Shiseido Facial Cotton vs Swisspers

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Enjoy this legacy post from the archives! These days, I use reuseable makeup cloths, but if I was going to use cotton, I’d use the products mentioned in this post.

Previously, I wrote about the cotton pads from Swisspers that I use with my micellar water to remove makeup. In that post, I exclaimed that nearly $10 for the Shiseido Facial Cotton was ludicrous. As it happens, a smaller pack was available at Sephora for $5 – and I’ll digest that in order to compare them for you.

Packaging

I was surprised to see that the packaging of my $4 or $5 Swisspers product is remarkably similar! Both products come in a pouch made of this translucent, velvety, satin-finish plastic.

Shiseido Facial Cotton
Resealable? Swisspers is, Shiseido Facial Cotton (in the small size I purchased or the full size pack) is, unfortunately, not. It does not appear that the full-sized package is, either.

Size

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Worth it? BS-Mall Brushes

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BS-Mall BS-Mall Brushes, $13

If you’ve ever shopped for beauty products on Amazon, you’ve probably encountered BS-Mall Brushes. Retailing for around $13 for 14 brushes, this set has over 2,700 reviews that average out to 4.5 stars. There are other sets with lower piece counts at lower prices as well.

Oh, snap.

But if you’ve shopped for brushes before, you know that even a set of inexpensive drugstore brands like Real Techniques, EcoTools, and e.l.f. will run you more than that for 10 brushes unless you get a ‘value’ set that often features lower-quality brushes. The contrast between the price/amount and the quality makes me suspicious – after all, when it seems too good to be true, you’re probably screwed.

So I bit and decided to give them a shot. For $13, I figure at least one of the brushes should be decent. Overall, for less than a dollar a brush, it won’t be a total waste of my time.

The 14 BS-Mall Brushes

The fourteen-piece set I got includes:

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Worth It? elf Small Stipple Brush

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This legacy post has been given a facelift! Content and opinions remain the same, but have been edited for clarity. A 2018 Update has been added to the conclusion. Enjoy!

elf Small Stipple Brushelf Small Stipple Brush, $3

I can’t argue with the price-point of the $3 elf Small Stipple Brush, but how does it perform?

Back in the Day

I owned one of these back in 2013 and attempted to use it for foundation when I was still figuring out how to do facepaint. I ended up having some streaking and coverage issues with foundation application, though and ultimately got rid of it in favor of a flat-top buffer (I have one from Coastal Scents and from Sigma) and my beautyblender.

Interest Renewed

Now that I’m into cream blush, though, I want to explore other application methods. So far, my beautyblender has done beautifully, but exploration is fun, so I picked up another one of these at Target.

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Ole Henriksen Truth Serum

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Ole Henriksen Truth SerumOle Henriksen Truth Serum, $20-128

If you write, do you ever have so much to say that you find it overwhelming to decide where to start? In spite of using Ole Henriksen Truth Serum for ages and promising reviews, that’s where I was on this. I’ve finally found some clarity and pared down my thoughts to a concise (enough) format, so here we go.

It Begins

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Help Me, I Bought a Supersonic

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Dyson Supersonic

Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer, $399

It’s almost Christmas. 2018 is almost over. After Thanksgiving and Black Friday, Dyson was running some specials on refurb appliances via their eBay outlet – including their absurdly expensive dryer, the Dyson Supersonic. It was down around what I expressed in March 2017 as being willing to throw at it.

Hmm, interesting.

My poor current dryer, which I reinvigorated earlier this year, is showing different signs of failure. We’ve had a good run, but it seems likely that I will need to replace it before long. The timing can’t be argued-with.

I wrestled with it for a while because even with the heavy discounts it is damn rich for my blood. After a couple weeks, I decided to lose my mind give it a shot. With a sale plus a promo code, I got it the badass Iron/Red combination for $214. Plus, you know, eBates.

The dryer has yet to arrive but should before the holiday. Since it is a refurb, I do not expect it to come in its fabulous retail packaging – but it will come with both concentrators, the diffuser (which I don’t need), the mat, and the hanger.

Admittedly, I am vacillating between, “What have I done?” and, “CAN IT GET HERE ALREADY?! I WANT TO TRY IT.”

I plan to put the dryer to work immediately and will report back with first impressions. Hopefully it suddenly makes me really good at hair.

Bi-Weekly WTF :: Vol 20 – Quantity over Quality

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Over the last two years, I haven’t found makeup as inspiring as I once did. There are several reasons for this, but a significant part of this is the way the industry has handled new releases for a while.

It has felt like brands have been in a non-stop release cycle. Instead of investing time and money into the thoughtful development of quality product, consumers have been buffeted with an onslaught of subpar, uninspiring product. I’ve noticed this the most with prestige brands, but I’m sure it permeates each level.

Why Quantity over Quality

I can’t give a definitive answer, but here’s my prevailing theory on why.

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