Must Have Makeup Brushes

Hey there! Sorry it has been a little while since I did a blog post. Life has been insanely busy but I have some good blog posts planned out so I will be getting them up more frequently. 

I thought I would do a post on my MUST have makeup brushes. I base "must have" on what brushes I use everyday or multiple times a week. Most of the brushes are from Sigma Beauty but thats because the price is great and the quality is up there with MAC and other brands. I learned about Sigma brushes through my favorite Youtube Makeup Artist Jaclyn Hill She is amazing and I have learned so much from her including what brushes are awesome. 

First up is the Sigma E25 Blending brush. I don't know how I ever did eye makeup without this brush. It is the best blending brush ever but it also applies color so beautifully! It is crazy soft too. If you could only buy 2 brushes for eye shadow this would be one of them. I will mention the second next. 

 Close up of the E25

This is the BEST BEST BEST brush EVER to put eye shadow on your lid. It reduces fall out so much and really concentrates the color the first time so you don't need to go back and forth trying to build up the color. If I could only choose 2 brushes to do my eye makeup with it would be this one {the Sigma E55} and the one I mentioned above the {E25}

This is the Sigma E35 tapered blending brush and I also love this brush. I use this for extra blending and try and keep it clean most of the time so I can blend away harsh lines if I have already used my E25 for color application. It is tapered so it is great for getting in the crease. 

This is a Sonia Kashuk brush that you can get at Target that is so great. It is the No. 109 pointed blending brush. I used this one every day for applying transition color eyeshadows inside and above the crease of my eye. 

Although I really like this brush a lot but I do want to try the Sigma E40 brush because I just love makeup brushes :) #whitegirlproblems 

Another Sonia Kashuk brush I love is this one below. Unfortunately it does not have any name or # on it.. Sorry :( It is a denser and shorter brush than the 109 above and I use it everyday to apply the blending shade/highlight below my brow. It blends eyeshadow out will applying it so thats why I use it. 

Next is the Sigma P82 Precision Round brush. I use this everyday to apply MAC's painterly paint pot to my eyes. You can get this separately or in the precision eye kit {I think that is what it is called}. I have the whole kit which includes the P82, P80, P86, and P84. You can use it for a ton of things including blending out under eye concealer and concealer on blemishes. 

Last is a brush that I don't use everyday but every single time I apply gel eyeliner I use it and that is the Sigma E65 Small angle brush. Not much to say except that it is perfect for gel eyeliner!

I have tons of other eye brushes that I could mention that I use for more specific occasions {not everyday} but that would make this a really long blog post to include ALL my brushes. Next I am going to show my must have brushes I use for my face. 

So if I am using my bare minerals foundation I will use the Sigma F80 Flat top kabuki brush to apply it. I will use it sometimes to apply liquid foundation but most of the time I use my beauty blender. It is an amazing brush for both types of foundation and it is definitely a must have for me.

This is the Bare Minerals full coverage kabuki brush. I usually use this to blend out my makeup when I need a heavier blend {if that makes sense} I will also use it for a lighter application of my bare minerals foundation. Oddly enough the Sigma Brush applies bare minerals much more full coverage for me so I will use a different brush depending on what is going on with my skin that day. 

 This brush I could not live without! I lost it a couple weeks ago somewhere at Shane's house and I was so upset. It magically appeared a week later which is awesome! But it was a real struggle without it. It is the ELF Large stipple brush. When I need a lighter blending brush I use this. I use it for all over bronzer application, and blush sometimes. I use this thing for so much I love it! I keep it in my purse at all times to apply my Rimmel Stay Matte powder when I am getting a little shinny and I'm in a hurry and can't apply cornstarch. I ordered this one off Amazon and now you can only get it as an add on item but thankfully it appeared again before I bought another. Having a backup really wouldn't be that bad though. 

This is the Sigma Tapered highlight F35 brush. I use this everyday to apply MAC soft and gentle as my high light. Great brush LOVE it!

I just got this brush a week or two ago and I am so in love with it. It is the most perfect blush brush I have ever used. It applies color great and blends it out! Seriously a must have! It is the Sigma Large angled contour F40. It is crazy soft as well feels great when you apply blush to your cheeks. 

My new favorite brush that has been on my wish list for months and I FINALLY got it last week is the the NARS Ita Brush. I am absolutely obsessed. Sometimes bronzer/contour placement can be a little tricky and this brush just makes it so easy. Super soft too, it is made out of black goat hair I think. Blends beautifully and now I couldn't live without it. It is a little pricey I got it from Nordstrom for 39$ but I think it is totally worth it! Jaclyn Hill has a whole video on her channel on how to contour with this brush. 

Sorry if this post a crazy long but I hope that all my readers enjoy it. I purchased most of the Sigma Brushed off amazon because I have a Prime account and I get free 2 day shipping. I love makeup and I absolutely love trying out new makeup brushes because they really do make a BIG difference. You could be using crappy products and if you have the right brushes it can change everything! Until next time…

xo, Alina

Makeup and Beauty FAVORITES!

Hey y'all! I wanted to make this post all about makeup and other beauty products that I am currently obsessed with and one's that are staples in my makeup and beauty routine. You may or may not know this about me but I have an unhealthy obsession with makeup. Seriously, Shane will tell you I have a problem. I LOVE watching youtube videos especially Jaclyn Hill. She is AMAZEBALLS. I cannot get over how amazing and what a great teacher she is. I have watched all her videos probably twice :) she is the bomb no joke. Everyone should go check her out. 

My first favorite makeup/beauty product right now is the EOS lip balm. I just got this one the other day and I think the flavor is strawberry sorbet. This may seem like a lame product for one of my favorites but I have the WORST, absolute worst chapped, dry lips EVER! It is so annoying. I just bought this at Ulta the other day and just using it for a couple of days it has made a significant difference. I think it has coconut oil in it and my momma is always raving about how amazing it is for you so I thought that was cool I think it has all organic products in it too. 

This next product is one of my HOLY GRAIL products! Philosophy's Purity face wash is so BEYOND amazing! It gets all the makeup off once and makes your skin feel so freaking clean its crazy! I have really oily skin and using this just makes my face feel so clean and fresh. I don't even need to use toner anymore. I can't rave about this product enough. This size bottle I think is 22$. It is totally 100% worth it. A bottle usually lasts about a month or more. Depends on how often I am wearing makeup. But a lot of times I just use it as my regular face wash. 

 This next product is something I use when my skin is breaking out or I need to dry it out because it is super oily. My skin responds best to Salsalycic acid and this has a pretty good percentage of that in it. It isn't really like a foaming wash its kind of like a lotion. A lot of times I just put it on my forehead and chin and let is sit for a couple of minutes and then wash it off. 

As of right now this is my favorite full coverage liquid foundation. I have the colors 120 and 123. I have been using the 123 recently because I have been tanning for our engagement photos. I use a sigma F80 Flat top kabuki brush to put this on. For how much coverage this foundation gives it feels really lightweight on the skin, which is a reason why I love it. 

These are my two favorite browns to do a smokey eye with. They are both by MAC. The darkest shade on the right is Brown Down and the shade on the left is Saddle. 

These are my two favorite blushes and I usually mix them together. The blush on the left is by ELF and its called Fushia Fushion and the one of the right is my Milani and its call Luminoso 

I really have been craving a baby doll pink blush and Illamasqua has one in a shade called Katie. That will definitely be my next purchase. 

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 This is my favorite eyeshadow base to use from MAC. :)

I tried the UD primer potion and I HATED it! It dried my eye lids out so bad and no eyeshadows would stick at all. It was the weirdest thing especially because so many people rave about how awesome it is. 

 If I am having a break out this is my go to concealer. It is from Physicians Formula and I used the color Natural Light.

 So this is my go to foundation to use when I am not going out like anywhere special. I would wear this to class, to run errands, or just regular things. I will probably wear this a lot this summer because Naples is outrageously hot during the summer and liquid foundation is a joke. I use this in the color Medium Beige. Before I put this on I use the Laura Mercier radiance face primer, which is one of my of favs I will talk about below. 

 This stuff is crazy amazing! I love Laura Mercier products. Since I have oily skin I really like my makeup to look Matte but I don't like it to look dull. I used this and it gives my skin a glow without making it look oily or too dewy. Its really hard to look dewy without looking oily for me and this product helps me achieve the look I like. 

The next couple of things are my favorite lip products right now. This is one of my favorite lip combinations. I wore it to graduation and its the perfect light, shimmery, pink color. The lipstick is called Sky Pink and the lipgloss is Gold Pink. These are both from NYX as you can see and they are super cheap!

 This is probably my ALL time favorite barbie doll pink lip color. The lip glass is a MAC pro long wear and it seriously lasts forever. It is really sticky and thick which I do not mind but I know some people do not like that. The lipstick is in the color Snob (love<3) and the lip glass is in Infinity Likable. I would recommend this to any girly girl. You will love it if you don't mind the lip glass. 

My favorite bronzer! Its NARS Laguna and its amazing. Enough said :)

 Favorite Highlighter. DUH ;) MAC MSF in Soft and Gentle. 

 This is probably another holy grail product (maybe). I used this almost every time I do a full makeup routine with liquid foundation. It is in the color Radiant Rose. It just brightens under my eyes so well, I cannot live without it. I use my beauty blender and a smaller sigma brush to blend it in. I also hides any blueness under my eyes because of the slightly pink tint to it. 

 Hope this post wasn't too long. I had a lot of favorites to share :). After I move back home and have all my makeup set up the way I want I may do a post of all my makeup and storage. 

Toodaloo y'all 

xo, Alina

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