Makeup Withdrawal

Review: Benjabelle Brush Trees

Friday, May 24, 2013

I first heard of Benjabelle Brush Trees about three months back from the blog Sasquatch Swatch. To say I was intrigued would be a huge understatement, I decided right then and there that this was something that I was going to get. I mean, I'm an avid brush collector and lover, it only makes sense that I would invest in brush care items, right? Well our "anniversary" rolled around a while ago and Morgan finally found a belated gift for me earlier this month. I was thrilled! (Good job, boyfriend. Good job.) I was pretty excited to use these trees because brush drying is serious business. You don't want water draining into the ferrule of the brushes and this has led to people coming up with some interesting contraptions to dry their brushes- often times rubber bands, hangers, etc are used. I usually lay my brushes downward on a wedge folded towel but that can take up a ton of space.

So there are two brush tree sizes, the Original ($34.99) and the Mini ($24.99). You save $10 if you buy both at the same time. They come in three different colors; black, white and pink. The trees are made of this nice thick glossy plastic, with a sandwiched silicone layer that grips brushes. The trees take seconds to assemble as they are only made of three pieces. The Original has 14 holes while the Mini has 24.

The Original tree is the size of an iPad, it really does not take up much room. Perfect for me because with so many brushes, my bathroom counter is absolutely covered with wet brushes on cleaning day. The oval silicone holes gripped most brushes quite easily, even with brush guards on. I slid them up from below until the silicone "teeth" gripped the largest part of the brush or the rings on the ferrule. The Original tree held large brushes really well while the Mini held most eye brushes with ease. There were a few brushes that were a bit too small for either tree, they would stick out sideways, but that was easily remedied by sticking two brushes in the same hole. This also meant that each tree could hold more. Altogether the two trees held about 45 brushes.

I actually found that I could stack the smaller tree on top of the larger one. It'd be neat if there were grooves on the bigger tree so that it could be done intentionally, even more space saving!

There is one area where I think there could be improvement. So I mentioned that the brush is made out of three pieces, right? Well of the two pieces that make up the "X" shape that is the base of the brush, only one piece (let's call this Piece A) is actually supporting the board while the other piece (B) stabilizes Piece A. Piece B is rather wobbly because no weight is put on it, it does not actually touch the main board with the silicone holes. If Piece B extended up about 4mm, had a groove to slip into and the whole tree had more silicone material on the bottom to act as slip resistant feet, I believe that the trees would be much less wobbly feeling. In fact, I bet if they felt sturdier, some people might ever use these trees to store brushes when they are clean.

I was talking to a few friends about this and while a lot of them expressed interest in having such a product, their number one worry was that they only had a few brushes and didn't think that buying either the large tree or the small tree (or both) would be worth it. I bet that if there was a single large tree that had large, medium and small holes it would be a product that people with smaller (read: those with more reason than I) brush stashes would appreciate. ETA: There is now precisely a tree like this! Check out the new Daisy tree.

Personally, I really like these Benjabelle Trees, they have really sped up my brush drying time. I found that sticking my brushes in the trees then placing them by an open window or in front of a tower fan can reduce the time it takes them to be completely dry down to a couple hours, even 30 minutes for eye brushes. I think makeup artists in particular, with a ton of brushes will find these trees to be dead useful.

What do you think about this neat Benjabelle Tree? Do you think it is useful or more of a novelty item?

Products featured were purchased by me, for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

Nicole By OPI If The Blue Fits...

Thursday, May 23, 2013

I recently spotted a whole bunch of Nicole By OPI polishes on clearance for $3.52 at Target. From what I understand, not all the same shades are discounted in every region (and in some areas it is $5ish not $3ish). However, it might be worth checking out in your area because $3.52 is a phenomenal deal! Even better of a deal if you happened to grab the $1 coupon that was in the paper from the week before. Only one shade really caught my eye, called If The Blue Fits...

For some reason, it reminded me of a blue Chanel Taboo which I'm still lemming a bit. Different base color for sure, but the big particles of shimmer that are super bright and almost have a color shifting look to them look quite similar to me. I dunno, I might cave at the Nordstrom Trend Show this weekend. I'll see how close to the GWP amount I am, if I'm close I might pull the trigger.

Products featured were purchased by me, for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

EOTD + Pictorial

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

I was unhappy with how yesterday's pictures turned out so I redid the look and photographed it again in the sun today. The pictorial is rather short because I made it with Instagram in mind, you know- do it four steps.

Prep brows and prime lids. Apply a matte bone highlight under the brows and pat on a matte black shade on the lid. I'm using LORAC Beige and Rock & Republic Fatalistic.

Apply a matte brown in the crease, blend outward. Apply a white shade in the inner corner if desired. I'm using LORAC Cappuccino and a white NYX shade from a trio, can't recall the name.

Using a hoof shaped brush (also called a contour brush, check this post to see what they look like), stipple your duochrome cream shadow over the lid, starting in the inner corner, working your way across the darker shadows. I'm using Maybelline Color Tattoo in Waves of White.

Apply mascara and liner. I'm using Milani Grandissimo mascara + Essence Volumizing Lash Powder and La Femme Cake Eyeliner Sealer (with Rock & Republic Fatalistic). Done!

Quite simple, isn't it? It really makes duochromes pop though, layering them on top of a matte black shadow.

Products featured were purchased by me, for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

Maybelline Summer LE Color Tattoo in Waves of White

If you recall, I had previously bought another shade of the LE summer Color Tattoos, Seashore Frosts but had struggled with using it. So naturally... I bought another one. Yeah, it doesn't make very much sense to me either. However, I have since figured out one way of making these products work.

In the past, I've always put a cream product under a shadow product, it seemed counter intuitive to me to wear it on top. But when I saw how G of Nouveau Cheap layered her Color Tattoos on top, I had to give it a try.

Layering it on top of black made it POP. Here, the bottom swatch is Waves of White by itself, followed by Waves of White over black matte shadow. The top swatch is Waves of White built up. Similar to Seashore Frosts I never could really make it completely opaque. It is so beautifully duochrome over black, most of the time it looks teal but I also have seen it look blurple.

These FOTD pics aren't the best since I took them in my bathroom with flash (and also didn't finish the rest of my face aside from foundation!). I used a hoof shaped brush to stipple the cream product on top of matte shadow.

I used:

LORAC Behind the Scenes Eye Primer, Rock & Republic Fatalistic shadow, LORAC Cappuccino shadow, Maybelline Waves of White Color Tattoo, Prestige Total Intensity Deepest Black liner, Milani Grandissimo mascara

Now that I've figured out the best way to apply this Color Tattoo, it has worn remarkably well. No creasing or fading when paired with a matte shadow underneath for over eight hours. I definitely think that this pretty shade is one that everyone should pick up!

Products featured were purchased by me, for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

7 Deadly Sins Collection by The Polish Well

Sunday, May 19, 2013

My friend Mich from The Polish Well is absolutely brilliant at making polishes. She has such an eye for creating polishes and they are all so gorgeous. I was so incredibly happy for her when she opened up her Etsy shop and started to sell some of her creations. I was even happier when she and I swapped, and I found a stuffed package full of her polishes in my mail box! I didn't know what to swatch and wear first, so I started with her first polishes and decided to work forward from there. Behold, the 7 Deadly Sins Collection.

These are the 5ml mini bottles, aren't they adorable? I have to say, these have the best brushes of all the mini bottles of polish I have ever used. The brushes are full sized and comparable to the size of say, a Zoya brush.

Greed. A black jelly with brown, caramel and gold glitter and sparkle. I really have a love for brown glitter and this one is just simply exceptional! Here, I've worn it over black. It looks absolutely fantastic by itself, a ton of depth but since I have a mini I wanted to use it sparingly.

Wrath. Ah, the color of anger! A glossy red jelly with square gold glitter and sparkle, as well as little sooty black glitter thrown in. It's like looking into a volcano. An angry, vengeful volcano. Three coats, by itself.

Envy. I really love this one. Green glitter is my weakness, did you know? There are three sizes of green hexes here, small medium and large. There is also smaller black glitter and tiny multi colored sparkle. This one has a clear base so I've worn one coat here over Le Chat Dare 2 Wear Enchanted Forest. I think a similar effect could be achieved by Illamasqua Rampage (but that might be a bit bluer).

Sloth. I had a hard time capturing this one because it is a milky white polish with soft aqua square glitter and small opalescent glitter. The over all effect is really dainty and well... soft. Just so soft. And sleepy. Three coats. The picture looks a tad funny in terms of skintone color because I had to darken it so you could actually see the glitter.

Gluttony. A rainbow confection! Another clear base with rainbow and white satiny/matte glitter in all sizes and shapes. I was a bit brain dead so I couldn't think of anything good to pair it with, so I just put one coat over black. Mich has a picture on her blog where she has it over pink and a light teal and I think that looks much better.

Pride. Another clear base, this one is packed with satin white and aqua glitter, as well as iridescent pieces and a sprinkling of micro black glitter (?) unless my eyes deceive me. Worn here over Revlon Royal.

Lust. Ah, perhaps my favorite! A wine jelly with so many shapes and colors of glitter. I see silver, bronze, black and red for starters. I love all the different sizes too. It's one sexy polish, I assure you. Three coats.

I absolutely adored this collection. Each polish is such a beautiful reflection of the sin that inspired it. Like I mentioned before, these are the 5ml minis (which go for $4) and there is also a 10ml size ($8).

Mich's shop is currently open the first and last three days of every month. The polishes are also made to order, so keep that in mind as you shop. Be sure to follow her on Instagram for the latest updates (@thepolishwell).

Products featured were sent in a polish exchange. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.