Nars brushes – 12 Small Dome and 13 Large Dome
Even if I have many crease brushes, I always reach for the same ones over and over again, my favorites are the Tom Ford 13, the Louise Young 38 family, Hakuhodo and recently added to my favorites, the Trish 29. These two brushes were calling my name and I was intrigued to finally try Nars eyeshadow brushes.
Both Nars 12 and 13 brushes are made of squirrel hair as per Nars description, they are soft yet firm, pointy yet wide enough to allow a precise but non-streaky application. If you have both, these two together are the perfect combination and crease multipurpose to place – define – blend.
Nars 13 Large Dome
Hair length measures 1.8 cm, base of the ferrule measures 0.5cm, the widest point of the head is 1,2 cm wide and that’s were the layers of hair start, that’s approx 1cm from the base of the ferrule and the layers are consistent all the way till the point. The brush is dense and I cannot see any quality flaws. Still, it’s an expensive brush : 32.50 Gbp, but I am pleasantly surprised with the result.
Inglot brushes – 4SS and 5FS
I cannot go to London and not get a few Inglot items. This time I also picked up two brushes, the 4SS and the 5FS.
I am looking for big eyeshadow brushes and small blush brushes at the moment..
…how weird is that ???
Inglot 4SS
The 4SS is a BIG eyeshadow brush… that can make a small highlighter brush, so either way I wanted this one. It’s made from “squirrel substitute”, what it is, I don’t know, but I sent an email to Inglot asking them exactly what material was used and also how and if the brushes were cruelty free. On their website, it’s filed under “Natural eye brushes” and not the synthetic ones. The hair length is 2.2 cm long and 0.8 mm at the base of the ferrule.
They actually have a very clever way of naming their brushes… well, not that you need to be an Einstein to come up with it…
Sometimes it does not correspond entirely (maybe a language difference) but the letters are meant to represent what they are made of :
SS = squirrel substitute
FS = fine squirrel
PO = pami and ox
PP = pami and pony
TL = taklon and ox
M = Nylon
T = Taklon
I put the other brushes in the picture to have a better idea of the size. It feels soft, not soft as squirrel but still soft.. Softer than the Claudio Riaz instant shadows anyway. I was really optimistic thinking I could use this one for my crease 
You can either use it as a highlighter brush or to blend your eyeshadow application, if you want a soft all-over blending… It’s dense, costs 18 Gbp. Feels solid and is good quality for the price.
RMK Brushes
I love Japanese brushes, I saw these RMK brushes a long time ago but the brushes that you can see and touch at the counter feel scratchy and are in bad shape, therefore it does not necessarily make you want them.
Not that I absolutely needed them but I am just too weak to resist and I thought I may regret it if I left without them.
First of all, the handles are really short, they aren’t as heavy as the Suqqu but still good quality for the price. I looove the matte black handles, actually they remind me of my first motorbike which was also matte black… not that it has anything to do with these brushes… but I really like that !
Trish McEvoy – some brushes reviewed
I have finally been able to see Trish brushes in person, until last week I had only two, the 37 bronzer and the 40 medium laydown that I both got via swaps in Makeupalley. Last week I bought a few others and even though it’s a bit too soon to review them in detail, I will show you some comparisons.
I bought the 45 in Liberty and the others in Selfridges, these are the only two places where I know you can get Trish McEvoy in London.
Addiction brushes – very first pics
Kose Addiction just released their 15 makeup brush collection, they are of great quality but not easy to get and they can get really expensive if you don’t have direct access to them in Japan.
Since there aren’t many pictures available yet, I will post mine even if I only got 3. At least they will give you an idea of their size. The review will come later on when I have had the chance to experiment with them, I am starting tomorrow ! I have already washed the eye shadow ones, I did not wash the blush brush yet since I wanted to take some pics tonight and was afraid it did no dry before.
I ordered them from CherryCosmetics on July 15th and I received the parcel today July 26th, well, it arrived yesterday but I only could pick it up this morning. It came with a beautiful packaging, and a note. Cherry also sent me the original paper bag and some samples as a gift ! The brushes are expensive but at least you get great service, they kept clear and friendly communication all along. I just wish I did not had to pay so much for the customs taxes !
Koyudo – very first pics
I am so excited to have discovered this brand ! Again, I repeat myself, but thank you so much Nikoleta, we are all very grateful 
Tonight, I will post just the very first pics … the review will be uploaded later on.
These are the ones I received today, I pretty sure I will order again, I will definitely need the Fu-Pa 03 too !
I have ordered on the 10th of July and I got them today, I already washed them, they are still a liiittle bit wet but you can’t tell in the pics. The parcel was perfectly wrapped, nothing could ever happen to these brushes, so much bubble wrap and a nice glossy paper bag as well. The quality is fantastic and the price worth the splurge. The big Fu-Pa02 costs Yen 3’680, around Usd 50.-.
I ordered them via the Koyudo site directly, you have to send them an excel file (available in their site) and they will send you a paypal invoice. It was not instantaneous, I think they have to receive the brushes first… I am not sure, but the experience was nice and smooth.
A short shopping trip to London…
The tiny duck is a lip gloss…
I am just back from a 4-day shopping trip in London, I know some of you are wondering what new make up items I got over there, so here they are and I added some swatches for part of them. Some were already in my most wanted shopping list and others are new discoveries.
I had the most wonderful time in this city, as always… I will not only share the hauling but also give you some more details on the trip, maybe you are planning to go there soon and you are wondering where are the best places to shop for make up and beauty.
I have been traveling to London very often, either for work, for shopping, or for special events like the RIAT (Royal International Air Tattoo) and soon also IMATS (International Make-Up Artist Trade Show).
First, the haul. Then, if you are interested, there will be more about me and about London and also some personal tips if you are planning to go there for shopping, just grab a coffee and keep reading if you feel like… it’s a bit long I am afraid 
10 Long lasting plum, violet, purple or aubergine pencil eyeliners
Some years ago I was afraid of wearing anything else than brown or black eyeliner. Recently, after watching many Youtube tutorials on purple looks, I started playing with them until I finally managed to create fun looks still appropriate for my age.
I loved to wear a beautiful and colorful eyeliner but since I was wearing contact lenses, of course one eye always feels more or less comfortable than the other when you are wearing lenses… and that was causing my eyeliner to fade more on one eye than the other… after 4 hours I could already see that happening and it was upsetting, I have no time and I don’t want to have to reapply make up during the day.
I first started wearing the Clinique or Estee Lauder long lasting eyeliners, then I crossed borders and discovered Urban Decay and By Terry in London, today I am in love with the Chanels and the Addiction !
By Terry Gloss Terribly Shine – HG Alert
I need to quickly write this little post because I realized that my HG gloss is a Limited Edition from Spring 2012…. NOOO !
If you are still looking for a great gloss, you might still have some time to try and grab these. I am preparing my shopping list for my London trip and this is on top of it, together with Illamasqua’s foundation
I don’t know how I managed to get my hands on so many glosses that I don’t even use, from Laura Mercier, Mac, Tom Ford, Burberry, Bare Escentuals, actually, I am not a gloss person at all but since I am a matte lipstick one, I like to add just a little touch of gloss. I also hate when it’s sticky and I cannot bear to feel sparkles on my lips. I think that today I could throw away all my other glosses and just keep these By Terry and I wouldn’t even mind.. that’s how much I love them.
They say that this formula is anti-aging, firming and volumizing… it DOES look good on the lips, it really does. I can feel all this happening on my lips for sure, well anti-aging means “younger looking lips” to me… When I first wrote about them, I already liked them a lot, but today when I am not wearing them, I feel like something is missing… that’s what I call addiction.
I have been reaching for Gold Digger nearly everyday since I got it, I wear it on top of other lipsticks or on top of lip liner, or just on its own if I don’t have time for more.
Sue Devitt Matte Lipsticks – They deserve more love !
Very soon I will be uploading a review on some of the most long-lasting lipstick formulas that I love to use, it will include the Rouge d’Armani (my fav), Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist, Rouge Bunny Rouge Hues of Enchantment, Lancome Rouge in Love, YSL Vernis à Lèvres and these Sue Devitt Balanced Matte.
Preparing the review, I realized these Sue Devitt don’t get the raves they deserve !
You want long-lasting, matte but not drying and bright but flattering shades ? I do. This formula is fantastic, it’s a matte-velvety formula with moisturizing lip nutrients. It applies evenly, I don’t even need a gloss if I want to skip that step it’s totally fine.
Kose Addiction BlackJack VS Rouge Bunny Rouge Salome
I just wanted to show you the difference between these two amazing black eye liner pencils. They are both black, they both last forever, but there is just a “little” difference in the blending and the intensity.
The Rouge Bunny Rouge Salome is much more black, more intense, but it’s also more difficult to blend, if you apply it and you want a blended or smudged application, you have to do it WHILE applying, you cannot wait 2 seconds, it will set and don’t give you a second chance.
Japanese blushes – Suqqu, RMK, Addiction, Shu Uemura and a few little others…
In my opinion, Japan has the most amazing quality make up products, but they are also extremely expensive and difficult to get.
These blushes are from different Japanese brands that I have discovered either a long time ago or just very recently like for example Kose Addiction. I will try to share here my personal experience and my preferences, I would be really interested and happy to know what other Japanese brands you have tried and what blush shades you love and recommend.
Shu Uemura
I have collected these blushes through the years, some I really love and still enjoy wearing, but others I don’t actually use anymore. I thought I would share swatches of all of them since that may help someone who could be searching to compare the shades.
Kose Addiction – Eyeliner in 02 Sugar Blond – HG Alert
I have hesitated a very long time before ordering this eyeliner from Kose Addiction and I am happy I decided to finally get it.
My make up routine involves a beige cream liner, every single day.
On a daily basis I use it for contouring my lips, in a very light and extremely blended application, you can not even see it but it’s there. First step I contour my lips (outer line) with a beige liner, blend to an almost invisible line, then apply a dark lipliner closer to the lips and blend inwards, then I use another neutral lipliner to fill the lips… It sounds like a heavy routine but it takes me a few seconds only. When this combined lipliner base is applied, my lips look defined, younger, full, and the lipstick lasts a very long time, even when the lipstick is gone, the base remains visible throughout the day.
Claudio Riaz brushes – First impressions
I don’t even remember when I heard about Claudio Riaz brushes for the first time, I just remember that I checked the price and then I totally abandoned the idea of being willing and able to try them one day. However, I can only resist for a certain period of time, then I miserably fall into temptation
I was in the hunt for big eyeshadow brushes and pointy blush brushes, when I saw Wayne’s video about these brushes and also Deb’s, I noticed that shapewise they were exactly what I was looking for. There aren’t many reviews or posts about the Claudio Riaz brush range, on his website I can read “Claudio’s brushes were a huge success with women around the world” but I don’t see many people raving about them, maybe it’s because you have to be a bit crazy to splurge on something you don’t even know you are going to love.
Well, if I don’t love them, at least I can write about them, maybe give you some information that can help you decide if whether or not they would be of interest to you. Please keep in mind that I am not a make up artist, just a picky client with high expectations and at this price, I can tell you they are higher than ever.
There is NO way I will buy a full brush set again or any brush that I am not sure I will be interested in using. The brushes I selected are those that I am sure I want to use. Here they are :
I have contacted the Claudio Riaz customer support via their own website. They ship internationally but you have to contact them for a quote. I have received a reply from them, to Switzerland it would cost : USD 99.69
Sorry Claudio, I could not even reply to the mail because I froze.
I found out that allcosmeticswholesale had some of the Claudio Riaz brush range and that they were authentic. They claim that if their price is the same as the retail one, the items entirely match the original ones in quality. It was the case for the brushes I ordered. Allcosmeticswholesale shipping was fast, costs around USD 18. They shipped on the 3rd of July and I already received them on the 10th. Excellent order experience, they wrapped the brushes very carefully and they sent me a little present.
Suqqu – Summer 2012 Blend Color Eyeshadow in 12 Konruri
Suqqu has released this new eyeshadow quint for the summer 2012, it will be part of the permanent line replacing the 01 Kakitsubata, that I don’t own, so I won’t be able to show you both side by side.
I just received this quint today and when I saw it, I was happy and relieved since I was not able to check it out in person before I ordered.
From the first day I discovered Suqqu and since my first Suqqu purchase, I have always been able to wear all the palettes, even when I ordered without seeing them before, I loved the colors and the shade combinations.
The result is always sophisticated, I can go from a very subtle make up application for a day at the office, to a very dramatic and sexy, yet still appropriate for my age, I wish it would carry on like that forever
If you know me, you know how much I love Suqqu, there is comfort food and there is comfort make up : I will reach for Suqqu.
I am just sharing some swatches today, please have a look at FruityLashes or Maddy posts to have more detailed description of the shades and a great review of the quint.
This is one of my favorite palettes from Suqqu, with bright shades and actually the shades I like the most at this moment… is it because it’s a trend and I see them everywhere or I don’t know, just a coincidence ??
Chikuhodo – review of some amazing brushes
Good news, I have finally tried Chikuhodo brushes and they are really good.
Bad news, they are very difficult to get unless you live in Japan or have a friend or colleague traveling or working in Japan.
The Company
This is copied from their website :
CHIKUHODO Co., Ltd. is a makeup brush manufacturer, which adopts traditional Japanese brush making style and is located in Kumano, Hiroshima prefecture. Receiving orders from many domestic and overseas client companies, CHIKUHODO has been engaging in manufacturing of all types of high-quality makeup brushes. Today CHIKUHODO has grown into the No.1 companyin original equipment manufacturing (OEM) of makeup brushes in Japan.We feel so grateful to many top-ranking makeup artists both inside and outside of Japan for giving us precious opinions and knowledge, which we feel has lead us to come so far as a high-quality makeup brush manufacturer.
The reason why I quoted their site Company description is because there is something I don’t understand…
Why can they “receive order from overseas client companies” and not ship worldwide to clients like us ?
I am not aware of their company regulations but Hakuhodo for example do ship worldwide to anyone.
Chikuhodo say in their site that they are the manufacturers of Suqqu and RMK brushes, just to say a few.
First I will talk about the Chikuhodo brushes I received, then, if you are interested in the order experience I had to go through, you can have a look at the bottom of this post for some details.
The Chikuhodo website is in japanese, you have some pages in english. The online shop is only in Japanese.
They have the Chikuhodo Z series, the SV, the GS, the G, the BP, the K, the Artist … and many others, this page will help you understand their range : Chikuhodo Cosmetic Brush Series
I found this page really useful to navigate and check out their type of brushes : Choose from the type of brush If you check out the brushes via this page, you will have the description of the brushes, size and hair. If you install Google Chrome as a web navigator, it will translate you the brush descriptions in english !
The brushes
What I was trying to do when I selected these brushes, is order some brushes that would allow me to do my full face make up, and achieve it only with Chikuhodo brushes.
Most of the brushes are goat and grey squirrel. I am still trying to translate what they are made of and will update this review with the detailed hair description. I still did not manage to get a correct translation… sorry.
This picture has been taken before I washed the new brushes :
Tom Ford Bronzing powder in Terra
Since I love Tom Ford blushes, I could not pass on the bronzer… a huge and extravagant compact with a big amount of product and a price that goes with it.
For this summer, Tom Ford released a shimmer bronzing powder “Gold Dust” and a matte ” Terra” that will both be part of the permanent line.
Terra bronzer
Kose Addiction – first impressions
It’s the first time that I try Kose Addiction make up. Thanks to a sweet follower “Buggsiebee” who recommended this brand to me, I decided to finally splurge. A follow up review will be uploaded next week, together with other Kose Addiction product swatches I will receive during the week.
I also would like to review and compare Kose, RMK, Shu and Suqqu all together… but today, I just wanted to thank Buggsiebee, show you some swatches of the products I just received and briefly tell you my first impressions.
These are the eye shadows I ordered :
Sandbar – Truffle – Flash Back
Sandbar is one of the most beautiful all-over wash color I own today. Flash Back is calling all the taupe lovers… a great hit.
Tom Ford eyeshadow quads – I can wear sparkle again…
I have been using Tom Ford eyeshadow quads for a while now and I am glad I waited before I shared my thoughts.
Now that the honeymoon phase is over I can speak with more objectivity
My profile
A few years ago it did not really matter if I was using a high quality eyeshadow, I could not really see that much difference on my lids, as long as I loved the color and the texture, I was very happy. Today I can clearly notice the difference since my eyelids are getting older.
I prefer to stay away from metallic, glitter and sparkles or too shimmery finishes, they don’t look great on me anymore and sometimes they make me look older and tacky.
First impressions
When I saw the Tom Ford quads, I saw the glitter and I thought I would not love them at all. It took me some time to want to have another look at them and it’s only when they convinced me to try them at the TF counter that I realized the glitter was actually gorgeous !
Wayne, gossmakeupartist in Youtube calls this pressed glitter “grown-up sparkle” and I couldn’t agree more. There’s something different about it… it looks actually very beautiful and wearable.
Is it worth the price tag ?
Now, to see if the final price justifies the acquisition of one or more quads, you have to consider your expectations and your budget.
What I expect from make up is to be able to create an intense, sophisticated modern look, easily and that lasts all day, I don’t want to look tacky but I love to use daring shades or textures in a wearable way and on a daily basis.
My expectations are all met with TF, depending on the quads, with more or less accuracy.
Now let’s talk about the price. We need to put this into perspective, in Switzerland all make up items are awfully expensive, if you tell the price of a Tom Ford quad to someone here that usually buys Dior quints, YSL quads, or Chanel or any other high end brand, a Tom Ford quad is cheaper in comparison and they won’t be shocked.
His quads are expensive but you will have to pay for the luxury branding and the amount of product you get. That said, you pay when and if you are happy with what you get in return. If TF does not meet your expectations, it’s clearly not worth it.
You will get a fair amount of shadow for your money and it will last you a very long time, it’s clearly more worth it for someone who will use them on a regular basis and who will use ALL of the shadows in the quad.
The quad
I am sure you already know what they look like, but here they are :
A dark burgundy masculine heavy compact with 10g of eyeshadows. Two applicators, cute, but … well… not really useful unless you forgot your own brushes…
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