End of October Hauls

Last week my Sephora haul arrived just in time for the Halloween party. I didn't have a chance to post but since I got my most recent soap haul and my China Glaze nail polishes, I figured that now is the time to show it all off. 

Up first is what I got from Sephora during their Friends & Family sale. I got the Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar & Nail Lacquer Set in NSFW because who could pass up a matching set of true red! Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick in Icon and SEPHORA+PANTONE UNIVERSE Spectral Lacquer in Purple Wine. 

I've already gotten the chance to try out the OCC set and they are amazing but the lip tar does take a bit of practice. I noticed that it bled a bit which led me to believe that I may have been a bit heavy handed during the application. A little does goes a long way and I'd suggest just using a bit, and reapplying if necessary much later on. The nail polish is beautiful and as a side note, it looked great with my Captain Hook costume. 

Geeky Little Things (Wonder Witch) is a soap shop that I figured I'd give a shot. Now maybe it was because they Harry Potter themed soaps or maybe it was because the main moisturizers are either olive oil, shea butter, and/or oatmeal but something about this store seemed whimsical and cute. So in honour of Halloween, I decided to grab a couple of soaps and their Butterbeer balm. The packaging is lovely and I was more than surprised when I got everything.

I've already opened the Butterbeer balm and it's scent is a butterscotch base, with french vanilla, burnt sugar, and marshmallows. It's quite moisturizing and I'm so glad I opened it immediately to use. As for the soaps, here's what was in my order:

• Madam Puddifoot's Green Tea Soap (Green Tea, Cucumber, and Oatmeal Soap)
• Professor Trelawney’s Divination Bar (Oatmeal, Milk, Honey, and Poppy Seed Soap)
• Hogwarts Express Pumpkin Pasties Soap (Pumpkin Almond Shea Butter Soap)
• Honeydukes Salty and Sweet Soap (Salted Caramel Goat’s Milk Soap)
• Dumbledore Sherbet lemon Bar (Lemon Oatmeal Soap)

Finally, I got my China Glaze nail polishes! These are all from the Monsters Ball lineup. Almost every year I have the hardest time finding these in stores but this year Groupon had them as an offer. As a result, I had to indulge! 

From left to right is: Bat My Eyes, Fang-Tastic, Howl You Doin', Boo-Gie Down, Ghoulish Glow, and Bump in the Night. 

More Hauls!

Today I got home and I was super excited to find some packages awaiting me! (Okay, well, yesterday I got some packages too that made me really happy but these are actually related to this blog). Anyhow, I opened up my Zoya shipment first and I figured that I might as well show some of my latest nail polish acquisitions during my hiatus.

From Zoya (and therefore from left to right), I got Darcy, Liberty (Pixie Dust), and Faye. From OPI I picked up Every Month is Ocktoberfest and Vesper (Liquid Sand). And finally I grabbed Sally Hansen's Sugar Coat in the Spare-A-Mint colour. The Pixie Dust, Liquid Sand, and Sugar Coat are new territories for me since I've never really tried texture nail polishes before.

Today I also received my order from Sephora! I'm super excited about this one as it is the supposed final princess in the Sephora Disney Reigning Beauties. Now, unfortunately I won't be taking too many photos of this one since these are actually a gift but I figured I'd at least show you it. Below is the compact and the nail polish set for the Ariel line.

Sephora + Jasmine, Haul

When the Disney Jasmine Collection was released and the email went out for Beauty Insiders, I jumped on the Jasmine collection. She's one of my favourite princesses (nods to Ariel, Belle, and Rapunzel) so I didn't even give it a second thought. (Especially since I lost out on getting that Disney Designer Princess doll back in 2011). My shipment arrived on Wednesday, but due to my violin lessons and a trip to the California Academy of Science (Nightlife), I wasn't able to properly compile everything till tonight.

This post is just about the haul and hopefully I'll have swatches soon. Enjoy!

The Palace Jewel Compact - $20

Closeup; there is a slight imperfection along the top
right by my ring finger.

"Shut your eyes and take a chance."

I have the Cinderella one, which I loved so I had high expectations for this one since Jasmine is my favourite. Overall, the casing (specifically the filigree design) feels a bit flimsy on the outside but it's got a good weight to it. 

The filigree design is intricate and behind it you can just make out the palace behind it. On the inside along the bottom says "shut your eyes and take a chance," which I think is adorable. 

As I mentioned in the caption, there is a slight imperfection along the side where it feels as though there's a bit too much plastic. Overall though, that does not hinder the product or decrease the love that I have for the compact mirror.

Once is Never Enough Nail Set - $24.50

I can never get enough of a nail polish collection especially one that has a few favourite colors in there. While the only colour in this collection (in terms of the pieces that I own from the collection) that is true to Jasmine is the turquoise, I do love the hues of purple. There's only one that would be a bit hard for me to work with so overall this set is a welcomed addition to my growing nail polish addiction. The colours in this set are listed below.

•  Berry Tale Romance (dark berry)
• Your Wish Is My Command (lilac)
• Fit For Royalty (pearlized purple)
• Dream Princess (clear with light sparkles)
• All That Jasmine (light turquoise)
• Aladdin's Girl (pearlized, glittery dark orange)  

Three Wishes Eyeliner Set - $42

Finally, when I saw the promotional images for this collection, I knew that I had to get my hands on this eyeliner set. If you've followed the blog for long or even if you look at the cloud of tags you'll notice that eyeliners and mascara are my mainstays. While I may not have much luck with any other makeup, those are my staples. Plus in this set, which has a liquid eyeliner, gel eyeliner, and a pencil eyeliner (which seems very kohl like), there's also that adorable little brush for the gel. I'm a little hesitant to crack these open just yet because I have so many gel eyeliners, cream eyeliners, liquid eyeliners, and pencil eyeliners open at the moment but soon... Soon, I shall crack them open for swatches.

---

Image of Jasmine belongs to Disney.

Here's my feeling about this collection: While I do love it, I'm a little sad about the "artistic interpretation  of Jasmine, rather than sticking to her classic blue. My assumption is that on heels of the Cinderella collection, they didn't want to put out another blue inspired set but that makes me worry about some of the princesses down the line such as:

Image of Jasmine belongs to Disney.

• Green: Ariel, Merida, and Tiana
• Pink: Aurora, Mulan, and Rapunzel

It remains to be seen which other princesses will be selected for the Sephora honours but either way, I can't wait. The ones I'm still hoping for are Ariel and Belle. Strangely, I'd love to see Rapunzel since she's been growing on me quite a bit. Either that or I really just want to see a Pascal compact mirror. 

Anyhow going back to the deviation, you have to admit, there is a difference between the blue suit and the red suit. :)

Swatches: Sephora Collection Smoky Kohl Eyeliner in Black

I haven't been able to properly wear this kohl eyeliner out since I generally pair it with another eyeliner to get a darker colour. That's why I'm specifically mentioning that this is more of a swatch rather than an observation of it's overall performance.

I had been watching this eyeliner for a while but carefully trying to weigh it against the Guerlain Khôl Kajal (which I'd still love to have but since it retails for $36, I feel as though I had better thoroughly enjoy rather than eye from afar), it was tough to pass this one up when it went on sale for $3. It turns out that they are actually discontinuing it which is why it went for so low. If you see it on the website then you might want to grab it if you have the chance.

Anyhow, I do enjoy khols quite a bit, but this is a medium I'm not quite used to. I'm actually used to the loose powder but I like the idea of the kohl kajal so I couldn't just pass it up.

So the idea is that if you use it as an eyeliner, then you would  hold it vertically to your eye and drag it across. With this motion, you'd be able to keep the pointed tip  or potentially reshape it with out a sharpener.

If you notice on the left with mine, the tip is a bit dull. Someone (likely myself) accidentally twisted it upward causing an indentation at the tip. With a few uses (using the method I described) I've been able to get the pointed tip back.

The application can be a bit tricky if you're not used to it. I'm certainly not used to it so it takes a bit of practice. The application at times felt a bit spotty but I was able to fill it in with the help of another eyeliner (specifically the NYX eyeliner that I have in my stash). It does come out a bit lighter than a standard eyeliner so you could potentially blend it as an eyeshadow.

In the image to the left you can see a comparison of some of the eyeliners that I have in my stash. From left to right is the Sephora Kohl Eyeliner, e.l.f. liquid eyeliner, NYX retractable eyeliner, Stila Convertible Eye Color, and Tokidoki Perfetto Eyeliner.

Given the application type, it's much thicker and while similar in colour and density to the NYX and Stila, you definitely have more freedom to blend it.

I tried out the eyeliner with a very basic look: Everyday Minerals in Mystery Midnight, Kat Von D's Tequila and Leather eyeshadow, the Sephora Kohl, NYX Retractable Eyeliner in Black, and Physicians Formula Organic Wear 100% Natural Origin Jumbo Lash Mascara in black (for whatever reason, my psyche is convinces that these all go together since they all don't show up on my skin very well).

It's going to take quite a bit of practice with this one, but overall, I'm happy with it.

---

Product: Sephora Collection Smoky Kohl Eyeliner in Black (Discontinued)
Price: Final sale was $3.
Would Recommend? Sure, for that price.
Takeaway: If you're new to this style of eyeliner, then it's fun to play around to. It might take a little while to get used to but practice might make perfect. Overall, it's not as strong as other eyeliner that you might find as it's not as defined, but it lends itself to blending. 

Review: Sephora Moonlit Kiss Lipstick Set

When I saw the Sephora Moonlit Kiss Lipstick Set online, I knew that a decision had to be made. See, the nail polishes and the compact for the Cinderella set were "no brainers" for me. I wanted them and I didn't have to give it a second thought. Looking at the lipstick set, I thought to myself, "Well, 3 of the 4 of those lipsticks won't show up so the question is really this: Is the darkest colour worth it?"

After examining the colours online, I knew that 2 wouldn't be flattering (most likely anyway), one wouldn't show up (but it was similar to a limited edition Revlon lipstick I am currently using as a lip balm), but that darker colour, the Lady Tremaine in berry, that might be the winning tube. So I sprang for it and hoped for the best.

From left to right is the Lady Tremaine in berry (darkest colour),  Pumpkin which is a light pastel peach, Who Is She? is the warm rosy mauve, and My Moment which is the pink champagne glitter.

Before I start the swatches, let's review the tubes. Yes, they are flimsy and yes, they are plastic. They look beautiful but they are very lightweight and very cheap feeling. They do have beautiful etchings along the top which I absolutely love and it honestly reminds me of the kind of lipsticks my mom used to have. Although not nearly as heavy as hers and probably lesser in quality then her old fashioned tubes. I don't count the packaging against them though.

As you can see, the detailing is rather pretty and overall it's got the aesthetics to it. Practical? Sure, after all we are trying to move in a direction that uses less packaging, so overall while this was a huge complaint that most had, I don't find fault with it.

But that is your own decision. I don't have a scale to weigh it against another lipstick but my MUFE or even my Revlon lipsticks, they are way heavier whereas this one is much lighter. It hasn't caused any problems yet though.


Moving on to the colours (remember, you can click to enlarge the photographs).

From left to right is: Lady Tremaine, Pumpkin, Who Is She?, and My Moment -- which I can assure you is there but seemingly missing. I kind of knew what I was getting myself into with this set.

My Moment

So I present to you, my lips (with no lip liners). First up is the My Moment which as you can see, barely shows. Well... The glitter shows. It's not the most moisturizing tube of lipstick I have ever used in my life, but it's not bad either. It has a creamy texture and supplies a bit of moisture. Overall, it's very similar to the tube I'm currently using so that is fine by me.

Pumpkin

Pumpkin was a tiny bit harder to work in. There's colour alright and it's a bit lighter than my lips. Overall, I'm okay with it since it's also similar in colour to lip glosses that I use.

Who Is She? (sorry that the pictures aren't lining up with the accompanying text), was way brighter than Pumpkin and came up a bit chalky on me. There was no real way to work it in without the use of another lip balm or mixing it with another colour.

Who Is She?

Finally, the one that was most flattering was Lady Tremaine (as I suspected it would be). Pardon the lazy application since I didn't have my lip brush and you know how applying lipsticks can go when you have a piercing in that general area. Even without a lip liner, it was a beautiful colour that really stood out. It was incredibly flattering and my goodness, it made it worth it.

Lady Tremaine

But here's where the tricky part lies. If you're on the fence about getting this set, then you kind of have to make that call on your own (especially if you have darker colour lips where 3 of the 4 colours won't show up. For me, it's rare to come by a berry colour that complements me well, so it works out to be worth it.

---

Product: Sephora Moonlit Kiss Lipstick Set
Price: $25.00
Would Recommend? Perhaps...
Takeaway: The majority of the colours in this set don't work out for me but in the end, Lady Tremaine in berry makes it worth for me. That's kind of up to you if it's worth the package or not.

Sephora + Cinderella, Part 2

As promised, this is a continuation of my post about the Sephora + Cinderella (click here for Part 1) lineup -- in the first post I mentioned the DVD release along with the Sephora screening and now I present the collection. Or at least the ones that I purchased. When the items became available, I immediately got the Compact Mirror, Moonlit Kiss Lipstick Set, and the A Brush With Fate Nail Polish Set for a variety of reasons. So let's take a look.

The compact mirror -- I admit that it doesn't look that impressive when I first saw the promotional pictures. However I'm a sucker for watches and when I saw the false watch face, I really couldn't help myself. So I sprang for it and figured that of everything I got, that would be the best purchase that I made.

And it was.

Right out of the box, I fell in love with the item and I wish that pictures could do it justice. The inside top mirror says "Time for your moment" and the outside is so beautiful with the clock face and castle in the center. This is a beautiful mirror that I think is just classic and will be with me for a long time. For $20, I'm incredibly happy with this purchase.

The next item was the set of lipsticks and I knew upon looking at them that three of the four wouldn't show up on me. But considering how pretty they were, that was a risk I was willing to take. This four piece set is $25 and I honestly can't wait to swatch it next.

The colours in this pack are as follows: Lady Tremaine which is the berry, Pumpkin which is a light pastel peach, Who Is She? is a warm rosy mauve, and finally My Moment which is a pink champagne glitter. Gorgeous colours which will probably look like lip balms on me but to be honest, that Lady Tremaine looks amazing and the packaging is perfection.

The last item I got was the nail polish set -- now please note that they are miniature sizes so don't be surprised if you get them and find that they are much smaller than normal. There are six small bottles in this set and it costs $24.50. The one thing that annoyed me was that the bottles themselves aren't labelled with the colour but here's the rundown of them: So Totally Enchanted is glittery silver, Step Off, Sister! is glittery purple, Blue My Curfew is the glittery royal blue, Bibbidi, Bobbidi, Pink! is glittery pink, Self-Maid Millionaire is glittery gold, and finally Rags to Rhinestones is glittery bronze.

Hopefully I'll be swatching these soon so stay tuned for that!

Sephora + Cinderella, Part 1

Yesterday was the Sephora screening of the Diamond Edition Cinderella -- wait, hold on. If you're like me then you know that Disney releases movies "from the vault" and sometimes does a bit of work on them, but what is a Diamond Edition? The long of the short is that it's digitally remastered and made for Blu-rays. If you're familiar with the Platinum Editions then note that the Diamond Edition is possibly just better quality. Now that that is out of the way, the Cinderella version is being released on October 2nd which is why you've probably seen a spike of Cinderella. If you haven't, well...

To commemorate the release, there have been numerous partnerships. I'm not going to get into them all but here's a quick recap. In addition to the Sephora line, Disney released some "Classic Cinderella" items that used artowrk from the original 1950 movie poster, reimagined Cinderella (so she's a bit more modern), teamed up with Alfred Angelo to make a special Cinderella wedding dress, and finally released shoes with Christian Louboutin and DSW. I'm pretty sure I'm missing quite a few things. Supposedly this is part of the "Disney Reigning Beauties Collections" and others will get the same treatment in the future. (I have a strong suspicion that these collections are correlating with the release of the Diamond Editions and if that is the case, then The Little Mermaid is up next).

About the screening -- it's been a very long time since I saw Cinderella and since I rarely use my Sephora Insider Points for anything (hey, I'm picky) this seemed like the perfect event. I asked my boyfriend and told his sister, and before we knew it, we had a nice little group of four. We showed up early and sat in line (though to be fair, we took turns to walk around and grab food). At 7 PM, they let us in and we saw the movie (no previews, commercials, just the movie [which was awesome]). Upon leaving, they gave us all a small bag with a slip of paper that described the DVD release and the Sephora line, along with a gift card.

The movie looked fantastic and even though I knew that it was better quality then when I saw it as a kid, it was just the way I remembered it. There were also a lot of little details that I forgot, like how animated the King was (or how grandchildren crazy he was), or the arrival of Gus, and so on.

If you're a fan of the movie then the movie is bound to be right up your alley, along with this collection. Speaking of the collection, let's move on.

I ordered the Compact Mirror, Moonlit Kiss Lipstick Set, and the A Brush With Fate Nail Polish Set. I came super close to ordering the perfume and the eyeshadow set, but luckily I remembered that I'm really picky about perfumes and I had a friend that was ordering the eyeshadow palette. Please note that I actually ordered everything before the screening because I'm addicted to Disney.

Since this post is already running long, I'll be breaking up the post (which I'll be following up later on tonight) so stay tuned for the images of the collection. I haven't swatched any of it yet because today marks the celebration of the nail polish haul (more on that later) so look for that in the future.

Click here for Part 2, where I show you some of the collection.

Primer Samples Time!

Since my stress has been a bit overwhelming lately, my face decided to take a break (and by break, I mean, break out) so instead of trying to perfect the cat eye or any general eye shadow technique, I decided to gather up all the primer samples that I've accumulated and try them out for a week (well, approximately a week anyway).

Our starting point is that I've only ever used one clear primer and that is Revlon Beyond Natural Smoothing Primer. To be honest, I actually don't use primers that often but overall I've been content with the Revlon one. It is a gel like consistency and I always end up using just a dab of it -- it goes on a bit greasy but absorbs really quickly. Overall, I'm satisfied and I have no real complaints toward it. So that's what I'll be comparing the others to -- so just understand that we're starting from a "satisfactory" (hereby known as a "C" rating) standpoint.

For this post I'll be grading each of them and since grading varies, here's the breakdown is below. (Interestingly, there is no use of the letter "E" in this grading system because like that of grade school, it was temporarily phased out [depending on the system used] so in that way one couldn't confuse "E" as standing for "Excellent." (Source)).

A = Excellent
B = Good
C = Satisfactory
D = Bad
F = Fail

L'Oreal Magic Lumi Light Infusing Primer

I got this in the Target Beauty Bag and I was kind of hesitant to try it out. I looked at the colour and immediately went "Oh no..." which is my usual reaction when I see anything that boasts "Suitable for all skin types and tones" but isn't clear. Sorry, I'm a cynic when it comes to that and rightly so. I put this on and while the consistency which was a cream like texture was good, I immediately noticed how "bright" my face was. And by bright I mean, I had this ghastly pallor, one that can be described as ashy or an indication of wearing a shade too light for my skin tone. This was before I had even put on makeup which meant that my medium coverage mineral makeup went into overtime which was a rough start. Overall, this is something that I'd stay away from since it just looked terrible.
Grade: F

Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer
This one has SPF 15 in it which is a plus. I loved the light creamy consistency of this one and also liked that a little went a long way. It was lightweight, absorbed quickly, and left my face feeling like a blank slate. Which was fantastic (if I didn't have bags under my eyes but were not counting that). Overall, I am in love with this primer, it goes on like a dream and lasts all day. When I was creating Sugarpill Cosmetics swatches, the colours looked so smooth and vibrant. Love, love, love this primer, but really hating on the $52 price.
Grade: A

Amazing Cosmetics Anti-Aging Face Primer
This one is clear -- not quite a gel but a bit liquid-like. It turns out that it does have a moisturizer in it (or at least that is what the packaging claims). It applies just like the Hourglass primer which is just dreamy, with that new added bonus of being a two-in-one. It is smooth and silky and the absorption is quick so on the first day I was very pleasantly surprised and impressed. I'm still incredibly happy with this one and it's at a much more affordable price of $34.
Grade: A

Sephora Perfecting Ultra-Smoothing Primer
I will completely admit that after trying to the Amazing Cosmetics primer, I kind of didn't want to try any others. I was in love and that was all that mattered (in regard to a primer). I finally got over that (took about two weeks to get over it, to be honest) and started using a different primer again. The Sephora primer feels pretty good and is almost comparable to the Amazing Cosmetics and Hourglass primer but it was a bit more thicker in consistency. This wasn't a problem; it held up well and felt good. This one goes for $15 and I have to admit, I'd really consider it -- I think the only thing that puts Amazing Cosmetics in the lead is the fact that it doubles as a moisturizer.
Grade: B

BritePrep FX

I was kind of excited to try this one since I already have other CoverFX products. When I tried it on though, the first thing I noticed was that it was ridiculously greasy. Maybe I just got a bad one but my skin did not like it at all. It didn't absorb into my skin and just created an oil slick which meant I ended up using way too much powder to try to cover it up. The bright side I guess what that my makeup didn't look caked on even though I knew that it was. My assumption was that maybe it didn't react well to my moisturizer.
Original Grade: D

I tried this one again without a moisturizer and overall, I really like it. It is very moisturizing on it's own and definitely helps the makeup go on well and stay put. It is trully amazing how well it works together with mineral makeup. It made my skin look fantastic and this is definitely one to consider (but it does cost $45).

Updated Grade: A

---

Let's do a recap... A few days out of the weeks that I tried these primers, I'd throw in the use of Revlon Beyond Natural Smoothing Primer for comparison. I made sure that I kept the tubes around to mix them up over time (which is why this post took so long to create). The ones that I kept coming back to was the Amazing Cosmetics -- even if I forgot that it had a moisturizer in it, the primer was able to accommodate for the extra moisturizer and make the makeup look good.

The others were not so kind to that error -- the BritePrep FX looked hideous if I tried to add a moisturizer  but alone it looked fantastic. If I were to run out to Sephora right now, I'd definitely get either the Amazing Cosmetics or the BritePrep FX. Don't get me wrong, I think that Sephora's own primer along with Hourglass are good, but Hourglass comes with a hefty price tag and Sephora's own lacks the moisturizer.

Moisturizer is incredibly important because I have combination skin and the parts that get really oily and really dry need to be balanced out. So what is the final verdict?

Winner: Amazing Cosmetics Anti-Aging Face Primer
Reason: Lightweight moisturizer and primer that feels good and absorbs fast. It can handle the extra moisturizer if need be and allows for makeup to look amazingly flawless.

Runner-Up: BritePrep FX
Reason: Brightens the skin, great for "setting the canvas" -- but it naturally greasy on its own and while it absorbs semi quickly, don't think that you need a moisturizer with it. If you do put moisturizer on, it will not be kind to your error. It does help to brighten the skin and even out the skin tone.

Major Players: Brushes

I admit that I definitely have a lot of brushes. But I promise that there's sound reasoning behind this.

If you haven't noticed, I am quite the sucker for EcoTools. Lately I've been feeling a bit experimental so I just got the Sonia Kashuk Highlighting Brush as well as the Spoolie so I won't be able to offer much information about them.  

Skipping the brushes on the left, let's take a look at the brushes in the center. These are my blush brushes and the three of them have been fantastic. There are two EcoTools blush brushes; one from the Alicia Silverstone line and the other is just the standard 6 piece set (note that all of the brushes from this set has the pink paint at the bottom of the handle). The hot pink brush (angled blush brush) is from Sephora, specifically the I.T. Collection. While this one has never shed in use, it has shed when I washed it. It is fair to note that  my EcoTools have never shed -- not even those that I've had for over two years. The three of them are equally great in use and I have yet to come across any cons -- in fact the EcoTools Blush Brush in the center (with the pink paint at the bottom is 2 years old. It hasn't stiffened, doesn't shed (none of them have actually), and overall continues to be a great performer. Why do I have three? It's the same reason I have more than one foundation brush; when it's time for them to be cleaned, I need another brush. Generally my apartment is too cold for brushes to dry overnight. So instead I will wash them once a week, if not sooner.

To the right are my current foundation brushes. Like the blush brushes, I cycle them as I use and wash them. The Sonia Kashuk Highlighting Brush (furthest right, white handle) is the one that I want to love but I seem to keep finding issues with. When I washed it, it shed and it even shed during first use. Luckily I use powder foundation so it's not bothersome, but still worth noting that it has this tendency. It does not retain as much powder as other brushes and provides weak coverage. The retractable kabuki is from Ulta and I've had it for two years and while I wish I could say it's retains it's softness, it definitely has not. And it was due to the accidental poking of the bristles that I realized that I needed to upgrade. I still do use it on occasion, but I'll probably phase that one out. As for my beloved Finish Brush (EcoTools by Alicia Silverstone) I have no complaints. I adore it.

Back to the left now, there's quite a mix going on. 

• The brush in the far left is the Sephora Retractable Lip Brush which is great when you're on the go. It's primary use for me is when I'm feeling brave enough to try a red lipstick, but not strong enough to harness it's red power. Great brush, I've had it for a year and it holds up well. It does feel flimsy at times, but it has endured the pain that is my makeup bag.
• The four of those bamboo handles are all EcoTools: Angled Eye Shadow brush (Alicia Silverstone), Eye Shading brush, Angled Eyeliner (which I use all the time), and a Concealer brush. I don't get much use out of the majority of these but the Angled Eyeliner is my favourite. It is however two years old and dealt with a lot of gel and cream eyeliners which means that it's slowly loosing form. The Angled Eyeliner is also slowly being phased out and it is being replaced by the Sephora eyeliner brush.
• That bright blue brush is the I.T. Angled Eyeliner brush from Sephora which I haven't tried just yet. >_<
• Lash and Brow Groomer from EcoTools which I never use. 
• Sonia Kashuk Spoolie (about $3 at Target) that I haven't used yet but got so that when I have issues with my mascara, I don't have to dip the brush again and run the risk of building mascara unnecessarily on my lashes.

So here's my thoughts in a nutshell (or bullet points):

1. EcoTools is fantastic. Doesn't shed, soft (I'd say it's rather plush) and stays that way even after 2 years. Overall a great set of brushes especially considering how cheap they are.
2. The Sephora I.T. (angled blush brush) is fantastic and I can even happily say that even with the light shedding that occurred when I washed it, I'm still very happy with it's performance.
3. Sonia Kashuk, maybe it's my luck with this particular brush but I am not impressed. It was a waste of my money to be honest. 
4. Ulta Retractable, well, I'd say skip it. It seems rather convenient but I'm sure there are other brushes out there that can do what this one does.