Benefit Matterial Girl Finishing Powder

I was searching for a mattifying setting powder for quite sometime. Lurking on ebay paid off as I stumbled upon a seller that had Benefit's Matterial Girl which I was able to buy for less than Php 800.

I haven't really tried anything from Benefit cosmetics before so this was the perfect chance for me to get to know the brand. As usual, prior to purchasing the product, I Googled for reviews about it and everything I saw online gave me the green signal. So I didn't really feel any hesitation when I placed my bid for this product on eBay.

Anyway, below's a summary of  Benefit Matterial Girl's Pros & Cons, at least after about a month of using it on me and on clients.

PROs:

• Must love the packaging! I totally dig pink girly packaging. I know I'm the "all-black" type of person, but this powder really stands out inside my train case filled mostly with cosmetics in black packaging.

 

See how it stands out inside the traincase?

• The powder was silky and applies flawlessly. Just be careful on the amount of product you use as if used in exCess it shows a white cast on photos. But if blended thoroughly  (I love using SIGMA's F80 brush for buffing this out), it evens out the face.

Sigma F80 Flat Top Synthetic Brush

Perfectly even and invisible after blending

• Best of all, it mattifies the skin for quite a long time

CONs:

• Well, the only thing I could think about is its being unavailable locally...Boo!

Charm Pro vs Dashe 21 Pc. Make Up Brush Sets

This Dec. 10 and 11 will be our finals for the Artistic Make-Up class at LCI. We're supposed to do 4 looks per day and I'm kinda panicking already on how I would make sure I have enough clean/usable brushes until my 4th look. I only have the Suesh 21 pc. set and several brushes from MAC which can probably last me for 2 -3 looks. I'm pretty sure I won't have enough time to wash and dry the brushes for the last look and was wondering if it's better for me to get another affordable brush set.

As such I'm actually torn between getting the Charm Pro 21 pc. brush set or the New Dashe 21 pc. brush set. Below is a comparison of the two sets based on the imformation I was able to get online:

Charm PRO set:
Price: 3,200 Pesos
Made from animal and synthetic hair
Brushes included in the set (from L-R):

1. retractable lip brush
2. fan brush
3. brow spoolie/lash brush
4. mini fan brush
5. eyebrow defining brush
6. bent liner brush
7. angled liner/brow brush
8. precise concealer brush
9. flat liner brush
10. precise crease blending brush
11. pencil point brush
12. angled shading brush
13. tapered blending brush
14. eye shader brush
15. wet/dry eyeshadow brush
16. concealer brush
17. angled contour brush
18. foundation brush
19. small powder/blush brush
20. large powder brush
21. duo fiber brush

New Dashe 21 pc. Brush set
Price: 2,500 Pesos
Made from animal and synthetic hair
Brushes included in the set (from L-R):

1. retractable lip brush
2. eyebrow comb
3. mascara brush
4. eyebrow brush
5. precise eyeliner brush
6. flat definer brush
7. mini shader brush
8. angled brush
9. blending brush
10. pencil brush
11. tapered blending brush
12. fan brush
13. eye shader brush
14. cream eyeshadow brush
15. concealer brush
16. foundation brush
17. contour brush
18. blush brush
19. round face blending brush
20. stippling brush
21. large powder brush

From the information above, it appears that Charm Pro has more variety and the mini fan brush is quite tempting as I've only seen this from MAC before. But I'm not quite sure if the additional 700 pesos would be worth it especially since I don't personally know anyone who has used this. It gets even more confusing especially since Dashe seems to offer more face and blending brushes at a more affordable price. Or is it better for me to just bring alng a blower so I can wash and dry my brushes? Hahaha

Has anyone among you tried any of these brushes before? Would appreciate it if you can share with me your thoughts on them...=)

Latest Haul: Make-up and other stuff

We're nearing the end of our Artistic make-up course and I'm still buying stuff for school. Anyway, over the last long weekend, I purchased quite a lot of things, still mostly for make-up school and a couple of items that I wanted to try.

And here they are:
1. disposable lipgloss wands
2. disposable lip brushes 
3. disposable mascara wands
4. disposable spatulas of various sizes
5. eyebrow shaver
6. LashGrip eyelash adhesive
7. huge false lashes
8. stainless double ended spatula
9. MAC 190 brush
10. MAC 266 brush
11. MAC 242 brush
12. MAC lip pencil (Spice)
13. Shu Uemura eyelash curler
14. L'Oreal True Match liquid foundation (Golden Beige)
15. Revlon Photoready liquid foundation (Golden Beige)
16. Maybelline Eye Studio BrowDefinist (Brown)
17. Graftobian HD Glamour Creme Palette (Warm #1)
18. Smashbox Lip Service Palette (#2)
19. MAC Eye shadow (Carbon)
20. MAC blush (Blushbaby)
21. Stay-put hair velcros
22. more false lashes

These were just over the long weekend. I still had to get a couple more stuff for school in the past few days, which I'll be posting on my next "latest haul" post. Waaah!

Most of the items above will be used for school and for our upcoming finals. The L'Oreal and Revlon fluid foundations and Graftobian creme foundation palette aren't really for school, as I have already purchased enough MAC Studio Fix fluids for that.  I just heard and read good reviews about them so I wanted to try them out for personal use.

I also purchased the Maybelline browdefinist just to give it a try and compare it against the Fanny Serrano eyebrow kit I'm using for school.  I personally use the Smahbox brow tech quad but it's almost used up so I wanted to find a good and cheap alternative to it as well. I'm really no expert when it comes to reviewing make-up but I'm hoping that I'll be able to review these products as soon as I have enough time/experience with using them.

Have you tried using any of th products I bought above? I would really appreciate it if you can share your experiences of using them with me. Till my next haul! Haha..

MAC Tartan Holiday 2010 Special Edition Brush Sets

Every holiday season MAC releases special edition brush sets. These brushes are normally smaller than the usual MAC brushes. Some reviews even say that its of less quality than full-size MAC brushes, but still better than other brands. In my opinion though, for its price (normally below US$50), these 5 smaller MAC brushes (which is actually just the right size for travel), would still give you the bang for your buck!

These year, they came up with 3 sets as follows:


SWEEP ME OFF MY FEET
Sweep and Define Brush Collection
Includes the ff. face and eye brushes:

• 129 SE (powder/blush brush)
• 190 SE (foundation brush)
• 212 SE (flat definer brush)
• 227 SE (large fluff brush)
• 275 SE (medium angle brush)

It also comes with a multi-purpose tartan bag (7.25" x 7.25")
Price: US$ 49.50

If you were to buy the full-size brushes from this set, it will actually cost you almost US$150.

A LADY & HER TRICKS
Buff & Line Brush Collection

Includes the ff. face and eye brushes;

• 168 SE (large angle brush)
• 187 SE (duo-fibre brush)
• 209 SE (eye liner brush)
• 219 SE (pencil brush)
• 252 SE (large shader brush)

It also comes with a multi-purpose tartan bag (7.25" x 7.25")
Price: US$ 49.50

If you were to buy the full-size version of the brushes from this set, it will cost you almost US$ 140

SHE'S GOT IT ALL

Apply, Define & Line Brush Collection

This set includes the ff. face and eye brushes:

• 194 SE (concealer brush)
• 204 SE (lash brush)
• 224 SE (tapered blending brush)
• 266 SE (small angle brush)
• 275 SE (medium angle brush)

It also comes with a tartan pouch (10.25" x 5.25")

Price; US$ 49.50

If you were to buy the full-size version of these brushes, it will set you back by over US$100

I'm totally digging the black and gold theme for this year over last year's all black version. Checked with the local M·A·C store and they are expecting the collection to arrive anytime within the week. Hurry girls and head straight for the counters! =)

P.S.

Dear Santa, I've been very good this year, I wouldn't mind having any of these sets stuffed inside my stockings! hahaha

How to spot fake M·A·C Brushes

Every aspiring make-up artist would love a good deal on MAC Brushes. I usually get mine from the MAC store at Rustan's Makati. However, I also managed to score an authentic brush online from a very reputable seller. 



However, not all sellers online can be trusted. I also had an experience of being duped by an eBay seller who has been selling items off eBay since 2005. She already has over 300 feedbacks with only about 3 negative ones, mostly on her rudeness which I actually didn't mind when I decided to bid on her item. She guaranteed the authenticity of the product and claimed it was bought from the US. At about 500 Pesos cheaper than it's price in the local MAC store, I thought it was a sweet deal. But lo and behold, when I got the item, it was placed inside an authentic plastic sleeve with barcodes, etc. but the brush was fake. It's a good thing I have authentic ones to compare it with. I immediately texted her asking for a refund but she wouldn't want to insisting that her brush was authentic. We had a long exchange of texts where she actually showed and proved to me that the negative comments she had on eBay were true. She's the meanest and rudest seller I have ever dealt with. From then on, I have never and will never deal with an Online Seller that would have even just one negative feedback! Anyway, I ended up filing a case on eBay which forced her to refund my money! [Note: If you want to know who she is, just message me... :) ]

As such, I would just like to share with you a guide on how to spot fake MAC brushes, which is actually a compilation of what I observed from experience as well as what I found form other guides online :

Look at the packaging of the brush. Authentic MAC brushes come in clear plastic sleeves with a bar code printed on the sleeve.  However, some sellers can just use an authentic sleeve and insert a fake brush in it (just like what the eBay seller I encountered did) so you still need to watch out.

aunthentic brushes with plastic sleeves

 

Aside from this, many fake MAC brushes come with additional hard plastic protectors for the bristles but the authentic ones do not have this kind of plastic protector.

sample fake with protectors



 Take a closer look at the wooden handles. Authentic MAC brushes have black wooden handles with small silver speckles. Some fakes are also trying to dupe the silver speckles on the handle but it's still not the same. The real ones would have more and finer specks than the fake ones. Also, the handle of the authentic ones appear more matte black while the fake ones are glossier with a bluish-black hue.

top is authentic, bottom is fake

Take notice of the shape of the ferrules. Some of the bigger (mostly face brushes and some eye brushes) full-sized aithentic MAC brushes would have silver ferrules with a more curved shaped near the base attached to the handle while fake ones would be flatter.

left is fake, right is authentic

Look at the labels/lettering closely. Authentic MAC brushes are labeled MAC### with ### being the number of the brush. The lettering on the real brushes are normally easily rubbed off, hence a lot of people would normally coat it with clear nail polish. On most fake brushes, the label is engraved and are very hard to rub off. Also, on authentic MAC brushes, the lettering starts near the end of the ferrule while it is a little farther on fake ones. The distance between the numbers found on authentic MAC brushes are even/equal and they are normally unevenly printed/engraved on fake brushes.

top is authentic, bottom is fake

 
Proliferation of fake MAC brush sets. Note that MAC has not released a set of full-sized brushes except in November 2006 with the Pret-a-Porter brush set and in 2008 for the Holiday set for Nordstrom.


The Pret-a-Porter set is in a black satin brush roll appliquéd with black beads and a velvet fastener. It contains 8 essential brushes. For the face: the 129 Powder/Blush, 187 Duo-Fibre  and 190 Foundation brushes. For the eyes: the 213 Fluff, 219 Pencil, 224 Tapered Blending and 266 Small Angle. For the lips: the 318 retractable Lip Brush.

Pret-a-Porter

 For Christmas 2008 MAC released a full set for Nordstrom only.  It came with 4 full size brushes (187, 168, 222 and 208). 

2008 Holiday Set

Therefore, 99% of the brand new full-sized MAC brush sets online are FAKE. Below are some sample photos of the fake sets:

Lastly, to ensure the authenticity of your brushes, just simply buy at the MAC store. They now have a MAC counter at Duty Free Philippines which sells  cosmetics and brushes that are a few hundred pesos cheaper than in the local stores. So it might be worth driving all the way to Paranaque especially if you'll be hauling MAC stuff.

*I'll be doing a separate post on the SE brushes.    

Artisic Make-Up Day 1 @ LCI Manila

Yes! Mea and I enrolled at the Lasalle College International's Artistic Make-Up Weekend Course under RB Chanco. Among the 3 schools that offered the Weekend Make-Up courses, it seems LCI had the best course outline and instructor. Aside from this, LCI's real advantage is that they  offer an International Certificate plus apprenticeship hours.

And so we had our first class last Saturday, Oct 30. We are now actually the 27th batch for the Artistic Make-Up course at LCI. RB started the orientation via a little getting to know you with questions like, why take up the Artistic Make-Up Course in LCI, if we want to pursue make-up artistry, must have cosmetic item, favorite brand of make-up, favorite beauty icon, make-up artist, etc... It was fun as RB would wittily comment on each of our answers.

After the round of getting to know you's, she had asked us to choose our dressers and to bring our own personalized nameplates which we can post on our area for next week. She then discussed the essential tools and make-ups we would need for class. And boy was it a LOOONG list! I know I've started buying stuff for make-up school weeks ahead, but I never thought that I would need to buy a lot more. The good thing was she never forced us to buy expensive brands but instead offered us brands from low end to high end that we could use for class. I had never thought that local brands like Fanny Serrano, Ever Bilena and Nichido would make it to her list, but they were there and it provided us students with cheaper alternatives to MAC, Nars, Shu Uemura, Make Up For Ever, etc. I was also glad to see drugstore brands like Maybelline, L'Oreal, Covergirl, Max Factor and Revlon on her list as they are readily available everywhere.

We were also asked to purchase a set of brushes and she recommended either Suesh (which was actually pronounced as Sush, according to Nica, RB's teaching assistant) or Dashe' as good starter brush sets, i.e. if we are not yet ready to spend on MAC brushes. I personally asked RB which one among the two is better but she just safely said both are okay. She actually mentioned 3 sets we can choose from:

21 pc. set from Suesh @ P3,500

28 pc. set from Suesh @ P4,500

30 pc. set from Dashe @ P3,500

My classmates and I are actually confused on which set to get. I have heard a lot of good reviews already about Suesh brushes while I know little about Dashe. However the price point of the Dashe brush set is indeed much better than Suesh. Confusing right?

In the end, I chose to order the 21pc. set from Suesh since I was thinking, I have a few MAC brushes already and I still intend to add more of them in the near future. I'll be getting the Suesh set on our next session and hence I wouldn't know if I made the right choice until then.

After the class, some of my classmates and I had lunch at Greenbelt and went to Landmark and MAC to buy and reserve some of the stuff we need for next week. I still have a few more items from the list that I need to buy. Oh boy!

Anyway, I can't wait until this Saturday, we'll be having a MAC Master's Class under Mikee of MAC Glorietta. After which, we'll be heading back to school to learn about the prime look. I'm still looking for my model for Saturday, though. So if any of you are interested, the session will be from 1PM onwards. Just message me if you trust me enough to give you a make-over....hahaha...=)