You need this brush

Do y'all remember when I did a brief overview of my essential makeup brushes here? Well I'm back for a quick (because I have no time in my life to actually blog) addition. 

I was contacted by Sigma Beauty about some of the reviews I've done, and the generously sent me some brushes to test out. Their brushes are great, and honestly rival my MAC brushes. They hold up to cleanings, are dense, soft, you name it. I honestly love the products and the prices are even better. So today I want to introduce you to one brush in particular I think you NEED to add to your brush collection.

The E25 Blending Brush.

This has seriously become my go to brush lately. In recent years I've become makeup obsessed. I spend way too much time reading makeup blogs and watching youtube videos, and if I can take anything from my hours of practicing, blending is the key to a great makeup look.  

PS. I cleaned every single one of my makeup brushes the other night. What's a reasonable number of brushes to own? 

I have 27. and I use EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. 

Hi my name is Emily. I am a makeup brush hoarder. 

Happy Thursday Ladies!

September Birchbox

It's time for another round of

This month's Birchbox was not my favorite ever, but once again I picked up a few good things.  First off they threw in a twistband. I seriously love these y'all. If you haven't picked one up, you need to! They are super flexible and don't crimp your hair!

Twistband

Then I got a pack of the La Fresh Instant Body Soothers. These are wipes for your hands, face body, etc. that are supposed to sooth skin. They smell great and are definitely refreshing, but I don't think I'd invest in them. 

La Fresh Instant Body Soother

This Custom Color Club Polish was my favorite find of the box. Birchbox and Color Club teamed up this month to put together a few of the hottest colors of the season. I got the rose gold metallic color called "put a pin in it" I'm OBSESSED. This is definitely worth the $8 investment

Custom Color Club Polish

They also threw in a few of these brush guards. Definitely a nice thing to have when traveling. These are supposed to protect your brushes and help them keep their shape. They're essentially like those chinese finger traps and they can expand around pretty much any brush.

Brush Guard

Boscia Purfiying Cleansing Gel is preservative free, which is great. I've only tested it out once, so I don't feel like I can give you a recommendation one way or another, but so far so good!

Boscia Purfiying Cleansing Gel

I think I'm just not a Beauty Balm person. I need/want more coverage. While this Dr. Jart Beauty Balm is by far the best I've ever tried, I still got oily and felt like my imperfections were obvious a few hours into wear. I do have super oily skin and am constantly battling all of my products to extend the wear, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. 

Dr. Jart Beauty Balm

So that's it. My September Birchbox. Want to see more? Here's my August, July, June, and April reviews.

AND. Don't forget about the Starbucks GIVEAWAY 

{Beauty Tuesday} Eye Brushes

Do you want flawless makeup? A perfectly blended smokey eye? I have a secret for you. It doesn't matter how expensive your eye shadows, primers and mascaras are. If you don't have the right brush, you can't achieve the look. But brushes can be daunting. There are hundreds of shapes and textures to choose from. What do you use were? Does it matter the kind of bristle? synthetic or natural? dense? thin? Are expensive brushes worth it, or do cheap ones work okay too? 

Makeup brushes are the one thing I never really "learned" about until recently, so I need to fill y'all in on the amazing brushes I'm loving right now. I'm going focus on eye brushes, and save face brushes for another post. Everything I'm talking about today are actual brushes I own, use often and LOVE. 

For great eye makeup I think you need 4 different brushes. I know. that's a lot right? Believe me, even more are helpful, but to get you started I recommend these 5 types of brushes.

1. Fluffy Brush-- Meaning a brush with good control that will help you pack shadow onto your lid. Here you can have a wide variety of what a fluffy brush is, but think your traditional eyeshadow brush. 

I use a MAC 239 and I LOVE IT. I am lucky enough to have parents who spoil me at Christmas, because I couldn't afford to shell out $22 for one brush, but if you do this is a great one.

I also have this Sonia Kashuk Brush that I LOVE just about as much (I normally use 4-5 colors on my lid a day, so I have several fluffy dense brushes for general lid application)

2. Pencil Brush-- this is my FAVORITE. It is so versatile, and packs a great punch. I would recommend a pencil brush for both your lower lash line and your crease. 

I use a MAC 219.

I honestly don't own any other pencil brushes, because this one is just so fantastic. But I have heard great things about the Sigma E30 pencil brush and at $9 dollars it's a little more budget friendly than the  MAC counterpart.  

3. Liner Brush

Okay, I'm breaking with MAC and I'm not gonna lie, I LOVE my ELF Angled Liner Brush

For another kind of liner brush altogether I use the Sigma E15 Flat Definer. This is more useful if you want to use shadow for your liner. I love how stiff this is brush is. You can either use this with just your liner shadow, or you can soften a cream liner and smooth it out with this brush.

4. Blending Brush

HERE IS THE KEY. Blend blend blend. Seriously. I can't even tell you how important blending is when it comes to a smokey eye, or any eye look for that matter. Sonia Kashuk Multipurpose Blending Brush is great. When looking for a good blending brush you want something somewhat flexible, but still dense.

For a different kind of blending brush check out the large eye shadow brush from Eco Tools. From what I can tell it only comes in the Bamboo 6 Piece Eye Brush Set (LOVE this set y'all!). It's completely differently shaped,  but a great option. 

This kit is a great beginner set too, the brushes are great quality, and really well priced. 

If you want even more eye brushes, beyond these basic four, try 

1. A highlighter brush-- look for something light and fluffy

2. Angled Crease Brush

3. Lash Brush (separate those babies)

4. Brow Brush

5. Smudge Brush

6. A Tiny Defining Brush to get in those small corners.

Okay. That's all I've got for you today. Again, I wasn't paid for any of these reviews, I own all of these brushes (and many more), and I am very fond of ALL of them. If you have any more specific questions please don't hesitate to email me or comment below. Have a great beauty Tuesday Ladies!