Real Techniques Brushes -- Pretty Much All I Need On A Daily Basis

Man, I am such a sucker for brushes. I have a lot (more than 50), which makes sense since I'm kinda-sorta in the makeup industry; but ever since I started doing makeup gigs, I've always wanted to build a brush set that was just for me. There's nothing wrong with using brushes that I've used on clients (provided I wash it, of course), but I wanted to have brushes that were strictly for personal use.

Brushes can get pretty expensive, but I've been very lucky in that I've been able to find great quality brushes for a reasonable price (IMATS is a great way to stock up). There are also some fantastic drugstore brands that have amazing brushes and Real Techniques is one of them.

Real Techniques has been available in London Drugs stores in Canada for some time now, but it was always sold out. Finally, I was able to get my hands on 2 brush sets: the Core collection and the Starter Set. Each set sold for approximately $20 each; which, at 4 brushes per set, works out to around $5 a brush.

Real Techniques brushes are all made with super soft, synthetic taklon bristles, which make them 100% cruelty free. The set comes in a travel case which also functions as a stand -- so convenient!

THE CORE COLLECTION

L-R: Contour Brush, Pointed Foundation Brush, Detailer Brush, Buffing Brush

Contour Brush: I've used this both as a contour and blush brush -- it works wonderfully either way. As a contour brush, I find that this shape works best for my face. I've used angled brushes before, but I found they were too large. This brush is rounded and tapered, which I prefer.

Pointed Foundation Brush: When I do my foundation, I like to do it fast. Unfortunately, this brush doesn't really let me do that because it's quite small. Still, it does the job; just not fast enough for my liking.

Detailer Brush: I've used this for lipstick and it does the job well. My problem with all the lip brushes I own is that they tend to separate during use, which makes it hard to make precise lines. This one also does, but not as much as the others that I own.

Buffing Brush: I love this brush! The bristles are densely packed, which makes it perfect for powder foundations. I've been neglecting the use of the powder foundations I used to use, but this brush actually made me want to use them again. Plus, it's soooo soft and feels amazing on the skin.

THE STARTER SET

L-R: Deluxe Crease Brush, Base Shadow Brush, Accent Brush, 

Pixel-Point Eyeliner Brush, Brow Brush

Deluxe Crease Brush: This brush is definitely much too big for my non-existent crease, so I use it to buff in concealer (which is how the ladies of Pixiwoo like to use this brush). It feels soooo soft, even on the delicate eye area! Basically, this brush is like the Expert Face Brush in smaller form -- it buffs in base products beautifully for a flawless look. Love!

Base Shadow Brush: I was pleasantly surprised by this brush. Because the bristles are dense, it packs on eyeshadow so well. Base eyeshadow brushes are pretty standard -- they're almost all the same. But this one really impressed me because it picked up SO much of a particular eyeshadow that I normally have trouble getting enough of on the brush.

Accent Brush: I love small brushes like these -- it's so perfect for the lower lash line area. And because it's so soft, it doesn't irritate my skin at all.

Pixel-Point Eyeliner Brush: For eyeliner, I normally tend to gravitate towards angled brushes. However, I do have an old Sigma that I still use. At first, I wasn't all that impressed with this brush because it separated as I used it. But then I realized that if I coat it with cream/gel eyeliner by placing the product on the back of my hand and rolling the brush into the product, the bristles don't separate at all. I still love my angles brushes and still do prefer them, but this eyeliner brush also does a great job.

Brow Brush: Dense, stiff, perfect! I love it!

I'm so glad I was able to find a great set of brushes that I can now use on a daily basis. No more worrying about not having any brushes to use when I've got makeup gigs! :p

Real Techniques' biggest draw is the great quality and the inexpensiveness -- who doesn't like either? These babies were definitely worth the wait!

What's your favourite makeup brush?

CONTEST (CLOSED) - Win $100 Worth Of Your Favourite Shu Uemura Products Courtesy Of Made In Blog (Canada Only)

When Made In Blog contacted me about hosting a Shu Uemura contest, I immediately jumped at the chance. Shu Uemura is such an iconic brand, but it can seem a bit inaccessible. Now that Shu Uemura has launched their Canadian online store, us Canadians no longer have any excuses! :p

To celebrate this momentous occasion, Made in Blog and call it beauty. have teamed up to bring you this awesome-possum contest! What do you get? A chance to win $100 worth of your favourite Shu Uemura products! What do you need to do? Well, read on...

The Rules
- You must follow call it beauty. either through Google Friend Connect (GFC) or Bloglovin
- You must leave a DISQUS** comment on this blog post with your name, an email we can reach you at, how you follow call it beauty. (GFC or Bloglovin), the name of your favourite Shu Uemura product, and a link to said product from the Canadian website.
- You must like call it beauty. on Facebook.
- You may enter once per day until the deadline.

**IMPORTANT: Comments left via mobile DO NOT appear on this website. You must leave a comment via Disqus in order for your entry to be counted.

For extra entries, you must follow call it beauty. on Twitter and tweet the following message (in parentheses): "Check out @callitbeauty_'s Shu Uemura giveaway for your chance to win $100 worth of your favourite Shu products", along with a link to this blog post. You may tweet once per day up until the deadline.

In the interest of simplifying the verification process, please leave a link to your tweet in the same comment with all the information stated above (under The Rules). So to clarify: one comment = one entry, one comment + tweet (link) = two entries.

The contest ends at 12noon PDT on April 30th, 2013. Winner will be chosen by random generator and will be contacted once verified.

But this contest is not your only chance to win some Shu swag. How does a $500 gift card sound to you? All you have to do is click on this link & create your Shu Uemura Wishlist and you'll be in the running for that $500 gift card!

And with the special promo code SHUBLOG, you will receive a $10 gift card for the Shu Uemura website at checkout (valid on purchase of $50 or more). Happy shopping!

Best of luck, lovelies!

Guess What, Lovelies?!

So a month or two ago, I was contacted by FASHION MAGAZINE to be part of their new online Beauty Panel. I missed the first challenge, but I was able to join the other lovely beauty bloggers for the second and it's all about: EMERALD. 

As you all must know, Pantone has declared emerald the colour of the year. So we were tasked with incorporating this particular shade into our beauty routines. 

I particularly love wearing colour on my lower lash line, so I decided to wear emerald there...

Products Used:

Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation

Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Waterproof Concealer

Anastasia Vol. I Bold Brows Kit

MAC Eyeshadows (Naked Lunch, Quarry, and Omega)

MAC Powder Blush (Taupe Shape)

MAC Mineralize Blush (Subtle Breeze)

Smashbox Be Legendary Lipstick (Posy Pink)

Maybelline Volum' Express Falsies Flared Mascara

NYX Cosmetics Slide On Pencil (Esmeralda)

And on a quick review note: the NYX Slide On Pencils are fabulous! They have stayed on my lower lash line without budging for 11 hours. With other long-wearing eye pencils, I notice fading after 5 or 6 hours, but the Slide On Pencils didn't move at all. And yet, they weren't difficult to apply (they are sooo soft, you guys!) or a pain in the you-know-where to remove. I'm definitely impressed... Which means I must get all the colours. ALL THE COLOURS, you guys!

Anyway, hope you guys like this look and if you have the time, please check out my post and all the other posts as well! 

How would YOU wear emerald?

Giving My Tresses Some TLC with These Organix Hair Oils

I'll be the first to admit that I don't really do much in terms of taking care of my hair. I wash and style/blow dry it nearly every day and apart from your regular shampoo/conditioner and various other styling products, I don't use anything else on my hair.

So when I came across these two hair oils by Organix (a brand I've been a fan of for some time), I was intrigued enough to make a purchase...

First up is the Macadamia Dry Styling Oil!

My day-to-day hair routine involves some sort of "beach spray" (I'm currently using this one from Marc Anthony), a whole lot of scrunching, and blow-drying with a diffuser. Now, my hair is generally pretty fluffy/frizzy, even when I let my hair air dry, and I generally rely on finishing products to make my hair look less fluffy/frizzy. So I thought I'd try the Dry Styling Oil to see how it would fare in that department...

Is it life-changing? Nope, can't say that it is. But, it definitely lessens the frizziness noticeably. I think the reason it doesn't work as well as I had hoped is because I need to smooth it through my hair before styling, which removes any natural curl that my hair gains while wrapped in a towel. So I find myself scrunching my hair even more just to get some of that curl back, which (I think, anyway) is what creates more frizz.

That said, what I do love about this product is that it makes my hair look shiny and healthy. It also makes my hair much softer. Beach sprays tend to make my hair kinda "crispy", for lack of a better word. So I really love that this dry styling oil allows me to style my hair while still keeping my hair soft.

Next up: the Moroccan Argan Oil.

I use this on those "pampering days", days when I want to add a little something extra to the routine. I typically apply this after a nighttime shower because I don't like that much hydration during the day as I find that it weighs down my hair too much (I like my hair big! :p).

It's a bit too hydrating for every day use (curse you, oily roots!); but like the Dry Styling Oil, this Penetrating Oil makes my hair super soft and silky. Anyway, that doesn't bother me, as I actually like to have products that can only be used every now and again. It kind of makes it a bit of an event -- a little something special to treat myself to.

Oh, and I must mention how lovely they both smell! The Macadamia Dry Styling Oil has a sweeter scent, but both are just yummy! Both have the kind of scent that stays out of the way -- you can smell it, but it doesn't assault your senses.

Both also work really well as finishing oils -- they eliminate more frizz this way, though my hair looks just as shiny whether I use it before or after styling. What was pleasantly surprising, though, was that it made my hair just as soft when using as a finishing product. No more crunchy hair for me!

One thing to keep in mind is that this does weigh my hair down a bit (I have thick, coarse, wavy/curly hair). It doesn't make my hair flat, by any means (that would be unacceptable -- I like my hair big!), but it does make it less fluffy. Oh, and after about a week of use, I decided not to use it before or after styling, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that my hair looked shinier than it normally does. I'd like to believe it's because of these products (priced at $9.99 each -- very affordable!)... After all, they're the only new products in my haircare regimen...

Are there any hair oils included in your styling routine?

Be Bold, Be Beautiful... Courtesy Of Anastasia Beverly Hills

I'm going to embarrass myself and admit that I totally watched The Bold & The Beautiful when I was younger. Also, Days Of Our Lives... And Passions. Hey, there were some really good looking men in those shows!

Aaaanyway, what I'm talking about here is a different kind of Bold & Beautiful... I'm talking about the Bold & Beautiful Kit by Anastasia Beverly Hills. The kit comes with 2 "books" -- Vol. I Bold Brows and Vol. II Beautiful Eyes. Let's take a gander, shall we?

First up, we've got Vol. 1 Bold Brows. It comes with Pomade, Brow Powder, Mini Tweezers, and a Mini Duo Brush.

Now, I have to admit that I normally don't do much with my brows. I'm pretty lucky in that they're fairly full and don't require much work other than grooming. Still, I sometimes have the urge to make them fuller and more ta-dao like so (except not as bushy, maybe). Growing your brows out can be tedious and take a while so the other option is to use brow products like those found in Anastasia's Bold & Beautiful Kit.

The Brow Pomade comes in a a dark, ashy brown shade and the Brow Powder comes in a taupe-y tray shade. Now, my brows are black, so I really wasn't sure how the Brow Powder was going to work out for me. However, combined with the Brow Pomade, it looks quite natural. The pomade allows for the brow products to stay put all day and it has definitely stayed with me all day.

The Mini Duo Brush is also quite useful. I use the spoolie end to comb through my brows and the angled brush end to apply both brow products. The angled brush has dense, stiff bristles that do the job perfectly.

And the Mini Tweezers? I love! I have one tweezer. Oh, I've tried many others before, but none of them work as well as this one. I've been using it for so long that the brand logo has worn off. So if I lost the damn thing (and I have many times), I can't even go out and replace it with the right tweezer. Well, I am happy and relieved to say that this Mini Tweezer works just as well for me! Huzzah! No more dealing with bushy brows when I lose my big tweezers! I love that it grabs every single hair. Because it's so small, I do have to do more tweezing than when I use my big tweezers. But on the upside, it can catch even my smallest bits of hair, precisely because it's so small.

Next up, we've got Vol. 2 Beautiful Eyes, which is an eyeshadow palette that contains 4 shades -- 1 matte, 1 satin, and 2 shimmer (the medium brown shade is mostly matte, but there's a little bit of shimmer in there) -- and one double-ended eyeshadow brush. The brush itself works well enough, though I do prefer larger ones. Between the shader brush and the pencil brush, I much prefer the pencil because I like when they are on the smaller side.

The shadows are all very soft and on the sheerer side of pigmented. Unfortunately, the 2 matte shades hardly show up on my skin; although I do like using the light beige shade as a subtle highlight on the brow bone. I've used the medium brown shade to contour, but it the shading is much too subtle for my liking, even when I've packed it on.

There is a peach-coral shade that has a subtle gold pearl that is absolutely gorgeous. It's not incredibly pigmented and is definitely offers a hint of colour, but it's not so subtle that you don't see it. It's the perfect shade for somebody who wants to incorporate more colour into their look but doesn't care for anything too bold or bright.

Meanwhile, the darkest shade is, unsurprisingly, the most pigmented shade of the bunch. It's more unique than your typical black because it has bronze glitter shot through it (soooo pretty!); but it's not over the top shimmery.

Surprisingly, despite my slightly oily lids, these shadows stay on for a good 6 hours without a primer. It applies smoothly and I experience just a little bit of fall out.

In the photos above, I've used both the Brow Powder and the Pomade on my brows. For the eyes, I used the satin coral shade all over the lid and in the inner third of the lower lash line, the medium brown shade along the edges of the coral shade to blend (I promise I used it!), and the matte beige shade on the brow bone (again: I promise it's there!). For the black with bronze shimmer, I applied it to the lower lash line and blended up. I also applied some to the lower lash line.

The combination of the coral and black/bronze shimmer shades are utterly gorgeous -- I've actually been wearing this look a lot in the last few months!

All in all, this is a fantastic kit by Anastasia. The products perform well and the shades are gorgeous (despite 2 of them not showing up too well for me). I've really been enjoying using this kit over the last month or so. I've shaved a few minutes off my morning makeup routine because most of what I need is in 2 "booklets". The Bold & Beautiful Kit retails for $36 USD, which is also fantastic value for money!

What products make you feel BOLD & BEAUTIFUL?

* This product was provided by PR for review consideration.

Insert Witty Title About How I Really Like The L'oréal Colour Caresse By Colour Riche Lipsticks Here

When I first heard of the L'oréal Colour Riche Colour Caresse Lipsticks, I immediately wanted to purchase them... But they hadn't been released in Canada yet, so I ended up playing the waiting game. But during the waiting game, real life took over, and I soon forgot about them. There was also the fact that I hadn't stepped foot into a drugstore in what felt like ages, so I wasn't even aware they were available in Canada til literally the week before I purchased it -- which was like, a month or two ago (possibly three, omg >_<). This post has been sitting in Blogger as a draft since then.

Ah, well... Better late then never, right?

So... What's so different about these lipsticks? Well, my friend, let me tell you...

L'oréal has formulated the Colour Caresse lipsticks to have 50% less wax than your regular lipstick. They've also developed a Lightfeel System that is supposed to feel incredibly lightweight and is "never sticky or heavy."

Pretty big claims, don't you think? But I must say, these claims are actually pretty accurate! The Colour Caresse lipsticks are what I expected the Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters to be like -- the pigmentation of a lipstick with the feel of a lip balm. It feels so comfortable on the lips, I can actually forget I'm wearing it. In fact, in terms of consistency and feel, I would compare the Colour Caresse lipsticks to one of my favourite ever lip products - MAC's Tinted Lip Conditioners.

However, it definitely doesn't hydrate like a lip conditioner/balm. It's definitely not the most hydrating lipstick out there, but I do love how it fades to a stain; it leaves a nice touch of colour, even if I don't reapply.

I chose Violet Chiffon, Velvety Fuchsia, and Cherry Tulle -- all very pretty shades! My most worn are definitely Velvety Fuchsia and Cherry Tulle. But I must say, my favourite has to be Violet Chiffon. As much as I love purple, it's not really represented well in my lipstick collection and after seeing it on the stunning Rema of The Burgundy Book, I knew I had to get it for myself.

These lipsticks apply smoothly and for the most part, evenly. My lips are fairly pigmented and a little bit of the natural pinkness comes through when I apply 1-2 layers of this lipstick. When applying more, I found that Cherry Tulle tended to not distribute pigment as evenly, while Velvety Fuchsia and Violet Chiffon stayed even.

L-R: Velvety Fuchsia, Cherry Tulle, Violet Chiffon

Velvety Fuchsia

Cherry Tulle

Violet Chiffon

Because these lipsticks are so lightweight, they're pretty damn easy to wear. I like to reach for one of these if I'm in a hurry to get ready and want to add colour to my look. So if you're scared of lipsticks, you may want to start out with a "lipstick hybrid" like those in the Colour Caresse line. With 12 lovely shades to choose from (3 of which are in the neutral territory) and a $5.99 CAD price tag, you can't really go wrong.

What are your favourite lightweight lipsticks?

Girl, Take That Eye Makeup Off!

For me, finding fantastic skincare products is kind of a never-ending search. I love skincare (well, beauty products, in general) and I'm always up for trying new things. But once in a while, a product comes along that makes you think: "I think I'm gonna use this forever long." (Forever long, guyz...)

A few months ago, I purchased The Body Shop's Camomile Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover during their 50% off site-wide sale and I must say, I've been pretty impressed with it.

Firstly, as the name suggests, it really is gentle. The last two products I've used were Bioderma and Simple Eye Makeup Remover. They both worked well enough, but there were definitely things I was dissatisfied with with both products. Bioderma made my eyes sting occasionally and Simple didn't remove every last trace of makeup. However, with The Body Shop's Camomile Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover, neither of those things are an issue! It removes every trace of eye makeup without stinging. Yes, even the stubborn pencil eyeliner that always seems to make a home on my lower lash line -- it removes even that!

But if that's not enough, there's also the fact that it costs $15.99 for 250 mL of product! Bioderma costs more and contains less, while Simple only contains 175 mL. The Body Shop also has many sales, so it's quite easy to stock up on this product when it goes on sale. I purchased this bottle for $7.99, which is approximately the same price that Simple retails for.

I'm seriously so happy with this eye makeup remover, I honestly don't think I'll be using anything else anytime soon.

What's your favourite eye makeup remover?