeshadows on your lids.

MAC Yogurt: This is a pale pink colour which I love to use when I am wearing a pink or purple look.

MAC Naked Lunch: This is a pink with some shimmer that also compliments a pink or purple eyeshadow look.

Urban Decay Virgin: Virgin is from Urban Decay's Naked palette and is a pale shimmered nude beige.

Swatches shown on NW20 skin:

(Top Row, L to R) Albatross, Ricepaper, Brule, Approach

(Bottom Row, L to R) Shroom, Yogurt, Naked Lunch, Virgin

Thanks for reading this post and I hope that you have found it useful.

Maz x

August Favourites

Hi Everyone!

I can't believe that another month has passed by so quickly so it is time for my monthly favourites post! These are the products that I have used and loved a lot over the last month!

MAC Sheen Supreme Lipstick in Ultra Darling: I love MAC's Sheen Supreme lipsticks and especially Ultra Darling which is a beautiful mid-tone pink colour that is so flattering and perfect for the daytime. The greatest advantage of these lipsticks is you get the ease of application of a lipstick plus the shine of a gloss without any stickiness! Click here to see a swatch if this lipstick.

NARS Orgasm

NARS Orgasm Blush: This is one of my favourite blushes of all time and I especially love to wear it during summer as it really complements a tan! It is a stunning peachy-pink colour with a golden shimmer. To see a swatch of the blush please click here.

Sigma Flare Palette: I purchased both the Flare and Bare eyeshadow palettes from Sigma a couple of months ago and whilst I love the neutral colours in the Bare palette, the more adventurous side of me adores the Flare palette! I love to create purple and teal eye looks using this palette and have found the shadows to be amazing quality that stay in place all day. I highly recommend this palette! To read my review of it please click here.

Sigma F25

Sigma F25 Tapered Face Brush: I have recently started to use the F25 brush to contour my cheekbones after watching a pixi2woo tutorial on YouTube. Previously I used a MAC 109 brush but I find that this brush does a much better job. It has a tapered point, as you can see in the picture above, so it has a precise application but does not lay down too much product at a time which allows you to build up your powder to your desired finish and avoids that awful dark line that you can sometimes create when contouring!

Beauty Blender: I am fairly new to the Beauty Blender craze but I love it! I find it applies my liquid foundation effortlessly and I haven't reached for a foundation brush since I purchased it. You can read my full review of the Beauty Blender by clicking here.

China Glaze, For Audrey

China Glaze Nail Polishes: China Glaze is a pretty new brand to me, I love nail polishes and always go for OPI and Essie but for a change I thought I'd give this brand a go and I am so impressed with their colour choice and longevity. My favourite colour so far has to be For Audrey which is a lovely Tiffany box blue (Click here for a swatch of this polish).

Superdrug Coconut and Shea Butter Body Polish

Superdrug Coconut and Shea Butter Body Polish: This has to be my star product of the month! I am a huge fan of the smell of coconut and use the Body Shop's Coconut Body Butter regularly and I used to also use their exfoliating body wash too but it is so expensive and I find that I get through it quite quickly. I found this body polish in Superdrug recently for the bargain price of £1.99 and I have to say that it is amazing! It smells delicious and leaves your skin feeling supper soft and smooth, I would definitely recommend giving this product a try!

Marc Jacobs, Lola

Marc Jacobs Lola Perfume: I recently picked up a sample of this fragrance from a department store and I am in love with it! It is so light and fresh, I have never tried a Marc Jacobs fragrance before and I am definitely going to purchase this ASAP!

So they are my favourite products for August, I hope that you enjoyed the post!

Maz x

Sigma Face Brushes

Hi Guys!

I love Sigma as a brand and I am a huge fan of their make up brushes, they are affordable and amazing quality and are, in my opinion, on par with MAC brushes. I think that Sigma is a brand that is not very well know in the UK but I buy my Sigma brushes from two UK-based websites Love Make up and Cocktail Cosmetics. I have ordered several times from both of these sites and never had any problems at all. I am sure that Sigma products are widely available to buy in the USA via the official Sigma website.

This post is going to focus on the Sigma face brushes that I own and how I use them.

F45

F45 Buffer/ Kabuki Brush: This is a really densely packed, soft kabuki brush that is ideal for applying loose or pressed powder all over the face and neck. I used it in slow, circular motions to buff in my face powder.

F55, F60, F35

F55 Small Duo Fibre Brush: This is a flat topped duo fibre brush that is a smaller version of the F50 brush (shown below). It can be used to lightly apply powder products to the face, I tend to use it to highlight my cheek bones.

F60 Foundation Brush: This is a standard foundation brush that is great for applying any liquid or pressed foundation.

F35 Tapered Highlighter Brush: The F35 brush is great for highlighting and contouring, it has a pointed tip that provides precise, accurate application.

F15, F80, F10

F15 Duo Fibre Powder/ Blush Brush: This is a medium sized tapered duo fibre brush that can be used to lightly apply powders such as blushes and highlighters to the face.

F80 Flat Top Synthetic Kabuki Brush: This is a flat topped, long handled kabuki brush which is ideal for applying face or setting powder to your face. It buffs the powder into your skin flawlessly. You can also use it to apply liquid foundation to you skin in circular motions.

F10 Powder/ Blush Brush: This is my favourite blush brush and is better, in my opinion than my 129 MAC brush. It is really soft and blends and applies your blush perfectly.

F40, F25

F40 Large Angled Contour Brush: This brush has natural bristles and is traditionally used for contouring your cheekbones, I however prefer to use it for blush application. As the bristles are packed tightly together you will get a large colour pay off from your blusher.

F25 Tapered Face Brush: This is a larger version of the F35 brush (shown above) and is great for contouring and highlighting your cheekbones. It would also be great for applying all face powders such as blush.

F50, F20, F30

F50 Duo Fibre Brush: This is an excellent multi-purpose brush that can be used to apply liquid products such as foundation as well as powders to give you an 'air-brushed' finish. My favourite use for this is for applying my MAC Fix + spray, when I have finished my make up I spray my Fix + onto this brush and stipple it all over my face to set my make up and reduce any cakey powder.
F20 Large Powder Brush: This is the only brush that I use to apply bronzer. It distributes the product evenly and blends it in really well.
F30 Large Powder Brush: This is a great brush for applying powders to the face and body. I generally use it to apply face powder (it gives a more sheer application for this task than a kabuki brush does).

I highly recommend Sigma brushes, as I mentioned previously, I believe that they are as good as MAC brushes and in some cases (the F10 brush) they are better. I have not found any problems with them shedding their bristles and they have all washed well several times.

I do not own the entire range of Sigma brushes (Although I am working on it!) but you can check out the rest of the range on Sigma's official website.

I hope that you have found this post useful, click here to read my post about Sigma Eye brushes.
Maz x

July Favourites

Hi Everyone!

Another month is over so it is time for my July favourites post. I am a little late with this post this month but never mind! Let's get started!

Sigma Bare Palette

I purchased this new eye shadow palette from Sigma last month and I absolutely love it! The shadows are all really smooth and nicely pigmented. It has quickly taken over from the Urban Decay Naked Palette as my 'go-to' neutral eye shadow palette. I love to use Snoop and Hitch together. You can read my review of the palette and see swatches by clicking here.

MAC Romp & Nylon Eyeshadows

I have owned both of these shadows for quite a while now but haven't really used them very much for some reason! I rediscovered them over the past month and love wearing them together. I apply Romp all over the lid with Nylon as my inner corner and brow highlight. I then add add a darker brown shadow such as MAC's Mulch or Espresso in my crease. You can see swatches of the shadows below.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Shadow Pencil in Sin

I love Urban Decay's Glide on Shadow pencils and Sin is the latest addition to my collection. Sin is a beautiful champagne colour that I love to put under similar shade shadows as a base. You can view the swatch of the pencil below.

Bobbi Brown Gel Line in Black Ink

This has featured on my favourite list a few times now and I am obsessed with it! I apply it using my Smashbox bent eyeliner brush and it applies so smoothly and lasts all day. I haven't reached for my pencil or liquid liners since I have owned this! Top marks for this product from me!

NYX Mega Shine Lipgloss in Sweetheart

I have been writing a list of my favourite lipglosses recently for my blog (posting very soon) and I released that this gloss is my favourite in my current collection! It is the perfect pinky-nude colour and is, as the name suggests, mega shinny! It is also really affordable which is great.

OPI Blue My Mind Nail Polish

I have really been getting into blue nail varnishes lately and this is my favourite blue polish so far! It was my nails of the week polish a couple of weeks ago. You can read the post and view the swatch by clicking here.

Britain & Ireland's Next Top Model TV Show

OK so this is a strange addition to a beauty blog favourites list (as are my cake posts) but what the hell! Britain's Next Top Model has been running for many years now and I used to love it but then I got a little bored of it so I've missed quite a few cycles. I have however really got back into it! I forgot how much I loved it! It is currently been shown on Sky Living TV on Monday Nights at 9pm in the UK. I can't wait for this Monday's episode as it is the brilliant, highly anticipated make-over show!

Here are the eye shadow swatches:

(L to R) Urban Decay Sin, MAC Nylon, MAC Romp

Maz x

Sigma Beauty Flare Eyeshadow Palette

Hi Everyone!

This eye shadow palette is amazing and I am so happy to share it with you all! It is the Sigma Flare Eye Shadow palette which is one of the 3 new palettes that Sigma released both here in the UK and in the US just over a week ago. The palette consits of 8 eyeshadows plus a double ended brush. The palette is made from very strong cardboard and has a sleeve over the actual palette. It has a magnetic, snap shut lid, with a mirror on the inside, similar to the Urban Decay Naked palette packaging. The 8 shadows are all a decent size and there is a compartment below them to store the brush.

Here are the swatches of the 8 shadows shown on NW20 skin:

(L to R) Crush, Oversee, Define, Publicize, Resist, Gossip, Allure, Beware

Crush: Crush is a medium-dark warm, chocolate brown shade with excellent colour pay off which would make an excellent crease colour when creating a brown smokey eye.

Oversee: This is a beautiful aqua green colour that would look amazing smudged along the lower lashline when wearing a neutral lid for that extra pop of colour.

Define: Define is a pretty mint green colour that would look great paired with Oversee.

Publicize: Publicize is a flesh toned colour which would make a great highlight shade and would also be great to use with the E40 brush that is included with the palette to blend out any harsh lines.

Resist: This shade is similar to Crush but has a slightly more plumy tone and a frostier finish.

Gossip: Gossip reminds me of Sketch from MAC, it makes and amazing crease colour when using a brown or purple lid colour.

Allure: This is my favourite colour from the palette, is a beautiful, vibrant purple colour.

Beware: Beware is a pale creamy-pink shade which would make a great inner corner highlight colour when paired with Allure and would also be great as a brow highlight.

As I have previously mentioned the palette also comes with a double ended eyeshadow brush. Each of the 3 new palettes from Sigma comes with a different brush. This palette comes with, in my opinion, the best of the 3 brushes. It has the E55 which is an amazing stiff shader brush which is perfect for packing on colour and the E40 blending brush which is one of my favourite brushes from Sigma, it is great for applying a sheer wash of colour all over the lid, for blending out any harsh lines and for applying highlight colour to your brow bone. The brush is much better quality then the ones that you usually find in eyeshadow palettes.

Overall I have to say that this palette is amazing. The shadows are superb quality, they apply to the skin silky smooth and blend excellently. They all have great colour pay off and stay on all day (I always apply an eyeshadow primer before my shadows). The brush is a great addition to the palette too. I highly recommend this palette especially if you have brown eyes as the purple and green shades will really make your eye colour pop!

I purchased my palette from Cocktail Cosmetics for £29.95. You can also purchase it in the US from the official Sigma website by clicking here

Please check out my review of the Sigma Bare Palette by clicking here!

For more pictures of the palette please click on the video below.

Maz x

Sigma Beauty Bare Eyeshadow Palette

Hi Everyone!

I am so excited to share this eyeshadow palette with you all! It is a brand new product from Sigma that was launched both here in the UK and in the US last Friday (24 June 2011) and it is the Bare Eyeshadow Palette. Sigma has released 3 new palettes including this one. The other two palettes are called Dare and Flare.

The Bare palette contains 8 neutral eyeshadows which all work really well together and a double ended brush. The palette comes in a sleeve which slides off to reveal the palette which is made from really strong cardboard. The palette has a magnetic, snap shut closing, similar to the Urban Decay Naked palette and has a handy mirror on the inside of the lid and a compartment below the shadows for the brush that is included. The shadows are all really nicely pigmented and there is a good selection of shimmery and more matte shades. The shadows are great quality and apply and blend really well. Here are the swatches of the shadows shown on NW20 skin.

(L to R) Shine, Control, Snoop, Hitch, Act, Command, Elope, Approach

Shine: Shine is a highly pigmented black with silver sparkles. I really like this shade as a change from the regular black and I did not have any problems with any fall out as the glitter is not too chunky.

Control: This is a standard black shade with great colour pay off which makes it great to darken up the outer v area or to use as an eyeliner.

Snoop: Snoop is a cool-toned greyish brown colour which is a great colour to use when creating a smokey grey eye.

Hitch: Hitch is a matte chocolate brown which is perfect for an all over lid colour for a more dramatic look or as a crease colour.

Act: Act is a frosty medium brown shade which would also make a great all over lid colour.

Command: This is a beautiful bright golden colour which is similar to Half Baked from Urban Decay's Naked Palette. This would look great applied under the lower lash line for a pop of colour as well as an all over lid colour. This is my favourite shadow from the palette.

Elope: Elope is a pink-toned pale colour which would make a great inner corner colour or brow highlight.

Approach: Approach is similar to Elope but more creamy coloured. It would also make a great inner corner colour or brow highlight. This colour would also blend out any harsh eyeshadow lines really well too.

Each of the 3 new palettes comes with it's own double ended brush and this palette comes with the E30 which is a pencil brush and the E25 blending brush. I was amazed at the quality of these brushes as the brushes that usually come with eyeshadow palettes don't tend to be as good a quality as a brand's mainline brushes.

Overall I think that this palette is amazing and I highly recommend purchasing it. The shadows and the palette itself are really good quality and you won't be disappointed. I imagine that this will be the most popular of the 3 palettes as it contains the neutral shades so buy it quickly!

I purchased my palette for £29.95 from Cocktail Cosmetics you can purchase these palettes from the official Sigma site in the US bly clicking here

Check out my review of the Sigma Flare Eye Shadow Palette by clicking here!

For more pictures of the palette please click in the video below.

Maz x

Sigma Eye Brushes

Hi Everyone!

I love Sigma as a brand and I am a huge fan of their make up brushes, they are affordable and amazing quality and are, in my opinion, on par with MAC brushes. I think that Sigma is a brand that is not very well know in the UK but I buy my Sigma brushes from two UK-based websites Love Make up and Cocktail Cosmetics. I have ordered several times from both of these sites and never had any problems at all. I am sure that Sigma products are widely available to buy in the USA via the Sigma Website

This post is going to focus on the Sigma eye brushes that I own and how I use them.

EO5, E65, E20, E30

EO5 Eyeliner Brush: This is a classic pointed eyeliner brush.

E65 Small Angle Brush: This is an angled eyeliner brush which is ideal for creating a flick.

E20 Short Shader Brush: This brush is super short and has very densely packed bristles. You can use this to apply eyeliner or to smudge colour along the lashlines. It will also densely pack colour onto the eyelid.

E30 Pencil Blush: This is a great pencil brush which I think is a little soft and less densely packed than the MAC 219 brush. I use it to smudge colour along the lower lashline, to apply inner corner colour and to define the crease.

E55, E25, E45, E70

E55 Eye Shading Brush: This is an amazing eyeshadow brush that applies pressed and loose shadows really well, the bristles are nicely packed and provide great colour pay off.

E25 Blending Brush: This is a blending brush which is perfect for apply and blending out crease colour. You can also use it to apply colour to the lid too.

E45 Small Tapered Blending Brush: The E45 brush has similar uses to the E25 brush mentioned above but allows a slightly more precise application due to it's tapered tip.

E70 Medium Angled Shading Brush: This is an angled, wedge shaped eyeshadow brush which is great for creating the outer v shape. The bristles aren't too densely packed so you will get a fairly sheer application of colour.

E40, E50, E60

E40 Tapered Blending Brush: This is one of my favourite brushes from Sigma and is a must have! I mainly use it to blend out my eyeshadows. I use it empty or with a flesh coloured shadow to get rid of any harsh lines. I also use it to apply a sheer wash of lid colour.

E50 Large Fluff Brush: This is a really large shadow brush that can be used to apply colour to the lid but I mainly use it to apply my brow highlight colour and to blend out any harsh lines. It is big enough to also apply highlight to your cheek bones.

E60 Large Shader Brush: This is a large eyeshadow brush with synthetic bristles. It is great for apply loose or pressed shadows all over the lid and is also excellent for apply emollient based products such as MAC's paint pots.

I do not own the entire range of Sigma eyeshadow brushes but I'm working on it! Sigma brushes are amazing and are of similar quality to the much more expensive MAC brushes, I have owned them for a long time and they have all washed really well and I have had no problems with bristle shedding.

I hope that you have found this post useful, please click here to read my post about Sigma's Face brushes.
Maz x

Top Face Brushes

Hi Everyone!

I have picked out my favourite 8 face brushes to share with you. These are the brushes that I use on a regular basis and that I have found perform and wash really well time and time again.

(L to R) Clinique Foundation Brush, Sigma F10, MAC 150, Sigma F20, Sigma F50, Smashbox 22, Sigma F15, MAC 109

MAC 109: This brush is a small round domed brush that it brilliant for contouring your cheekbones. It applies the product and blends it out brilliantly. It can also be used to apply highlighter to the cheekbones.

MAC 150: The 150 brush is a large powder brush that I use to apply my MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural.

CLINIQUE FOUNDATION BRUSH: I have had this brush for many years and it's still as good as new! It applies and blends in even the thickest of foundation really well.

SMASHBOX FAN BRUSH 22: This is a really delicate fan brush that is great for sweeping eyeshadow fallout off your cheeks and also for applying highlighting powder.
SIGMA F10: This is my favourite blush brush by far and I prefer it over the MAC alternative. It has super soft bristles and blends out powder and cream blushes excellently.

SIGMA F15: This is a medium sized tapered duo fibre brush that I use to apply powder highlighter to my cheekbones it can also be used to apply blush.

SIGMA F20: This is a large paddle brush which I use to apply bronzer but it can be used to apply any face powder.

SIGMA F50: This is a large duo fibre brush that I use to apply my Fix + spray.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this post, please feel free to share your favourite brushes with me in the comments section below.
To purchase brushes from MAC click here to purchase from Sigma click here to purchase from Clinique click here and from Smashbox click here

Maz x

Top Eye Brushes

(L to R) MAC 219, MAC 239, Smashbox 15, Sigma E45, MAC 227, MAC 224, MAC 242, Smashbox 21, Sigma E20, MAC 217

Hi Everyone!

I decided to post my favourite eye makeup brushes for you but it was so hard to narrow it down! I finally chose 10 to share with you. These brushes are used and washed on a regular basis.

MAC 217: This is a stiff domed brush which is ideal for applying and blending out crease colour.

MAC 219: The 219 is a stiff pencil brush which is great for applying an inner eye highlight colour, adding more precise colour into the crease and also for smudging eyeshadow along the lower lashline.

MAC 224: This is a fluffy blending brush that is the best at blending out eyeshadows, it's also great at adding a subtle wash of colour to the lid or crease area.

MAC 227: Is a large rounded fluff brush that I use to apply my brow highlight with and also to blend out any eyeshadow lines. It's also large enough to apply highlight to the cheekbones too.

MAC 239: The 239 brush is shadow brush with really densely packed bristles. It's great for applying all types of eyeshadow.

MAC 242: The 242 brush is probably my favourite brush to apply pigments with as it picks up the product really well. It is also really good at applying inner corner highlight shadows and under eye colours as it's tip is quite precise. As the bristles are synthetic it is ideal for apply emollient-based products such as paint pots. The MAC 252 is a larger version of the 242.

SMASHBOX - DEFINER BRUSH 15: This brush is like a chunkier version of the MAC 219 and is really good for applying colour to the outer v area of your lid.

SMASHBOX - ARCHED LINER BRUSH 21: This is the only brush that I can apply gel or cream liner with! The arched tip makes it so much easier to see what you are doing!

SIGMA E20: This brush has very short densely packed bristles, I mainly use this brush to apply colour along the lower lashline or to smudge out eyeliner.

SIGMA E45: The E45 brush is a tapered domed blending brush that does a similar job to the MAC 217 but it is slightly fluffier than it and it's tapered end makes it a little more precise than the 217.

I hope that you have enjoyed this post. To purchase brushes from MAC please click here. To purchase brushes from Smashbox click here and to purchse brushes from Sigma please click here
 Maz x