Please excuse my dirty brushes. I haven't gotten around to washing them yet :/
Crown Brush C405 contour blush- I picked this up at IMATS in 2010 when Crown released their New 400 series line as an answer to cheaper comparable brushes to MAC brushes. This looks like the MAC 168 brush although I don't own the long handle one, I have one from a Holiday set from a few years ago. I don't use it for contour purposes but for blush application. As u can see, I use the heck out of this brush that it needs a bath! I love how it applies my blush and it's light weight.
Coastal Scents Divine Powder buffer- I bought this during the summer even though there wasn't really any reviews for it. I just thought why not. It's not too pricey and I haven't seen a brush like this from any other company. I know it's advertised as a powder brush and I'm sure it would work fine for it but I actually use it for liquid foundation. This truly is a great brush. All I do is stipple and I'm done. I don't need to stipple and swirl, or use an extra brush or sponge to buff it out. It's also easy to wash and dries fairly quick. My sisters tried it out and they loved it so I bought them their own.
Crown Brush C407 Jumbo Shadow- Picked this up at IMATS as well. Comparable to MAC 227, great for those days where you're in a hurry and just want a wash of color on your lids. I use it to blend out shadows and sometimes to apply cheek highlighter.
Crown Brush C408 Chisel Shader- Another MAC comparable I bought at IMATS, this brush is a good dupe for the MAC 214. I love this brush for smudging eyeliner or shadow on both my lower and upper lash line. It's dense and not scratchy at all. I noticed coastal scents carries this brush on their site, as well as many other crown brushes.
MAC 217- If I had to choose one eyeshadow brush to live with for the rest of my life, MACs 217 is my choice. It's such a multitasking brush. I can use it to apply shadow to my lids and blend out harsh lines. I always find myself using this.
MAC 224- This brush is a staple in my kit. It blends out harsh lines in no time, with little effort. I know some people don't really like it cause it's huge but I don't mind since I have a lot of lid space.
Bare Escentuals Angled brow brush- This is my HG brow brush. The fact that it has these thick coarse bristles makes blending powder or any other brow products a breeze. I've tried the traditional angled liner brushes but the product wouldn't apply right or hardly show up on me with them.
E.l.f. Eyeshadow brush- It's soft, dense and just the right size for applying shadow to my lids and seriously, for only $1 , its easy on my wallet. What more can I say?
Beauty Blender Sponge- For the longest time I tried my best to not buy this. I just thought it was ridiculous to spend $20 on a damn sponge. I had a $40 voucher to Bloom.com so I decided to get the beauty blender double kit. As soon as I tried it, I understood all the hype behind it. This has been a god send to me. Ever since I got sick with peripheral neuropathy and my hands got more numb and stiff, it has been so much harder to use brushes, especially face brushes as I have use a bit more pressure. This makes applying my foundation and under eye concealer so easy and less painful on my fingers. I can see this would be a great tool for foundation to those of you with arthritis or carpal tunnel. This is also awesome at toning down blush whenever I over apply.
Sonia Kashuk Radiant Tinted Moisturizer- this has just enough coverage for me when I just need something quick and it doesn't feel heavy. It gives a dewy finish and if I want it to last a bit longer, I just dust some powder on top.
MUFE Mat Velvet- No matter what new foundations I buy, I always come back to this. It Never fails me. I have combo oily skin and this does a good job at keeping the oil at bay. Its full coverage yet doesn't feel heavy at all and doesn't give off some weird white cast in photos.
Revlon Age Defying Moisturizing Concealer- I'm not much of a concealer junkie but I have tried a few, even Eve pearls famous salmon concealer but I like this better. My under eye area isn't too bad but this has good coverage, opaque and isn't drying. It also doesn't cake or settle into any fine lines.
Hard Candy Glamoflauge- After reading every one's raves about this, I finally picked this up but in a shade too light. I think medium would have been a better match but it's no problem cause I just mix it with my Revlon concealer and I have instant bright under eyes! It lasts very long too. I think I'll pick up the medium shade soon.
theBalm Bahama Mama bronzer- I love using this for contouring and obviously bronzing. It doesn't have an odd orange tone to it which is a plus and is super pigmented. A light hand is definitely needed with this.
NYC Sunny bronzer- I'm on my 2nd one for this as its a great everyday bronzer for those with fair to medium skin tones. It's a great matte bronzer and only about 3 bucks. I will continue to repurchase this.
MAC PRO invisible set powder- I love this more than my MUFE HD powder. It helps keep me from getting oily sooner and doesn't give a weird white cast that MUFE does.
theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer- this is such a gorgeous highlighter. Don't know what else I can say about it.
Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush Exposed- I reach for this almost every time I do my make up. It goes with everything and looks so natural. I don't know about the 12 hour claim but it does last longer then other blushes I own.
NYX Terra Cotta Blush- This is the other blush I use if I'm not wearing Exposed. It's a dead on dupe for MAC Sunbasque. It gives a nice warmth to my face.
Wet 'n Wild Vanity palette- I'm more of a neutral kind of gal and this is such a great everyday palette for those on a budget. Wet 'n Wild has improved so much these last 2 years from when I was a teen. I mainly use the matte shades or the bronze color on the bottom right. I'm close to hitting pan on the matte cream shade!
Too Faced Shadow Insurance- I've had this for a while now and it still works the same as when I first bought it. I have UDPP too but came back to this cause UDPP kinda dried out my lids. It works better at keeping my shadows from creasing too.
Make Up Forever Waterproof Brow Corrector #3- I'm very particular about my brows and tried different types of products. This has a gel consistency but dries down to a powder finish and doesn't look unnatural on my brows. One tube can last you a very long time since a little goes a LONG WAY. I've had this for about a year and barely made a dent in it.
Essence Midnight in Paris gel liner -This has replaced my beloved MAC blacktrack liner. It lasts long, applies smoothly and is such a bargain.
Maybelline the falsies waterproof- it doesn't make me look like I have falsies but it makes my lashes look much more fuller and I don't feel the need to wear eyeliner with it and i ALWAYS wear eyeliner.
Cover Girl Lash blast Fusion- This Mascara adds enough volume and length to my short lashes. It reminds me of how MAC Plush lash looks on me but better cause this doesn't smudge on me like plush lash does.
UD Naked Palette- I'm sure you've seen this on plenty of bloggers 2011 faves and for good reason. It's just a great palette. I've neglected my MAC shadows cause of this palette. I reach for it a lot cause they're neutrals and it makes it convenient that I don't have to open a whole bunch of individual shadows.
Now I'm not much of a lip person, most of the time I just use lip balm or Chapstick. I wanted to add MAC Blankety lipstick but I can't seem to locate it :(
EOS Honeysuckle Honeydew lip balm- you either hate it or love it. This isn't the most moisturizing balm but it's great to prep your lips for lipstick or to wear under gloss. I ran out of the summer fruit flavor so I decided to give this a try. Both smell so good!
Wet 'n Wild 902C Bare it All- My go to lipstick for any look. Is a beautiful nude that doesn't make me look like a corpse and isn't too drying for being a matte formula. It's a good dupe for MAC Honeylove lipstick. In the tube it looks slightly different but on my lips, I can't tell which is which.
NYX Mega shine sugar pie lip gloss- i like the scent and consistency of this gloss. It isn't annoyingly sticky and Its the perfect topping for nude lips. I hear it's similar to NARS Turkish Delight.
That's it for my faves! Hope you guys enjoyed this post as I always love reading these type of blog posts.
