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

Going, Going, Gone... Coastal Scents BRUSH CLEARANCE!!!!

I stumbled upon the most AMAZING bit of news while visiting Miss Natty's Beauty Diary... Coastal Scents is having a HUGE brush clearance to make room for their new inventory!!! What does that mean exactly? It means that YOU can get up to 50% off of their already extremely low prices for some good quality brushes.

 I personally LOVE the Bionic Flat Top Buffer Brush 

(which is currently $6.98) 

and the Doe Foot Angle Blender

 (currently $1.98)

So I picked up 2 more of each, along with a bunch of other brushes I'd been eying. This is a great chance to try something new, add to your collection or pick up some backups of your favs before they are all gone. And NO, I am not in any way a paid affiliate of the company... I'm just a sale-loving, repeat customer who spent my OWN money on some great quality brushes for cheap!

If you're interested in picking some up, you can find them here.

What are YOUR favorite makeup brushes?

-Miss Brina

CoastalScents 88 Mirage Palette

So.... I just got around to checking my emails and saw one from coastal scents advertising their new 88 Mirage palette. Upon first glance, I was smitten. It's full of deep, rich jewel and earth tones.... in all honesty, this is probably their best palette to date. Needless to say, I bought this baby! They will be on sale for $21.95 through midnight EST on 2/7/2011 so I'd suggest you pick it up by then if this tickles your fancy, otherwise it'll jump up a few dollars to it's reg. price of $24.95

Look for a review and swatches/photos  later in the week...

FREE ZOYA NAIL POLISHES- ends 1/7/11

I was checking out EmeraldC's blog when I stumbled upon this great little tidbit... until Friday January 7, 2011 ZOYA is giving away your choice of 3 nail polishes for FREE (jjust pay shipping) So you know I had to rush to the site and select my three shades, for a grand total of $6.95... which was the shipping rate.

Hurry and claim your three while you can!

1. Pick your 3 desired shades and add them to the basket

2. Enter code FB2011 at checkout

3. Select your choice of shipping and voila! Three free polishes are on there way to YOU

I'd love to see swatches of  what you picked.

Awww... the joy of free items LOL Enjoy your weekend everyone!