Unboxing: Sigma Brushes Welcome Gift

Ada yang belom pernah denger tentang Sigma Brush? Sedikit perkenalan aja, Sigma adalah perusahaan pembuat kuas makeup berkualitas asal United Kingdom. Awalnya emang cuma kuas, tapi seiring waktu, produk-produk mereka udah merambah jadi brush accessories, brush cleaning kit, sampai makeup line tersendiri.

Review: Real Techniques Expert Face Brush

Gak sekali dua kali gue ditanya, gue pake kuas makeup merk apa? Jujur aja gue gak tau soalnya brush makeup yang gue pake rata-rata gak bermerk. 

Walaupun gitu gue gak bohong sih kalo brush yang bagus bikin aplikasi makeup jadi jauh lebih mudah. Untuk itu boleh lah sekali-sekali gue beli yang agak bagusan dikit. Real Techniques (RT)  ini adalah brush gue yang paling mahal (buat gue). Sebenernya brand ini sendiri bukan kelas high end juga sih, cuma pas masuk ke Indo emang harganya jadi rada ngehe. Gue punya beberapa set brush dan single brush-nya. Tapi menurut gue dari sekian banyak brush RT, cuma Expert Face Brush-nya yang gue suka dan layak gue review.

Kuas wajah ini dikemas dalam kotak mika bening yang lumayan kokoh dan lumayan bikin jari perih pas dibuka, soalnya rada tajem. Yang keren dari kotak RT ini terdapat petunjuk cara pemakaian dari tiap kuasnya. 

Bodi kuasnya terbuat dari alumunium berwarna bronze. Bagian bawahnya terbuat dari semacam karet dan permukaannya datar, jadi kuas ini bisa dibediriin. Bulu kuasnya terbuat dari serat sintetis, dan kuasnya berbentuk dome dan tapered. Gue suka serat bulunya karena padat dan kaku. Meski begitu, waktu di apply ke wajah tetap terasa lembut, gak kasar.

Gue juga mau bikin sedikit perbandingan antara kuas versi lama dan terbarunya. Kayaknya gak perlu gue jelasin lebih lanjut, kamu bisa cek sendiri di gambar berikut. Sori kalo versi 'old' nya bener-bener tampak 'old' dan dekil, kuas itu udah setahun lebih gue pake.

Yang versi old, bulu kuasnya berwarna kecoklatan karena belom gue cuci ya, bukan berarti warna aslinya seperti itu.

Expert Face Brush ini jadi andalan gue banget untuk apply foundation atau BB Cream, atau apapun base makeup berbentuk cair. Gak seperti kuas foundation yang berbentuk datar, kalo gue pake kuas ini foundation hasilnya gak akan terlihat bergaris atau streaky, jadi gue gak perlu ratain lagi pake sponge. Hasilnya juga jadi lebih glowing dibanding kalo gue apply pake sponge.

Selain foundation, gue juga suka apply bedak padat/tabur, face primer, dan contour pipi pake kuas ini. Mungkin itu sebabnya dia dikasi nama 'expert face brush' ya, jadi kuas serba guna khusus buat muka. Sayangnya gue belom pernah coba sih gimana jadinya kalo pake cream makeup yang teskturnya beneran padat, kayak La Tulipe Cover Foundation, misalnya. Sayangnya kalo abis dicuci, dia keringnya agak lama karena bulunya yang padat. Kalo cuma gue angin-angin di suhu ruang, bisa sehari-dua hari keringnya. Itu sebabnya gue butuh lebih dari satu.

Brush ini bisa kamu beli di online shop di Indonesia dengan variasi harga sekitar Rp. 140.000 sampe Rp. 200.000. Sumpah harganya variatif banget. Brush ini juga dijual resmi di Sogo dan beberapa counter kosmetik di mall, cuma harganya gue kurang tau ya.

Di sini gue pake LA Girl Pro HD Foundation in Porcelain

Review: NYX Eyebrow Gel (Brunette/EBG 03) with Mashami Shouko Brush #307

When I first knew that my favorite line, NYX, launched their very first eyebrow gel, I just couldn't wait to get my hands on this.

The product was infused in a tiny transparent vynil tube, comes with a box as well.

There are five shades available: Blonde, Chocolate, Brunette, Espresso, and Black. The shade I chose was Brunette. 

Actually I was a bit confused to choose between Chocolate or Brunette. The seller suggested Chocolate for a more suitable shade for Indonesian skin tone. But after googling some beauty blogs and Youtube channels, turned out that Chocolate has a more reddish brown, almost the same with my Silky Girl Eyebrow Pencil, while Brunette is more greyish undertoned. So why should I bother purchasing the shade I already have? 

I also aim for the Blonde one, but haven't dared to purchased it yet.

This product is actually very tiny, only 10ml. It has a small pointy hole and a tiny black cap, which is a bit unpractical. Just like my OCC Lip Tar that has a very mini cap, I fear that I might lost the cap. Sheesh... Btw, I must warn you, that the consistency is runny, so don't squeeze too hard ya, or you'll waste some. 

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SWATCHES

So here are the swatches on my hand.

1. The very first strokes I squeezed freshly from the tube. It looked brown with grey undertone. 
2. This is the last strokes I made from the remaining gel on my finger. Somehow the shade turned to a reddish brown, similar to the Chocolate shade.

I only need a very small dot to draw those two lines, a very little goes a long, long way. It will be ages before it run out completely. And judging from these swatches, the color also buildable, depends on how thick the strokes you draw.

From the reviews I found on the internet, all of them would suggest applying ths with an angled brush. Unfortunately, I don't even have a good one because the tip is not pointy enough (fyi, kuas angle-ku abal2 heheh). So this is the only brush in my purse that matches this eyebrow gel. It is flat instead of angled, but has very pointy and a bit hard tip for a more precise line. This brush also good for smudging the gel on the inner eyebrows.

I used to regret buying this brush since I just didn't what to do with it, now I feel lucky having it.

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I actually have several ways to draw my eyebrow, but using this eyebrow gel, I use the common method.

Frist of all, I would gently squeeze a small amount of the product onto the back of my hand like the picture above. You only need that small amount to draw both of your eyebrows. For me sometimes, I need even lesser amount.

1. Brush your eyebrows with a clean eyebrow brush. Some would prefer using brow wax or clear mascara for a more trimmed look, but I don't do that. (Blogger yang ngasal. Hahaha).
2. With your favorite brush, draw the lower part of your eyebrows.
3. Do the same thing with your upper eyebrow.
4. Fill in the blank area.
5. Using the leftover product, smudge it to make a gradient effect on the inner part of your eyebrow. You also can do this using the back of your brush.

One of my FOTD using this product on the eyebrows. I do love the shade and the result. Although it's darker than my Silky Girl Eyebrow Pencil, but still look wearable for daily use. At least my eyebrows aren't looked too red nor too dark.

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This is the very first product ever in my entire life that fulfill its promise to be a waterproof and smudgeproof one. I wear it in a hot and humid climate in outdoor activity (Bekasi, bo...), used to take a nap with this, and still no discernible fading.

Due to that, the gel also dried very fast once you squeeze it out of the tube. So, one tip when drawing your eyebrows with this, is just do it fast. Don't think too much! That's why some people prefer not to squeeze the product onto the back of their hands since it'll be anightmare to clean up. But, I just can't find a more hygienic way other than that. I mean, I always wash my hands in advance.

And just like I said before, a little dot goes a very long way. So be gentle with your brush or you'll end up overdoing it.

Last word, this product is ridiculously awesome, I like it! However, I must say that you might not like this if you are still a beginner on drawing your eyebrows. Well, I'm not saying that I am a pro already, totally not, but applying this product is waaay more tricky than using a regular eyebrow pencil, although the final result you get is to die for.

Verdicts:

• A little goes a long the way
• Waterproof and smudgeproof
• Brunette is a brown with grey undertone
• Buildable result
• The gel quickly dry
• How much: USD 6.99 on their official website. But available in online store for about IDR 100-120K, depends on the seller. However, I am not sure whether these also available in  Indoneian official counters just yet.

Tanks for reading. I hope this review is resourceful!