It’s been over two years since I shared an update about what lives in my Skincare Arsenal. I’ve had some changes, but by-and-large much of it is similar.
December 2018 Favorites
December 2018 Favorites
1. Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Liner in Midnight Cowboy, $20 / 2. Dove Dry Oil Moisture Body Wash, $5 /
3. St Tropez Tan Build Up Remover Mitt, $6.50 / 4. Jergens Natural Glow Wet Skin Moisturizer, $8 /
5. Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey in Double Rich Chocolate, $50
How ’bout that, we survived another trip around the sun. In spite of not feeling remotely enthused about the holidays, December was a blur; it started with a business trip, ended with a brief break from my day job and a visit from a dear friend. Today, I find myself back in the saddle of my normal routine. Details on my December 2018 Favorites after the jump.
Bi-Weekly WTF :: Vol 21 – PR Packages
In the last edition of Bi-Weekly WTF, I alluded to PR being a factor in beauty manufacturer budgets.
In short, it is common for these brands to invest in and distributing extravagant PR packages to send to social media influencers.
That’s a topic in and of itself.
Gratis
Shiseido Facial Cotton vs Swisspers
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.
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
Worth it? BS-Mall Brushes
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:
Worth It? elf Small Stipple Brush
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 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.