EOTD: Feeling Purple

Well hello there! I hope everyone had a great holiday, I know I sure did. I haven't really been doing much in the makeup department lately (with the exception of playing with a few items for upcoming posts)... so I decided to break out the old 88 palette and give the peepers a little pick me up while I had 5 minutes to myself. Please excuse the eyebrows, I'm simply too lazy to tweeze them right now LOL Hope you all like it!

Products Used:

CS 88 Palette

MaqPro HD Puff Foundation (base)

Milani Extreme liquid liner

Sumita eyeliner (LOVE!!!!)

BE Mascara

CS and E.L.F. brushes

-Miss Brina

MAC Saigon Summer lipstick

Don't you love when you stumble across old gems in your makeup drawer!?!

Saigon Summer

I picked up this baby when the Cremesheen + Pearl lipsticks came out awhile ago, but never got around  to using until a few days ago... and it was instant love. I love and own a plethora of lipsticks in various shades, but I tend to stick towards nudes and coral for the working days, so Saigon Summer was a no brainer for me when I saw this collection. And the fact it was a Cremesheen lipstick was the cherry on top since it's my favorite finish from MAC. It is like more wearable Morange in my opinion, and can work through all seasons despite it's more summer-y tone. It kind of reminds me of Jazzed too, but  when I first saw it Vegas Volt jumped into my mind. Yet when I swatched a few other coral-esque lipsticks to compare... they all look PINK next to Saigon Summer... kind of weird.

MAC Saigon Summer

L-R: MAC Vegas Volt, MAC Lollipop Lovin', MAC Saigon Summer, MAC Sock Hop, MAC Richer Lusher

Anyhoo, anyone own saigon Summer, or any other lipstick from this collection? What's you're favorite Coral/Orange lippie?

 -Miss Brina

Review: Sonia Kashuk Flat Contour Brush (MAC 163 Dupe)

Man... they almost got me! Who? Why, MAC of course... them and their limited edition brushes! I was all set and ready to drop the $35 for their 163 contour brush, figuring it would make my life a whole lot easier, when lo an behold.... Sonia Kashuk swooped down and stole the sale LOL

I was a bit early meeting a buddy at the mall, so I decided to pass some time walking around Target when I spotted this brush... and my mouth hit the floor. I said to myself, "Dang that looks like the MAC brush I'm about to get," then myself answered back and said, "Girl, does that say $12.99?" So I promptly picked up the LAST one and hurried my behind to the check out feeling like I hit some kind of jackpot.

Now, at first glance it's identical to the MAC 163 brush, but there are a few minor difference in them (which I discovered when I whipped that bad boy out at the MAC store). After ignoring the side eye my friend was giving me for pulling out the "competition" in the MAC store, I proceeded to examine the SK brush against their 163... and amazingly SK came out the winner.

They are both flat Contour/Sculpting brushes with surprisingly dense bristles, making for fool proof contouring and blending of products, but the SK brush head is slightly smaller in width than the MAC 163. I happened to like this, figuring it will cut down on mistakes and help out my product placement and control.  The second was that the SK brushes bristles were a lot softer than the MAC 163. Now, I am not in any way saying that the bristles on the  MAC 163 were super hard or anything, but I had to note that I did notice a small bit of scratching as I rubbed it over the back on my hand. I experienced none of that with the SK brush. Also, the 163 is synthetic and the SK has natural bristles. I'd have LOVED if the SK was synthetic (personal preference) but something's gotta give, right?

In the end, I am OVER THE MOON with my accidental dupe discovery. And at well under half the price of the MAC 163, you just can't beat the price or quality. I'll be picking up a few more backups in the off chance it becomes unavailable in the near future.

Have any of you picked up the MAC 163 or Sonia Kashuk Flat Countour/ Sculpt brush? What are your thoughts on either?

P.S- I know it's late, but I had to throw in a random Halloween shot. Excuse the meltdown/smudges... it was the end of a very long day :)

-Miss Brina