Sigma Professional Brushes Eye Kit Review & Eye Shadow! Lots of Photos!

Sigma Professional Brushes Eye Kit

"7 professional quality brushes for the eye. Perfect to apply, shade, blend, and dust the eye with color and texture."- Sigma makeup

Click HERE to view the product description for these brushes. It explains what each brush is intended for.

I was SO excited to receive these brushes in the mail. I don't own many brushes and I don't make brush purchases very often, but new brushes are so exciting for me. Having a good quality brush makes me feel better about applying my makeup. As I'm sure it does for everybody. I've always been interested in trying Sigma brushes because I've heard so many bloggers RAVE about these and they're much more affordable than high-end brushes (MAC, Sephora, Etc). Onto my review!

Review: The first thing I noticed about these brushes are the QUALITY. Just from having them in my hands, the handle is so sturdy and heavier than all of my drugstore/cheapie brushes. They feel pretty much identical to a MAC brush. The shape of the handle is exactly the same as the MAC brushes as well. (All of the Sigma brushes correspond to the MAC brush #'s) They are very easy to handle and don't get in the way of application. The 1st brush I tried out was the SS266 (Small Angle Brush) I started using it to apply my every day cream eye liner (I've been using Stila Black Smudgepot) and I use it to blend my brows after I've applied my brow pencil. What I really like about this brush is that you can get a VERY precise line with it. The brush is very dense, but very soft. It doesn't bend while applying which makes it so much easier to achieve the most pigmentation. I don't wash it every day.. maybe once a week and I get absolutely no product build up on the brush and it doesn't harden. I'm not positive if it's because of the brush or the liner I'm using. I'm impressed. The 2nd brush I tried was the ss219 (pencil brush) which is pretty much identical to the MAC 219. I honestly like the Sigma 219 better. Its slightly smaller and it's more dense, so my outcome ends up being better. With my MAC brush, it would start to get fluffy and not keep its shape after uses, but this brush keeps its shape. I've been using this to blend shadows in my crease or to smudge eyeshadow on my lash line. I LOVE this brush. The next brush I tried (I can't believe I recall the order of which I tried these.. they were all different days. lol) was the ss252 (Large Shader Brush). I haven't tried the MAC 252, So I can't compare them.. but they look exactly the same. I've been using this every day to set my concealer under my eyes. After I applied my foundation, I swipe this across my MAC Medium skin finish & BE Well Rested and apply it under my eyes and it smooths the powder on so perfectly. I would usually use my MAC 224 for this, but the ss252 actually works better. It applies a little bit more product (probably because it's a lot more dense than the MAC 224) I can also see myself using this to apply concealer or to apply an all over color on my lids. I love this brush. Finally, I used the rest of the brushes at the same one day to create a dramatic eyeshadow look. I used the ss239 (Eye Shading Brush) to apply color to my lid (which works very well to build color) & the ss224 (a little bigger than the MAC 224) to blend the color better, ss219 to apply color in my lid crease, the ss275 (Medium Angled Shading Brush) to blend my crease color into the color I applied all over my lid & to apply my highlight. I then used the ss266 to apply my liner on my lash line and the ss209 (Eyeliner Brush) to apply liner to my waterline.

Overall, I am SO happy with these brushes. You can not beat the quality of these for the price. This whole set only costs $39! You can't even buy 2 MAC brushes for that price. I highly recommend these & when I have a little extra money, I'm 100% going to purchase Sigma's face brushes.

Also, I have one little review for an eye shadow that was included..

Sigma Indian Girl Eye Shadow

IndianGirl is a shimmery charcoal. Once applied, it has a very slight purplish bluish sheen. The consistency of the eye shadow is finely milled and very soft. The pigmentation is pretty good. It's not super pigmented, but its also not too sheer. I would recommend using a base or applying this wet for extra pigmentation. I would compare it to a NYX single eye shadow. I've been using this a lot lately as an eye liner with a small brush or as a daytime subtle smokey eye (not all over my lid, just smudged into my lash line). I would be interested in trying other shades.

Have you tried anything from Sigma!? Please Share!

Sephora Platinum #55 Airbrush Review!

Sephora Platinum #55 Airbrush

I'm not sure how I got lured into purchasing this brush.. but I did. It is the much talked about airbrush from Sephora. I LOVE Sephora's platinum pro silver handle brushes.. they are all so soft and of really good quality. They are a little more pricey than the regular black handled Sephora brushes.. but if you're looking to invest hundreds in brushes.. these are just as good, if not better than MAC brushes. This brush is said to work hand in hand with Make Up Forever's HD Foundation. It really does work well. This brush is incredibly soft and applies the foundation wonderfully. Through the application the brush stayed soft and the bristles never clumped together. It is also pretty sturdy.. the bristles didn't get pressed down or bend while applying. For Make Up Forever HD, this works better than the duo-fiber stipple brush (for me at least). I find that with thinner consistency foundations this brush works really well. I like using this for Make up Forever Face and Body Foundation as well. For thicker foundations, I still prefer my stipple brush. It definitely made applying foundation a lot quicker.. and I love how its shaped so you can really get close to your eyes and around your brow area well. Overall, I wasn't blown away with this brush, but it's definitely a really nice synthetic foundation brush to have in your collection in opposition to a regular flat brush or the duo-fibre brush. I'm glad I purchased it. 

Have you tried this brush? What are your thoughts?

Sonia Kashuk Blending Sponge Review!

Sonia Kashuk Blending Sponge

The Sonia Kashuk Blending Sponge ($9.99, Target) is a reusable sponge that is used to apply and blend your foundation. It has a precision tip, making it easy to reach small areas (such as under the eyes, around the nose, etc.)

Since I don't own the original Beauty Blender ($19.99), I won't be able to compare them, but I've read several reviews and have seen many recommendations for the Sonia Kashuk Blending Sponge as a good dupe for the Beauty Blender.

I've never used a reusable sponge to apply my foundation, but I watched a video by MakeupByTiffanyD and found it extremely helpful. In her video she shows how to use the Beauty Blender and does an overall review.

You are suppose to run the sponge under water, then squeeze the excess water out. By doing this, it won't soak up as much liquid product, and the sponge will feel softer to the touch. Then, dip the bottom sponge in your foundation, and apply it in a stippling motion or a dab-and-roll motion. For concealer and smaller areas, the tip of the sponge is helpful.

I followed the directions and stippled my foundation on with the sponge, and right away noticed that I had to go back a couple of times for more foundation, which I never typically have to do. It seemed to eat up more foundation than a brush would. Not only did the sponge "eat" up more foundation, but my foundation also looked sheerer than usual. It applied my makeup very thin on my face, and I could still see redness from my cheeks peek through, which would never happen when applying with my foundation brush. 

My foundation looked very even, and there weren't any areas with caking. Sometimes when I use my brush, too much foundation will sit in some of my fine lines - especially my laugh lines, but with the blending sponge it applies the makeup very thin, so it doesn't happen.

Lastly, one thing that bothered me was the actual smell of the sponge. It reeked of fresh rubber. The smell actually gave me a headache and made my hands smell like rubber. I've washed it quite a few times, but the smell is still a little bit present. I'm sure with regular washing it will go away, but I thought it was worth a mention.

Overall, I'm not completely sold on this sponge and I don't think it's really worth the hype in terms of foundation application. I think this sponge would work much better with cream foundations, as it seems to absorb too much liquid with my regular foundation. Also, because it seems to sheer out my foundation by applying it in a very thin layer, it'd be ideal for opaque and heavy foundations.

I'll only be using this sponge for blending and touch-ups when I need it, and I'll be sticking with my brush for application.

Please bear in mind that this is my opinion only, based on my experience! :)